Working on a cruise ship, first stesp in the Caribbean - Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

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First steps in the Caribbean

Welcome to the diary of a cruise ship crew member!

My dream came true. Standing in front of a huge boat, feeling the gentle Caribbean breeze, touching the land after five days was incredible. I saw a sign: Welcome to the Cayman Islands! The feeling of being here is fabulous. I have done my first steps in the Caribbean.

When I got my first lunch break, I couldn’t wait to finally be in the fresh and sunny air. I wasn’t used to it, and it was challenging not to go outside for several days. The first port I managed to go ashore was Georgetown, in Grand Cayman. Half-day in paradise. Since I didn’t really know anyone on the ship yet, I went outside alone. I asked a few people for information about what to do, and where to go on the island. After that I started to listen to my favourite music, I turned on my camera and I started to explore the city.

About this post

In this post, I will show you some of my first photos from the beginning when I started to work on a cruise ship. Oh, have you read my post about how to travel the world on a cruise ship? You can find out many interesting things about how life is as a crew member. Read about me and you will find out when I started to write my travel journal. Recently I have decided to translate my posts from Hungarian to English. I think it is a special way of travelling. Working and travelling at the same time is always a good idea.

So some part of this post was written in 2014, almost at the end of my second contract. It’s so good to read it again and to remember those moments. I really would like to share it with everyone who wants to know more about ship life.

Georgetown, Grand Cayman

My first photo in Georgetown:

Okay, don’t judge me. I’ll be honest. I didn’t really know how to dress up at that time. Because I have never been to this kind of place before and everything was so new to me. Anyway, I had fun on this beautiful island.

The port is full of souvenir shops. Lots of colourful dresses are hanging on the shops’ doors. I had to buy one for my next visit because it’s really hot here. I expended my postcard collection and, indispensable, my mother’s fridge magnet collection as well. Going further to the city centre I found more shops. The best thing is, crew members are having a discount everywhere which is a really good business. Can you imagine seeing us going back to the ship with huge shopping bags? Yes, and it’s totally normal.

I started walking along the shore. I admired the colour of the water, which I have seen on postcards before. Here is the proof that it’s not photoshop, it’s real.

This place has become my favourite in the Caribbean. It is easily accessible from the ship, as we were taken to the port by small boats called water shuttle. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long for this. Everything was very close. When I was in a mood and of course I had time, I took a taxi and went to the beach. The most famous beach in Georgetown is the 7 Mile Beach where most of the tourists go. This is a favourite place for the crew members as well and now I can say it’s mine too.

Every Friday the ship anchored here. The itinerary always depended on the weather conditions. Sometimes it was so windy and rainy that the ship was unable to anchor. But safety is first! In this case, we went to visit the next port of call or headed back to the homeport. Our schedule changed as well. This means, that if you had lunch off, you had to go back to work and your break was cancelled. Anyway, it’s a different story. I will talk about it later.

After a long discovery walk, I went to Burger King. The internet connection was quite good, better than onboard. Finally, I talked with my family and I shared all the stories I had on a cruise ship.

I had a table by the window. It felt good to be a little bit free, to be far from the boat and not to think about work. This was only my first week on board yet. It’s hard to get used to new things in a totally different world. Especially when you know there is no one around you, no family, no friends from home. You feel alone because you don’t know anything or anyone. This changes over time. After a while, I started to feel more confident on the boat. Seeing new members always reminds me of how lost I was in the beginning. If you can dream it, you can do it!

On my first contract, I spent the first five months in the Caribbean, and on my second contract, I spent the last five months. In between, I travelled to Europe. While in the beginning of the active programs, various tours were typical, after that resting was in focus and having a little tan. Otherwise, when I reach home, nobody would believe that I was in the Caribbean.

Overall

Thank you so much for reading my journey of being a crew member on a cruise ship. I really would like to share with you my experiences because I think it could be very interesting for those ones who want to try it. I know it could be hard sometimes but because of these places, it’s worth working on a cruise ship.