Is it the crew's job to be "Happy"???

[PhoenixDawgCruising]

Wow, refreshing to hear that its not just the US crew on POA that are complaining to the guests.

 

As a poster said, if they can't separate personal life from professional life, they need to get a different job. That's easy for someone who has not walked in their shoes to say. Do you live where you work? Can you only intermingle with your fellow employees after hours? Do you go away from home for 10 months at a time? I had some crew who stayed onboard for 3 contracts (30 months straight) in order to make enough money to go home for a few months. Crew life is difficult, everyone has bad days. How many family birthdays, weddings, funerals, or just holidays have you missed over the years?

 

I know at NCL, that the crew is told NOT to become too chatty with the guests. If asked a question, even a personal one, answer it, but don't ask personal questions back, and don't get into long conversations. It shows the innate friendliness of much of the crew that they disregard these instructions and become "friendly" with the guests.

 

The crew are from many different cultures and ethnicities. These cultures handle difficulties in different ways, and no amount of cruise ship training will override this.

 

Admittedly, it is bad form to complain about personal problems and wages, and working conditions to the guests, but I believe these are in the minority, and will normally be weeded out by their supervisors hearing about these incidents.

 

No, the crew's job is not to "be happy" (unless they are Jamaican :D). Remember, if it were easy, it wouldn't be called "work", and if it was fun, the crew would have to pay to do it. As Tapi said: Courteous, polite, professional, and approachable. To that I would add; helpful.

 

The cruise director's staff is paid to be happy.

 

HA! I used to be married to a Jamaican, they can be quite miserable when they want to be....:D:eek:

[marshalltp]

Yes, they need to portray that they are happy, regardless of how their day is going. They are in the service industry, and their goal should be and usually is to ensure that you will be a returning patron. If they are in a position which makes them unhappy then they should find a new line of work.....yes, yes, yes, I know that they work countless hours, deal with some real jackwagons, and are often unappreciated but it comes with the territory.

[Andoria]

If pax have this attitude, what should they expect from the crew? If we expect hospitality workers to be pleasant, we should hold the same standards for ourselves. It's common courtesy.

 

 

If you're going to quote me please quote the whole thing. I'm rude IF a worker I don't even know tries to use me as their therapist while I'm on vacation. I have my own problems I'm trying to forget.

 

If I dumped my problems on them while they were on vacation, I'm sure they'd feel exactly the same way.

[crusinpsychRN]

If you're going to quote me please quote the whole thing. I'm rude IF a worker I don't even know tries to use me as their therapist while I'm on vacation. I have my own problems I'm trying to forget.

 

If I dumped my problems on them while they were on vacation, I'm sure they'd feel exactly the same way.

 

I was just going to post the quote was taken out of context. I understood your post perfectly.

[crusinpsychRN]

I think it's more of the feeling you instinctively get from crew, officers etc. Some exude an aura about themselves making you feel they don't want you to ask anything, leave them alone while others are outgoing and welcoming.

 

I find the officers the most stand offish. I can only imagine why they feel they'd rather not be at the Captain's reception--'these dumb jerks are going to ask stupid questions one more time'. They don't work for tips and don't need to stand out to help their pay check.

 

Many others treat you so much better hoping to gain recognition, sometimes in a tip, sometimes in just keeping their job.

[buddylover]

When one works in a service industry with exposure to paying clients, then it is my belief that they should possess a personable, friendly demeanor. Is it "happy" vs. pleasant and /or friendly? I don't expect anyone to be overly zealous and giggly/laughing etc, but I do believe that total attitude/demeanor can "make or break" someone's vacation experience. I further believe that all of the cruise line's training insists upon these attributes amongst their employees with exposure to passengers.

[Tutontow]

If you're going to quote me please quote the whole thing. I'm rude IF a worker I don't even know tries to use me as their therapist while I'm on vacation. I have my own problems I'm trying to forget.

 

If I dumped my problems on them while they were on vacation, I'm sure they'd feel exactly the same way.

 

Exactly, I just spent hundreds, if not thousands to escape the day to day BS that we all encounter. I sure as heck don't want to act as your therapist while on vacation. Many here will flame me but the sad fact of life is don't come looking for sympathy from me when I am spending money trying to have a good time. Many times during my work career I was told shut up and be thankful you have a job. I worked 80 hours a week the first ten years of my career trying to get ahead. My wife worked 50 hours a week and went to school at night to get her degree. It took ten years but she finally got that accounting degree.

 

If I am sitting around with friends and family and they complain about their job or their boss I ask them what are they doing about it, do you have a long term plan? I genuinely try to offer them advice.

 

When I am at someone's place of employment and I hear them complain about their job or their boss it just strikes me as somebody who needs to learn to shut up before they get fired. When I am at your place of employment I don't want to hear your problems. You are not my friend. I am here trying to spend my hard earned money trying to have an enjoyable experience. The same goes for fellow passengers, unless I ask I don't want to hear your problems. I am on vacation trying to forget problems.

 

As you can tell acting as a therapist is a pet peeve of mine and as far as the workers go if you think complaining about your boss or job is going to make me tip more you are way off base. Give me stellar service I and will give you a tip that will make your jaw drop.

[Tutontow]

We had a cabin steward like that once. He kept on cornering my wife and whining about the tipping system. She got mad at me because once I just walked away from the conversation and once I guess I had this pretty obvious smirk on through the whole thing. She said I was being rude. The worst part is he did a great job on the cabin. We had prepaid grats so we just didn't tip any extra. If he did a crap job, I think we would have reported him.

 

I hope you locked up your toothbrush when you left your cabin :>)

[PhoenixDawgCruising]

I have never, ever had any crew memeber try to complain to me about their problems, that just seems weird.

 

I have had a few express that they miss their son/brother/grandson, and that my DS reminds them of their own child, so they liked to play with him, but that was fine by me.:D

[SeagoingMom]

If you're going to quote me please quote the whole thing. I'm rude IF a worker I don't even know tries to use me as their therapist while I'm on vacation. I have my own problems I'm trying to forget.

 

If I dumped my problems on them while they were on vacation, I'm sure they'd feel exactly the same way.

I am sorry -- I did not mean to be offensive. I would have drawn the same conclusion even if I had quoted the entire post (which is, of course, easily accessible from my post). I felt a double standard was being expressed -- it's OK for pax to be rude, just not crew. If that is not what you were saying, then I apologize. I am not one to feel that circumstances/provocations determine whether one is allowed to be rude or not. I reacted to the "I really don't care" more than to the rudeness itself.

[GalvestonBear]

Cruising is a service industry with high customer interaction. When in that type of industry, part of your job is to have a pleasant demeanor, make sure your guests are happy and that their expectations are exceeded.

 

I have moved employees from a high customer service area to a back office area not because they weren't good (some of them were very good at their actual tasks) but because they were not good with interacting with customers (especially since customers are sometimes demanding or insensitive).

 

So, is it their job to be happy? No. It's their job to make the customer feel good and happy...which almost always requires a pleasant attitude.

[PhoenixDawgCruising]

 

Here's an example of what I mean. A friend on FB just posted this video from somewhere at Disneyworld. He might be a great musician, but he kinda looks miserable. He works for Disney, should be have a fake smile pasted on, or is this ok??

Edited April 25, 2014 by PhoenixDawgCruising