How long would it take for Disney to re-staff the ships (with training)?

So since you have a better gist of what's doin' in the industry, what chances do you think that our Feb 27 2021 cruise 1. actually happens 2. looks like a "normal" cruise Can/will DCL cruise at a reduced capacity so peeps don't have wear masks, etc?

I honestly have no idea, which makes me very sad =(
Cruise lines arent even going to give out a hint to crew because it will spread like wildfire.
Personally I think the quickest way would be if a vaccine became available.
If not a lot depends on the CDC and what agreements the CDC, coastguard, port authorities and cruise lines come up with.
Who knows how numbers with this virus will go, some places are still suffering with their first (hopefully only) wave, other countries are seeing signs of a second.

While I want to go back to work, i want to do it safely.
 
Just going by what people have said on this board regarding the Transatlantic sailings. There were several saying that CM's didn't make as much because the Europeans would remove the auto-gratuity from their onboard charges. Could not be true but many of the comments were from seasoned DCL vets who have been on many cruises and on this board for some time and I have discovered to be credible.
I have heard this same thing more than once.
 
What if DCL re crew their ships in europe before using the 2 week crossing time for training?

By mid August you'll have 3 ships in Europe, would make sense to keep them there until things are due to start up again?
 


They would have to hire new staff as I'm sure not everyone would be willing to return. If you factor in passports, visas, medical exams and training I don't see how it could take less than 6 - 8 weeks.
I think your time frame is probably pretty close.
We are what, 8 months into this pandemic? Things are worse now than they ever have been. IF everything goes well, I can't see cruises resuming for at least another 8 months which would be April of 2021.
 


What if DCL re crew their ships in europe before using the 2 week crossing time for training?

By mid August you'll have 3 ships in Europe, would make sense to keep them there until things are due to start up again?
If you mean re-crew and resume operations in Europe, that's unlikely to happen for a number of reasons, mainly you're talking about suddenly trashing all the itineraries that have been sold post Oct 2020 that DCL has sold on the website, also they'd have to contract with multiple ports and countries for entry for cruise operations (millions of dollars here), logistics for shore side personnel (terminals, airport and other points of contact) don't exist, logistical support for resupplying the ships (fuel, food, sundries) isn't in place and again would require contracts be negotiated. You can't just sail a ship into a port and park it like a car and expect everything to be in place for thousands of guests, crew and other personnel. It just doesn't happen overnight.
 
Americans and Canadians (Brits and Australians too) wont do that job onboard a cruise ship for the pay and living conditions they get in return. They fact you very very rarely meet American/Canadian servers (on board a cruise ship, I know they exist in other parts of life), kinda proves that you wont find them in a messier job working longer hours on less pay and with even less privileges (onboard a cruise ship).
Now, if they raise the pay, put money into improving living conditions, let them work less hours and let them roam the ship in their free time, maybe they'll be interested....

A perfect example of this was and to some extent still is NCL America and their Hawaiian flagged ships (now just one ship but they started out with 3). All American crew did not work out well at all.
 
It depends how many ships they want to fire up at first. If it's just one ship, then they could prolly cobble together enough American/Canadian crew pretty fast, especially if they limit capacity with half the number of guests. You wouldn't need as much crew if you have half the number of cruisers.

there is no way dcl has enough American and Canadian crew to make up a ship. Lol
 
I wont, because I'm not American and dont live in the US...
And I'm not completely stupid I know they exist, duh! But as we're talking about cruise ships so saying you'll meet Americans in America is completely irrelevant. They dont exist in the cruise industry (I've worked multiple contracts, on many different classes of ship and two different companies).
Americans and Canadians (Brits and Australians too) wont do that job onboard a cruise ship for the pay and living conditions they get in return. They fact you very very rarely meet American/Canadian servers (on board a cruise ship, I know they exist in other parts of life), kinda proves that you wont find them in a messier job working longer hours on less pay and with even less privileges (onboard a cruise ship).
Now, if they raise the pay, put money into improving living conditions, let them work less hours and let them roam the ship in their free time, maybe they'll be interested....
And for Europeans, there is also a divide. There are more southern Europeans working on cruise ships ie middle to higher positions as these are also the historically poorer countries (along with of course Italy and Greece having a history of shipping) Eastern Europeans may work in lower to middle positions. And then there are captains and upper level officers from Nordic countries, or the Netherlands. That is all of course a very broad generalization, and there will be exceptions, but historically the longer term crew members tend to be from certain regions, and there is a hierarchy. (Entertainment excluded)

I know many, many southern and eastern Europeans who worked cruise ships, but the only Germans I 'know' are Siegfried and Roy :) There is actually also a number of German men working as 'companions' on ships, but that may be more unique to German cruise lines...and is a popular post-retirement job for some. Think the 'Love Boat' but an actual career.
 
there is no way dcl has enough American and Canadian crew to make up a ship. Lol

My original post, I was referring to re-staffing half of one ship. You don’t need a full crew if your sailing half full. I was taking about re-staffing which is what the thread title referred to but some are confusing it with staffing with current crew which is not what I or the title was referring to. Existing crew is irrelevant because they are gone now.

