Cruise Lines Staffing Issues

[Cruising89143]

A lot of comments about crew shortages. Article from Seatrader. 
 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/people-opinions/cruise-lines-pushed-their-limits-staffing-recruiting

[Oceansaway17]

yes SOS had it week of May 8th which is why Solarium bistro not open for breakfast.

[Markanddonna]

The Anthem seemed to be fully staffed. I was on an Msc cruise in March that was woefully understaffed. 

[broadwaybaby123]

29 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

The Anthem seemed to be fully staffed. I was on an Msc cruise in March that was woefully understaffed. 

I just got off Anthem, they weren't fully staffed.

[LXA350]

It's a common issue currently in the hospitality industry. I guess for the cruiselines it's a cobination of  COVID cases, COVID protocols that make the process of getting crew member back lenghty and also former staff that decided not to come back as they have used COVID to work in different sectors. This is actually the main issue in the Hospitality sector currently, finding staff.

[Sunshine3601]

when I was on Anthem end of march there were several crew that said their contracts were ending soon and they weren't sure they were coming back.    I wonder if they are throwing in any type of incentives for crew to return with new contracts.   

[Cruising89143]

14 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

when I was on Anthem end of march there were several crew that said their contracts were ending soon and they weren't sure they were coming back.    I wonder if they are throwing in any type of incentives for crew to return with new contracts.   

Last week on the NV after we boarded the ship I saw that we had the same steward from early March. I was surprised to see him. He was supposed to have been on vacation. His contract had been extended three times. He was supposed to go home yesterday but he wasn’t sure it would happen. Heard this same story over and over from different departments. They’re short on crew in all areas. We had an issue with room service on our sea day. Could not get through for over an hour for breakfast. No luck. Tried again at lunch, got through to place order and it took one hour and forty-five minutes to be delivered. The excuse was a broken pipe in the kitchen. I found out later it was due to a crew shortage. 
 

One of our bartenders told us that there is several issues with getting more crew. The first is some crew got a vaccine that’s not recognized by RCI as valid, health paperwork, former crew who have decided not to return and the biggest issue was getting their visas/paperwork in a timely manner. Seems that needed appointments cannot be obtained. It’s a mess for sure.
 

The cruise lines are currently in between a rock and a hard place. We all just need to pack our patience. Hopefully guests will understand that service issues more than likely is not the problem of the crew members and not take it out on them. Also, new crew still learning. Things will hopefully get better but it’s going to take time and it’s definitely not just an RCG issue. It’s industry wide. 🙂

[twangster]

It's an issue beyond cruise ships.  Plenty of industries having issues trying to staff up.  Many who went work from home are refusing to go back to working in an office. Service industry particularly hit hard with employee shortages.

 

For cruising, many crew had to find other work and many of those who did have changed careers and are keeping their new jobs.  They couldn't just not have income for two years so they've moved on.  Some started families, got married, etc.  

 

The cruise industry is further complicated with visa and vaccination issues as mentioned.  On board protocols suck for crew too, no shore leave until recently, wearing masks in the heat, etc.  It has to be hard to keep crew moral positive on board.  So glad they are finally able to leave the ship now.  

[njkruzer]

On Jewel TA approximately 870 crew for 1126 passengers. 

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

when I was on Anthem end of march there were several crew that said their contracts were ending soon and they weren't sure they were coming back.    I wonder if they are throwing in any type of incentives for crew to return with new contracts.   

On a recent cruise, the hotel director stated that during the shutdown, a lot of crew just decided that they enjoyed being at home, and have not chosen to return to work.

[Cruising89143]

I posted this link yesterday on a thread but relative to this topic.
 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27378-royal-caribbean-group-to-launch-major-recruitment-drive-in-antigua-and-barbuda.html

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

The CDC bears a lot of the blame for this due to their extremely strict rules for crew.

And I suppose that the CDC is to blame for many countries not allowing crew changes or shore leave as well?  If the CDC was so onerous, why didn't the cruise lines go elsewhere and bypass US homeports?  Very few did, and not with real good results.  I just checked, and in the entire Caribbean area, only certain ports in the US, and Curacao allow shore leave for crew.

[smokeybandit]

49 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

And I suppose that the CDC is to blame for many countries not allowing crew changes or shore leave as well?  If the CDC was so onerous, why didn't the cruise lines go elsewhere and bypass US homeports?  Very few did, and not with real good results.  I just checked, and in the entire Caribbean area, only certain ports in the US, and Curacao allow shore leave for crew.

No shore leave, having to mask 24/7 (though that's been relaxed), having to be tested every 3 days (also since relaxed), quarantining in isolation for 10+ days even if you feel 100% fine.

Most certainly some who were asked to come back said "hell no" when facing a six month contract of being treated so poorly.

 

So yes, the CDC bears a lot of the blame.

[neverbeenhere]

Blame it on the rain that was falling, falling
Blame it on the stars that didn't shine that night
Whatever you do, don't put the blame on you
Blame it on the rain, yeah, yeah
 

oh ya, that was all fake too. 

