Crew on Ships

[DolceVita2]

Hello, Can someone tell me what are the chances to see the same crew onboard one year after. I did a cruise last year on Eurodam and will do another this year. I really appreciate the crew, good service, polite, etc...

 

Thank you, ;)

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We have on the same ship and other ships

[sail7seas]

We've seen same crew time and again on same ship and we've also met up with crew we previously met on a ship when we sailed on another ship. It isn't uncommon for a steward/bartender/Officer to have more than one contract on the same ship but eventually most move to another.

[paul929207]

Some will still be there others will have moved on or left the cruise industry

[Bonnie J.]

Crew members work on a ship for 6 to 8 months. Then they go on vacation for 1 to 2 months. When they come back they are usually sent to a different ship, same cruise line. Often though the same criuse director and some officers will go back to the same ship. We have seen crew members we had on one ship on from a different crew. You will get the SAME service again but from different crew members!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have quite a few cruises on HAL.

Very rarely do we see the same crew on the same ship.

As a rule when they go home for vacation -- they usually are assigned to another ship. They can request to be on a certain ship -- but requests are not guaranteed.

Years ago we used to run into crew members we knew from another ship -- that is rare now.

[okgirl]

I cruise several times a year and at least one of those times will recognize one or two of the crew. I keep in touch with a couple of them so I know what ship they will be going to after their break and sometimes I'll book that ship just to see them.

 

Earlier this year I was on the Glory and a dining room bar waitress named Anna came over to say hello and that she recognized us from another cruise where she was the lobby bartender from over a year earlier.

 

It amazes me that even after seeing tens of thousands of people that a crew member will not just recognize you, but be able to call you by name.

 

I guess my sister and I are an odd looking pair, because I'm real tall and she is real short but we still look alike in our faces, kind of like she's my mini-me.....:p

[Hlitner]

The OP specifically mentions Holland America. On that cruise line most of the crew works under contracts that last about 9-10 months (it actually can vary slightly due to contract extensions). Once a contract expires the crew members generally go home for a vacation and generally have no clue as their future with the cruise line. After a few weeks (or months) the crew member might be offered a new contract which could be on the same ship or on any other ship of the line. Hotel Managers (and other high ranking managment) can certainly influence the process and request certain crew members, but most of the decisions are made at the centralized crew staffing office at the home office. So, to answer the OPs question, odds are that you would find a few crew members from the prior year, but a large majority will not have been on that same ship a year earlier. We recently cruised on the Prinsendam for 41 days and had been on the same ship exactly 1 year earlier for 42 days. We had hoped to see some of our previous crew but there were very few on the ship from the prior year. We did have some of the same supervisors (such as the bar manager) and the same Captain (Captain "Its me again" Gundersen) but our favorite bar tenders, waiters, and stewards were long gone.

 

Hank