Cruising 101, Part 3: Behind the Scenes on the Ship
- Jan 9, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 22
This blog series is for travelers who are beginners to cruising.
Cruising 101 Part 3: Behind the Scenes on a Ship
When you book a cruise, you are asked if you want to pay your gratuities in advance or have it billed to you when you clear your account on disembarkation day. Why is there tipping? Read on and see who are the folks who are making your cruise nice:
How does a Cruise Ship Sail? Since a cruise ship is essentially a full-service floating resort, it can take as many as 1400 people to make your vacation an awesome experience. (First thing to remember: it's always a ship, never a boat!) The captain: in charge of the ship and is the ultimate authority, usually has attended a maritime academy and/or graduate school and is licensed/certified and has to have many years of experience working the way up the ladder, through 3rd, 2nd and 1st mate positions, staff captain/chief mate and taking umpteen exams. This journey can take at least 10 years.
The officers: are usually dressed in the white uniforms or in their dress blacks in the evening. This category includes the engineers, radio officers, oil people and plumbers (not maintenance).
Dining: there is a head chef, and staff (baker, sous chef, etc) and a head waiter and staff. For the wait staff, there may be intermediary positions. This staff works in the dining room and at the buffets. Along side of these are the bartenders, who work at the various bars throughout the ship. They also work on the private islands owned by the cruise line when you are there for a day.
Maintenance and housekeeping: these important people keep our staterooms looking pretty and working properly, from fixing the toilet to cleaning up after the poor people who may get sick (for various reasons...) The Cruise Director: Clubs, casinos, theaters, shows, movies on deck, ugly Christmas sweater night. Where do you find out about all of that and who arranges for it? Your friendly cruise director, of course. The cruise director supervises the entertainment staff, hosts events and makes those famous announcements.
Customer Service: Service desks such as excursions, customer service, the photo area, and your friendly booking agent (there are discounts if you book your next cruise right then and there) will operate with business hours, (except for the photo and spa). Kids Activities: the children's counselors/youth activities directors. Kids' areas are usually divided into 4 areas: infants/toddlers/pre-school elementary age (somewhere around ages 5-9 or 10) middle school (10 or 11-13) and teens, high school age. Drinking and gambling age may be 21, although the late night clubs may admit age 18 and older.
Personal services: fitness trainers, spa specialists, stylists in the salon, nutritionists. It depends on the services that the ship offers. The larger the ship, the more varied the services.
Salespersons: In addition to selling you another cruise, you have the staff in the stores, the special sales like art exhibits and wine tastings, the photo staff, jewelry, etc.
Other Facts to Know:
*Gratuties: You can pay these in advance when you pay for your cruise. If you don't, they will bill you at the end of the cruise on the card you have on file. If you want to tip a bartender, a server in a specialty restaurant or a server in your main dining room or anyone else, bring cash. If you add a tip to a bar or specialty dining bill, it gets put into the general pool that is divided with the entire staff. Put cash in the hand directly of your favorite staff member.
* The staff and personnel work long hours. The crew (housekeeping, wait staff) will bunk in shared quarters on Deck 1 or below. Staff (entertainment, supervisors) may or may not share quarters and may be on higher decks. See above.
* Your traditional officers (including the cruise director, chef and maybe the assistants) may have staterooms where the passengers are: Decks 4, 5, 6 or higher. Of course, the captain has a nice stateroom, perhaps a suite. Everyone, regardless of rank, works 10-14 hours but they do get breaks and they get to go ashore when in port. * The wait staff works hard: they work the buffets, afternoon tea and meals in the dining rooms and they come ashore with you on the private island days.
* Your room is usually serviced once a day nowadays (since Covid), plus there room service is available. But you can contact Housekeeping or your room steward when you need something. * In the morning, around 5AM or 6AM, someone is literally swabbing the deck, lounge chairs are being readied and the pool has already been serviced. * The fitness center usually opens up early and yoga or spin classes may start as early as 6AM. * Many, many positions were not mentioned: the dressed up characters/actors, the sound, light and camera crew, life guards (although signs are posted about swimming at your own risk), security and who knows, there may be a person who is responsible for running the movies on the Lido Deck, not to mention the in-house closed circuit TV channels.
* Hopefully, you will enjoy your experience more when you encounter the hard working staff on your trip. Smile back when they greet you and be nice to them!
Happy Travels!
Articles in this series:
Articles in the "How To Travel" Series
Articles in the "How To Cruise" Series
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