There is an enormous amount of pressure that crew members deal with every single day at sea. It is essential to maintain sanity and a clear mindset when working on cruise ships, regardless of the daily difficulties and high-stress levels that life on board the ship inevitably brings.

The key is to stay positive

Focus on your long-term goals, and remind yourself daily that you are making a tremendous positive difference for your family back home. You are the heroes of the seven seas; no matter what difficulties you might experience, remind yourself that you have great value. Focus on the positive things and develop a bright perspective mindest; the glass can always be seen as half full or half empty. Refrain from giving in to the pressure or hectic amount of daily tasks that you are due to complete, the glass might become full, and water could easily overflow.

- Organize your time efficiently

You are the only one controlling situation; you can not control your manager's behavior or when you are potentially dealing with a rude customer. Remind yourself that you can not control the circumstances around you, but only the way how you react to them.

- When a stressful situation occurs

Take a deep breath, learn how to relieve that stress, embrace every experience as a chance to grow, and find your unique outlet, it will help you create a perfect work-life balance, even on a cruise ship. 

- The daily routine of a work-sleep mindset

Statistically speaking, most crew members would relieve their stress in the crew bar or the gym. However, a smaller percentage of the crew members would choose to cope with the daily pressure with a work-sleep-repeat mindset. That case scenario could be possible for a couple of days or weeks but definitely is not applicable for 6-10 months contracts.

The Crew Bar

Many crew members love the crew bar experience, which brings a sense of belonging, and it somehow replicates only the shallow copy of the "normal social life" that we are used to when on vacation back home. Having a drink or two can positively impact your mental health as you exchange your daily experience at work and ask for advice from your colleague in a casual, relaxed environment. Socializing is a remarkable surviving tool on the cruise ship. Do not ever fall into the trap of getting depressed and secluding yourself from your department colleagues.

You might think you have no energy after a long day at work, but socializing and exchanging opinions and creative ideas will ideally impact you. Exchanging ideas and sharing positive energy will only develop a synergetically collaborated working mindset. When having a drink or two with your friends and colleagues, you will gain a different perspective, have a little laugh together, and temporarily forget about the problems and issues that you have at your work.

Let's put it into another perspective

You might think that days are passing by and all these people would come and go anyway. Sometimes, when the ship arrives at the port, there is a huge changeover in the crew, maybe 50 people will sign on, and 50 new crew members will sign off. You might think there are no permanent friendships on board, but that is not true. Creating a network in your off time could possibly influence you to upgrade and develop a clearer vision of work and life balance. Moreover, it can further motivate you to explore your full potential and gain more self-confidence. 

The worst thing to do is to isolate yourself in cabin

Working on the cruise ship represents such a unique opportunity to collaborate the beautiful mindset with people from 100 different nationalities on board. The worst thing to do after a 12-hour shift you might run to your cabin, isolate yourself in the room size of a shoe box, without a window, and swallow all the stress from your previous day at work. Even the people with the strongest character and biggest determination would crack into the trap. I am not saying that the crew bar is the only option. Some people might have a sharp focus on saving their hard-earned money while having a clear, undisrupted goal of specifically allocating every single dollar to send it back home. That is to be respected totally, but talking to fellow crew members does not necessarily include only crew bar and spending money; it can be an extended dinner in the crew mess or chatting with your colleagues and friend at the midnight buffet after finishing your work. 

Someone might say now, but when will I do my laundry? How will I manage to get enough sleep before the mandatory safety briefing that comes up the next morning, before my actual job even starts?

I deeply understand the challenge of healthy time management on the cruise ship. The key is to create an efficiently manageable daily schedule and not give in to the hectic environment around you. The most vital part is to find time for yourself and find the most efficient way to relieve your accumulated daily stress. 

Going to the gym can make a difference

The crew members who would manage to go to the gym at least three times a week are more resistant and prone to depression, sadness, and anxiety on board. Again, the choice is ultimately yours on how you organize your time off on board. Still, many studies have proven the importance of exercise in health maintenance, stress relief, and a million other benefits. 

For example, on your regular sea day, there could be a scheduled 2 hours break at some point in the afternoon, regardless of the crew member's position. As we all did, sometimes, you might run straight into your cabin and, without even removing your uniform, try to sleep for 1 hour to recharge your batteries. But then, you might wake up with a migraine and feel even more tired before you sleep. It might take you all afternoon at your work to hit that productivity level and required performance norm, but you will still feel that somebody is pushing you to go back to work, sleepy, slow, and not really productive.

Let's say that the very next day, your break is again 2 hours in the afternoon. You feel just as usual at that time of the day; you feel tired and in need of rest. But then, you oppose your body's suggestion; instead, you decide to listen to your determined mindset and go only for 20 minutes of quick cardio in the gym. Before going to the gym during that break, you felt tired, slow, and needed rest. But after you finish running for 30 minutes in the gym, when you come to your cabin, and take a shower, suddenly you feel like a newborn!

You will be energetic, proactive, and motivated to complete the rest of your working hours properly. That is because even only 20 minutes of cardio exercises will contribute to setting our body in the optimum level of an operational mode for the rest of the working day. It's a science that confirms this statement. When you feel tired, homesick, and on the edge of your energy levels, try this cardio recipe, you will love the feeling. When you go back to work after gym, there might be some horribly wrong situation with a rude passenger or manager who is having a bad day at the office. Now, you cannot prevent those events, but more importantly, you will feel calmer and composed regardless of the situation's complexity. You will have more oxygen in your blood, a clearer, optimistic perspective of your short-term daily solution, and a much better picture of your long-term plans and career progression.

Community

The synergy of ideas, togetherness, sense of belonging, and collaboration among the crew members will awaken a sense of deep motivation during your long contracts. Every crew member has a different job description, working hours, and privileges, but one thing should fundamentally remain the same for all the heroes of the seven seas. 

The key is to maintain a positive mindset regardless of circumstances, find your perfect balance during your contract, and you will indeed feel more inspired and fulfilled. Embrace the beautiful opportunity to collaborate your experience with other crew members; it will lead you to excellent outcomes. It will definitely make you more experienced and determined to achieve your short- and long-term goals. Stay positive; you can do it!