Home Ported Ships

[VK3DQ]

Hi Folks

 

When ships are "Home Ported" in Australia should they be subject to Australian Law?

 

IE  Should all extras be included in the published fare?

 

Should fares be in $AUD and should on board costs also be in $AUD ?

 

How long does a ship need to operate in Australian waters to be classed as home ported?

 

 

With RCL's Private Island being a feature that many will like to enjoy I see some of the seasonal ships operating in Australian waters year round.

 

So what do you all think???

 

Regards John

Edited November 7, 2019 by VK3DQ

[OzKiwiJJ]

I think the law issue is a tricky one as the ships aren't registered in Australia. There have been discussions on this, relating to US law, elsewhere on CC and it's not straighforward as marine law also comes into play, I think.

 

Extras come in two categories: mandatory like port fees and taxes or daily gratuities and these should be included in the fares and are in many cases now. The others are optional - drinks packages, speciality restaurants, excursions etc, and fares would rise too much if they were included.

 

Most cruise lines already offer fares in AUD unless you use a location blocking browser. If a ship is operating in our region for a lengthy period then it would be great if they all had AUD onboard prices but, so far, only Princess, Carnival and P&O Australia do that.

 

I'd like to see any ship that spends the full summer season down here operate as an Australian ship, not just the ones that are here year round. However other regions have ships that spend a significant amount of time there ie the Mediterranean, or Asia, but they operate as US ships in those regions.

 

It certainly would be great to have more ships here all year round although I don't think RCIs private island would bring more than one year-rounder from that cruise line. And, in fact, Princess has dropped back to having no ships here for at least three months over winter for this year and next, I think. Once Sea Princess headed off on her world cruise there was no other Princess ships here.

Edited November 7, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[Chiliburn]

I remember at the captains corner someone asked what law is represented on this ship.

It was a Royal Carribean ship.

The captain said it’s very complicated.
Its a US ship registered in Nassau home ported in Sydney and currently in international water.

He said RC has a team of law experts in Miami he is constantly in touch with and sometimes they don’t know.

[gbenjo]

It is a difficult question I would think. The ship may be "homeported" in Australian waters but would spend the majority of its time in international waters whilst being owned and operated by an American company.Would the fact that passengers embark and debark in Australia have any real consequence?

[GUT2407]

Maritime law is a world of its own and what laws apply vary by what the question is.

[MicCanberra]

If in doubt we all know someone here who has a friend  who can advise us all on what ever the situation and how the law should be applied.

[gbenjo]

12 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

If in doubt we all know someone here who has a friend  who can advise us all on what ever the situation and how the law should be applied.

Careful Mic...some of our posts seem to disappear when we go there.

[flick_au]

Alternatively, Id argue the real issue is that given they are home ported in Australia, shouldnt they be subject to Australian industrial relations laws and actually pay a decent minimum wage to staff. 

[MicCanberra]

 I have a friend who could help me out if I got into trouble.

[gbenjo]

43 minutes ago, flick_au said:

Alternatively, Id argue the real issue is that given they are home ported in Australia, shouldnt they be subject to Australian industrial relations laws and actually pay a decent minimum wage to staff. 

But what does home ported mean? Just because a ship calls at the  same port a number of times over  a set timespan, albeit to pick up and drop off new guests, it is still just another port of call.  Technically,  the crew may, over the period of time they call at a particular port ,  never set foot on land and the vessel still remains under the control of its owners based in another part of the world. The staff sign a contract and aware of what they are being paid ( usually far more than if they stayed and worked in their home country) and for them where a ship is " home ported" makes no difference. 

Edited November 7, 2019 by gbenjo

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, flick_au said:

Alternatively, Id argue the real issue is that given they are home ported in Australia, shouldnt they be subject to Australian industrial relations laws and actually pay a decent minimum wage to staff. 

Why do they hire crew from developing countries,because they are cheap and they can get away with  murder.

My brother in-law works on container ships and it’s common knowledge that if a crew member becomes difficult they disappear.

[gbenjo]

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

Why do they hire crew from developing countries,because they are cheap and they can get away with  murder.

My brother in-law works on container ships and it’s common knowledge that if a crew member becomes difficult they disappear.

