Like all aspects of ship life, it will never be the same for everyone. Work can vary from ship-to-ship, employee-to-employee, department-to-department, and contract-to-contract.
Even before I was offered the position on the ship, the expectations for work were heavily stressed to me. However, rarely in life do things meet the expectations of the expector. Sometimes things are better than expected, sometimes worse; and working on the ship has been a little bit of both.
The Day-to-Day
One thing that lives up to expectations is how often we work. I was told from the beginning that I would be working every day. They were not exaggerating. Since I have started my contract, there has not been a day where I have not punched in and out on the clock for some amount of time. There are differences though from the various departments. Those that are contracted through an agency for shows (dancers, singers, musicians, etc.) can, and sometimes regularly, have days off. There is almost no exception (outside these people) to the expectation of daily work. The few exceptions are a half-day off of work for a birthday and if you have reached overtime (a very difficult task, as full-time for seafarers is nearly double the hours of those on land). you may be granted a night-off at the discretion of your manager.
... All the Live-Long Day
As I stated before the full-time hours for seafarers are long, though not always consistent. I could work 7 hours one day, then 16 hours the next. This is something that didn't live up to expectations because I fully expected every day to be a 10-13 hour day. The hours and their consistency depend heavily on department. Most people who are considered crew have longer but more consistent hours (more like what I had expected) compared to employees that are considered staff. Our schedule can vary from day, to week, to ship, to itinerary. Some people work overnight, some people work split shifts, some people work one long shift each day. This is a difference that can sometimes cause tension between departments due to hours worked; but with everything in life, there is a trade-off.
The Sword of Damocles
With fewer hours comes more stress; something I don't think I really anticipated. Staff, more closely aligned with guest interaction, have to contend with external factors as well; including goals, guest satisfaction/complaints, strategies/marketing, event planning, etc. Hours may be shorter, but they can change on a dime and work follows us back to our cabin. When crew take off their uniform, it is like removing their responsibility resting on their shoulders until they clock in again. This is not always true, but staff almost always have the success of their respective departments looming over their heads. And, god forbid, if you are not performing to expectations, it is like waiting for an axe to drop (more on that later).
Of course, nothing in life can be easily explained away by such glittering generalities and success does not usually knock on your door to take you by surprise. It takes a lot of work, planning, and a good support system.
A Team Sport
Virtually no job on the ship is a one-(wo)man job. Even the captain has a team for support to ensure his job works smoothly. Even if you don't have someone working directly alongside you, unless you are the captain, you likely have a boss or supervisor to help you make your job a success... or punish you if you do something wrong. The internal functions of a floating hotel are extensive and intricate, so the bureaucratic process on the ship can be quite extensive; so you'd do best to have a good relationship with your peers.
The amount of people you work with is impossible to say because this is determined by itinerary, department, and ship. The team could be two people, or it could be 600 with smaller sub-factions that work more closely together than with other people.
Co-Existence
To call the people you work with "coworkers" isn't entirely fair or accurate. In reality, you share your existence with these people; eating with them, partying with them, even living in the same cabin with some of these people. This, compounded by daily work, means that coworker relationships can be fraught with more complications than work in other environments on land. These relationships can also be complicated by other factors, such as cultural differences, romantic entanglements (dating coworkers being perfectly allowed), language barriers, along with the usual differences of opinions or personality clashes.
I have been asked before whether or not I like my coworkers. I have several answers to that because the answer is not very straight forward. My first response is to defy you to find any person who works in a large team that likes every person they work with. Then, next I'll ask you to throw those other complications in to the mix and tell me how likely someone is to like all their coworkers. There are obviously people that I am very close with and can be counted as some of my closest friends on the ship. These are people that make the experience of working on a cruise ship worth it. They form an invaluable support system and are people that I hope to continue a relationship with after my contract is up and I hope to work with again in the future on another ship or another contract.
But every coin has two sides and every light has a dark. There are also coworkers who are insufferable. Their very existence causes you discomfort, spending any excessive amount of time with them sends you into a bad mood, and you eagerly await the day that they disembark. Of course, every person has experienced intense, irrational dislike of people for seemingly no reason other than their very existence. And I would not ever claim to be above it all and that no one has ever felt that I was the coworker they liked least in their place of work.
