I was a crew member on Royal Caribbean and a single cabin is an extreme luxury for crew! Most crew members sleep in bunkbeds and share a cabin with no porthole.
Ben, most employees have inside cabins without portholes; could a good reason for that to have a dark room for good sleeping regardless of which shift persons are working? I prefer a dark room for good sleeping and therefore choose Inside Cabins when I am a guest.
yep no porthole some with connecting bathroom if ship travel icy gletser your temperature room will be drop, man i wish we have a balcony room so during brake we can enjoy beautiful scenic of ports and sea ☺
@@LoganPlaysGamingI talked to some workers in a perfume shop on a cruise ship (not royal Caribbean). They said that while the performers and entertainment staff are allowed to interact and socialise with passengers, using passenger bars, restaurants, events, ect, the rest of the staff, so cooks, shop workers ect cannot. We eventually convinced them to join us at a bar later that night and apparently they had to sneak out in order to do so.
I worked on an older Royal Caribbean ship 20 years ago and it was a world away from these modern vessels. I shared a tiny cabin with another girl but at least we had a porthole to look out of. I worked in the onboard shops but the hours were long, food only just passable, and alcohol too plentiful and cheap. We still had it way better than some other departments though as at least we had a few hours off when in port and better conditions all round. We'd even have a crew party every Monday night when everyone would blow off steam, but unfortunately boat drill was first-thing on a Tuesday morning! You can imagine what that looked like.
Did the All Access Tour on Allure last year. They take you to many places which are not open to the public. Bridge, I-95, galleys, storage areas, engineering, etc. Highly recommend.
I worked on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity in the 90s and was lucky enough to have my own cabin with a porthole because I was a manager (broadcast). Most people share on the ships, at least 2 per room but also 4. There is very much a class system on the ships and there are definite divisions between crew and staff. Staff are mostly Americans, Canadians and Europeans and they operate most of the front facing jobs - front desk, shore excursions, broadcast, cruise staff, entertainers, shop staff, casino staff. Staff have better cabins, separate dining and bars from the crew, better pay and more rights. Crew are from poorer countries, work really hard, depend on tips, live 4 to a cabin below water level and so on.
I'm glad to see the crew are treated well and have decent amenities. I just got back from a Royal Carribean cruise, and the staff were all really great and deserve good accomodations. Of course, we can't it to be as nice as the guests' experience. Even I don't live that well in my every day life.
Everyone that goes on a cruise, or even thinks of going on one. Needs to watch this and other videos on the crew of a ship. Just so they can get an understand all the hard work they go through. And this is from an Entertainer. I'm sure those that are Waiters, the cleaning services, and others have a much more difficult then what you see on here.
Luxury Quarters!!! I spent 22 years in the Navy aboard aircraft carriers. Shared heads and showers, A rack with locker underneath and a small stand-up locker.
Those conditions are why navy recruitment is at an all time low. There's rumblings that navy ships (around the world) either go autonomous to reduce required staff or go luxury to attract the young people who don't want to live and work in difficult conditions. Time will tell which way they'll go, otherwise there really won't be much of a navy force in ten or fifteen years.
Very nicely done! Good job on showing the crew areas and providing details. Glad to see they are decent-looking, the crew members deserve it! Thanks for your great channel...
I took the All Access tour on the Allure of the Seas and loved every minute of it. Our group got to see a lot of what goes on in the life of a crew member.
8 months on Princess Cruises in food and beverage department back in the 2000s. Started from the lowest possible position, night shift cleaning and collecting dishes in the crew mess. Had 2x2 m cabin with no window, under the water level, with bunk beds and a bathroom shared with another room. There were 3 "levels" of crew - us, the lowest, then the "staff" so shops, casinos, entertainers etc, and finally officers. Each had their own crew mess with significantly better food for officers and really bad for us down on the bottom of the chain. We could not enter staff or officers mess let alone eat there. The staff and officers were allowed to eat in passengers buffet while we were not. One of my jobs was to work in the passengers buffet and seeing staff eating there was upsetting to me at the time. We could also not visit any passenger areas without a uniform and a valid reason. But all of us were "stealing" food from the passenger restaurants just to be able to have a good quality steak every now and then haha. We did 11 - 13 hours per day with no days off and only occasional 4 - 5 h time off during the day to get off the ship. Maybe once every few weeks. Also the shifts were done in a way that you started at 5am and finished at 11 pm (or sometimes 1am) with two breaks a couple of hours each during the day. So 6h sleep in one go was the maximum you could have if you went to bed immediately. Which nobody did cause you really needed a drink and a chat with friends after every single day being like a Walmart on Black Friday :D I became a borderline alcoholic and busted my knee just before the end of my contract from lack of rest. The "at least you travel for free" part did not apply to my role much. No time or energy to do any serious sightseeing apart from occasional visit to a restaurant ashore for some proper food. Never again. At least not as crew. In another life I would defo consider coming back as an officer though. These guys have awesome perks. Thanks for sharing this video. The entertainer's point of view is very interesting. I hope that the situation for the crew lower down the ranks has improved since my time. PS I love going for cruises and I'm incredibly thankful for the experience of working on a ship before cause this gives me such massive feeling of gratitude to be able to enjoy "the other side" of things :)
@@bjbj3853 They do (or did during my time at least). On the last day of every cruise they would set up a desk in the crew area and we'd queue to collect the gratuities in cash. At that time the amount we'd get would depend on the rank and how many passengers actually paid the gratuities. Initially I'd be getting like $100 per cruise or so plus the official "salary" of about $200 per month from what I remember. The amounts would increase with each promotion but would also depend on the area where the ship was sailing. The more Americans on board the better the pay. If we had more passengers where the tipping culture is different we would get significantly less money. Then there was cash in hand from the passengers but that applied only to passenger facing roles so dining room, bars etc. Also doing week long cruises was so much better money wise than say 10 day cruises. These days when I cruise I always pay gratuities plus cash in hand for everyone who provided great service. Cash in hand is the best and only way to thank the underpaid and overworked crew...