Really........as I said ..they all sign contracts and are aware of the rates...I suppose the cruise lines could pay them more to keep the "whingers" happy but then the price of a cruise would increase and you would have all the guests complaining or not cruising which would mean the there would be less cruises so the cruise lines reduced the number of ships/cruises and then the crew lose theirs jobs and no one  wins.  No one is holding a gun to the crews' heads saying you must accept what you are offered...they do OK.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

2 hours ago, flick_au said:

Alternatively, Id argue the real issue is that given they are home ported in Australia, shouldnt they be subject to Australian industrial relations laws and actually pay a decent minimum wage to staff. 

 

What a great idea. They should be paid Australian award wages. I am sure we would all be more than happy to pay the higher fares the cruise lines would have to charge. ...after all cruising is so cheap these days .

[Chiliburn]

54 minutes ago, gbenjo said:

Really........as I said ..they all sign contracts and are aware of the rates...I suppose the cruise lines could pay them more to keep the "whingers" happy but then the price of a cruise would increase and you would have all the guests complaining or not cruising which would mean the there would be less cruises so the cruise lines reduced the number of ships/cruises and then the crew lose theirs jobs and no one  wins.  No one is holding a gun to the crews' heads saying you must accept what you are offered...they do OK.

What crew I’ve meet seem to be content with their situation,I suppose they are lucky to have employment.

 Wonder if they could do something similar with on shore security?

 

Some countries have special economic zones on the ports which allows foreign workers.

 

 Graham kumha 1st security.

Edited November 8, 2019 by Chiliburn

[gbenjo]

27 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

What crew I’ve meet seem to be content with their situation,I suppose they are lucky to have employment.

 Wonder if they could do something similar with on shore security?

 

Some countries have special economic zones on the ports which allows foreign workers.

 

 Graham kumha 1st security.

The ships crew are not even allowed off the ship  to push wheelchairs  so no chance of doing security in the terminal........wow .. that accident you had when you were fifteen has had some long term affects hasn't it. 😁

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, gbenjo said:

Really........as I said ..they all sign contracts and are aware of the rates...I suppose the cruise lines could pay them more to keep the "whingers" happy but then the price of a cruise would increase and you would have all the guests complaining or not cruising which would mean the there would be less cruises so the cruise lines reduced the number of ships/cruises and then the crew lose theirs jobs and no one  wins.  No one is holding a gun to the crews' heads saying you must accept what you are offered...they do OK.

They do tend to have many signing up again and again for multiple contracts year in year out.

[GUT2407]

We met a fellow on one cruise who we had supported through his schooling (friends were involved in a village school) and continued to support through University, he recognised us, having exchanged photos a couple of times and knowing our names. He told us that he was making way more than he would in his home country as a teacher and that after a couple of contracts would have saved enough to open his own village school and not need any outside funding for about 10 years.

 

At the school we were involved with the school principals house was the only concrete building in the village (good old Bessarabia block) and the village would gather there when Cyclones hit. He was getting $20 a week.

[Chiliburn]

Just now, MicCanberra said:

They do tend to have many signing up again and again for multiple contracts year in year out.

This it mic it’s a win,win situation for everyone.

Cheap holidays for us and our friends get to support their families.

[Chiliburn]

1 minute ago, GUT2407 said:

We met a fellow on one cruise who we had supported through his schooling (friends were involved in a village school) and continued to support through University, he recognised us, having exchanged photos a couple of times and knowing our names. He told us that he was making way more than he would in his home country as a teacher and that after a couple of contracts would have saved enough to open his own village school and not need any outside funding for about 10 years.

 

At the school we were involved with the school principals house was the only concrete building in the village (good old Bessarabia block) and the village would gather there when Cyclones hit. He was getting $20 a week.

We are lucky to be born here 

[GUT2407]

1 minute ago, Chiliburn said:

We are lucky to be born here 

Aren’t we ever. And in the time we were, the only people I knew, as a kid, who had been on a cruise were millionaires.

[possum52]

24 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Aren’t we ever. And in the time we were, the only people I knew, as a kid, who had been on a cruise were millionaires.

Growing up in country Victoria, the only people I knew of who cruised were the Queen and her family. Certainly falls into the millionaires' category. Now I know many people who cruise regularly. We are lucky!

 

Leigh

[Chiliburn]

25 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Aren’t we ever. And in the time we were, the only people I knew, as a kid, who had been on a cruise were millionaires.

A lot of things we don’t appreciate.

 

[MicCanberra]

Definitely the lucky country.

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Definitely the lucky country.

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