How to become a yacht stewardess

Greece

How to become a yacht stewardess

If hard work is something you enjoy, as well as service and hospitality, you can see yourself as being part of a team, than travelling the world as a yacht stewardess could be your future. Below you can find everything you need to know to land a stewardess job on a super yacht.

A yacht stewardess (or steward) is an entry-level position in the yachting industry that lays out a great foundation, if hospitality at sea is your career goal. A role of a yacht stewardess (or a steward) is imperative as it is their responsibility to keep the presentation of the interior of a vessel on a highest level..

One of the most attractive sides of working as a crew on a luxury yacht (apart from travel and tips) is that the position of a stewardess doesn’t require substantial qualifications. Although the experience in a customer service or hospitality would be a great advantage when starting out as a junior stew, it is more about your friendly attitude and willingness to learn and work hard.

"The ideal junior stewardess will have an eagerness to absorb information and learn the ropes properly, the ability to take direction and follow instructions, as well as the confidence to ask questions when clarification or additional instruction is needed", says Sarah Bester with Northrop & Johnson Crew Services

What is a Yacht Stewardess?

A stewardes or a steward keeps up the interior of a vessel to the highest standard while also providing a five-star service to its owners and/or guests. During owner trips and chartered cruises, the interior crew provides meal and beverage service, basic housekeeping and laundry and all of that with the highest attention to detail. They also pass on all of the guests wishes to the chef and captain since they are the first point of contact.

What Does a Yacht Stewardess do?

On a vessel larger than 45 meters, a junior stew will usually start their journey in a housekeeping department or laundry room rather than service.

On smaller yachts, like the one I’m working on (24 meters), there’s usually only one member of interior crew, in which case the stew is up bright and early and is doing it all… The day usually starts with: setting up, preparing and serving breakfast, then comes clearing after breakfast, cabin service, housekeeping, laundry. This is followed by lunch service and more housekeeping and laundry, all this while providing constant beverage service , getting ready for afternoon activities, cocktails and appetizer service, dinner service, preparing cabins for the night, finishing laundry, and to close the day, preparing service items for the next day’s breakfast.

If there’s two or more interior crew members, the duties are usually shared and most likely rotated.

If you’d like more insight in ‘A day in a life of a yacht stewardess’ you can read more about it in my blog post here.

On a larger vessel, the chief stew will present their team with a checklist of duties to perform for each shift. The responsibilities are usually the same, the routine doesn’t change much generally.

You will be scheduled for a shift, provided with your duties checklist and expectations for your shift.

In the morning after you wake up, you’ll dress in your uniform, making sure that you look fresh and presentable, and of course being on time to start your rotation. It is essential that while guests are on board, you should manage yourself in the best way possible: speaking softly and being aware of you surroundings – ie. cleaning as you go, not leaving clutter or cleaning supplies out and about, and keeping the yacht condition to its highest standard.

All the maintenance or deep cleaning are happening off charter, along with daily cleaning and laundry and bridge duties.

Who Does a Yacht Stewardess Report to?

This could vary depending on the size of a vessel and how many members of crew there are. Usually on a smaller yachts, when the stew works alone, they report to the captain. When there’s two or more members of the interior team they report to a chief stew or second stew. On large superyachts, each interior division (service, laundry, housekeeping) will have their own supervisor (HOD – head of department), so depending to which you were assign, you’ll report to them.

What Qualifications Do I Need to Become a Yacht Stewardess?

Every member of a crew needs a valid STCW basic safety training certificate, and an ENG1 medical certificate. Some vessels may require Food Safety & Hygiene certificate.

In addition to those essentials there could be a number of yacht-specific training. Keep in mind that most of the skills you’ll need in this industry, you simply learn as you go as every yacht is a little bit different from others.

The amount of knowledge you posses may determine when and where you will start. Meaning that early in the season the chief stew will have plenty of time for training everyone from scratch. Mid-season on the other hand, they don’t have as much time and more likely will prefer someone who can hit the ground running.

Additional trainings you might want consider before applying for a job:

Yacht Interior Service – start at a zero-to-hero course and can really help with a newbie or green stewardess who wants to acclimate and understand the principles and products used on a vessel
silver service
WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust)

What Experience Do I Need?

So you’re just starting, applying for a junior stew position but are green to yachting… Don’t worry! You’re more likely to being considered for the job, if you have strong hospitality experience, for example working in a high-end restaurants and/or hotels, housekeeping in a hotel, or any experience on a cruise ships. Basically anything that includes a high standard customer service (event planning, retail sales, flower arrangements) and you’re already one step ahead.

How Much Does a Yacht Stewardess Earn?

The salary for the entry-level position can range from €2.500 to €3.500 per month. It all depends on the size of a vessel, your experience and type of cruises the yacht will do. If they are charted based the wage will usually be on a lower end, due to additional income being tips that crew receive from the guests.

According to 2020 Salary survey, the lowest salary a junior stew, hired by an agency would earn is between €2.250 and €2.800. Interior stews who aren’t working as chief or solo reported their income ranging from €3.000 to €4.500 per month, this amount increasing of course with the size of a vessel.

But remember, the earning potential grows with experience. Chief stews at the top of their game, on a yacht longer than 70 meteres earn between €7.000 and €12.000 per month.

Alex Boska