At dinner we had a very friendly waiter and we started chatting. He mentioned that on this cruise there were 3000 passengers, next week there would be 3200 and the week after 4000. I ask him "That would be a good thing right?" He said he would be very busy. So I asked (i probably shouldn't, but he was very friendly) isn’t your salary depending on the amount of people on board? We all either pre-pay the gratuities or are charged daily. Therefore it makes sense the more people the more gratuities
Back when I worked there, the only officers/supervisors that were allowed in pax areas off duty, without prior department head permission, were 3 stripes and above. The venues allowed, and the number of times per month the crew could request access was restricted by the number of stripes. I know that one stripe officers/supervisors did not have cabin stewards at that time, not sure about 1.5 or 2 stripe, but I think it may only have been once weekly service. Some of this may have changed due