rvrgirl

Since many of the ports that cruise ships dock at are commercial/container ports, why does it matter? I just look at the bridge, look out to sea and enjoy the ship. I'm there for only a short while before sailing.

 

Sailing out of San Diego kinda spoils ya;)

As for the primary jobs (cabin stewards, dining attendents), I never met any Americans. Due to the long hours, no days off and pay, very few are willing to accept them.

They get days off. We ran into several of our waiters in port. and some of the cabin stewards are the ones that referred us to several restaurants in ports that they had been to on their day off. :D :D

Exactly. If you are a hard-working American it makes almost zero financial sense to work on a cruise ship.

 

One bartender on RCI told us that the few Americans he worked with were generally lazy and didn't want to work as hard. I didn't have the heart to tell him that if an American bartender worked 12-13 hours a day every day of the week in the U.S., he/she would make a lot more money than what the cruise lines pay. So that's where all of the hard-working American bartenders are. The cruise lines get Americans who, for whatever reason, want to work on ships, not necessarily work hard.

 

To call us lazy is ignoring the fact that we have built the largest economy in the world and are not exactly known for taking a lot of time off compared to Europe and the rest of the developed world. We invented the term "rat race," eat our meals at the speed of sound so we can move on to the next thing, and don't take naps in the middle of the day.

 

On the other hand, to call the wages paid by cruise lines "slave wages" ignores the reality of the exchange rate. That bartender on RCI had just finished building his house in India - a house bigger than mine.....:D

Boy isn't that the truth:D

When we were on the Elation in 1999, the cd was from San Diego, CA

No flames here Jim. There's a lot of sense in what you said. Also consider that the low wages and long working hours are really not attractive to most Americans wanting to work on a cruiseship.

Yep you are right on the low wages..us americans won't take that.

But don't forget our american dollar is worth alot more...double sometimes...for some of the crew on the ship:)