A small town with a captain: behind the scenes on a giant cruise ship

By Chris Melzer Jun 30, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Nassau, Bahamas - Lacking only an address, cruise ships are floating luxury hotels. Thanks to sinking prices they are becoming ever more popular.

On a giant liner like the Voyager of the Seas, thousands of people are on hand to make sure that everything works just fine. 'We're a small town,' says captain Frank Martensen. 'Well, we're not quite that small.'

With more that 5,000 residents, the community is larger than most in his native Norway.

The ship has everything one might expect from a four-star hotel: hundreds of rooms over 14 floors; several restaurants; a score of bars; and even a small bakery. Guests can relax at the fitness centre or by the pool, at the casino, in the library or on the ice rink.

'We have employees from 60 countries around the world. Every culture, every religion, every one of the major languages is represented here,' he notes.

Austrian sous-chef Martin Jordan, 34, is happy to spend the European summer in the Mediterranean and the winter in the Caribbean. He is responsible for almost 10,000 meals a day on board the ship, and he is proud that cuisine on the Voyager is regarded as excellent.

Guests differ in their tastes. 'Americans like large portions with a lot of meat. Germans need to have vegetables. Spaniards only take very little, but go to the buffet half a dozen times. With them, the meal lasts forever,' Jordan says.

The menu on cruise ships is always decided in advance. To have enough water and wine, fruit, eggs and meat, and also soap and paper clips, is the job of Englishman Simon Wiig. He trusts his suppliers at various ports to get a broad array of the right goods on board.

'On trans-Atlantic trips it is a challenge. On the Mediterranean we have at most one full day at sea, but if we run out of cheese in the middle of the Atlantic, who is to get some more?' Wiig says.

Boxes and cartons with everything a small town needs over two weeks are stored behind scores of doors. 'Toothpaste and shampoo, printer cartridges and paper, crayons for children's entertainment and golf balls for the mini-golf course. Toilet paper? 31,988 rolls!' he notes.

Some 16 tonnes of beef and almost as much chicken are consumed during the two-week cruise, along with 70 tons of pork. Additionally, more than 3 tons of lobster, 10 tonnes of mussels and oysters and 3 tons of salmon are needed.

On the service deck, there are over 22 tons of flour, along with 4 tonnes of sugar and 1.3 tons of coffee.

And there are also 40 tons of fruit, 60 tons of vegetables - not including 16 tons of potatoes, - 2,600 litres of ice cream, 9,000 litres of milk, more than 5 tons of cheese and 4,200 pots of yogurt, not to mention 150,000 eggs.

'It would be a small catastrophe to run out of beer or wine in the middle of the Atlantic. That never happened so far though,' Wiig says. And he touches the wood of his desk - that is one universal gesture.

Captain Martensen, 43, loves his job. 'No one has an office like mine,' he says, pointing to the breathtaking view from his deck.

Far below, Esther Nagel's staff make sure that the cabins are spotless. This German woman is boss to 85 chambermaids on board, each one of them in charge of 20 cabins.

The laundry room, which is also Nagel's responsibility, gets a lot of work. From the captain's socks to the smoking jackets of those travelling in suites, from the greasy overalls of machinists to the bibs of the youngest passengers, everything goes through the laundry room. 'About 15,000 pieces of clothing, everyday,' says Nagel.

The contract on board the ship usually lasts half a year, but most come back, despite the fact that the basic wage is almost only symbolic. Even the chambermaids live off tips.

The company advises passengers to allow a deduction of 10 dollars per day and per guest from their credit cards, which is to be distributed among chambermaids and waiters. For a couple, over a two-week cruise, this amounts to about 270 dollars, and tips actually turn out to be most lucrative for many employees. 'A good waiter makes 4,000 dollars a month. Tax free!' the captain says.

The Voyager generates its own power for lighting, cooling and other tasks, including desalinating seawater. Dirty water is processed on board and reused.

The ship can take up to 3,500 tons of fuel, and it requires 2,600 tons for a trans-Atlantic trip. 'For security reasons, we need to have enough to turn back at any time,' head engineer Eugenio Androne explains.

The ship burns 1.8 tons of diesel per hour, and in the Atlantic it is as much as 8.2 tons per hour. 'We just go faster,' Androne says.

With close to 2,000 people of different cultures in a small space, working almost round the clock, is there never trouble? 'It is not usually aggressive, arrogant types who sign up for a cruise ship. Whoever shows up here is open to the world,' Martensen notes.

However, there are strict rules on board. 'If necessary, I have to impose myself. That is my job, that is why I am responsible and that is what I get paid for.'