The following text was composed by John Sparc in order to help future candidates applying for the position Bar Utility on cruise ships. It consists of questions and answers of the daily operations and knowledge which any future candidate needs to follow.

What is Bar Utility on Cruise Ship?

My name is Margarita, I am from Minsk, Belarus, and Carlos from Mexico. We used to work on board first European ships, after Carnival ships: Paradise, Conquest, and Breeze. Effy jewelry store. Now we live on Cozumel island.  But this story is not about us. And even not about working on board. All of you, guys, know how hard and at the same time exciting it is, and how it is changing life. This story is about life challenges and courage. 

Attention cruise ship crew: You or someone you know a 'ship mom'? Got pregnant while working on cruise ships with a fellow crew member? The Ship Moms Project wants to hear your story!

Media Manager position is a part of the Entertainment Department.

Carnival Cruise Line introduced a new movement request policy for their shipboard team members from Deck, Engine and Hotel Departments. The new movement request policy applies for Early Vacation Requests, Work Break, Vacation, Request for Specific Sign Off and Sign On date, Contract Extension, Specific Ship Request and Personal Vessel Transfer. Crew Members are permitted to make one request per calendar year.

The need for mental health professionals on board cruise ships is enormous and for many reasons that are sometimes apparent, other times very much covert. The apparent reasons are simple and borderline common knowledge and understanding. The covert ones are a bit of a mystery to the public eye as most often people do not see or even understand what happens behind that door that says crew members only.

Crew Center was born out of the need for crew members to have a voice related to their everyday life challenges, to obtain resources, stay connected and informed, as well as support crew members.  The website started as nothing more than wanting to help crew members by veteran crew members who have experienced everything that they may just now be for the first time.

The crew members who work hard, execute their duties and responsibilities flawlessly, and as the cruise lines love to say “Going above and beyond guests expectations” are often promoted to higher positions. In theory, this is the only way to get promoted with more responsibilities, but also more money on the paycheck. However many crew members say that there are other ways for some crew to get promoted.

The work environment on river ships is quite different from the one on the big ocean cruise ships. The differences in itineraries, size of the ships, and passengers capacity also means that the working conditions are unique. So what's the difference between working on a river ship vs. ocean ship? According to the crew member Ranko Miletin, who has worked on ocean cruise ships, and now on river ships, the difference is huge.

Much is talked about the food served for the crew on board cruise ships. Many crew members say that the food is not that great and always the same items are served. Others will argue that some are very picky and they need to adjust to the new environment, which is quite different from back home. Usually on the ships there are three dining areas for the employees Crew Mess, Staff Mess and Officers Mess.