# Ask the cruise ship ex-crewmember **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2015, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cruise-ship-ex-crewmember/722561 "2015-06-15T07:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cruise-ship-ex-crewmember/722561/61 "2015-06-20T15:31:14Z")
> [@nicky](#): > > The OPs info is not all true and some is out of context. What do you mean by out of context? The context is, this is my personal experience from working on a cruise ship. Feel free to disagree with me, but the cites I provide are from personal experience. You haven’t backed up your refutations with any evidence at all. ---
**Author:** ![nicky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f0a364/32.png) [@nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicky)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cruise-ship-ex-crewmember/722561/62 "2015-06-20T16:57:13Z")
I totally believe your account of your working conditions, its just on the technical side youre off. Some more pertinent questions Did you (+friends) suffer creepiness from the ‘privileged’ ( 2 1/2 stripe+) officers? Did you hear tales of ‘below deck corruption’ among the crew, eg crew having to bribe the crewing agent, or extortion by superiors. What were your emergency duties? Do you think you could have perfomed them well enough? What about your weakest colleague? ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cruise-ship-ex-crewmember/722561/63 "2015-06-20T21:08:48Z")
I’ve heard that certain more-cushy jobs on a ship, like wait staff and casino dealers, are expected to basically bribe the maitre’d/pit boss, to keep their position, and to score the more lucrative tables and assignments. What’s the low-down on that? ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cruise-ship-ex-crewmember/722561/64 "2015-06-20T21:38:23Z")
> [@nicky](#): > > I totally believe your account of your working conditions, its just on the technical side youre off. > > Some more pertinent questions > > Did you (+friends) suffer creepiness from the ‘privileged’ ( 2 1/2 stripe+) officers? > > Did you hear tales of ‘below deck corruption’ among the crew, eg crew having to bribe the crewing agent, or extortion by superiors. > > What were your emergency duties? Do you think you could have perfomed them well enough? What about your weakest colleague? Well, the “technical details” I got straight from the horse’s mouth. Why would I lie? I never really knew who were officers and who were “officers.” The lead of the YA, Guest Services, Food and Bev, all got to wear whites. There was one guy, in particular, who sleazed on everyone – of course he had a wife and kids at home, but had a string of affairs on board. I remember one other guy in whites, at one point, didn’t like what I was doing for some reason, and very obviously leaned in to read my nametag and write down my name in his little book. Nothing came of it, so I assume he was just bloviating. We heard about some really terrible staffing practices, like a staffing agency requiring a crewmember to work off the cost of their airfare from home to Florida to join the ship. The “good” agencies, who usually represented white people in guest-facing roles, don’t do this, for the most part. That’s part of why we were so unnerved by the laundry crew, who I mentioned before - we had no idea what their working conditions were like for our fellow crewmembers. I don’t remember much about my emergency duties. We had drills every cruise, and I’d put on my life jacket and help guests with theirs. The others assigned to my liferaft from my department were all randomly Brazilian, so they’d gossip in Portuguese, as I tried to follow along. Beleza! We had to do a water drill our first week on board, my Botswanan roomie was terrified as she couldn’t swim, but she got through it fine. I gave her swimming lessons in the crew pool 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cruise-ship-ex-crewmember/722561/65 "2015-06-20T21:39:27Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > I’ve heard that certain more-cushy jobs on a ship, like wait staff and casino dealers, are expected to basically bribe the maitre’d/pit boss, to keep their position, and to score the more lucrative tables and assignments. What’s the low-down on that? Sorry, I didn’t hear about anything like this. The Disney ships don’t have casinos anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cruise-ship-ex-crewmember/722561/66 "2015-06-22T19:11:31Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Not to drag your thread into the murk, but one thing I have constantly heard about working on cruise ships is that among the staff they are an absolute hive of sexual promiscuity and a hotbed of personal drama. I used to work for Disney on dry land, as it were. The Disney college program and international program dorms were definitely hotbeds of promiscuity. As a single guy, you could go there and get laid more or less whenever you wanted, provided you knew a way around the security. Fascinating thread, **araminty**. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cruise-ship-ex-crewmember/722561/67 "2016-02-17T22:24:52Z")
