Cruise lines have two aims, firstly they are partly a transportation business, and secondly, they are in the leisure entertainment business, because of this a cruise ships also has these divisions, so you will see a crew headed by the ship’s captain, and another department of hospitality staff headed by the hotel manager. The cruise lines operate ships virtually 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.
In reality the magic of your cruise experience comes from the unique spirit and skill of the crew that service you. To get your head around the workings of a cruise ship, it may be helpful to consider them as giant five star hotels or small cities rather than a ship. Hundreds of people are employed for each ocean going vessel. Every job is necessary and each position on-board a cruise ship is critical to its flawless running of a successful cruise.
Depending on the crew’s role, they can be have contracts from three to eleven month. Rehiring is dependent on many factors including service ratings and feedback from passengers. Most crew work about twice as many hours as similar land based every day with no days off for weeks for the length of their contract. The direct salary of crew is low compared to most developed nations. Crew working in bars and restaurants have considerably more earning potential from tips from passengers. Although crew do not have living expenses while working on board such as travel or accommodation costs, it is a very difficult life, only suited to very special amazing breed of individuals.
Most crew live in shared accommodation long contracts, with no days off, living away from loved one. While senior officers are assigned single cabins, living arrangements for general crew is general two employees share a cabin with a simple amenities. The crew have facilities that are completely separate from those of the passengers, they have a crew mess and bar, recreation room, fitness centre, prayer rooms/mosques, and some ships have swimming pool and hot tub exclusively for crew.
Between contracts, crew return home for a break or vacation. Labour Laws are very different for some crew levels, as they get no paid holiday leave or accumulated pensions for service. Where other crew levels such a management get paid holiday leave, pension plans and insurance coverage.
A Captain is the highest ranking officer and the Master of a cruise ship. The reports directly to the cruise lines Head Office and is responsible for all operations aboard the vessel. The Captain is fully responsible for crisis management and decisions about the course of action in case of emergency. The Captain is the only person authorized to issue the “abandon ship” order. According to the International Maritime Law the Master has the authority to conduct wedding ceremonies when the ship is located in international waters.
Staff Captain is the ship’s second-in-charge. They deal with the day to day running of all on-board activities and issues. Through study and experience, a Staff Captain is a certified Master in his own right, fully capable of handling the Captain’s duties. A Staff Captain serves as the ship’s designated ethics officer, dealing with any conflict issues arising on-board, as a key part of the role is counselling, coaching, teaching and problem solver.
Entertainment and Activity Department
All the activities on a cruise ship you will be dealing with members of the activity and entertainment department. This is a very busy department is responsible for all of the ship’s entertainment. It is a varied group of employees who offer activities for passengers from disc jockey, cruise director and cruise staff, entertainers and dancers, jugglers, magicians, cabaret shows anything imaginable, tribute artists, and comedians. guest lecturers. In addition to these jobs there are a great deal more available that surround activities and entertainment, costumes, lighting, sound etc. The cruise director and his team formulate the daily newsletter with a list of activities available throughout the day, such as trivia, karaoke, dance classes, language lesson, the activities are endless.
Casino
It is well known that cruise ship casinos offer some of the poorest payouts of any casino, as it heavily advantaged in casinos favour. It is the only casino around, so it is not as if you can leave that take your gambling dollar to another casino with better odds. Casino gaming options include slots, tables and card based games. The casino also runs the gaming lessons, poker tournaments and the bingo on board. Always gamble responsibly.
Spa and Salon
All cruise lines offer a variety of high-end amenities. Cruise lines continue to raise the bar for the services they offer. It is not uncommon for the spa services to be serviced by independent contractors. Salon and spa amenities are available in addition to fitness centre and gym activities. The variety of professional include qualified fitness instructors, fitness directors, acupuncture, massage therapist, beauticians, cosmetologists, hairdressers, hair colourists, and nail technicians. Within the menu of spa services, you may see combination of services that allow for some savings with discounted prices. Port days the spa is often quiet and may offer savings on some of the services. Be warned on formal night services may be booked well in advance. Gratuities for the therapist are included in the service price.
Medical staff
Depending on the size of the ship there may be one or more Registered Medical Officers and two or more Registered Nurses. There is a medical clinic run twice a day most days if you require non-urgent medical assistance. These officers are also available 24 hours a day for urgent medical assistance. A cruise ship cannot leave port without a ship’s doctor. All ships have limited hospital services including diagnostic x-ray, an operating room, and monitored hospital beds. Services of the medical team are itemised and charged to your on-board account. It is advised before you cruise you obtain a ‘fitness to fly’ or fit to cruise letter from you regular Medical Officer, obtain all the medications, medical devices and support you will need for the duration of the cruise. Shipboard medical services are not responsible for your poor planning for managing pre-existing medical conditions.
