Crew assignments

[vicd1969]

Just curious if anyone knows whether there is a general system on how HAL assigns hotel-related staff (ie. cabin stewards, dining room stewards, cooks, etc.). I understand they are on limited duration contracts of 9 months or less, but do the more experienced crew get their choice of ships? Or is it more like assignment by whatever openings are identified by HQ? I'm asking because I've been reading some of the postings here complaining about crew service on the Koningsdam and Nieuw Amsterdam. As the 2 newest and largest ships in the fleet, one would think that they get some priority in crew staffing (asides from the long-voyage ships like Prinsedam and Amsterdam).

[OlsSalt]

We recently had excellent service on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Not sure what "service problems" were identified. - general or specific. We had some major problems with the HAL transfer service and the FLL check-in personnel, but not on the ship itself. In fact the Front Desk people immediately undid the problems the FLL embarkation staff created. With a smile and no problems.

[rkacruiser]

For what my information is worth, I have asked the same question of lounge/MDR/Lido Stewards and was told that they have no choice of ships. If they have chosen to return with a new contract, some of the time they will know where they will probably be assigned before their current contract ends.

 

From my experience on the 2008 world cruise, there is a myth as to having well-experienced crew assigned to such a voyage. My Cabin Steward was on only his second contract with HAL (his first contract was on Prinsendam). His service was suspect from the day of embarkation with a Housekeeping Supervisor frequently in our corridor. He ended up trying to "jump ship" in Singapore due to family issues, was caught by Security trying to leave the ship with his suitcase, and then fired. He was replaced by a Cabin Steward who had been working in the Officers cabins. His service was satisfactory, but nothing special.

[Copper10-8]

Just curious if anyone knows whether there is a general system on how HAL assigns hotel-related staff (ie. cabin stewards, dining room stewards, cooks, etc.). I understand they are on limited duration contracts of 9 months or less, but do the more experienced crew get their choice of ships? Or is it more like assignment by whatever openings are identified by HQ? I'm asking because I've been reading some of the postings here complaining about crew service on the Koningsdam and Nieuw Amsterdam. As the 2 newest and largest ships in the fleet, one would think that they get some priority in crew staffing (asides from the long-voyage ships like Prinsendam and Amsterdam).

 

The way it generally works; for the two largest employee groups onboard, the Indonesians and Filipinos, the general system is that openings/vacancies on the ships are filled by either experienced crew getting offered repeat contracts upon conclusion of their well-earned vacations at home, and/or by brand new crew getting offered entry-level contracts upon graduating from their basic schools

For the Indonesians, that means the graduates from the ss Nieuw Jakarta basic school, and for the Filipinos the graduates from the HAL training center in Antipolo City, Rizal province.

Those employee groups (Housekeeping and Food Service for the Indonesians and Beverage, Food Preparation and Front Office for the Filipinos) generally work nine or ten-month contracts onboard.

When a new ship is being build, as is the case with Nieuw Statendam, K-dam's sister, at Margera, Italy at the moment, senior staff will eventually move out there and each Dept head will be supplied with/start selecting their staff. Some will "pick and choose" certain staff they will have worked with before, already knowing their capabilities, and others will be assigned to the new ship by HR/Planning. Although there will be many experienced staff assigned, not all will be. There will be some "new hires" assigned to certain departments.

For officers, and those with officer status incl. concessionaires i.e. spa/casino/photo/art/shoppies) (all will be from many different nations, up to 35 different countries) their contracts will be of various lengths ranging from three-four months to nine months (Steiners for instance). With these groups you'll also see a lot of entry level lateral transfers from other cruise lines and/or land-based hotels coming in

[lazey1]

Thank you Copper 10-8. That was very interesting. I thought that I remembered a lot of well experienced crew on the Eurodam in Aug. of 08.

 

Now what about yourself. Do you pick and choose your assignments as an overly qualified, experienced security?

 

I have followed you on cruise critic since I joined and would love to meet you in person.

[Copper10-8]

Thank you Copper 10-8. That was very interesting. I thought that I remembered a lot of well experienced crew on the Eurodam in Aug. of 08.

 

Now what about yourself. Do you pick and choose your assignments as an overly qualified, experienced security?

 

I have followed you on cruise critic since I joined and would love to meet you in person.

 

We currently work a 4 mo on/2 mo off, or somewhat modified, sched. I get my ship if I'm nice to my boss ;)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Because of staffing problems on a few of our cruises, we have had staff stay on for over a year!! Some of them wanted the extra money as they were counting on leaving HAL as soon as possible to start new lives where they lived.

[chengkp75]

I've had engineering crew who did 3 consecutive 10 month contracts.

[rkacruiser]

Copper 10-8.

 

As a follow up to my post and your response to another poster, for the employee groups that you listed who were not Officer-level positions, have I been told correctly that those employees do not have a choice of which ship the individual is assigned?

[Copper10-8]

Copper 10-8.

 

As a follow up to my post and your response to another poster, for the employee groups that you listed who were not Officer-level positions, have I been told correctly that those employees do not have a choice of which ship the individual is assigned?

 

They can put in for a ship, but they go where they are needed/where the vacancies need to be filled

[rkacruiser]

They can put in for a ship, but they go where they are needed/where the vacancies need to be filled

 

Thank you. I appreciate it very much. Your post does confirm what I have been told by crew members.