Cruise Ship Staff Reveals 20 Dirty Secrets That Everyone Deserves To Know
By Nick Hadji
7 months ago
1. There's a morgue onboard
Image source: Reddit
It's probably not the vision you had in your mind for the dream vacation, a luxury cruise. When we think of a cruise we think of the most high-end experience. But often, the realities of things aren't the same. According to cruise ship staff if you go deep below deck there will be a morgue in case anybody on board dies whilst they are at sea. Sadly, it happens and it's not uncommon either. It's usually due to natural courses but can be caused by any kind of illness or unknown factors. The demographic of cruises also makes it a little bit more common.+Original content sourced from Femanin.com2. They cause massive pollution
Image source: Reddit
Cruises have come under fire in recent years for churning out massive amounts of pollution. In a day where it is so crucial to be environmentally friendly, many people don't agree with cruises and think their lack of sustainability means that they should no longer be in operation. Cruise staff reveals that there is a huge amount of pollution from cruises on a daily basis. Some have managed to overcome this and actually use liquified natural gases to motor the ship, rather than fuel which of course is a much more sustainable option.3. Food poisoning is rife
Image source: Reddit
A cruise ship feeds more people than any other environment, it feeds thousands and thousands of people a day for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all the many snacks in between. That's a LOT of food that is required onboard. And at sea, all the food has to be stored for (often) the entirety of the trip. And as a result of this, sometimes the food isn't the freshest. Also, when one kind of food is bad or causes poisoning, it won't just be one person who suffers, it will be hundreds of people all struck down with food poisoning. Does this happen often? Staff reveals that YES, it does.4. 'Booze passes' can cause problems
Image source: Reddit
When you've paid for your cruise, you can then eat and drink and attend shows all-inclusive style. But alcohol is one of those things that isn't included. But, on some cruises, there is what you call a 'booze pass' which you pay a certain amount for and then you can drink all the alcohol you wish to for no extra cost. But, staff have to be super careful in making sure people on board don't get TOO drunk, otherwise, they can disrupt other guests or even get ill - which isn't ideal when you're stuck out at sea.5. There are jail cells
Image source: Reddit
Okay, most of us never knew that there were actually jail cells on board cruise ships. What lies on the surface is very different from deep below deck. Alongside a morgue, there are jail cells for anybody breaking the rules. laws or causing a lot of trouble. The person will be taken to the 'a jail cell' under international maritime law until they can be removed from the ship during the next stop. When you have anywhere up to 7 or 8 thousand people in one space, there's a chance that the cells will be necessary.6. People get carried away having too much fun, in public
Image source: Reddit
So cruise ship staff reveal another dirty secret that happens on cruise ships. They reveal that there are couples/people who get carried away on board and it happens ALL of the time...in public! Has nobody heard of the saying 'get a room'? and this time we're not just talking about PDA, if you get our drift. Unfortunately, this is something that staff have to encounter on a regular basis and of course, they have to break up the couple and discreetly send them on their way, hoping that no other guests have been disturbed.7. 20 people fall off a cruise ship every year
Image source: Reddit
It's a fairly shocking statistic when you realize that 20 people almost every year fall off a huge cruise ship. This can be for a variety of reasons, some are drunk, some just lose their balance and some are (probably) pushed off the board. Most of the people who fall off board are accounted for and managed to be rescued. But, being far out in the middle of the ocean, some people are never ever seen again and cannot be found or accounted for. In fact, between the years of 2009 and 2016, 8 people died falling off cruise ships!8. 140, 210,000 gallons of sewage are produced each WEEK
Image source: Reddit
That's a HUGE, and disgusting amount of sewage to fathom. But, when there are that many people on board, of course, there's a lot of sewage produced. And when the ship is close to shore there is a kind of sewage system that works in the same way as airplanes so that it goes into a sewage filter system. But staff tell us that when a cruise ship is more than 12 miles from shore, the majority of it is dumped directly into the oceans. This means that there is a vast amount of waste going straight into our oceans, damaging them!9. Contagious diseases spread like wildfire
Image source: Reddit
When someone on deck has a virus or an illness....it spreads through the rest of the cruise quicker than almost any environment. There are not many times when around 7 thousand people would be living in very close proximity together, for 24 hours of the day (okay aside from sleeping). So this is pretty much the worst place for catching things. In fact, norovirus is super common on cruises and once one person has it it's hard to stop everybody else getting it too. Staff reveals that this has happened on countless cruises.10. Pirates have attacked cruise ships
Image source: Reddit
