Royal Caribbean crew member shares a look at cruise ship life

Every crew member onboard a ship has their very own story. The entertainers on cruise ships, on the opposite hand, have often followed an exceptionally different path to their jobs.

Probably some of the most musicians, as an illustration, have appeared in land-based productions including some who have performed on Broadway. The same is true of the figure skaters who work on cruise ships. An effective deal of them have Olympic pedigrees while others have worked with national touring productions.

Related: Royal Caribbean crew member shows off tiny crew cabin

It is able to be no longer easy to earn a contract as an entertainer on a prime line. There are on your entire months of auditions followed by a long period training and rehearsing on land a fair way so which you're ready to perform at sea.

Now no longer every person that passes the tryout makes it through the training and in actuality becomes an onboard performer. Jordan Bauth has no longer handiest made it through tryouts and rehearsals, she has worked as an onboard ice skater for five years.

She currently works on Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Seas, the cruise line's most up-to-date cruise ship. In a video she made earlier this year (prior to Utopia had set sail) she shared many various the secrets that cruise lines may no longer tell crew members about life at sea.

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Bauth did make it clear that entertainers live different lives onboard than most crew members. When she works for Royal Caribbean, Bauth has passenger-like privileges and does no longer have to wear any sort of uniform when in a public area. She also has free reign to be any place on the ship aside from in passenger cabins.

Transcript:

Likelihood is high when you ended up on this video you're a frequent cruiser otherwise you can be only focused on the cruise industry as a whole. So as of late I share with you what it be accurately need to be a crew member working on a cruise ship.

Hi, my name is Jordan and I am knowledgeable figure skater who has been working on cruise ships for close to five years now, so I've an phenomenal idea of what the day-to-day life appears like on board as a crew member.

That being said, I am an entertainer on board so my life and my work schedule is slightly different than the overwhelming majority of the oldsters that work on board, but I am going to share as tons information as imaginable for you so which you get a true figuring out of what it be need to work on a cruise ship, whether you can be a person who enjoys cruising as a guest otherwise you can be taking a look to subscribe to a cruise ship as a crew member yourself.

Living and dealing on board a cruise ship is unlike anything else. It is able to be this fashion of singular experience that I do not think anything can compare to. It definitely is a tough environment to live in and it be definitely no longer for every person. I in my opinion in truth revel in it, but, of course, it does have its pros and cons. In case you are a crew member on board, chances are the pros significantly outweigh the cons.

There are negatives to any work environment, on the opposite hand, I absolutely love my job on board. It is able to be something that has been an incredible a element of my life as long as I can take into accout. I get to skate for a living and perform in front of hundreds of thousands of people every week, so I could most likely no longer be more grateful for this job and yeah, it be definitely an experience of a lifetime.

Crew members have small, shared cabins

As you possibly already know, the life of a crew member working on board is extremely very different than that of a guest coming to cruise on board.

This goes without saying since the guests are paying for a vacation, so that they're here to take a seat back, revel in, and easily just no longer work. Nonetheless the accommodations are significantly different, which you're ready to probably already assume in response to where I am filming this video. I am currently sitting in the bottom bunk of a bunk bed in a double cabin.

The rooms on board for the crew members are very very minimal and likewise you possibly assume that they aren't these huge extravagant rooms, on the opposite hand, I do not think people take into accout just how small these crew cabins are.

The room that we live in on board for months at a time would most likely be no bigger than 10 by 15 feet and that also features a bathroom that we share with the opposite person. In my personal situation, I am living with my boyfriend, so it truly is the one imaginable final result for a roommate situation, however it truly is no longer on a regular basis the case for many crew members on board.

Of course, it truly is no longer always the case, on the opposite hand the overwhelming majority of crew members do share a cabin with the opposite person and that person is often from their department. If no longer their department, then their division. So I do live here with my boyfriend, but when he turn into no longer on board, on a regular basis the ice skaters live with other ice cast members.

And if we do not live with ice skaters, then we traditionally live with dancers or someone else from the cruise division. And of course, no longer every person on board shares a cabin. Taking a look to your ranking and your position, you is additionally ready to have your own room.

As an instance, officers have a stronger room than us. They could most likely be tons bigger, they even have like a living room every so often, and that they definitely have a porthole, which is the opposite thing that we do no longer have in these teeny tiny rooms. We should no longer have any sort of natural light at any given point in the day.

no longer know what time it truly is unless you study a clock. But for me, environment is this fashion of huge thing, so I in truth try to make the cabin as cozy as imaginable and make it feel very homey. So it truly is a place that I revel in spending time in and coming back to every day.

The rooms are very bare and that they're very basic while you do first move in, so it is able to most likely be vitally important to make it an area which you in truth revel in. That being said, it be very small so which you're ready to no longer do too tons with the place, but I did buy a shelving unit for some more storage and it just made the room look slightly more choked with life, to boot to like a fun blanket, hanging pictures on the walls, stringing lights, things of that kind.

