Polish woman worked on a ship. Says what she found under the beds

Adam has been a cafeteria maker for over 20 years. Claudia works as a hostess. In an interview with Wirtualna Polska, they talked about what passengers can be like and who – in their opinion – behaves the worst. – If they don’t want to be quiet, they end up in a room we call “prison” – says Adam.

According to data provided by the Central Statistical Office, in 2023, 2.3 million passengers started or ended their journey on ships in seaports. Up to 1.7 million people were transported in international traffic, and the country to which most passengers sailed or arrived from Polish seaports was Sweden. Adam (name changed – editor’s note) works on one of the passenger ships sailing between Gdańsk and the Swedish city of Nynashamn.

– Poles are the worst passengers. – He said this in an interview with Wirtualna Polska.

Adam has been working on a cruise ship for over 20 years. He knows the passengers themselves and their typical habits well. As he says, the “biggest troublemakers” on cruises are “Polish Swedes,” i.e. Poles who have been living and working in Sweden for years. They usually return to the country for holidays and vacations.

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“They sit in a bar, drink alcohol, and then argue among themselves about what their jobs are and who is the worst. Sometimes fights break out because of this. Then security is called to deal with the parties involved. If they don’t want to calm down voluntarily, they end up in a room we call ‘the prison,’” Adam says.

– The prison is a place located a few floors below the deck where the adventurers spend the rest of the journey until morning.They are guarded by security and monitored by the reception. If they behave well in the morning, they go out and They pay about 150 euros for their stay in the “prison”.If not, the police or border guards will be called in – he reveals in an interview with Wirtualna Polska.

A bottle of water for 8 PLN, a coffee for 14 PLN, a piece of cake for 16 PLN, a dinner set for over 50 PLN. These are the prices applied today in the ship’s cafeteria. As Adam noted, although they have not gone up with inflation, passengers complain that “everything costs too much.”

– There was a time when it was thought that the price of a ship was too expensive. And indeed it was for many years. But the situation changed when inflation began to rise. Prices on land became higher and became equal to those previously on ships. Although the difference is small today, passengers still complain – because they spend about PLN 300 on dinner for a family of four, including drinks. “It is not my place to judge whether it is too much,” he says.

What do passengers complain about most often? When I asked Adam, he immediately replied, “They can’t buy anything because the stations are no longer open.”

– Problems with payment terminals occur in the summer season, when there are a lot of payments. I am not surprised that passengers feel stressed. Sometimes they do not have any cash with them. There are no ATMs on board, and the terminals don’t work, so they end up not being able to even buy food. It’s worse when they’re with kids. Maybe this is why we have been getting most complaints lately. – Reveals.

Claudia Maciejewska worked as a stewardess on a ship for several months. As a young girl, while working, she often encountered inappropriate propositions from middle-aged men who wanted to spend the evening with her.

– They were sailing in one direction and wanted to have fun. We rarely appeared on the passenger deck, but sometimes we had to go there because, for example, we had our shift in the cafeteria. Then we saw that they were looking around and wanted to “get” a girl all night. He remembers that they did not understand when we refused and stressed that it was not our responsibility.

However, some men found a mate for the night among the single female passengers – often of their own age. How did Claudia know this? While cleaning the cabins, she often found used condoms lying under the bed.

Claudia adds in an interview with Wirtualna Polska that complaints from passengers reached the ship’s owner’s office because of the “crew’s rushing of them.”

“I remember them complaining that they didn’t have enough time to get ready and have breakfast – that they were rushed, that they had to leave the room because someone would come to clean it soon. Often the passengers didn’t understand that the ship was not a hotel where you could relax. When they got off, the stewards and stewardesses had only four hours to clean the 240 cabins, take care of all the catering and the corridors and prepare them for the people arriving. He says that there is very little time for such work.

As he summarizes, working on a ship is profitable for people who want to earn “good money” for two weeks of effort. However, it is not easy in terms of time, speed and treatment of passengers, who often look down on cleaners.

What is it like to travel on a passenger ship today from the perspective of someone who regularly travels to Sweden for work? Kamel confirms in an interview with Wirtualna Polska that transporting goods between countries by ship is “not a cheap business”.

– It’s not cheaper than a plane. I choose ships because of the convenience and the fact that I sometimes take my car or bike with me. However, if I’m going just for a weekend or a vacation, I’ll choose a plane. On a passenger ship, accommodation in a double cabin with a stranger costs about 200 PLN. Well, that’s not bad yet. But if we want to sail, for example, with our wife, buy a better cabin and have breakfast, we have to pay almost 1000 PLN – Kamel points out.

His coworkers often save on their travel costs by not purchasing a cabin, but rather just purchasing a seat on one of the airline’s seats. It also costs 40 PLN per place. – He adds.

Aleksandra Lewandowska, journalist at Wirtualna Polska

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