This is a must read for Cruisers

I am a little surprised when customers don’t ask what was it like working on a cruise ship? Especially when every person I talk to is a fan of cruising. Some people are nosy when they are on a cruise and are desperate to see behind the scenes. For which there are sometimes places available on a behind the scenes ship tour    at a premium price. Some people want to know all the crew gossip and wish they had gone to work at sea themselves. But now I am living on land and talking about cruises every day. For me each conversation has a memory attached to it. Whether it is a port I have visited or a ship I have lived on or a tour I have enjoyed.

Of course, when I remember all my ship friends who are still at sea and all the different experiences that I had across the world, it is always with rose tinted glasses.

You quickly wipe from your memory the 6 am starts after a night in the crew bar having only had 3 or 4 hours sleep. Then having to go on tour accompanying a group with a guide that doesn’t talk. Or even worse is when the guides English is so bad they can hardly be understood. That then leads on to the complaints about the tour guide at the desk later that evening. Which are then recorded and answered with a response that is going to keep the customer happy.

Ten hours a day, seven days a week, for six months is a lot of hours worked. But then it is working with positive, like-minded people who love their life and want to fill it with as much fun and laughter that they can. They don’t have worldly worries like where is my next meal coming from? How am I going to pay the rent? All the essentials are taken care of by the ship.

Where are we going to have a drink tonight? Or whose cabin are we meeting up in to watch a movie? Shall we go to the gym? Or just back to the crew bar? These are the important things to be considered!

I do miss ships. But I miss my friends from ships more. They made the experience so enjoyable, so memorable and vivid. Therefore, I dedicate this blog to every fun sailor working on cruise ships right now, or anyone who has loved their time working on ships in the past. Thanks for taking the time to read this and if I can help with planning your next cruise give me a call on 0333 300 2480 Adrian