@@eskimoundercover I hoped this was the case. I also always pay gratuities but wasn’t sure the crew actually got it. Nice to know it doesn’t get sucked up by the cruise line.
@@eskimoundercover Good to know! I always pay gratuity + extra cash on the last night to the ones who serviced me directly, like cabin attendant and servers. They usually do such a good job, I’m glad they’re actually receiving and keeping the tips. It sucks that the ones who work the hardest aren’t visible for guests to tip directly.
I liked hearing about crew life. I'm glad that they have a place to unwind after constantly serving guests like me! Thanks Royal for looking out for your employees.
Many thanks, Matt, and for all contributing employees who live on cruise-ships. Very nice to hear the facts about the inconveniences versus the amenities and special benefits for employees only. Their cabins are basically large closets with a focus on a place to sleep. Otherwise, they, like most guests, are spending most of the time enjoying the bigger spaces of the ship, doing their work in a space that offers a wide variety of activities, and would be very different from the jobs and workplaces that most other people have...that are much smaller, less fun, few or no amenities, and never move. (Smile) so, from my observations, working on a cruise-line is better than working on land in a typical hotel or restaurant. Much more vacation-leave, for instance, and all-expenses-paid global travel as a daily bonus.
My dining room assistant-waiter said he works 7 days a week for at least 8 months to potentially earn few days off-- depending on his performance review.
Many years ago I was invited to the crew bar on the old QE2 before its major overhaul. It certainly didn't look like the one shown here, basically it was two very basic industrial compartments open up to be one larger compartment. The opening was accomplished with an acetylene torch and the burn marks had not been retouched with any paint. The crew in this area was largely deck seamen, who don't usually interact with passengers, and they were having a good time, really good, drinks were very cheap and they had had their share and more. Most of the quarters looked like what I had on one of our older Coast Guard cutters or other naval vessels, not fancy but livable, nowhere near what these cabins look like. Actually my cabin on the QE2 didn't look as good as these but aside from sleeping I didn't spend much time in the cabin. The old Queen was definitely a 'class' ship and I was tourist class. We were not allowed in first class areas and ate in 'tables of the world' dining room with ex merchant seamen as waiters, they had the ink and bad teeth to prove it but were a whole lot more fun to deal with than the princely types in the high priced rooms. 'Class' not only affected the passengers but there was big 'class' differences in the crew, there was this obvious gap between the officers and the working crew. I had been on Norwegian and German ships before and didn't see this as much. I'm glad that the working folks are living better now.
My friend was a pastry chef on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship for two years before she quit she had to share a room with four other women and it was tiny and cramps luckily they all had a similar work schedule so they would all be in there sleeping at once and not waking each other up. But it was grueling.
@@csjrogerson2377 ;-) I was on a submarine; we did not even have our own bed. And no shower onboard. But we had better (but not as fancy) food than on a cruise ship. I know, I have sailed over 30 years on cruise ships.
Old Navy guy here. Remember, racks (beds) 6 high! In a hold for 100 men, ONE bathroom. No lockers. Racks are cotton canvas with grommet holes strung to an continuous steel bar by a rope. You get One mattress, rubber , one inch thick. For 6 months. But I loved the Navy!
I spent 2.5 years working for Celebrity Cruises in 2007/8/9 GREAT video... very on point. Best time of my life.... Also, most crew members share a cabin, and yes, only entertainers get their own cabin.
@@norseman5041 I was in the chief engineers cabin once as well. It was pretty much just as big as the captains cabin. I think it was the same configuration just on the port side of the floor.
I served Dutch navy for 38 years. Despite Dutch navy vessels are considered (for mil standards) ‘on standard’ the ‘crew only’ quarters of cruise ships are really luxurious. Sharing cabins and bunkbeds is normal.
not all crew members have same type of cabin like he has because he's an entertainer. but if you're a part of F&B dept for example, you need to share that cabin for another person. in other ship or company, they have a cabin that good for 4 or 5 person.
For Quantum/Quantum Ultra Class and Oasis Class ships, single shared bath cabins (like the one on the video) are also given to crew who are not part of cruise division/entertainment if they are 1 or 2 stripe crew or if they already 5 years in the company regardless of their position and division. It depends on the HR/crew admin if they will give it to you right away when you sign on or you can just request it.
i know of a former roommate of mine that as a internship sailed on a ship of the Holland America Line. As someone in training to become a mate. (starting as a 4th mate) they also had just a bed often however as a mate he and other deck officers were allowed to use the launch area of the first mate. that room was pretty big.
My dining room assistant-waiter said he works 7 days a week for at least 8 months to potentially earn few days off-- depending on his performance review.
Hi Matt! I've been a crew on RCG! My last ship was Wonder. Single shared-bath cabins are usually given to entertainment crew and 1 to 2 stripe crew(culinary admin, f&b admin, hotel admin, guest services staff, shore ex staff, and more) BUT it is also given as privilege to crew who've been in the company for 5 or more years regardless of their position. I, for example, got a single shared-bath cabin(just like James's) because I just had my 5th anniversary working at RCG when I signed on Wonder and my work position is not even a stripe officer. 2.5 stripe and 3 stripe officers has bigger single cabins. Maybe James' friend who got a virtual porthole cabin because they are a dance/vocal captain or they are a guest entertainer. Btw, we also have crew salon onboard and our fellow crew can sign up at the HR center if they want to become part time barber.
@@earsiecowart1256 I just got off yesterday and asked my waiter if he was off on our last day but he told me, they don't get any days off. For my room attendant, I asked him the same question and he gets one day off, they work really hard on the cruise ships. My advice would be to sign the shortest agreement maybe 3 or 4 months, they all seem to have 7 month contracts.
