cruisecrasher
Adventurer Mom
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2010
Bonniec said:There are a lot of good and a lot of bad things about working on a ship and many books and articles on the internet describing the life. The thing to remember is that the jobs are in demand and those crew workers come back after their contracts are over. So no, they are not treated like zoo animals. They choose to do those jobs and I don't feel sorry for them.
But I also have a LOT of respect for them because I could never do it. Their cabin rooms are crazy small. As one of my books descibes them, you can pee and brush your teeth all at the same time, lol. They do have a pool, but it's not much bigger than a hot tub. They do get to see the sun, have a deck, a bar, etc....but they work crazy long hours. They do have nutritious foods to eat, but they don't get to eat what the guests eat. Everything I have read describes it as a buffet with a lot of curries and different soups (which I'd probably love). They tend to eat the same things over and over which makes sense why getting something different, like a candy bar, might be exciting.
But I also imagine, that sometimes they are likely just being polite. I have read on these boards where people order two desserts and bring them back. I would never want to eat food (even fruit) brought to me by guests. How would they know it wasn't tampered with, left at room temp too long, etc? That's just wierd to me. Unopened candy is different. But that's just my 2 cents
Money is always the best thing you can give. But I don't see the harm in handing out candy, gum, or whatever you want. Nor do I see it condensending that the OP invited the room service guy to come out and have a view. I don't think anyone is suggesting you do any of that in lieu of money.
ETA found a couple pics:
Crew member cabin (No idea which cruise line this is, but it gives you the idea of how small it is. Sharing that tiny space with a roomate would make me cringe, but I'm not young and single )
Employee crew member deck and pool on the Wonder
I'm going to ask a slightly off topic question. Has anyone ever seen anyone at the crew pool outside of the travel channel "Secrets Behind Disney Cruise Line". I've never seen anyone on that deck except to withdraw the flag as we were setting out from Cozumel.