Captain Craig Street

Our My Job - My Day feature is generally about local people who have interesting or highly responsible jobs but this week I'm going well beyond that, in fact it's about someone who lives in Scotland.

Readers would be aware that my wife and I have just done a 13 night cruise to New Zealand on the Majestic Princess to celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary. More about cruise life later but for now, let me just tell you about a wild idea I had after being at sea for only a day or two. I thought…I wonder if the Captain might let me do a brief interview with him. I pondered the idea and how I could approach him, and all it took was a handwritten note which I left with Guest Services. A day or so later I took a call in our Stateroom accepting my offer, and not only that but offering to give us a tour of the bridge as well. Wow! I thought.

The Captain (please call me Craig) could not have been more obliging or friendly, my wife and I had a wonderful relaxed chat with him in his executive quarters and came away feeling extremely honoured. His name is Craig Street.

First a bit of background.

Craig has been with Princess Cruises for 29 Years; he joined the Princess Fleet as a Deck Cadet in 1990 and after serving as an apprentice qualified as 3rd Officer in 1993. Since then he has worked his way up through the ranks, obtained his master's License in 1999 and first took command of the Star Princess in 2008. He has previously been in command of 11 of the Princess Ships including the Royal Princess and Regal Princess, sister ships to the Majestic Princess.

Craig was raised in Edinburgh, Scotland and lives there with his Canadian wife Leanne. They have a sailboat on the West Coast of Scotland which they enjoy during his time off. With a keen interest in flying he holds a private helicopter license in both the United States and Europe. He also enjoys scuba diving and playing golf.

When I asked Craig how many cruises he'd been on, he said "I've lost count!"

I asked him to tell us a bit about the Majestic Princess.

It's the biggest ship in the Princess fleet but that will only be for a short time as a brand-new bigger ship is about to join the Princess fleet.

The Majestic weighs about 70,000 tons and has 1350 crew members who hail from some 62 countries. It's 330 metres long and has about 1600 passenger cabins which can accommodate 4450 passengers.

Tell me about your job?

I'm the Captain but one of two Captains on board, there are always two captains on board each ship. I'm responsible for the whole operation of the ship, everything from navigating the ship, that is manouvering the boat, to making sure passenger expectations are met at every level. Basically, I'm over everything that happens. I have an executive team of 12 directly under me, each of these has more specific responsibilities such as in catering, entertainment, engineering, cleaning, medical and so on, it then flows on down from there. Every day presents new challenges, and these can involve port issues, weather issues, staff issues, administrative issues and so on. My regular work hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, 7 days a week but I'm on call 24 hours a day.

This is actually my last cruise on the Majestic Princess. I've Captained this ship since it was launched two and a half years ago and I'm moving to the Royal Princess which will be doing cruises to Alaska in Summer and Mexico in Winter.

What does a typical day look like for you?

No day is ever the same. Supervising the navigational team, managing staff, the commercial running of the ship, dealing with staff issues, and with 1350 crew these can be numerous and varied, and then of course there are training sessions, crew meetings and various duties hosting and entertaining passengers for various reasons. Today is different again, I'm being interviewed by the publisher and his lovely wife from a popular regional magazine in Orange, New South Wales. Craig didn't say that, but it sounds good, so I put it in…

Tell me about how your holidays work and what you do for enjoyment at sea?

I work 3 months about. 3 months at sea and then 3 months holidays. In between there are regular and continuous training courses that I attend. With regard to what I do at sea for enjoyment, my wife regularly travels with me and we enjoy playing tourist and doing things together, not unlike our passengers.

Here's one for you, do Captains still perform weddings at sea?

Still yes, but we're covered under the UK Registry, so some weddings are just symbolic weddings. I am performing a ceremony tonight for a couple who are renewing their vows.

What do you love about your job?

At 17, I did a course with no real plans and here I am 29 years later still here. I wouldn't want to do anything else. I think the people I work with are a highlight and the people who you meet along the way. I have even met up with people who sailed with me 10 years earlier.

Any memorable moments that stand out?

Meeting my wife. I met my wife on a cruise on the Caribbean Princess 13 years ago, she was a scuba diving instructor. She's Canadian and we share a love of scuba diving, among other things and we love visiting her family in Canada, which we do often.

And finally, do you have a favourite Country and City from your travels?

Country would have to be French Polynesia and Sydney - sailing in and out of Sydney Harbour never fails to impress!

I hope you enjoyed meeting Captain Street, albeit briefly, and should you be fortunate enough to travel with him on the Royal Princess sometime, maybe you'll be lucky enough to meet him as we were. It certainly was an unexpected highlight and privilege for my wife Jackie and me.