Below the decks: Meet the Irish people working on the world's cruise ships
Third Officer Gareth Hampton: “You end up making quite close friendships when you’re months away at sea together. So it’s quite common in this business to stop off and visit friends and colleagues from other parts of the world.”
When she heard that a representative from a spa company was en route to talk to her hairstyling class about working life on board a cruise ship, Niamh Cassidy looked at her watch and jumped in her car.
With no interest in a life on the ocean waves, she was determined to get ahead of the rush hour traffic and home to Donegal. Six months later, she found herself waking up on a boat to a view of a beach in the Caribbean.
“I was 21 at the time and had no intention of working on cruise ships,” says the 31-year-old. “But I went and visited my sister who had gone out to Abu Dhabi to nurse.
“That was my first big trip abroad and I realised there was a world out there waiting to be discovered. When I came home, I had this itch to see it. So my two thoughts were to go down the hairdressing route on a cruise ship or go air hostessing. I applied for both jobs, but naturally enough I got the one I was qualified for.”
After a few weeks of training in London, Niamh was offered a contract and was ready for her first voyage. With just a few days to departure, she discovered it would be long and far away.
“My first contract was 10 months,” she recalls. “We sailed around the Mediterranean, then all the way over to the Caribbean before coming back to the British Isles. That was quite long. I loved it. But the spa is very sales-based, so I was often asked to talk at entertainment events on board where you’d be telling people about your offering. I was good at that. I was good at speaking and I realised when I got into it, this was where I wanted to be. I had the gift of the gab.”
THANKFULLY for Niamh, others had noticed that gift too, so after completing her first stint on board she returned home and applied for her next voyage.
This time, she was going to sea to entertain and was selected as part of the activity team. Niamh rose through the ranks quite quickly and was soon assigned the role of activity manager.
“When I stepped up to the management position it was tough,” she recalls. “You’re given a login and it’s ‘off you go and figure it out’. But, you’re surrounded by people from all over the world who are on holiday and are at their happiest. We really live in a bubble and there’s probably an element of escapism about it.
“I’ve had guests who book a cruise because they want to come back on board with me because they’ve had great fun before. That’s really nice and a huge compliment I think.”
Niamh, who is currently at home on leave, will soon take a new but similar role with another company.
She is looking forward to embarking on this part of her career though she does admit that it can be tough being away for long periods.
“I’m here having a cup of tea with the dog beside me and I’m not having to watch the clock,” she says.
“You miss weddings and other life events, even a night out. I’ve had friends who have gone through tough times and you’re not there for them. Sometimes you don’t want to be at work, but it’s not because of work, it’s just you are missing out on life at home.”
Those days of homesickness are usually offset by the countless wonders of the world that Niamh has seen in her seven years at sea.
“My favourite area would be around the Mediterranean,” she says. “Simply because of the variety. You’ve got the cities, the culture, the beaches and the food is amazing. The Caribbean is lovely but is just sandy white beaches and expensive food when you’re in port. Alaska was amazing; humpback whales in the ocean just a few feet away from you. Australia and New Zealand are really nice. I spent a few months around England, Scotland, and Ireland which were very nice. I’d recommend it but it’s a big commitment.
“People get a bit of a shock because you’re working every day.
“I have my own cabin so I have my own space but if you’re working in rooms, or in the kitchen or you’re a bartender, and unless you get to management, you’ll be sharing. Some people can struggle with that.”
While everyone on board will finish their stint knowing the likes of Niamh, they are less likely to interact with the likes of Gareth Hampton.
Given the 26-year-old grew up on an orchard in landlocked Armagh, it’s somewhat surprising that he spends much of the year guiding cruise ships across the world’s oceans.
“Maybe it was because we grew up away from it, but both myself and my sister became infatuated by the sea,” says the 26-year-old.
“We both started to sail as kids in a small club on Strangford Lough and got involved in a couple of youth groups that gave us opportunities to go further afield and get a taste of offshore sailing. We ended up both making a career out of it.”
On finishing school, Gareth looked into his options for a life at sea and applied to one of the world’s largest and best-known operators.
After a rigorous process involving several interviews, a maths exam, and psychometric testing to assess how your mind and body respond to high-pressure situations, he embarked on his merchant navy cadetship — a four-year course available in four locations in the UK and one in Ireland, based in Cork.
“You have to go through a shipping company and be sponsored on the course,” he explains. “Time to study is built into your term time. In order to do your certification you need to do at least one year at sea.”
As it happens, Gareth is back studying at Warsash Maritime Academy in Southampton.
“At the moment, I’m a third officer and I’m in charge of the safe navigation of the ship as well as the life-saving and emergency procedures on board. I work on the navigational bridge from where the ship is sailed.
“I have an officer for the watch unlimited licence, so that’s the equivalent of our driving licence at sea. The company has basically said that I’m ready to move up the chain and they’ve paid for the exams.
"They’ll take about six months, all told. From third officer, it’s up to first officer and safety officer and then there’s one more step until you get your masters’ licence and you could end up being captain. That’s the pathway I’m on.”
It’s a pathway that, like Niamh, has taken him all over the world. While he loves going for runs on “amazing trails in Alaska” and the “food and vibrant friendly culture of Mexico”, the real benefit is the friends he has met from all over the world and the lives he’s been invited to share.
“I’ve visited friends of mine, people that I’ve worked with and I’ve stayed with them and got to see aspects of their life and culture that others might not see,” he says.
“You end up making quite close friendships when you’re months away at sea together. So it’s quite common in this business to stop off and visit friends and colleagues from other parts of the world.”
While Gareth says that “working at sea is fantastic”, he admits that “it’s demanding and not really conducive to having a family”. So will he do it forever?
“I love where I’m at at the minute and I’m on the path to captain, but like most careers, the triangle is wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. I would like to make it up to a master mariners ticket. I dreamt about it for years. So even if I don’t make it to captain but get that certification, I’ll be pretty happy with what I’ve achieved.”
For 35-year-old Paula Hannigan, life on the ocean waves is over. After seven years at sea, the pastry chef is back home in Waterford where her cake and pastry-making skills are being welcomed in and around Dungarvan.
“I had been working as a pastry chef in a hotel for around nine years so my motivation wasn’t to learn how to make pastries, I wanted to see the world,” she recalls.
“I did two contracts and then I came home and I was teaching. I had serious cabin fever at home during covid, so when they contacted me again to go on a 180-person expedition yacht I jumped at it and I did that for three years.”
From 2017 to last year, Paula was on board no fewer than nine ships making pastries and cakes for the great, the good, and sometimes the very wealthy.
“We had a princess getting married on board once,” says Paula. “I was at home in Waterford on leave but I was the one she had been talking to about the cake so they called me and asked me to come back to make it. They flew me out specifically.”
Though the cake turned out to be a huge success, the princess was happy, and the wedding was a night to remember, Paula’s anecdote says a lot about the expectations and demands of life working on a cruise ship.
“It’s the most amazing way to travel,” she says. “I’ve seen parts of the world that most people won’t get to see. It’s free and you get paid very well. It’s hard going though. I finished up in February last year and at that point, I was burnt out. I’ve opened a business here in Dungarvan making cakes and pastries. It’s small but it’s growing and I’m happy.
“I wouldn’t go back to ships. It’s very difficult to lead a normal life and a ship life.”
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