You have cleaned the guest head. It is, by any standard you have ever known, clean. The chief stew runs one finger along the underside of the tap, looks at the water spot on the mirror at an angle you did not think to check, and asks you to do it again. She is not being cruel. She is showing you what "clean" means here.
The Standards Shock
Every green crew member hits it. The yachting standard is not domestic clean, it is not hotel clean — it is inspection clean, from every angle, every time.
- Water spots, fingerprints, hair, lint and dust are all failures.
- Symmetry matters: hangers spaced, cushions aligned, labels facing.
- "Nobody will see it" is not a defence. Someone will, and it will be the owner.
- A job is not finished until it has been checked by you, properly, before anyone else checks it.
How to Be Taught
This is the skill that decides your first season.
- Carry a notebook. Write down every preference, product, procedure and name. Do not make someone tell you twice.
- Ask before, not after. A question costs thirty seconds; a ruined silk cushion costs a lot more.
- Never pretend you know. Bluffing is the single most common reason green crew get sent home. "I have not done that — can you show me once?" is a professional sentence.
- Take correction without a face. No sighing, no defending, no explaining. "Yes chef" energy: acknowledge, fix, move on.
- Do it their way. Every boat has its own system. Yours is not better; it is just yours.
Uniform and Grooming
| Standard | Typical expectation |
|---|---|
| Uniform | Provided; pressed, spotless, correct set for the time of day |
| Hair | Tied back, neat, natural, off the face |
| Nails | Short, clean, plain or bare |
| Fragrance | Minimal to none — it lingers in guest areas and on linen |
| Jewellery | Minimal, secure, nothing that scratches surfaces |
| Tattoos / piercings | Policies vary; many yachts require them covered |
Grooming is not vanity here. You are inside people's homes, near their food and their belongings.
Phones, Social Media and Confidentiality
- No phone in guest areas. Ever. It is one of the quickest ways to lose your job.
- No photographs of guests, ever. Not for you, not for your family, not for a private story.
- Many yachts require an NDA. Guest names, itineraries, conversations and even the yacht's location are confidential.
- Assume anything you post can be traced to the yacht. Crew have been dismissed and blacklisted for a single post.
Discretion is the product. Guests are paying for a world where nothing they do is discussed.
Onboard Notes
- If you are corrected ten times a day in week one, that means they are investing in you. Silence is the bad sign.
- Redo the job without being asked when you know it is not right. That is the moment you stop being green.
- Never repeat what you overhear in a guest cabin. Not to crew, not to friends, not years later.