They do not allow crewmembers to overindulge in alcohol they are very limited to the amount they can drink because they have to be alert at all times in case of emergency
hello. I'm just finished the maritime academy in Singapore. but i still don't know if i should be with the merchant navy and cargo shipping companies or work on a cruise ship. any advice ? 🤔
To me, the rooms should be at minimum as well as the lowest priced room. After all, if the crew isn't feeling it, the ship doesn't run. Don't treat crew like they should be out of sight.
Hello Everyone, is James doing the cpr on wrong side @5.4 I thought cpr should be applied to towards little left side of where the heart resides? I feel like james is not on the right spot.
I joined cruise ship a year ago, but I face sea sickness and loneliness when I stay alone, can I get shared room even when I become officer as I prefer living with a room partner. Plz reply
I guess you have to look at this in perspective. What was it like for crew members in the Age of Sail in wooden vessels? What was life like for crew members in military all metal naval warships and vessels like destroyers, cruisers, battleships, carriers? It appears the owners and operators of modern recreational cruise ships gave a lot of thought and consideration to the health, welfare, and morale of their civilian crew members. Yes, the work hours are long, but life for crew members on modern day vast recreational cruise ships are far in advance of anything in the past.
Was deck crew on a couple of British passenger ships back in the 70,s always had a good time back then in the crew bars ,there was usually 4 in a cabin at that time I know some ships had more the food wasn’t that brilliant we had a separate crew galley
Had the internet and YT videos like these existed in 1975, my life would have been vastly different. Sooo many jobs exist that I never knew of, was never educated about or even imagined could exist. Who knew "dial 0" telephone operators and answering services would become obsolete? Damn. I sure...missed the boat lol!
Its a great deal better than I thought it would have been. I would have thought that four crew members (non officers) had to share a single cabin in two bunk beds with the only privacy being a curtain blocking the bed from view from the other people sharing the cabin, the genders don't share cabins. As for the officers I would think they had their own cabin but smaller than passengers cabins with the exception of the captain and some of the senior officers. The food choices are far better than I thought also. I would have thought they, the non officers, where feed like in the navy where you go through the chow line and you eat what is offered. As for the officers I would have assumed they have their own mess hall if they did not eat with the passengers aka the captains table.
On most cruise ships, sharing private time with passengers is automatic fire. It makes the cruise line vulnerable if the passenger claims foul play later.
@@Bess9779 You are absolutely correct, though back when I first started working ships, the security was almost non existent and if one was meticulously careful, one could get away with it. 9 out of 10 times, it would be the female passengers who would instigate these ‘meetings’ I was in my twenties and could resist everything except temptation… The key phrase is ‘Don’t get caught’.
@@paulnicolosi4792 Young Paul, you dont know what temptation is until you been tempted...music, ladies and cabins....I wonder if that gets a lil Poet of the Seas, speaking of musicians, I was shocked to learn this elder gentleman performing on a cruise for the show department that he could just pickup any of the many instruments he brought out on stage and play as if it was a toy like that and I didn't even know his name before that moment. Its kinda crazy how talented musicians sometimes just get swept under big names or can't really convert that talent into an easier living, I would have thought given his talents he should be on some island and enjoying himself unless of course he really enjoys music but considering it is not a charity act...I just cant rule that one out. As for the cruise naming conventions, I think the of the Seas really stuck with me, easy to remember yet so powerful given that they got to represent the biggest more or less every year and how many words are capable in the dictionary...I quite like Wonder of the Seas...wonder when we going to get Landmark of the Seas...or Poseidon of My Seas....with truly robotic goodness all around...given the amount they pour in every year to remain the biggest it kinda make sense but not using some great person to name is kind of refreshing...good old dictionary of words but I guess it would take a few hundred years to go through all the good words that you can relate and pair with the sea so it should still continue for some time. Is there a cruise pass membership that gets you that access to all cruise ships? I think that power sharing is kind of the issue for passengers/guests...same with airlines...there is no one global membership to join and since they can't cross platform with their miles/points...getting stacked benefits is challenging. Feel free anyone, to drop your fav cruise pass or airline pass program that covers as many companies as possible.
I used to work uniformed security at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro Ca.. One day, a cruise ship remained overnight...I was posted at the passenger gangway along with a security officer from the ship itself. Some of the passengers had gone ashore, but not too many so we didn't have much work to do so we just chatted with each other....How these people who do the rank and file work on those ships have to work and live...Mind blowing... We took our breaks and "lunch" in the crew's mess....The food was delicious...And the coffee even better. The people who did work in the crew mess, really quite good service...
I think Chris' videos being a working crew member, as opposed to entertainment staff, is much more realistic. I could live in a cubby cabin for 6-8 months, but NOT have to share it. I would go nuts. LOL.
Cool the crew looks like they live in a miniature RV. Trust me for being a former aircraft carrier, Navy sailor that’s living like a king I’ll take it remember on military ships ships are meant to accommodate the weapons and their systems. The crew comes fourth place.
Single cabin for crew is almost impossible to get, only officers can get single cabin and maybe concessionaire. This good things that they represented here is 10% of real life on the ship, 90% is whole different story - small cabin for two, really bad food, to long working hours (12+ hour a day), not going ashore...
All Marine officers have single cabins with bathroom. 3 Stripe and up have cabins with a separate bedroom in addition to the bathroom. 4 stripe cabins usually have bedroom, kitchen, walk in closet, bathtub and a big living room with a dining room table. The last vessel I was on, my living room was at least 4x7 meter. Bedroom 3x3 meter, walk in closet, was only 1x1,5 Meter. Kitchen was small only, 1X1 meter.
