Home Affairs Says All Foreign-Flagged Cruise Ships Must Employ Aussie Staff

[ilikeanswers]

4 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

I haven’t been on the pride of America but from talking to people it’s all of the above.

Waiting at the bar for 10 minutes while the server is doing a crossword.

Your cabin isn’t attended to.

Surly food service.

One person told me about the suite party where the American captain and his staff come in walked around the room and announced he wouldn’t be bothered and had better things to do.

Its the Union Labour.

 

I have heard complaints like that with every cruise line. Though do people really care about staff attending some party? For me that is a pretty petty complaint😕. Again the surly food service sounds like the typical American complaint of not enough smiling 😂. If service was so consistently terrible would it still be operating🤔? I can't help feeling some of these complaints are people just use to overly eager service and anything less of the you're my best friend act is already considered terrible😜. 

[Chiliburn]

2 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I have heard complaints like that with every cruise line. Though do people really care about staff attending some party? For me that is a pretty petty complaint😕. Again the surly food service sounds like the typical American complaint of not enough smiling 😂. If service was so consistently terrible would it still be operating🤔? I can't help feeling some of these complaints are people just use to overly eager service and anything less of the you're my best friend act is already considered terrible😜. 

There you go you have the answers.

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I have heard complaints like that with every cruise line. Though do people really care about staff attending some party? For me that is a pretty petty complaint😕. Again the surly food service sounds like the typical American complaint of not enough smiling 😂. If service was so consistently terrible would it still be operating🤔? I can't help feeling some of these complaints are people just use to overly eager service and anything less of the you're my best friend act is already considered terrible😜. 

On one cruise in Traditional Dining the assistant waiter would spend ages talking to one table near the window as people arrive in his section instead of handing out menus, taking orders for drinks, and serving water. Not just once but several times on that cruise.

 

On another cruise bar staff spent more time talking at the bar than taking orders or serving drinks. Not just once but almost every night.

 

On one cruise our cabin steward missed servicing our cabin in the morning about three times.

 

These are isolated cases and usually not worth worrying about however one of those incidents I mentioned was one of the factors in us deciding not to book another cruise with that line for a while.

[Chiliburn]

32 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

On one cruise in Traditional Dining the assistant waiter would spend ages talking to one table near the window as people arrive in his section instead of handing out menus, taking orders for drinks, and serving water. Not just once but several times on that cruise.

 

On another cruise bar staff spent more time talking at the bar than taking orders or serving drinks. Not just once but almost every night.

 

On one cruise our cabin steward missed servicing our cabin in the morning about three times.

 

These are isolated cases and usually not worth worrying about however one of those incidents I mentioned was one of the factors in us deciding not to book another cruise with that line for a while.

Did P&O have much Ozzie crew ?

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Did P&O have much Ozzie crew ?

I've never been on P&O so I wouldn't have a clue.

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

On one cruise in Traditional Dining the assistant waiter would spend ages talking to one table near the window as people arrive in his section instead of handing out menus, taking orders for drinks, and serving water. Not just once but several times on that cruise.

 

On another cruise bar staff spent more time talking at the bar than taking orders or serving drinks. Not just once but almost every night.

 

On one cruise our cabin steward missed servicing our cabin in the morning about three times.

 

These are isolated cases and usually not worth worrying about however one of those incidents I mentioned was one of the factors in us deciding not to book another cruise with that line for a while.

 

That's fair enough. I'm just a little sceptical of claims that one cruise ship has consistently bad service especially when the complaints are from Americans. If it is so bad why is it still in business? Cruising is a highly competitive industry, you would think something so badly run would be weeded out. My experience Americans have very different expectation of service compared to the rest of world so a vague complaint like surly food service makes me wonder if it something valid like your experiences or that they didn't display enough enthusiasm. 

Edited May 15, 2021 by ilikeanswers

[OzKiwiJJ]

Most of the time we've been very happy with the service onboard. But some lines are better than others. Princess has the most consistently good bar waiter service of the four mass market lines we've been on. 

 

But there have been some occasions where drinks delivery in Crooners on Princess has been unexpectedly slow despite plenty of waiters buzzing around. After some observation it appeared the bottleneck was at the bar - insufficient space or insufficient bartenders - not the waiter service.

[OzKiwiJJ]

20 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

That's fair enough. I'm just a little sceptical of claims that one cruise ship has consistently bad service especially when the complaints are from Americans. If it is so bad why is it still in business? Cruising is a highly competitive industry, you would think something so badly run would be weeded out. My experience Americans have very different expectation of service compared to the rest of world so a vague complaint like surly food service makes me wonder if it something valid like your experiences or that they didn't display enough enthusiasm. 

We did have one surly assistant waiter on one cruise. Even the main waiter was getting annoyed with him. But that was only 1 in 15 cruises. 

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

Did P&O have much Ozzie crew ?

