Cruise ship holidays for the passengers can be highly enjoyable as passengers travel to multiple destinations and make merry on board the vessel. It’s thanks to the hard work of the huge number of cruise ship crew that these holidays work smoothly. There may be plenty of perks to working on a ship but it isn’t always fun and games. A former cruise ship worker has revealed what he disliked most about his time at sea.
Joshua Kinser explained that the job of a cruise ship worker can be rather difficult in various ways.
“There are many difficulties and challenges that cruise ship crew members must endure on their lengthy contracts at sea,” he said.
One of the biggest grievances Kinser had during his time on cruises was the tedium, especially when it came to the food.
“The monotony of the job becomes tiresome,” he explained. “The food served to the crew can sometimes be about as appetising as the seaweed that gets tangled in the cruise ship propellers.”
“I wish I could have told passengers how much I wanted a lobster tail or some of the great food that they were eating in the passenger dining rooms,” Kinser added.
“I know it may seem petty to some people out there, kind of a first-world problem sort of thing, but after three months eating the same slop that is served on some of these ships, most employees just want a taste of the wonderful food that the passengers eat.”
Homesickness can also be a problem for cruise ship workers. “The isolation from friends and family and one’s life on land can be very difficult for some to deal with at times,” Kinser said.
Kinser observed that there is a great deal of difference between life at sea and on land – and it might not appeal to everyone.
“Adjusting to the very different culture and rhythm of life as a cruise ship crew member can be difficult for some,” he said.
“Being on ship time and having your daily schedule dictated at all times can take some serious getting used to.
“This is especially the case if you are a person who has lived most of your life in a country that affords you a considerable degree of autonomy, independence, and free will, or if you’re just a stubborn and oppositional person by nature in general.
“If you don’t deal with authority well, you may not be very happy working on a cruise ship.
“All of this is difficult at times, and the degree of difficulty changes with what ship you are assigned to.”
Of course, there were plenty of perks to working on a cruise ship, Kinser continued.
“There is a lot to celebrate in ship life: the travel is tops of course,” he said.
“I was able to travel all around the world aboard cruise ships and I am forever grateful to the cruise ship companies for the opportunity to do so.”