Regardless of what their quarters maybe like, it is far better than the country that they came from. Some 13 years ago we were on a 2 week med cruise with Royal Caribbean. It was our best cruise by far. My wife loved the young girl who took care of our suite that she was ready to adopt her & bring her home. Until I pointed out that she would be the perfect age for my mistress. I was kidding, but that ended my wife wanting to adopt this beautiful hard working young woman. You may think they are being used, but this life is far better than anything in their home country. Shalom
This is not true. The cruise ships I have worked on keeps workers in suspended animation pods for the entire time we were not working. That way there was a lot more room for workers and they tended to be very well rested while working.
As always, spoken far too quickly. Many text passages difficult to understand. I think the report is too positive. I do not believe that each crew member has a single cabin. I rather assume that there are mass accommodations for most crew members.
What if some passengers are very drunk and don't read 'crew only' sign in the floor level when the elevator doors open and think that it is the same floor for passengers and end up looking for their rooms but turn out to be crews' rooms?
Heh, worked on a cargo ship for a while, and our crew quarters were huge compared to crew cabins on the cruise ships. Remind me never to work on a cruise ship. :P
I was a submarine sailor. That _"Single"_ room could hold two more racks. It looks to be the same size as a _Submarine Officer's Stateroom,_ which sleeps three. We didn't have any bars either. It was strictly _BYOB, and don't get caught._
I’ve been on a few royal carrabian cruise and looked in a few staff only areas it’s really cool to see and I hope they get to enjoy the carved brisket sliders cause those are the best.
I think having a (honest) tour of the crew-only area is a great idea. Seeing how the very people, who make the ship work, live, eat and what amenities they have, hopefully would lead to greater understanding and appreciation by passengers for crew members. By the same token, I learned more about what air-hostesses have to put up with, by actually having one as a friend. I was always polite to cabin crew (either gender) but especially when I realized just how important they were in keeping the plane functioning.
I remember the crew areas on some of the cruise ships where I performed. Some of the areas were the orlop decks where these big burly guys shoveled coal into the furnaces and grumbled. 😉
.it's a long passageway that gets one from bow to stern, similar to how an interstate gets one quickly from one area to another, thus the comparison to Interstate 95. nothing to do with the paperwork of the same name
I took a behind the scenes tour of a ship and I tell ya, the crew menu is 10 times better than the guest menu. A whole bunch of exotic dishes to be had.
That makes sense. A lot of cruise ship employees are Asian, specifically Filipino. So they would have more Asian dishes for employees. Having your favorite food is a big moral booster.
I wanted to do the behind-the-scenes tour on royal Caribbean oasis of the seas when I sailed a year ago but unfortunately they weren’t doing it on that sailing. I did it on the Norwegian gem ship and it was pretty neat. The only access I had to the crew area on oasis was when my mom got Covid on board and I went to the medical facility to get a Covid test
I was a crew member on Royal Caribbean and a single cabin is an extreme luxury for crew! Most crew members sleep in bunkbeds and share a cabin with no porthole.
Ben, most employees have inside cabins without portholes; could a good reason for that to have a dark room for good sleeping regardless of which shift persons are working? I prefer a dark room for good sleeping and therefore choose Inside Cabins when I am a guest.
Balcony would be nice!
Like f&b staff and housekeeping etc?
Performers and some entertainment techs get single cabins.
yep no porthole some with connecting bathroom if ship travel icy gletser your temperature room will be drop, man i wish we have a balcony room so during brake we can enjoy beautiful scenic of ports and sea ☺
Also worth noting that as a performer, he gets WAY nicer amenities than international crew
What other amenities do they get?
@@LoganPlaysGamingI talked to some workers in a perfume shop on a cruise ship (not royal Caribbean). They said that while the performers and entertainment staff are allowed to interact and socialise with passengers, using passenger bars, restaurants, events, ect, the rest of the staff, so cooks, shop workers ect cannot. We eventually convinced them to join us at a bar later that night and apparently they had to sneak out in order to do so.
International crew? Ya mean the Filipinos. They are the only ones to do those shitty jobs
I worked on an older Royal Caribbean ship 20 years ago and it was a world away from these modern vessels. I shared a tiny cabin with another girl but at least we had a porthole to look out of. I worked in the onboard shops but the hours were long, food only just passable, and alcohol too plentiful and cheap. We still had it way better than some other departments though as at least we had a few hours off when in port and better conditions all round. We'd even have a crew party every Monday night when everyone would blow off steam, but unfortunately boat drill was first-thing on a Tuesday morning! You can imagine what that looked like.
Been there done that on merchant ships
They really did always schedule boat drill on the worst days.
But nothing like making 1000 crew stand stand around in the hot sun while hungover.
Ahhhh…. The crew parties. And the inevitable ‘Walk of Shame’ the next morning.
Trye
Can you help me to apply for a job please
Did the All Access Tour on Allure last year. They take you to many places which are not open to the public.
Bridge, I-95, galleys, storage areas, engineering, etc.
Highly recommend.
I worked on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity in the 90s and was lucky enough to have my own cabin with a porthole because I was a manager (broadcast). Most people share on the ships, at least 2 per room but also 4. There is very much a class system on the ships and there are definite divisions between crew and staff. Staff are mostly Americans, Canadians and Europeans and they operate most of the front facing jobs - front desk, shore excursions, broadcast, cruise staff, entertainers, shop staff, casino staff. Staff have better cabins, separate dining and bars from the crew, better pay and more rights. Crew are from poorer countries, work really hard, depend on tips, live 4 to a cabin below water level and so on.
Yeah Filipinos
They are the only ones that will do those shitty jobs
I'm glad to see the crew are treated well and have decent amenities. I just got back from a Royal Carribean cruise, and the staff were all really great and deserve good accomodations. Of course, we can't it to be as nice as the guests' experience. Even I don't live that well in my every day life.
I was a crew member on the USS KITTYHAWK , not a bad cruise , got to see Vietnam , 😎
Got to see exotic locations and then show them some US fireworks?
My uncle served on that ship
Thank you for your service!