I have seen only one Aussie crew member on P&O (Aust) ships. Zoltina J was an Aussie Cruise Director. She told us she had dual US citizenship and was hired as an American. I have never seen Aussie waiters and stewards on any ships.

 

I  heard there was an Aussie bar tender on a ship based in USA. Aussies employed overseas are supposed to declare their overseas-earned income to the ATO, but do they?

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

I have seen only one Aussie crew member on P&O (Aust) ships. Zoltina J was an Aussie Cruise Director. She told us she had dual US citizenship and was hired as an American. I have never seen Aussie waiters and stewards on any ships.

 

I  heard there was an Aussie bar tender on a ship based in USA. Aussies employed overseas are supposed to declare their overseas-earned income to the ATO, but do they?

Ok , I thought they might have a lot of Ozzie’s with the ships based here.

 

Ive heard a lot of bad reports about P&O Australia such as old ships bad food.

But everyone had glowing reports for the foreign crew,they said they made up for the down side.

[OzKiwiJJ]

There was an Aussie cruise director on Crystal Symphony. He was great.

 

But I don't think I've ever seen any Australian crew on any other ships, nor any Kiwis.

[Chiliburn]

2 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

That's fair enough. I'm just a little sceptical of claims that one cruise ship has consistently bad service especially when the complaints are from Americans. If it is so bad why is it still in business? Cruising is a highly competitive industry, you would think something so badly run would be weeded out. My experience Americans have very different expectation of service compared to the rest of world so a vague complaint like surly food service makes me wonder if it something valid like your experiences or that they didn't display enough enthusiasm. 

If you are referring to my claims about Pride of America.

The people I where talking to where Australian.

And Pride of America is a ship that has American crew that is Unionised.

I believe it sails around the Hawaiian islands and that’s why it has the Americans to satisfy immigration laws.

 

So I’m told.

Edited May 15, 2021 by Chiliburn

[Chiliburn]

5 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

There was an Aussie cruise director on Crystal Symphony. He was great.

 

But I don't think I've ever seen any Australian crew on any other ships, nor any Kiwis.

I’ve seen quite a few on Royal but in food and beverage,hotel .

 

[ilikeanswers]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We did have one surly assistant waiter on one cruise. Even the main waiter was getting annoyed with him. But that was only 1 in 15 cruises. 

 

I guess I don't know what surly means😳. Was the waiter rude? Didn't deliver the food. 

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

If you are referring to my claims about Pride of America.

The people I where talking to where Australian.

And Pride of America is a ship that has American crew that is Unionised.

I believe it sails around the Hawaiian islands and that’s why it has the Americans to satisfy immigration laws.

 

So I’m told.

 

Maybe I'm just more forgiving😂, though I'm curious about this union, I thought the service staff on ships had no union only the actual ship crew were unionised🤔. I think I even read that here on CC. 

[Chiliburn]

This thread is about ships having to have local crew in Australia.

Im just conveying the thoughts of 5 groups of Australian people who have been on a American crewed and flagged ship .They all said some of the crews dedication left some desire.

My comments are the contrast between a local union crew and a international crew.
 

Pride of America is a bit of a oddball.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_of_America

[Aus Traveller]

10 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

If you are referring to my claims about Pride of America.

The people I where talking to where Australian.

And Pride of America is a ship that has American crew that is Unionised.

I believe it sails around the Hawaiian islands and that’s why it has the Americans to satisfy immigration laws.

 

So I’m told.

The Pride of America is crewed by Americans because of the restrictions in the Passenger Vessel Services Act (sometimes incorrectly referred to as 'The Jones Act). For ships to operate between US domestic ports, they must be crewed by Americans. Foreign ships must go to an international port on every cruise. This is an historic Act of Congress to stop international ships from competing with American-owned and operated ships.

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I guess I don't know what surly means😳. Was the waiter rude? Didn't deliver the food. 

 

Grumpy, seemed to disappear a lot which is why the main waiter got annoyed. Food delivery was slower than usual because of that. He also seemed to think it was beneath him to have to take drink orders. He really was quite strange, not like the usual cheerful, helpful waiters we usually had. 

[onlyslightlymad]

17 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I have heard complaints like that with every cruise line. Though do people really care about staff attending some party? For me that is a pretty petty complaint😕. Again the surly food service sounds like the typical American complaint of not enough smiling 😂. If service was so consistently terrible would it still be operating🤔? I can't help feeling some of these complaints are people just use to overly eager service and anything less of the you're my best friend act is already considered terrible😜. 

Um, no.  I have no interest in surrounding myself with sycophants, but if I have made the effort to put on glad rags and go to a party while on my holiday, then I don't appreciate being treated with contempt.  I can get that at home and it's cheaper.

