Do They Permit Staff to use Guest Cabins?

[dioxide45]

Just curious. On the last night of our Oasis cruise I was leaving our stateroom which was situated right next to a staff access way. There was a young couple that were members of the entertainment staff exiting that access door. I know they were entertainment staff as I recognized them from one of the production shows. They also had name tags on. They were not the headliner but rather regulars in the production show. They made a beeline for one of the interior cabins and were pulling small overnight bags. My guess is that perhaps this was a cabin that wasn't booked for guests.

[honeybee85]

Entertainment staff are often booked in "guest" cabins. Not every entertainer qualifies for this benefit but some do.

[jebuell]

I do believe staff can use un-booked cabins during time off, too. At least they can on Carnival. I know this because the cabin next to us on my first cruise was open and I noticed a different person was sleeping in there every night. Then I started seeing them around the ship and realized they were staff members.

[Marie51]

I have also seen entertainment staff staying in guest cabins as well as a lady that I recognized as a sales person in the jewelry shop onboard.

[sf2]

Possibility a cast change is happening. On the larger ships, they'll put the next cast onboard for a cruise or more so the new performers have more time to rehearse in the actual theater space, esp for the flying and more technical portions. As there's only a limited number of crew cabins available, there's no other place to berth the overlap crew other than unoccupied guest cabins. Sometimes the 'old' people will go into the guest cabin as a treat and the new ones will get to settle into their new 'homes' earlier. Upside is room service and not being in a bunk bed, downside is crew cabin TV is much better:D

[Sunkissed Mommy]

When I was getting off the Oasis last year I was in line in front of one of the girls on the entertainment staff- she was one of them that did flips and twirls in the hoops during Come Fly With Me.

 

She said that everyone that performs in the shows gets a guest cabin because they technically don't work for the cruise line, but the entertainment company. By the way, she was THRILLED to be getting off the ship. She boarded for the pre-inaugural and her 6 month contract was up. She said she needed a few months to recover and then she would think about returning!

 

A friend of mine has a husband who works on the ships representing an artist that comes on board (mostly Princess, but they go on Royal as well). He always gets a guest balcony cabin (not by choice- by contract) and is allowed to bring a guest whenever he wants. The guest just has to pay tips & port fees.

[MichelleChell]

On Carnival Conquest there was an inner hallway on the deck my room was. It was for staff only. It was rooms. I saw the childcare girls going to therem room one day as they stopped to chat with my daughter.

[fdthird]

My son is one of the featured singers in Chicago on the Allure. While they were overlaped with the first cast (they are cast 2 of the show) they stayed in guest cabins and had to move weekly if it was booked. Now they are in crew cabins but as a featured singer he is in a nicer crew cabin...a private cabin, the same kind the cruise director has, but still a crew cabin.

[Loonbeam]

This is not uncommon at all. Accommodations depend on the contract with the performer or agency. On our last cruise we met one of the featured singers and she indicated she had an oceanview guest cabin for the duration of her contract. She could also bring on as many guests as she wanted (1 at a time) for the costs of tips and $10 per day.)

[emeraldcity]

I met a woman on one of my RCI cruisers who told me she was the mother of one of the crew. She got to cruise for minimal cost. She said she was able to get a passenger cabin when they were available, but didn't have one on that cruise. She had a crew cabin becuase the ship was sailing at capacity.

[Miss Vickie]

Our son was the lighting tech on Serenade a while back. He was initially put in a guest cabin, because the guy he was replacing was still in his cabin. The first day aboard (embarkation day for guests, of course), he was napping in the cabin when the door opened and guests who had booked it walked in! Surprise!! :eek: His boss moved in with his girlfriend for the week (she was also a staff member), and our son moved to his boss' cabin for that week.

[Verfai]

When family comes over to visit a crew or staff member, they can request to stay with the family member in the cabin.

On our June 11th sailing one of the persons we met visited her nice, whom was a spa staff member on Liberty.

She booked an inside room as passenger and the nice after getting many signatures was allowed to stay in the cabin. Same goes for mingling with guests, she had to wear her crew badge at all time, and when mingling was not allowed to be in uniform.

We did notice every time an officer showed up she disappeared...Never found out why :)

[Clancy14]

My son is one of the featured singers in Chicago on the Allure. ......

 

Just off the Allure! Loved the singers and the Show! Are you allowed to tell us which "character" he plays in Chicago? Tell him that he has a lot of fans! (All the male singers were excellent, JMHO!) :).

 

- Miriam

[fdthird]

He is Amos Hart in Chicago and "Tree Man" at the start of Blue Planet and the sings the English version of Bridge Over Troubled Water

[bajathree]

Our son was the lighting tech on Serenade a while back. He was initially put in a guest cabin, because the guy he was replacing was still in his cabin. The first day aboard (embarkation day for guests, of course), he was napping in the cabin when the door opened and guests who had booked it walked in! Surprise!! :eek: His boss moved in with his girlfriend for the week (she was also a staff member), and our son moved to his boss' cabin for that week.

 

Was just told a very similar story by a couple we just meet on Liberty...they had friends who were on another sailing that experienced the same exact thing....went to their cabin to find one of the entertainers already living in it.....they were told they would have to wait a few hours till they had the entertainment person pack and move into another cabin...for their wait they were given 3 hours of an open bar.....said their friends were heavy drinkers so they weren't complaining and made very good use of that time.

[Topo Gigio]

Wrong post.

[fdthird]

Sounds good to me!

[Miss Vickie]

Was just told a very similar story by a couple we just meet on Liberty...they had friends who were on another sailing that experienced the same exact thing....went to their cabin to find one of the entertainers already living in it.....they were told they would have to wait a few hours till they had the entertainment person pack and move into another cabin...for their wait they were given 3 hours of an open bar.....said their friends were heavy drinkers so they weren't complaining and made very good use of that time.

 

I guess it happens more often than we actually know!

[megr1125]

a couple years ago, on EX, the stylist in the salon told us that they had a crew auction and they could bid on things like a month of meals in the WJ and the use of a guest cabin (IIRC it was a JS as they were talking about how cool it was to have a bath tub!)

 

Several gals in the spa pooled their money and won....each of them took turns in the cabin for a night.....

 

The money was all going to be donated to Make A Wish I think.....the gals were really excited....

 

so sometimes, crew will use guest facilities as part of a prize or reward......i think that's pretty neat......(of course it is all based on availability and company rules...)

[mommabean]

We've had a cruise director staying up the hall from us. This past cruise the port and shopping guide was staying in the room a few doors down the hall. I've known of the better headliners to have nicer rooms and even concierge access.

 

Gina