Dining
From the crew dining room to dining on the Lido deck and specialty restaurants, cruise ships offer a myriad of food and beverage options. The crew dining room is open at all times for staff. There is no cost for dining in this crew area. On most cruise lines, a specific deck is designated in which they have a café open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. As this is a passenger area, staff may be restricted from dining on this deck, but some cruise lines do have policies that allow crew to dine in during specific times. Most ships also feature specialty restaurants at an additional cost. As this is a passenger restaurant, staff reservation confirmations for seating is based on guest demand. On some smaller ships, staff will always dine in the guest dining rooms. Never-the-less, specialty restaurants are always a wonderful option for celebrations, special occasions, or to treat yourself on a whim.
Communications
Calling family and friends has become easier over time, and on many ships you can call home from the comfort of your cabin. Costs vary – but they are very reasonable. E-mail is also an option if you subscribe to the onboard wireless plan. For those staff members who have a mobile phone, you can use your phone to place a call whilst in port when the ship is not too far out at sea. Many ports also offer complimentary WiFi.