One of the chief questions I hear from people I recruit into the yacht-crew industry is this: “But what will I go do after?” For some yacht stews, the job represents a long-term career path where they can work up to chief steward/ess status and stay in the industry for 10 or 20 years. And with such high-paying salaries for top-quality chief stews, who can blame them? Others decide they want to work in a different capacity onboard, and they go on to culinary school to become yacht chefs. Some even get their Captain’s license. Luxury Yacht Crew Photo Copyright: Suki Finnerty of YachtingToday TV ..read more

A sample “Confession” from The Insiders’ Guide to Becoming a Yacht Stewardess: Confessions from My Years Afloat with the Rich and Famous… Julie and her fellow stews went “overboard” to make sure the billionaire guests on a megayacht chartered for the Monaco Grand Prix had all their requests met—even when the stews were caught off guard. (This may remind you Bravo Below Deck Season 1 fans a bit of green juice. Season 2 fans may recall Episode 3 and the “mint” Kate made for the mojitos.) I Must Confess… No matter how hard I tried to be prepared for anything, I was caught off guard a lot.   ..read more

THE QUICK START GUIDE: THE A TO Z OF HOW TO BECOME A YACHT STEWARD/ESS In the first half of my book, The Insiders’ Guide to Becoming a Yacht Stewardess, I discuss the yachting industry and give you insight into what this world is all about. I also spend quite a few chapters discussing what both crew life, and the work, is like. I promise it’s a fun and fascinating read, and it will appeal to many people — even those just curious to learn more about this exclusive world of superyachts. I cover who owns them, who travels on them, how much they cost, what destinations they visit, and even what th ..read more

A sample “Confession” from The Insiders’ Guide to Becoming a Yacht Stewardess: Confessions from My Years Afloat with the Rich and Famous… Julie and her crew tried to go the extra mile by throwing an Oscar viewing party for their billionaire guests, only they ran into some technical problems that brought the curtain down before the show even began. I Must Confess… I had my fair share of party debacles… one of the most disastrous being the “Academy Awards Night Gone Awry.” St Barths, Gustavia Harbor Photo Source: YachtWorldCharters.com We had some super-prominent charter guests onboard in St ..read more

So what’s it like to travel as a superyacht stewardess? Here’s an excerpt from The Insiders’ Guide to Becoming a Yacht Stewardess: Confessions from My Years Afloat with the Rich and Famous: I Must Confess… I had never even heard of some of the places I made it to working on yachts. What attracted me to this industry was the seduction of travel… and I wasn’t disappointed. Superyachts in the Caribbean. Photo Credit: Suki Finnerty of YachtingToday.TV. I was hired through a crew agency in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to fly down and meet my first boat in San Juan, Puerto Rico (and yes, they paid f ..read more

In my post “Careers in the Luxury Yachting Industry: What Can Yacht Stewardesses Do in the Future?“, I presented over a dozen land-based career options that exist both within the yachting industry and even outside of it. The occupations listed represent career paths that any seasoned yacht stew is perfectly suited for once he/she decides to hang up the ol’ feather duster. Yet, I know from talking to many of my book’s readers that one of the biggest deterrents for pursuing superyacht crew jobs is that dreaded question you get from your parents or other dream-killing naysayers, which is: “But wh ..read more

Following is the Preface to the 2nd edition of The Insiders’ Guide to Becoming a Yacht Stewardess: Confessions from My Years Afloat with the Rich and Famous, published in 2006 and updated in 2013… [And if you’re ready to begin your yachting career like Julie, you can order your copy now.] I carry this quote from Thoreau’s Walden in my journal: “Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.” For nearly three years, I sailed the high seas with some of ..read more

If you are 100 percent confident that you want a crew job in the superyacht industry, then you need to think about training. There are two essentials: Plan on taking a five-day STCW Basic Safety Training Course (which is mandatory) and then a comprehensive three- to five-day yacht steward/ess training course. Once those two weeks are up, your chances of being hired as an entry-level stew are vastly improved… as is your confidence. I Must Confess… yacht stew training was mind-boggling. When I signed up for yacht stewardess training, I was under the impression that this was simply a course on se ..read more

Here’s an excerpt from The Insiders’ Guide to Becoming a Yacht Stewardess: Confessions from My Years Afloat with the Rich and Famous: I Must Confess… We yachties sort of frowned upon what life might be like aboard the ol’ cruise ships. We were attempting to exit a small port in Bermuda when the yacht I was working on got stuck behind a massive cruise liner. Several of my fellow crewmembers and I were seated on the bow (that’s the front end) of our boat observing as the cruise ship workers scrambled to herd on last-minute stragglers from their day’s excursion ashore. A disembodied voice bellow ..read more

For some even more straight-from-the-book fun, I present to you below the official job descriptions for the various yacht steward/ess roles. These are pulled directly from The Insiders’ Guide to Becoming a Yacht Stewardess Chapter 3—a chapter that actually contains descriptions for each of the positions onboard, from Captain to Engineer, and from Executive Chef to Deckhand. And they are all presented with accompanying salary ranges. The Crew of Megayacht “Allegria” (2010). Photo by Suki Finnerty of YachtingToday.TV So if you’re interested in a yachting career in another department outside of ..read more