Employee Wages

[Waynetor]

I was at a Q&A session with the ships production dancers one time and the question of tax came up.  The American dancer said she paid US tax while the British and Australian dancers said their ship income was tax free,

[onlyslightlymad]

6 minutes ago, Waynetor said:

I was at a Q&A session with the ships production dancers one time and the question of tax came up.  The American dancer said she paid US tax while the British and Australian dancers said their ship income was tax free,

 I suspect they are supposed to pay tax at home unless they can prove residence in another country.

[drsel]

In many countries, the income earned in foreign exchange is 100% tax free.

[Ocean Boy]

On 3/3/2021 at 1:39 PM, yogimax said:

Also important to note that they work long shifts for seven days a week.  Many send most of their entire pay back home to support their families, including children, whom they will not see for months on end.  

Of course they send the money home. Isn't the point of working to support your family? What would they do with the money on the ship?

 

Folks in the military don't see their families for months on end and I suspect many of them are working in conditions somewhat less desirable than those found on a cruise ship.

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, yogimax said:

Respectfully disagree...

 

1.  How many Americans, retired or not, worked seven days a week, 12 hours a day, 84 hours a week for $1000 a month?

 

 

You don't have a clue what medical residency was like.

[onlyslightlymad]

1 hour ago, drsel said:

In many countries, the income earned in foreign exchange is 100% tax free.

That may be the case.  In NZ, it is only tax free if you are non-resident and there are some strict definitions as to what non-resident means.  Do people get away with not paying tax?  Yes, I have known people who have but they are taking the bet that they will not be audited.

[mpdog42]

On 3/3/2021 at 1:06 PM, davekathy said:

I've worked so to speak, a worse job, longer hours and the pay was horrible. 

Sounds like the Military!!😁

Edited March 6, 2021 by mpdog42
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[Tree_skier]

16 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I think a lot of these "They work hard " comments come from retirees who forget what it was like in the workforce. There are many professions where long hours are par for the course and a lot of those jobs are salary so there is no overtime being paid out. The crew members get to travel and have opportunities and a chance for advancement that are not available for them at home. How many people have had military careers and were away from their families for long periods of time? Thank you for your service. 

I always tell people... "My pay might be lousy but at least my hours are long" 🙂 

[yogimax]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

You don't have a clue what medical residency was like.

Nor do I have a clue what salaries medical residency will lead to over a lifetime compared to that of an RCCL cabin steward.  It really is apples to oranges to make this comparison when you consider an MD's lifetime salary to that of a cabin steward.

[Iamcruzin]

27 minutes ago, yogimax said:

Nor do I have a clue what salaries medical residency will lead to over a lifetime compared to that of an RCCL cabin steward.  It really is apples to oranges to make this comparison when you consider an MD's lifetime salary to that of a cabin steward.

The jobs are at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of education, training and responsibility. Medical school isn't cheap and running a practice is more involved than making up the bed and scrubbing a toilet.

[sfaaa]

5 hours ago, yogimax said:

 

 

2.  Get opportunities to travel?  What can they actually see when they are working seven days a week?  They are not visiting the London Eye or Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Their visits to shore will be limited to seeking out free internet and finding food they enjoy.

 

The crew can certainly join cruise passengers on shore excursions. I doubt there is a rule that says they can't. Most however would prefer to save up their money to send home.

[chengkp75]

5 hours ago, sfaaa said:

The crew can certainly join cruise passengers on shore excursions. I doubt there is a rule that says they can't. Most however would prefer to save up their money to send home.

The ability to do so is severely limited by company policy.  Most "fraternization" or meeting passengers outside their work area is not permitted, and is a termination offence. 

[smokeybandit]

11 hours ago, yogimax said:

1.  How many Americans, retired or not, worked seven days a week, 12 hours a day, 84 hours a week for $1000 a month?

 

A couple fallacies here.  That $1000 a month may well be very good money in their home country. And even though they work 7 days a week, they still get more time off per year than a typical American. How many American workers can say they took 4-6 months off per year?

[Ourusualbeach]

21 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

A couple fallacies here.  That $1000 a month may well be very good money in their home country. And even though they work 7 days a week, they still get more time off per year than a typical American. How many American workers can say they took 4-6 months off per year?

Most crew do not get 4-6 moths off.  The crew we are talking about (low level) are 9-10 month contracts.  If you look at people working 5 days a week the 2 days a week off is 100 days a year or over 3 months plus another couple weeks for vacation so typical Americans do get 3-4 months off per year, it’s just spread out differently. 
 

even other crew who work 6 month contracts do not necessarily take the next 6 months off, many are off 2 months then return on another contract. 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Ourusualbeach

[smokeybandit]

We always make a point to ask the staff what their contracts are. The lowest level we ever talked to said 8 months.  It reminds me of a very young assistant waiter we had in Feb 2020 who was from China who was only weeks away from the end of her 8 months. We wondered if she managed to make it home before everything hit the fan.

 

And just because Americans accrue vacation time doesn't mean they're actually able to take vacation time.  Also plenty end up working weekend even though they have M-F jobs

[vacationlover_mn]

We did the behind the scenes ship tour on an oasis class (can’t remember which ship it was... maybe harmony?)... I wonder how much the poor guys in the “garbage room” make?  DH and I both thought that seemed like the worst job on the ship!

[chengkp75]

21 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

We always make a point to ask the staff what their contracts are. The lowest level we ever talked to said 8 months.

