Are Royal Caribbean and Celebrity crew suffering financially when sailing in Aus?

[GUT2407]

They get their contracted wages. On a recent cruise, one of the cabin stewards we got friendly with told me he had been a dishwasher and then been promoted to cabin steward. He remarked, that he would have rather stayed a dishwasher. He said his wife at home is a accountant (with a Uni degree), but that he earns more than she does. Naturally I didn't ask him about pay rates. :D

 

 

Frequently hear that those at home in Professions are earning less than those on ships.

 

We support one fellow in the Philippines who earns about $200 a month and has the only concrete house in his village and is considered wealthy.

 

It's his house the whole town bunkers down in during storms.

[Royalty X]

They get their contracted wages. On a recent cruise, one of the cabin stewards we got friendly with told me he had been a dishwasher and then been promoted to cabin steward. He remarked, that he would have rather stayed a dishwasher. He said his wife at home is a accountant (with a Uni degree), but that he earns more than she does. Naturally I didn't ask him about pay rates. :D

 

 

I think you're right. And the majority of the staff seem to love what they do, so they are either really good actors, or they genuinely love it and get paid what they consider "enough". [emoji4]

[MicCanberra]

I think you're right. And the majority of the staff seem to love what they do, so they are either really good actors, or they genuinely love it and get paid what they consider "enough". [emoji4]

 

Many have come back time and time again with renewed contracts so it cannot be too bad for them as they must make more than if they were in their home countries.

Edited January 9, 2016 by MicCanberra

[avalon007]

I took the time to read through this whole thread & found some of the opinions presented are definitely not my experience of cruising or representative of us. Some posters seem to have a bit of a chip on their shoulder on certain issues.

 

Having cruised mostly in recent years with Royal & once on Celebrity we have always paid gratuities up front & often leave a little extra for the cabin steward/wait staff. Most cruisers we meet pay the gratuities. We spend time at the customer service desk as do many people & I've never yet heard anyone removing gratuities - most are there to get new room keys, or exchange currency or any of the other mundane house keeping things you attend to on a cruise.

 

We are always polite to staff & show appreciation with a smile, nod or thank you as appropriate every time they provide us a service. We have always found the staff to be more than friendly & always acknowledge us as we pass by in the halls etc. You most often get back what you give, everyone likes to feel appreciated & in turn you get even better service if you make their life easier.

 

Example is My Time Dining, we never book, but also never turn up expecting a table for 2 or a certain position, we just say put us anywhere, happy to share, & we never wait more than a few minutes for a table. But we would wait without whining if it did take longer because we chose not to book. Taking responsibility for the consequences of your actions is something some people on cruises & on land for that matter really need to get their heads around! :rolleyes:

 

We chose Royal/Celebrity because our research in general showed we would get a more mixed & maybe less bogan crowd & so far apart from the odd few we have found the people on board to be well dressed & well mannered. Lots of interesting people to talk with & we always ask to share a table at dinner to meet new people.

 

We have always found cruises out of Australia to be majority Australian with age demographic tending older on NZ cruises than South Pacific Island cruises. We found our overseas cruises a mixed aged demographic.

 

I also think it helps that we try not to cruise during school holidays so you get more adults, couples & less families - so potentially a less casual cruise when it comes to dress code?

 

Also being middle aged doesn't mean you have to be overweight or inactive - we are middle aged & are fitter & considerably thinner (normal BMI) than many of the 20-30 somethings we see on board.

 

We also enjoy dressing well - dressy casual for dinner & participate in formal night dressing up. I think the young crowd 18 - 30 often dress badly for their body shapes in many cases looking like they just woke up. Unbrushed hair, exposed muffin tops or guts hanging over the top of shorts are not attractive on anyone at any age sorry.

 

We believe a cruise is what you make it - if you meet negative people whining about their cruise experience/life/weight/self imposed illness etc then just move on & avoid them in the future. No use trying to educate them that they are their own problem - let them wallow in their misery & hope they decide cruising isn't for them in future so you never have to meet them again! :D

 

I believe the staff on board are happy enough in general with their jobs from what I have heard over the years, they get free housing, meals etc & in many cases make more money than doing similar work in their own countries.

 

I worked in Sydney a few years back with some Indian people who said they got paid $50 a month in India & they were middle class Indians considered to be doing well. Whilst in training in Australia they were provided with a flat to live in as well as receiving $48 a day for meals whilst at work- they saved most of that money - pooled the rest, cooked their meals each night & brought a packed lunch to work. They felt like they had hit the jackpot!

 

Money is always relevant to where you call home, $20 in Sydney won't even get you far in a cab, but in Indonesia, The Philippines etc it could be a weeks groceries - it's all relative.

 

Anyhow, that's my 2 cents worth & looking forward to our next cruise in 2 months. :)

[MicCanberra]

Some sound advice and logic, cheers.

[JacintaH]

'White boats', do you mean cruise ships? I wouldn't like the ATO to ask me about undeclare income, or anything else for that matter. :D BTW, I have nothing to hide.

 

The white boats are the luxury small cruisers that roam the world to be available in the event that their owners would like to spend some time on a boat. They often come to Cairns for repair or refit. Australians working on a cruise ship would face the same tax issues.

 

A 'please explain' letter can be rather distressing as the ATO is not renown for wording the letters gently. Not declaring income is now quite a hazardous strategy in the era of international data sharing agreements. :cool:

[Aus Traveller]

The white boats are the luxury small cruisers that roam the world to be available in the event that their owners would like to spend some time on a boat. They often come to Cairns for repair or refit. Australians working on a cruise ship would face the same tax issues.