Everyone that goes on a cruise, or even thinks of going on one. Needs to watch this and other videos on the crew of a ship. Just so they can get an understand all the hard work they go through. And this is from an Entertainer. I'm sure those that are Waiters, the cleaning services, and others have a much more difficult then what you see on here.
Should get plenty time off!
@irenedavo3768 should but don't
Thanks Matt, I really appreciate seeing the crew area. Would love seeing more of the crew daily life that makes our cruise awesome.
Luxury Quarters!!! I spent 22 years in the Navy aboard aircraft carriers. Shared heads and showers, A rack with locker underneath and a small stand-up locker.
Thank you for your 22 years of service!
Those conditions are why navy recruitment is at an all time low. There's rumblings that navy ships (around the world) either go autonomous to reduce required staff or go luxury to attract the young people who don't want to live and work in difficult conditions. Time will tell which way they'll go, otherwise there really won't be much of a navy force in ten or fifteen years.
When I watched "The Love Boat" the most unbelievable part was the giant cabins the crew members all had. 😂
Very nicely done!
Good job on showing the crew areas and providing details.
Glad to see they are decent-looking, the crew members deserve it!
Thanks for your great channel...
I took the All Access tour on the Allure of the Seas and loved every minute of it. Our group got to see a lot of what goes on in the life of a crew member.
8 months on Princess Cruises in food and beverage department back in the 2000s. Started from the lowest possible position, night shift cleaning and collecting dishes in the crew mess. Had 2x2 m cabin with no window, under the water level, with bunk beds and a bathroom shared with another room. There were 3 "levels" of crew - us, the lowest, then the "staff" so shops, casinos, entertainers etc, and finally officers. Each had their own crew mess with significantly better food for officers and really bad for us down on the bottom of the chain. We could not enter staff or officers mess let alone eat there. The staff and officers were allowed to eat in passengers buffet while we were not. One of my jobs was to work in the passengers buffet and seeing staff eating there was upsetting to me at the time. We could also not visit any passenger areas without a uniform and a valid reason. But all of us were "stealing" food from the passenger restaurants just to be able to have a good quality steak every now and then haha. We did 11 - 13 hours per day with no days off and only occasional 4 - 5 h time off during the day to get off the ship. Maybe once every few weeks. Also the shifts were done in a way that you started at 5am and finished at 11 pm (or sometimes 1am) with two breaks a couple of hours each during the day. So 6h sleep in one go was the maximum you could have if you went to bed immediately. Which nobody did cause you really needed a drink and a chat with friends after every single day being like a Walmart on Black Friday :D I became a borderline alcoholic and busted my knee just before the end of my contract from lack of rest. The "at least you travel for free" part did not apply to my role much. No time or energy to do any serious sightseeing apart from occasional visit to a restaurant ashore for some proper food. Never again. At least not as crew. In another life I would defo consider coming back as an officer though. These guys have awesome perks. Thanks for sharing this video. The entertainer's point of view is very interesting. I hope that the situation for the crew lower down the ranks has improved since my time.
PS I love going for cruises and I'm incredibly thankful for the experience of working on a ship before cause this gives me such massive feeling of gratitude to be able to enjoy "the other side" of things :)
I always wondered, do the daily tips actually make it to the crew or does the line keep it?
@@bjbj3853 They do (or did during my time at least). On the last day of every cruise they would set up a desk in the crew area and we'd queue to collect the gratuities in cash. At that time the amount we'd get would depend on the rank and how many passengers actually paid the gratuities. Initially I'd be getting like $100 per cruise or so plus the official "salary" of about $200 per month from what I remember. The amounts would increase with each promotion but would also depend on the area where the ship was sailing. The more Americans on board the better the pay. If we had more passengers where the tipping culture is different we would get significantly less money. Then there was cash in hand from the passengers but that applied only to passenger facing roles so dining room, bars etc. Also doing week long cruises was so much better money wise than say 10 day cruises. These days when I cruise I always pay gratuities plus cash in hand for everyone who provided great service. Cash in hand is the best and only way to thank the underpaid and overworked crew...
@@eskimoundercover I hoped this was the case. I also always pay gratuities but wasn’t sure the crew actually got it. Nice to know it doesn’t get sucked up by the cruise line.
@@eskimoundercover Good to know! I always pay gratuity + extra cash on the last night to the ones who serviced me directly, like cabin attendant and servers. They usually do such a good job, I’m glad they’re actually receiving and keeping the tips. It sucks that the ones who work the hardest aren’t visible for guests to tip directly.
Guess the people below, like the engine or the waste department, laundry keeping and some electricians, will never see the day of their tips too.
I liked hearing about crew life. I'm glad that they have a place to unwind after constantly serving guests like me! Thanks Royal for looking out for your employees.
They are treated like slaves.
Sorry to burst out your bubble, but Royal makes us work to death 🙃 they can do much more to actually "look out after us".
Many thanks, Matt, and for all contributing employees who live on cruise-ships. Very nice to hear the facts about the inconveniences versus the amenities and special benefits for employees only. Their cabins are basically large closets with a focus on a place to sleep. Otherwise, they, like most guests, are spending most of the time enjoying the bigger spaces of the ship, doing their work in a space that offers a wide variety of activities, and would be very different from the jobs and workplaces that most other people have...that are much smaller, less fun, few or no amenities, and never move. (Smile) so, from my observations, working on a cruise-line is better than working on land in a typical hotel or restaurant. Much more vacation-leave, for instance, and all-expenses-paid global travel as a daily bonus.
My dining room assistant-waiter said he works 7 days a week for at least 8 months to potentially earn few days off-- depending on his performance review.
@@YeahBuoy yeah a lot of them apparently do pictures and other things during the day and work the dining room at night
@@YeahBuoy that's wrong!
