Reddit users claiming to be cruise ship crew members have shared wild behind-the-scenes stories ranging from shooting incidents and man overboard emergencies to fake kidnapping scams and lifestyle cruises
People are taking to Reddit to spill cruise ship secrets(Image: Getty)
As temperatures across Europe gradually begin to rise, cruise season is almost upon us – and with it come the horror stories.
From tales involving enormous vessels, crew members, alcohol, rowdy passengers, mechanical breakdowns and behind-the-scenes crises, sailing season brings all of this and considerably more besides.
While passengers are almost always guaranteed a fantastic time on a cruise, for those working onboard, life at sea can be equally colourful and chaotic.
And that’s precisely what some viral Reddit threads are bringing to light.
Offering a candid glimpse into life working aboard a cruise ship, Reddit users claiming to be both current and former crew members are lifting the lid on industry secrets, spilling the details across various online forums.
The stories shared on these no-holds-barred subreddit threads range from utterly outrageous to downright deadly, painting a vivid picture of how life on the high seas can bring its fair share of turbulent waters, reports the Express.
On the subreddit AskReddit, one user posed the question: “Cruise Ship workers of reddit, what was the biggest “oh s***” moment on the boat, that luckily, passengers didn’t find out about at all?”
With the slate wiped clean (pun intended), one Reddit user recounted their tale: “Water pipe burst in a store room and soaked ALL of the spare toilet paper. This was on day 2 of a 14 day voyage to Antarctica. The cabin stewards had to swap around rolls of paper between “low use” and “high use” guest cabins and it came right down the wire. None of the guests found out or realized. Now toilet paper is hidden in every cabin instead of a centralized location.”
Another Redditor remembered a frightening incident on board: “Somebody shot at the navigation bridge of the ship from the shore on my last ship, the bullet bounced off and hit my colleague on the hand (no real damage but it scares the hell out of her, ended up going home for a few weeks).
“While we waited for the local police to come on and investigate and take statements, guests were told we were delaying the departure to take on fresh water. I’m still shocked that never leaked out.”
One former cruise ship employee took a trip down memory lane as they recalled a chilling ‘man overboard’ incident: “I used to be a crew member, and one time a guy working at the front desk jumped overboard after a crew party.
“He was found a few hours later by the coast guard, and everybody was asked to be discrete in order to keep the cruise running smooth, and everything was fine until the captain came on the PA and said we were delayed because a crew member jumped overboard.
“Then the madness begins, rumors appear out of nowhere, and the rest of the cruise was pretty much guests asking what happened the whole time.”
The very same user then recounted another harrowing tale, writing: “A lot of s*** happens onboard, I could write a book, maybe even more than one.
“Another time a guy committed suicide in his cabin, and his family was onboard, including a little girl, but this time it didn’t leak to the guests. I saw the family as they were being escorted to the security office, felt so bad for them.”
The same person also revealed a rather outrageous incident involving a colleague who was dismissed after taking his drinking far too far: “A friend of mine got fired for getting wasted, got p***** and starting peeing all over his cabin while the security guys were there to take care of him.
“He spent the night in the little jail onboard [brig] before being dumped the next day in whatever port we were in.”
Throwing fuel on the fire, one Redditor commented on the now-viral thread: “There are small fires in places like the kitchens that happen somewhat regularly. Most of the time they’re controlled quickly and no one even knows they happened.
“People drop dead all the time, especially on some of the nicer lines that are basically floating retirement homes. Ironically it’s when there’s a survivable medical emergency that guests become aware of it, when they need to do an emergency evacuation either by tender boat or helicopter.”
The user went on to recount a jaw-dropping incident from their time working onboard, describing it as the “worst accident”.
They explained: “Probably the worst accident that happened during my tenure was when a kid literally put his eye out on a ball valve handle on one of the open decks. Pretty sure word spread quickly on that one though.”
It turns out that life on the open water isn’t quite the plain sailing experience many might expect.
In a separate subreddit named Cruise, another user put forward the question: “What’s the craziest story a crew member has told you?”
The responses got increasingly outrageous, with one Reddit user recalling: “A CD [Cruise Director] told a story about a DJ that got drunk and got on the ship’s intercom at like 3am and announced an abandon ship order to everyone. Pandemonium ensued.
:They now limit who has access to that system. He said the captain got on and tried to calm people down but a lot of people chose to sleep on the lido deck that night with their life jackets. The DJ was thrown into the brig [tiny cruise ship jail] and was met on shore by the authorities. (Not sure what agency).”
Another user cast their mind back to their very first cruise in the 90s, sharing the scam they were almost certainly subjected to: “We had a cabin attendant on our first cruise in the 90s tell us how his family was being held hostage and he needed tips to pay off the people….. he would leave extra tip envelopes every day on our beds.
“Every day he would update us on what the kidnappers were telling him and made us promise not to tell anyone because he could get fired. I knew he was scamming but I still tipped cause I was going to anyway. I felt bad he obviously was hard up enough to do that.
“My mom was a sad wreck the whole week worrying over his family. I remember telling mom that he was spending most of the tips on phone calls since he had so much information to relay to us each day about the ‘kidnappers'”
In an unexpected revelation for one cruise passenger, their perspective was transformed regarding an entirely different style of voyage: “We were on a ship the week after a “Lifestyle/clothing optional” theme cruise. We got into several conversations with different workers about the details of what was allowed and what was normal.
“(Clothes required in dining room, not many other places). We thought the clothing optional cruise was pretty interesting. Until a crew member explained what a true lifestyle cruise is.
“It’s for swingers. Some of the rules include you have to bring a partner with you on the ship. No solo cruisers. The kids play rooms are converted into adult play rooms for the week and mattresses cover the floors. You have to be invited to join someone on a mattress, you can’t just join in any current activity.”
The passenger continued, explaining they’d enquired with their waiter about how evening meals operated on these ‘Lifestyle Cruises’, with the waiter clarifying: “They [the guests] usually came to dinner the first night with whomever they brought with them. Every night after that it was usually someone new.
“I’m not sure how much was exaggeration but I don’t think much. Google lifestyle or swingers cruisers and there are some interesting cruises/cruisers out there.”
