Junior Steward / Junior Stewardess

A junior steward or stewardess is the first rung of the interior team. You clean guest cabins and crew areas, run laundry, help with service and keep the boat looking as if nobody lives on it. Most juniors join with little or no yacht experience, so the job is as much about learning standards as meeting them. The chief stew decides how a bed is made, how a towel is folded and which glass goes with which wine, and you follow that to the letter.

On a 50m to 70m yacht there may be four to six interior crew, and the junior usually takes the jobs that keep everything else moving. That means early starts detailing the saloon before guests wake, long stints in the laundry pressing linen, and turning down cabins in the evening. You also help at lunch and dinner, clear tables, polish silver and glassware, and look after the crew mess. Expect 12 to 16 hour days on charter.

Off charter the pace changes. Yard periods and winter maintenance mean deep cleans, inventories, wardrobe work and protecting surfaces while contractors are on board. It is physical work in a small team, and you live where you work, usually sharing a cabin. Juniors who are reliable, tidy and easy to live with move up quickly. A good first season often leads to a steward or third stew position within a year or two.