What Crew Can Eat At Buffet?

[hallux]

27 minutes ago, K32682 said:

No one expects the flight crew of an airliner to be walking the aisles or acting as greeters when passengers board.

and yet sometimes they do.

28 minutes ago, K32682 said:

but the people steering the boat and getting it to the next port should not be burdened with an obligation to "experience the customer experience."

The Captain has the ultimate oversight over all activities on the ship.  He should be out for this...

[sfaaa]

6 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I have not ploughed through the 80+ posts on this topic but considering how crowded the buffet often is I can't see why we should have to give up some of the limited seating to more crew members.

 

DON 

You don't. Most ship crew and entertainers eat late at buffet when the dinner rush is already over.

[Heidi13]

8 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I would argue that it has traditionally been, and should continue to be, part of the senior officers' responsibilities to be visible to passengers and mingle with them to an extent. The "captain's table" is a long-standing example -- having the captain entertain various passengers at his table while on voyages dates back hundreds of years. 

 

 

Traditionally, at least on British ships (P&O & Cunard) it wasn't just senior officers who had a role in enhancing the pax experience. Many officers of 2 stripes and above hosted a pax table at dinner and were expected to join their table for the show or other entertainment after dinner. All officers, if not on-watch/working were expected to be in mess kit after 18:00 and visible on pax decks.

 

For many reasons the officer's roles have migrated away from pax service to fulfilling the technical requirements of the job. When I was a cadet and junior officer, we rarely saw the Master on the Bridge. He would pop up to check the chart first thing in the morning, before heading onto the pax decks, basically so he could answer the inevitable question of where are we. The junior officers were significantly better trained and more experienced than those on the Bridge today, so Masters had no issues leaving them to run the ship. To put it into perspective, I spent over 3 yrs as a cadet and 7 yrs as 3rd Officer, whereas my son was sailing 2nd Officer after less than 4 yrs.

 

As 3rd Officer on the Princess ships, I held my own navigating watch, the 4 - 8 watch. This was traditionally the Chief Officer's watch, but he had the option of attending other duties and leaving the 3rd Officer alone. On a number of occasions, I picked up the pilot and was the only officer on the Bridge when he arrived. In the absence of the Master, I did the Master/Pilot handover. In today's World, with the detailed Bridge manning outlined in the SMS, that would never happen. I doubt many, if any of today's 3rd Officers have the experience to perform that task unsupervised.

 

With the significantly more detailed requirements in today's SMS and the reduction in standards of Junior Officers, the Master has significantly less time to walk the ship. I tried to walk the ship once per day, and in addition, headed down to the pax decks once per day for a meal. Otherwise, I was either on the Bridge, or in my cabin, which was in close proximity to the Bridge. Some days, whether weather and/or traffic related, I could not leave the Bridge, as mandated by our Bridge procedures in the SMS.

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, K32682 said:

 

That might be a good suggestion for the officers in charge of customer-facing services or the senior management of the line but the people steering the boat and getting it to the next port should not be burdened with an obligation to "experience the customer experience." No one expects the flight crew of an airliner to be walking the aisles or acting as greeters when passengers board.

 

The Bridge watchkeepers often eat in the buffet, not to experience customer standards, but for convenience, as it is often their only option available.

[DarrenM]

3 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Traditionally, at least on British ships (P&O & Cunard) it wasn't just senior officers who had a role in enhancing the pax experience. Many officers of 2 stripes and above hosted a pax table at dinner and were expected to join their table for the show or other entertainment after dinner. All officers, if not on-watch/working were expected to be in mess kit after 18:00 and visible on pax decks.

 

For many reasons the officer's roles have migrated away from pax service to fulfilling the technical requirements of the job. When I was a cadet and junior officer, we rarely saw the Master on the Bridge. He would pop up to check the chart first thing in the morning, before heading onto the pax decks, basically so he could answer the inevitable question of where are we. The junior officers were significantly better trained and more experienced than those on the Bridge today, so Masters had no issues leaving them to run the ship. To put it into perspective, I spent over 3 yrs as a cadet and 7 yrs as 3rd Officer, whereas my son was sailing 2nd Officer after less than 4 yrs.

 

As 3rd Officer on the Princess ships, I held my own navigating watch, the 4 - 8 watch. This was traditionally the Chief Officer's watch, but he had the option of attending other duties and leaving the 3rd Officer alone. On a number of occasions, I picked up the pilot and was the only officer on the Bridge when he arrived. In the absence of the Master, I did the Master/Pilot handover. In today's World, with the detailed Bridge manning outlined in the SMS, that would never happen. I doubt many, if any of today's 3rd Officers have the experience to perform that task unsupervised.

 

With the significantly more detailed requirements in today's SMS and the reduction in standards of Junior Officers, the Master has significantly less time to walk the ship. I tried to walk the ship once per day, and in addition, headed down to the pax decks once per day for a meal. Otherwise, I was either on the Bridge, or in my cabin, which was in close proximity to the Bridge. Some days, whether weather and/or traffic related, I could not leave the Bridge, as mandated by our Bridge procedures in the SMS.

Brilliant insight. Love this.

[wcook]

Modern ships are more and more resorts that happen to move around on water and less and less about being a ship. As things change, traditions change. I don’t expect the folks in charge of driving or maintaining the boat to be responsible for everything on the ship. I don’t want to see the captain riding the roller coaster or going down the water slides. I want the bridge staff free to look out for icebergs (or whatever they do) and the kitchen staff worrying about the passengers food. 
 

Obviously this applies to mainstream cruise lines. Smaller ships are another matter.