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10 Things I Hated About Working On Cruise Ships

The Shiplife
The Shiplife
🏅Authority
👁️ 2.1M views📅 5 years ago⏱️ 12:26

Key Moments

Editorial Summary

A former crew member for Carnival and NCL shares ten specific challenges encountered while working on cruise ships. The creator begins by discussing the intense workload, noting that crew members often work twelve hour days without overtime due to ships flying flags of convenience to avoid certain labor laws. Other grievances include repetitive weekly boat drills, limited food quality in the crew mess, and a rigid social hierarchy that can create tension between different ranks. The creator also highlights the strict regulations regarding shore leave and personal items, as well as the difficulty of living in small, shared accommodations. Financial management is noted as a struggle due to onboard temptations, and the lack of job security means minor mistakes can lead to termination. Additionally, the creator describes the complexity of forming international relationships that may end when contracts expire. Finally, the video addresses the behavior of entitled guests and concludes with a plea for passengers to be kind and tip crew members well, acknowledging the high stress and long hours inherent in the profession.

Written by TripBacon from this video's transcript.

How This Review Compares

This review's score for Norwegian Cruise Line
Not Their Favorite
All-time creator consensus for Norwegian Cruise Line
A Nibble

This review is more critical than the all-time creator consensus.

What This Creator Said
Creator Warns AgainstFull Ship Review🏅Authority Creator
Veteran Cruiser

Source: Our analysis of the creator's lived experience, based on what they said in this video.

Creator's Key Takeaways

some are working seven days a week up to 12 hours per day and the worst part about all of this is nobody on board is getting overtime

you get the amazing choices of mystery meat rice and more rice

you have a limited amount of time if you're lucky enough to have that day off and time to actually go spin in the port

you will probably have a roommate depending on your position and this happens nine times out of ten

Creator's Tips & Advice

Tip your crew members well
Be nice to all crew members

🆕New to Cruising? This Creator Addresses:

working hours and workloadbe aware that crew members work long hours without overtime
living accommodationsexpect to share a small room with a roommate most of the time

Questions This Creator Answers

QWhat are the challenges of working on a cruise ship?
QWhat should someone know before working on a cruise ship?

Topics Covered

Service Crew4½ Sad BaconSafety Medical3½ Sad BaconDining Buffet4 Sad BaconCabin Interior3½ Sad BaconValue Pricing4 Sad Bacon
How to read the Trip Bacon Score
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Sad Bacon — creators took issue with this
Meh — no strong opinion either way

Scale: 0–5 strips in half-step increments. 0 = “meh”, 5 = “bacon bliss”. Aggregated from creator-review sentiment, weighted by channel expertise.

About our Bacon Score methodology

Video content sourced from the creator's original upload. Watch on YouTube