Among many difficult jobs on cruise ships, handpicking the toughest one is tricky. Still, one job will stand out in terms of horrific working conditions and cruel working hours-the galley steward. For most employees, there is a minimum of information about the job description before boarding the ship. Indeed, the galley steward is one of a kind job worldwide. I can not find any similar job that could be matched with the cruelty and inadequate pay of the galley steward job itself. Of course, when you apply back home to the agency, they will show you the white sand beaches and all these tropical places that you will visit while working on the cruise ships. The undistorted reality is bittersweet, as proven in my long working experience on cruise ships. The agency back home is only after the percentage fee from each selected crew member, so they will often trick people into an idealistic job assignment belief. Before you join the ship, here are some of the "expected" job requirements for each new galley steward on board the ship.
Key Responsibilities
-Always follows operational methods and seeks advice from the Galley Supervisor if necessary.
-Follows USPHS principles and Princess Cruises procedures at all times.
-Works as part of a cleaning team responsible for consistently cleaning and sanitizing specific galley equipment and service locations, including but not limited to pots, pans, and other galley equipment (Most heavy pot in the main galley is 30.5lbs and pastry heaviest mixing bowl is 38.6lbs and 71lbs)
-Always recycles cooking service equipment before, during, and after service.
-Assist when required to unload and store food deliveries (average weight 50lbs to 60lbs)
-Willingly participates in scheduled deep cleaning in addition to everyday cleaning operations.
-Always treats all equipment used during the cleaning process and all equipment to be cleaned carefully to prevent damage.
-Reports equipment defects to the Galley Supervisor / Executive Chef / Food Manager on a daily basis.
-Always performs all duties in accordance with applicable policies and procedures, USPHS and Fleet Regulations, and other internal, external, and governmental regulations as directed.
-Always conducts galley cleaning in compliance with environmental regulations and objectives.
-Performs all General Emergency Organization duties as directed.
-Demonstrates commitment to the company's values, beliefs, goals, and initiatives.
-Acts as a Company representative and always portray a positive image to all passengers, officers, and crew.
- Always maintains professional, effective, and motivated working relationships, considering differences in cultures, backgrounds, and individual personalities.
- Skills, Knowledge & Expertise
- •Must have a thorough knowledge of USPH practices and procedures.
- •Must have good oral and written command of the English language.
- •Must be experienced in cruise ship industry galley operation.
- •Must have a working knowledge of scientific cleaning and sanitation procedures for the food service industry.
This is all just for show off, the companies will portray this job to sound credible, organized, and fair-and the reality is extremely opposite.
I want to pause for a second and discuss this sentence explaining what is expected from the Galley steward.
"Acts as a Company representative and always portray a positive image to all passengers, officers, and crew."
Wow. This is one of the biggest lies and enormous HYPOCRISY. Let me focus on the part of the galley steward job expectation where it says," portray the positive image to all passengers."
Ok, this is crystal clear. The biggest cruise line companies are registered in the Bahamas or Panama, partly to avoid paying large US taxes and partly to avoid any stricter eligibility for crew members on board the ship. In other words, if there is a job in the US land base as galley stewards, the company management would be arrested and charged for the horrific human rights treatment. But on the cruise line companies, that is ok because Panama and Bahamas do not have strict law regulations, so the cruise line companies are registering their ships in those countries.
The reality of the galley steward jobs includes following:12-14 hours shifts in the worst humid working conditions, untrained, biased, and horrible management for those positions, 350-400 working hours a month for a salary of $450. Yet, those people are soo resilient and strong like diamonds. They don't crack under pressure, they work so hard beyond the company's expectations, and instead of getting promoted to higher positions, the company will do exactly the opposite. The company tends to keep galley stewards on that starting position even for the 7 or 8 contracts; even those people deserved to be promoted immediately after their first contract. The reason for that is simple-priorities-cruise ship companies' selfishness. Only a few people are physically and mentally fit to complete the most difficult cleaning tasks in the giant ship galleys, and those people are really special. But from the company perspective, those people have to be exploited as long as possible in that role because it's hard to find many hard workers who are soo amazingly resilient to survive working in the toughest conditions on the planet. For that reason, company delays their promotion, and those poor people are not complaining about it because they are scared to lose what they already have.
When I was only passing through those colossal galleys between guest dining rooms, I could not have breathed of the high humidity level; I stayed only for a few minutes. Imagine working hard there for 12-14 hours daily. And on top of that, you are managed by some untrained biased managers who would squeeze you and try to test your mental limits.
And then there is that requirement that says," portray your positive picture to our passengers."
Yes, because the company does not want to show the truth to its passengers. The company is hiding that cruelty level behind the curtain, and they expect the galley steward to smile and great passengers when passing by next to them.
Some people might say everyone can accept the job on the cruise ship. But the thing is, we usually get tricked by the colorful employment agency statement back home before getting the job. We are often provided with the fake image of white sand beaches and pina colada sunsets in beautiful tropical destinations. Of course, it is understandable for them to send this inviting picture about employment on cruise ships. But the work's reality, especially the galley steward position, is much different than once presented by the ship agents . on the land. Like, everything is so wonderful and perfect, let's just pretend that this is all a living dream. No, it's not. And is time to create a law and change the US legislation that will create more rights for those hard-working people who will be protected in terms of working hours, working conditions, and abusive management systems on board the ship.
