Inside the Floating City — A Practical Guide to Life and Work on Board
Inside the Floating City is a comprehensive guide to cruise ship life, written by former senior ship officer Vega Mare and published by Sea Lantern Studio.
Designed as a complete orientation to shipboard work, the book maps the full arc of working at sea — from preparation and first boarding, through daily operations, long-term contracts, and progression into responsibility. It supports readers at different stages of their shipboard careers, whether they are considering a first contract, navigating early weeks on board, or reassessing fit, longevity, and advancement after multiple seasons at sea.
The book covers:
- how to prepare before leaving home, both practically and mentally
- what to expect during your first days and weeks on board
- how different departments, hierarchies, and teams operate in practice
- how leadership, routines, and informal systems shape daily life
- how to avoid common mistakes and lessons crew often only learn the hard way
Beyond initial survival, Inside the Floating City focuses on how to thrive in shipboard life over time. It addresses the realities of maintaining physical and mental health at sea, managing fatigue and long-term contracts, and building sustainable routines in an environment that rarely slows down. Rather than normalizing burnout, the book offers frameworks for endurance, balance, and continuity — supporting readers who want not only to last, but to function well and remain grounded across multiple contracts.
The book is not limited to entry-level experience. It examines how cruise ships function as living organizational systems, offering insight into leadership, authority, and progression into supervisory and management roles. It shows how professional reputation, competence, and timing shape advancement, and what the demands of responsibility look like once crew move into positions of leadership.
Written from more than fifteen years of lived experience across multiple ranks and contracts, Inside the Floating City functions as both an orientation guide and a long-term reference. Few resources document shipboard life from first consideration to senior responsibility in this level of detail.
Inside the Floating City is available in digital, paperback, and hardback editions.