Customer Reviews

Permanent Passenger: My Life on a Cruise Ship

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Let me start by saying that I DID enjoy reading this book. I cruise several times a year, so I read anything I can get my hands on that has to do with cruising. I anxiously awaited this book to arrive and I started reading it immediately.

This book definitely had the potential to be extremely engrossing. What made it not engrossing, to the extent I thought it would, is the fact that it is so obviously written by someone who's not a writer. While that could be a plus, in this case it is not. While reading I would find that there were not many transitional areas from one topic to another. There was a lot of jumping around. Quite often the author repeats himself, as well. For example, He writes about something in chapter one, and you'll read that same thing over again in Chapters 3 and 5.

Another thing about this book that I found unnecesary, is the addition of the author's bowel habits (in the same waters that we swim in) and his zit popping escapades. Why, I ask you, is it necessary to include such details in a book such as this? I could have done without those details.

If you enjoy cruising and have wondered what it's like to live and work on a cruise ship...you'll probably enjoy this book. Don't expect it to be a well written book and don't expect to be drooling over each word, but expect to have a little fun with it. I don't regret reading it, but I won't read it again. Enjoy!

It's an okay read, but not very detailed compared to another recent cruise book, Cruise Confidential. It is quite short and I would have enjoyed it more if the author had gotten into more detail about life on the cruise ship. Many details were just glossed over and it came over as a long journal entry for a never-ending college party. I really wanted to like this book more than I did.

Micha's life at sea, limited to one Carnival vessel (Ecstasy) and less than a year in length, still had potential in terms of an expose, but fell well short of expectations. Disjointed and repetitious, we found flashes of descriptive brilliance ruined by the writer's perceived need to describe bodily functions best left to the imagination. As cruise lovers, we felt a promising "pull" only to be left unfulfilled as Micha fell short of describing life below the waterline. To hear him tell the story, Assistant Cruise Directors have little responsibility and too much spare time--- a stark contrast to life as a Waiter described by Brian David Bruns in his book, CRUISE CONFIDENTIAL. PERMANENT PASSENGER by Micha Berman is "barely seaworthy".

Wow- I was so disappointed in this book. First off the formatting was way off and you more often then not got a number that looked like this "?00". Thats not much use to me. i would have liked to learn more of the ins and outs of his life on board such as- what is the salary of the assistand cruise director, do the dining room help really only get paid $50 per month plus tips, etc. Can not recommend this book to anyone.

If you are looking for a quick escape from reality this is a must read. This book was so descriptive that I actually felt I had experienced for myself what life was like on a cruise ship. More than that it is hilarious. Your eyes will tear with laughter as you read about the crazy adventures on board the Cruise liner. Non stop fun from the hokey pool games to the ships disco. More than that it is documentation of Berman's drive to pursue his dream job and do what he loves to do, entertain. It also shares some tender moments like the air lift of a sick passanger and that very romantic New Years Eve. This was a very enjoyable book.

We bought this book after seeing some folks discuss it on a cruise forum. I read it and it was, to me, not a book I would buy if I had known that the book was an ego-driven, how wonderful am I type book. There are other auto-biographical books of cruise life for ship's personnel that are far superior as to content and perspective.

This book is a waste of money.

Having spent 20 years in the United States Coast Guard and having traveled all over the world while serving on an ice breaker out of the Pacific North West for Uncle Sam, I love ocean sailing. When for our first anniversary my wife, young adult author LK Gardner-Griffie, suggested we take a cruise I wasn't sure I would like it or not. Not because I no longer wanted to set sail, but because I was used to being on the job while on a ship. Would I be able to make the transition to being a passenger or not? Well, I found that I enjoy being on a ship more as a passenger than I did as a member of the crew. Now I love cruising vacations and love to take one anytime we have the chance. When the opportunity came up to read and review Permanent Passenger: My Life On a Cruise Ship I was eager to see how the experience of working on a cruise ship compared to my experiences as a lead petty officer on an ice breaker. So anchors aweigh.

If you are looking for a literary discussion of living on a cruise ship containing several nuggets to ponder in a philosophical sense, this book is definitely not the one for you. But, if you are looking for a fast paced, light read, filled with personal experience, down to the nitty gritty of life below deck, then Permanent Passenger: My Life On a Cruise Ship is a good selection. Micha Berman is definitely more of an entertainer than a writer, but as I read through the tale of his adventures of working for a cruise ship line, I laughed out loud page after page. I found I could relate to Berman's experiences in more ways than I could count and that in essence working for a cruise line was not much different than setting sail for Uncle Sam, with a few notable exceptions. The major exception is of course, that you can't just quit Uncle Sam's service, unless you'd like to face a court martial.

In both cases, life on ship is a microcosm of society, and it definitely is a classed society with the levels of society indicated by the decks of residence.

