# Captaining the Love Boat **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 2, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captaining-the-love-boat/1006640 "2024-09-02T18:23:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captaining-the-love-boat/1006640/21 "2024-09-02T23:45:14Z")
He does have staff for day-to-day operations (for transiting in and out of port, he’s got a local pilot, for example). But a captain who spent all his time on the bridge and ignored the passengers wouldn’t be doing his whole job. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captaining-the-love-boat/1006640/22 "2024-09-03T01:28:30Z")
Ah, right. He didn’t get on the PT boat until after that. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captaining-the-love-boat/1006640/23 "2024-09-04T18:33:05Z")
This guy (Ron Chrastina) is the captain of the only US-flagged cruise ship (the Pride of America out of Honolulu), and basically he went to the US Merchant Marine Academy and then sailed on cargo ships for a short while, then ended up becoming an officer on a foreign-flagged cruise ship and going from there. [Crew Profile: Captain Ron Chrastina – Norwegian Sky – Part 1 | The Travel Review](https://thetravelreview.com.au/2012/09/05/captain-ron-chrastina-norwegian-sky-part-1/) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captaining-the-love-boat/1006640/24 "2024-09-04T18:44:37Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > So, is the guy schmoozing the first class passengers at the captain’s table and giving tours of the bridge really the same guy responsible for actual nautical matters? Seems like two completely different jobs to me Yes, he is, but that schmoozing is a small part of his job. For the main job of passenger entertainment, they have another captain-like rank. This person is responsible for the “hotel” side of the boat, while the actual Captain does all the nautical stuff. More details: > **[Cruise Ship Ranks and Hierarchy - CruiseShipJobs.com](https://cruiseshipjobs.com/career-advice/cruise-ship-ranks/)** > >   Working on a cruise ship is a unique environment. Although one may argue that it’s just a floating resort, a look closer identifies that hierarchy and ranks are embedded in each cruise job onboard. By understanding the difference in stripes... ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captaining-the-love-boat/1006640/25 "2024-09-04T22:03:38Z")
So who determines what rank you get? Does some regulatory board dictate how many stripes you’re at? Is it set by the ship’s captain? By the HR department at the cruise ship company? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captaining-the-love-boat/1006640/26 "2024-09-04T22:41:36Z")
From what I have heard at cruise ship talks \* it seems the closest is the HR department - for a bunch of reasons, but especially the way the contracts work. The TV show where there was a pretty stable crew from year to year doesn’t happen. Captain Stubing and Julie and Gopher are on the Pacific Princess now, but in six months Stubing may be on the Diamond Princess and Julie is on the Royal Princess on Gopher is on a two month break between contracts. Everyone works on contracts and the contracts are different lengths depending on the position and they don’t all start and end at the same time , so it’s not as though the restaurant manager is going to be able to decide that the assistant waiter is ready to be promoted to waiter - their contracts may have only overlapped for a couple of weeks. And the same goes for the food and beverage director not really overlapping with the restaurant manager. If I remember correctly, whether someone gets a promotion they applied for depends on training, experience and/or licensing. \* Every cruise I’ve been on has a Q&A with the captain, chief engineer and hotel director and someone always asks about career progression. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captaining-the-love-boat/1006640/27 "2024-09-04T22:56:33Z")
In the U.S., you need a [license](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licensed_mariner) issued by the U.S. Coast Guard. The U.S. is a signatory to the _[International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STCW_Convention)_ for Seafarers (STCW) issued by the _[International Maritime Organization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Maritime_Organization)_. This (we hope) ensures that everybody meets certain minimum standards for training and experience. You have to log a certain number of days at sea (a year, if I remember right) at your current rank before you can apply for the next rank. You might have to take an exam. On the one cruise I took, the cruise line was a US/UK owned company. The ship flew the flag of a Caribbean country. The senior officers all seemed to be Italian, and wore Italian Navy-style sleeve stripes. I always wondered if that was standard throughout the company, or only on ships with Italian captains? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captaining-the-love-boat/1006640.md?page=1)