Below deck

I know many of you talk to the crew when you are on a cruise but do they tell you what really goes on ‘below deck’.  There have been a few fly on the wall programmes on TV about this but alot of that is made for television.

As many of the crew do not have the privilege of going onto passenger decks, being a shop Manager we brought the shops to the crew and did crew sales with staff discount.  We took down perfumes and aftershaves and affordable watches to the main crew area so the crew can take advantage of the duty free at staff discounted prices.

There were also movie nights and quiz night organised by the crew welfare officer with free popcorn.  The crew work really hard all year round and this gave a little rest bite from the sometimes monotonous jobs of cleaning, housekeeping and remember the engine crew and laundry guys hardly see the light of day.  This is also a bonding night between all the different departments which is good for moral on board.

I have already blogged about the parties and Independence nights we had below deck, but for the non party animals there were art and craft sessions and even string quartet nights just for the crew.  So it wasn’t all just partying there were some civil nights too.

I wonder if below deck is as good now as it was 13 years ago?  Ask a crew member next time you are on a cruise.