"As I walked through these decks it dawned on me I was entering a different neighborhood, one with its own culture and rarely seen by passengers. The first sign that you had entered crew city was the obvious lack of carpeting on the floors and the sheer bareness of the shiny metal walls. The exuberant colors of the passenger halls were replaced by a stark hospital like setting and a general feeling of unadorned survival. A second clue that this was not passenger living quarters was the trash littering the floors, the most common item a shred of wet cardboard standing guard outside a crew member's door, the last remnant of a six pack of beer. Finally in this new neighborhood, hallways also served as soccer fields. Crew members, many from Latin America, often held soccer matches in these hallways not wider than 3 feet, during their off hours, bouncing off the doors, screaming and hollering, there was no way to stop them from enjoying their national pastime.

"The staff living quarters consisted of five decks, the lower the floor, the more cramped and dirty the conditions and the more unsafe it was to wander. Think of it as the United Nations with the top floors representing the rich and fortunate nations of the world like the United States, Europe and oil rich countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The bottom floors might be closer to third world countries such as India, Sudan, or Guatemala."

As the assistant cruise director, Berman was fortunate enough to live on the top level, which meant he was the sole occupant of his nine by nine quarters. In the below decks, often times there were two or three to a room of that size or smaller. Permanent Passenger: My Life On a Cruise Ship is a very personal account of life on a cruise ship as crew, and contains an intimate look at what the life entails in a humorous style down to the bowel habits of the author. Since I am easily amused by bathroom humor and there were many parallels to life on an ice breaker, I identified with Berman which helped to make this an enjoyable read. The book also contains Crazy Cruise Trivia between chapters citing facts such as how much chicken, steak, and ribs may be consumed during the course of the day by the passengers. The book winds up with the Ten Commandments of Cruising:

1. Get on, Live it up, Get off
2. Get off the ship whenever you can
3. Have Goals
4. Eat out at every port
5. Always be friendly to crew
6. Avoid alcohol and gambling
7. Don't forget the passengers
8. Enjoy the sea, moon, and stars
9. Stay suspicious
10. Develop a few close friends

Permanent Passenger: My Life On a Cruise Ship is a good book for someone considering working for the cruise industry because it gives an insider viewpoint. Of course, Berman's perspective is that of someone who has one of the cushiest jobs on the ship. There might be a completely different perspective from someone who has served on a cruise ship as a member of the kitchen or cleaning staff. Another industry related book, Cruise Confidential, is written by someone who spent his stint as kitchen staff which provides an additional angle to life on a cruise ship. As lead petty officer on the ice breaker, I was in charge of the ships stores and my primary job functions occurred when we were in port, so I was known as a passenger by my shipmates. Hat's off from one permanent passenger to another for pleasurable read.

Originally reviewed for the LL Book Review

We love to cruise and this book was very interesting. Fun to see behind the scenes. Gave this book to the assisant CD on our last cruise and he said he had a waiting list of crew members wanting to read it. Our copy is now a permanent passenger on the Carnival Elation...

OMG. This is the most amateur book I've ever read. Was this self-published? I've read blogs that seem to have had more thought in them. The idea is great--behind the scenes on a cruise ship. But the structure, story line, writing, grammar, etc. are all a mess.

This is a very funny book. I think it serves it's purpose well in showing what it is like on a cruise ship and how to get a job on a cruise ship. The stories are great and well told. The writing style is crisp when it is not repetitive.

My favorite part of the book is his explanation on how he got his job. It is truly awe-inspiring. This part of the book can be a book in itself and should be required reading for every kid graduating college. It is so "on target" and shows an incredible tenacity. For people who have lost their job they should buy the book for the first chapter alone. If Micha were to write a follow on book, he should get a publisher to read that chapter and write a whole book on following your dream and getting a dream job.

However, this is his first attempt at writing a book and it does show. He does repeat himself here and there, mistakenly refers to Shakespeare as Victorian author, etc. And it is a short book, and more editing would have been helpful.

But I have a bigger criticism, or left-handed compliment actually. There is actually a great book hidden in this good book. I see two themes here. One is life on a cruise ship, as advertised. The other is a coming of age story. All the elements are there (and yeah its a cliche plot but aren't all plots cliche), this theme can be developed with say 40 more pages or so, and the appeal of the book can rise well above cruise fans and cruise job seekers into being a general appeal book for a wider audience. There is a deep and sincere honesty on how he comes to his own and how he grew up on that ship. Through writing this book, you can see how he really put himself "out there" and shows a lot of vulnerability. If he went all the way, the pay out would be significant.

I hope Micha comes up with a second edition version in the future and takes it to the next level. He clearly shows he knows how to tell a good story, his sense of humor shines through, and he has a journalistic flair for detail. There is some good stuff here, but I think he can take this informative cute little book and make it a great book.