I do not sign on to the notion that Americans won’t do certain jobs. In my area there are lots of really horrible jobs that Americans do and they would jump at the chance to be a dishwasher or a deckhand on a DCL ship. It would actually be a step up for them. So to answer the title of the thread, no with the current high unemployment here in the states, I do not think it would take long to re-staff half of one ship to get it going for a cruise. Could be done with time to spare given the ban doesn’t expire until October.
 
If you mean re-crew and resume operations in Europe, that's unlikely to happen for a number of reasons, mainly you're talking about suddenly trashing all the itineraries that have been sold post Oct 2020 that DCL has sold on the website, also they'd have to contract with multiple ports and countries for entry for cruise operations (millions of dollars here), logistics for shore side personnel (terminals, airport and other points of contact) don't exist, logistical support for resupplying the ships (fuel, food, sundries) isn't in place and again would require contracts be negotiated. You can't just sail a ship into a port and park it like a car and expect everything to be in place for thousands of guests, crew and other personnel. It just doesn't happen overnight.

I dont mean to change itineraries.

Contracts and supply chain would already be in place for the Magic, dont see any issue increasing the amounts. Add to that the lack of guests and only a skeleton crew.. wont be hard.

I was meaning that DCL may keep the ships in Europe until things resume.
 
My original post, I was referring to re-staffing half of one ship. You don’t need a full crew if your sailing half full. I was taking about re-staffing which is what the thread title referred to but some are confusing it with staffing with current crew which is not what I or the title was referring to. Existing crew is irrelevant because they are gone now.

I do not sign on to the notion that Americans won’t do certain jobs. In my area there are lots of really horrible jobs that Americans do and they would jump at the chance to be a dishwasher or a deckhand on a DCL ship. It would actually be a step up for them. So to answer the title of the thread, no with the current high unemployment here in the states, I do not think it would take long to re-staff half of one ship to get it going for a cruise. Could be done with time to spare given the ban doesn’t expire until October.

I really don’t know anyone that would work 18 hour days at less than half minimum wage and live in a closet without seeing the sun for days at a time (the vast majority of the crew are not allowed on deck or in public spaces).
 
I really don’t know anyone that would work 18 hour days at less than half minimum wage and live in a closet without seeing the sun for days at a time (the vast majority of the crew are not allowed on deck or in public spaces).
This is why most agricultural harvest work is done by non-white migrant workers.
 
Factor in time for medicals to be done, criminal record checks, visas to be applied for (if coming from outside US), training on any new systems in place and depending on when they last did it things like safety training, wet drill (worst experience of my life) etc. It will definitely take a while I think
 
I really don’t know anyone that would work 18 hour days at less than half minimum wage and live in a closet without seeing the sun for days at a time (the vast majority of the crew are not allowed on deck or in public spaces).

I love spending time with CM's when we're in port. Looks like they were getting sun to me. Just because you "don't know anyone" does not mean they do not exist. To say that Americans will not do these jobs is a disservice to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who currently do these types of jobs. I personally have worked 18 hours a day for less than minimum wage when I was in the Marine Corps in the early 1990's. I earned around $700 gross a month if I remember. Which after taxes, deductions, GI Bill, etc. left me with about $100 a week (yes you have to buy the GI Bill for college at $100 a month , it's not free). Which is why I find it funny that you get these Europeans that come on here and immediately dismiss our posts based on us being an "American cruise ship passenger". That would be true if that were all we are but every one of us is more than that. Yes, we are Americans and yes we occasionally take cruises but that does not mean we are just "American cruise ship passengers". Many of us have served on ships in the Marine Corps and the Navy or are on hiring boards at our current jobs, so we know what we are talking about when it comes to staffing positions. There are thousands of dish/pot washers in my area that work at junkhole restaurants that would jump at the chance to work on a DCL ship and visit foreign ports. The rate of pay is dictated by the market, not the employer. If they want to sail a cruise, they're going to pay whatever they have to pay to get the job filled. The employer does not care because they can differ the extra cost onto us, the consumer. Once again, it would be no problem to staff one half of one ship for a cruise. Much bigger problems than these have been achieved here. It would not be hard to find Americans to staff half of one ship.
 
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and visit foreign ports

I'll note that a big issue with that right now is smack in some of what is being proposed for cruise ships, and was in the DCL cruiser survey. One of the proposals is that ship staff/crew will not be allowed off in ports of call, and passengers will only be permitted off within the context of an Official Port Adventure. No freelance off-ship for either group of folks, in order to better control exposures and contacts.

A number of ports of call are talking about such requirements to permit docking. It destroys one of the bigger perks of working on a ship in one of the crummier jobs.
 
A number of ports of call are talking about such requirements to permit docking. It destroys one of the bigger perks of working on a ship in one of the crummier jobs

I did see that being floated in the survey. It's just a survey and I hope it doesn't become a policy because we rarely use DCL excursions. On the positive side If it does become policy, then at least it will get cruising going and hopefully it will only be temporary.
 

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