 

As for staffing issues, I prefer to go to the bar to order and take our drinks to the table. 😉

[ONECRUISER]

3 hours ago, njkruzer said:

On Jewel TA approximately 870 crew for 1126 passengers. 

Did previous 3 Cruises on Jewel with no issues! Full Staff, Great Service and Food!

[brillohead]

I know there has been a problem getting passports and visas for crew members, too, particularly from the Phillipines.  

 

 

[sailor05]

If they only have 50% or 75% of the crew, then maybe they should keep capacity at that level until they have what they need. I sure don't want to pay full price for half the service. I've seen lots of complaints here and elsewhere about the lack of service/staffing.

[grandgeezer]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

No shore leave, having to mask 24/7 (though that's been relaxed), having to be tested every 3 days (also since relaxed), quarantining in isolation for 10+ days even if you feel 100% fine.

Most certainly some who were asked to come back said "hell no" when facing a six month contract of being treated so poorly.

 

So yes, the CDC bears a lot of the blame.

How can you possibly blame no shore leave on the CDC, especially in the foreign ports?

How about working 12 hour days, seven days a week? Poor pay and grossly over worked, that belongs to the know it alls in Miami. That is one of the main reason the ships are flagged in foreign countries like Liberia, so they can skirt a lot of the rules set in place in the USA. Do you think those foreign countries helped them out during the pandemic?

Whenever someone complains about cruising the overwhelming response is don’t cruise.

So if you or the cruise lines don’t like the way you are treated by the CDC, or the US government in general, pack up your operation and go where you think they’ll be more accommodating.

[smokeybandit]

19 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

How can you possibly blame no shore leave on the CDC, especially in the foreign ports?

 

Because the CDC had rules against it.  

 

20 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

How about working 12 hour days, seven days a week? Poor pay and grossly over worked

 

And for most crew, that struggle is made up for by making more money than they'd ever make in their home countries.  The hours are a known part of the job. But all the other restrictions put many crew over the edge in their decision not to return.   Sure, several other reasons, too, but this is a big one

[time4u2go]

31 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

How can you possibly blame no shore leave on the CDC, especially in the foreign ports?

How about working 12 hour days, seven days a week? Poor pay and grossly over worked, that belongs to the know it alls in Miami. That is one of the main reason the ships are flagged in foreign countries like Liberia, so they can skirt a lot of the rules set in place in the USA. Do you think those foreign countries helped them out during the pandemic?

Whenever someone complains about cruising the overwhelming response is don’t cruise.

So if you or the cruise lines don’t like the way you are treated by the CDC, or the US government in general, pack up your operation and go where you think they’ll be more accommodating.

Well said. 

[grandgeezer]

13 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Because the CDC had rules against it.  

 

 

And for most crew, that struggle is made up for by making more money than they'd ever make in their home countries.  The hours are a known part of the job. But all the other restrictions put many crew over the edge in their decision not to return.   Sure, several other reasons, too, but this is a big one

CDC has rules against crew getting off in foreign ports, quote your source. Why can passengers get off then? If they can control that why can’t they control wages  and hours worked?

Yes, they know about the hours but they don’t have to like it. It’s just another reason, of many that would convince someone to find employment elsewhere.

[not-enough-cruising]

15 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

How can you possibly blame no shore leave on the CDC, especially in the foreign ports?

How about working 12 hour days, seven days a week? Poor pay and grossly over worked, that belongs to the know it alls in Miami. That is one of the main reason the ships are flagged in foreign countries like Liberia, so they can skirt a lot of the rules set in place in the USA. Do you think those foreign countries helped them out during the pandemic?

Whenever someone complains about cruising the overwhelming response is don’t cruise.

So if you or the cruise lines don’t like the way you are treated by the CDC, or the US government in general, pack up your operation and go where you think they’ll be more accommodating.

The “poor crew pay” dialogue needs to die out. Many of the public facing employees (bar, food service, housekeeping) make more money on one contract with the cruise lines than they could make in several years at home. 
They are WELL aware of the hours and the work required, and they still flock to the industry 

[chengkp75]

50 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

CDC had rules that severely discouraged crew from ever getting off the ship. It had nothing to do with foreign ports, but any port.

 

 

No, the CDC has rules about crew getting off in US ports, they have no jurisdiction over what another country does, and they never restricted crew from either getting shore leave or crew changing in foreign countries.

[trey420]

5 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

The “poor crew pay” dialogue needs to die out. Many of the public facing employees (bar, food service, housekeeping) make more money on one contract with the cruise lines than they could make in several years at home. 
They are WELL aware of the hours and the work required, and they still flock to the industry 

Well do you have anything to back that statement up?  I'm not saying you're wrong.  But people just say stuff to fit their narrative a lot.  If they are short staffed I'm not sure what happened to the flock.

[jerseyjjs]

Just wondering.....have there been staff shortages in the premium restaurants or anywhere else that requires an extra fee?