Transitioning from cargo to cruise. Advice?

[Sun Zenith]

I am moving sectors from cargo to cruise later this year. This will be my first time working on cruise ships and I feel confident in my abilities, however it does bring a certain fear of the unknown as it is a totally new area of the industry.

Do any of you guys who work on cruise ships or who have made the transition from cargo to cruise have any advice/give me an idea of what to expect on a first trip? (Deck OOW by the way).

[whereismycadetblad]

I was on cargo ships as a cadet. Then did a year and a half on cruise lines. Expect more drills and a higher level of drill quality and training. Not sure what company you're with but most of them have double watch keeping on the bridge now and follow the BRM procedures (closed loop comms etc). I personally think there is a lot more work on the cruises and you have to be professional looking at all times. During manoeuvring don't be surprised if there is 7/8 people on the bridge.

Social life was excellent and you'll meet loads of people. You'll probably be giving life raft drills I new crew and be on deck for passenger drills reporting to the bridge etc.

My first day was pretty overwhelming and the ship although not the biggest around seemed enormous. Constantly going port instead of starboard and aft instead of fwd for a week 😂. Safety is huge there and the systems are much more complex. Everything is basically on a bigger scale. You'll work hard but live hard too. Expect random d n a tests though officers more than any other position.

Anyways not sure if any of that was useful at all. Any specific questions give me a shout and I'll try answer them.

[endure]

Expect random d n a tests though officers more than any other position.

DNA tests? Is this insurance against being blamed for putting passengers up the duff?

[chris]

Drug n alcohol

[endure]

Are you not allowed to drink at all on passie ships?

[ETwhat?]

Most of them still allow drinking but within tight limits. so random tests which if you fail its bad
most ships that do have booze will still do tests for us it tends to be who is on watch, the next watch and day workers where appropriate (not cruise)

[alistairuk]

Are you not allowed to drink at all on passie ships?

Varies by company; most require zero while in scheduled work and less than UK limit at any time.

[YoungMariner]

I agree with Whereismycadetblad, I also transitioned from Cargo to Cruise as soon as I qualified. It was a steep learning curve and the work load and pace is quite a bit faster then your average deep sea cargo vessels, in addition to higher standards of watch keeping generally expected. The first month or so will require a lot of learning to get up to speed, keep a notebook handy and write down everything and anything as you go around. Good luck, some people love passenger ships, others hate it, but regardless the lifestyle can be great fun.
Oh yes and you learn to be on your best behaviour and in uniform pretty much 24/7 :-)

[Pilot Chris]

Just to add to the above I made the change at the end of my Cadetship and my advice is don't listen to the common rumour that cruise ship guys do less work etc, the workload is massive at almost every rank and it's extremely fast paced. As YM said use a notebook (I had one for almost 12 years on cruise ships) because you have to know the ship inside out and when someone says where is the fire locker in zone 6 for example you can instantly answer.

The standard of Nav is normally pretty high, as a junior OOW you need to really get a grip on things like wheel over points, swinging circles, continuos sensor monitoring and high levels of ENC limitations, layers etc.

Enjoy, and off the record you can have a great time with quite a few "coca-colas!" But the main rules apply - don't be late, don't get caught, look keen, dress immaculately and if you don't know then ask!

[TAL]

8 - 12...The Disco watch

[Snorey8]

Not sure what company you guys are working for, getting random D&A tests but I can say for sure its the not the same for all companies! I work on cruise and its very much work hard play hard (within limits of course!) You'll enjoy yourself and the standard of living is a lot higher! All the best

[whereismycadetblad]

I was with Holland America Line a couple years ago which is where my cruise experience is from. They'd have weekly random D&A tests. In saying that, I heard they recently brought back spirits for crew consumption (before was beer and wine only). What company you with Snorey?

[endure]

How can a D&A test tell the difference between wine and spirits?

[alistairuk]

How can a D&A test tell the difference between wine and spirits?

It can't, however your bar bill can

[Clanky]

The biggest challenge that you will face on cruise ships is that you will look around you every day and see crew members who are only there to party and you will wonder why you can't simply do the same.

There will be a whole host of fluffies and luvvies, for whom their contract is a paid holiday, they will be managed by people who are in a similar position and who feel that the alcohol policy does not really apply to them. It is easy to look at all of these people drunk and partying every night in the crew bar and think why can't I do the same. The difference is that if they get sacked for being pissed it is less likely to be the end of their career.

Remember that you are there to work, in exactly the same way that you were on cargo ships and that the social side of cruise ships is a bonus rather than the whole reason that you are there. You can still go ashore and enjoy yourself, you can still have a beer in the evening, just make sure that you never think that it will be OK if you come back onboard a bit pissed and go straight on watch, or that it will be OK if you are in the bar until 1am and then go and do the 4-8 watch in the morning.

I have seen far too many people over the years fall into the trap of thinking that drunkenness is somehow acceptable on a cruise ship, it isn't in either theory or practice. When you are on watch you are responsible for the safety of everyone onboard and no-one will turn a blind eye to you being drunk while you do it.