We are past the era of pirates, but that doesn't mean that they don't still exist. Some oceans are still rife with pirating. And for this reason, cruises are protected against them in the case that the ship is attacked. First off, in the case of a pirate attack passengers are told to get away from the decks. Then, the water and sound cannons are fired to scare and warn them off. Cruise staff do reassure us that this is not at all common, but it has definitely happened on a few occasions over the years.11. The bilge water releases sulfur dioxide
Image source: Reddit
Another dirty secret about cruise ships is that they produce what is often referred to as bilge water. While the ship may look impressive on the seas, under the seas the effect is very different, Bilge water is a combination of things such as oil, water, chemicals, sludge, and all kinds of fluids. Bilge water from the cruise ship goes into the oceans and it produces sulphur dioxide. Marine life and the levels of the natural ocean are of course damaged by this. And, the ocean is suffering more today than it ever has before. Cruise ships are just a part of the problem!12. The air quality on board is disgusting
Image source: Reddit
You imagine a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, breathing in fresh, sea air. Well not quite. According to staff, when the air quality was tested it showed just how bad it really was. The air quality on a cruise ship can actually be up to 20 times worse than in a busy car in a city. It's due to all of the mechanical operations going on all the time to keep the ship working. So as well as pumping it out into the air, we're also breathing it in on deck. Fuel, chemicals, and gases are released into the air and much of it stays within the ship. The outside air does not circulate enou0gh through the ship to keep it cleaner.13. Clogged sewage pipes are common
Image source: Reddit
The sewer and pipe systems on board a cruise, according to the cruise ship staff, are VERY fragile. A lot of things can mess them up and get the system clogged, and quite easily too according to the crew. The pipes are designed for waste and toilet paper. But, people put things down the toilet which shouldn't be flushed and which are toot hick for the pipes. And this can cause in clogged pipes which can also mean that the sewage starts to spill outwards, rather than back down the pipes into the sewage tank, agh!14. It's easy for things to go wrong
Image source: Reddit
The crew who work on cruise ships emphasized just how much the entire ship requires everything to run perfectly smoothly. Otherwise, things go wrong...very easily. And one thing leads to another. For example, one crew member revealed that they were on a cruise ship that had a fire in an engine. But it led to everything failing, including plumbing meaning that there were rising sewage levels. And, the food started to go bad as well as the steering system! People on board were stranded for 3 days in the Gulf of Mexico on a cruise ship where everything was malfunctioning because ONE thing had gone wrong.15. The cruise will leave without you
Image source: Reddit
One of the best things about cruises is the day trip. You can stop at beautiful places and go on an excursion or explore on your own. But when the crew says to be back for a certain time on the ship...you really should. The crew has revealed that some people have found out the hard way just how strict this rule actually is. The ship gives some time for stragglers, but when you go over the time too much the ship will leave without you and you have to get home on your own from wherever you are in the world.16. The pandemic 19 hit cruises hard
Image source: Reddit
Cruise ships were seriously affected by the pandemic. When the covid 19 pandemic hit, cruise ships were the first that the outbreak of the virus reached outside of China. Once the outbreak had spread from one person on board, soon the majority of the boat had it. The cruise ships then had to be quarantined indefinitely and because the route cause and the nature of the virus wasn't yet known. So, the passengers weren't allowed to disembark and it took weeks and weeks before the crew or the passengers were allowed to return home.17. Seasickness happens every minute
Image source: Reddit
It may be a cruise ship, but it's still a boat at sea and that can only mean one thing: sea sickness. Now you might assume those who suffer from sea sickness may steer clear of cruise ships, however, the assumption usually is that you cannot feel it on a cruise because of the sheer size of the boat. But the crew says that sea sickness happens every single day on board. And, vomit is just a daily part of working on a cruise ship. Unfortunately, things can get very messy on board according to crew members.18. The staff work nonstop
Image source: Reddit
Staff are working nonstop day in and day out. When you see them on board, they'll probably be doing several things at once, rushing around and usually still looking forever professional, friendly, and with a smile on their face. The crew doesn't always feel like that however because once crew members claimed that they had to work 18 hours in a row sometimes, working 3 different shifts and roles back to back. So she went from cleaning to kitchen prep to working behind a bar within one day. So when they say they work non-stop, they truly do mean it.19. Their accommodation is TINY
Image source: Reddit
