DCL Employee interesting facts

[ptcbass]

Does anyone have interesting facts about the DCL employees?

Our server said he has to work 6 months straight with no days off and then he gets 2 months off. During those two months Disney doesn't pay them vacation pay and they stop paying for their insurance. He also said that if they get sick and have to find a fill in to do their job that day they are responsible for paying them for that days work. I just wonder who they would get to fill in for them.

Also he has to work breakfast, lunch and both dinners. Boy that is a long day!

Also I noticed the area to the left of Serenity Bay (looking at the ocean). Guest aren't allowed but I could see chairs down there. Is that a beach area for the island residents/cast members?

 

[DahliaRW]

Our assistant server was sick our first night. Someone that usually worked in Cabanas took her spot. I have no idea if she had to arrange that or not.

And yes, they work all meals, but they do get some time off (days they don't do lunch) depending on the restaurant.

And yes, there is a CM beach on CC.

 

[ptcbass]

I really liked our servers and hate the thoughts of them not getting some down time. That would be SO hard!
It is good that they have their own area at the beach. I would have thought it would have been on the back side of the island or in a area that guest couldn't see them. It isn't a big deal but I just thought they might want more privacy.

I wonder how many hours the room host works.

I also wonder if all cast members have to work 6 months before getting some time off and to see their families. We did see a couple of cast members that had their families with them on the ship. I thought that was good.

I did overhear one woman serving another table tell them that it is mentally hard to go that long and not see her family. My heart was breaking for her. I wonder why they tell the guest those things unless they are wanting them to feel bad for them and give them bigger tips. Who knows.

 

[disprincess4ever]

I really liked our servers and hate the thoughts of them not getting some down time. That would be SO hard!
It is good that they have their own area at the beach. I would have thought it would have been on the back side of the island or in a area that guest couldn't see them. It isn't a big deal but I just thought they might want more privacy.

I wonder how many hours the room host works.

I also wonder if all cast members have to work 6 months before getting some time off and to see their families. We did see a couple of cast members that had their families with them on the ship. I thought that was good.

I did overhear one woman serving another table tell them that it is mentally hard to go that long and not see her family. My heart was breaking for her. I wonder why they tell the guest those things unless they are wanting them to feel bad for them and give them bigger tips. Who knows.

Yes, it's hard for them to work long hours but that's the reality of the job and they signed up for it. They work long hours and do tiring jobs, but DCL provides a decent environment for them to work in; one that most cast members enjoy. Compare it to being a nurse at a large hospital working in the emergency room. They often work 12 hour shifts, get short breaks, and are on their feet most of the time. Sure they will work a few days, get a few days off, but thats like the cruise industry. The cruise industry just chooses to give them a longish stretch off.

Here are some of the amenities the CM's get from DCL:

-free admission to parks worldwide
-discounts on cruises so their family/friends can visit
-a crew beach on Castaway Cay
-A crew bar with discounted alcohol
-crew awards ceremony (I've seen some videos of it and they really do try to make the event special to honor these hardworking people)
-Movie nights in the theater
-Themed parties
-Dessert parties
-Getting to go on a guest excursion for free as an award for working hard.

I'm not trying to list these benefits to overshadow how hard their jobs are, but it's not like their jobs are horrible. Many of them come from countries where the standard jobs are much much worse than working on a cruise ship. Either that or they love the "Sea life" and getting away from it all.


Also not all contracts are 6 months. Many crew members have contracts that are 4 1/2 months or 5 months long.

 

[alli817]

We chatted with a few castmembers about the length of their stay or shift. I was surprised by the length of their contracts and their work days. But I'll be honest you can tell if someone hates their job or feels over worked and everyone was very grateful for the opportunity to work for Disney.

One guy we spoke to gets off the boat on dock days for a couple hours - he was going to Target more or less to use their Wifi. He emailed us photos from there.

Our server in Palo told us Disney pays for your ticket home.

 

[CruznLexi]

I met my husband on Majesty of the seas who was my waiter. They work 6 month contracts with 2-2/12 months off. Quite a few have husband, wives, kids back home. Most send money home every week to the family . Those excellent ratings give the CM's time off, instead of working all 3 meals. Shore excursions. They must pay for cabin cleaning fee. My husband was able to build his house back in Croatia with the money he made on the ship. It is a hard life but most love it.

 

[rentayenta]

We met a server who gave us lots of dirt. They only had a few days left so I hesitate to post any *facts* as they appeared semi-disgruntled. It's a business, to think its 100% hunky dory would be naive on my part.

Another told us the crew bar is awesome with super cheap drinks.

And another has had a few flings with crew and passengers.

CMs are people too.

 

[algae]

Yes, it's hard for them to work long hours but that's the reality of the job and they signed up for it.

And in most cases, they keep signing up for it. All of the CM's we talked with have worked multiple contracts with DCL. They all tell us they like the work enviroment and compensation compared to the other opportunites they have at home.

It's about point of reference. What you may view as hard work and low pay, others view as easy work with great pay. When I was in middle and high school, I had to work at the family business basically 24x7 for very little money. Work was not grueling, but wasn't easy. Would I trade it for a "simpler", better paying job flipping burgers? Nope. Actually did both for a while just to see. Flipping burgers was nowhere near rewarding enough (financially, intellectually, socially, etc) to do for very long.

