Carnival faces lawsuit over pay

[voyagerfl]

If you do the math on a cabin steward ($3.50 per day per person) and he has some 15 rooms to clean you can easily get up to the $40,000 per year.

That's big money to these people when you factor in the free room and board. Where do I sign up?

 

You are really willing to work 80 hours a week ?? Be away from home, family and friends for months at a time ?? Share a small cabin ??

Good Luck.....Have Fun

[corina27]

Not too mention that after the months at a time on the ship, I bet they still feel like they are on one for a while after they get off the ship.

[GoinCruisin]

My friends son got hired by NCL (dining room staff), he was going to be paid $8/hour... he said they didn't mention tips, so maybe that is all he was going to make. However, he was going to be sharing a small cabin, with two other boys, and the contract was extremely strict. He decided against it. He was originally so excited about going to Hawaii and "seeing the world", until he realized he wouldn't see very much and the hours and work was not something he thought he could do... I guess it looks glamorous, but it's really not.

 

Also, not everyone on the ship makes $40K, I think the last average was $22K, which is still better than they have at home. Also keep in mind that the cabin steward pays his assistant (800-1000/month) out of HIS pay... regardless of the tips he makes.

[gospelle]

NCL has one ship which is flagged in the US. It is the only one that has to follow US labour codes, minimum wages, etc..

 

Interestingly, it is also the one which seems to get the worst reviews.

[Setme2sail]

"You have got to be kidding me. I know the US Labor Laws don't apply for these workers, but $ 1.60?!!!! :eek: Per day or per hour......either way, that's just horrible."

 

Why does this shock you? Have you ever been a server in the US. Guess what, they are paid $2.13/hr. They rely on tips from their customers to make a decent wage. Yes, they do get paid overtime after 40 hours a week but guess how they are scheduled. Most times 10 to 12 hours per day with a 2 or 3 hour break mid shift(after lunch rush). Then as OP stated they have to pay taxes out of the money they make, and yes, I know most don't report all tips. So what am I missing???

[GoinCruisin]

True that servers here in the states make a low wage and depend on their tips... but I would take $2.13 and hour over $1.60 a day, any day... I remember my first job as a waitress and it ticked me off to see just how cheap some people can be, and those are the people that you generally have to work the hardest for :rolleyes: Cheapos! LOL!

[Setme2sail]

I remember my first job as a waitress and it ticked me off to see just how cheap some people can be, and those are the people that you generally have to work the hardest for :rolleyes: Cheapos! LOL!

 

I agree Goincrusin. I have 2 children that have worked in the resturant industy. It is tough, especially when they work their butt off then someone leaves them $2 for a $40 tab. It is no wonder that the turn over is so high with servers, then the consumer wonders why they can't get good service. Duh!!! :rolleyes: If you would tip appropriately then they would stay and you could be waited on by trained staff.

[glrounds]

True that servers here in the states make a low wage and depend on their tips... but I would take $2.13 and hour over $1.60 a day, any day... I remember my first job as a waitress and it ticked me off to see just how cheap some people can be, and those are the people that you generally have to work the hardest for :rolleyes: Cheapos! LOL!

 

Of course, Goin, there's another side to that story.

 

I have a client/friend, who's daughter, a wannabee actress (has done commercials for IHOP and Kodak), works in a Beverly Hills restaurant. So good-lookin' it hurts. :D Just does lunches 11:00 - 2:00. Knocks down $250-$300 in tips every day. Dates the Hollywood and Beverly Hills elite. And gives her paycheck to the Dining Captain to guarantee her employment there. :eek:

Just hope she doesn't choose to return a client's lost glasses and end up at the wrong place at the wrong time (some might get this). :rolleyes:

[voyagerfl]

My friends son got hired by NCL (dining room staff), he was going to be paid $8/hour... he said they didn't mention tips, so maybe that is all he was going to make. However, he was going to be sharing a small cabin, with two other boys, and the contract was extremely strict. He decided against it. He was originally so excited about going to Hawaii and "seeing the world", until he realized he wouldn't see very much and the hours and work was not something he thought he could do... I guess it looks glamorous, but it's really not.

 

Also, not everyone on the ship makes $40K, I think the last average was $22K, which is still better than they have at home. Also keep in mind that the cabin steward pays his assistant (800-1000/month) out of HIS pay... regardless of the tips he makes.

 

Guess that $8 an hour on NCL would be on Their "American Flagged Ship" in Hawaii.........

have heard that service is poor.......the American staff can't handle the work that those from poorer countries can..

