RCL crew member allowed to go home

[RickT]

I know this is the Celebrity forum but thought this information would be interesting.  I stumbled upon a YouTube vlog (Chris Wong Vlogs) of a crew member currently onboard a RCL ship.  He had expected to be on the ship the full 30 days but just announced he is leaving the ship next week and will return home to the UK.

 

Interesting development, wonder if Celebrity and other cruise lines will be doing this.  Assume there are many factors involved but hope that if it’s safe to do so many will be allowed to return home.

[Georgia_Peaches]

I think Celebrity's mindset for the time being is to keep the crew in the hopes that ships will start up again after the 4 week period has ended.  I'm thinking there must have been some extenuating circumstances that allowed for this crew member to head home....especially since it's only one of them.

[skrapngal]

The crew member stated in his video that ALL CREW MEMBERS will gradually be returning home. To me (and bear in mind that this is simply my personal opinion), this signals that RCL companies are now seriously considering that the shutdown will last longer than April 11th.

[TeeRick]

4 minutes ago, skrapngal said:

The crew member stated in his video that ALL CREW MEMBERS will gradually be returning home. To me (and bear in mind that this is simply my personal opinion), this signals that RCL companies are now seriously considering that the shutdown will last longer than April 11th.

At this point how could we not expect the shutdown to go well beyond April 11th?  Countries and ports all over the world will still be closed to travel.  I hope that the fantastic crew members on these ships make it home healthy and safely to their families.

[workingboy]

Yes.  If you watch the blog, he clearly says all departments are being impacted.    They would not be doing this, if they did not expect a longer shutdown.  Getting replacement staff back will simply be too much of a challenge, given the boarder and airline shutdowns / curtailments around the world.

 

Here is a link to the vlog in case anybody is interested in watching.
 

 

[Roger88]

It sounds like they are kept hostage on that ship. They must be going through a more detailed checking before leaving the ship. I fell bad for them, especially for the kitchen crew cause they are the one who go through lots of checks. I also wonder how many people in total (the crew) are there. I mean it must take a good amount of time before they can be able to get back to work. ohh boy, I wouldnt want to be a part of a cruiser crew at this moment

[TeeRick]

3 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

It sounds like they are kept hostage on that ship. They must be going through a more detailed checking before leaving the ship. I fell bad for them, especially for the kitchen crew cause they are the one who go through lots of checks. I also wonder how many people in total (the crew) are there. I mean it must take a good amount of time before they can be able to get back to work. ohh boy, I wouldnt want to be a part of a cruiser crew at this moment

If you watch the video-blog, he clearly states that he feels safer on the ship than returning to the UK.  He does not even know how he will get home.  So not a hostage situation at all.

[mahdnc]

MSC is also offering to send crew home, but there is a twist according to this: link

[Georgia_Peaches]

Not to mention, he is uncertain about how he will get home as international flights have stopped.  Unless he will be flown home on a company charter.  What a mess...

[Georgia_Peaches]

4 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

MSC is also offering to send crew home, but there is a twist according to this: link

Wow!  Not good at all.  

[PTC DAWG]

15 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

If you watch the video-blog, he clearly states that he feels safer on the ship than returning to the UK.  He does not even know how he will get home.  So not a hostage situation at all.

Agree...his vlogs are very good...informative..

[paulh84]

Interesting. With the quarantine restrictions and difficulty of international air travel at the moment it could take a long while for anyone to get back onto a ship if that was an option. That doesn’t bode well with the need the quickly get back into service when the time comes. 
 

And in reality we’re a few weeks out from seeing if the distancing efforts in the US are even having an impact. I think April is a very ambitious timeframe to resume operations. 

[Jim_Iain]

Not sure if it RCL sending him home or his employer.   I've been watching his Vlog and he isn't a RCL employee.   He works for the vendor who runs the Casino.

[az_tchr]

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

MSC is also offering to send crew home, but there is a twist according to this: link

Crew members are entitled to two months pay if laid off. They are not entitled to air transport home except after completing their contract. Sounds like a trade off. Agree MSC does not guarantee rehire, but any employer would be foolish not to rehire good employees.  True many employees cannot get home, but a trade off of home now and a likely rehire instead of pretty much being marooned on a ship might work for some. And Definately not for others.

If crew is not forced or coerced to do this seems ok given the situation.

I personally think ships will be at anchor till summer or later.

[helen haywood]

Jim is correct.  He works in the casino.  I can see casino employees and spa employees who are not Royal (or any cruise line's) employees being sent home instead of being paid to stay on board.  Now the logistics of getting them home is another thing entirely.