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Cruise ship captain

13 replies

Standingupstandingout · 28/04/2024 16:50

I'm just watching a show about a cruise and it got me thinking about the captain. Most of the sailing will happen at night so that people have port stops in the day. Does the captain work night shifts and sleep in the day while most people are exploring the ports? I know there will be other crew sailing with the captain but ultimately it will be him/her who are in charge so it got me thinking.

OP posts:
LightDrizzle · 28/04/2024 16:57

There are other senior officers on board able to take care of everything on the bridge so the the Captain does shifts. The Captain’s cabin is normally very close to the bridge so if there is an elevated risk, they can be on the bridge very quickly.

Maddy70 · 28/04/2024 17:00

It's not just the captain that "drives" the ship. There is a team

The captain does a lot of the social stuff too. Announcements. Dinners etc

Standingupstandingout · 28/04/2024 17:08

Thanks. I was just wondering if they did mainly night shifts but I guess not if there's dinners, social stuff etc too.

Interesting that their cabin is near the bridge. I hadn't thought of that.

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IDontHateRainbows · 01/11/2024 03:21

Wrong thread!

Myattention · 01/11/2024 06:56

On the bridge there will be the captain as well as several senior staff. As others have said they do shifts. The captain often doesn’t berth a cruise liner either. A pilot is brought onboard to bring a ship into port as they know the tide and rock formations etc. Miami is one example. A captain is in charge but does a lot of socialising annd other tasks. He will have the staff captain, Cruise director, security officer reporting to him too. Others are right, the captains cabin and office are usually right next to the bridge.

DanielaDressen · 01/11/2024 07:08

There is a captain whose videos I see on TikTok quite a bit. She can literally see the bridge from her cabin. I don’t actually know about night shifts though.

StamppotAndGravy · 01/11/2024 07:12

The captain is the big boss and makes calls like whether to call in the coastguard to evacuate medical emergencies, deals with crew issues, and had final call of weather needs to alter the route. Part of that is the social showing his face, but they have lots of other work to do with lots of employees under them and a huge safety responsibility. Most ships more or less drive themselves and just need a senior watching.

Shufflealongnow · 01/11/2024 07:14

DanielaDressen · 01/11/2024 07:08

There is a captain whose videos I see on TikTok quite a bit. She can literally see the bridge from her cabin. I don’t actually know about night shifts though.

I've seen Captain Kate from Royal Carribbean too on YouTube and she explained that she's always on the bridge for the actual docking (usually early morning) and departure manoeuvres, but she physically does half and the 4 staff below her do the other half under her supervision so that they can progress. But her no.2, the Staff Captain is a licensed qualified captain so can legally be in sole charge if necessary, eg if she's ill or goes ashore for the day.

DanielaDressen · 01/11/2024 07:16

the Costa Concordia captain was on the bridge at night 🙈

SensibleSigma · 01/11/2024 07:20

Being on the Bridge is probably the smallest part of the job. There’s a whole heap of ship, staff and guests to supervise.

It’s a mammoth enterprise. No idea how they do it, to be honest.

StarlightLady · 01/11/2024 08:05

It’s not just cruise ships though is it? There are ships sailing all over the world which have been at sea for days, including many carrying goods from China.

A team of people qualified to steer the ship is essential.

ElaborateCushion · 01/11/2024 10:23

Shufflealongnow · 01/11/2024 07:14

I've seen Captain Kate from Royal Carribbean too on YouTube and she explained that she's always on the bridge for the actual docking (usually early morning) and departure manoeuvres, but she physically does half and the 4 staff below her do the other half under her supervision so that they can progress. But her no.2, the Staff Captain is a licensed qualified captain so can legally be in sole charge if necessary, eg if she's ill or goes ashore for the day.

Interestingly, she was ill recently and had to hand the running of the ship over to the rest of the bridge team.

We were on a ship recently and did a behind the scenes tour. The Captain wasn't on the bridge when we got there, but the staff captain was. There were another 3 officers on the bridge as well as 2 lookouts. The Captain came out of his cabin part way through the tour (also looked like his was just off the bridge, like Captain Kate's).

On Celebrity, the Captain (and probably most of the senior bridge team) do three months on, three months off. As Shuffle says, the captain makes sure they are on the bridge for all the major manoeuvres, but on port days and sea days they do shifts, just like the rest of the crew.

I imagine they prioritise day shifts over night shifts though, purely because their role also incorporates some guest interactions and dealing with the hotel staff side of the ship too.

I also follow RachelMayAtSea on instagram. She was on Captain Kate's Beyond all-female startup bridge team and is now with P&O. She is a Safety Officer (and is also now a qualified Master mariner), so has some really interesting videos on the safety behind the scenes, like lifeboat drills and training and the MES escape systems).

P.S. @Standingupstandingout what programme was it you were watching? Just in case it's one I've missed!

As a cruise lover, I find all the behind the scenes stuff fascinating (the most interesting bit on our recent tour was the laundry!). There's a new Disney+ show called The Odyssey with Joshua Jackson channelling his inner ER era George Clooney. It's total cheesy trash and totally not like a true cruise, but somehow totally engaging! (Though that might have something to do with the JJ/GC point above!)

ElaborateCushion · 01/11/2024 10:24

Myattention · 01/11/2024 06:56

On the bridge there will be the captain as well as several senior staff. As others have said they do shifts. The captain often doesn’t berth a cruise liner either. A pilot is brought onboard to bring a ship into port as they know the tide and rock formations etc. Miami is one example. A captain is in charge but does a lot of socialising annd other tasks. He will have the staff captain, Cruise director, security officer reporting to him too. Others are right, the captains cabin and office are usually right next to the bridge.

Interestingly, the pilot almost never actually takes control of the ship. They're there as local experts and guides only.

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