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How many days does a cruise ship captain work?

Wheelhouse Crew Master or Captain: As the leader of the entire vessel and its crew, captains are usually working full time for sometimes 3 months at sea, after which they will receive 3 months off.



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Cruise ship captains typically stay on the same boat for a few years, although some may rotate to different ships. It depends on the cruise line and their policies. Some captains may even move up in rank and take command of larger vessels over time.

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After each contract you will receive approximately 60 days of vacation before your next assignment. Your daily work schedule while onboard will depend on your particular position, but you can expect to work seven days a week and anywhere between 10-13 hours per day.

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A captain's license obtained by a federal maritime authority is required for the position. Obtaining this license may take 10 years. To put it in perspective, it takes longer to become a cruise ship captain than a brain surgeon. Most captains earn their bars in 18 to 22 years.

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Master or Captain: As the leader of the entire vessel and its crew, captains are usually working full time for sometimes 3 months at sea, after which they will receive 3 months off.

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In the United States, there is no explicit law requiring a captain to remain on their ship, but they could face criminal charges if they acted with negligence or extreme disregard for human life in abandoning a vessel in distress or causing a maritime accident in the first place.

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The road to how to become a cruise ship captain is not easy. It requires many years of education, good grades, and experience before you take your final testing for your license. You must work your way up after graduation, and you spend a great deal of time at sea.

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However, as a general rule of thumb, you can expect the earliest embarkation time to be four to five hours before sailing. As most cruise lines leave port at around 4:00 pm or 5:00 pm, in most cases, you can anticipate the earliest time you can board to be at around noon.

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The main thing is that cruise ship captains work long, tiring hours. They work 10 weeks in a row, then have 10 weeks off. However, in those 10 weeks of work, they are required to be on-call 24/7 and function with as little as five hours of sleep, depending on how smoothly things go.

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A ship's captain generally does NOT have the legal right to officiate a wedding at sea. In order for a Captain of a ship to perform a marriage at sea, he must also be a judge, a justice of the peace, a minister, or an officially recognized officiant such as a Notary Public.

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Female captains make up just under 3% of cruise ship captains worldwide – but this number is slowly growing.

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