Guest Author - Lisa Shea

If your cruise ship carries 2,000 passengers, it probably has at least 800 crew members - from cooks to cleaners, from doctors to the captain. Where do they sleep?

The answer is of course on the boat - a helicopter doesn't come and ferry them all home each evening! Where passengers have a lowest deck that is typically at waterline level, there is of course more boat down below that deck. The crew is typically put down there, in rooms without windows that are very small. They share cabins with 4 people to a room, and they of course have to clean their own rooms :)

There is also typically a crew relaxation lounge, kitchen and dining area. Crew normally aren't allowed to mingle with passengers during their off-hours, so that is where they hang out. Of course, with many of the crew jobs being 7 days a week, for more than 12 hours a day, most crew tend to sleep during their time off.

That being said, the more illustrious of the crew, such as the captain and the cruise director, often have much nicer cabins!