Complaints about Personnel Cutbacks

[DreamingBig1]

I have seen many complaints on this boards and other boards about cutbacks on personnel. Dining room wait staff, room attendants, bar tenders/drink attendants, etc.

 

Here's what I don't understand, and correct me if I am wrong. I know I don't know all...

 

The above mentioned get paid basically on tips, with a small wage built in. We as passengers pay their wages.

 

I would imagine that RCI or other cruise line is paying costly health insurance, workers compensation, unemployment, and especially taxes that land based companies pay.

 

So here's the question. Why would there be staff cutbacks if there is little cost to the cruise line? If staff cutbacks are truly happening, there has to be another reason than not wanting to pay staff.

Edited March 18, 2015 by DreamingBig1

[Summerknight]

There have been several crew members tell us that a lot of the staff have been moved to the mega ships and that means more tables to wait on or more rooms to clean than they used to have. A bartender that we have known for many years was required to go to a new mega ship. He said there were too many bartenders. In that case, cutting their income.

[rummenroman]

I would imagine that RCI or other cruise line is paying costly health insurance, workers compensation, unemployment, and especially taxes that land based companies pay.

 

I going to go out on a limb and say this isn't true. All Royal ships are flagged under The Bahamas. Therefore Royal isn't obligated to pay any of this, unless The Bahamas requires it, which I would doubt. Royal wouldn't flag a ship where they were required to pay these things.

[BonnieSte]

I going to go out on a limb and say this isn't true. All Royal ships are flagged under The Bahamas. Therefore Royal isn't obligated to pay any of this, unless The Bahamas requires it, which I would doubt. Royal wouldn't flag a ship where they were required to pay these things.

 

I will sit out there with you :D

[retird]

I am currently on voyager of the seas 16 night aus/nz. And i do not see any reduction in staff in the dining rooms or the bars. Staff are very prompt an today at the welcome back party the waiters were abundant.

[chengkp75]

There have been several crew members tell us that a lot of the staff have been moved to the mega ships and that means more tables to wait on or more rooms to clean than they used to have. A bartender that we have known for many years was required to go to a new mega ship. He said there were too many bartenders. In that case, cutting their income.

 

While it is common industry practice to cherry pick crew from existing ships to fill slots on new ships, the vacancies created are at most temporary, and more usually non-existent, being filled right away with new crew, who may not be as experienced.

 

I have seen many complaints on this boards and other boards about cutbacks on personnel. Dining room wait staff, room attendants, bar tenders/drink attendants, etc. Without concrete data on crew size, I would tend to dismiss this as "perceptions", not facts.

 

The above mentioned get paid basically on tips, with a small wage built in. We as passengers pay their wages. While the DSC or auto gratuity, and additional tips make up a "significant portion" of their wage, it is in the range of 35-40% or so, not the majority.

 

I would imagine that RCI or other cruise line is paying costly health insurance, workers compensation, unemployment, and especially taxes that land based companies pay.I assume you meant to say "not" paying these.

 

So here's the question. Why would there be staff cutbacks if there is little cost to the cruise line? If staff cutbacks are truly happening, there has to be another reason than not wanting to pay staff.

 

Again, without concrete data on reduction in crew size, I will dispute that it is happening. It may be. With the implementation of the MLC 2006 international maritime labor requirements, the lines have had to restructure their payrolls, so there may be more payroll cost than in past, but again, I will withhold judgment until I see facts.

 

Talking with tipped crew can give a skewed view of things. They can be "working" you for more tips with tales of crew cutbacks and more work for them. The same discussion with supervisory staff may reveal a different story. Remember, no turkey ever voted to make Thanksgiving a holiday. People will say and do what is in their best interest.

[xpcdoojk]

While it is common industry practice to cherry pick crew from existing ships to fill slots on new ships, the vacancies created are at most temporary, and more usually non-existent, being filled right away with new crew, who may not be as experienced.

 

 

 

Again, without concrete data on reduction in crew size, I will dispute that it is happening. It may be. With the implementation of the MLC 2006 international maritime labor requirements, the lines have had to restructure their payrolls, so there may be more payroll cost than in past, but again, I will withhold judgment until I see facts.

 

Talking with tipped crew can give a skewed view of things. They can be "working" you for more tips with tales of crew cutbacks and more work for them. The same discussion with supervisory staff may reveal a different story. Remember, no turkey ever voted to make Thanksgiving a holiday. People will say and do what is in their best interest.

