Maritime Charity Column: QVSR's new cruise crew lounge - a much-needed facility for a group of seafarers who are often overlooked

Chief executive for QVSR/QVSR Seafarers Centres Alexander Campbell reflects on services to seafarer at ports, as the maritime charity rolls out improvements for cruise crew who often face short turnarounds, limited shore time, and a lack of privacy for WiFi communication with family and friends ashore

MARITIME CHARITY COLUMN

Earlier this year, QVSR launched a unique seafarers centre dedicated to cruise crew at the London International Cruise Terminal at Tilbury. This project was very much driven by our QVSR chaplain Ruth Campbell (who is also joint chaplain with Mission to Seafarers), who saw firsthand the challenges faced by cruise crew. 

Many people think life on a cruise ship is plain sailing (excuse the pun!),but in reality, this can be a hard and challenging life. This is particularly the case for female seafarers who must juggle family life and career. 

The centre gives crew an opportunity to get off the ship, even for just five or 10 minutes. A chance to escape the busyness and activity. 

One of the facilities introduced at the Cruise Crew Lounge is a red phone box – the communication pod. This was introduced as a bit of a gimmick but in practice it has offered crew an opportunity to have a private conversation. Where do you have this on the ship when you are surrounded by hundreds of passengers and sharing a cabin with a workmate? Within the first two hours of the communication pod opening, 17 seafarers used the facility to have private conversations with family.

The cruise crew are amazed that this dedicated welfare space has been provided for them; they don't have to squeeze into a corner of a passenger lounge, this is their space with quality WiFi. There is a team of volunteers to welcome them with a cuppa and a smile; an ability to buy top-ups and phone data; a small shop to buy souvenirs and confectionery; and a comfortable sofa to relax and watch tv. The crew are constantly thanking us for making this space available for them. 

The majority of our 20 or so volunteers are also regular cruisegoers who just want to give something back to the crew who make their holidays such a memorable experience. 

We at QVSR are delighted to have been able to meet this need and we are now encouraging others to consider the needs of cruise crew. There may be hundreds of crew on a cruise ship but it is still possible to feel isolated and lonely. So a facility such as the QVSR Cruise Crew Lounge can be a life saver; a place to take sanctuary and speak to someone about your cares. 

The next time you come across cruise crew, consider the reality of their life on ship, below deck.

The Maritime Charity Column is a regular feature in the Nautilus Telegraph. Submissions are invited from a range of organisations by the Telegraph editor.