Ah, the crew mess. Crew members share a love-hate relationship with the mess, with the hate side often dominating. The crew's primary dining area, the mess is where you'll have most of your meals, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. The mess is typically divided into food categories, one catering to Asian cuisine (as most crew members are from Asia), and another section offering non-Asian dishes like pasta, rice, vegetables, pizza, and burgers. There's also a salad bar with a variety of options, such as lettuce, onions, olives, shaved carrots, tomatoes, and more.

In most crew messes, you'll find a dessert section that occasionally includes fruits, but predominantly features pastries, cakes, and sweets.

Ice Cream

On some ships, there's a soft-serve ice cream machine that's a delight when it's working.

Meals are served buffet-style in the crew mess

Specific meal times are allocated for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some ships also offer a late-night meal. Outside of these designated times, no food is available. You can't simply come later to grab a snack for your cabin. If you happen to miss a meal, for instance, breakfast, it's essential to have some snacks in your cabin to keep you fueled during your shift until the next meal.

On certain ships, there are special restaurants for high-ranking officials, typically offering waiter service and a menu for selection.

If your position allows it, you're welcome to dine at these restaurants, but you'll need to pay the same price as the guests if you opt for a paid restaurant. Your position onboard will determine your access privileges throughout the ship. If permitted, you can dine at the guest's restaurants during your time off, space permitting. Cruise ships typically have one or more main dining rooms (complimentary), a buffet-style restaurant, and several specialty restaurants (with additional charges).

Some special events are exclusively for crew members, with the most popular ones involving food and drinks. During holidays and special occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and the Philippines' Independence Day, the company provides special meals for the crew. The latter is particularly significant since the majority of the crew hails from the Philippines. These events often feature a plethora of food and festivities at the crew bar, often with a Philippine band performing.

One such event that stands out is the chocoholic buffet, where everything is crafted from chocolate, including a model of a chocolate cruise ship.

For the most part, the food in the crew mess is tolerable. After a few months onboard, it may feel like you're encountering the same dishes repeatedly, making it challenging to get excited about meals in the mess, unless it's a special event like those mentioned above. You'll likely start craving home-cooked food and the simplest dishes from your home country.

A significant advantage is that you'll have the opportunity to savor local cuisine at the ports of call. Delight in delicious pizzas and gelato in Italy, tapas and paellas in Spain, fresh and affordable seafood in the Caribbean islands, or authentic Mexican fare in Cozumel. So go ahead, relish these perks while working on a cruise ship and make the most of your time!

Crew Game Room

Some cruise lines provide a dedicated game room equipped with games like PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii. You'll also find board games, as well as books and DVDs that you can borrow and take to your cabin. The crew activities team regularly updates the list of available books and DVDs, and they have specified office hours for borrowing these items.

Crew Internet Cafe

A crew internet café is available onboard the ship to keep the crew connected even while at sea. However, the internet isn't free, and it costs considerably more than on land, without the land-based speeds. Expect to pay around $20 for 220 minutes of use (approximately $0.10 per minute). You can connect via Wi-Fi on your personal device or use one of the computers at the internet café. Simply create an account and choose an internet package. These packages vary in price, ranging from $5 to $20, but the cost per minute remains the same, around $0.10.

The internet cafe also has computers set up for accessing the internet if you don't have your own personal computer. It also provides access to the company's exclusive website, where you can access the latest news from the company via the intranet, find training resources, information about events, benefits such as cruise discounts, or even learn a second language. On some NCL ships, they offer free Rosetta Stone courses in English and some other languages like Spanish.

Tip: It's wise to allocate a monthly budget for internet usage, as costs can accumulate significantly. I know friends who have spent over $500 a month on internet alone, which isn't a very cost-effective way to use your hard-earned money.