Becoming Cabin Personnel on a private yacht or luxury boat

To work on board of a private Yacht is not impossible for who desires to! If the sea world is essentially masculine (there aren’t many female captains in the industry), the positions assumed inside the yacht are mostly administered by female workers. There aren’t many Chief Stewards, except on vessels of 50m and more. 

To enter this industry, the requirements are:

1.     good level of knowledge of the English language

2.      a certificate referred to as STCW 95, which includes : fighting fire, sea survival, first aid and how to handle individuals in crisis (this includes a week of training and a certain fee).

3.     it is also needed to have a particular medical certificate called the ENG 1, which is only distributed by doctors. This is valid for two years and cost around 120 euros.  

Here are links for more information :
STCW 95: http://www.surviemerformation.com/Stage%28C.B.S%29.php
ENG 1: http://www.clydemarine.com/content/cmms/medical_fees.asp

Most of the crew teams are english-speaking which makes us, french speakers, highly in demand due to our manners and service even without any former food and beverage training.

It is highly recommended to subscribe with an agency; the best ones are in Antibes and Monaco and there is usually no inscription fee. Very often, agencies may ask for a retainer but won’t provide you with much work.

Antibes: Peter Insulls  http://www.peterinsulls.com/
Monaco: Monaco Equipage http://www.monacoequipage.com/

There are many others, which are often grouped with other booking agencies such as Campers & Nicholson or Yachting Partners International, which are all very highly respected.

The world of yachting is one of those where one can obtain a career without having any specific former qualifications : your learning skills, resourcefulness, good health and the ability to compromise will have you climb the ladder up until Chief Steward or even Interior Manager on vessels of more than 100 meters.

It took me 6 years to grow from junior stewardess (usually cabins and clothes) to Chief Stewardess, responsible for interior and service and is the first link with the Owner and guests.

Positions available range as follow:

Junior stewardess:  (generally without experience or very little, around 6 months) depending on the vessel’s size, this position might include general tasks or a more specialized job description.

Senior Stewardess: at least two years of experience. On the bigger vessels (more than 50m), she will work in service or in cabins; on the smaller vessels she might be needed to tackle a bit of everything because of the lack of personnel.

2nd Stewardess or Head Housekeeper: as indicated by the title itself, she will be in charge of cabins, common areas and the other girls working in these areas. She will also be the right arm of the Chief and may fulfill her role when she is not able to be there. The Head Housekeeper must know everything about service and cabins and may handle responsibilities such as inventories, buying, etc.

Chief Stewardess: She is responsible of the interior. She needs to have a complete adress book as she will act as concierge (ranging from helicopter rental to a magician for kids – she needs to be able to find anything anywhere around the world), she also needs to be very knowledgeable about table manners and service, wine, food and cooking (even if she doesn’t know how to cook !), in cabins, with clothes (a stain on a designer silk dress is no problem – she can also fix a pearl necklace from which the pearls are falling off), she needs to be able to tackle any task with success. She also needs to take charge of her team, work on the inventory, buying (from the crew’s deodorant to the Armani sofa for the guests) entertain the guests by pulling together theme nights, entertainment, table decorations, crew members’ uniforms, etc. The list is never-ending.

She also is the first one in line if the boat owner is not in a good mood. Diplomacy and manners as well as discretion and a constant smile are mandatory.

To add to the charming side of this work, one can’t forget that you will live with the other crew members that you absolutely do not know and with whom you will share rather small accommodations. I might’ve worked on a yacht of more than 58m; I shared my cabin with my 2^nd. If I wanted to have a private cabin since I was a superior, I would need to work on a boat of more than 65m long.

Hierarchy is very important. It is not the army, but there is a high discipline related to it. We wear a uniform and often pins or shoulder pads with our grade, just like on a cruise boat.

Social and private life is completely inexistent. Generally, I will be at home, on vacation, for 2 months during a year. And even then, sometimes I can stay on the water for 11 months before ever going home.

Contracts are usually renewed annually and often automatically.

You do not pay taxes (only exceptionally, if the yacht is based in his origin country), you are well paid, fed and taken care of. You will travel anywhere in the world et earn generous tips.

When the owners or the clients (certain yachts are chartered) come on board, you need to work 24/7 until they leave. It is not rare that one might work more than 20 hours per day for the entire duration of the stay. Obviously it is impossible to leave the yacht except to make yacht-related purchases such as flowers, newspapers, magazines, etc.

When the yacht is ‘empty’, we usually work from 8am to 5pm with days off on the week-ends except if we are ‘on call’ since, obviously, there always needs to be at least two people on board, sometimes three for security reasons.

Just like the PA you referred to in your blog, working in the yacht industry, unless you are an engineer or captain or sometimes kitchen Chief, is not something you can do for your whole life. The physical and mental constraints are very high and there is a need for a healthy mix of strong personality and ability to compromise in order to survive.