dream crew rumours?

[geomagot]

http://www.theapollogroup.com/our-clients/

 

notice the new clients for november 2014 ?? :eek: :confused:

[Little Nell]

There has been much discussion and some hysteria about this on FB.

 

It seems today from someone who has been in touch with the a crew member that the crew will be retained even although the company is changing.

 

Another FB member said her husband, Wendell, is a bar tender on the Celebration and Dream and he and one of the other bar tenders have been told they are no longer required.

 

I suppose only time will tell what impact, if any, this will have.

 

Confusing or what :confused:

[Julessmiles]

I know nothing at all about Shipping employment law up but I do know that the company I work for have sadly had to stop employing staff from the Philippines due to The UK Government tightening rules & making huge restrictions - probably pushed by EU law as we are now seem to be obliged to employ staff from all over Europe including staff that speak very little English unlike the Filipinos who are English speakers - as you can imagine it has caused a lot of upset but maybe this could be one of the reasons Thomson have had to change to a different agency?

Edited June 16, 2014 by Julessmiles

[kruzseeka]

Oh dear I hope that doesn't mean the waiting staff will change as that was one of Thomson's big pluses. We've often said the crew and entertainment are what make Thomson Cruises special - any changes are a concern.

 

Most of all though I have concerns for the crew. I only hope they all find good alternative employment if they aren't employed with Thomson any more.

 

I wonder if Thomson Cruises are bound by EU employment law Jules. I always understood it related to the flag under which they are registered - of course that may be the EU - is it Valletta where Dream is registered? Knowledge of EU very shaky! :D

My guess would be that they have changed for economic reasons. :rolleyes: All recent changes have been down to cost cutting in the last couple of years and a lot of it to the detriment of the Thomson product IMO. :(

Edited June 16, 2014 by kruzseeka

[skioncruises]

When we were on Island Escape the waiters were employed by Apollo and had to fly via Miami to their agents before going home at the end of their contract. Some of them were from the Phillipines and one of the Maitre D's was from Egypt. There was a mix of nationalities as one of our waitresses was from Odessa.

[geomagot]

crew have switched agencies before.....apollo used to run destiny, at that time many of the crew switched to majesty i dont know if apollo currently still hold the contract for majesty? but they do currently hold the contract for the island escape

 

the crew may well just switch to the new/old agency (apollo recruit in the philippines/indonesia as well as eastern europe)....there may even be some improvements in the catering as a result

 

it makes good business sense to employ the same agency across the fleet....more crew flexibility between the ships and more opportunities for the crew

[Stevio]

http://www.theapollogroup.com/our-clients/

 

notice the new clients for november 2014 ?? :eek: :confused:

 

Ooh good spot. I thought the Island Escape was still run for Thomson's by Loui cruises... Having just sailed with her I am happy to report that the catering, serving & entertainment staff look similar to a couple of years ago. But could explain the near complete change of casino staff with only the one croupier from that time left.

The management change could also explain the room steward's near desperate pleas for his name to be included on the ships "Oscars" form, & for the form to be handed directly to himself as the "reception loses them"... Said outright that his future contracts are dependent on good feedback. (Good job that doesn't apply in my occupation or I would have been gone years ago.)

Edited June 16, 2014 by Stevio

[kruzseeka]

crew have switched agencies before.....apollo used to run destiny, at that time many of the crew switched to majesty i dont know if apollo currently still hold the contract for majesty? but they do currently hold the contract for the island escape

 

And we hear good reports about IE

 

the crew may well just switch to the new/old agency (apollo recruit in the philippines/indonesia as well as eastern europe)....there may even be some improvements in the catering as a result

 

Well that would certainly be of great interest and pleasure to me! It's was quite a downer on our last trip on Dream.

 

it makes good business sense to employ the same agency across the fleet....more crew flexibility between the ships and more opportunities for the crew

 

Now that would be a very good thing and if it's the same agency as Louis use, not much to worry about since the reports from Spirit and Majesty re service and food seem to be holding up. :)

[geomagot]

casino is run by a concession same as the spa/photographers/shops ....a few months ago they changed the photographers on dream...and that was an improvement imo

 

maybe the casino concession contract has changed also stevio??

