I wanted to share something that's been on my mind since getting back from a cruise last week. I'm interested to hear whether anyone else has had similar thoughts, or if people who have worked on cruise ships can offer some insight.

We sailed on one of the world's largest cruise ships and, honestly, it was an incredible holiday. The ship itself was amazing, the entertainment was fantastic, and we had a great time as a family.

But there was one aspect of the trip that I haven't been able to stop thinking about, and it's the crew.

I ended up chatting with one of the staff members one evening and asked what life was actually like working on board. They were from India and were really open about their experience. They told me they were on an eight-month contract and that during those eight months they worked every single day without a day off.

Their hardest day was turnover day, they said they would typically start work around 6am and often wouldn't finish until around 11pm. A 17-hour shift, and then they get up and do it all again the next day.

I honestly couldn't imagine it.

As passengers, we see smiling faces everywhere we go. The staff are friendly, energetic and seem genuinely happy to help. Knowing what some of them are doing behind the scenes made me wonder how they manage it, both physically and mentally... and is this modern slavery?

I also started thinking about the economics of it all. I'm assuming these aren't particularly high-paying jobs, although I also understand they may be far better paid than opportunities available in their home countries. But working 7 days a week with those kind of hours is simply unkind.

I couldn't shake the feeling that my holiday was only possible because thousands of people, many from developing countries, are working incredibly long hours under conditions that most of us would never accept ourselves.

Has anyone here worked on a cruise ship? Were your experiences similar, or does it vary depending on the cruise line and the role? And for everyone else, has anyone ever felt a bit conflicted about this side of cruising, or am I overthinking it?

Got off a cruise Sunday and this has been bothering me thinking back about our trip. Do not hit on the staff. They aren’t interested, I promise. It’s literally written into their contracts that they can’t sleep with the passengers. There were two interactions really stood out to me.

I got onto an elevator with a guy around 60 and one of the singers from one of the shows. She was coming back from what looked like the on board gym. The 60 year old recognized her immediately and started talking to her. She was smiling and being nice. He took this as his chance and started to talk to her about what happens on the staff deck. She tried to say probably not what he thinks happens.He Then blurted out “I bet a lot of plan B has to be taken down there.” She continued to smile but didn’t look like she wanted to talk to him anymore. He then gave her this creepy smile and asked her when was the last time she had to take Plan B. She looked very uncomfortable. She had hit the elevator button for the 4th deck (crew deck) but got off on the 7th deck, while still forcing a smile. Looked like she wanted to get away from him. He then yelled out that he would be seeing her at her next performance as she walked away. WTF.

The second one was two guys in one of the shops. One of the guys asked the girl working if she got a discount if she bought anything. She said a small one. Guy then tells her if she will give him her discount he will buy her anything she wants with the money he saved or he could also just give it to her if she wanted to spend some private time with him with a small wink. She didn’t look impressed but again she is paid to be nice to the guests and kept smiling. Guy told her to think about what she would want and he would be back closer to when her shift was over to talk to her about it. She didn’t say anything and just stared at the cash register until the 2 guys left. Again WTF.

You might think you’re some type of Romeo but don’t be the creepy guy that doesn’t have the social skills to realize how creepy you are being. These are only 2 of that interactions that I saw but I’m sure it happens all the time and because they are working on months long contracts all they can do is smile back and not say anything.

Seems like the whole fork scratching fiasco has gone viral enough for Carnival to officially address it. Alas, comments are disabled!

A few days ago there was post on here asking what your "cruise world problems" are, and my comment got a lot of engagement. The tldr was that I couldn't book Princess plus for just my wife and i because we were split between two cabins with 3 kids and online you had to add it for the first 2 people in each cabin, regardless of age.

Full text here:

>*Current problem: Taking a Princess Cruise with a family of 5, so we got two staterooms. On paper, my wife and one kid are in one room, and myself and the other two kids are in the other. But obviously our teenagers can be in one room and my wife and I will be in the other. I wanted to add Princess Plus (the drinks package) for my wife and I. But they make you add it for the first two people in each stateroom, regardless of age. That would be $1,876 🥴. Guess we are buying drinks a la carte.*

When we boarded Emerald Princess in Vancouver yesterday, I had to go to guest services to sort something else out. I mentioned that would love to add Princess Plus, but just for the adults on the booking, in two separate cabins. The response?

"No problem Sir, I can override that issue here".

