Employee Lifestyle Onboard NCL Cruise Ships Cruise Ship Employment Norwegian Cruise Line

However, whatever your job position is, we all get the same chance to enjoy the ship life and the opportunities offered. Located adjacent to the main galley is Captain McCue's office, which connects directly to the Bridge. Other crew members may have to navigate from, for instance, the lowest deck to the ship's buffet on Deck 15.

Crew members in higher positions have better cabins

It normally consists of an inside area and so-called “back deck”, an open deck where smoking is allowed and where parties and crew events take place. You need to pay for the drinks in a crew bar (starting at $2 per drink), except when the HR department throws theme or “all crew parties” where they offer free soft drinks and beers for all crew members. “Staff mess” usually offers international cuisine and is dedicated to staff and officers. Now, the canteens for crew members are known as crew mess and staff mess. Inside the main galley, there's a spacious table that can seat six guests, as well as another television and built-in shelf that contains some of Captain McCue's knickknacks.

Bed Sheet Set

This room will feature seven divided spaces that allow for everyone to have their own nook. Here, they will be able to grab anything from a coffee to a cocktail while relaxing in a massage chair, or they can challenge a fellow crew member to a game of ping pong, foosball, or pool. For the first time, the finishes that are found throughout the passenger areas will be similar to those found in crew spaces. In total, the represented members were from 25 different nationalities and from 25 different onboard positions, with the estimated age range begin 22- to 55-years-old. After architects designed what they thought crew members wanted, Royal Caribbean gave crew the chance to sit down and be involved first-hand in the process.

Location of Crew and Officer Cabins

Crew cabins are tiny and usually consist of a bunk bed, a closet (with drawers and shelves), a mini-fridge, a TV, a small desk, a chair or two, and a bathroom. Each cabin has its own bathroom, which is good because you share it with only one person. The first few days on a cruise ship were confusing, both fun and challenging… On the first day, I didn’t manage to find my cabin for 45 minutes. I was literally wandering around corridors trying to figure out the ship’s layout. The first days were stuffed with trainings, familiarization with the crew areas, rules, regulations, ship in general, and learning about the job itself, of course. On large ships there is a Staff Mess which is offered for people that work for one of the onboard concessions such as spa, the gift shops and the photographers.

Cruise Industry News spoke with several crew members working on different ships to find out. But other than that it was a great cabin with a big window and an amazing view, and I was lucky to have it. Also, being in such close quarters and learning to constantly share and be graceful with others can definitely make you a better person, if you choose to learn from it. If you’re tendering at a port where the ship can’t dock alongside, the bow of the ship may have the gut-wrenching sound of the ship’s anchor being dropped in the early morning.

Crew living conditions on Margaritaville At Sea - Crew Center

Crew living conditions on Margaritaville At Sea.

Posted: Mon, 20 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

“Crew and staff cabins are anywhere between two and four team members. Four members are usually with housekeeping/bar/restaurant as these are the biggest departments. During the comeback to sailing, all cabins are limited to two crew members. Cabins with more than one crew member have bunk beds with curtains and are not made for privacy. You need to time your morning showers and so on properly – otherwise, you will be late for your shifts,” they added.

Royal Caribbean shared an inside look at how they designed the crew's neighborhood onboard the highly-anticipated Icon of the Seas, which will have over 2,300 crew members from 80 counties. They will have their own indoor and outdoor pub, gym, and even salon. It typically features more international foods — like Filipino, Indian, and Caribbean cuisine — than the guest buffet to represent the hundreds of staffers from different countries.

Special message for ship crew

Some of the largest Captain’s cabins feature a separate bedroom, a living room, dining room, bathroom with bathtub, and an office. He also has access to his own pantry and his own conference room. There are many cabins located on that particular deck because the whole deck is a crew only area. Typically that deck (usually deck 4) houses all provisions, food prep areas, the crew mess, crew office, and a corridor that goes from one end of the ship to the other. Depending on the ship's size and age, how much space is reserved for crew members will vary. Icon of the Seas, for instance, will have an entire neighborhood dedicated just to crew members.

Life Onboard a Cruise Ship: 18 Crew Cabins Must-Haves

However, this widely varies by company and depends on the ship itself. Depending on your rank/position and also the cruise line company, you will be assigned to a single, double, triple or sometimes quad occupancy cabin. With this in mind, your cabin mate may be of a different nationality or work in a different area of the ship. Because you are exposed to many cultures different from your own, it helps you to develop good communication skills. But many will say this is one disadvantage to working a a cruise ship. But to me, it is an amazing opportunity to develop your people skills.

If you are one of the staff, you’ll most likely have a slightly larger cabin (10 x 10), but chances are you’ll only share it with one other person or have it all to yourself – making it feel much bigger. Dining room with a TV, and a small galley area with a refrigerator. These rooms are open-planned, joined with the captain’s office which is directly attached to the bridge. In Kates’s quarters, she highlights her patron saint of seafarers, St Nichols, which many seafarers, not just cruise captains, always travel with for good luck. Below are some real-life examples of cruise captains’ quarters that we have found. However, after some research, we have found some glimpses of the inside of the captain’s quarters.

On bigger ships, these facilities are separated into three separate areas. These spaces are equipped with table games, board games, library of books and DVDs and comfortable sitting areas. Some departments have their officers on decks that are close to where they work. For example, most engineer officers will have their cabins on the same deck as the engine control room which is located around deck four. This deck is just above the water line and many junior engine officers will typically have a porthole. To a certain extent, crew quarters on cruise ships have many of the same features that cruise ship guests can access.

In addition to both hot and cold food stations, Icon of the Seas will be the first to feature live cooking stations in the crew buffet. Often the best choice for cruisers with mobility impairments is to choose a cabin nearest the ship’s attractions that matter most to you, whether that’s the casino, the pool or the spa. You'll also want to avoid cabins low and forward in the ship (where the anchor being lowered or raised can generate a lot of sound). The same goes for aft rooms (where the ship's generators create a hum that rarely, if ever, stops). Cabins near banks of elevators have been historically called out as noisy, but more so due to rowdy crowds gathering there than mechanical noise. Avoid cabins near the front (bow) or back (stern) and on decks higher than the middle deck of the ship.

Well, a ship is designed to carry hundreds, sometimes thousands of guests and crew. This is to comfortably accommodate all the guests, guest facilities, crew and crew facilities. Although often traveling alone, the captain’s quarters will be large enough for when they do have family or guests staying onboard with them. There are crew cabins on several floors, from deck 00 — below sea level — to deck three, though the captain and bridge officers typically live adjacent to the bridge higher up. Guests’ and crew members’ health is a top priority for cruise lines and there is a dedicated medical facility onboard each cruise ship for both guests and crew. This medical facility is usually located on deck 1 and is shared, however, there are separate entrances for guests and crew.