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Crew members have their very own restaurants

Yet another misconception on board is that we eat almost the same food because the guests, that would no longer be farther from the fact.

We do have a crew mess and a staff mess, which are two different places where we're ready to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and it truly is incredible since it truly is free. That being said, the same old of the food is no longer nearly identical to what it truly is in the buffet for the guests, and it be definitely no longer the same variety. So we tend to see the exact same foods every day for lunch and dinner.

It never in truth changes up and it is able to get very, very repetitive. Of course, I am so thankful that we shouldn't have to pay for food since it truly is an incredible expense that I would be paying for if I was once once on land. Nonetheless, when the food is a similar thing day-after-day and likewise you'll have something specific, we're ready to move to the Windjammer, which is the buffet for guests.

As an entertainer on board, we do have that privilege. We just will have to pay three dollars to enter, and that in truth, in truth helps. Granted, every so often our schedule would no longer allow it.

We should no longer have enough time because we have to move at a definite window, and brought on by that, it does in truth break it up for us better, and I'm super grateful we're ready to move there. We may also go to the specialty restaurants, which is an added charge, so I try no longer to seriously look into this too often. It is able to be more of a different basis sort of thing, but Windjammer, I try to get to more on a normal basis than no longer simply since it gives us an even bigger variety and food is vitally important to me.

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WiFi is an added cost for crew members

Let's point out WiFi. While you have gotten cruised, you do not overlook that WiFi is on your entire slightly bit spotty on board and no longer the strongest. It is able to be no longer as strong because the online get right to use you can be used to while you can be home, and likewise you do have to pay for it as a guest, but you do also have to pay for it as a crew member.

I do know other cruise lines offer free WiFi for the crew members on board, and I so wish that Royal would enforce that. It is able to be definitely wishful thinking, however it no doubt would be a game changer if they did, and unfortunately, we do have to pay for the WiFi, which rounds out at about four dollars for 60 minutes of web. It is able to be very expensive, and a lot of of us just do not pay that cash, so I do work slightly side job, and I work WiFi, when you is additionally ready to.

It is able to be how I provide a proof for it, but in general, I just lend a hand people that come on board set up their WiFi account and buy packages if it truly is something they do. For that little side job, I receives a commission in minutes, so I'm given minutes in exchange for my time, and that goes some distance since it be saving me many of cash that I would have had to spend on purchasing the same quantity of minutes.

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Crew members are the last priority in port

Yet another thing which you is additionally ready to no longer realize is that crew members are accurately no longer allowed off the ship instantly.

There would most likely be always priority for the guests, and we're ready to on your entire get off the ship pretty quickly after we dock, but of course, there's slightly bit of a waiting period, especially on turnaround day after we're disembarking the whole guests, so on your entire there's a group time of after we're ready to commence getting off of the ship.

For Miami, which suggests 9 a.m. for the crew members, so when you have gotten work at 10, you in truth should no longer have time to get off, and this goes for other ports to boot. If it truly is a tender port, you can be getting off per chance two to three hours after we accurately arrive to that port.

Same thing goes with the tender coming back to the ship. You're going to try to get that tender back to the ship probably around two hours prior to all aboard. Perchance an hour is pushing it.

Related: Royal Caribbean explains its news strict multi-plug device ban

Something that I found in truth demanding to simply accept after I first turn right into a crew member on board is that the company accurately holds your passport. For me, I felt uneasy about this because there is no one I trust as tons as myself, and I know where it truly is at any given moment, however it truly is solely a element of the job.

When we do sign on, we're handing over our passports to the HR center, and that they're safely storing it, so it be all organized and put away very safely, but you desire to definitely not have get right to use to your passport for the whole contract.

Here's how crew members get snacks

You're probably wondering how we're ready to move shopping for snacks and toiletries and things like that. One of the most logical way is to get off on turnaround day in whatever port you can be and just go to the grocery store. Nonetheless, we do in fact have slightly mini market, when you is additionally ready to, on board for the crew, and it be often which is named The Slop Chest.

It offers an assortment of snacks like chips, chocolates, crackers, candies, sodas, juices, all that kind of stuff, and that they do also offer things reminiscent of razors, hand soap, bar soap, shaving gel, loofahs, deodorant, hairspray, you name it. There's on your entire a bunch of diverse stuff which you're ready to buy there.

I try to remain removed from Slop Chest as tons as imaginable since the costs are marked up an incredible amount, so it truly is healthier to just buy it off the ship and produce it on board, but every so often you definately are in a pinch and likewise you just have to swing by in truth fast and get whatever it truly is, and it truly is the explanation very useful to have for us.

Yet another thing we're ready to do on board is receive packages, so we're ready to order stuff online and have it brought to the ship, which is incredible. It is able to be one among my favorite things. It sounds like Christmas every turnaround that a package arrives.