Many years ago I was invited to the crew bar on the old QE2 before its major overhaul. It certainly didn't look like the one shown here, basically it was two very basic industrial compartments open up to be one larger compartment. The opening was accomplished with an acetylene torch and the burn marks had not been retouched with any paint. The crew in this area was largely deck seamen, who don't usually interact with passengers, and they were having a good time, really good, drinks were very cheap and they had had their share and more. Most of the quarters looked like what I had on one of our older Coast Guard cutters or other naval vessels, not fancy but livable, nowhere near what these cabins look like. Actually my cabin on the QE2 didn't look as good as these but aside from sleeping I didn't spend much time in the cabin. The old Queen was definitely a 'class' ship and I was tourist class. We were not allowed in first class areas and ate in 'tables of the world' dining room with ex merchant seamen as waiters, they had the ink and bad teeth to prove it but were a whole lot more fun to deal with than the princely types in the high priced rooms. 'Class' not only affected the passengers but there was big 'class' differences in the crew, there was this obvious gap between the officers and the working crew. I had been on Norwegian and German ships before and didn't see this as much. I'm glad that the working folks are living better now.
OMG Yes!!! I been following Bryan all year. He just gets me hyped to cruise on Wonder.
I was a crew member for 7 years onboard Voyager, Adventure, Explorer, Mariner, Freedom, Oasis and Allure. It was a great experience!
My friend was a pastry chef on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship for two years before she quit she had to share a room with four other women and it was tiny and cramps luckily they all had a similar work schedule so they would all be in there sleeping at once and not waking each other up. But it was grueling.
Try being in a warship in a mess of 24 working 18 hrs per day and everybody is on different shifts.
@@csjrogerson2377 ;-) I was on a submarine; we did not even have our own bed. And no shower onboard. But we had better (but not as fancy) food than on a cruise ship. I know, I have sailed over 30 years on cruise ships.
I just finished my second cruise ever, both this year and was wondering about this. Thanks for the upload.
Old Navy guy here. Remember, racks (beds) 6 high! In a hold for 100 men, ONE bathroom. No lockers. Racks are cotton canvas with grommet holes strung to an continuous steel bar by a rope. You get One mattress, rubber , one inch thick. For 6 months. But I loved the Navy!
Thank you, my niece is a dancer on a ship, so was interesting to see how she may be living
I spent 2.5 years working for Celebrity Cruises in 2007/8/9 GREAT video... very on point. Best time of my life.... Also, most crew members share a cabin, and yes, only entertainers get their own cabin.
Captain has to share too ?
@@norseman5041 Usually with his wife.
One captian meeting i was at in his cabins office he had his kid running around
I also worked for celebrity starting in 2008. 6 contracts. Millennium in New Zealand/Australia starting in late 2008 was my first contract.
@@dontpanic716 What about the Chief Engineer, he must have a huge room, since he is the most important guy onboard!
@@norseman5041 I was in the chief engineers cabin once as well. It was pretty much just as big as the captains cabin. I think it was the same configuration just on the port side of the floor.
I served Dutch navy for 38 years. Despite Dutch navy vessels are considered (for mil standards) ‘on standard’ the ‘crew only’ quarters of cruise ships are really luxurious. Sharing cabins and bunkbeds is normal.
Yeah, at least they aren't "hot bunking" like we did on submarines. Heh.
not all crew members have same type of cabin like he has because he's an entertainer. but if you're a part of F&B dept for example, you need to share that cabin for another person. in other ship or company, they have a cabin that good for 4 or 5 person.
For Quantum/Quantum Ultra Class and Oasis Class ships, single shared bath cabins (like the one on the video) are also given to crew who are not part of cruise division/entertainment if they are 1 or 2 stripe crew or if they already 5 years in the company regardless of their position and division. It depends on the HR/crew admin if they will give it to you right away when you sign on or you can just request it.
i know of a former roommate of mine that as a internship sailed on a ship of the Holland America Line. As someone in training to become a mate. (starting as a 4th mate)
they also had just a bed often however as a mate he and other deck officers were allowed to use the launch area of the first mate.
that room was pretty big.
Crew rooms looked like my dorm room! Just what is necessary, no luxury. To me, privacy would be more important than most things.
My dining room assistant-waiter said he works 7 days a week for at least 8 months to potentially earn few days off-- depending on his performance review.
This guys TikTok was Fascinating to binge!
Can crew members go to passenger part when they have a time off? Or are the limited to cew only?
Hi Matt! I've been a crew on RCG! My last ship was Wonder. Single shared-bath cabins are usually given to entertainment crew and 1 to 2 stripe crew(culinary admin, f&b admin, hotel admin, guest services staff, shore ex staff, and more) BUT it is also given as privilege to crew who've been in the company for 5 or more years regardless of their position. I, for example, got a single shared-bath cabin(just like James's) because I just had my 5th anniversary working at RCG when I signed on Wonder and my work position is not even a stripe officer. 2.5 stripe and 3 stripe officers has bigger single cabins. Maybe James' friend who got a virtual porthole cabin because they are a dance/vocal captain or they are a guest entertainer. Btw, we also have crew salon onboard and our fellow crew can sign up at the HR center if they want to become part time barber.
How does one get a job on a cruise ship?
@@matticeadam you can apply on Royal Caribbean's careers website
Question . I applied to a cook on the cruise .. they said you work every single day with no day off? Is that true
@@earsiecowart1256 I just got off yesterday and asked my waiter if he was off on our last day but he told me, they don't get any days off. For my room attendant, I asked him the same question and he gets one day off, they work really hard on the cruise ships. My advice would be to sign the shortest agreement maybe 3 or 4 months, they all seem to have 7 month contracts.
They do not allow crewmembers to overindulge in alcohol they are very limited to the amount they can drink because they have to be alert at all times in case of emergency
i worked on the titanic for 1 year. It was a great experience.
Why are so many comments about how easy this looks compared to serving on a military ship? So weird to compare...
Glad to see the N64 in the video :)
Can't travel without it!
Thank Matt. Interesting. Have you seen this one from Sparks? There is a segment on the crew.