If you've ever envisaged working on a cruise ship, you may have even believed that the crew gets similar accommodations as the guests. Oh no. The accommodation is absolutely tiny and usually way below deck. It's so small that it essentially fits a bed only. And if the room is bigger it's because some of the crew members have to share their accommodation! So privacy is seriously hard to come by for crew members a lot of the time and they do not have the comfort that is usually associated with the majority of cruise ships.20. Staff cabins have no windows
Image source: Reddit
Picturing a tiny, tiny room deep below deck without windows actually sounds more like a prison cell than accommodation. Not only are these accommodations very small, but there's no natural light so it can feel very oppressive down there according to cruise ship workers. In fact, they use the accommodation to sleep and change but aside from that they prefer to stay out of their accommodation whenever possible. And going up to the deck feels super important to be able to get some natural light and feel normal again after a night spent down below!21. They get hit on all the time
Image source: Reddit
Cre members discussed how they get it on ALL the time whilst working. This can be especially disconcerting for some staff because they are trying to maintain professionalism whilst strongly rejecting the person. They are also stuck out at sea with their person for the foreseeable future so things can get awkward, especially f they take rejection badly! When there are groups of guests or single guests on board, crew members find that it's worse. Usually, during family-based cruises there aren't as many cases (but there are always some!)22. Passengers yell at staff on a regular basis
Image source: Reddit
Working in hospitality is hard because crew or staff of any kind face backlash and difficult customers on a daily basis. The crew has stated that they are sometimes treated terribly and that some passengers even yell at them. When they were asked if these kinds of incidents were unusual, the cruise ship crew said that they actually happened all of the time. Some passengers were super nice and friendly towards the crew, but many would make their job a lot more difficult just because they were being difficult or unreasonable.23. They have to remember everybody's name
Image source: Reddit
How could you possibly remember that many people's names? The crew has said that they were expected to remember everybody's name when they were working on luxury cruise ships which felt completely unrealistic. This is to give the ultimate luxury feel as though each passenger is being cared for individually, rather than blending into the masses of crowds on board. But despite creating a much better experience for the passengers, it can be completely overwhelming for the crew who cannot possibly remember every single name!24. They rely on tips
Image source: Reddit
Another dirty secret about working on cruise ships is that the wages are very low. The money earned is minimal, yet the hours they work are completely maximized so that they are working constantly. Crew members have to work really hard considering cruises are so huge and there are so many people on board, all of whom may be wanting different things. But, despite all this, they are not paid well. In fact, the crew often rely on the tips from customers to make up for their low wages. Yet they suffer now from the modern cashless society!25. People have disappeared without explanation
Image source: Reddit
Crew members on cruise ships have to deal with all kinds of incidents. And, some have reported being on cruise ships where people disappear. You're probably wondering how that could possibly happen on a ship. Yet because the vessel is SO huge, there have been cases where people are completely unaccounted for and they have disappeared without explanation, never to be found again. Whether they have gone overboard or somewhere unfound in the depths of the ship it is unclear! But, in some cases, it will never be known...26. There are cases of onboard crime
Image source: Reddit
Cruise ship crew members have poured out the dirty secrets that happen on board. And what they highlighted was that during every cruise, there are several crimes reported. Usually, it is a few cases of petty theft. But, there have also been cases of far more severe matters. When you are living in such close proximity with so many people, it is unlikely that any cruise will ever be crime free. So crew warm guests not to be too blasé when it comes to going on a cruise or with your possessions on the ship.27. There can be long lines and waits
Image source: Reddit
When you go on a lavish cruise ship or a cruise vacation you want to feel like you are lapping in the life of luxury. What you don't want to be doing is lining up for your buffet or fitting into the restaurant. But crew members have revealed that in reality there is a lot of waiting around in lines to use the facilities and restaurants, despite there being so many of them. So what you don't see on the cruise ship brochure is the lines of people waiting to get breakfast in the morning and lining up to go and get into the cinema.28. It's HUGE
Image source: Reddit
Everybody knows that cruise ships are huge. But not many people actually fathom just HOW huge they are. Perhaps when we consider that they can hold around eight thousand people, they can span over 18 decks, have 20 swimming pools and multiple cinemas, swimming pools and even facilities such as an aqua park...it puts it more into perspective. They are essentially a floating city out at sea. They're literally so big that we cannot even comprehend it. The crew themselves find it hard to navigate the vast amount of space.29. There's a lot of partying
Image source: Reddit
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com
image source: reddit.com