http://harpers.org/archive/1996/01/0007859

But it`s so hard to live with the petty complaints that come from some regular crew. Like being jealous of the fact that I can use all the facilities as a guest ent. Once you can use them you find you dont need to! But I have done crew and I nearly jumped overboard.

If I was still in my 20`s I might cope with being in the crew. Poor food quality, drills, authoritarian legalists etc. (It`s ship and so it has to be run with precision I know but…) Anyway we are all supposed to be a team, right? Mmm. I have been self employed most of my life apart from a spell in the Royal Marines which in fact was better. The military are much fairer than cruise ship crew. Anyway I am home in UK now on a 6 week gap between contracts and can see how paranoid I get at sea. After divorcing 4 years ago and being very depressed, sea life provided an easy life. Everything being done for me. But over drinking is easy at sea. Nothing to do during the very long days, that is unless you like going ashore and sitting on a beach or going round the Hermitage in St Petersburg yet again, looking at miserable people. OMG will I start to miss cruising soon?

The food as a guest ent is good. But 3 months of rich cuisine? And the formality of the dressing up, just to eat!

Hey there is the casual dining option but repeating menu`s! I sometimes do go ashore just for a big mac!

I spent many years thinking about cruising for a living one day. Now I do realise the freedoms we take for granted ashore. Its the money issue thats all.

I miss the beach and the breeze and the sound of the water, but that’s about it.

I definitely do not miss the bad living conditions, lack of smoke-free socializing areas, horrible crew food (impossible to maintain a proper vegan diet on a ship, by the way…impossible), or authoritarian personalities (who tend to pick on the entertainment departments out of spite, in my experience).

Most of all, I don’t miss the general sense of mediocrity.

It was cool to see so many awesome places, but I feel like life’s too short to twiddle your thumbs for very long. The ship always seemed to me like a boring safety net that had a few amazing benefits, but more costs overall.

However, I would say that it’s great for someone who doesn’t necessarily want to build a career per se, or someone who is transitioning and/or doesn’t know what to do next, as long as you’re willing to make some serious sacrifices in your comfort and freedom.

You could possibly maintain a healthy diet, it all depends on the ship you are on and if you like salad without dressing. When I was out there as a musician, we had “staff” status, meaning we could eat at the cafe which was open until 2 in the morning and served all sorts of food. They had steaks, chicken, prime rib, potatoes, sushi, pizza, sweet and sour pork, rice, soup, and plenty of nasty desserts. The only thing about the salads is that the dressings that they had were terrible after about a week. So take your own dressing in a bottle, if you can sneak it past the guards…