Tourists who travel on a cruise live a fun and attractive experience. Everything is designed so that the client enjoys and identifies with the protagonists of Titanic, although without the tragic ending, of course. In recent years, traveling by cruise is a trend that has been growing. After the forced hiatus of the pandemic, this way of traveling has returned with great enthusiasm and with very diverse offers, from short routes to long stays, themed or even to live permanently on board.
Behind it all, behind every bar counter, stage, yoga class or water slide, there is a complex human machinery that makes it all work. Some cruise workers, from musicians to cooks, explain their experiences and juicy anecdotes in multiple publications, both in books and on multimedia channels. And there's for all the tastes.
For example, the risk of being locked in your job. Can you imagine not being able to leave your workplace, even though a wonderful historic center unfolds next to you, with its little terraces in the sun? Well, this can happen to any cruise crew member if when arriving at a port - and having permission to disembark - they forget their employee card inside the cabin. Security makes no exceptions, and he or she will not be able to leave the ship or even enter her room until a superior helps him or her solve the problem. A somewhat surreal situation that the musician Edu Giró portrays on his website (Quecrucerohacer).
This performer, composer and music producer, an expert in oriental and Mediterranean music, decided to launch that website and his own, (www.edigiro.com), after a long experience of years performing on cruise ships. He has even published a book specifically dedicated to musicians and guitarists giving advice on how to work aboard these giants. He explains that there are three large generic blocks for the work of musicians: those who are in small groups that liven up halls and dance floors, bars, swimming pools or small spaces; those who perform with large orchestras in shows, and soloists.
Sight reading unknown scores, little time to rehearse or facing new productions in a few hours are some of the challenges faced by musicians. But it pays off, especially for seeing the years of study and dedication recognized. “Unlike many other jobs in the music world, the job of cruise ship musician pays well. "I think I can say that it was the only time in my life that I saw my efforts as a musician and as a professional duly rewarded."
The staff seen by cruise ship passengers is approximately 30% of the actual crew. The rest works so that everything “invisible” is perfect. From the one who folds the towels into figurines to the one who ensures the correct operation of the engines and the one who prepares sauces without pause. In the advertising of some shipping companies they compare them to “elves”: you don't see them, but you can admire their perfect work every day.
All cruise ship workers agree that it is a profession that, although it has many stimuli, is also exhausting on a physical and emotional level. In fact, it is not allowed to link contracts for more than 8 or 9 months in a row, due to the great work and emotional burden it entails.
The most important drawback is the lack of privacy and the difficulty in disconnecting from your work. Virtually all staff – apart from high-ranking and other professionals – stay in cabins shared with another colleague. Regardless of the best or worst personal relationship you have, the truth is that it is a test for anyone, since they are very small rooms with bunk beds, a tiny closet and desk, and a built-in bathroom.
“Work is mixed with coexistence; “You can't escape,” she explains on her YouTube channel titled Where We Rise Today, Argentina's Micaela Mayor. There she also regrets the physical fatigue that comes with long working hours and she assures that it is necessary to be a very flexible person because privacy almost does not exist.
Martín Gómez, author of the YouTube channel Bitácora del Viajero, adds that having little privacy you have to learn to be “very respectful of other cultures, since you live with many nationalities.” He explains that he spent many years working on cruise ships and that they brought him many good things, such as meeting his future wife, but also inconveniences and issues that were difficult to understand from an outside perspective.
For Gómez, “The worst thing is mental fatigue. Normally you have a contract that can last five or six months. You work every day, long hours, with minimal rest hours. The days of the week disappear. Since Caribbean cruises are often week-long, for me it was: “Today is Jamaica, tomorrow is Saint Martin, Sunday is Miami.”
Likewise, the work days are long (ten hours or more) and seven days a week. It is not always possible to go ashore at ports of call, because sometimes the crew has to undergo rescue and safety training, a drill, or a work shift. Although when they can get off they enjoy paradisiacal places... and internet in places with Wi-Fi, since the use of internet on boats is very expensive and normally there are no discounts for workers.
Of course, when the ship is docked in a port, there are always security personnel and officers on board, ensuring that everything on the ship remains in order. Doctors and other professionals join this group, as does the entire department of the marine section, such as officers or engineers, who are in charge of correct navigation, at a technical and logistical level.