 

there have been rumours that there would be hotel agency changes since march (when I was on dream) the contracts usually do run for about 5 years....so on dream that would be about now

 

on the potential crew changes (and to all those who are signing the petitions on twitter & facebook?) agency change may not be a bad thing? (for us or the crew) ....might be best to wait and see what thoms say about this? or (more likely) until we receive some (onboard) feedback

Edited June 16, 2014 by geomagot

[kruzseeka]

crew have switched agencies before.....apollo used to run destiny, at that time many of the crew switched to majesty i dont know if apollo currently still hold the contract for majesty? but they do currently hold the contract for the island escape

 

And we hear good rports of IE

 

the crew may well just switch to the new/old agency (apollo recruit in the philippines/indonesia as well as eastern europe)....there may even be some improvements in the catering as a result

 

Well that would be good news to me! Food in the mdr was an isuue for me on our last Dream trip so any improvemnets would be very welcome.

 

it makes good business sense to employ the same agency across the fleet....more crew flexibility between the ships and more opportunities for the crew

 

Now that would be a very good thing and if it's the same agency as Louis use, not much to worry about since the reports from Spirit and Majesty re service and food seem to be holding up. :)

 

Reposted this as my embedded comments weren't highlighted and looked as though they were yours geo.

 

Must say re the staff, the mixed nationalities on Celebrity were excellent (also Spirit aren't predominantly Fillipino) - just as friendly as Thomson and the service was great so change needn't necessarily be a bad thing but I would just like to think that the crew would have th chance to be re-employed or if replaced are able to gain employment elsewhere.

 

(Interesting on Celebrity the waiter told us he had a six month contract, two months off but new contract issued before he leaves for his vacation. If he decides not to return at the agreed date, that can be deferred for up to a year then they will still re-employ him! Much better job security but of course a bigger fleet with no ships 'standing down' in the winter.)

[joeholiday2]

All hell has broken loose on FB, I have kept out of it, racist comments towards our Eastern European friends, not on at all.:mad::mad:

 

There was a kneejerk reaction and a petition set up, and I am with you Geo, we need the facts before jumping to conclusions.

 

They are talking on FB about them having to pay $1000 to transfer over, I think they are getting confused with the bond all crew have to post with the agency, this is to ensure they have funds to get home either in an emergency of if they get sacked.

 

I hope it is all a storm in a teacup and the crew just transfer over to the new agency.

[geomagot]

I would just like to think that the crew would have th chance to be re-employed or if replaced are able to gain employment elsewhere.

 

 

tbh agencies are common in a lot of industries and changes do happen...but a good workforce will always be desired (i guess some cherry picking does happen) but good skilled staff should not have too much to worry about imo

 

I dont think thoms would be so foolish to want to make sweeping changes to something that they openly admit is one of their strongest assets?.... if this new contact was negotiated on costs alone then that would be a very risky strategy imo

 

hopefully it will simply be the case that they are falling back on a tried and tested format in the hope of building on their existing (crew) assets

[campolady]

We noticed that there were a lot of Eastern European staff on Majesty in April (not so much in MDRs). Must say, all the ones we met spoke very good English and were very hard workers. Our cabin stewardess was a pleasure to meet and talk to.

[geomagot]

We noticed that there were a lot of Eastern European staff on Majesty in April (not so much in MDRs). Must say, all the ones we met spoke very good English and were very hard workers. Our cabin stewardess was a pleasure to meet and talk to.

 

I remeber that destiny housekeeping staff were predominantly from eastern europe.... when dream was first brought online the housekeeping staff were predominately from indonesia....the reason behind that was costs!

 

the stewards on dream currently do struggle imo?...they are undermanned and are given too many cabins to do...they cant afford to employ an assistant so have to do everything themselves to the extent that I hate to disturb them by asking for something.....despite this they are efficient, friendly and try their best.... i am not knocking them...they do a fantastic job

 

but:

 

we rarely had a towel animal on dream?

 

sometimes the cabins are not made up until well into the evening? (I guess someone has to be last)

 

pool towels regularly dont get delivered until afternoon (too late)

 

they dont routinely fill the ice bucket (and I hate to give the steward yet another job to do)

 

many stewards I have spoken too on dream often say that they don’t have the time to go ashore and that they spend their breaks sleeping

 

none of the above ever happened on destiny....on destiny (& island escape) the eastern european housekeepers would be waiting in the corridor in the early mornings, as soon as you left the cabin, they were in there and had the room made up before we had finished breakfast, generally there was always a steward and an assistant, they would come around at 6pm asking if you required ice (or anything else?) and we often met them ashore enjoying their afternoon breaks

[joeholiday2]

Housekeeping do work exceptionally hard, they have 27 cabins to service between 2 of them on Majesty. We told them to leave ours on the changeover day, but they still did it bless them.

