Shadowing Practice: What I Spend In A Week Working On A Cruise Ship! 🚢 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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- I work on a cruise ship, and probably the top perk of this job is getting to save a lot of the money that you make.

We have very limited expenses when we're here on board, so if you wanted to spend zero dollars, you could.

I don't do that though, so in this video, we're gonna see how much I spend on average in a week.

It is so windy out here.

But first, we need to talk about what I do and don't pay for here on board.

Thank you.

So the first thing that I don't pay for on board is my cabin.

And no, it does not get taken out of my paycheck.

Along with our cabin, we don't pay for things like water or electricity.

So we basically have no bills while we're on board.

Really, the only bills that you might have are the ones that you have back home.

- Because there's, 104 pods in here so 104 divided by like 30 is something and then

times we probably use like two to three pods per load

like once a week that's like actually I have no idea

maybe like 50 -ish cents a pod I don't know

but to be honest half of the machines are broken

so the laundry room is covered in water one of the

machines is missing it's actively overflowing yeah okay this is ship

life my biggest spending category I think is probably going to be food it's most definitely going to be food Yes,

the food on the ship is free in the crew mess and I do eat there most meals, but the rotation does get a little bit boring.

So about once a week, Robert and I will go to the specialty restaurants here on board.

We have a few options from Italian at Giovanni's, steak at chops, and sushi at Izumi.

which are all a little bit pricier, but then we have Playmaker, Sports Bar, and Johnny Rockets, which are a little bit cheaper.

So we thankfully do get a 20 % discount and sometimes even more if they're running a special, which I feel like they do pretty frequently.

I'd say I tend to spend about $50 a week.

At specialty restaurants, give or take.

That's an average.

When it comes to like snacks and drinks on board, we do have a crew bar and a slot chest.

You can get soda, alcohol, coffee, smoothies, snacks, and toiletries.

All of the things

that you might need to hold you over until you can get to like a bigger grocery store if needed.

I'm honestly not like a big snacker

so I'm never really coming to the slop chest

but I will occasionally come and get like a red bull

or a coke And I always buy water at the water sale once a week for $3.

And today I'm having a Red Bull because we have a show.

The tropical version.

is the best.

Oh, and really quick, an expense that I do save a lot of money on is alcohol.

I will not be drinking this before the show tonight.

I usually just get a bottle of rum from Crew Bar for about $10 and maybe a Coke, and I'll have a drink every once in a while.

If you do the math, a drink, if I make the drink myself, it comes up to like $1 .50.

But the drinks in Crew Bar are very cheap.

You can get like a margarita for $4, where on land it would be at least $10, depending where you are.

We also have a lot of crew parties here on board, where HR will provide free drinks and food.

Not always, but oftentimes they'll at least have beer and soda.

These parties usually have a really fun theme.

It just makes for a great night out, when you don't have to Uber, pay a cover fee, buy overpriced drinks, and then find a way home.

you and for cheap.

one big expense i save on while on board is a gym membership

they're actually required to do five gym hours per week to keep up our stamina and physique for the shows.

When I'm back home, I'll usually spend anywhere between 10 and $50 a month for a gym membership.

So it is really nice to have such a beautiful gym to use for free.

Okay, let's talk about what I'm pretty sure is most crew members' biggest expense on board.

Wi -Fi.

Wi -Fi on the ship costs $3 .99 per hour.

You can also purchase bigger packages and the more minutes that you buy, the less it becomes.

The crew also does get two free hours per week, but for many people that's just not enough and so it can really add up.

Except for for Robert.

Somehow he only uses those two free hours a week.

I don't know how he does it, but he does.

For me though, I use much more, but I actually don't pay for it.

I have a side job at the Wi -Fi desk.

So for one hour, I I will get 300 free minutes of wifi.

So I'll usually help with wifi one to two hours per week and get between three and 600 minutes of free internet.

So I am very thankful for my job at the wifi desk.

Now let's talk about what I spend off of the ship.

I am a little bit nervous.

so we are currently on two different seven -day itineraries in the caribbean

that alternate each week we visit places like saint thomas san juan the bahamas jamaica

and grand cayman most days of the week are spent grabbing lunch off of the ship

or visiting like a nearby beach which you wouldn't think would cost a lot

but the caribbean isn't as inexpensive as one might think

turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale and it's basically an errand day for us.

We usually take the $4 cruise shuttle to Publix to get things like almond milk for our coffees

and just whatever else we might need that week.

We'll also usually go to a coffee shop and get some food

and Wi -Fi to do things that the ship Wi -Fi might not be strong enough for.

and especially to download things for the upcoming week, like new music, podcasts, and Netflix.

Day two, we are always in Coco Cay, which is free for the crew.

You don't have to pay for any transportation on the island.

food or a beach chair.

There are some additional things that you can do, like there's the water park, snorkeling gear, and jet skis, but we never really do that, so we actually never spend any money here.

There have been many days on this contract where we also just don't get off the ship at all

and just have a day on board, but occasionally there's also an activity that we really want to do somewhere that's going to cost a little bit more.

