Woman who works on cruise ship issues warning about sleeping with people on board

A woman who has spent almost a decade working on cruise ships has issued a warning about sleeping with fellow staff members on board.

Lucy Southerton, from Birmingham, was 19 years old when she began her cruising career as a massage therapist.

Nine years on, she has shared her experiences on her YouTube channel Cruising As Crew, where she provides interesting insights into what really happens out at sea.

Lucy has been working on cruise ships for almost 10 years (Instagram/@cruisingascrew)

From the one mistake passengers always make on board to what not to do if you don't want to be made fun of, Lucy has revealed various things you need to look out for, from a traveller point of view.

This time, however, she's given a warning to those who are thinking about working on a cruise ship, and what is likely to happen if you sleep with a colleague.

"Sleeping with a colleague on a cruise ship is very different to sleeping with a colleague in a job on land," she said in a video from last year.

Cruise worker Lucy has warned against sleeping with coworkers on board (YouTube/Cruising As Crew)

"Now the reason is if you're working a job on land, of course everyone in the office likes the office gossip and is involved in everyone's business.

"But you get to leave the office and go home to your friends and your family who are completely separate from those people that you work with.

"On a ship, you have obviously left your friends and family at home to work on a ship, which means that the people you work with are going to become your friends, your family and everything in between.

"So you're going to be getting all of your needs met from this one group of people.

"They're also going to be your professional team who you want to impress on a professional level if it's a career and you want to progress.

"And what this means is there is no escape. There is no escape from the people you work with because you work every single day on a cruise ship contract, so you will see these people every single day and they will want to talk about the new relationship that's sparking up between you and so and so."

There are benefits, of course, to finding the love of your life at work, as Lucy adds: "And this is obviously amazing when everything is going well because it's fun to tell your work colleagues, 'Oh my God, we did this, we did this. It was so good. We had such a good time.'

"And it's really fun to see your crush at work. It adds a little bit of excitement to the day like, 'Oh my God, he's over there'."

Although she cautions that if 's**t hits the fan,' you'll be in 'deep water' (not literally).

"When the conversations you're having with your team members are, 'Yeah, I'm really upset, I'm really disappointed, or 'I've really upset him or her," she continued.

"And you can't escape him or her. You have to see them every day for the next four months.

"That is when it gets a little bit sticky. And you know what? If we could control who we got feelings for, wouldn't life be literally 20 times easier?"

Best to avoid, then...