Miami Herald: "100,000 crew members remain in cruise ship limbo for months"

[Husker Mike]

After reading this article, I now wonder whether anybody will actually be able to take their currently rescheduled cruise.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article242565281.html

Disney Cruise Line said crew who express concerns about working are not being scheduled.

“Our focus is on the health and well-being of our Crew and we have a team working tirelessly to repatriate them,” said Kim Prunty, a spokesperson for the company. “With constantly changing requirements around the world and numerous borders still closed, this has proven to be an extremely complex process. We are using our ships to repatriate Crew to Europe and the Caribbean and are continuing to try to arrange charter flights to other destinations.”

Some crew members tell the Herald they will never work in the cruise industry again after how they have been treated during the pandemic. Habib, who has worked on cruise ships since 1999, said he doesn’t have confidence that the industry will take care of him during the next crisis.

“You never know what will happen in the world again,” he said. “It’s not worth it.”

If the cruise lines are having this much trouble getting crews home, how much trouble is it going to be to bring crews back when cruises begin? How many will want to return, given how many have found themselves in limbo? How many will be able to return, with all of the legal bureaucracy?

 

[fredandkell]

Oh my gosh, what a terrible article! Those poor crew! I hope they're at least letting them spread out in the guest staterooms. That's crazy that they're stuck in limbo on the ships and not getting paid. THIS VIRUS SUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

 

[Chemist]

After reading this article, I now wonder whether anybody will actually be able to take their currently rescheduled cruise.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article242565281.html


If the cruise lines are having this much trouble getting crews home, how much trouble is it going to be to bring crews back when cruises begin? How many will want to return, given how many have found themselves in limbo? How many will be able to return, with all of the legal bureaucracy?

When I posted that article (different newspaper)a few days ago I was accused of raining on people’s parades with excessive negativity.

however that is the crux of the problem. It’s not how much social distancing that people will tolerate. It’s that after several months the cruise lines have UNPAID crew on board that they cannot repatriate. It’s that the virus is hitting crew hard. It’s that the cruise lines cannot have it happen again.

 

[Chemist]

Oh my gosh, what a terrible article! Those poor crew! I hope they're at least letting them spread out in the guest staterooms. That's crazy that they're stuck in limbo on the ships and not getting paid. THIS VIRUS SUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Unpaid is on the cruise lines. Not the virus. (Crew get paid in tips. No guests, no tips.)

 

[dclpluto]

Unpaid is on the cruise lines. Not the virus. (Crew get paid in tips. No guests, no tips.)

less than half of the crew gets paid in tips.

 

[Chemist]

less than half of the crew gets paid in tips.

that may be the case, but if crew isn't getting paid, its the cruise line's fault, NOT the virus' fault.

 

[LizzyDragon]

Oh my gosh, what a terrible article! Those poor crew! I hope they're at least letting them spread out in the guest staterooms.

According to the article, several of the ships mentioned that they are letting crew move into the guestrooms.

 

[starry_solo]

I would have hoped they moved them into the guest rooms shortly after finding out the crew couldn’t be repatriated

 

[bbel]

I have so many thoughts on this topic haha.
I know many crew still onboard across 3 different lines, and they're all quite honest on social media.

As for crew wanting to go back, I'm on a few crew groups and there are more who want to go back than don't (even people who havent been on ships for a few years want to go back), whether the people currently onboard will go back I dont know, but everyone I've talked to onboard will go.
Obviously logistically no one knows. Countries are changing constantly over who can come and go.

As crew, I would be up for all crew having to go into a 2 week quarantine when arriving at their embark port (I wouldn't mind two weeks of room service and naps before a crazy contract haha) before boarding for a contract. Although, vaccines seem to be coming along, but I think it would be hard for a lot of crew to get them at first, unless the cruise line was to issue them, as they do with flu.

Now the pay, not one person I know onboard has complained about lack of pay. One I know even said he would rather stay onboard with no pay than go home as while they're not being paid, they're not spending anything (free food, internet, entertainment, limited alcohol) and once they go home they know they wont be able to get a job, but would have to pay to live.
From what I understand those whose contract has finished are the ones who aren't being paid (but most cruise lines seem to be paying $10-13 a day, not ideal, but better than those stuck at home), the ones whose contract has finished but they still have to work as they are essential crew are still being paid. I havent heard of any crew working and not being paid. All this sounds like a lot of people all over the world right now.

The crew I persoanlly see complaining about pay are the ones at home, who were due to go back and are now at home with nothing and are finding it impossible to get a job and the industry they know has shut down.

While I keep seeing articles like this (usually from the MH) actually talking to crew onboard, personally, and the comments/discussions on crew groups, the majority are as happy/understanding as they can be in the situation, if your quick enough you can read the positive comments crew leaving on a certain lawyers posts, before he deletes them and blocks them from his page.

Sorry for the essay.
I have so much more I could add, but I will hold myself back.

 

[Primeval Princess]

I keep seeing articles like this (usually from the MH) actually talking to crew onboard, personally, and the comments/discussions on crew groups, the majority are as happy/understanding as they can be in the situation, if your quick enough you can read the positive comments crew leaving on a certain lawyers posts, before he deletes them and blocks them from his page.

