I wonder how all the waiters/stewards and other crew are managing at home?

[PrincessPete]

I was thinking today about all the crew from Goa, the Philippines and other areas who have had no work with P&O and other lines for many months and how they are coping.

Obviously they work the nine month contracts etc away from home because they  can earn so much more than jobs at home. 

There are so many wonderful waiters and cabin stewards that we  have met over the years and I just hope they and their families are managing to get by until cruising restarts.

Anyone any thoughts on what they might be doing? 

Edited July 23, 2020 by PrincessPete
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[mercury7289]

First cruise on Aurura, 2016, table waiters were Alex and Advent.

We had been put on a table for 4 in the MDR, second sitting on the raised platform.

The other 2 guests never appeared, though out the 17 night cruise.

Alex and Advent were very concerned that we were dining alone, so spent a lot of time with us.

Gave me a chance to explain to Advent where the different cheeses came from, in the UK.

Stilton Cheddar etc, I ask him if he liked cheese to which he replied yes Sir, very much.

I asked him what cheese he liked: he said, Laughing Cow, Sir!

I also asked him, how he got his name, Advent! He said, I was born in December, Sir

We still laugh about all this, we have met both, on other cruises, and they have welcomed us as long lost family.

There are many of the staff that we think about, in this sad time, and fear that there hopes and ambitions have been severally curtailed.

[Britboys]

It must be very tough for them all. I believe P&O - and most cruise lines - committed to paying some sort of wage in the early stages of the crisis but I dare say that might have finished by now and doubtful if there would be a lot of help available from their governments. In terms of Goa, it looks like their numbers have been at the lower end of the scale in India - just over 4000 cases and 28 deaths. Bad enough but small compared to Delhi and Mumbai for instance.

[Selbourne]

I regularly think about the half a dozen or so staff who know us by name the minute that we see them for the first time on any ship and go out of their way to make the cruise special for us. We know all about their families and the sacrifices that they have made in order to better their lives, such as being away for 9 months at a time, even when they have recently had children.
 

Like Andrew, I very much suspect that any financial support from P&O has ended and they certainly won’t have a fraction of the support that millions of people in this country have received. In a way, I hope that many of them have found alternative careers that can provide them with the standard of living that they aspire to, without the sacrifices and uncertainties of the cruise industry, but that of course means that we may never see them again. 

[ThomasBarrow]

We also think about this.from time to time and hope they are okay. we will never know about all the staff weve come across but hope when cruising eventually restarts, we will meet some of them again. 

[Hols4]

Hols4

We have had some lovely staff on Aurora our favourite ship, the last cruise we had last October several members of staff remembered our names which is amazing when you think how many people they meet. Was even given hugs by some, hope they are all well and we see them again sometime.

[po go]

maybe training to become bridge officers 

[Britboys]

Terrible news coming out of India. They have recorded 50,000+ cases of Covid-19 on each of the last three days. Worst hit area is the state that is home to Mumbai but other places seeing rapid increases too. Thoughts are with all the Indian staff of P&O.

[Dermotsgirl]

16 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Terrible news coming out of India. They have recorded 50,000+ cases of Covid-19 on each of the last three days. Worst hit area is the state that is home to Mumbai but other places seeing rapid increases too. Thoughts are with all the Indian staff of P&O.

As the U.K. is currently in a dip in the outbreak, it can be easy to forget that the virus is still surging in other parts of the world. 
 

Really grim news from India. 😔

[Selbourne]

4 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

As the U.K. is currently in a dip in the outbreak, it can be easy to forget that the virus is still surging in other parts of the world. 
 

Really grim news from India. 😔

I think we were in a dip, but that’s no longer the case. In England we were up to only 1 in over 2,000 people carrying the virus, but that’s now done to 1 in 1,500 which indicates that the R rate may be over 1 and the virus is spreading rather than contracting. 
 

As for India, I am staggered that it has taken so long to get to that scale, given their density of population and living standards. As you say, it doesn’t bode well. 

[Dermotsgirl]

22 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I think we were in a dip, but that’s no longer the case. In England we were up to only 1 in over 2,000 people carrying the virus, but that’s now done to 1 in 1,500 which indicates that the R rate may be over 1 and the virus is spreading rather than contracting. 
 

As for India, I am staggered that it has taken so long to get to that scale, given their density of population and living standards. As you say, it doesn’t bode well. 

I had noticed the uptick in new infections on the graph, just hoping we can keep a lid on it for the summer, at least.

 

We never seem to get much information about the R. Back in May it was ‘sold’ as being very important, yet there doesn’t seem to be much readily available information about it. 

[Adawn47]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

Terrible news coming out of India. They have recorded 50,000+ cases of Covid-19 on each of the last three days. Worst hit area is the state that is home to Mumbai but other places seeing rapid increases too. Thoughts are with all the Indian staff of P&O.

Upsetting news. India is such a heavily populated country with many large families living in crowded communities. Since reading your post I've been thinking about the many crew members we've come to know over the years of cruising, some more than once over different cruises. It's a sobering thought. I do so hope that they and their families stay safe and well.

Avril