just curious

Tamara · April 2, 2004

A friend of mine went on a cruise a few years back and had a bit of a fling with one of the staff; a bartender, I think. What's the situation with staff and crew "mingling" (and you can place whatever meaning you like on that term) with passengers? Are there different rules, do you think, for officers as compared to, say, waiters, in the whole hierarchy of things aboard ship? I'm not planning anything (!), just wondering what goes on. Surely there is a lot of skulking about late at night between cabins.

dreamer · April 2, 2004

I doubt there is much going on between staff and passengers. First most staff would not consider risking there job for a " fling". Second most people know that having a " fling " with a stranger whose sexual history in a unknown, is risking their lives. Not only is there Aids but there is still many other sexually transmitted diseases,and anyone willing to have a casual fling on board is obviously not " inexperienced" and therefore not a safe sex bet!

I suppose a casual flirtation does develope many times, but I doubt it would often go farther than that( yes I know there are always exceptions!

I imagine there are different rules for higher ranking officers, but I doubt they are the ones playing around much, they do socialize more though and are allowed in the public areas of the ships when not on duty which the regular service staff staff aren't.

ruag8tr2 · April 3, 2004

I agree with Dreamer. It would not be very bright to have a fling with a passenger if you are working on a cruise ship. That said, I have heard a few stories about passengers going down to the crew quarters and partying. Also, there are definitely rules about which crew members can "socialize" with the passengers. The lowest on the rung are the food service workers. Not only are they not allowed to be seen with passengers while off duty, but their hours are terribly long. They probably don't want to see any passengers when they are off duty. IMHO.

Dennis

:cool:

Shari2 · April 3, 2004

There isn't supposed to be fraternizing, but people are human, and many of these workers are away from home for a long time) and it does happen. On my first cruise on Carnival many officers were dancing with the pretty girls, and I won't say who and how many asked me out (I was young and single then) :grin:

This was back in 1979, but I really doubt it has changed that much!

Yes, there are different rules for the officers and the workers on the ship(or at least there used to be.