MSC Seaside, Life Onboard One Of The Biggest Cruise Ships
Work on cruise ship m/s southward back in the old days,we had porthole, but four man cabin,big up port Antonio shippys
This is the best movie I've ever seen.
It's groovy alright.
hello. I'm just finished the maritime academy in Singapore. but i still don't know if i should be with the merchant navy and cargo shipping companies or work on a cruise ship. any advice ? 🤔
For life as a crewmember and behind-the-scenes on an RC ship I like the channel of Wanderlust Alley.
What a fun and informative video! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
To me, the rooms should be at minimum as well as the lowest priced room. After all, if the crew isn't feeling it, the ship doesn't run. Don't treat crew like they should be out of sight.
I’m a former ship worker and sorry, but we ARE supposed to be out of sight-It’s a job, not a vacation.
Start a cruise company and try this strategy.😅
Sleeping quarters on Sovereign of The Seas were 4:1 bunks to interior cabin when I performed aboard her.
Hello Everyone, is James doing the cpr on wrong side @5.4 I thought cpr should be applied to towards little left side of where the heart resides? I feel like james is not on the right spot.
Wow Thank you for sharing this is helpful as I'm looking forward to work in a cruise one day ❤
I joined cruise ship a year ago, but I face sea sickness and loneliness when I stay alone, can I get shared room even when I become officer as I prefer living with a room partner. Plz reply
Thanks, Matt! Bryan is a personal friend of mine.
Bryan is awesome!
I guess you have to look at this in perspective. What was it like for crew members in the Age of Sail in wooden vessels? What was life like for crew members in military all metal naval warships and vessels like destroyers, cruisers, battleships, carriers? It appears the owners and operators of modern recreational cruise ships gave a lot of thought and consideration to the health, welfare, and morale of their civilian crew members. Yes, the work hours are long, but life for crew members on modern day vast recreational cruise ships are far in advance of anything in the past.
very interesting vid always wondered about where the crew stays and what it's like
Was deck crew on a couple of British passenger ships back in the 70,s always had a good time back then in the crew bars ,there was usually 4 in a cabin at that time I know some ships had more the food wasn’t that brilliant we had a separate crew galley
Had the internet and YT videos like these existed in 1975, my life would have been vastly different. Sooo many jobs exist that I never knew of, was never educated about or even imagined could exist. Who knew "dial 0" telephone operators and answering services would become obsolete? Damn. I sure...missed the boat lol!
Its a great deal better than I thought it would have been. I would have thought that four crew members (non officers) had to share a single cabin in two bunk beds with the only privacy being a curtain blocking the bed from view from the other people sharing the cabin, the genders don't share cabins. As for the officers I would think they had their own cabin but smaller than passengers cabins with the exception of the captain and some of the senior officers.
The food choices are far better than I thought also. I would have thought they, the non officers, where feed like in the navy where you go through the chow line and you eat what is offered. As for the officers I would have assumed they have their own mess hall if they did not eat with the passengers aka the captains table.
i'm a crew member on a cruise ship, and i have a double bed with a porthole. Long days of working also.
Very informative, but horrible sound quality. Volume kept fluctuating. Try a Shure mic and that should make a huge difference.
💗Behind-the-scenes videos!
As a shipboard musician, on many ships, I gave quite a few female passengers a tour of the crew area.
On most cruise ships, sharing private time with passengers is automatic fire. It makes the cruise line vulnerable if the passenger claims foul play later.
@@Bess9779 You are absolutely correct, though back when I first started working ships, the security was almost non existent and if one was meticulously careful, one could get away with it.
9 out of 10 times, it would be the female passengers who would instigate these ‘meetings’ I was in my twenties and could resist everything except temptation…
The key phrase is ‘Don’t get caught’.
@@paulnicolosi4792 Young Paul, you dont know what temptation is until you been tempted...music, ladies and cabins....I wonder if that gets a lil Poet of the Seas, speaking of musicians, I was shocked to learn this elder gentleman performing on a cruise for the show department that he could just pickup any of the many instruments he brought out on stage and play as if it was a toy like that and I didn't even know his name before that moment. Its kinda crazy how talented musicians sometimes just get swept under big names or can't really convert that talent into an easier living, I would have thought given his talents he should be on some island and enjoying himself unless of course he really enjoys music but considering it is not a charity act...I just cant rule that one out.
As for the cruise naming conventions, I think the of the Seas really stuck with me, easy to remember yet so powerful given that they got to represent the biggest more or less every year and how many words are capable in the dictionary...I quite like Wonder of the Seas...wonder when we going to get Landmark of the Seas...or Poseidon of My Seas....with truly robotic goodness all around...given the amount they pour in every year to remain the biggest it kinda make sense but not using some great person to name is kind of refreshing...good old dictionary of words but I guess it would take a few hundred years to go through all the good words that you can relate and pair with the sea so it should still continue for some time.
Is there a cruise pass membership that gets you that access to all cruise ships? I think that power sharing is kind of the issue for passengers/guests...same with airlines...there is no one global membership to join and since they can't cross platform with their miles/points...getting stacked benefits is challenging.
Feel free anyone, to drop your fav cruise pass or airline pass program that covers as many companies as possible.
you watch to many movies
What a Muppet
I used to work uniformed security at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro Ca..
One day, a cruise ship remained overnight...I was posted at the passenger gangway along with a security officer from the ship itself.
Some of the passengers had gone ashore, but not too many so we didn't have much work to do so we just chatted with each other....How these people who do the rank and file work on those ships have to work and live...Mind blowing...
We took our breaks and "lunch" in the crew's mess....The food was delicious...And the coffee even better.
The people who did work in the crew mess, really quite good service...
We also have Chris Wong that has showed us many crew only areas.
I think Chris' videos being a working crew member, as opposed to entertainment staff, is much more realistic. I could live in a cubby cabin for 6-8 months, but NOT have to share it. I would go nuts. LOL.
