Settling in to a Life Onboard

     From the moment you step off the plane, you're immediately thrust into a world of literal and figurative non-stop movement. The truth of life onboard is that it is sink-or-swim (if you'll forgive the pun).

From Plane to Ship

     You're greeted at the airport (or train station for some people) by someone who's job it is to courier you to the ship (or a hotel, if an overnight stay is necessary; both of which were a reality for me during this contract). Upon arrival at the ship, your luggage is taken from you and searched by security for illegal substances and items prohibited on the ship. Anything that you are not supposed to have, but is not considered dangerous or illegal, is held for you securely until the end of your contract. In my experience, while professional, security has consistently been friendly and considerate; but, of course, take their jobs very seriously and work hard for the safety and well-being of passengers and crew onboard

     You are greeted at security by the crew purser or a member of your department, depending on, I assume, a variety of factors: the work load of the crew purser, the availability of associates in each department, ship practices, how many people are embarking that day, etc. Whomever greets you then escorts you to the crew pursers office where you sign your contract.

Contract Signing and the Purser's Office

     Contract signing for something of such significance is done with very little fanfare; though, I guess when thousands of contracts are signed per year, the event is probably far less significant to the crew purser than someone like me who is doing it for the first time. Your contract binds you to the ship and is your confirmation that you will perform your duties for a length of time that is predetermined and is usually different based on department (mine's 7 months, though I have heard of some that are shorter and some that are much longer). The only way a contract can be broken is by voluntarily breaking it (quitting), getting transferred (which starts a new contract, usually with a shorter length that makes up for the remaining time of your previous contract), or getting disembarked (being fired, usually for breaking rules, though it can be because of performance). Jumping ship (leaving in port to not come back) happens more than I expected, though is still not particularly common.  So, unless one of these things happen, you're in for the long haul.

     The purser's office is also where you get your welcome info (including your coveted WiFi login information), your name tag, and your ID card. You do have some measure of control over your name tag and you can put your name-of-use on the card. I have met people who have done this for several reasons: they do not use their given name, they have a name that is difficult to pronounce, etc. After you have your card and name tag (which must be paid for if it ever needs to be replaced and must be worn at all times when you are not in your cabin), it is time to tour the ship.

Navigating the First Day Through the Buddy System

     The first day is definitely one of the busiest days you will have on the ship. The to-do list seems never-ending; though this daunting laundry list is made infinitely more manageable through the implementation of the buddy system. Whether or not you were escorted to the purser's office by someone in your department, you can not leave this office without the escort of one. Their responsibility is to help you navigate the ship, learn your way around, and help you take care of all the tasks you must complete on the first day.

     The first task is moving in to your cabin. You must first pick up your luggage from security then find your cabin. Luckily, people in the same department are usually clustered together, so your buddy should be able to help you locate it. But crew quarters can be a labyrinth and I am sure that, even with the posted sign placards, I would've gotten lost. Even after several months on the ship, trying to find a friend's cabin in an unexplored part of the ship can be an unexpected adventure.

The Cabin

     A lot of questions I get always seem to revolve around the cabin; so allow me to give you some details. Cabins can vary greatly based on several factors: ship, position, and location on the ship. One thing I was surprised to learn is that there is two major groups that workers are divided into based on department: crew and staff. The differences in what each group is allowed to do on the ship will be explored in another post, but one thing that differs between them is cabin type. Of course, there are no hard rules for any of this, and I can only speak to my experience on the ships I've been on. In that experience, I have found there tends to be 4 main types of cabins: staff, crew, manager/officer, and command/captain. Like all things in ship life, there are exceptions to some of these rules (i.e. crew in staff cabins and vice versa, employees living in passenger cabin's, etc.).

     Surface level details for crew and staff quarters are pretty similar on the two ships I have been on. They have two beds (sometimes side-by-side for staff, but usually bunk-style to save room), coat hooks, a small end table that can be used as a writing desk (though I have seen some cabins that have no end table but have a larger desk), a chair, two closet spaces (sometimes vary by size based on cabin type and ship), a TV (linked up with the same TV service as passenger cabins), and one wall-mounted, glass-front cabinet. We have a bathroom with a sink, shower, toilet, shelf, and a medicine cabinet. The main differences I have found in that crew cabins are not carpeted (for reasons that I can not be sure of, but may be what they could track in on their feet since a lot of crew are bar and restaurant workers), and their location: with crew cabins being on the lower decks (2 & 3 for the ships I've been on) and higher for staff (4+).