I've heard they have to trade out the crew half-way through the week just to survive (anyone else heard this ?)

[Girlsnightout]

Big money??? Are you mental?:confused:

 

If you have the initiative to work 70+ hours a week, 7 days a week, you should easily make more than $40,000 a year. Heck, living in Canada or the US provides enough opportunity that anyone with that kind of determination should be able to make $100,000 easy.

 

Heck, I'll hire you for $40,000 a year if you work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. And you can share a room in the basement of my restaraunt and eat what the restaraunt has left over each day. Oh, but of course you'll not be permitted to leave the restaraunt, and you must stay in the basement when not working. I may need you to work more than 12 hours a day on some days, well, most days, and I'm afraid I won't pay you for those extra hours.

 

Oh, and you'll have to have a nice cheery attitude, and take lots of crap from the occasional customer, or we'll have to reduce your $40,000 a little bit. Did I mention you'll have to sing and dance at in the restaraunt as well? Shouldn't be a problem with your kind of enthusiasim!

 

And yet...people are knocking themselves out to get jobs on cruise ships..go figure. Supply and demand, simple as that, no one has forced anyone into indentured servitude. This is a young persons game and usually short lived, we might not do it (okay, not a chance), but most of us have worked hard for low pay at one time or another in our lives for the experience, and if we haven't, we should have.

[candigirl41]

The only way they will solve the overworking problem is to charge us, the passengers more and raise the wages. I really resent the Wal-Mart remark. I have worked there over 12 years and make a decent living working 28 hours a week with full benefits and 401K and profit sharing. Check you facts before blasting any company.

 

Candi

[GoinCruisin]

Just hope she doesn't choose to return a client's lost glasses and end up at the wrong place at the wrong time (some might get this). :rolleyes:

 

Gary, she doesn't work at Mezzaluna does she???? :eek:

[Cruising89143]

I've talked to crew members over the years and they love the job that they have. Compared to what they have in their home countries this is great work. I imagine all of this news is due to some attorney looking for some money and found some crew members on a ship and talked them into starting a class action suit. I do not see how they can win but who knows. I imagine any cruise line could be accused of this same thing. I highly doubt it is limited to one but Carnival is the biggest and people go after the big boys.

[glrounds]

Gary, she doesn't work at Mezzaluna does she???? :eek:

 

goin, I have no idea. I don't think its the one that Goldman (hope you know what I mean) worked at. As a matter of fact, I think that one is no longer in business. Is Mezzaluna in West Hollywood or Beverly Hills?

 

I hesistate to use her name, but she was on the packaging of all Kodak film for some time (may still be) and was in a popular IHOP commercial where all the "kids" in a Volkswagen take the policeman to IHOP for breakfast.

 

My son was crazy about her when they were younger and friends, but even he realizes she is "out of his league" now. I sometimes see him gazing off into the distant when she is mentioned pondering "what if?".

 

The saddest words of prose and pen, are the words, "what might have been". :(

[voyagerfl]

And yet...people are knocking themselves out to get jobs on cruise ships..go figure. Supply and demand, simple as that, no one has forced anyone into indentured servitude. This is a young persons game and usually short lived, we might not do it (okay, not a chance), but most of us have worked hard for low pay at one time or another in our lives for the experience, and if we haven't, we should have.

 

LoL....""people are knocking themselves out to get jobs on cruise ships."" Yeah But Not Americans.......the only Americans (and they are very few) work in places like the gift shop or as entertainers OR on on the American Flagged NCL ship.

[voyagerfl]

The only way they will solve the overworking problem is to charge us, the passengers more and raise the wages. I really resent the Wal-Mart remark. I have worked there over 12 years and make a decent living working 28 hours a week with full benefits and 401K and profit sharing. Check you facts before blasting any company.

 

Candi

 

Just courious.....

First ! You make a decent living on 28 hours a week ??

......you recieve Full Health Benifits ??

WoW...to heck with Carnival...I'm gonin to work at Wally World

 

Just wondering...(how much of that 28 hours pay does health insurance cost you)..That 401K do they put any money into it...??

[AIMS312]

But I will say this, if I was 18 again and had no ties, I'd consider working on a ship for a year or two. If only for the experience. Yes, you work a LOT, but there are other benefits as well. Like no taxes.

 

 

If I were 18 again and had no ties, I'd be signing up for the Navy instead of a cruise ship. Tons better pay, insurance for the rest of your life (of course if you retire with them), probably better sleeping quarters, you still get to see the world, and they pay for your education.