Can you invite (and pay for) a cruise staffer to join you in an excursion

[podgeandrodge]

Can you invite (and pay for) a  cruise staffer to join you in an excursion. So you have made friends over a couple of cruises and would like to bring a staff member out with you (e.g. bar server). Not on their free time preferably! 

Would NCL be open to this?

[FLAHAM]

Very, very doubtful.

[Casino Comp Chick]

You can but you have to make sure they are allowed off the ship beforehand. I have done it in Bermuda before.

[Son of a son of a ...]

Don’t mistake staff’s friendliness for friendship.  After being on the other end of the hospitality industry, I assure you the dynamic is never equal.  

[chengkp75]

Unless that crew member was a relative of yours, no, there is a policy of non-fraternization at NCL (and perhaps your "friendship" with the crew member has already crossed that line, which is very short), and even for family, fraternization is controlled.

[LrgPizza]

Wow. This set my creep alert to red.

[ColeThornton]

8 hours ago, podgeandrodge said:

Can you invite (and pay for) a  cruise staffer to join you in an excursion. So you have made friends over a couple of cruises and would like to bring a staff member out with you (e.g. bar server). Not on their free time preferably! 

Would NCL be open to this?

 

 

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but if they don't go on their free time when would they go?

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but if they don't go on their free time when would they go?

Yeah, didn't notice this, but the line won't give time off to go on an excursion, so if they are working during the day, its not going to happen.

[Cruiser_1977]

While I think it is a lovely thought, this could open a can of worms better left closed. @chengkp75 mentions it's against policy. @Casino Comp Chick If you don't mind sharing, I'd be interested in the specifics of how you managed to have a crew member join you off the ship. 

[www3traveler]

I have been able to treat a staff member to an excursion several times.  You have to have permission from their supervisors and their Department Head.

[Cruisin&Relaxin]

My wife and I have taken many butlers and concierge either to dinner at a specialty restaurant or excursion at our expense many times.  You just need to obtain the permission of their immediate boss and do it when they are off.

Edited May 2, 2019 by Cruisin&Relaxin

[Casino Comp Chick]

5 hours ago, JennyB1977 said:

While I think it is a lovely thought, this could open a can of worms better left closed. @chengkp75 mentions it's against policy. @Casino Comp Chick If you don't mind sharing, I'd be interested in the specifics of how you managed to have a crew member join you off the ship. 

 

I discussed it with the hotel director and the concierge, they approved it. We actually invited a few crew members but their work schedules did not allow for it. It was an Oktoberfest function going on in the Fort in Bermuda. We had booked a table for 10. They ate and enjoyed the music and dancing but they did not drink any alcohol, afterwards we all walked back to the ship together. It was a nice evening. 

Edited May 2, 2019 by Casino Comp Chick

[beerman2]

Meet a couple on the Escape who are frequent NCL cruisers (live on Biscayne Bay).

 

They have had lunch/dinner with a few crew members over the years. Not sure the parameters, however it can be done.

[nicoleinwi]

Doesn't help with shore exc, but the one crew member (an officer) we befriended over the years lives when not out to sea in a city we frequently travel to.  If he's land based when we travel there we will meet up for a day or two and do activities in that city, go out to eat, bars, etc.  

 

I guess it never even crossed our minds to do stuff with him actually on the cruise, other then visiting a lot with him.  We figured during his down time he just wants to chill, like we would during a normal work week when we aren't at work.  

 

Very nice gesture though to offer to take your friend out for an excursion.  

[Peachypooh]

I have observed passengers when boarding  a ship being immediately recognized by

the staff. It was clear that they had met quite a few times before and if allowed

I don't think it would seem odd to socialize with each other off the ship.

However asking a crew member you only just met for a "date"

off the ship is probably going to be met with a no. If it is even allowed.

[scruffy o]

Maybe leave them a tip at the end of your cruise instead? It may be more useful to them.

[dogboy]

23 hours ago, Casino Comp Chick said:

 

I discussed it with the hotel director and the concierge, they approved it. We actually invited a few crew members but their work schedules did not allow for it. It was an Oktoberfest function going on in the Fort in Bermuda. We had booked a table for 10. They ate and enjoyed the music and dancing but they did not drink any alcohol, afterwards we all walked back to the ship together. It was a nice evening. 

That's a great thing to do. Very nice. Sorry people put you down on this.

 

[LD Silver]

The crew are not your friends....don't mistake their friendliness for friendship

[graphicguy]

If you’ve sailed on a particular line often or for a long period of time, you’re bound to get to know some of the staff.

 

I always think...”they’re nice to me.....they like me...we’ve shared some personal details about our lives”.  But, that’s what they do as it’s their job and what they can do to make tips.  Nothing wrong with that.

 

But, given their different culture, where they are from, how they live at home, how they live on the ship, etc.....bening far from what/how, where we live, the differences would be stark.  In short, aside from a week on a cruise here and there, and spending a few days together where they are working to make us as passengers happy, we have very little in common.

 

Putting myself in their shoes, if a passenger asked me to do some sort of excursion, I’d think “I’d much rather hang out with my fellow crew coworkers where I have much more in common, than to spend it with passengers that I have very little in common with, regardless of what the passenger thinks.”

 

I can’t count the numbers of crew who we thought we made a connection with who didn’t remember us when we tried to email or befriend on Facebook/Instagram.

 

Given a choice, I would think the crew would rather work on board and make tips than to hang out with a passenger to do an excursion.

[myjillian]

Once on a TA from  Europe our cabin steward was a lovely Polish girl.  The first day she was so excited to see me...she said I looked like her mother...same height, weight, smile etc.  She was shocked to hear me speak polish to her....especially since my name was French.  During the cruise she told me stories of her family etc.  When we were to arrive at Fr Lauderdale  she was going home for the break....

When we were in Morocco  I bought a couple of area rugs and  Richard and I were figuring out how to get them home once we arrived in Ft Lauderdale..  He asked me if it was ok if I gave all my clothes to the room stewards mother  and then our big suitcase would be empty for the rugs..🤨😕😏.....let's see here....after all it was a plan...and she was going home...so that's what we did ...we asked her if she would like to take my clothes to her mother( along with money for the extra bag) and she was shocked and delighted....and that's what we did.  Moral of the story...never bring on a cruise clothing you won't mind giving away....and I wonder if the story would be different if Richard reminded her of her father !!!😄

[pinkie60]

On 5/2/2019 at 12:46 PM, www3traveler said:

I have been able to treat a staff member to an excursion several times.  You have to have permission from their supervisors and their Department Head.

What cruise line would allow that? Too much liability on behalf of the cruise line. 

[www3traveler]

16 minutes ago, pinkie60 said:

What cruise line would allow that? Too much liability on behalf of the cruise line. 

Norwegian-- only cruise line I sail.

[OCruisers]

11 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Putting myself in their shoes, if a passenger asked me to do some sort of excursion, I’d think “I’d much rather hang out with my fellow crew coworkers where I have much more in common, than to spend it with passengers that I have very little in common with, regardless of what the passenger thinks.”

 

 

[eileeshb]

There are some crew that would rarely see anyone from their home country onboard. On my second cruise there was an Irishwoman working in the spa, so we had a couple of gossip sessions. Her parents had been on the previous week so she’d been offship with them and at dinner too. One of the other girls in the spa was Scottish and was convinced she knew me from somewhere but we couldn’t figure out how/where. 

[trex-de]

What a weird thread.