The one with the balcony was because she was under quarantine during the Covid times, the main crew rooms are not like that.
Accommodations are still better than in the Navy!
I sign onto the Voyager OTS June 12 2023 outta Galveston as Cruise Staff. Come say hello if ya'all are on the ship in the next six months!
Cool the crew looks like they live in a miniature RV. Trust me for being a former aircraft carrier, Navy sailor that’s living like a king I’ll take it remember on military ships ships are meant to accommodate the weapons and their systems. The crew comes fourth place.
Single cabin for crew is almost impossible to get, only officers can get single cabin and maybe concessionaire. This good things that they represented here is 10% of real life on the ship, 90% is whole different story - small cabin for two, really bad food, to long working hours (12+ hour a day), not going ashore...
In some other ships they have 2 or 4 peoples in a crew cabin, only officers have private cabin
All Marine officers have single cabins with bathroom. 3 Stripe and up have cabins with a separate bedroom in addition to the bathroom. 4 stripe cabins usually have bedroom, kitchen, walk in closet, bathtub and a big living room with a dining room table. The last vessel I was on, my living room was at least 4x7 meter. Bedroom 3x3 meter, walk in closet, was only 1x1,5 Meter. Kitchen was small only, 1X1 meter.
Regardless of what their quarters maybe like, it is far better than the country that they came from. Some 13 years ago we were on a 2 week med cruise with Royal Caribbean. It was our best cruise by far. My wife loved the young girl who took care of our suite that she was ready to adopt her & bring her home. Until I pointed out that she would be the perfect age for my mistress. I was kidding, but that ended my wife wanting to adopt this beautiful hard working young woman. You may think they are being used, but this life is far better than anything in their home country. Shalom
Lol your wife is blessed to have you as a husband 😅
This is not true. The cruise ships I have worked on keeps workers in suspended animation pods for the entire time we were not working. That way there was a lot more room for workers and they tended to be very well rested while working.
As always, spoken far too quickly. Many text passages difficult to understand. I think the report is too positive. I do not believe that each crew member has a single cabin. I rather assume that there are mass accommodations for most crew members.
You can change the video speed in the settings of the video.
What if some passengers are very drunk and don't read 'crew only' sign in the floor level when the elevator doors open and think that it is the same floor for passengers and end up looking for their rooms but turn out to be crews' rooms?
Heh, worked on a cargo ship for a while, and our crew quarters were huge compared to crew cabins on the cruise ships. Remind me never to work on a cruise ship. :P
Do crew have to pay for their food and drinks or is it part of their pay?
I would hope food and non alcoholic drinks are covered.
He's not crew, he's a entertainer, and they get better rooms etc.
I was a submarine sailor. That _"Single"_ room could hold two more racks. It looks to be the same size as a _Submarine Officer's Stateroom,_ which sleeps three. We didn't have any bars either. It was strictly _BYOB, and don't get caught._
dam those crew cabins are big
The crew cabins look like the tiny NY apartments.
Do crew members get paid well?
Can the crew mingle with passengers or is there some policy making them stay away?
They can mingle, as in have conversations and whatnot. Certain crew can hang out in guest bars/restaurants.
Those are paradise compared to a deployment in the Navy.
I’ve been on a few royal carrabian cruise and looked in a few staff only areas it’s really cool to see and I hope they get to enjoy the carved brisket sliders cause those are the best.
I believe these treatments only for performer, entertainer or high rank crew.
you don't issue laundry soap and fabric conditioners to your crew?
Tight Ass's
I wanna ask does cruise ship sponsors Crew or workers Visa from Africa
Still better than ships crew quarters aboard a Naval vessel…
🙋🏼
obviously. that's why we don't listen to recruiters
Everyone I've ever known that's worked on a cruise ship said it was basically Hell.
Back in 2014 when I was on their cruise ship it was possible to book a tour of the crew-only area.
I think having a (honest) tour of the crew-only area is a great idea. Seeing how the very people, who make the ship work, live, eat and what amenities they have, hopefully would lead to greater understanding and appreciation by passengers for crew members.
By the same token, I learned more about what air-hostesses have to put up with, by actually having one as a friend. I was always polite to cabin crew (either gender) but especially when I realized just how important they were in keeping the plane functioning.
This was very interesting. Very cool.
Very interesting thanks for posting
Solid video. Very informative.
I remember the crew areas on some of the cruise ships where I performed. Some of the areas were the orlop decks where these big burly guys shoveled coal into the furnaces and grumbled. 😉
12 hrs shift for 10 months … without a single off for 10 months. Workloads are too much
lol. it's up to you live right for the money! crazy!
I heard I-95 was in reference to Form I-95 used for foreign national crew member.
.it's a long passageway that gets one from bow to stern, similar to how an interstate gets one quickly from one area to another, thus the comparison to Interstate 95. nothing to do with the paperwork of the same name
Wow you should be on a season of below deck
Those berthings are better than anything I had in 22 years in the Navy.
American based Cruise ships have I 95 , UK based Cruise ships have the M1 passageways
Thanks for showing us this
Thats still nicer than any berthing I had in the military, USCG and USN.
Thank you for your years of service!
I took a behind the scenes tour of a ship and I tell ya, the crew menu is 10 times better than the guest menu. A whole bunch of exotic dishes to be had.
That makes sense. A lot of cruise ship employees are Asian, specifically Filipino. So they would have more Asian dishes for employees. Having your favorite food is a big moral booster.
I wanted to do the behind-the-scenes tour on royal Caribbean oasis of the seas when I sailed a year ago but unfortunately they weren’t doing it on that sailing. I did it on the Norwegian gem ship and it was pretty neat. The only access I had to the crew area on oasis was when my mom got Covid on board and I went to the medical facility to get a Covid test
You can be a king or a street sweeper
and if you fall off the ship without anyone seeing
you going to dance with the Reaper
Thx, loved it!