> [@cherry](#): > > I’ve done two Disney cruises with my family. One this year spring break and one last year. Both on Disney Fantasy. We loved them they were really relaxing and my kids loved the kids clubs so I think Disney definitely got the youth activities right. I didn’t like the expectation to do sit down dinners every night but I really liked the buffet and the walk up burger joint. > > From getting to know the person who cleaned our room last year whom has worked for Disney cruise lines for at least 10 years they seem like a very strict employer. > > Anyways I love doing the DCL and plan to if I can afford it next spring break. It’s really easy way to vacation if you have kids. > [@araminty](#): > > Cherry, nice to hear from you, and I don’t want you to feel like I’m picking on you, but do you think the information in the thread about social justice and environmental impact will influence your future decisions to take a cruise vacation? > [@nicky](#): > > The OPs info is not all true and some is out of context. > > The low level job wages are sucky by 1st world standards but very good for the 3rd world. > > The cruise lines do not cook 3x of everything. > > A cruise ship uses 1-2 jet flights of fuel per day not 6 > > Power gen., sewage and garbage disposal: what exactly do you think happens at a resort ashore? > > Cruise industry isnt perfect , but flying to a 3rd world resort is worse. I saw this thread last summer (about a week before our fourth Disney cruise), but was too busy getting ready for our vacation to post at the time. 😉 Anyway, my family has now been on five Disney cruises, including sailing on all four Disney Cruise Line (DCL) ships, so we obviously like them. I have had concerns regarding both social justice and the environmental impact of cruising, but have rationalized it as follows: Social justice: [ul] [li]Nobody is forced to work on a cruise ship.[/li][li]As **nicky** states, the pay and working conditions may be substandard by first-world standards, but they must be good by other countries’ standards, or they wouldn’t get any applicants.[/li][li]If the cruise industry were to go away, all of these crewmembers would lose their jobs.[/li][li]Not cruising due to concerns about the crew’s pay and working conditions is like not buying an iPhone because it’s built in China, or not buying a shirt because it’s made in Indonesia. While you could certainly make an argument that you should not do any of these things, globalization is a fact of life today whether you like it or not.[/li][/ul] Environmental impact: [ul] [li]People are going to travel if they have the means to do so. The alternative to cruising is not simply staying home, but flying or driving to another destination. (Incidentally, this Slate [article](http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_juice/2014/07/driving_vs_flying_which_is_more_harmful_to_the_environment.html)indicates that flying is now actually more fuel-efficient per passenger-mile than either driving or taking the bus.) [This analysis](http://www.brighthubengineering.com/naval-architecture/100758-cruise-ship-fuel-efficiency/) indicates that cruise ships are only slightly less efficient modes of transportation than flying or driving, and does not consider the fact that a cruise ship is basically a floating resort hotel, so for a fair comparison, you’d have to add the energy cost of a comparable hotel in addition to the transportation cost.[/li][li]Food waste is inexcusable. I don’t understand why it is necessary to make so much extra food, or why any excess can’t be given to the crew. That said, I have noticed that the portion sizes have shrunk dramatically since our first DCL cruise in 2010 (which I applaud). Though it’s still “all-you-can eat,” smaller portions per serving help cut down on the waste. We try to do our part by following the Boy Scout camp maxim, “Take what you want, but eat what you take.” Unfortunately, not everyone does this. Also, all restaurants (not just cruise ships) have at least some food waste. It may just seem like a lot because they are feeding thousands of people.[/li][li]I’d be shocked if DCL really burns its trash, because it would seem that the smoke and smell would be readily apparent to its passengers.[/li][li]Regarding sewage disposal and other environmental factors, while the industry as a whole is rather dismal, Disney Cruise Line [was top-rated by the non-profit Friends of the Earth in 2014](http://www.cruiselawnews.com/tags/sewage/). Full report card [here](http://libcloud.s3.amazonaws.com/93/ac/7/4988/Cruise_Ship_Report_Card_2014.pdf). In particular, the\* Disney Wonder\* got [straight A’s](http://www.foe.org/cruise-report-card) for sewage treatment, air pollution reduction, and water quality compliance.[/li][li]Regarding “sailing in circles,” that has not been my experience. The ship’s track is displayed on monitors and on one of the channels on every stateroom TV. In my experience, if the ship has a scheduled sea day, it simply slows down (which saves fuel, of course).[/li][/ul] All in all, we have greatly enjoyed the five DCL cruises we’ve been on. We’ve done the Bahamas (twice), Caribbean (twice), and Mediterranean. If we stop going on cruises, it will probably be simply because we’re getting tired of the same thing, and because the prices keep going up and up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-cruise-ship-ex-crewmember/722561.md?page=3)