 

Much wisdom in this post, and I am guessing is close to the truth. Which most of us will never know.

 

jc

[Missus Makkem]

So why do the Cabin attendants have no extra staff to help them and now do it all themselves. plus they have more cabins to clean?

I thought this was so shortsighted as the cabin attendant was actually training his/her helper.

Other Cruise lines still have 2 per cabin and boy what a difference in the standards and helpfulness.

[jticarruthers]

Talking with the bartenders on Allure about a year ago they indicated that the bar staff were actually not RCI employees but sub-contractors through an agency of some kind. I would pretty much guarantee that agency is not US-based so pretty sure they are not subject to US employment law/taxes, etc. since they work for a non-US employment agency and don't work "in" the US.

[nelblu]

So why do the Cabin attendants have no extra staff to help them and now do it all themselves. plus they have more cabins to clean?

I thought this was so shortsighted as the cabin attendant was actually training his/her helper.

Other Cruise lines still have 2 per cabin and boy what a difference in the standards and helpfulness.

 

I've never seen an assistant cabin boy on RCL. I've never seen an asst. cabin boy on the Home , Bermuda Star, Italian & Celebrity. Also, If Cabin Steward has more cabins to clean he/she is making more in tips.

 

What I've seen in the past 5 years of cruising is a lot more of staff devoted to Guest Services.

[chengkp75]

So why do the Cabin attendants have no extra staff to help them and now do it all themselves. plus they have more cabins to clean?

I thought this was so shortsighted as the cabin attendant was actually training his/her helper.

Other Cruise lines still have 2 per cabin and boy what a difference in the standards and helpfulness.

 

I've never seen an assistant cabin boy on RCL. I've never seen an asst. cabin boy on the Home , Bermuda Star, Italian & Celebrity. Also, If Cabin Steward has more cabins to clean he/she is making more in tips.

 

What I've seen in the past 5 years of cruising is a lot more of staff devoted to Guest Services.

 

While I will not address the first poster's perceived difference in standards, etc., let me address some things.

 

The cruise lines will what I call "time and motion studies" (not sure what the modern term is), to determine the best overall usage of personnel. If they found that moving an assistant cabin steward (if there was one) to a different set of duties that are not visible to the guest right at the cabin, but that made the cabin stewards' jobs easier, they would do so. Maybe this person sets up the carts, maybe they shuttle laundry, there could be lots of areas for efficiency.

 

Or, if they found that the assistant steward was not needed for the full day, they may have made a few more stewards and eliminated the assistant, and reassigned that person to another job where the existing crew were struggling to meet demand, like the laundry or galley.

 

The real measure is crew/passenger. Technical departments (deck, and engine, which include security and medical) tend to be of fixed size, and with the larger ships, these departments tend to have a smaller crew/pax ratio, so there is more for the hotel staff to use. I haven't seen any data that crew/pax ratios are falling, so I don't believe that overall crew size has diminished. Further, there is a hard basement on crew size, based on the crew's emergency station bill, which lists the crew's duties, and which must be approved by the flag state and the classification society to meet SOLAS requirements.

[DreamingBig1]

I meant not paying. Rummerroman I agree with you. See what happens when you miss one word? Changes kind of the gist of the whole point. Lol

 

Bouncing off cell phone towers, straight to your electronic device for your viewing pleasure. -Tapatalk

Edited March 18, 2015 by DreamingBig1

[chengkp75]

I meant not paying. Rummerroman I agree with you. See what happens when you miss one word? Changes kind of the gist of the whole point. Lol

 

Bouncing off cell phone towers, straight to your electronic device for your viewing pleasure. -Tapatalk

 

Kind of like punctuation saves lives: "Lets eat Grandma" or "Lets eat, Grandma" :eek: Not that you missed any.

Edited March 18, 2015 by chengkp75

[bouhunter]

I have seen many complaints on this boards and other boards about cutbacks on personnel. Dining room wait staff, room attendants, bar tenders/drink attendants, etc.

 

Here's what I don't understand, and correct me if I am wrong. I know I don't know all...

 

The above mentioned get paid basically on tips, with a small wage built in. We as passengers pay their wages.

 

I would imagine that RCI or other cruise line is paying costly health insurance, workers compensation, unemployment, and especially taxes that land based companies pay.

 

So here's the question. Why would there be staff cutbacks if there is little cost to the cruise line? If staff cutbacks are truly happening, there has to be another reason than not wanting to pay staff.