This is a bit of hyperbole, but is not too terribly far off-base. Just like with cabin-mate disputes and disagreements, you are welcome to come forward with valid reasonings for a strained working relationships in order to be moved to a different area in the department, or, if the issue is serious, to another ship. This rarely happens, and if the issue is that serious and complaints are carries through properly to the point of transfer, there is usually a serious problem that will result in disciplinary action on the coworker causing problems. There is also an HR department through the home office and on the ship, with an anonymous tip line, in order to report serious problems as they occur and ensure the ship is kept running; because serious disagreements among coworkers can cause breakdowns in the work of the ship.
The Hierarchy
I have already stated that the workings of a floating hotel are intricate and there is no way in my first contract I could understand all the intricacies of the different departments on a ship. However, the people you see when you are on a cruise ship are ultimately a small fraction of the amount of people who work on a ship every day. With upward of 1,500 workers, it is impossible to know everyone and what they do. There are several major departments on the ship that then further breakdown. There is the restaurant department, which breaks down to the specialty restaurants, galley, cooks, servers, bar department, etc. The hotel department includes the shops, casino, shore excursion, cleaning staff, cabin stewards, guest services, etc. Aside from security, there are other people in other departments that you are likely to never see, or recognize them for the jobs they perform on the ships: there is the administrative staff behind the scenes (crew pursers, accountants, event managers), there are firemen and engineers, and people that even working on the ship I am still learning what they do.
Each department has a head, there are managers and supervisors, there are officers and directors and at the top is the captain. Your level in the chain of command is determined by your stripes. Most crew and staff don't have more than one stripe, and I am not even entirely sure how many stripes the management team have. However, the captain has five stripes, the commanding officers (chief engineer, hotel manager, staff captain, etc.) have four stripes, and their directors/officers have three stripes (which leads me to believe that the managers, who report to the directors and officers, have two stripes).
Growth and Development
I will give a lot of credit where credit is due, there are a lot of opportunities for advancement and growth. The possibility to climb through the ranks is really available to everyone who is willing to put forth the time and the effort. Obviously the highest positions require more expertise and are not likely to be reached by 99.999999999% of the people who set foot to work on a cruise ship. However, we are given the opportunity to learn about the different aspects in our respective departments and are even given the opportunity (after 2 contracts) to change departments should we wish to (and we show an aptitude for the necessary qualities of those given fields). Vertical movement within the company can happen in a single contract or it can take place over time. I was lucky enough to be hired on in a position of management due to my years of specialized experience, but I have heard of people being promoted even in their first contract.
What Does This Mean for Me?
Of course, I ended my last blog post by discussing just how my own personal issues affected my adjustment to starting on a ship. I had also discussed that those feelings greatly impacted my work and so I wanted to round out this post by discussing how my work has been affected.
I mentioned a moment ago that I was hired by the company I work for in a management capacity due to extensive experience and certifications I have in my given field. I have felt that I was good in my positions in the past and felt no reason to believe I wouldn't do well moving forward. From the beginning I found myself connecting with my supervisors and I had their support; unfortunately, after my training was completed and I was moved into the position on my own, I found that no matter what I was doing, I was not being as successful as I had envisioned I would be. I didn't really know what to do. My self esteem constantly saw that the problem was not any external factor, but was in-fact a direct result of me and the practices I had imposed when I started, and no amount of reassurance given to me by my supervisors could shake the feeling that I was failing. Every day saw me waiting for the call that stated I was being demoted, I was being fired, or that I wasn't going to come back for another contract.
Another thing that was greatly impacting my ability to feel successful or enjoy my work is my language limitations. I was contracted to be on an itinerary that would greatly be enhanced by my ability to speak multiple languages. But, like any American, I speak only two languages: English and sarcasm. I had made it abundantly clear during both the application and interview process that I did not have extensive language experience, but they assured me that I would be fine and not to stress too much. Unfortunately, I do feel that my job performance would be greatly improved if I was able to more adequately communicate with my guests.
How do I feel about the work now? I feel that is is completely different than work on land. So much of the work is directly in the hands of the workers on the ship. Events, promotions, marketing, etc. are almost all planned and coordinated on the ship and not by the home office like I had expected. It is so much more hands-on than just keeping guests happy and making goals (like I had anticipated). I have been working hard, and the work has been tedious and incredibly stressful. But the work can be greatly enhanced by what (or who) you choose to do also in your free time. Stay tuned...
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