Category Archives for Crew

Common Crew Expressions

The crew has a number of expressions that can be heard on the crew decks, but probably not in front of the passengers. Most of these crew expressions are an infusion of Italian, Filipino, Jamaican, Spanish, Balkan and other languages.

a la cartuch – Excellent.

babalu – A fool.

banana – A non-tipping passenger.

barko – A Filipino term for a huge ship.

batty man – A gay, bisexual or effeminate man (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

boat drill – At the beginning of every cruise, both crew and passengers must perform a mandatory lifeboat or muster drill.

bomboclat – A Jamaican expression meant to convey shock or surprise. For example, “Guest give me $200 tips! BOMBOCLAT!”

burro – In Spanish it means donkey, but on a ship it’s a mobile side stand that waiters use to store dirty plates.

CD – Cruise director.

cheapatone – A dirt cheap guest who doesn’t tip.

che fache – Used by the Romanian crew to ask “whats up?”

cones – Slang for passengers. This comes from the old Saturday Night Live sketch The Coneheads, where the cast was constantly asked, “Where are you from,” and they would respond, “We’re from France.” Every crew member gets asked this question constantly. They also ate “mass quantities” like many passengers do.

coning – Sleeping with a passenger, which results in immediate dismissal if caught.

culero – means asshole on Spanish.

dark – The state that one achieves after losing that rosy “Oooo, I work for on a cruise ship” glow.

F&B – Food and beverage.

galley – The kitchen.

GI – A gastrointestinal illness common to cruise ships known as norovirus.

gordo – An overweight guest.

I-95 – The main corridor (usually on Deck 3) that runs through the upper crew deck.

I-95 – The all-important work visa for non-United States citizens.

la ge ge – Very behind in work.

mamacita – A “babe” or good looking girl or women.

mamagaio – A crew member on duty killing time or doing an activity that has nothing to do with work.

mambruko – An idiot

mess – The dining room

myuzo – A cruise ship musician.

paddock – The buffet restaurant. A paddock in Australia is a field where grazing can take place all day.

paisano – Italian for countryman or brother, but means buddy, friend, or mate on ship. In the Caribbean they just shorten it to “Paisa.”

port manning  – A ship is required to keep a certain amount of crew on board while docked. The crew that is port manning is not allowed to exit the ship in that particular port.

shirt – An officer, because of their white shirt or uniform.

sign-off – Leaving a ship at the end of a contract.

sign-on – Joining the ship at the beginning of a contract.

six o′clock knock – When a crew member is fired without warning, it occurs at 6AM during a port day when the shirts knock on a crew member’s door.

USC – A United States citizen. USCs are universally disliked in a friendly way.

vacation – The time between contracts, from one day to several years.

The next time you hear one of these crew expressions you’ll know what’s being talked about. The problem is that just maybe you won’t like it.