Today see’s Amanda joining the CruiseMiss Blog as a guest blogger. Sharing her stories with us all from her experiences as a crew member for both Carnival and Cunard.
Nothing can ever prepare you for what life on board a cruise ship is like – it certainly isn’t a holiday and a fortnight drinking cocktails and living the high life is a lot different to 8 months of living on one as a staff member. It begins from the moment you see your ship for the first time, not quite believing that this is going to be your home for the next while. It takes a few weeks to find your bearings and to get your head round the fact that this is where you will be living!
You also have to get used to the fact that you will be sharing your life in a small cabin with someone that you won’t have met before, they could be from any walk of life so it is so important if you are ever considering a life at sea that you are flexible, don’t mind your space being interrupted and saying goodbye to your privacy! But, life on board offers so much excitement and amazing opportunities, that really this is a small price to pay. On some ships staff members don’t have deck privileges in other words they have their own quarters where they socialise and don’t get much of an opportunity to get to know the guests. Luckily for me on board Carnival ships we did have the privilege so it was fantastic to be able to share the guests’ experience of the ship and get to know those who came back for repeat trips.
Within a few weeks of getting to know your co-workers and other staff members, life on board is one big journey of fun, but not to mention hard work and long hours. But knowing at the end of a busy day you can unwind with a cocktail in the piano bar, or sit on the top deck under the stars with a good book or spend your day off on the beach makes everything worthwhile.
Author: Amanda
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What Cunard ship you on ?
Amanda was on board the Queen Elizabeth 2