How crew let off steam

Working on a ship can be a rewarding, emotional and is very tiring.  Depending on which department you are in you can be away from friends and family for between 4 – 8 months at a time.  The crew quarters are generally below passenger decks, deck 0 or -1, -2.  There is normally an appointed crew welfare officer whose job roll is to look after the crew when on board.  They arrange trips and parties whether its a normal holiday like halloween, Christmas or an independence day of a particular country where we had crew members from on the ship.

Drinks prices were subsidised.  Now I am talking about 12-13 years ago when i worked on board but a bottle of beer was $1 and a vodka and mixer was $2.  Crew were not allowed to get very drunk as they were always on duty if there was an emergency on board.  We did have a great time though.

As you can see, crew did make an effort as these party’s were a way to blow off some steam especially after 4 days at sea from L.A to Hawaii, or a Transatlantic sailing.  All crew were invited to attend however if their shift pattern did not correspond with the party times they would have to wait for the next function.  Being a crew member is a 24 hour job, so if you do see a blurry eyed crew walking about the ship, say hi and thank them for the hard work they do.