Ship time always switches in the middle of the night, like 2 a.m. when most pax are asleep. So, sailing west the day is, for example, Oct. 12, a Monday and you'd expect the next day to be the 13th, a Tuesday. If you cross the dateline, the next day is the 14th, a Wednesday, and you never experience Tuesday or the 13th.
Going east, you'd experience the same day twice, today would be Oct. 12 and Monday, and so would tomorrow! I've flown across the dateline going east and you land the same day you took off, with little apparent time lapse, or even before you took off. As I said, it's surreal.
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Each cruise line has its peculiarities, mostly derived from its origins (or the eccentricities) of its owner. Holland America Lines revels in its Dutch heritage They hand out a blue on white Delph tile to each guest each trip. Princess recruits mostly from the Philippines, Royal Caribbean from the island nations in the Caribbean.
HAL recruits many of its onboard "hotel side" employees from Indonesia, a former Dutch colony. I'm told HAL has a school there which trains cabin attendants and waiters. Because Indonesia is mostly Islamic, all HAL barmen and drink servers are Filipino Christians who have no prohibition against alcohol.
"Ship side" HAL sailors are Asian, not sure from where. HAL officers are largely European, many actually from the Netherlands. There are also odd specialty occupations like the casino workers who have their own uniform and are likely employees of a firm which subcontracts the casino operation. There are also a few shop attendants who tend to be Europeans (or white South Africans).