 

A 'please explain' letter can be rather distressing as the ATO is not renown for wording the letters gently. Not declaring income is now quite a hazardous strategy in the era of international data sharing agreements. :cool:

OK. Thanks for the explanation. I have heard that several of these large private yachts employ young Aussies. That would be quite a life. :)

[MicCanberra]

The travel and the views would be awesome but I am not sure the work would be that great or well paid.

[JacintaH]

OK. Thanks for the explanation. I have heard that several of these large private yachts employ young Aussies. That would be quite a life. :)

 

The work is quite monotonous - it's all about cleaning and maintenance. Clean and maintain over and over and over again. For anyone who has a skippering or engineering job it can help in getting the sea time up for international qualifications but for housekeepers there is no real career path.

 

Looks glamorous from the outside but no so much fun when you take a closer look. (Same as accounting really :p:D:eek::cool:)

[MicCanberra]

The work is quite monotonous - it's all about cleaning and maintenance. Clean and maintain over and over and over again. For anyone who has a skippering or engineering job it can help in getting the sea time up for international qualifications but for housekeepers there is no real career path.

 

Looks glamorous from the outside but no so much fun when you take a closer look. (Same as accounting really :p:D:eek::cool:)

 

Yes, or painting the harbour bridge. Buy the time you finish you have to start again.:p

[The_Big_M]

Mate I strongly advise you to use Google to check the international standard pay rates before talking about crews being paid a pittance, you might just be surprised.

 

And you might want to check the results in google as to how it is broken up.

 

The results I've seen indicate the actual wage is around the $50-100 mark/month (depending on role/seniority). However, the remuneration after tips is what increases the amount.

 

Just like the US system.

[Big Kev]

Just a little more confusing information re renumeration requirements for those working under the tipped employment system in USA. Ships basically follow the same model for service staff.

 

"Requirements

The employer must provide the following information to a tipped employee before the employer may use the tip credit:

1) the amount of cash wage the employer is paying a tipped employee, which must be at least $2.13 per hour;

2) the additional amount claimed by the employer as a tip credit, which cannot exceed $5.12 (the difference between the minimum required cash wage of $2.13 and the current minimum wage of $7.25);

3) that the tip credit claimed by the employer cannot exceed the amount of tips actually received by the tipped employee;

4) that all tips received by the tipped employee are to be retained by the employee except for a valid tip pooling arrangement limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips; and

5) that the tip credit will not apply to any tipped employee unless the employee has been informed of these tip credit provisions."

 

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Confused still ??

 

OK, read the whole website here ..

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.htm

 

Note that each US state is also different minimum ..

Happy reading !!!!

 

Phil..

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for that, it is as clear as mud.:D

[GUT2407]

Just a little more confusing information re renumeration requirements for those working under the tipped employment system in USA. Ships basically follow the same model for service staff.

 

"Requirements

The employer must provide the following information to a tipped employee before the employer may use the tip credit:

1) the amount of cash wage the employer is paying a tipped employee, which must be at least $2.13 per hour;

2) the additional amount claimed by the employer as a tip credit, which cannot exceed $5.12 (the difference between the minimum required cash wage of $2.13 and the current minimum wage of $7.25);

3) that the tip credit claimed by the employer cannot exceed the amount of tips actually received by the tipped employee;

4) that all tips received by the tipped employee are to be retained by the employee except for a valid tip pooling arrangement limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips; and

5) that the tip credit will not apply to any tipped employee unless the employee has been informed of these tip credit provisions."

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Confused still ??

 

OK, read the whole website here ..

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.htm

 

Note that each US state is also different minimum ..

Happy reading !!!!

 

Phil..

 

Basically saying they pay a minimum amount (let's say $100 a week) and the line retains the first $100 a week of tips, if they only get $50 tips this week, next week they keep the first $150 and soon.

 

But do the lines follow this practice?

[GUT2407]

And you might want to check the results in google as to how it is broken up.

 

The results I've seen indicate the actual wage is around the $50-100 mark/month (depending on role/seniority). However, the remuneration after tips is what increases the amount.

 

Just like the US system.

 

I found one recruitment site for Disney that quotes $50 a month, but have not been able to find a site that actually discloses what the rate is on Princess etc in Australia.

[Aus Traveller]

I found one recruitment site for Disney that quotes $50 a month, but have not been able to find a site that actually discloses what the rate is on Princess etc in Australia.

Obviously where tips aren't a part of the remuneration, the amount paid under their contract is massively higher than that. :)

[MicCanberra]

Do we need to know exactly how they get paid and how much?

[OzKiwiJJ]

Do we need to know exactly how they get paid and how much?

 

Nope! :rolleyes:

[GUT2407]

Do we need to know exactly how they get paid and how much?

 

Nope! :rolleyes:

 

 

But many seem fixated on it.

[Aus Traveller]

Do we need to know exactly how they get paid and how much?

I agree with you. We do not need to know. They seem to be happy in their job or they would not keep signing up to new contracts.

 

I think the question arose because people were concerned that the staff were being underpaid when the auto-tips were removed. I do not think this is the case because the cruiselines have to employ them under a different contract from staff who are part of a tips pool in other parts of the world.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Aus Traveller

[MicCanberra]

I suppose my point was that when travelling, tips are part of the expenses along with fees and taxes, budget for it and don't stress about who is getting paid what or how much.

IMO, there will always be some who will try to get out of paying for something and Karma has a way of getting back to them eventually.