You are packing a guest case and, under a folded shirt, you see something that stops you: a prescription bottle in another person name, a bundle of cash, and a document you should not have read. Your hands are still in the case. What you do now is the whole of the job in one moment.
Confidentiality
- Most yachts require a signed NDA or a confidentiality clause in the SEA. It binds you during and, usually, indefinitely after the employment.
- Confidentiality covers the guest identity, movements, guests, conversations, health, possessions, and the yacht itself.
- No photographs, no social media, no "you will never guess who is aboard", no anonymised anecdotes. Anonymised is not anonymous in this industry.
- A breach is grounds for instant dismissal and civil action, and it ends a career by reputation long before it reaches a court.
The discovery protocol
You will, inevitably, see things in a guest belongings. The rules are absolute:
- Do not search. You handle only what the service requires: the garment, the case, the surface.
- Do not touch, move or investigate what you have found beyond what is necessary to stop handling it.
- Do not report gossip. Medication, contraceptives, correspondence, adult items, personal relationships, financial documents: none of these are your business, none go into a report, and none are mentioned to another crew member. Ever.
- Escalate only what is a safety or legal issue — weapons, controlled drugs, anything suggesting harm to a person, anything that threatens the vessel — and escalate it to the captain, directly, immediately, quietly, and to nobody else.
- Say nothing to the guest.
The test is simple: is it a safety or legal issue (captain), or is it private (forget it)?
Damage
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1. Stop | Do nothing further to the item. No attempted fix, no cleaning, no hiding |
| 2. Preserve | Keep the item, the packaging, the label and the machine settings |
| 3. Report immediately | To the chief steward(ess), the same hour, in writing |
| 4. Be honest | State exactly what you did. Concealment is the offence that ends careers, not the damage |
| 5. Let the yacht handle it | The captain or management makes the approach to the guest, values it and claims |
Yachts carry insurance, and guest property damage is generally a claimable, survivable event. A cover-up is not.
Guest personal data
Preference profiles, allergies, contact details, passports and itineraries are personal data. Keep them in the yacht controlled systems, share on a need-to-know basis, never on personal devices or messaging apps, and delete when the retention purpose ends.
Onboard Notes
- If you are unsure whether something is a safety issue or a private matter, take it to the captain and let them decide. That is what they are for.
- Never confront, hint to, or joke with a guest about anything you have seen.
- Report damage before the guest finds it. The conversation you dread is always smaller than the one that follows a discovery.
- Context, not credit. Senior interior roles are where this material is used. The GUEST Advanced units and the Senior Steward(ess) Certificate of Competency are the industry route, governed by IAMI and assessed by approved GUEST Training Providers — not by xplor. xplor is not an accredited provider: nothing here awards or counts toward any unit, certificate or Certificate of Competency.