One of our servers had a plan: work for X number of contracts, save his earnings, build a house up in the hills and he can retire in 3 more years. He was younger than me and worked at DCL for about 2 years. Not bad. His seniority and good reviews allowed him to get the shorter 4 month contracts, but he was always itching to get back to DCL for the next contract.

 

[jrabbit]

We met a server who gave us lots of dirt. They only had a few days left so I hesitate to post any *facts* as they appeared semi-disgruntled. It's a business, to think its 100% hunky dory would be naive on my part.

Another told us the crew bar is awesome with super cheap drinks.

And another has had a few flings with crew and passengers.

CMs are people too.

Hooking up with a guest gets the employee kicked off of the ship at the NEXT port. It's happened. It's Not Pretty.

 

[JennandJaryd]

Hooking up with a guest gets the employee kicked off of the ship at the NEXT port. It's happened. It's Not Pretty.

The first cruise I went on was on the Magic in 2008. There was a woman there that said a DCL cast member met her online and paid for her cruise. He slept in her cabin. Was very weird dinner convo but hey, such is life...

 

[dclpluto]

Hooking up with a guest gets the employee kicked off of the ship at the NEXT port. It's happened. It's Not Pretty.

yes its not like the love boat

 

[iZon]

I often wonder if tales of how long they work every day are exaggerated to gain our sympathy. Our servers seemed fresh and friendly and I don't think you can work ridiculous hours every day for months on end and be like that. I don't think they do breakfast and lunch every day as there are far fewer servers needed than at dinner when all restaurants are open.

And what do housekeepers do all day? They aren't always servicing the rooms, are they? They make up the room in the morning and do turn down at night.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I often wonder if tales of how long they work every day are exaggerated to gain our sympathy. Our servers seemed fresh and friendly and I don't think you can work ridiculous hours every day for months on end and be like that. I don't think they do breakfast and lunch every day as there are far fewer servers needed than at dinner when all restaurants are open.

And what do housekeepers do all day? They aren't always servicing the rooms, are they? They make up the room in the morning and do turn down at night.

I copied this when lbgraves posted it a while back:

On Royal Court/Palace/Tritons/Lumiere’s day, CMs do breakfast, lunch & dinner, unless it’s on Castaway Cay day, then they are doing lunch at Cookies. On their Animators day, they work Cabanas/Topsiders/BBB breakfast & lunch. On Enchanted Garden/Parrot Cay day, they do all 3 meals. On the last AM, Palo servers work the buffet so that your server can serve the breakfast in the MDR.

Now, in my opinion - Room hosts do more during their "make up" and "turn down" services than just make the bed. They actually clean. Several times I've caught our room hosts down on hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom floors. And they fold the linens for the rooms, fill ice buckets, and, yes they do pick up room service trays. I'm sure there are plenty of jobs for them to do. Pretty sure DCL keeps them busy.

 

[ibouncetoo]

Our server in Palo told us Disney pays for your ticket home.

Our server mentioned that DCL pays for their trip ALL THE WAY home. Apparently whatever line he worked for in the past only got him home to the nearest large airport.

 

[livie1205]

Those room people work their tails off! On DCL every single time I went to my room the person was there to clean it when i left..everytime I went down there for anything he was cleaning his rooms on our area... All day and most of the nights.we paid him more of course, our very nice waiter kruno was also very nice and said he worked 5 a to 2 a with small breaks. He said he works 6 months on the ship and 3 months off. He was a great waiter and very nice.we also spoke to a few people that live at CC and they work 4 days on then sometimes 3 off unless its busy and they get a ship 6 days in a row. Hard work but I think the island staff enjoys it.

 

[Freesia123]

How many rooms does each steward do? Anyone know?

 

[gumbypee]

Hooking up with a guest gets the employee kicked off of the ship at the NEXT port. It's happened. It's Not Pretty.

It still happens

 

[DahliaRW]

I don't think they do breakfast and lunch every day as there are far fewer servers needed than at dinner when all restaurants are open.

I copied this when lbgraves posted it a while back:

On Royal Court/Palace/Tritons/Lumiere’s day, CMs do breakfast, lunch & dinner, unless it’s on Castaway Cay day, then they are doing lunch at Cookies. On their Animators day, they work Cabanas/Topsiders/BBB breakfast & lunch. On Enchanted Garden/Parrot Cay day, they do all 3 meals. On the last AM, Palo servers work the buffet so that your server can serve the breakfast in the MDR.

I don't know about the classic ships, but on the Fantasy EG was not open for lunch except for Embarkation day. It was our Cozumel day, and I saw servers in our rotation out and about in the shopping area. I may be wrong, but I think on the Fantasy, in general, they get lunch time off on their EG day if it's not debarkation/embarkation day, but I could be wrong.

 

[dbarker]

Talking to our room host last cruise, I realized they do get some time off during the day. I don't think it is the hard and fast time off that we are used to here on land, but they do get some down time. He was always so happy and really enjoyed his job. It was such a pleasure to be around him.

 

[lbgraves]

The CMs don't have to pay another CM to cover their shift if they get sick. Think about it. The minimal "pay" that DCL gives them doesn't amount to much. We are in touch with a few CMs and they seem to find down time to check in on FB. I have been told not to feel sorry for them for being away from home for months or working the long hours. They knew the deal when they took the job and that's what they chose to do. One even said they are working hard, but they get to see beautiful places and meet many nice people -- not in danger as the military can be when deployed. They are also able to make more money than they could possibly earn at home. Some are able to retire early.