Can You Bring Your Family With You When You Work on a Cruise Ship?

The question I get asked most – how we sail together as a family.

If you’ve ever dreamed of running away to live on a cruise ship only to have those dreams come to a screeching halt when you remember the spouse and kids at home, there may be hope for those dreams yet – depending on what job you can get onboard.

We’re going to take a deep dive into what this part of cruising is like. Which crew members can bring their families, which can’t, where they live, how much it costs, and more.

Can You Bring Your Family With You When You Work on a Cruise Ship?

Like so many things, it depends! But, there are lots of jobs onboard where you are able to bring your family – in this case meaning spouse and kids – with you when you work on a cruise ship.

This is actually how I sail onboard right now. My husband is a cruise ship engineer and one of the perks of his job and the rank of his job onboard is that both myself and our daughter can sail with him pretty much the whole time he is onboard working.

Can all crew bring their family onboard to sail?

No. Unfortunately this perk doesn’t extend to every crew member onboard. In general all crew members that have their own cabin will have this privilege.

Which crew members can bring their family onboard?

It is typically 2 stripe officers that have their own cabin or various positions that have a “stripe equivalent” position in terms of privileges – this would be some entertainers onboard, and some managers that don’t wear their stripes on their shoulders but get the benefits as if they did.

Some cruise lines will restrict new crew members to the company from using this privilege on their first contract with the company but then they will be eligible on subsequent contracts.

Some example positions that would likely have this privilege (some variations exist between cruise lines):

• Captain
• Chief Engineer, Staff Captain, Hotel Manager
• Most licensed Technical (Engine) and Nautical (Deck) Officers (they are typically given a single, officers style cabin (double bed) starting even at one stripe to adhere to Maritime Labour Convention rules for cabins for watchkeepers)
• Senior and Mid-Level Hotel Officers such as:
  • Food and Beverage Director (plus Restaurant Managers, Beverage Managers)
  • Cruise Director
  • Executive Housekeeper, Entertainment Director, Guest Services Manager
  • Shore Excursions Manager, Front Desk Manager, Assistant Beverage Manager, Assistant Cruise Director
• Human Resource Manager
• Purser/Finance Manager
• Medical Staff including Doctors and nurses
• Some musicians and entertainers (piano bar entertainer, vocalists, headliners)

How does it work?

This is going to be very generalized because the rules around it are a bit different between cruise lines.

The crew member will send a request form with the appropriate documentation into the corresponding department in the corporate office. They will either approve or deny it.

Documentation that is generally required includes:

• Passports
• Marriage license (for spouse) or living together agreement (for partner/significant other)
• birth certificate (for children)

The family joining the crew members are required to make their own way to the ship.

Does it cost anything?

For some cruise lines it doesn’t cost anything! I’ve heard of some cruise lines charging a few dollars a day for family to sail, but in my experience it doesn’t cost anything. Yes, this means that my daughter and I get to sail around the world for free.

There are some things we need to pay for, such as:

• Pre and Post- Cruise things:
  • Transportation/flights to and from the ship.
  • Travel insurance
  • Any immunizations required for the itinerary (ex. yellow fever)
  • Any visas required for the itinerary

• Onboard (this is nearly all discounted or at crew prices):
  • Internet
  • Spa, shops, drinks
  • Tips for room service
  • Some specialty dining

What restrictions are there for family onboard?

This will be a bit dependent on the cruise line that the crew member works for. There are some cruise lines where crew can’t dine in the buffet area or any restaurants onboard unless they are 3 stripe and above – on those lines I would assume any family onboard would need to follow the same rules.

However, lines that have slightly more lenient policies will likely extend that to the family-on-board. For instance, when I am sailing I am able to do nearly everything a passenger can do onboard except gamble in the casino.

I can eat in the passenger buffet and restaurants, I can go to the pool, sit in lounge chairs, listen to music, see the shows, use the gym. In general if you’re sailing as family onboard you should have a “guest first” mindset, trying to not take the last of anything (seat in the Lido, seat in the theater, elliptical, whatever it might be).

Where do you live on the cruise ship? Do they have special family cabins for crew?

There is no special designated cabin for families onboard. The family will stay in the crew members room.

Every once in awhile the ship will arrange a passenger cabin for them, but most of the time any family onboard will stay in the crew members cabin.

This sometimes will also dictate a bit which crew members bring their families onboard. For instance, the last role I had onboard (while pregnant) before switching into mom-onboard mode I was a 2 stripe officer meaning I had a cabin to myself with a double bed.

However, there was no floor space in this cabin. It overall wasn’t very big and there would be nowhere to put a crib. Unless my husband, our now toddler and myself all wanted to share a bed every night this cabin honestly wouldn’t have been practical to sail as a family for months at a time.

The higher your rank the bigger your cabin though which definitely coordinates to your quality of life onboard when sailing with kids and such in the cabin, too.

Want to take a look at how we live with our little one? Here’s a room tour!

How often can families sail?

Most of the time the direct families of crew members with this particular privilege can sail up to a specific number of days per year – often 240 days. For many crew members this means their entire contracts throughout the year.

In my particular situation that means 3 months at a time. For others it may be 4 months or even six months. However, the families do not have to sail for the entire contract. We have sailed as family onboard for as little as a few weeks to as much as 3 1/2 months.

Is there a nanny, school, or daycare onboard?

If the cruise line offers a youth program the “crew kids” will be able to attend if there is space and they meet age requirements. On a particularly busy sailing they may have capacity restrictions but most of the time they’re able to attend.

There isn’t a “nanny” specific to the crew family unless they were to bring one onboard, and there is no set school either.

Final thoughts on bringing your family to onboard the ship?

This is an incredible benefit for the crew member and their families. It can really make the difference in your contract and life at sea to be able to have your family there with you for either part of or for a full contract.