The Stewardess Salary.

My career as a “yachtie” came as a complete surprise to me, and like many others I just kind of “fell into it”. What started out as a 2 week holiday to visit a friend in Mallorca turned into an Atlantic crossing and the rest is history.

So what  how much does a stewardess get pain and what makes up the stewardess salary package?

In 1999, I worked on a 52m private yacht and was paid $2200 USD per month; now remember that is tax free and at the time it was a lot of money for me.  In addition to my salary we were paid holiday money (the amount was usually based on amount of years of service, i.e. 1 year = 1 month salary etc.). All of my food was provided, my uniform and health insurance was also provided.

Further to this, and this is an exception in the industry, we were paid .25 cents per every sea mile travelled, and were allowed one return flight home per annum.

Yacht stewardesses can work a varied amount of hours, when there are no guests on board it is a normal work day from 8 am – 5 pm or at the Captain’s discretion. When the guests are on board, you work whatever it takes. MCA have their regulations on hours worked at sea and I believe crew must have 10 hours rest in a 24 hour period.

http://thetriton.com/article/2004/05/mca-code-review-wants-10-hours-rest-day.

This may or may not happen depending on the charter, travel times and guest demands. It is up to the Chief Stewardess to manage your schedule, with the overall control from the Captain or Chief Officer.

Salaries can and will vary depending on the size of the vessel, the flag , the purpose of the vessel private or charter and the owners generosity. Salaries can also vary unfortunately due to nationality…. You may disagree with me on this point but please continue reading the story:

I had an instance where my second Stew on a 45m Vessel came to me in tears due to medical emergency at home. She had 5 years’ experience; was super hard worker who knew her job well and was an absolute delight to have on board. The stewardess had to pay a medical bill of $700 USD. I didn’t know what the fuss was about until I read her contract! This experienced stewardess was being paid just $550 USD and was instructed never to show her contract to anyone or she would risk losing her job. This girl was from the Philippines.

The timing of this could not have been any worse as I just employed a Danish girl that day with absolutely NO experience for $2300 EURO! Who turned out to be lazy with a very bad attitude.

So what happened next you may ask… well I took the contract directly to the Captain, (I was let’s say.. some what angry and shocked at this practice). Putting my own job on the line, I insisted that this be rectified immediately or I would walk off the boat. Now let me make it very clear that I do not make threats, nor do I think it right to do so, however there comes a point where you have to stand up for the injustices in the world. In the end the second stew was paid 2300 Euro It was less than what she was supposed to be paid, but acceptable enough for me to continue working.

Also I wanted to point out that this modern day “slavery” was not endorsed by the Captain. It was the “Foreign” management company who did this.

Thank you for visiting the Stewardess Bible and to finish of my article, I have added a link for Yacht Crew Salaries. http://www.crewfinders.com/yachtcrewsalaries.shtml

Safe Travels and calm seas. 

K.

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