Is it worth it?

[JamesJim]

I'm seeking advice from those who have sailed the sea... What do you do? Is it worth it? Is the long time away from home worth it? Overall, is your job worth it? Why? What are some often overlooked parts of your job, good or bad? Why is it that deck jobs on cruise ships tend to get a bad rep?

I'm asking because I don't think there's anything else I'd want to do with my life but go to sea, and I'm going to be applying to the academies soon to pursue a deck career. I just wanted to hear some real feedback from real mariners.


All input is appreciated.


Also, if this isn't the right sub, could you move it please?

[c.captain]

admit it right here and now that you want to be a deck officer on a cruiseship so you can wear the spiffy white uniform and "hopefully" get some poontang in the process

if you don't admit it, I will call you a liar or at least a little boy who needs to keep dreaming his dreams in his little bed at night and not here

[Sweat-n-Grease]

JamesJim, you are on a forum which has many current and retired Merchant Seamen, I am one. Tell us why you want to be a Merchant Seaman or is this a silly game you are playing? You need not make your reply too detailed, simply a few hints on why you think you would make a dam fine Merchant Seaman. Do I need to post the US Merchant Marine hardly exists today, I'm talking about Deep Draft ships, which was once the backbone of the US Merchant Marine?

Past time to shut-down Kings Point.

[AHTS Master]

With 40 years at sea I say NO it's not worth it.

[JamesJim]

admit it right here and now that you want to be a deck officer on a cruiseship so you can wear the spiffy white uniform and "hopefully" get some poontang in the process

if you don't admit it, I will call you a liar or at least a little boy who needs to keep dreaming his dreams in his little bed at night and not here

Meh, close enough. I do want to work on passenger vessels. I wouldn't say that's necessarily the only thing I'd want to do.


Sweat-n-Grease, I honestly don't even know how to answer that... Did you have a reason for wanting to go to sea? I'm sure there's plenty of things I could say, but they wouldn't translate to well from my thoughts to text, so I'll spare you.

After re-reading my original post I realize what an absolutely shitty thread this is - maybe should have revised it a few times more. (And by revised I mean deleted it completely). Allow me to apologize for completely embarrassing myself. My intention was not to bombard you all with senseless questions, but instead to get a better insight on a career at sea.

[Fraqrat]

Nothin like staring at a beautiful sunset just down wind of the MSD as it recycles dinner back to the sea. Ahh the romance of sea life...

[MFOWelectrician]

I wish I was a deck officer on a cruise ship.

[PR-9]

At sea you have your good days and bad days. But the 182 days at home to do as you please, Priceless!!!!

[c.captain]

Meh, close enough. I do want to work on passenger vessels. I wouldn't say that's necessarily the only thing I'd want to do.

OK tell you what? Read a whole bunch of threads in this forum about all kinds of vessels like tankers and tugs and mudboats and then when you have learned something from what you've read you can come back here with real questions to ask. Then we might be happy to answer...it all depends on the mood we're in that day.

[injunear]

I wish I was a deck officer on a cruise ship.

Be careful what you wish for....

[Sweat-n-Grease]

Nothin like staring at a beautiful sunset just down wind of the MSD as it recycles dinner back to the sea. Ahh the romance of sea life...

Fragrat - Oh, you rascal you.

[Sweat-n-Grease]

.

After re-reading my original post I realize what an absolutely shitty thread this is - maybe should have revised it a few times more. (And by revised I mean deleted it completely). Allow me to apologize for completely embarrassing myself. My intention was not to bombard you all with senseless questions, but instead to get a better insight on a career at sea.

I was raised in the cold country, still live in cold country. Wanna know how to get better insight into a snow ball fight?
Look, James, take us with a grain of salt, we are, after all. Merchant Seamen, but, if you are serious, pay attention.
How about a snow ball fight?
I have to wonder, are you for real or are you shitting us?

[rshrew]

I would say it's worth it but you truly have to have a passion for what you are doing in my opinion.

[coldduck]

At sea you have your good days and bad days. But the 182 days at home to do as you please, Priceless!!!!

182 I wish! More like 122 minus screwed up crewchanges and mandatory training. Gotta love the oilfield.

[Tugs]

I am now Retired but would go back in a Heart Beat if I could. One that decides to make going to sea for a living has to be able to walk away from your life at home. If you let all of the little things that go wrong at home drive you crazy you will not have it easy. At one point I was married (to my EX-WIFE!!!!) and to say it was not well at home would be putting it mildly. I was not the best person to be around. I was a Chief Engineer and my Captain call me into his office and sat me down for a talk. He said either I learned to deal with it or go home as it was effecting my job performance. It is said that the woman that you need to run your life at home while you are away is the type of woman that will drive you nuts when you are home, as she does not need you for the day to day running of your Household.

I have always said that it takes a special man or woman to go to sea for a career. We all are a little different type than you would see in an office environment. Remember that you will be locked in a Steel Box with a group of people you may or may not get along with. You get on a vessel with a good crew all is good if the crew sucks then it's not so good.

There are a lot of dysfunctional people that work at sea, but some of the strangest people that I worked with were also the best shipmates and I would sail with them anytime anywhere.

As the saying goes you do not have to like each other to be able to work together.

You really need to re-think your choice of careers if you are going to do it only for the money.

[Capt. Nemo]

As the boys on the bayou would say: I smell a rat, me
Nemo

[Too bad steam is gone]

After sailing by Krakatoa, Iwo Jima, ashore Wake Island, Hiroshima, Niko National Park Japan (See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil monkeys 400 years old), Singapore, Africa,Australia, south America, Alaska I would say hell ya it's worth it. I took a taxi from South America to North America and back again in Panama. Fished about everywhere in the world where there are fish. Do you want to be one of "us" or just another K-Mart shopper?

[PaddyWest2012]

Be careful what you wish for....

VERY astute advice. I had my first experience with the passenger industry this summer. I just thought I'd get my feet wet there on a whim, thought it might be fun to see how that part of the industry lived. Not at all what I expected, not really even enjoyable. It was interesting, I'll give it that, but I can't help but feel that the only enrichment I got out of it was knowing now that I never want to do that again. I'm sure there are people out there who are suited for this work but I know now that I do not appear to be one of them. So go out and try everything you can at least once in your life, but whatever you do, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

[catherder]

Nothin like staring at a beautiful sunset just down wind of the MSD as it recycles dinner back to the sea. Ahh the romance of sea life...

Have you had the immense pleasure of standing knee-deep in grey water in the shower area trying to find the deck drain (by feel) with a t-wrench and 20 to 30 screaming hens are all around you demanding that you "DO SOMETHING?" Dayum wimmenz...my own gender can be our own worst enemy sometimes.

One of my ships backed up grey water and sometimes black water (!) EVERY time we pulled into port. Don't ask me how many times I had to give the "DON'T flush your paper ponies" lecture!!

I have visited cruise ships on business but I can't imagine the grey and black water headaches. Imagine with 4000 pax how many toilet issues you will have in a day.

Yikes.

[brjones]

Black water, grey water, brown trout, all sucks, but nothing compares to the backed up grease trap. I can swim in shit all day but I cringe at the trap