Cruise ship worker reveals gruelling reason people quit their jobs on the boats

Thousands of people silently go about their days to make sure cruise ship holidays go by without a problem for those who have paid big money for a few weeks on board.

Whether you're cruising around the Mediterranean, Caribbean, or Scandinavia, the staff that run cruise ships spend their days and nights working to make sure everything is as it should be.

From making sure suites costing £3,100 a night are in tip top order to pouring you drinks and cooking food for travellers and staff alike, it's hard work.

Getty Stock Image

But that hard work can have an impact.

Lucy Southerton, from Birmingham, started working on cruise ships when she was just 19 years old.

Now in her late 20s, she documents her time working on the vessels across social media, including Instagram and YouTube. She also runs her own website cruisingascrew.com.

And in one recent video, Lucy revealed the reasons why some staff on board just can't hack it.

It's not surprising or shameful either, with the schedule extremely taxing.

CruisingAsCrew/YouTube

"The long hours... I mean this was inevitable right," Lucy says. "The long hours are definitely a big reason people go home, they just can't hack it.

"Mostly people from Western countries. It's a shock to the system whereas my friends from India said if they worked in India they'd work this much and earn less money. So that's just an example.

"People from the UK... 14 hour days aren't the norm. 12 hours of work and two hours of breaks."

Lucy adds: "To work 12 hour shifts every day is a shock to the system and some people are like this is ridiculous and I don't want to work this much. Which is completely understandable."

Getty Stock Images

But for the cruise ship worker, the benefits of these long shifts are more than worth it. Especially when you consider where you're spending your down time compared to where you might be if, for example, you lived in UK.

Firstly there's no worrying about food given its part of the package that comes with a cruise ship employment contract. And your cabin is only small so the amount you have to clean and look after wont take much time.

Then there's the locations you find yourself. She says: "But the pay off comes in when you do get time off. And even if you don't get a day off, which you probably wont, you're in Dubrovnik, you're in Miami, you're in the Bahamas, you're in Aruba.

"If I worked at home I'd get a weekend off but Id spend that weekend food shopping, meal prepping, cleaning the house. "Yes I would see my friends and do things I love but it's not as exciting as exploring a brand new country, a brand new city.

"It's a work hard play hard thing. You're going to work really hard but when you get time off you're going to be in an incredible destination with hopefully some amazing people. And it really is a great experience."