I worked on over 100 cruises... here's the reality — from the surprising pay to the best and worst parts of the job

Independent

3 days ago

"There are so many things I really loved about it… but then there's the slop."
Travel YouTuber Alley Kerr is telling The Independent about the ups and downs of life working on a cruise ship.
The 28-year-old, whose bright, breezy and insightful videos have earned her 299,000 subscribers for her Wanderlust Alley YouTube channel, reveals over a Zoom chat that she worked on more than 100 cruises as a singer and dancer.
And she thoroughly enjoyed life at sea, from visiting an "unreal" number of countries to the pay, which was "a lot".
But she doesn't miss the food.
Alley, from Southern California, recalls: "Sometimes you just get slop — not great quality food. Which can be quite difficult.
"On some of the more luxurious ships, the crew members eat better.
"But the quality of the vegetables is not great. For example, you get the runt of the melon and you're like, 'Does it really make me want to eat fruit? Not really.'
"So, everything gets a bit meh and repetitive. But even when there is some good food, the energy of the mess is not super exciting. People don't look forward to it."
The other reality check for cruise-ship workers, notes Alley, is the fact that the dazzling amenities on the vessel can't necessarily be enjoyed.
She explains: "Amenities are off-limits for workers. Especially performers.
"Sometimes they would do things like midnight surf simulator or midnight laser tag, or something like that, where crew members could have an event for themselves.
"But as performers, you can't participate in those for safety reasons. For instance, you could get hurt, and then that would impact your job.
"So, the fun stuff that's associated with cruising is often out of bounds for workers."
Another challenge for Alley was continually "putting on a show", even when she wasn't working.
And facing up to the fact that because "performers get more privileges", other crew members would try to "get them in trouble".
She reveals: "Every other crew member is always looking for a way to get performers in trouble."
She says that a common ploy was to tell on a performer not wearing their name tag, which was mandatory whether they were working or not.
Alley continues: "I was a manager as well. So, if someone in my team wasn't wearing their name tag, then I was the first one to hear about it. And I had to be like, 'Who wasn't wearing their name tag? We got a call.' It's never a fun thing to hear, but it's part of the territory.
"So it felt very much like below deck is normal life, and above deck you have to put on a show, because if you have a name tag on, people are looking at you.
"Even if you're not directly working at that time, like if you're just going out to dinner or you're just going for a walk around the promenade, you still need to have your name tag. I felt like my shoulders were always back a little bit more. You still felt like you were representing the company. It didn't feel like I could just enjoy the ship."
Alley certainly enjoyed her pay packet, though, and the fact that "there's nothing you actually have to pay for", except logging on.
She reveals: "You don't have to pay for rent, your food is free, you have free health insurance. You don't have to pay for anything, really, except internet stuff."
The lowest earners make around $500 a month, but performers like Alley would start on around $2,000, and could earn a lot more.
Alley remarks: "It depends on whether you're a specialty act or a lead, or how long you've been in the company — you get little bumps over time — but I know some people who made over $10,000 a month.
"I think most dancers got hired at around $2,500 per month and most singers somewhere from $3,000 to $3,500. And then in musicals, that bump goes up.
"On my first ship, I was a dancer, and then a dancer/vocalist on my second. So, my pay got bumped up to $3,500 from $2,900.
"I then became a manager and dance captain and I was in an aerial show. You get paid extra for the different roles.
"So, I ended up getting all these extra things tacked on top of my salary and making around $6,000 a month. That's a lot."
Alley describes visiting 82 countries during her time working on cruise ships as "crazy" and easily one of the other major plus points.
She adds: "It feels unreal to have visited that many countries.
"But if you've worked on a ship in the Mediterranean, and then you relocated to Australia and that part of the world, and then you're in Asia, and then you're here and there, you do end up ticking so many locations off the list.
"And even though it's not a deep dive into every single country, each one has so much to offer
"I feel very fortunate to have gone back to the same place multiple times.
"I went to Rome once a week, every other week, at one point."
Alley left cruise ship work behind after sustaining an injury, but admits she would consider a "very short contract".
She says: "If that lined up in my life, maybe I would consider it. There were so many things I loved about it. But then also… there's the slop."