Service and Hospitality crew
Some regular cruisers might say that the most important crew is the Captain, the Officers or the Executive Chef, I say it is the faceless nameless crew behind the scenes that are the important crew and the ones who deserve the greatest amount of credit. Cruise ships are all about excellent service delivery and luxury. A cruise lines is just like a floating city, so it has parallel jobs just like on land. You will meet front of house staff, Head Servers and Maître D’s they will be supported by food servers, drinks services and staff busing tables. There are trained wine stewards, sommeliers or cocktail mixologists. Behind the scenes there will be bakers, butchers, pastry chef, sous chefs’ kitchen hands, laundry hands, stateroom stewards and cleaners. Always be courteous to the lower level crew. If you ever have the privilege of meeting these crew, make additional effort to smile and greet them. I try to send a note to via the Executive Chef or Head of Department thanking these behind the scene crew, who work tirelessly without and formal acknowledgment.
Photographers
Professional photographers and videographers on a cruise ships can be either contractors through a third party agency such as Image Group or employed by the cruise line. Some cruise lines will offer an additional Professional Photo Portrait Studio experience. Usually there is no sitting fee, though the quality of photos taken you will be motivated to purchase for an additional fee, over and above the standard photo service. Some cruise lines will offer a video summary of the voyage. This video is a compilation of activities, parties, functions, port experience, or scenic features of that itinerary.
Art Gallery
On board most cruise lines is an Art Gallery and Auction with art lectures on artists within their collection. You will be offered a free glass of champagne to attend the auction.
Retail shops
Every cruise lines offer a variety of retail experiences. You will find any number of retail shops on board including duty free, jewellery, alcohol, perfumes, accessories, clothes souvenirs. There will be additional discount notified in the daily newsletter.
Shore excursion desk
The shore excursion desk will be manned during sea days. The staff on the shore excursion desk will most likely have done most of the tours on offer. The staff will give you general advice about the activity level, sights of interest and the cost. You can read a summary of available shore excursion at upcoming ports on line before you leave home. Some cruise lines offer a discount if you purchase and pre-pay for the excursion before your set sail day.
Future Cruise Desk
There are members of staff employed on the future cruise desk. It there role to motivate passengers to book another cruise while on-board. It is not uncommon for some discounts and incentives to be offered while on board. Some companies will sell future cruise credits. This methods allows you to pay for a certain amount for a credit note which is often twice the values, for example pay US$250 and get a US$500 cruise credit. These style of promotions often have an expiry period of up to 5 years from purchase.
Internet services
Staff are employed during set hours to support passengers with their internet needs. They are often located in a dedicated area with access to computers for public use. Use of internet on cruise ships is expensive. Charges are slowly lowering as the technology improves. There may be pre-sailing discounts or combined discounts available. Different cruise lines may offer internet access privilege or discount as part of their loyalty program. When using internet at sea the service and reception varies. If you are traveling for a long period in one region you may consider purchasing a local SIM card. If travel to Hawaii for 1 week cruise, for example, it was more economical for me to purchase a local sim card for a month and use it for only a week than purchase the on-board internet service for that same one week period. This works on that cruise itinerary as you are close to shore most of the time, at a port most days and have available signal. It is important when you travel that you turn off your global roaming.
Deck crew
The deck crew contribute to the general running of a cruise ships. These roles include purser jobs, maintenance workers, deckhands and engineers. Purser or Guest services are the front of house of the cruise ship. They are the face of the public relations crew. It is not uncommon that crew on the Guest Service Desk are multilingual. They attend to any question a guest poses. If they do not know the answer they will direct you to a member of crew that can help. This is the area you deal with questions about your on-board account, you can change currency, get gratuity envelopes or additional disembarkation luggage tags. General maintenance of a cruise ship is an ongoing activity every day. You will observe a program of painting metal and wood surfaces most days on board. Waste management on cruise ship is vital logistical challenge. Waste management includes separating waste, recycling and disposing of waste to meet international regulations.
Pool attendants
These highly visible members of the crew put out deck chairs, packs away deck chairs, prepares blankets for movies under the stars. In an endless cycle day-in day-out. On the pool deck you may observe different roles even though the crew may be dressed in similar uniforms, such as the drinks wait staff will not bus tables, the wait staff will not remove towels or serve drinks.
Lifeguards
Not all cruise lines have lifeguards at pools. If you are not a strong swimmer or travelling with children keep to an area in the pool where you can touch the bottom as it is your responsibility to maintain your safety.
Tipping
You need to budget for gratuities. Giving a tip is a sign of appreciation for the service received, it is not mandatory. A gratuity is more than a bonus, the base wages for crew is very low compared to wages so comparable jobs in the west. Most crew are dependent on gratuity for a large portion of their income. Some cruise lines adds a fee per person on your on-board account each day. By adopting this method the gratuity is distributed among all crew, those you see and those in the background that keep the ship running if you wish you can choose to withhold that method of gratuity, this is not a strategy that I recommend. Any method of tipping will be gratefully appreciated. The traditional cash-in-envelope method works just as well as a handshake with cash. The automatic gratuity method works equally as well. I always travel with a large amount of small US, Australian or Euro for additional direct tipping. Tip early, Tip big
