New cruise ships are launching each year and the Cruise Lines are refurbishing the old ones investing millions during the dry dock renovations. In this highly competitive market, it is hard to believe that a cruise ship crew areas and facilities can be left in such a poor condition that crew can no longer stay and quit because of low living standards.
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.
Virgin Voyages has released the list of their official hiring partners and will take off on a global recruitment tour to find their top-notch crew. The new cruise line says it will make real sea-change in the cruise industry with the launching of their first 110,000-ton, 2,750-passenger cruise ship named Scarlet Lady in 2020, and additional two ships which will sail starting in 2021 and 2022.
Natalia Pestana a young designer from Madrid, is the winner of the contest "trends on board" organized by Pullmantur Cruises to renew the uniforms for their shipboard employees.
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.
Working on a cruise ship is not a joke. You will work and work you will. But there are perks about working on ships and I am not talking about making more money than you would at home. I am talking about the travel and exploration of places and activities you would normally have the chance back home especially if you grew up in a landlocked country like I did.
When I say the word "mafia" most often people imagine the movie The Godfather with a whole lot of bullets, kidnapping, and severely illegal manipulative actions lead by a group of people who are pawns to one master mind. However, for our ship mates, the word "mafia" does have a slightly different meaning.
