Cruise worker reveals grim reality of working on multimillion dollar yachts

A cruise worker has revealed the grim reality of working on superyachts.

Chances are, we've all seen an episode or two of Below Deck and know it's not all glitz and glamor - unless you're the millionaire charter guest, perhaps.

While some major cash can be made, working 16-hour days and being at the guests' every beck and call mean it's far from light work.

And while some of us are curious about working at sea, it's good to know what you're getting yourself in for before you go diving right in.

One expert who's spent a decade working at sea has lifted the lid on the reality of working as yacht crew.

Brit Lucy - who goes by @cruisingascrew across social media - has never worked on a yacht herself, but she's met plenty of yachties who've moved over to working on cruise ships.

From them, she's built up strong insight on the reality of working on yachts.

Drink culture can be prevalent on both yatchs and cruises, Lucy warns (Yana Iskayeva/Getty Images)

For a new YouTube video, she's compared and contrasted the realities of working on yachts versus cruise ships.

And one major area she highlighted when it came to working on yachts was what she'd heard about its drug and alcohol culture.

While stressing that not everyone on yachts does drugs, she said from what she’s heard, yachts can be 'a drug-friendly environment,' with some guests and even crew getting on it.

The same can be said for some cruise ship workers, but Lucy reckons it's more prevalent when it comes to yachting.

She added that on cruise ships, the bigger issue is alcohol, despite a zero-tolerance policy.

"When I was on ships, especially certain ships, I drank more than I would have organically just because it was part of the culture to do so," she admitted.

When she first joined cruise ships at 19, she describes herself as 'so naive.'

Back then, she admits she didn’t always say no when pressured into drinking. Now, at 30, she feels much more confident.

"If someone’s egging me on to drink or do something I don’t want to do now, you know, I’m going to say no. At 19, did I always say no? No."

She highlights that younger crew members are more vulnerable to peer pressure and to the hidden culture of drinking and drugs onboard.

And while both cruising and yachting have what she calls 'seedy things' going on, she explains that yachts are less regulated because they are privately owned. “It doesn’t happen as much on cruise ships as it does on yachts because yachts are privately owned and, you know, things happen because it’s just the industry is just not as regulated."

So, drugs and other questionable behaviour are 'more visible and accessible on yachts than on cruise ships.'

However, Lucy doesn’t claim one environment is safe or clean-cut. Instead, she resolves: "There’s definitely seedy things that happen on both cruise ships and yachts. Neither one is perfect, but I do think that is just something you should be aware of when making your [decision].”