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Captain of the Ship?

CRUISING71

By CRUISING71,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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marym933

marym933

Posted
Posted

That question was asked on the Behind the Fun tour on the Paradise. The captain said all Carnival captains are Italian. He said Christopher Columbus was an Italian and there is a maritime college on almost every corner in Italy.

 

I did sail with an American captain on the NCL Pride of America in Hawaii. His name was Buzz.

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tntornadox

tntornadox

Posted
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American mariners tend to go with the cargo or oil companies, as I understand it, they pay better than the cruise lines. You will find an American officer on a cruise line every once in awhile, but it's rare- the notable exception being Pride of America (NCL) as referred to above as she flies the U.S. flag.

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vacruizer

vacruizer

Posted
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Don't really care the nationality of the captain as long as he or she is competent and trained properly.

 

As far as Carnival using Italian captains, the Italians have been at sea since before the U.S. Navy was in existence. Christopher Columbus ring a bell?

 

I wonder what our non-American CC members think of this type thread. Seems kind of insulting to other nationalites that we are questioning their competence based on nationality.:rolleyes:

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spacepotatoes

spacepotatoes

Posted
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Every cruise line has its traditions about their captains and senior officers. On Carnival, they're all Italian. On HAL, they're all Dutch. On NCL, they tend to be Scandinavian. I'm not sure about others.

 

On our Behind the Fun tour on Imagination, the Captain and the Chief Engineer talked about the training and experience required for their jobs and it was pretty impressive. Didn't bother me at all most of it was done in Italy.

 

I don't really see why they should be required to have American training...other countries can have high standards, too. And produce competent people. :rolleyes:

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ElvisAndretti

ElvisAndretti

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Are typically trained at the US Merchant Marine Acadamy in Kings Point, New York. Or (like my dad did) on the job, starting as a deck hand and gathering experience onboad while getting examinations conducted by the coast guard. (to become a mate and eventually a captain). A Kings Point Grad comes on board as a Third Mate IIRC.

 

My mom once suggested he take up cruise line captain-ing and he allowed as the pay cut and the (back then) tiny boats did not appeal to him. Now cruise ships are actaully larger than the 'supertanker' he used to command.

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jakelangston

jakelangston

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On the Magics Behnd the Fun tour earlier this month the guide said the same thing. The Italians are very cmpetent at sea and have been at it many centuries. He did mention that carnival has alot of Croatian officers "coming up thru the ranks" and its just a matter of time before some are cpatains.

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JayS

JayS

Posted
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Every cruise line has its traditions about their captains and senior officers. On Carnival, they're all Italian. On HAL, they're all Dutch. On NCL, they tend to be Scandinavian. I'm not sure about others.

 

:

 

On my Eurodam cruise the captain was Canadian. He was in the Canadian navy.

On the Prisendam the captain was Scandinavian , I think Norwegian.

 

On the RCCL Explorer of the Seas he was Norwegian who move to Baltimore.

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ChrisYMQ

ChrisYMQ

Posted
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No offence but I'd rather have a Dutch or British captain than an American.

 

Italian officers, not sure. We've had a few incidents on past Carnival cruises (man overboard, ship bumping real good into the pier, serious medical emergency etc.etc.), and all you heard was panic ridden crew announcements in Italian. Didn't really seem professional yelling alpha-alpha-alpha into the speakers all over the ship followed by tons of instructions in Italian and no English explanation whatsoever for at least 20 minutes, leaving the 99% English speaking passengers wonder what would happen to them....

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nybumpkin

nybumpkin

Posted
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Are typically trained at the US Merchant Marine Acadamy in Kings Point, New York. Or (like my dad did) on the job, starting as a deck hand and gathering experience onboad while getting examinations conducted by the coast guard. (to become a mate and eventually a captain). A Kings Point Grad comes on board as a Third Mate IIRC.
My oldest son's at Kings Point now and just finished his year at sea. He literally sailed around the world, loves what he's doing, and I would strongly encourage high school students who have an interest in sailing to consider KP for college. You are correct - KP grads receive their Coast Guard licenses as either Third Mate or Third Assistant Engineer, depending on their major (son is an engineering major.) Despite nine cruises under his belt, he has no desire to be a cruise ship officer - although he's said he'll join us for a cruise as a passenger after he graduates next year.

 

I've never had a problem with the Italian officers on Carnival. American captains aren't infallible either - think Capt. Hazelwood on the Exxon Valdez.

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cruzn buckeye

cruzn buckeye

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:eek:We've seen how that one works out. (Isola del Giglio comes to mind):eek:

Seriously? Of all the captains on all the cruise ships and all the cruises done since Carnival and their sister lines have been using Italian captions... this is one time... by one person... making a very bad judgement call... based on things they have always done... sailbys... and you are going to compare all Italian captains to one that made a huge error... one that will eat at him for rest of his life? this was a terrible thing that happened... but you cannot blame every Italian captain for the mistake that one made....

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nybumpkin

nybumpkin

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In addition to the US Merchant Marine academy, there is also the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne, MA. Two great schools.
Plus SUNY Maritime (my son's second choice), Maine Maritime, Great Lakes, California Maritime, and Texas A&M in Galveston. The last one just inherited KP's training ship, the Kings Pointer. Son sailed with folks trained at a number of these schools.
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conchead

conchead

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No offence but I'd rather have a Dutch or British captain than an American.

 

Italian officers, not sure. We've had a few incidents on past Carnival cruises (man overboard, ship bumping real good into the pier, serious medical emergency etc.etc.), and all you heard was panic ridden crew announcements in Italian. Didn't really seem professional yelling alpha-alpha-alpha into the speakers all over the ship followed by tons of instructions in Italian and no English explanation whatsoever for at least 20 minutes, leaving the 99% English speaking passengers wonder what would happen to them....

 

Just a thought, but maybe they were just announcements for the crew and not

the passengers. I think the urgency would be in taking care of the emergency before

making announcements to all of the passengers.

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