Captain of the Ship?

[SmitteeB11]

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:

 

There isn't solid proof that Columbus was Italian. His loyalties were to the Spanish and there is corroborating evidence that suggests he was born in Portugal or Spain. The truth is not clear.

 

Bottom line is that cruise ship Captains are competent, regardless of the nationality.

[golfadj]

As long as they can all speak the same language and can communicate to us in clear English as necessary do not really care about their nationality.

[Banditswife]

As long as they can all speak the same language and can communicate to us in clear English as necessary do not really care about their nationality.

Ditto, I do not care what nationality the captain is, as long as he/she is competant to sail the ship and react accordingly in an emergency situation. We should not judge all Italians by the actions of one. The same goes for all nationalities.

[Big Tillie]

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:

 

I don't see any posts questioning the captain's competency based on nationality. Where exactly did you draw this ridiculous conclusion? The OP just asked a simple, innocent question "Why are there no American cruise ship Captains?" How you spin it into questioning competency of other nationalities is beyond my understanding. PCers running amok.

[5waldos]

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....

 

Agree completely. That really was rather uncalled for. Wonder if you all remember the Valdez- a drunken American captain. Wouldn't put me off from an American captain either. This in response to the folowing exchange:

 

 

Post: The Italians are very cmpetent at sea and have been at it many centuries.

 

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

[5waldos]

I don't see any posts questioning the captain's competency based on nationality. Where exactly did you draw this ridiculous conclusion? The OP just asked a simple, innocent question "Why are there no American cruise ship Captains?" How you spin it into questioning competency of other nationalities is beyond my understanding. PCers running amok.

 

See my response above quoting a rather direct questioning based on nationality.

[vacruizer]

I don't see any posts questioning the captain's competency based on nationality. Where exactly did you draw this ridiculous conclusion? The OP just asked a simple, innocent question "Why are there no American cruise ship Captains?" How you spin it into questioning competency of other nationalities is beyond my understanding. PCers running amok.

 

The original question was "wouldn't you want to hire someone trained by the U.S. Navy?" which to me implied they felt a U.S. captain would be better.

[nybumpkin]

Wonder if you all remember the Valdez- a drunken American captain. Wouldn't put me off from an American captain either.

Just FYI, Capt. Hazelwood was acquitted of felony charges relating to Exxon Valdez - his only conviction related to negligent discharge of oil.

[jonbgd]

A retired USN Captain takes home between $5,000-9,000 a month.

[Cactuscruise]

Hello,

 

How come the captain of the ship is never an American? Is it because of where the ship register? Wouldn't you want to hire someone that is train by the US Navy?

 

Thank you,

 

Tibbie

 

My only concern is that the captain and crew are well trained. Their nationality does not matter one bit. Ship captains trained by the US Navy...I don't think so. The notion that everything American is best is a bit outdated.

[tntornadox]

The original question was "wouldn't you want to hire someone trained by the U.S. Navy?" which to me implied they felt a U.S. captain would be better.

I took it as more like 'why wouldn't they wanna hire a former commander from the USN. Interpretation is different for each person.

[kparc]

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.

 

 

Yep, that's what I was going to add. :)

[spacepotatoes]

I don't see any posts questioning the captain's competency based on nationality. Where exactly did you draw this ridiculous conclusion? The OP just asked a simple, innocent question "Why are there no American cruise ship Captains?" How you spin it into questioning competency of other nationalities is beyond my understanding. PCers running amok.

 

For me, it was this part:

 

Hello,

 

How come the captain of the ship is never an American? Is it because of where the ship register? Wouldn't you want to hire someone that is train by the US Navy?

 

Thank you,

 

Tibbie

 

My initial (admittedly knee-jerk) interpretation was that OP was suggesting US trained captains are superior. Reading it again, it seems like the OP was wondering why cruise lines don't hire American captains when their training should be just as good as those from anywhere else. OP probably didn't intend it as an insulting thing, but it did come across that way at first.

 

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.

 

Maybe I should have said that they "tend to be" Dutch on HAL :) I've read that it is their tradition, but I'm sure there are exceptions everywhere.

[topofE]

Wow...talk about jumping to conclusions on the way to jumping on someone...

 

Since OP hasn't returned to explain that they DID mean that all other nationalities are inferior I can't tell why half the posters here think that was the intent...

