Cruise Crew Secrets: Parties, Banana Contests & More

Cruise ship crew work incredibly hard. Long shifts. Few days off. And months away from home.

But once the passengers go to bed, life onboard can get… interesting.

From late-night movie screenings in empty theatres to bizarre banana-eating contests, crew members have some unusual ways of blowing off steam after work.

One Royal Caribbean crew member recently revealed what really happens behind the scenes once guests head back to their cabins.

And some of it might surprise you.

What Cruise Crew Really Do After Hours

Royal Caribbean crew member Bryan James runs a YouTube channel on the side showing what life is like working onboard. In one of his videos, he revealed some fascinating details about what happens after hours on cruise ships.

He explained that there often isn’t enough space in the crew-only areas for staff events. Because of that, some activities spill into public parts of the ship once passengers have gone to bed.

For example, the crew recently held a movie night in the Royal Theatre — a venue that’s normally packed with guests watching shows featuring dancers, acrobats and musicians.

Once the shows were over, the theatre was opened for crew to relax and watch a movie together. Bryan admitted that not many people could attend though, as many crew members were still working… or catching up on some much-needed sleep.

The Banana Eating Contest

Bryan’s been working on Utopia of the Seas for several months now. He explained how a crew welfare team onboard are responsible for arranging different events to keep everyone entertained, and while the biggest are the crew parties, there can be some other unusual events as well.

The weird example that he highlighted was a banana eating contest that crew could sign up for in the Garden Cafe, one of the exclusive crew areas on Deck 2 of Utopia of the Seas.

There was a prize advertised for the winner – I hope it wasn’t more bananas!

Bryan explained that he was working (as a musician) during the contest so he couldn’t film it.

But he did speculate as to why such an unusual contest was being held and perhaps the ship just had too many bananas and didn’t want them to go to waste!

Did you know that crew would hold such unusual events, or that they would take over public parts of cruise ships when you weren’t using them for parties and other events?

Final Word

Cruise passengers rarely see this side of life at sea. But behind the scenes, crew members still find ways to relax and have fun after long shifts.

Would you ever expect cruise ship crew to be holding banana-eating contests and movie nights after guests go to bed?

You can follow Bryan James on YouTube if you want to see more of life on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Related Posts

• Cruise Crew Member Explains Hidden Meaning Behind Black Rings And Pineapple Jewellery
• Cruise Industry Booming As 20,000 New Crew Members Needed For 2025
• A Peek Behind the Scenes: Icon of the Seas’ Crew Accommodations
• 12 Things Cruise Crew Do With Their Precious Time Off
• 11 Things You Should Never Ask Cruise Crew Members