Ship Life

I worked as a crew member on cruise ships for eight years, and this is a raw, almost love letter to the highs, lows, and harsh realities of life onboard.

The truth about working on a cruise ship stands in stark contrast to the experiences most guests have-or even want to know about. It's a tough world, made harder by the countless missed birthdays, weddings, and births. Every crew member sacrifices precious moments while enduring the unique challenges of ship life every single day.

Reading this brought back vivid flashbacks to a completely different chapter of my life and career. I felt it in my soul. And yes, as the review above mentions, there's plenty of hooking up-but honestly, what would you do if you were confined to a floating steel box for six to nine months at a time?

What's real are the relationships, the struggles, and the military-like discipline that governs life onboard. For the first time, the world gets an authentic glimpse into the realities of "ship life," and I couldn't be more thrilled to see it.

Love to see a documentary that shows the side of a life I haven't had in such a real and accessible way. Honestly I found it quite ironically relaxing to watch, considering how hard it shows the cruise ship crew having to work. I definitely prefer working on land myself but it is lovely to be able to see other lives and I love relaxing insider documentaries like this. Really enjoyed seeing how they deal with all the potential issues on board and the human cost side of the work. I was very surprised as to the pay. A very relaxing time watching other people work hard to make a relaxing time for other people. 😂

Ship Life is an extraordinary film. Over the course of 49 minutes, it quietly but powerfully opens a window into a world few of us ever see - the lives of the thousands of crew members who live and work below deck on cruise ships for months at a time. What struck me most was how much it said through what wasn't said. The director has an exceptional eye, not just for imagery but for human truth - for those subtle, often invisible threads that run beneath the surface of a story.

I loved the script. I loved the lens through which this world was viewed. The filmmaker's care and perception shine through in every scene, there's real respect for the people featured and a genuine curiosity (and knowledge) about the unique environment they inhabit. This isn't just a film about cruise ship life, it's a film about emotional survival in an enclosed, isolated space where you're constantly surrounded, and yet often deeply alone.

What moved me most were the things unsaid. You feel the hardship, not just in the predictable ways - missing family, poor food, confined spaces - but in the emotional cost. The lack of real escape. The impossibility of forming grounded relationships. The way time floats, reality distorts, and eventually you start to lose touch with yourself. It's like a beautiful metaphor for addiction - seductive, surreal, detached from the real world, and ultimately disorienting.

This film left me wanting more. It left me reflecting deeply. Ship Life is a quietly intelligent, beautifully observed piece of work. Truly brilliant.

This film offers a fascinating glimpse into the highs, lows, and everything in between of life as a cruise ship crew member.

Beautifully shot and interwoven with moments of humor and reflection, it draws you in with its warmth and authenticity. The characters quickly become compelling, and their individual stories unfold in ways both engaging and heartfelt.

All the while, the unseen presence of vacationing passengers lingers like a quiet enigma-both essential and absent, almost a character in itself. Yet, what truly takes center stage is the vibrant, diverse, and ultimately transient community that exists below deck.

Highly reccommended!

An absolutely wonderful documentary , showing the harsh reality of living on a ship, some real tough moments mixed with the more pleasurable times . A really useful insight for anyone considering a career on the high seas .

Having thought about getting a ship job, seeing this documentary has inspired me to look more closely at this career option .

This is an entertaining , warts and all look at what it takes to live the ship life.

I especially liked how it portrays the two different communities living on the same vessel , completely separate from each other but together all the time , I have given this doc 10 stars.