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Crew changing when things resume?


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From what I've read the crews do pretty long tours on the ships. Some still seem to be on board even as things aren't running.

 

How seemless do you think service quailty will be when things resume? Layoffs and furloughs are likely to effect employee retention. Guess I'm worried there may be a lot of unseasoned crew.

 

Cruise lines are taking huge hits, how they rebound as things open back up will be critical to passenger experiences .

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3 hours ago, bossdog421 said:

Guess I'm worried there may be a lot of unseasoned crew.

I think this is a legitimate concern.  Once ships divest themselves of most of their crew, they will have to re-populate the staff before resuming sailings. Unless they are able to rehire experienced staff that have worked together before, it could be a hodgepodge of inexperienced crew that will need time to become cohesive teams.  Who knows who will be healthy and/or available to come back on board ?  It could be a rocky restart.

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I would imagine for health reasons going forward, crew would have to have completed a medical examination days prior to departing their home, and under go quarantine process once onboard prior to ships resuming a somewhat normal schedule.

Once the quarantine process has been completed, that would give time for crew to train or retrain prior to us boarding.

 

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I agree there will be likely even more stringent testing/processes for new and returning crew as a condition of employment.  Whether it's a crew member or a guest, Royal (or any line for that matter) can't afford to have anyone board a ship if they're infected or showing symptoms.  The bad press alone would be enough to do some of them in.

I was having a conversation with a friend last night, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the cruise lines at least initially sail with MANY less passengers.  I could see as little as 50-60% potentially over what would normally sail, depending on whatever that "break-even" point is for them.  Whatever that number is, it would not require nearly as many staff as previously needed.  I hate the thought of many crew not being brought back on board, but I think that's going to have to be the way forward for the foreseeable future.

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I doubt it will impact the cruise lines very much regarding seasoned crews.

I do  agree that it may be a bit of a hodge podge depending on how they bring the lines back up.  For example, Lady G is retiring, many of those members will already be wanting to find a new ship. Thus, they may transfer over to Explorer which is a totally different class, in turn that means they have to learn a new ship.

Yet, that being said the cruise lines constantly change over staff at different times.  It is not as if they all come on 1 ship at the same time.  Your waiter may have just arrived for the 1st time on your sailing, but their assistant maybe half way through their contract.

I would think one other issue regarding the crew, which ties back to hodge podge would be maybe the cabin attendant that worked for NCL or Princess now wants to work for RCL or vise a verse.  Again, it maybe the 1st few cruises to get it right, but there it is.

I recall talking to our waiter on one of our cruises.  He said it took him many yrs to get onto RCL.  On top of that, as we all know in any corporate world, a lot has to do with networking.  I can't recall what town he lives when not contracted, but he stated that he got his job because his cousin put his name up after he had worked on a smaller cruise ship in Europe.  It took him 5 yrs to get there.  He had a cousin now on the same ship.  He placed his name forward.    It took 5 yrs for him to get enough seniority to place this cousin's name forward.

The point is it is very competitive to get hired on by these large cruise companies.  If anything they will be fighting for a contract.  Many of the cabin attendants, waiters, bar tenders, etc. do this to support their families, including extended families back home.  If you read the obituary of the Symphony crew member that died you can easily see that.  He spent his money supporting his family in a much higher standard than they could have had he stayed in his country.

 

 

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3 minutes ago, codyh21 said:

I was having a conversation with a friend last night, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the cruise lines at least initially sail with MANY less passengers.  I could see as little as 50-60% potentially over what would normally sail, depending on whatever that "break-even" point is for them.  Whatever that number is, it would not require nearly as many staff as previously needed.  I hate the thought of many crew not being brought back on board, but I think that's going to have to be the way forward for the foreseeable future.

My husband and I had this conversation too only a few days ago.  He was on the same page as you, whereas, I disagreed.  

We agreed that maybe the 1st month they will have less sailing, but for a different reason.  Using myself as an example.

  •  I have been furloughed (mens specialty retailer).  My paycheck is gravy for us.  My husband is still working (tele-commutes 2 days, and in the office 3 days a week).  I can't go back to work whenever that is and turn and say I am booked for a 7 night cruise in 3 weeks.   
  • It has nothing to do with fear or finances.  It has everything to do with my job and once we get back up and running, we will be busy.  Think of a retail store like a ship.  We closed the store March 17th.  Currently we are to re-open May 3rd.  No employee, including mgmt. is allowed in the store during the furlough.  It will be like opening a brand new store.  The dust in our store will be amazing.   We were suppose to do a winter pull-back (I.e. sweaters) on the 18th.  That never got done, which means we have to ship all of that out, while at the same time receive all of the spring/summer merchandise.  It will take at least 5 days of employees working all day to get the store back in order.   We will also be inundated with customers the 1st few weeks .  My boss is not going to let me say that just because my cruise was cancelled and I rebooked during the furlough that I should have it off, nor would I expect him.
  •  Use school teachers as an example too.   Many cruise when school is out.  Let's say we can cruise again mid-July.  In NC they go back to school 1st week of Aug.  That means they will not be re-booking.

Now, here is the thing.  There will be great deals running for short notice.  The ships must expect that they will run at a higher rate, more like the break even occupancy of 75%.  They need to bring the staff back, with the belief of business as usual, just like my retail company.    We are not being re-hired piece meal, we all will be back on the exact same date because of the belief when the doors fling open, customers will be back.

Here is where I got my husband, because he said people will have the fear of going on a vacay or even out to dinner.  I said so.... how long will it be before you go to the barber shop?  He said the 1st weekend I can,  How long do you think it will take before women are at the hair salon?  The day they open of course!  Nail salons?  Beaches?  He got my point.  You are willing to go back to your gym and work out for an hr. pick up a Starbucks coffee (drive thru), than hit the barber shop where you are 2 feet away from the barber and the person in the next chair, followed up with going to Lowes for mulch.  Are you saying that will not be your 1st week after the stay at home is lifted?  

  •   If the answer is yes, than I think you are at a higher risk than someone that drives to a port and sails.  I am a woman, and I can tell you that the amount of hair on the floor is insane, even though they sweep it up immediately, it still lingers.  As I stated I work retail.  Do you think the shoe dept at Macy's wipes down every seat for you to try on shoes, let alone the shoes?  

Finally, look around the blogs and FB pages, everyone is complaining cruise prices have gone up.  Why?  My guess would be that those with the FCC are trying to rebook on ships/cruises that are still standing at almost fully booked.  Cruise with confidence is through 9/20.  

 

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