Once you get to "two stripe" and above supervisors, they generally tend towards 4-6 month contracts, the more stripes, the shorter the contract.  At these levels, they will either work "even rotations" where the time off equals the time worked (2 people filling on billet), or "half rotations" where they take half the time off that they worked (3 people filling two billets).  This is to have stability in management onboard.

 

Technical crew (deck and engine) will usually be 8-10 months for unlicensed crew, with no set time off, and 4 months on and 2 months off for junior officers and 4 on/4 off for senior officers.

 

 

[chengkp75]

1 minute ago, vacationlover_mn said:

We did the behind the scenes ship tour on an oasis class (can’t remember which ship it was... maybe harmony?)... I wonder how much the poor guys in the “garbage room” make?  DH and I both thought that seemed like the worst job on the ship!

They will make the same minimum wage as outlined above.  They do not participate in the DSC pool (on most lines), so their compensation is all "wages".

 

On most lines, not only the "garbage room" guys handle all the garbage.  Your cabin steward is responsible for properly sorting all the garbage (by hand) that comes out of the cabins they are assigned.

[vacationlover_mn]

Just now, chengkp75 said:

 

On most lines, not only the "garbage room" guys handle all the garbage.  Your cabin steward is responsible for properly sorting all the garbage (by hand) that comes out of the cabins they are assigned.

Once we had learned that the cabin steward did that, we completely changed our strategy for throwing stuff away in the cabin!  We basically used to throw anything in the trash can, to keep the room tidy (like half eaten food, half empty glasses of booze, etc).  Now we are much more mindful of what we put in there.

[Ocean Boy]

9 hours ago, yogimax said:

Nor do I have a clue what salaries medical residency will lead to over a lifetime compared to that of an RCCL cabin steward.  It really is apples to oranges to make this comparison when you consider an MD's lifetime salary to that of a cabin steward.

Your post was about hours worked not about any future benefits. And if you really want to get into it, what is the worst mistake an overworked cabin steward can make? Maybe a dirty towel gets left on the bathroom floor.🙄

[not-enough-cruising]

9 hours ago, yogimax said:

Nor do I have a clue what salaries medical residency will lead to over a lifetime compared to that of an RCCL cabin steward.  It really is apples to oranges to make this comparison when you consider an MD's lifetime salary to that of a cabin steward.

According to data published earlier the cabin steward's $1000 per month you mentioned is roughly 7 times what he would have made at home in a similar job, and still 30% more than a physician in his home country. 

 

While I respect and appreciate the workers on board, I have ZERO pity for them, nor does it appear to me that they are being unfairly scheduled to compensated in any way whatsoever.

[Iamcruzin]

13 hours ago, yogimax said:

Respectfully disagree...

 

1.  How many Americans, retired or not, worked seven days a week, 12 hours a day, 84 hours a week for $1000 a month?

 

2.  Get opportunities to travel?  What can they actually see when they are working seven days a week?  They are not visiting the London Eye or Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Their visits to shore will be limited to seeking out free internet and finding food they enjoy.

 

I respect and celebrate the housekeepers, kitchen staff and others who are there for us.

They don't work 7 days a week. Over the years I have been on excursions with crew members. I work at least 12 hours a day sometimes without taking a break. During the busy season I have worked 21 days straight. I am on salary.  Yes they have long hours but their duties are mindless with little stress. The 1960's housewife had more stress over ring around the collar, getting grass stains out of little Johnny's pants, baking a moist cake, and avoiding waxy build up. How many women or single parents hold a career and still manage to take care of the family and household? Now that I have put this in writing their job doesn't seem too bad. They are young and at the end of the day they to still have time and energy to attend crew parties.

Edited March 6, 2021 by Iamcruzin

[not-enough-cruising]

8 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

They don't work 7 days a week. Over the years I have been on excursions with crew members. I work at least 12 hours a day sometimes without taking a break. During the busy season I have worked 21 days straight. I am on salary.  Yes they have long hours but their duties are mindless with little stress. The 1960's housewife had more stress over ring around the collar, getting grass stains out of little Johnny's pants, baking a moist cake, and avoiding waxy build up. How many women or single parents hold a career and still manage to take care of the family and household? Now that I have put this in writing their job doesn't seem too bad. They are young and at the end of the day they to still have time for crew parties.

AMEN

[BND]

10 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Of course they send the money home. Isn't the point of working to support your family? What would they do with the money on the ship?

 

Folks in the military don't see their families for months on end and I suspect many of them are working in conditions somewhat less desirable than those found on a cruise ship.

You got it about the military.  My DH is a retired Navy O-6. I could go into great detail about all the sacrifices he (and we) made over 30 years and the hours worked, with no overtime.  One example, as an officer, he shared a bunk room (from 2-6 people depending on how many were onboard) and a bathroom with multiple people with 5 min shower limits due to water availability as the ship made their own.  Crew on cruise ships share with one person at most and each cabin has it's own bathroom and no water limits.  And, we have friends in other branches who spent time overseas in the desert.  Believe me, those working conditions are far worse than anything a room steward deals with.

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, vacationlover_mn said:

We did the behind the scenes ship tour on an oasis class (can’t remember which ship it was... maybe harmony?)... I wonder how much the poor guys in the “garbage room” make?  DH and I both thought that seemed like the worst job on the ship!

Probably better working environment than the guys picking up the garbage in NYC when it is 90F in the summer.