 

Whether right or wrong, you just mentioned a litany of expenses for each crew member. So why would you then say there is little to no cost to the cruise line????:rolleyes:

[DreamingBig1]

Whether right or wrong, you just mentioned a litany of expenses for each crew member. So why would you then say there is little to no cost to the cruise line????:rolleyes:

 

I don't think I mentioned any expenses. There are always expenses. However cruise lines don't have to pay insurance, taxes, unemployment and workers compensation for their employees. The aforementioned staff work principally for gratuities.

 

So exactly what is the cruise line paying?

 

I am not saying service is bad. I have just read so many complaints about lack of staff.

 

Bouncing off cell phone towers, straight to your electronic device for your viewing pleasure. -Tapatalk

[Rocketlady]

While it is common industry practice to cherry pick crew from existing ships to fill slots on new ships, the vacancies created are at most temporary, and more usually non-existent, being filled right away with new crew, who may not be as experienced.

 

I was on the Quantum a couple weeks ago and we all felt they didn't have enough help in the dining rooms at night. The crew had way too many tables to serve. We had to wait to get serve the different dishes through out the meal. I don't think it is fair to the service people to always saying sorry they

are doing their best to keep things flowing at a fast paste.

 

Maybe RC should be an undercover boss for a cruise and walk in their shoes.

[chengkp75]

While it is common industry practice to cherry pick crew from existing ships to fill slots on new ships, the vacancies created are at most temporary, and more usually non-existent, being filled right away with new crew, who may not be as experienced.

 

I was on the Quantum a couple weeks ago and we all felt they didn't have enough help in the dining rooms at night. The crew had way too many tables to serve. We had to wait to get serve the different dishes through out the meal. I don't think it is fair to the service people to always saying sorry they

are doing their best to keep things flowing at a fast paste.

 

Maybe RC should be an undercover boss for a cruise and walk in their shoes.

 

From what I understand, Quantum is a bit of a unique situation, in that it is the only ship (?) implementing Dynamic Dining, and this being a new concept to RCI, has resulted in difficulties in dining. I'm sure that the staffing levels for DD are being addressed, but again, with a hard ceiling on crew size (fixed number of cabins and beds, unlike a hotel or resort ashore), there may need to be realignment from other areas of the ship, and this will need to take time to study and adjust so as to not negatively affect another area of guest service.

[robandana]

I don't feel there are any less staff, just less qualified staff.

 

What I have seen in the past few years is less qualified staff/crew members, less knowledge about what they are serving.

 

Only a few crew get paid via the tips system the rest (pool, guest services, laundry, maintenance, IT, general cleaning and many more)

 

We have made many good friends sailing with RCL over the years and many are past and present crew members and all of them tell me that they have had salary reductions.

 

Also for the crew that do receive tips now that they are automated they go directly onto there paychecks and are taxed on total income and not just there salaries like before.

[Cruzin-K]

I've definitely noticed the effects of a reduction in staff. Waiters have more tables to serve, cabin stewards have more cabins to clean and there are fewer bar waiters everywhere. For me, it was impossible to NOT notice on my last couple cruises.

 

It took so long to get served at dinner that the appetizers and entrees were not even hot when they were served :( Who wants to eat cold steak for dinner :confused:

[Big_G]

We've had assistant cabin attendants on both Royal and Celebrity. Sometimes we've only seen them once through an entire cruise. We've noticed less bar servers spinning their trays around the pool deck but other than that, I haven't noticed any staff reductions.

[Scotty G]

I would imagine that RCI or other cruise line is paying costly health insurance, workers compensation, unemployment, and especially taxes that land based companies pay.

 

All the "Hourly" folks (cabin stewards, bar-folks, waitstaff and housekeeping folks) are independent contractors. As such they are responsible to their home countries for all such personal matters. They have minimal insurance coverage under their contracts.

 

With the increase in gratuities RCI no longer provides the above mentioned contract employees $25 every two weeks.

[DreamingBig1]

All the "Hourly" folks (cabin stewards, bar-folks, waitstaff and housekeeping folks) are independent contractors. As such they are responsible to their home countries for all such personal matters. They have minimal insurance coverage under their contracts.

 

With the increase in gratuities RCI no longer provides the above mentioned contract employees $25 every two weeks.

I clarified this in another post. I mistakenly left out "does not". Totally changed the dynamic of that paragraph.

 

 

 

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