 

I took it in a totally different light...I also have wondered if it was a coincidence or if Carnival has some kind of training facility in Italy or something. Considering that we DO have Americans that are trained to sail/cruise/etc in the USN, why wouldn't these ships out of America and around the Americas have an American captain? Isreal has the best pilots* but we're still flying with American pilots for the most part...this doesn't make me racist (I hope!..I'm half Italian!) but it's merely a question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*full disclosure* before anyone googles and calls me out on my faulty statistic:)...they have the best fighter pilots in the world. Not necisarily commercial airline pilots:)

[CRUISING71]

I am sorry, I am not questioning the competence of the Captain or being racist. We saw the Oasis Special on National Geography and we cruised with RCCL and Carnival and noticed all the Captains are not from the US. One of our children ask why? And we don't know the answer, so I told them I will post it on cruise critic to find out.

 

Sorry if it offended anyone.

 

Thanks,

Tibbie

[topofE]

Cruising71,

Don't worry about it. I have yet to find a post on this whole site where SOMEONE doesn't take offense to something that someone says. I can't even read a review without noticing that people will pick apart one thing someone says. I thought it was a good question and I learned a little bit in the process:)

[CRUISING71]

I need to be more careful when I phrase my question. It wasn't meant to insult or racist comments. It was more of curiosity of why? Is it because most of the ship is not register in the US? or is because the Navy won't allowed it?

 

We know how much a Captain could earn, so it wasn't monetary concern.

 

It was more of educating question...sorry again if I offend anyone.

[5waldos]

Just FYI, Capt. Hazelwood was acquitted of felony charges relating to Exxon Valdez - his only conviction related to negligent discharge of oil.

 

My apologies to Capt. Hazelwood in that case- I forgot the followup of this story.

[NotlocTRD]

I really don't think the OP meant any malice whatsoever toward other nationalities, they were just curious... then the P-C Police jumped all over them.

 

I don't see any posts questioning the captain's competency based on nationality. Where exactly did you draw this ridiculous conclusion? The OP just asked a simple, innocent question "Why are there no American cruise ship Captains?" How you spin it into questioning competency of other nationalities is beyond my understanding. PCers running amok.

My thoughts exactly.

 

I was curious of this as well, a US Naval Commander/Captain would be a great fit for a cruise ship captain. The level of discipline and decision making capability of a military-trained naval officer is second to none. You can't find that elsewhere.

[ElvisAndretti]

My apologies to Capt. Hazelwood in that case- I forgot the followup of this story.

 

Not guilty is not the same as innocent.

[mclinns04]

On the lighter side (and a bit off topic) we once sailed with a Captain Marghurita. Not exactly sure of the spelling,but it did sound like many people's favorite libation. He did a great job and also gave us a chuckle.

[jonbgd]

I need to be more careful when I phrase my question. It wasn't meant to insult or racist comments. It was more of curiosity of why? Is it because most of the ship is not register in the US? or is because the Navy won't allowed it?

 

We know how much a Captain could earn, so it wasn't monetary concern.

 

It was more of educating question...sorry again if I offend anyone.

 

You can tell your kids that most Officers in the Navy commit there whole lives to protect this great country from all the bad so they can go on cruise in safety.

 

If that doesnt work

 

 

An Officer has to go thru 4 years @ Annapolis and graduate to get the opportunity to serve In the USN. After graduation he has to serve another 5-8 years of duty. The Navy has something called Critical skills retention program (2009 $50,000 bonus for engineers for 5 more years) They tend to use things like that to retain the good ones. So If they accept that. They are @ 14yrs. By that time they have most Officers that you want in a captains role have decided to make a career out of the military and those on active duty actually enjoy it and earn a decent wage.

 

So the short Is they have made a decison to serve their country

 

I do know of @ least one retired 06/Captain on CC so he might chime in

BTW my GF is Captain USN-RET

[golfadj]

I need to be more careful when I phrase my question. It wasn't meant to insult or racist comments. It was more of curiosity of why? Is it because most of the ship is not register in the US? or is because the Navy won't allowed it?

 

We know how much a Captain could earn, so it wasn't monetary concern.

 

It was more of educating question...sorry again if I offend anyone.

 

I understood you. Sometimes the capt does not have a good command of English.

 

Have noticed that the RCCL while from Norway have an excellent command and love to talk to the passengers.

[notme1955]

I believe the poster was responding to the originals OP's question ... about nationalities.:rolleyes:;)

 

Thank you. That's exactly what I was responding to. Wanted to clarify, but can't figure out how to edit my post.