Many of us love cruise holidays, but can you imagine calling a ship your home? While we get a glimpse of life at sea on TV shows like Below Deck or Disney Channel’s Suite Life on Deck, you may wonder what it’s like in reality.
Thankfully, a young British woman has satiated this curiousity. Travel lover Anaya has opened up about what life is really like living on a cruise ship – from all the perks she gets, as well as the gruelling shift patterns.
She has been able to travel to the likes of Bali, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Bali, Amsterdam, Singapore, Laos, Dominican Republic, Australia, Italy, Monaco, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Antigua – to name a few.
Anaya works for Marella Cruises in destination services – helping people curate their perfect trip when they get off the ship, as well as navigating their way around new destinations and booking excursions and activities.
While she gets to do a lot of travelling, enjoys fun experiences and the amenities on board the ship, Anaya admits that she also works a lot too. And apparently, it’s hard to get any days off!
Explaining in TikTok, Anaya claimed: “Basically, it’s like an unwritten rule that when you work on a cruise ship, you just don’t get a day off for the entirity of your contract. Because the cruise is running nearly every day of the year, we can’t have any days off.”
Anaya tends to work a few hours, get some free time, then work later that day. In between her duties on board she is able to enjoy ship life and explore the countries she is visiting.
The cruise ship worker said it varies every shift, but she never does more than 10 hours of work a day.
The travel lover added: “Sometimes we have breaks off in the middle of the day and I work in the excursions department so I spend a lot of time on the trips and seeing the places that way.” She added that she “wouldn’t trade it for the world”.
In the comments on her video, someone asked what happens if a crew member falls ill. Anaya said: “You would see the medical centre if you were ill.
“If they thought you were too sick to work then you’d get ‘signed off’. If you’ve not been signed off by medical then you’d still have to work.”
Anaya explained that contracts for workers can range between three months up to eight months.
She added: “In my department you wouldn’t really do more than seven [months], but in my experience I haven’t really done more than five and a half.”
Anaya says people often think that you need to speak multiple languages to work on a cruise ship, however this isn’t always the case.
The ship she works on predominantly welcomes English and Canadian guests, so she is not required to be multi-lingual. However, other companies may request this on applications.
As well as this, she does not have to pay rent for her cabin. Plus, she gets free food every day and gets to enjoy on-board entertainment without being charged.
Another perk is that she does not have to pay tax while on the ship. What’s more, social events are often organised for the crew every month.
These nights off can get pretty wild – as Anaya revealed “very common” for guests to cheat on their partners on board.
So could you handle the life at sea? If you’re not afraid of hard work, it sounds like it could be a super fun way to see the world.