Life at Sea! My onboard family.

Life onboard a cruise ship is very exciting and rewarding, non-stop and at times challenging, and from the time you put on your uniform and step outside your cabin door, you are on show.

I have been to some amazing places and worked with wonderful people, but living onboard a ship can sometimes be a lonely life which is why the crew become your family and make the time spent onboard so much better.

We have shared many fun times together and they work tirelessly to ensure your stay onboard is all that it should be and more.

The crew preparing to take part in the onboard ‘Olympics’.

The Captain or the ‘Master of the Vessel’ sets the examples for others to follow.  I think sometimes we can have the perception that Captains are only to be spoken to if they speak first, but in my experience of working with some fantastic ones, this isn’t the case.

In recent years the majority of Captains are much more approachable and both passengers and the crew have the utmost respect for him or her.

The Captain is known as the Master and he is the person who is ultimately in charge of the vessel and the one who has to make any tough decisions onboard.  He has a direct reporting team, three department heads, who are responsible for their entire department:

• Staff Captain (sometimes also called Chief Officer)
• Hotel Manager
• Chief Engineer

Staff Captain is the second in command. It means he/she would be the replacement of the Master if that should become necessary. He/She is responsible for the employees of the Deck Department, the day to day operation of the Deck Department and the Discipline onboard.

Hotel Manager is responsible for the entire Hotel Department, the guest services, provisions, the day-to-day operation for the hotel part of the ship. He/She has the most numerous number of crew to manage and is helped by various department heads who report directly to him/her.

Chief Engineer is responsible for the Engine Department onboard. Besides the main engine, this includes all technical matters onboard, such as electrical, refrigeration, mechanical works, machinery etc.

The ship runs in the most efficient way when these three department heads work well together. If one of them is not working with the others, work onboard becomes difficult and more complicated than it has to be.

Department Heads and Officers always perform a “being a good example” function, too. If those three work well together, so will the internal department heads and the crew members.

Everyone benefits from this, foremost the guests onboard, who are the ones who make this industry at all possible. Without guests, there would be no cruise ships. Therefore the ultimate goal is always to provide the best service and make those holidays for guests an unforgettable experience.

And this is achieved by everyone pulling on the same rope, in the same direction.

In my experience, I have only worked with extremely efficient teams who work well together and are a cohesive unit.  We were like a family.

When crew members move on to pastures new there are always those ports where you will meet up!

If you have ever thought about a career at sea, remember you will be working away from home, sometimes up to 9 months at a time or more, working long days and may at times feel lonely and miss your family, but it is also exciting and rewarding.

Have you worked at sea and what advice would you give to anyone that is thinking about it?

Do you know anyone that works at sea?

What stories do they tell you?