Cruise Ship Marine Operations - or - Culture Clash between Departments

The author of “Cruise Ship Marine Operations”  introduces the major regulations, and gives an introduction of all the roles aboard.

He also writes with a lot of appreciation for seafarers and their tough occupation. And with a lot of sensitivity, he explains the difference of mentalities, goals and perspectives of the people in different departments.

The article also shows very well, the complexity of the departments. And the importance of interdepartmental communication. 

Find the full article at Research Gate

Mariner perspectives…

One main difference the author points out is the career perspective.

Marine officers and engineers tend to decide on their seagoing careers early in life.

For some it is even family tradition. 

They spend many years in the shipping industry. Usually on different ship types before they work on cruise ships.

They work their way up the ranks and are (rightfully so) proud of their achievements along the way.

And of course; they identify with their ship and want to keep it in good shape. Not only because they know about the safety issues that neglected maintenance can result in. But also, because they take pride of their ship. They always try to improve her condition. By maintenance, modernization and the general care that they award her with.

Nobody wants to be sailing into port being the ugly rust bucket.

…versus Hotel Perspectives

On the other hand, there are the hotel departments. Not all of them want to spend their entire life on a ship. Some enjoy the fun of it, whilst being young and having the possibility to explore the world. Some do a few contracts only. Others stay longer.

For others it is an opportunity to make good money for a few years and build a stable life at home. Or it is a good booster for their career in tourism ashore.

Of course, there is also hotel personnel, which spends the majority of their working life on board. but even then, the general bond with the ship itself seems to be different. It is more fuelled by the people they work with, and the atmosphere they work in. Less with the ship structure or the machinery itself. Which makes sense – their job/passion is people – ours is machinery…

Harsh reality of different perspectives

The first time, this difference really stuck me, was after the pandemic. The ship I was working on was getting ready to finally go on passenger cruises again.

For almost 1,5 years, a minimal crew was working very hard, to keep all areas in shape for entering back into service.

The steel structure, all the interior, and of cause all the machinery inside and outside the engine room. Whilst trying to keep energy consumptions, material consumption and all possible costs to a bare minimum.

And then the hotel department came back on board. After all this time, it was weird to have so many people on the ship. There was chattering in the corridors, so many people in the elevators and all over the place. Weird, but beautiful to see the ship coming out of her sleeping beauty mode.

That day, I had a conversation with some newcomers from the hotel team. They all been happy and motivated to finally come back on board and get to sail with guests again. And the question, that one of them rose, that nearly led me to having a stroke:

“I’ve heard they always had like 80 people aboard during the layup times.

But what are so many people doing here if there are no guests?”

I don’t have the sensitivity of above-named author. So, my answer was probably not as polite as it should have been.

But I told him,
– what would happen to steel if nobody would have taken care of it for 1,5 years.
– which water quality he could expect, if nobody would have taken care of the system in 1,5 years.
– that he’d have cold cuts tonight, if nobody would have taken care of the galley for 1,5 years.
– not even cold cuts, if nobody would have taken care of the refrigeration system.
– the ship wouldn’t be going anywhere if nobody would have taken care of the engines.

And I told him, that nobody of the people working their butts of during layup times expects a thank you or a medal of honour. But a bit more appreciation for the hard work of other people would be very appropriate.

Of course, I didn’t really make friends this moment.

But this needed to be said.

It is simply unfair and ignorant, that people who are working on ships for a long time have so little knowledge and even less appreciation for other departments.

So don’t be this person. We don’t need to know in detail what others are doing. We don’t even need to like them. But we can for sure show a little appreciation towards everyone who’s working hard to get their part of the job done.

Little side note:

I liked the article, but one thing broke my heart…

The missing description of the hotel-technical positions on board is missing. Maybe I’ll ask the author for a little update, to make a little update here…!? 🙂

How are your experiences with the culture clash?

I’d like to read about it in the comments.

Fair winds to all of you – Stay safe and enjoy what you do!