GreeK Officer Rumor on X

[JDGGG]

On a recent Celebrity Cruise, a staffer began to tell me about how at the end of the year, X will no longer have Greek Officers. This is partly due do the contract that states that crew must be Greek will expire. The staffer also went into more detail about how the officers were caught embezzling money from the line. Is their any truth to this at all?!?!?!?!?

[tuggers]

I'm sure you can't generalize about Grrek Officers embezzling! But I do know that several Hotel Directors have been replaced in the last 6 months. The party line is that they are looking for people with Marketing and Sales backgrounds and not hotel management experience. Huh? Doesn't seem to bode well for us pax. I know one new HD (and I've been told, others) is not Greek. (And I've been told one new one is not very good. Could be he doesn't know anything about hotel management?)

 

This is the only knowledge I have about Greek Officers being replaced,

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

I hope that this rumor does not turn out to be true. I say this because to me at least the Greeks understand good food, excellent service, and a very Mediterrean/ European appreciation for life, which they call ompaa!

 

Further, Greek officers are also polite and fun to talk to. As world travelers they know the places to go and see and so on.

 

Surely there are nice very competent persons from other countries but to me, a major part of Celebrity's success is due to their Greek officers.

[Blazerboy]

I wouldn't put too much stock in this rumor. :(

 

All it takes is one Greek officer being replaced by one non-Greek officer after this supposed ending of the requirement to hire Greeks only. That gets people to speculate about all sorts of things. While I love Greece, and have enjoyed meeting the officers I've met, I want Celebrity to hire the best person for the job (and yes, part of the qualification for the job of Captain is ability to be hospitable, in the Greek tradition!)

 

The rest of the rumor certainly shouldn't impune the reputation of Greek officers, and seems a little far-fetched. If EVERY officer were embezzling, it'd certainly be more than a rumor by now.

 

Andrew

[cruising with marti]

Pretty far feched, IMHO

 

Phil

[ocngypz]

Yes, true. They did have an agreement with the Greek shipping union.

Also true, they were looking to replace Greek officers with officers from other countries who are not paid as highly as the Greeks. Officers' pay is based upon their country of origin.

 

Don't know anything about embezzled money.

 

Many hotel directors are recruited not because of their hospitality skills, but for their accounting skills!! which in some ways in more important (in the eyes of the cruiselines).

 

I can count on one hand the Hotel Managers I have met on Celebrity over the course of 15 years who have had both skills.

 

Once upon a time, the Executive Purser of the ship... was the host with the most. The former EP of the SS United States was such a "man about the sea" he was frequently written up in the society columns in New York (all positive by the way).

 

BTW.. I'm the daughter of a former Chief Purser (pre WWII)... and retired Navy 06 controller! Yeah. good old Dad was one who had the hospitality skills.. and the accounting skills. But the Neutrality Act and WWII got in the way.

[cruiseyguy]

Celebrity without Greek Officers won't be Celebrity. Might as well take the "X" down too.

[denalichic]

We were on the December 4th sailing of Infinity out of San Diego. We had the honor of dining one night at the Captain's Table with the ship's new Hotel Director, who's name is escaping me, but I think her first name was Ninna. She was from Finland and was extremely intelligent and friendly...

[Luv4dacruise]

I don't know about everyone else on the boars but whenever i embark on a Celebrity ship i think of the Oceanos which was abandoned by it's all Greek Officers back in 1991. All the passengers were rescued because of the Cruise Director, but they were left to die on a sinking ship. So i myself would be glad to have Officers from a mix of countries and not just Greece :eek:.....Ok start the roasting everyone, i know its going to happen......

[C 2 C]

I have met good and bad officers of every nationality on my cruises with HAL, X, Princess, RCCL. Skill and competence have no nationality.

 

It might change the character somewhat but the rumors are all Greek to me.

 

Is this another outsourcing experiment from head office in Florida?

[tuggers]

Mentioning Oceanos got me looking. There are some really cool pictures of her (underwater) at oceanosdive.com If you are curious, go have a look.

 

I, too, like the Greek Officers but I think we will be seeing at least more of the Hotel Directors coming from other countries. Three non Greeks that I know of have been hired in the last 6 months. My concern is that they are no longer requiring hotel experience to be a HD! Marketing and Sales is now the preference. I don't think that bodes well for our care and comfort as pax.

 

I know nothing of the 'contract being up' and I suspect that is a rumour made to fit the situation that more non Greeks are being hired.

[Luv4dacruise]

Tuggers: I just checked out that site, pretty cool stuff, thx for the link!:)

[Bollinge]

This is true. When the Chandris (Greek) family sold out to RCCL, part of the deal was that the ship's officers would all remain Greek.

 

Many were on board as much through family connections back home in Piraeus as merit.

 

I was told that that deal expired about a year ago, and now we are starting to see officers of other nationalities.

 

It can only be an improvement. I have been on many Celebrity cruises and I found the Greek officers, with a few exceptions, to be aloof and have little contact with their passengers.

 

British, Scandinavian and Italian officers on other lines are just the opposite, very affable and outgoing.

[C 2 C]

It can only be an improvement. I have been on many Celebrity cruises and I found the Greek officers, with a few exceptions, to be aloof and have little contact with their passengers.

 

Have to agree here. Our Century experience was an exception though. We found the officers there this past May wonderful. The Captain also had a good command of English which made announcements understandable and conversations pleasant.

[kelmac]

Last March we ate at the Captain's table (Mercury) with the first officer. He was from Malta. Young, college educated in England, and a nice guy.

Somewhat related to this: At the Captain's table on HAL's Veendam, the first officer indicated that Holland America can't find enough dutch officers and would start hiring officers from other countries.

 

This seems like a natural evolution of the business.

 

Kel