Six months in, you can set a table, run a laundry cycle and turn down a cabin without being told. You ask the chief stew what it takes to become a second stew. She says: "Show me you can run a service without me in the room." That is, in one sentence, the whole ladder.
The roles
| Role | Typical experience | What they actually own |
|---|---|---|
| Junior Steward(ess) | 0–1 year | Cabins, laundry, crew areas, prep, assisting service, deep cleans. The role this course prepares you for. |
| Steward(ess) / 2nd Stew | 1–3 years | A defined area: often service or housekeeping. Runs their own section during a charter. |
| Service Steward(ess) | 2–5 years | Silver service, wine, bar, table settings, guest-facing service delivery. |
| Head Housekeeper | 3–5 years | Cabins, linen, stock, deep-clean schedules, standards audits. |
| 2nd Steward(ess) | 3–6 years | Deputy to the chief; runs the department in their absence; often does the rota. |
| Chief Steward(ess) | 5+ years | The whole department: budget, rota, training, standards, guest liaison, preference sheets. HOD. |
| Purser | Senior | Accounts, payroll support, ISM/MLC documentation, provisioning, customs and immigration paperwork, crew travel. On large yachts, sits alongside or above the chief stew administratively. |
On a 30-metre there may be no ladder at all — a chief stew and you. On a 90-metre every rung above exists and is filled.
What gets you promoted
- Reliability before flair. A stew who is always where they said they would be, on time, is worth more than one with a beautiful napkin fold and a loose sense of the clock.
- Anticipation. Seeing the empty glass, the smudged mirror, the guest hovering near the tender before anyone asks.
- Attention to detail under fatigue. Anyone can do it on day one of a charter. Day nine is the test.
- Discretion. See the confidentiality lessons. Nobody promotes a talker.
- Training record. Documented competence — see the Interior Training Record Book — is what turns "she's good" into a certificate.
Certification and the ladder
The GUEST Program, governed by IAMI (the International Association of Maritime Institutions), provides the structured interior training framework the industry uses. Four introductory units — Unit 23 (Introduction to Yachting & Yachting Life), Unit 32 (Basic Housekeeping & Laundry), Unit 02 (Basic Food & Beverage Service) and Unit 03 (Basic Wine, Bartending & Mixology) — together with the required sea service and training record, lead toward the Junior Steward(ess) Certificate of Competency.
Higher GUEST units then support progression to more senior interior certificates.
Onboard Notes
- Ask your chief stew, early, what would have to be true for you to be a 2nd stew. Write it down. Work to it.
- Keep your own record of everything you have been signed off on. Boats change; your record book travels with you.
- The purser's role is increasingly the senior interior career path on large yachts. If you are strong with numbers and administration, say so.
- These xplor lessons are preparatory study only — they support your learning, but the GUEST certificate itself is awarded by an IAMI-approved training centre, not by this course.