So I got Princess Plus the way I wanted to, without adding the kids.

I would like to add that coming from mostly Carnival cruises, Princess Plus seems like a steal. Its about the same price as Cheers, but includes your crew gratuities, wifi, and some specialty dining. You don't have to be a functioning alcoholic to make the math work.

🤘

This is the first time I've used a travel agent and I'll be clarifying my final costs soon, but I'm not sure if she meant to send me her copy that showed the commission. Wanted to make sure that my cost should be the net, not the gross if I'm reading that correctly.

Booked on the Encore itinerary out of Seattle in July and genuinely cannot figure out how to play the Glacier Bay day. The ship spends most of the day slowly moving through the bay, which from everything I've read is already pretty spectacular just from the deck or a balcony. But the helicopter glacier landing excursion keeps jumping out at me every time I look at the excursion list, partly because it looks insane and partly because I keep talking myself out of the price.

I'm not sure the aerial view adds that much if you're already at water level watching calving up close. Maybe it does. People who have done both on the same trip say the heli landing feels like a completely different thing, not just a better angle on the same view, and that's what keeps pulling me back toward it.

Weather is obviously the wildcard. If the Glacier Bay day gets cancelled or fogged out, the helicopter math changes entirely.

Curious what people who have actually done the Glacier Bay portion would say. Did you feel like the deck experience alone was worth it, or did you wish you had booked something off the ship that day?

Im looking to take my mother on a cruise. She is 90. Would it be a good time for her? She uses a walker buf a wheelchair may be better. What cruise line would be best to accommodate? I have been on a Royal Caribbean cruise before just looking ti do one with her.

Hi looking to take a cruise trip with extended family.
We are planning on destination South Pacific leaving east coast of Australia.
Essentially it will be 5 adults and 2 kids between 6 and 10.
Our two big choices are :

1. Carnival adventure vs royal Caribbean anthem of the seas

2 . Going in January vs April.

I think we are leaning towards April and Royal Caribbean , but before we commit after some opinions or experiences from a similar trip on which cruise liner ppl would choose or if the April dates are good for swimming and general comfortability ?

Any other tips or trick to help a cruise newbie out would also be appreciated :)

I am from the Albany, NY area. There is a private bus line that offers roundtrip transportation to the Boston and NYC ports for $120. I was curious if other cities have similar options.

Hi everyone,
I'm from the Philippines and have been working as a casino dealer for over 5 years.
My experience is mainly in Baccarat, Roulette, and a few mini games. Unfortunately, my current casino doesn't train dealers on every table game, so I never had the opportunity to learn games like Blackjack, Craps, poker games and some of the other table games.
My goal is to work on a cruise ship, but I'm worried that my current game knowledge might not be enough to get hired.
I have a few questions:
Is it still possible to get hired with only Baccarat, Roulette, and mini games?

Which cruise lines are more open to hiring dealers who don't know every table game yet?

Do cruise casinos provide training for the games I'm missing, or do they expect applicants to already know them?

If I decide to learn the other games on my own, would being self-taught be acceptable, or is formal casino training expected?

During the interview, is it better to be completely honest about the games I don't know, or should I only mention the games I'm confident dealing?

Also, would it be a good idea to complete my STCW Basic Safety Training (BST) and get my Seaman's Book before applying, or is it better to wait until I receive a job offer?
I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has worked as a casino dealer on a cruise ship or has gone through the hiring process. Any advice or personal experience would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!

We are sailing over Labor Day, so I’m trying to be proactive and get a few things in line. I’m specifically looking for a diaper bag that could double as a purse, but is big enough to hold enough diapers/snacks/wipes/change of clothes for a full day of travel.

Any other recommendations would be appreciated too! Our son will be 18 months, and we are doing a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Getaway!

M 22, here, just finishing up first ever cruise with family cruise through Alaska, and it was pretty fun! But pretty bummed out that there wasn’t much young adults here, so I’m kinda looking at trying to find a cruise line/ destination that works best for Young Solo Riders, and planning one in the next year, as a treat for myself and to find a way to possibly try and find more young people, any recommendations?

FYI, I did my cruise through the Carnival Miracle, and understand how it is considered one of the more cheaper, family friendly options.

Hello!! I’m taking my husband on his first cruise for our honeymoon in november. We will be traveling from the Galveston port. I’m looking for thoughts on Norwegian vs MSC vs Royal Caribbean!!

