Working on a cruise ship offers unique opportunities for crew members to explore various destinations during their time off. How crew members choose to spend their shore leave varies depending on personal preferences. One common activity is gathering with fellow crew members to dine at local restaurants. Whether it's a favorite fish and chips place in Alaska or an ethnic restaurant that brings back the memories of home-cooked food, ask a fellow crew member where they would suggest if you aren't sure.

Other popular things to do ashore are to find free internet, make a phone call from a calling station, and go shopping. Crew members know which ports on their itinerary have a Walmart or Costco to stock up on toiletries, snacks or buy electronics. Many ports also have a free crew shuttle to take crew members to the main shopping areas. Alternatively, the crew can share a taxi from the ship to town.

Heading to the beach, hiking, or booking a shore excursion is another way to enjoy your time ashore. Often the ship's crew club will organize tours for the crew. Or volunteering to escort on a shore excursion is another way to see the port of call.

Depending how much time you have will determine what you will do while you have some time off. How you get around will also depend on the available transportation options. Whatever you choose, crew members are experts in making the most of a short period.

The COVID-19 pandemic seriously hampered cruise ship operations. Given that coronavirus outbreaks did occur on cruise ships and the high risk they pose with semi-enclosed areas, high population density, and limited medical resources, the industry was nervous about extending pre-pandemic shore liberties to the crew.

Not all staff could leave the ship and explore the ports, even pre-pandemic. Maintenance and vital ship functions carry on through the day and night, and guests who decide to stay on board still need food and beverages, room service, and housekeeping. 

Typically, a roster system ensures everyone has some opportunity or the other to go on shore leave during the duration of their contract. Since the itinerary is repeated regularly, they will have a chance to visit every port at some point in their career on board.

If they are permitted shore leave, cruise ship crew can join excursions organized for them by the company or if there is a last-minute non-refundable cancellation. Most, however, prefer to go it alone – on sightseeing tours or trips. However, all crew on shore must leave and return an hour before departure. There can be dire consequences – even termination of employment – if a crew member delays and is left behind.

Most cruise ship crew find it useful to spend their shore leave in what's often called 'crew areas.' These are restaurants, bars, and pubs that cater to them, offering inexpensive food and alcohol, high-speed internet, and a variety of other facilities. Good Wi-Fi is in high demand since the crew can spend time catching up with family and friends worldwide.

One of the most exciting parts of working on cruise ships is exploring different places. The crew often gets inside information on secret beaches and hidden gems away from the tourist's eye. These are great places to unwind, relax and avoid the constant requirement to always cater to guests. 

Many cruise ship crew also utilize shore leave to get gifts for family homes, wire money, or send and receive mail. There's an entire emotion involved in seeing a hand-made card sent by your child or a parcel of birthday wishes from near and dear ones. It also offers a fun way to surprise your family back home with things as simple as a postcard or a small port souvenir that says you're thinking of them.

When a ship is in port, most guests go ashore. As a crew member, you can also explore the respective destinations. However, this depends on the individual department and your working schedule – and even if you do not have the chance to go ashore, the panorama of most of the coasts and cities alone is priceless! With a little planning and experience, you can have unforgettable moments ashore during your lunch break or overnights after work. On some river cruise ships, you can even rent a bike on board and explore the destination. A small tip: Find out about the best options in the destinations from experienced crew members! This way, you can often get great insider information and better plan your shore leave.

Overnights are regular highlights in crew life. With an overnight, as the name already suggests, the ship does not cast off again in the evening but instead remains in the port overnight. This means that guests and crew have significantly more time to go ashore in the evening. Such overnights take place primarily in popular destinations with a lot to see, which is perfect for gaining deep insight into countries and cultures or even exploring the nightlife of foreign cities.

Some jobs will have nearly the same schedule every day, whereas others will have more leisurely days on port days. For passenger-facing roles or jobs onboard that deal more directly with the guests, port days are lighter as most guests are ashore, so there are fewer guests to feed, clean for, and entertain. These jobs will conversely be busier on sea days. This may mean that on a port day, your work day is 6-8 hours versus 10 hours (for instance).

Some jobs are the opposite of that, where port days are significantly more busy. These would be jobs like engineering officers doing propulsion maintenance, the sailors and officers that drive tender boats, security at the gangway, everyone involved in loading provisions onto the ship, window washers, and exterior painters (to name a few). However, whether your role onboard has more hours on a port day or a sea day – regardless, you'll most likely be working every day.

For the most part, every job on a ship happens every day. The dining room is open every day; the buffet is open every day. Every day people need to eat, rooms need to be cleaned, engines need to keep running, and the ship needs to go from A to B.

People working at hotels get days off – so why aren't people on a ship? That mostly comes down to cabin space. Cabin space is at a premium. If the crew were to have days off, you would still need other crew to cover those responsibilities – this means more staff onboard, taking up more cabin space. And, the more cabin space crew take up, the less space there is onboard the ship for passenger cabins. Cruising is a business, and it's less expensive to have crew work every single day of their contract and then have a few months off to have more crew onboard.

But that is only the perspective of the cruise ship companies. From your own perspective as a crew member, you need to be very wise with choosing how you will spend your time off because that will be the major factor in keeping your sanity and high-performance productivity levels while at work. 

Keep it up; you can do it!