Sorry for the essay.
I have so much more I could add, but I will hold myself back.

Thanks for sharing the insider perspective. I'm familiar with the lawyer with the anti-cruise website that you're referring to. And yes, the Miami Herald's political orientation is something to keep in mind when you read a very one-sided article they publish about the cruise industry.

 

[rdaky]

Sorry for the essay.
I have so much more I could add, but I will hold myself back.

Thank you for your perspective. I think it's so easy for the media or the general public to jump to conclusions without all of the information. There are so many people right now out of work and not knowing if they can afford their next meal. I don't think that being stuck on a ship is ideal at all, but if you're going to be stuck in a helpless situation without a job, it might be better to be stuck where at least you know that you will have food, a bed, medical care if needed, and that your company is probably doing the best that they can to take care of you.

 

[vegs1]

Thanks for sharing the insider perspective. I'm familiar with the lawyer with the anti-cruise website that you're referring to. And yes, the Miami Herald's political orientation is something to be considered when you read a very one-sided article related to the cruise industry such as this.

I’m curious as to why you feel this article is one sided?

 

[Primeval Princess]

I’m curious as to why you feel this article is one sided?

Read @bbel's post. She is a former cruise crew member and has a lot of insider knowledge and contacts among current crew members. Then compare her information to that presented in the article.

 

[vegs1]

@

Read bbel's post. She is a former cruise crew member and has a lot of insider knowledge and contacts among current crew members. Then compare her information to that presented in the article.

I did read it.

I don’t know anything about how the Miami Herald normally writes as I’ve never read that paper. However, I felt in reading the article that they offered quoted sources from industry insiders, cruise line spokespersons as well as quoted crew on board. It seemed like a fair article.


I just hope they all get back to home or work or wherever they want to be soon. Such an awful situation for everyone involved.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I think it is one thing to say that the crew don't mind not being paid because they have a bed and 3 meals a day but what about the one's with family? It is widely known that the crew send their pay to their spouse or family to live. This means the wives/husbands and children are without income. That should be concerning to them I would think.

 

[yowcruiser]

@


I did read it.

I don’t know anything about how the Miami Herald normally writes as I’ve never read that paper. However, I felt in reading the article that they offered quoted sources from industry insiders, cruise line spokespersons as well as quoted crew on board. It seemed like a fair article.


I just hope they all get back to home or work or wherever they want to be soon. Such an awful situation for everyone involved.

A balanced article would quote crew members that are both happy and unhappy. A one-sided article is one where the paper only try to find/reports quotes that support their thesis. As bbel reported, things are a bit more nuanced than what you see in the article. Not to say that the article is not right, and does not contain valid information... it does.

I hope the crew is doing well and that DCL is taking good care of them... We'll only know for sure and feel it once we are back on board...

 

[BartmanLA]

There are many issues with this article, first and foremost in my personal opinion, is where do they come up with that 100,000+ number?? I think they're fudging their numbers to include many ship's officers that are on board who while technically are members of the "crew" they're considered in a different category from others on board, that are paid based on guest contributions (tips). Officers are salaried employee's that get paid one way or another, and while the ships might not be in revenue service, they STILL have to be maintained and kept operational (equipment and systems must be run regularly to maintain water and waste systems as well as power generation) That requires crew members to be on board, and many of them are in Engineering who again are paid even if the ship isn't in revenue service. Granted there might be crew who have run out their contracts and are waiting to be sent home, but much of the obstacles the cruise lines are facing about that issue aren't the lines faults, they're working in a very restrictive situation where the CDC and other countries governmental agencies are preventing the cruise lines from repatriating their crew members simply because they won't be allowed to disembark in other countries or even their home countries due to the quarantine restrictions. This includes that requirements that cruise lines are required to provide secure transportation from the ships to transportation facilities, they're required to provide charter or private transportation for crew members so they don't come in contact with the public. Most airlines aren't able or willing to provide charter services for crew members due to the risk of exposure to their own crews, so they're stuck, which is why many lines are finally utilizing their own ships to ferry crew members to their home countries ie. Magic to Dover and Fantasy to the Caribbean countries. The logistical issues while in hindsight might have been avoided if the Cruise lines had shut down sooner and sent crew members home much earlier will be debated for years. But to lump the cruise lines as a whole into the "villain" in this story is patently disingenuous and doesn't tell the whole story about how this unprecedented crisis has impacted the leisure travel industry in ways that will reverberate for decades.

 

[randumb0]

After reading this article, I now wonder whether anybody will actually be able to take their currently rescheduled cruise.

Not this year

 

[cruisehopeful]

Sorry for the essay.
I have so much more I could add, but I will hold myself back.

I'd much rather read your insider knowledge than a bunch of speculation posts. Please feel free to write as many essays as you'd like.

 

[Hegemon]

This was an interesting article and it brought two important things to mind. First, will DCL have a hard time securing skilled "magical" crew members for its cruises if they're worried that the company might not be able to care for them in a crisis? Will the ship be crewed by less-skilled crew because of this? Second, there's an ethical dilemma to this. If we, as the consumer, find the line's treatment of its employees unethical, then it's sort of incumbent on us to speak up with our wallets.