So we'll get a bunch of the cast together to save on taxis and just have a fun day out.

Every once in a while, it's worth it to spend a little bit more to have a fun day out with the cast.

How do we think he's gonna do, guys?

Um, I think he might fall the first time.

Um, 20 seconds.

Oh!

Alright, good guess, good guess.

I am...

I am gonna do amazing at it.

Okay.

I'm actually really scared now.

Alright, what's your thoughts on Kyle?

Oh, not even two seconds.

- What the hell is it?

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I went through some bank statements

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and my onboard statement to see kind of the average of what I spend in a week

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because it really is so different depending on the week.

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It's never the same.

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This week I have spent five dollars so far and we're on day six of the cruise.

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So that's why I wanted to do an average

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and not just like one simple week in my life because this week would have been very boring.

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We were in Europe last year

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and I actually did a video on what I spent in a week last year

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and I'm not gonna lie the total between now and then I really thought it was going to be different.

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For some reason I thought

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that I would be spending way more in Europe than I was in the Caribbean because I got off

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every single day in Europe.

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I was eating, I was having a good time, I was going to all of these amazing historical places, doing tours, everything.

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So I thought that I would be spending a lot more there.

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And then after thinking about it, when you're in Europe, a lot of the things are really close to the port.

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So you don't have to pay for a taxi to get a lot of places.

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And if you do, there is public transportation that is very inexpensive.

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And then when you get somewhere, it's relatively inexpensive.

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I could get an Aperol Spritz for like $3 in Italy.

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If I tried to get an Aperol Spritz here in the Caribbean somewhere, it would be $15, at least in most places, not everywhere.

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A lot of the places

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very touristy and so they are

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just more expensive and so I really did not expect that

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but I think I said this in the last video

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that I made not having any expenses really back home and getting to save on like rent and housing.

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and a lot of other things, I always am willing to spend a little bit more on experiences.

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Anyway, I did want to say that in my last video that I did last year, My average while we were in Europe was $224 a week.

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and - I really thought it was gonna be different here on this itinerary including onboard and off my average has been

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about $200 really not that different from Europe when I feel like I was doing way more stuff

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It's so interesting to see that but again, it is just an average it is definitely a Less than what we would spend if we were on land.

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I don't know for some reason it's making me feel bad I'm, like oh, it's two hundred dollars too much.

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I don't know.

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Don't tell me don't tell me in the comments Don't make me feel bad about it Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this little glimpse into what I spend in a week.

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Um, it's Such an interesting lifestyle to not have a lot of

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regular expenses that many people do who don't work on cruise ships

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and every once in a while I get a little nervous for the day

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that I'm gonna have to start paying rent again

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and live in a house and deal with all of those adulty things

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that I haven't really had to pay for and deal with.

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in a lot of my 20s.

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It's such a weird...

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concept.

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I don't know.

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I hope you guys enjoyed this video.

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Please give it a thumbs up and subscribe if you haven't yet.

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And let me know what other videos you'd like to see on my channel.

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And I will see you guys in the next one.

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Bye!

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Who Will Benefit from This Video?

This video is perfect for intermediate English learners aiming to improve conversational fluency and real-world vocabulary. It’s ideal for those interested in daily life contexts, as the speaker shares relatable spending habits in a unique work setting (a cruise ship). The casual tone and mix of practical terms make it great for learners who want to practice understanding and mimicking natural speech, whether for travel, work, or everyday communication.

Words & Idioms Worth Stealing

Perk: A special benefit of a job. Example: "The top perk of working on a cruise ship is saving money."
Give or take: Approximately. Example: "I spend $50 a week, give or take."
Hold you over: To satisfy a need temporarily. Example: "Snacks to hold you over until the next meal."
Oftentimes: Often. Example: "Oftentimes, crew parties have free drinks."

How to Get the Accent Right

To master the speaker’s natural, conversational tone, focus on reduced speech and intonation. Notice how "gonna" (instead of "going to") and "wanna" (instead of "want to") are used—these are common in casual English. Practice the shadowing technique: play a short clip, pause, and repeat it immediately, matching the rhythm and stress. For tricky phrases like "give or take" or "hold you over," use a shadowing site to slow down the audio and break down each syllable. Pay attention to the speaker’s relaxed vowel sounds, especially in words like "probably" (pronounced "prob-lee") and "definitely" ("def-uh-nit-lee"). Shadow speech exercises with this video will help you sound more natural in everyday conversations. Remember, the key is to mimic not just the words, but the pauses and emphasis—this is how native speakers connect ideas smoothly.

Learning English with YouTube videos like this one is a fantastic way to improve pronunciation and fluency. By focusing on real-life contexts and using techniques like shadowing, you’ll build confidence in understanding and speaking English in no time.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have been · have spent · has been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are broken · is covered · are spent
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	Rockets, which are · Cay, which is

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: What I Spend In A Week Working On A Cruise Ship! 🚢 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Who Will Benefit from This Video?

Words & Idioms Worth Stealing

How to Get the Accent Right

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?