I'm Zlatko Simovski, a former cruise ship employee and a seemingly debt-free person. In reality, I owe a lot to the cruise lines for giving me a chance to work in the best industry in the world and to the cruise passengers for putting food on my family table. Yes, I worked like the ships belonged to my father, but nothing would have been possible without the people who had chosen to spend a part of their hard-earned money on a cruise vacation.
It's been a few years since my last contract on a cruise ship, and only the great memories and gratitude are left today-gratitude for the opportunity to provide a better life for my family, to work and live with amazing people from more than 70 different nationalities, for the chance to visit many beautiful places around the world, to learn from thousands of dear passengers I interacted with.....
I wish I could return for at least one more contract as a crew member, but that's impossible now. I won't ever again, while wearing a crew uniform, have the chance to personally tell a passenger how much happiness the job on a cruise ship brings to my life.
Thinking about the years spent working on cruise ships (which are by far the best I remember), I often recall the conversations with passengers asking about the ship's life and expressing worries about the crew's wellbeing. Aware of the general opinion, last year, I published the diary I wrote during my first eight-month contract. Making such a private thing publicly available wasn't an easy decision, but I always thought people should know how the system on ships works and fully enjoy their cruise, knowing that the crew members are well taken care of. That was my experience, and I strongly believe that most employees feel the same.
In gratitude to those who are indirectly supporting thousands of crew members and their families, I decided to provide a free PDF copy of the diary to every passenger and crew member participating in the inaugural cruise of Icon of the Seas (Please feel free to send me a direct message on FB or email me on zlatko_2209)
Happy New Year to all the cruise passengers, and thank you. You are the reason many kids are not going to bed hungry.
We, the crew members, genuinely appreciate you and love you!
∞ Love
Zlatko
