Carnival Ship Officers

[arush5268d]

So it's been bugging me for years trying to figure out why, as far as I've seen, all the officers on board Carnival ships are Italian.

 

What gives?

[shof515]

thats where they build the ships

[arush5268d]

Other cruise lines operate ships built in France and Germany - yet their officers are Italians also.

[lele100]

They make the best sailors? (Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci).

Plus some of the officers sure look good in those uniforms;)

[AdrenalineRush]

Royal and NCL hire Scandinavian captains.

[Lyncoya]

Because they're sexy and they look good in those uniforms? ...:confused:

[LemurCat]

I've always been under the impression that it has to do with Italy (and a couple of other nations) having the special education necessary to obtain the needed licenses and experience.

[Traveler353]

I am thinking that this is one of the best questions ask here in a long time. I personaly feel (based on no knowledge of the subject what so ever) that the Cruise industry or at least Carnival has a special inside deal of some kind with the Italian Maritime Unions. They are guaranteed an officer of a very high standard of training and expertise with reduced labor issues. That and look at the history of Carnival, very strong family connections to Italy from day one.

[arush5268d]

I am thinking that this is one of the best questions ask here in a long time. I personaly feel (based on no knowledge of the subject what so ever) that the Cruise industry or at least Carnival has a special inside deal of some kind with the Italian Maritime Unions. They are guaranteed an officer of a very high standard of training and expertise with reduced labor issues. That and look at the history of Carnival, very strong family connections to Italy from day one.

 

Hmm. You might be on to something there.

 

I've always been under the impression that it has to do with Italy (and a couple of other nations) having the special education necessary to obtain the needed licenses and experience.

 

I think you, too, are on to something.

 

 

They make the best sailors? (Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci).

Plus some of the officers sure look good in those uniforms;)

 

LOL....nice.

[EMBFlyer]

Royal and NCL hire Scandinavian captains.

 

RCCL used to have all Norwegian officers because the ships used to be registered out of Norway (that was a requirement with Norwegian flagged vessels). Now that the ships are registered in the Bahamas, they can have officers of many different nationalities. They have American, Spanish, Greek Scandinavian and I, personally, have sailed with Norwegian, Greek, Indian, and Canadian officers.

[kelz66]

The mafia controls the Officers union.

 

:rolleyes:

[DaytonCruiser]

Here are a few past threads on the topic

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1041827&highlight=italian+captains

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=858976&highlight=italian+captains

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=666037&highlight=italian+captains

[yst347]

Someone asked the CD this question. Don't know how accurate the answer he gave was but IIRC he said in the 1970's when Carnival was a start-up the old Italian line was ending its transatlantic liner service. It just worked out the the demise of the line provided a ready supply of qualified officers for Carnival and a tradition was born.

[Traveler353]

The mafia controls the Officers union.

 

:rolleyes:

 

Entirely possible. They pretty much run the whole country in one way or another. (at least according to Hollywood):p

[arush5268d]

Lots of great info and ideas.

 

DaytonCruiser thanks for the links!

[Phxbyny]

Italy has a long history of fine nautical preparatory academies such as the one located in Palermo. Joe Bonanno who became the head of one of the 5 mafia families in New York, attended this academy before he was dismissed due to his anti-fascist views. There is also the Naval Academy located in Livorno,Italy which graduates some of the finest naval officers in the world. Guess Carnival is aware of a good thing, not to say that the US Naval Academy cannot compete with the Italians.

[Traveler353]

Italy has a long history of fine nautical preparatory academies such as the one located in Palermo. Joe Bonanno who became the head of one of the 5 mafia families in New York, attended this academy before he was dismissed due to his anti-fascist views. There is also the Naval Academy located in Livorno,Italy which graduates some of the finest naval officers in the world. Guess Carnival is aware of a good thing, not to say that the US Naval Academy cannot compete with the Italians.

 

The US Navel Academy produces war fighting Naval Officers, so no competition there. The US also has two very fine and well respected Merchant Academys that provide a very highly trained source of Junior Merchant Officers to the worlds fleets for over 200 years. I would say that very few Americans have any knowledge of our on Merchant Academys history or existance. I had the pleasure of being an at sea navigation instructor for the Academy after retiring from the Navy for 5 years, serving on 3 US flagged merchant ships. I can tell that we are producing some of the finest Merchant officers the world has to offer.

Like I said I know nothing about how Cruise lines staff their bridge or engineering offficers. But I do have some hands on knowledge of how the Merchant fleets work. Basicaly like any profitable business it comes down to cash flow. The Merchant companies all want the best qualified personnal for the least cost. Many countries require a certain number of all the crew must be citizens of that country. The US probably has the highest standards of all for the training qualifications, experience levels and citizenship of all of its Merchant fleet.

[salty dingo]

They have all the pasta recipes.

[mikedw]

The US Navel Academy produces war fighting Naval Officers, so no competition there. The US also has two very fine and well respected Merchant Academys that provide a very highly trained source of Junior Merchant Officers to the worlds fleets for over 200 years. I would say that very few Americans have any knowledge of our on Merchant Academys history or existance. I had the pleasure of being an at sea navigation instructor for the Academy after retiring from the Navy for 5 years, serving on 3 US flagged merchant ships. I can tell that we are producing some of the finest Merchant officers the world has to offer.

Like I said I know nothing about how Cruise lines staff their bridge or engineering offficers. But I do have some hands on knowledge of how the Merchant fleets work. Basicaly like any profitable business it comes down to cash flow. The Merchant companies all want the best qualified personnal for the least cost. Many countries require a certain number of all the crew must be citizens of that country. The US probably has the highest standards of all for the training qualifications, experience levels and citizenship of all of its Merchant fleet.

 

Your so right that most people in this country no nothing of our Merchant Marine. There's actually several other Merchant Marine Schools. They are:

 

US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY

Maine Maritime Academy

Massachusetts Martime Academy

Great Lakes Maritime Academy

Texas A&M Maritime Academy

California Maritime Academy.

 

These are all 4 year schools and besides those, you probably have over a dozen or more vocational schools where you can earn your license in under two years. There are a lot of US Merchant Sailors, and from what I've read recently it's a growth industry, they need more people.

[ladycaveat]

Had a Greek captain on one of my cruises but for the life of me, can't remember which one. All I know is that he was drop dead good looking . . . tall, dark, handsome and in that white uniform . . . made my heart skip a beat. :p

[bikercruiser]

I took the Behind the Fun tour on our cruise on the Ecstasy in January and the captain was asked this question. In this case, it happened that he and all the other officers were from Naples also. He said this is because Carnival recruits exclusively from a nautical school in Italy. I guess this shows you can learn something on this tour.:D

[newt98]

I've always been under the impression that it has to do with Italy (and a couple of other nations) having the special education necessary to obtain the needed licenses and experience.

 

do you mean unregulated, therefore anybody with cash can get licensed?;)

[newt98]

I am thinking that this is one of the best questions ask here in a long time. I personaly feel (based on no knowledge of the subject what so ever) that the Cruise industry or at least Carnival has a special inside deal of some kind with the Italian Maritime Unions. They are guaranteed an officer of a very high standard of training and expertise with reduced labor issues. That and look at the history of Carnival, very strong family connections to Italy from day one.

 

seriously? lol. training in what, banking off of piers and other ships?:D

[newt98]

The mafia controls the Officers union.

 

:rolleyes:

 

good one, lol.

[newt98]

They have all the pasta recipes.

 

i guess i should have multi quoted, where do you guys come up with this stuff? too funny!