Although in English the word kitchen is kitchen, inside a ship, the kitchen is called galley. And there are different galleys: the one that prepares food for the passengers and the one that cooks for the crew, in addition to the specialized kitchens. This is how chef Rodrigo Serrano explains it on his YouTube channel Azul Pastry Chef.
In the company where he worked, the scarves around the neck and their different colors marked the rank of the worker, from the last newly arrived assistant to the main chef. In his channel, he specifies another added problem: “In each port where there was a change of personnel, new people arrived who had to get used to it.” There is so much turnover of workers that it is difficult to assemble well-coordinated teams.
It also explains that, due to international maritime regulations, you cannot work more than 14 hours in a row. Therefore, on days with a lot of work due to special events, they had worked in the kitchen for up to 13 hours and 59 minutes. And he also details something that the musicians agree on: the busiest days are the days en route, when the ship is at sea all day. Since there are no stops, the crew members have a greater workload since they must guarantee constant entertainment – concerts, cocktails, food buffets, shows – for the traveler.
Getting stuck in the Bahamas can be a blessing or a torture. If the ship is in dry dock for a few weeks, for renovation or maintenance, the staff on board must help with other tasks. When your shift is over, you can visit the area. The problem is that the area, like the Bahamas, can be extremely expensive.
Edu Giró explains: “Although you still charge exactly the same as during regular operations, it is much easier to spend a huge amount of money to combat boredom. Especially in the Bahamas, where you have to take a taxi to get to the nearest beach, the bars are very expensive and museums, tourist sites or cultural sites are conspicuous by their absence.”
From Traveler's Log, Martín assures that one of the great advantages is the final salary: “You don't pay rent, water, or food, so you can save a lot if you want.” Although all testimonies know someone who spends exaggeratedly to combat long hours of loneliness or homesickness, or at staff parties, without a doubt the economic issue is one of the incentives for those seeking to work on board a cruise ship.
Waiters, security teams, receptionists, cleaning staff or cooks are some of the jobs necessary for a cruise to run perfectly. For some of them, a specific level of education or previous experience is not required, although one of the essential requirements that is valued in job interviews is a good level of English.
The atmosphere is international, with crew from very different countries, which allows very different languages to be spoken. Workers have a gym and specific areas for them, essential spaces considering that, when they are not working or in these common places, they must remain in their rooms. It is prohibited to interact with passengers in a romantic or sexual way, although there are positions that require a closer relationship with clients.
It is estimated that approximately 70% of the ships' crews are people from the Philippines, India and Indonesia. The rest is basically divided between Europeans and South Americans. Asian workers, although they do not want to be named, lament that there is often subtle discrimination that does not allow them to move up the job ladder, meaning that they are almost always in the group of “invisible” workers. This issue, however, is changing in recent years, and it is increasingly common to find Asians occupying senior positions such as engineers, doctors or officers.
The largest cruise ship in the world accommodates more than 6,700 passengers and has a crew of more than 2,400 people. But the average cruise ship is about 3,000 passengers with about 1,000 crew members on board. An entire city in motion on the sea.
Although for the tourist life on board a cruise ship is exciting, for the crew it can be rather monotonous. Of course, marked at the same time by an underlying spirit of constant change, as Edu Giró explains: “You can say that, approximately every six months, your life is going to take a radical turn. To give you an example: from January to June you will live in the Caribbean and your best friends will be Alicia and Pedro. From August to December, after a short stay at home with your family, you will live in Australia and your best friends will be Patricia and Felipe.”
Perhaps that is why this musician decided to abandon cruises to settle down and dedicate himself professionally to content writing and music production. Many other testimonies have left their time as a cruise crew behind, with good memories of it, but without much desire to return. It is common to experience an emotional duality, since life on board is so different from life on land that it is difficult to make yourself understood by those who are outside it. “On a professional level – adds Giró – it is also complicated, since the experience acquired in your job on board a cruise ship is not usually compatible with the skills required in a job on land.”
Adapting to new everyday things, from customs to schedules or food, and also to new work life, such as long hours or abusive supervisors, also causes mental health problems. Depression, stress, lack of socialization, apathy, psychosomatic illnesses and even suicide occur more often than is believed. Workers should be alert for symptoms. On board it is not possible to meet your lifelong friends to have a beer, or go out to the movies. And it depends on how you can't even criticize the boss... But, as Martín Gómez assures, "you leave your comfort zone, you learn a lot in your life and you make lasting friendships."
