Staff levels on a T/A

[dx052]

Do they tend to have the same amount of staff on a transatlantic cruises when going from say Florida to Europe for the season?

[gold1953]

still need to feed the people, entertain us and clean the cabins  and for a week straight none of us get out of their way by leaving the ship

[cruisestitch]

They often add a second Captains Club host and a second Michael’s club concierge on transAtlantic’s.

[cruiseerf]

First off just because a cruiseship can hold "X" amount of staff, does not mean the cruiseline fills to full compliment.  $$ is a major factor here.  Obviously cruise lines want to make more with less.  That said, recently there was a thread where people commented that they notice fewer staff on Celebrity cruises and longer wait times.  I find this interesting because I always assumed that Celebrity knows their ships, their ratings and how many staff they must have onboard?  For example....Extra kids club staff on holiday sailings and probably now that kids are sailing free.  For Transatlantics, they usually bring on 2 extra staff in the future cruise sales departments. 

 

One point I don't think people are taking into account with the "lack of staff" comments is that Celebrity has brought on Edge which needs almost 1300 staff + in rotation and threw all their best staff on it.  For the prices they are charging, and the $$ they have spent advertising (and not on food...ahem) they need a superlative product there....And while reviews of Edge are Good/Verygood/Meh, staff reviews are excellent.  So perhaps what people are experiencing is the influx of many new staff who are not yet up to performing their jobs efficiently? or are used to working on a ship? Not to mention a large amount of attrition in the cruise industry...Its a long time to be away from family year after year...How many new Hotel and Food and Beverage directors are there???  And competition is fierce between RCL and Carnival and, Norweigian and MSC...all bringing out 5+ ships in the coming years......Staffing is the cruise industries biggest problem.   Specific to Celebrity they are now training on Edge to move people over to Apex....and trying their hardest to not show it on the other ships....which is not working for your seasoned Celebrity sailors....IMHO

 

Our last transatlantic had 1800 Captains  club members, compared with 310 when we sailed from Australia recently.  Captains club members know their product, love their perks and are somewhat loyal to Celebrity.  Therefore there are a Huge amount of bookings made onboard those transatlantics.....I too am guilty of this.  Thus extra staff.....If it brings in $$ they will staff it.   The growth staffing....remains to be seen it appears...... 

 

Thats my practical two cents.  Safe Sails to all!  

[Palms2Pines2Sea]

We have found that the number of staff onboard Transatlantics can be quite variable. I think this is due to MANY employment contracts starting or ending at either end of those crossings.

 

[Gracie115]

Have been on 5 TA's …. never noticed a reduction in staff in any area.