I’ve only been on Carnival as a kid. We originally were thinking Virgin, but would have to fly for that.

I know these are all “family” cruises but looking for thoughts on…
-less kids? at least less crowded?
-good shows and food
-fun on board things (mini golf, water slides, etc.)
-nightlife (more so clubs than casino)

Thank you in advance!! I want to show my husband an incredible time so we can cruise again (;

(also we are trying to book tonight so answer quickly if you have anything to say, please!!)

Last April, I was on the Carnival Mardi Gras and purchased the OneRoam Global + Cruise 7-Day package. I was disappointed with the network coverage on the ship's WMS (Cellular at Sea) service. Gigsky offers the same kind of service but with capped amount of data, using the same onboard network as OneRoam

There was no connection in an estimated 70% of the ship, especially in high-traffic areas like the theater, the midship atrium, and most of the cabin corridors.

Inside our cabin on Deck 4, there was simply no service. If I opened the cabin door, I'd get one bar of extremely slow internet.

I found two spots on the ship where it worked great: the Main Dining Room and the Sports Bar, both located aft. In those areas, I have to say the service was actually pretty decent.

I own a small business and need to stay connected with my team, even while on vacation. I'd rather take an extra week or two of vacation each year and spend 1–2 hours a day working to keep things running smoothly.

From what I remember, when I cruised back in the 3G era (around 2010–2013), the 3G signal was nearly full strength almost everywhere on the ship.

I'm wondering if others have had the same experience on different ships or cruise lines. I'm leaving in September on the Carnival Paradise and trying to decide whether to give OneRoam another chance or just pay for the overpriced ship Wi-Fi, which is at least reliable.

I also visited Nassau, Grand Turk, Amber Cove and Celebration Key. Even on land, LTE was surprisingly slow despite having a strong signal. I'm wondering if OneRoam throttles speeds to limit data usage, even though the plan is advertised as unlimited.

Phone used was an iPhone 17 Pro Max

#cruiseship #LTEatsea #Cellularatsea #Oneroam #Gigsky #CarnivalMardigras #Internetatsea

Hi everyone, I’m looking to book my first ever cruise with my wife in the near future. For some background information, we’re both in our late 20’s with no kids. Besides enjoying the actual destination and ports, we are looking to also explore activities on the ship itself.

Originally, we were looking into luxury lines like Regent, Explora, and Ritz Carlton, but was getting worried of the skewed age demographics. I saw that majority of the passengers on board these lines were at least in their 40’s or older. Additionally, we read some reviews that claimed some of these lines had really limited things to do and explore on the ship.

After further research, I found that Royal Caribbean was a popular choice with many things to do on board. Obviously, the downside is that these “mainstream” lines tend to be packed with children, which we weren’t thrilled with.

At this stage, we’re honestly stuck between which route to take. We would appreciate any advice. Thank you!

I’m going on freedom of the seas on Saturday and I picked my time dining but now I hear that if you do that you have to wait very long , I’m trying to make reservations now but it’s only giving me the option to reserve for days 1, 2 , and 3

We typically stay at mid to mid high tier All Inclusives. This will be our first cruise. It actually lines up perfect with a vacation we are already taking in Florida. This is a 5 night Bahamas cruise. I'm about to book it, I just was wondering what kind of crowd and is the ship decent, clean, food quality? Thanks!

Update: Thanks for all your answers, much appreciated. We decided not to go. We will book a different cruise line in the future!

I don't have a visa to enter the States, but looking for suggestions for a cruise in December to beat the Canadian winter. Please suggest something affordable that myself and my 19-year old son can consider (7 days max). Being unable to enter the States removes choices like the Caribbean etc that leave from Florida :(

I’ve been on 5 cruises (all Carnival, between 1997 and 2024). I was also SO pro-cruise, but after the last one, I decided that it would probably be my last one for a few reasons.

If one were to ask me if I’d go on another one, I’d say, “If they’d change THIS ONE THING, the likelihood would be higher.”

My ONE THING is that I want to be able to get non-alcoholic drinks (soda, etc) at EVERY SINGLE PLACE FOOD IS SERVED.

I don’t want to have to stand in one line for drinks and another one for food. I’m drinking my drink in line for food or the ice is melting, and then when I sit down I have to go get another drink and my food gets cold.

I want a combo meal, dammit. All at once.

What’s your ONE THING to sway you back if you’ve strayed?

(One only, please!)