So we have a couple options for this. We can send it to a ministry, which delivers it to the ship. There would most likely be also the opposite address that we're ready to send to, and we have to pay five dollars per package, which is on your entire slightly bit annoying when you're buying a bunch of things online since it adds up very fast, but as an illustration with Amazon, you're ready to get them organized all in the same package, so which you're just paying one time.

We're also ready to receive cards to boot to the same address, so I may have that link lower than for you when you guys ever feel like sending me slightly card. I absolutely love receiving your notes and I in truth appreciate it.

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Crew members pay for their uniforms

Yet another fact you is additionally ready to no longer learn about working on board is that we do have to pay for our own uniforms.

I'm no longer A hundred% certain if this goes for every department on board, on the opposite hand, as an ice cast in the cruise division, we do have to pay for our uniforms, which are frequently which is named our blues.

So it truly is a pair of shorts, we have pants, we have shirts, and we also have jackets. So it truly is slightly pricey, and I believe every fourth contract we get a new uniform without cost, but when you'll have an extra T-shirt or a pair of shorts, you would have to pay for that.

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A range of crew members have side gigs

Living on board as a crew member is easily a singular experience, and we do build slightly of a community because we do all have that common ground of loving to go forwards and backwards, and at the head of the day we're all crew members.

So something that I in finding in truth interesting to note is that many of people on board also have side gigs and, you have in mind, passion projects that they're still pursuing while working on board. So there are a lot of people on board who cut hair, so that they can set up their little barber shop literally off of the I-ninety five or in a crew corridor, and people will show up to get their hair cut.

There would most likely be also people doing nails freelance, so which you're ready to make an appointment with them and that they are going to do your nails. Somebody in my cast is a rub down therapist. He has his license, so he does have some clients on board that he works with.

So I just think it truly is that in truth cool that all of us would most likely be doing a group job here on the ship, but after hours you're ready to in truth see those crew members do something that they in truth in truth love. I've shown the I-ninety five about a billion times in my videos, on the opposite hand the I-ninety five is accurately a pathway that leads from the front of the ship the whole a results of the aft of the ship, and it be in the crew area.

So when you're ever getting off at the gangway, you is additionally ready to get a tiny glimpse of the I-ninety five, and in general, it be just the best method for the crew members to get from the front to the back of the ship without going through guest areas.

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Crew contracts vary in length

As a ways because the contract goes, the duration of the contract can vary significantly taking a look on where you work, but contracts would most likely be any place from four months long to even 10 or eleven months long. My contracts on average are about seven to eight months long. My longest contract turn into 10 months long, and my shortest one turn into four months long.

So it in truth just relies on what ship you can be on and when the handover is inside of the casts. Again, I am a element of the ice cast, so it does differ for me when compared to people that work on the ship. To build on top of that, with these contracts being see you later and every person being removed from home for many months at a time, it truly is extremely rare for many crew members to get a single day off within their contract.

I'm very very blessed that I get day without work from my job and I get time to improve and rest and in truth revel in the port days, but unfortunately, it be no longer the case for many of the crew members on board.

They work very long hours every day, and that they're honestly so impressive to me because I could most likely no longer imagine working the volume of hours that they do. But again, every person's contract is different, so it be different for every person, but as a rule, an exceptionally extensive number of people work every day.

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The cruise lines try to make it fun

Like I mentioned, because we're removed from home for many months at a time, it is able to get slightly exhausting and likewise you in truth need that give a boost to or friendship group to rely on. So something that HR does for us is that they do offer kind of kind of a number activities for the crew members on board, which is that in truth fun.

Infrequently they can do movie nights in the theater, they'd have basketball tournaments, they can do all-crew parties, every so often they can even close off guest venues for us to make use of for a crew party, which is that in truth many of fun.

Those happen probably once a month or once every other month. We do also offer open skate for the crew, so it truly is a fun activity that we run and lend a hand out with. They open the slides and the FlowRider for us every so often, so that they only do a bunch of diverse stuff for us.

So Crew Alpha in truth does try their best to make use of the money that they make from the slop chest and from other sales from the crew to position it into in truth fun activities for us to revel in.

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Cruise ship crew members are infrequently alone

Last bullet point is kind of ironic occupied with I'm in the cabin alone for the time being, however it no doubt is extremely rare for crew members to ever be alone. So we in truth should no longer have a ton of alone time because you can be always surrounded by people, which is incredible.

As an extrovert, I absolutely adore it. I love being around people. It gives me more energy versus drains my energy.

But though I love being around people, I also in truth value time alone and I believe it be so important for every person to have that point alone. So it is able to most likely be vitally important to prioritize that and take a glance at your best to have those moments by yourself.

And since an exceptionally extensive number of people share a room together, chances are you can be both in the room at the same time, unless you have gotten opposite schedules.

But still, you can be sharing the space. So it has to be tricky, but again, you're ready to either study it as a bonus or a drawback and I always am the entirety half of-class full, so I love being around people. But you do have to also prioritize you, number one.

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