     These cabins are all shared (with only one person in my experience, though I have heard the number is higher in older and smaller ships). This is where one of the two main differences is between officer/manager's cabins and crew/staff cabins. Officer/manager's cabins, reserved for department managers, or higher, are solo cabins and also are some of the only cabins with a window. Other than having a larger bed, the other details are the cabin are pretty much the same. Managers' cabins also come with a cabin steward, while cleanliness of crew/staff cabins is dependent on the people living in the cabins or a cabin steward that they can hire.

     The command/captain's quarters are basically onboard suites (as least how they've been described to me because, let's be honest, I am not likely to ever be in one in my lifetime). I have also heard that the cabins can sometimes be so large that they can accommodate the families of the officers for extended onboard stays. Though, how accurate this is, I do not know. I do know that their cabins are located near the bridge in an area not regularly visited by most crew/staff and is off limits to passengers who are not guests/family. They are located near the bridge in case of emergency.

    I regularly get asked whether or not passengers are able to go into crew cabins. Crew areas are almost entirely off-limits to passengers. Unless a pre-approved, designated family member or friend, bringing a passenger into a crew area or into your cabin is an offense punishable by immediate termination. I have heard of people sneaking guests into their cabins, but I have never had any inclination or desire to try. If I ever have family or friends on the ship, I will definitely go through the proper channels of HR to ensure their ability to go into crew areas so I can show them how the other half lives.

A Cabin-Mate and (hopefully) a Friend

     If you are lucky, when your buddy takes you to your cabin, your cabin-mate is there for your buddy to introduce you. You unfortunately have very little say in who your cabin-mate is (unless your spouse is on the same ship) and requests for specific cabin-mates are not always accepted. I can easily understand this when one imagines how many requests the purser's office must receive. Cabin-mates, unless heterosexual couples, are almost exclusively same-sex and usually, though not always, are from the same department.

     You will likely be spending more time with your cabin-mate than anyone else on the ship, so hopefully you get along well with them. I have had 5 cabin-mates over the course of this first contract and have been lucky enough to have great cabin-mates almost consistently. This is not always the case and there are procedures that cab be followed in the case of poor living arrangements. Cabin disputes are usually handled by your department's management team in coordination with the purser's office. Specific reasoning usually must be cited, not just, "I don't want to live with this person (anymore)!" Cabin changes are usually determined by availability. I personally, have been placed in an overflow cabin outside my department. When space opened up in the cabins designated for my department, I was moved.

Back to my First Day

     Once I dropped off my luggage and met my cabin-mate. I settled into my cabin; which included picking up linens (sheet, pillow, towel, and duvet) and finding out where I drop them off for cleaning (and seeing the laundry room for my own personal laundry cleaning, the tailor, and uniform cleaning), and picking up necessities (toilet paper and laundry detergent). I found the cabin small, but large enough for my needs. Other than changing, sleeping, or relaxing, I am not likely to spend a ton of time in the cabin. I unfortunately did not have time to unpack because I needed to go to my meeting with immigration, my first onboard safety training, drop off my medical documents in the medical center, and pick up my uniform. All while I receive a tour of the ship: seeing the crew bar and crew disco (one is smoking and the other is non-smoking), the crew gym (for the first and last time), then ending at the crew mess.

Food

     The experience of food is not the same for everyone due to position (staff can eat at certain times in the passenger buffet and officers have their own place to eat), diet, whether or not you are willing to/are capable of paying (eating at the specialty restaurants onboard), and ship (available food has differed on the two ships I have been on). But a few things remain consistent: there is always plenty of food and they present a variety of foods from a myriad of cultures. Like I was told during the interview process, the food is not groundbreaking, but the only complaint I have is that I wish they offered more for people will vegetarian diets (there is a surprising number of us on the ship). However, the food is almost constantly available and no one can say that we are not well fed. Some people do supplement the meals onboard by grocery shopping on shore. Some foods are not allowed  in the cabins; but, like any college student can tell you, you can do a lot with instant noodles.

