food snob Posted July 10, 2017 #1 Share Posted July 10, 2017 I know how long dining and room stewards contracts are, but how long are the officers contracts? I was just on Royal and someone said they were for 4 months with 6 weeks vacation. I thought the captain said he got a 6 week vacation. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted July 10, 2017 #2 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Captains on Royal are typically 10 weeks on and 10 weeks off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamloops50 Posted July 10, 2017 #3 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Room stewards and dining are usually 6 months . Many have been extended to 9 months. Deck officiers are usually 3 to 4 months depending on their rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 10, 2017 #4 Share Posted July 10, 2017 It varies by line. Captains are often on for 6 weeks and off for 6 weeks. Other crew contracts run as long as 10 or 11 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamloops50 Posted July 11, 2017 #5 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Cadets sometimes are on for six months. The other six are spent in school or r taking exams. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted July 11, 2017 #6 Share Posted July 11, 2017 It varies line by line. On a few lines, Captains and the other very Senior Officers work approximately 3 months on and 3 months off. We have a friend who is a recently retired cruise ship Captain. He once told us that as a Senior Officer on a cruise line (he was the Master at that time) he technically worked 24/7. And it was the same for his Chief Engineer and other senior staff. While they might have off-duty time, they were always on call and always had their areas of responsibility. So even when a Captain was asleep in his/her cabin....they were still the Captain and always responsible for every soul aboard. For the less senior staff. there is even more variance by cruise line. And work schedules can change for many reasons..so things do not always work as perfectly as some would hope. Senior Officers do get sick, have family emergencies, etc. Their jobs must be covered and the home office folks who deal with staffing much sometimes think out of the box. Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
food snob Posted July 18, 2017 Author #7 Share Posted July 18, 2017 It varies line by line. On a few lines, Captains and the other very Senior Officers work approximately 3 months on and 3 months off. We have a friend who is a recently retired cruise ship Captain. He once told us that as a Senior Officer on a cruise line (he was the Master at that time) he technically worked 24/7. And it was the same for his Chief Engineer and other senior staff. While they might have off-duty time, they were always on call and always had their areas of responsibility. So even when a Captain was asleep in his/her cabin....they were still the Captain and always responsible for every soul aboard. For the less senior staff. there is even more variance by cruise line. And work schedules can change for many reasons..so things do not always work as perfectly as some would hope. Senior Officers do get sick, have family emergencies, etc. Their jobs must be covered and the home office folks who deal with staffing much sometimes think out of the box. Hank Thanks much! Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaveitallbehind Posted July 18, 2017 #8 Share Posted July 18, 2017 It varies by line. Captains are often on for 6 weeks and off for 6 weeks. Other crew contracts run as long as 10 or 11 months. That may be so as to varying by cruise line, but regarding Captains the OP was referring to RCI, which Bob correctly identified as 10 weeks on with 10 weeks off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SadieN Posted July 19, 2017 #9 Share Posted July 19, 2017 It varies line by line. On a few lines, Captains and the other very Senior Officers work approximately 3 months on and 3 months off. We have a friend who is a recently retired cruise ship Captain. He once told us that as a Senior Officer on a cruise line (he was the Master at that time) he technically worked 24/7. And it was the same for his Chief Engineer and other senior staff. While they might have off-duty time, they were always on call and always had their areas of responsibility. So even when a Captain was asleep in his/her cabin....they were still the Captain and always responsible for every soul aboard. For the less senior staff. there is even more variance by cruise line. And work schedules can change for many reasons..so things do not always work as perfectly as some would hope. Senior Officers do get sick, have family emergencies, etc. Their jobs must be covered and the home office folks who deal with staffing much sometimes think out of the box. Hank Carnival just had a Captain pass away, they had to call one off vacation to cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted July 19, 2017 #10 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Carnival just had a Captain pass away, they had to call one off vacation to cover. I cannot resist but tell this amusing tale. The Celebrity Silhouette has a very popular Captain known as "Captain Demitrius" who is a Greek gentleman who could have his own late night comedy show. Every cruise he gives a talk (in the main theater) about the Bridge and ship operations...and its generally SRO...with most coming for the jokes. On one of these occasions he took questions from the passengers and a lady asked, "what happens if you get sick or are incapacitated." He responded, " my Staff Captain would take over...and he is a fully qualified Captain...and also Greek!" The lady then asked, "and what if he is also sick." Captain Demitrius responded, "My First Officer is also a licensed Captain and would easily take over.....and he is Greek!" And then somebody shouted out... what if he is also sick. Captain Demitrius took a long pause and then answered "Then, we are all having a very bad day. The next in command is not yet licensed as a Captain....and he is NOT Greek." Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruising cockroach Posted July 19, 2017 #11 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Not cruise lines but on a French-managed container line, the non-French E.U. national officers are on for 3 months and off for 3 months. For French officers, it is 2 and 2. The sole Filipino (2nd) officer was on a long contract (at least 6 months if not longer). One of the E.U. national officers said he left a German line because they were trying to get their E.U. national officers to go on a 6 months on 6 months off. A friend (USC) who when he was a 1st Officer on APL (was a captain last time I looked) had 3 month on and 3 month off, while the captains at that time did 6/6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'llGoAnywhere Posted July 20, 2017 #12 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I cannot resist but tell this amusing tale. The Celebrity Silhouette has a very popular Captain known as "Captain Demitrius" who is a Greek gentleman who could have his own late night comedy show. Every cruise he gives a talk (in the main theater) about the Bridge and ship operations...and its generally SRO...with most coming for the jokes. On one of these occasions he took questions from the passengers and a lady asked, "what happens if you get sick or are incapacitated." He responded, " my Staff Captain would take over...and he is a fully qualified Captain...and also Greek!" The lady then asked, "and what if he is also sick." Captain Demitrius responded, "My First Officer is also a licensed Captain and would easily take over.....and he is Greek!" And then somebody shouted out... what if he is also sick. Captain Demitrius took a long pause and then answered "Then, we are all having a very bad day. The next in command is not yet licensed as a Captain....and he is NOT Greek." Hank Love him! We had the opportunity to sail with him twice. Do you know if he still "captaining" for Celebrity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
food snob Posted July 20, 2017 Author #13 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I cannot resist but tell this amusing tale. The Celebrity Silhouette has a very popular Captain known as "Captain Demitrius" who is a Greek gentleman who could have his own late night comedy show. Every cruise he gives a talk (in the main theater) about the Bridge and ship operations...and its generally SRO...with most coming for the jokes. On one of these occasions he took questions from the passengers and a lady asked, "what happens if you get sick or are incapacitated." He responded, " my Staff Captain would take over...and he is a fully qualified Captain...and also Greek!" The lady then asked, "and what if he is also sick." Captain Demitrius responded, "My First Officer is also a licensed Captain and would easily take over.....and he is Greek!" And then somebody shouted out... what if he is also sick. Captain Demitrius took a long pause and then answered "Then, we are all having a very bad day. The next in command is not yet licensed as a Captain....and he is NOT Greek." Hank That is hilarious!! Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyboy Posted July 21, 2017 #14 Share Posted July 21, 2017 Not cruise lines but on a French-managed container line, the non-French E.U. national officers are on for 3 months and off for 3 months. For French officers, it is 2 and 2. The sole Filipino (2nd) officer was on a long contract (at least 6 months if not longer). One of the E.U. national officers said he left a German line because they were trying to get their E.U. national officers to go on a 6 months on 6 months off. A friend (USC) who when he was a 1st Officer on APL (was a captain last time I looked) had 3 month on and 3 month off, while the captains at that time did 6/6. Could it be that lines also follow the labor laws on overseas employment of the officer's country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseMstr Posted July 21, 2017 #15 Share Posted July 21, 2017 I cannot resist but tell this amusing tale. The Celebrity Silhouette has a very popular Captain known as "Captain Demitrius" who is a Greek gentleman who could have his own late night comedy show. Every cruise he gives a talk (in the main theater) about the Bridge and ship operations...and its generally SRO...with most coming for the jokes. On one of these occasions he took questions from the passengers and a lady asked, "what happens if you get sick or are incapacitated." He responded, " my Staff Captain would take over...and he is a fully qualified Captain...and also Greek!" The lady then asked, "and what if he is also sick." Captain Demitrius responded, "My First Officer is also a licensed Captain and would easily take over.....and he is Greek!" And then somebody shouted out... what if he is also sick. Captain Demitrius took a long pause and then answered "Then, we are all having a very bad day. The next in command is not yet licensed as a Captain....and he is NOT Greek." Hank When we boarded the Silhouette in April (first Celebrity cruise) the women and he (himself) referred to him as Captain Gorgeous. My wife didn't see it but the rest of the women passengers did. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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