When we’re underway and I walk around the ship and guest's see the Captain, the question I get asked ALL. THE. TIME is “If you’re here, who is driving the ship”.
The answer is the Officer of the Watch. We have a minimum of 3 very qualified and licensed officers manning the bridge at ALL times. 3 separate teams rotate every 4 hours on and 8 hours off. The teams are made up of an Officer of the Watch, Assistant Officer of the Watch and a Quartermaster or Lookout.
The terms steering, navigating, maneuvering or just to keep it in layman’s terms, “driving” is used.
There are several different methods we use to “drive”. In this video I'll explain each one!
* Disclaimer: Video contains pre-pandemic footage, where facemasks and social distancing were not common practice. Oh, how times have changed.