     Once I was fed and watered, the only thing left to do was work. That first day is sometimes granted as a day-off depending on your supervisor and how much travel you had to do. But that night was a crew party and I wanted to go out and meet and see more of the people I'd be working with, I knew it would be unprofessional for me to skip work then go to the party... so off to work I went (see, I have my priorities straight)!

Adapting to life onboard

     You can prepare all you want, but there are few things that can prepare you for life onboard. While I will discuss the actual work in my next post, I want to answer some of the questions people have asked me about adapting to life at sea:

One frequent questions is about seasickness:

-Do I experience seasickness? How do I deal with seasickness if I do get it? Do you get used to it?

     On my first sea day working on the ship, I got dreadfully seasick. I vomited up everything except my memories, took some seasickness medication and tried to stay hydrated while I cursed every thought and decision I made that led me to believe this would be a good idea. Then.... I sucked it up and went back to work. Seasickness is a reality and, while the medicine is provided for us free of change, work doesn't stop for something so trivial. But I adapted, and, other than some rarely occurring mild nausea, I don't get seasick anymore. This is not true of everyone there are some people who will remain prone to the occasional case of seasickness, despite numerous contracts and years aboard the ships. Everyone is different.

What do I miss most?

     There are several things that I miss, and most of them developed over time and tend to vary day by day. I miss my favorite foods and having a regular, wider selection of food to choose from. Though I don't miss constantly having to cook, go grocery shopping, or calculate for transit time.

     I miss Chicago (and my hobbies). I never thought I would say this, but going to the same ports over and over again can become somewhat monotonous (even if these are places I've always dreamed of going to). This is mostly due to limited time to wander and explore, something I love being able to do in Chicago and anywhere else I go. But I will go into more detail about ports in a later post.

     I miss my friends and family, though that goes without explanation.

     I also miss judgement free connections with people (something I will go more in depth with later), and getting to go out to meet different people. It is the same people around at all times.

The last questions is also the hardest to answer: What was the toughest thing to adapt to with life onboard?

     My original title/direction for this post had been to explore what it was like adapting to life on a ship. Really, I could designate an entire blog post to this topic. But ultimately this post took a different direction and I came to the realization that a lot of the difficulties I found in adaptation tie into a lot of the posts I have planned, including work, interpersonal relationships, etc. However, I do possess a sense of self-awareness that allows me to see what it ultimately is that causes a lot of my hardships. Which leads me to a small disclaimer: this is me. No one's experience is exactly the same, and I would never fault the company and say they do not try their best to make life easier. They provide every resource they can to make crew feel welcome and make transition as easy as possible. I am sure people reading this (if I am not deluding myself in the belief that people are actually taking the time to read these posts) will get sick of me saying this, but this blog is about me and my experiences and does not reflect on the company's efforts to make us comfortable and happy to the best of their abilities.

     My problems (which are exactly that, my problems), stem mostly from the deep roots of my crippling self-esteem issues and a lack of confidence. From the beginning of my contract, I noticed what I perceived to be a stark difference between myself and those I found myself working alongside: these people were infinitely better than me. They spoke a myriad of languages, they were all good looking, they all seemed like kind, good people. Even the things I always found I could pride myself in (my intelligence and my work ethic) seemed insignificant in comparison. I may be intelligent (sometimes), but it is hard to know when I can't understand 90% of what is being said around me. I may be a hard worker, but they work harder (even their ability to party, then go back to work with no sleep is admirable). How could I ever fit in? I wanted so desperately to be accepted as part of this group of remarkable people that I tried too hard (something that will be explored more in my post about friends, sex, and dating). I may possess the awareness of my flaws, but sometimes, when I get started, I am like a force of nature: and am equally hard to predict and harder to stop.

     I wish I could provide some insight in how best to overcome this, but I can't! Even nearing the end of my contract, I feel like I get it, then five minutes later I can't figure out what to do with myself. Experience may bring wisdom, but it does not always bring answers to your questions. I can say, from my observations, they those with unflappable confidence and an undeniable sense of self seem to thrive in this type of environment.

   

     But everyone's story is unique; and, until they die, is still being written. Who knows, maybe one day I will have the confidence of some of these people? Maybe not everyone is as confident as they appear? But this experience has forced me to confront insecurities, grow, work, and ultimately, adapt.