[ilikeanswers]

24 minutes ago, onlyslightlymad said:

Um, no.  I have no interest in surrounding myself with sycophants, but if I have made the effort to put on glad rags and go to a party while on my holiday, then I don't appreciate being treated with contempt.  I can get that at home and it's cheaper.

 

Fair enough. I have never been to a suite party so I don't really know what effort is involved. Then again he might have had a really bad day and just found the atmosphere of the party too jovial for his mood. Like I said I'm a little too forgiving, it is a force of habit I'm always thinking there could be a story behind everything🤗. 

Edited May 16, 2021 by ilikeanswers

[Chiliburn]

The captain on a cruise ship is just a manager really, not as if they steer the ship.

Keep company protocol in place, engaging with different departments and making a few appearances for the guests.

Ive been to a few suite parties and some are very engaging with the staff.

They seem to enjoy sharing their story with guests.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

More like the CEO of a company than just a manager, Chili. The day-to-day responsibility onboard lies with the Captain who reports to the Cruise Line management. 

 

Some Captains are brilliant at mixing with passengers - the Captain on the 35 night Sea Princess cruisecwe did almost always spent some time chatting to people in Crooners on sea day evenings, but rarely did the noon briefings. On other cruises we've had very interesting, and sometimes humorous noon briefings by the Captain but never saw anything of him. Then there was Captain Tazos on our last Celebrity Solstice cruise who kept the whole theatre in fits of laughter during his talk on how Solstice was built. And then there have been one or two cruises where the Captain was never seen or heard from. 

[Chiliburn]

28 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

More like the CEO of a company than just a manager, Chili. The day-to-day responsibility onboard lies with the Captain who reports to the Cruise Line management. 

 

Some Captains are brilliant at mixing with passengers - the Captain on the 35 night Sea Princess cruisecwe did almost always spent some time chatting to people in Crooners on sea day evenings, but rarely did the noon briefings. On other cruises we've had very interesting, and sometimes humorous noon briefings by the Captain but never saw anything of him. Then there was Captain Tazos on our last Celebrity Solstice cruise who kept the whole theatre in fits of laughter during his talk on how Solstice was built. And then there have been one or two cruises where the Captain was never seen or heard from. 

I would take a certain person to be the captain of a cruise ship.

Someone that enjoys the limelight ,represent the company ,management of different departments and there’s the legal side of it. You would have to be a expert in international ,Environmental and occupation law.
 

A lot of offices have said they have no desire to be a captain .
There career is navigation,engineering and that’s what they like.

[OzKiwiJJ]

21 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I would take a certain person to be the captain of a cruise ship.

Someone that enjoys the limelight ,represent the company ,management of different departments and there’s the legal side of it. You would have to be a expert in international ,Environmental and occupation law.
 

A lot of offices have said they have no desire to be a captain .
There career is navigation,engineering and that’s what they like.

Yes, it certainly would take the right person. Not all captains like the limelight though but usually manage to get through the formal occasions OK.

 

I guess it's like any career, some people aim for the top and do whatever extra training is needed, on the job or otherwise, others prefer to stay with their speciality. 

[mr walker]

19 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Most of the time we've been very happy with the service onboard. But some lines are better than others. Princess has the most consistently good bar waiter service of the four mass market lines we've been on. 

 

But there have been some occasions where drinks delivery in Crooners on Princess has been unexpectedly slow despite plenty of waiters buzzing around. After some observation it appeared the bottleneck was at the bar - insufficient space or insufficient bartenders - not the waiter service.

In my experience on Royal, mostly in the Schooner Bar, the roving waiters not only take the orders, but also make the drinks, so the waiters at the bar have no impact on table service. There is another bar in behind the regular bar, where the waiter will prepare your drinks. I often get a laugh seeing people lined up at "The Bar" trying to get a drink faster, when we are sitting comfortably and our drinks arrive. More than once we have witnessed people coming back to their table & looking over at ours - I'm sure they're thinking 'how did the do that' 🙂  

Writing this now reminds me how much I miss that schooner bar 😟

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

In my experience on Royal, mostly in the Schooner Bar, the roving waiters not only take the orders, but also make the drinks, so the waiters at the bar have no impact on table service. There is another bar in behind the regular bar, where the waiter will prepare your drinks. I often get a laugh seeing people lined up at "The Bar" trying to get a drink faster, when we are sitting comfortably and our drinks arrive. More than once we have witnessed people coming back to their table & looking over at ours - I'm sure they're thinking 'how did the do that' 🙂  

Writing this now reminds me how much I miss that schooner bar 😟

When we went on Rhapsody of the Seas the only way to get a drink in the main bar (can't remember what it was called but it was where the band played most nights) was to go up to the bar. I think we managed to get table service twice in a nine night cruise, and each time we had to wait a very long time between ordering and getting our drinks, It was far quicker to go up to the bar. That was in 2015, maybe they've improved their bar service since then.