[davecttr]

I found Spirit and Majesty, both run by Louis cruises, had excellent staff and were at least as good if not better than Thomsons Dream/Celebration as far as staff were concerned.. There were a lot of eastern european crew but they were just fine.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

We noticed that there were a lot of Eastern European staff on Majesty in April (not so much in MDRs). Must say, all the ones we met spoke very good English and were very hard workers. Our cabin stewardess was a pleasure to meet and talk to.

 

Quite agree campolady :) We had a lovely cabin steward on the Spirit. She was from Bulgaria. She spoke good English and we had brilliant towel animals every night. I bought the towel animal book and she was so pleased and thanked me. (not actually attempted to make any yet :()

 

Not been on fb today;) Dare I look? :eek::D

[kruzseeka]

I have a feeling our steward on Dream said he had 17 or 18 cabins to do. On Majesty 27 between 2 sounds far more manageable. Another example of cost cutting on Dream or should I say a Thomson managed ship?

 

I think everything we've noted over recent years which is not as it was - can be put down to systematic economy drives affecting staff who have more to do than before and the service they are able to provide to their guests in housekeeping, dining room and bars. When will Thomson realise we are noticing and gets to a stage where perhaps we aren't prepared to go along with it? For that matter do others like us sense that quite a lot of staff who had been with Thomson over many years have moved on? That's quite telling too.

[geomagot]

on dream in march, our steward was doing 21 cabins... twice a day...on his own:(

[kruzseeka]

on dream in march, our steward was doing 21 cabins... twice a day...on his own:(

 

***** **** !!!!!!! :( That's grim! My heart goes out to them.

[KOPITE 96]

I agree that is awful and must be so stressful for them, especially when you hear passengers talking to them as if they are a "lower class" and there for their every whim!! I have seen passengers put their head out of the cabin and click their fingers to get the steward's attention for something trivial, I challenged the passenger after observing this on several occasions and got a mouthful of abuse and by the way these people were not youngsters!!

Shame on them!!

[skioncruises]

I agree that is awful and must be so stressful for them, especially when you hear passengers talking to them as if they are a "lower class" and there for their every whim!! I have seen passengers put their head out of the cabin and click their fingers to get the steward's attention for something trivial, I challenged the passenger after observing this on several occasions and got a mouthful of abuse and by the way these people were not youngsters!! Shame on them!!

 

We did the TA on the Dream for 4 weeks in April and spoilt our cabin steward. With the exception of the two bottles of wine, of which DH had two glasses from each and the rest went down the sink, she got two plates of canapes, a plate of fresh fruit, and an Easter egg, which she went on about for the rest of the cruise. We also saw her out in the Azores and took photographs for her with her companion. We laughed, joked and managed conversations in between her duties for the four weeks. She didn't get much time off and when she did she slept. We made sure she was tipped as though there were no tips included in the holiday price. She was worth it.:)

[geomagot]

ok guys you may have already seen that thoms have confirmed on their facebook page that the new agency will be re employing the existing crew without imposing any financial restrictions on them

 

imo i think this may be good news? (v unusual for thoms to comment on operational matters?) they must be thinking that this is a step in the right direction?

 

hopefully we will now see some changes in crew numbers and better working conditions (especially on dream) and hopefully no more cheap cornish pasties

 

v happy for the crew

[Little Nell]

ok guys you may have already seen that thoms have confirmed on their facebook page that the new agency will be re employing the existing crew without imposing any financial restrictions on them

 

imo i think this may be good news? (v unusual for thoms to comment on operational matters?) they must be thinking that this is a step in the right direction?

 

hopefully we will now see some changes in crew numbers and better working conditions (especially on dream) and hopefully no more cheap cornish pasties

 

v happy for the crew

 

I was very sad reading about the working conditions for the Dream crew yesterday and I hope there is a restoration of numbers of crew on the Dream.

 

The other side of the coin is the passengers experience and Thomson need to realize that some of us have booked already with other cruise lines because of the impact of it on our last cruise. It may be difficult to get these previously loyal customers back so regularly.

[lovecruise22]

Skioncruises we were the same, always spoke to him and my husband had be camper can magazines in the room. He said the one day that he needed to apologise to us, we asked why? He said that he had sneeked a peek at the magazines as he loves campers. So once we had read them we gave them to him, he was over the moon :)

 

 

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