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New blog about Crew Life onboard Cruise Ship


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Good Day Everyone,

 

I've started my career at sea 2 years ago and I wanted to share my experiences as an Officer onboard different cruise ships: what's our life onboard? What are our challenges? What are the benefits of this kind of life? etc.

 

With my posts I aim to answer all questions I have been asked about my life and my job on board.

 

https://awaywithyourfairies.com/

 

I like criticism and I'll be very happy to hear from you! Don't hesitate to send me your feedback, and to share it if you liked it 🙂

 

Thanks!

 

Happy Reading!

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  • 2 weeks later...

No disrespect to your position as an HR Manager, as I am well aware of the advantages, having worked extensively with HR during my 40 yrs at sea. However, I certainly don't consider the HR Manager as a ship's officer.

 

Many aboard cruise ships may receive officer privileges, but the true officers are only Deck and Engineering members with Certificates of Competency. On ships with compliments of over 100, I also include the Docs & Nurses, as officers.

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Hello!

Thanks for your honest feedback. I think I understand your point of view.

Deck and Engineering definitely are Merchant Navy Officers as they are defined positions by the industry itself. Without them, the ships won't be able to sail and their positions are controlled by many regulations, including SOLAS and MARPOL.

 

For the rest, it really depends on the cruise lines. Entertainment uses officers' uniforms for the show, obviously. For Hotel, it's more about consistency on the ship and being easily identified by the guests.

 

For HR, it really depends on the company. When I see HR Manager reporting to Staff Captains or Hotel Directors, no, they are not officers. Just employees. Reporting to a specific head of department brings an obvious conflict of interest.

However, when the company gives full responsibility to HR and when they can be neutral, then, yes, they are officers. Responsible for hundreds or thousands of souls on board.

Based on my experience, I know better how to bring a safe environment to the crew and have better knowledge of MLC than many Deck officers. However, Deck officers are supposed to take care of these missions and this is part of their education.

 

Thanks to HR positions, the ship's environment is now safer, with muuuuuch less harassment and a safer workplace.

 

But, again, I think it really depends on the organization.. :) 

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On 9/1/2020 at 12:55 PM, AwayWithYourFairies said:

 

However, when the company gives full responsibility to HR and when they can be neutral, then, yes, they are officers. Responsible for hundreds or thousands of souls on board.

Based on my experience, I know better how to bring a safe environment to the crew and have better knowledge of MLC than many Deck officers. However, Deck officers are supposed to take care of these missions and this is part of their education.

 

Thanks to HR positions, the ship's environment is now safer, with muuuuuch less harassment and a safer workplace.

 

But, again, I think it really depends on the organization.. 🙂

 

With almost 30 yrs of command, I have worked with many excellent HR Managers & Directors and not one of them considered themselves as an Officer.

 

Yes, many Deck Officers, especially junior officers and especially cadets will have only a limited knowledge of MLC, as their job description does not require a detailed knowledge. The Collision Regulations and a number of others are significantly more important at their stage of development.

 

Onboard a vessel, only 1 person has overall responsibility, when it concerns the prevention of pollution and safety of the vessel, crew & pax and that is the Master. Section 5 of the ISM Code assigns the Master overriding authority, which must be included in the company SMS.

 

However, the Master, Staff Captain and Senior 1st Officer should have a detailed working knowledge of all relevant IMO, Flag State, Class and company regulations/requirements. However, as most competent Masters are aware, we can't be expected to know everything, including the plethora of changes, so we rely on the knowledge of others on board to assist.

 

With respect to a safe working environment, you will have a better understanding of human factors than most Deck Officers, but Health & Safety on a ship also has numerous technical considerations, which unless you have completed a Deck hand program or cadet program, even senior cadets will have greater knowledge or experience when creating a safe environment when anchoring, launching lifeboats, mooring, etc.

 

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