Princess "Relaxed Rules"

[juliejoe]

[QUOTE][FONT=Comic Sans MS]The privilege does not extend to everyone who works on the ship. Waiters and stewards are not allowed in the passenger areas and can get in trouble for being there…its not like there’s a free for all in the passenger areas for everyone who works on the ship.[/FONT][/QUOTE]
Sounds like the "class" system. I guess with the number of employees on a ship there is no choice but to require that those low on the totem pole stay out of passenger areas.

However - maybe they were breaking the rules, but the sweetest memory I have of interacting with staff involved the base of the totem pole. Two young men, dressed in the shirts of those who empty ash trays, polish hand railings and clean bathrooms, were on deck watching a beautiful sunset when I came out to do the same. Digital cameras were fairly new. I had mine and they were intested in it. I took their picture with the sunset in background, e-mailed it to them later so they could send it on to their families and they were so thrilled. It made me feel good about them and even about myself.

[Globaliser]

[quote name='juliejoe']Sounds like the "class" system. I guess with the number of employees on a ship there is no choice but to require that those low on the totem pole stay out of passenger areas.[/QUOTE]It's got more to do with the different functions of the officers, staff and crew. For better or worse, the officers on a ship have social functions well beyond merely driving the ship, and some of the staff - esp the cruise staff - exist to interact socially with the passengers, in contrast to dining room and housekeeping crew whose social interaction with passengers is incidental to their main jobs.

Also, some of the facilities provided for the staff and crew on some lines may not be places that officers or even heads of department would want to be using regularly. The staff and crew need places to relax and get away from their bosses just as much as we passengers do when we're at home.

However, I agree about the great experiences that one can have. On my last cruise, which was up the Norwegian coast and over to Spitsbergen, the territory was as novel to the crew as it was to the passengers, as were phenomena like the midnight sun. It was great to see as much enthusiasm and excitement amongst the crew as there was amongst the passengers.

The best for me, though, was when I was in Antarctica on the [I]Marco Polo[/I]. One night, there was a deck party when it started snowing lightly. This was unusual enough for Antarctica (it's a very dry continent and there is seldom any precipitation), but the dusting that there was by morning was rapidly augmented by some very heavy snow just before lunchtime. Many members of the crew - many of whom had never seen snow in their lives - downed tools to join in the making of snowmen and have snowball fights. All notions of position, status and rank were set aside for some pure fun. That was wonderful.

[Guest CHIEB2812]

[SIZE=3][COLOR=green][B]Well, thus far, I have thoroughly enjoyed conversating with crew members, no one is making you "rub elbows" with them, no one is seating them with you, or encouraging them to speak with you, I believe its wonderful for them to be out and about, to give cruisers the option to do the elbow rubbing, if your curious, or would like a hearty chat, they are always more then dutifull to do so. They like to talk about where they live, what they have seen, their famalies, and are more than generous to ask about yours. They will not force you to speak or sit with them, I believe its part of the cruise. The first cruise I went on, I was 16, I was shy and alone a lot of the time, my parents liked the casino which I didn't mind, I would always sit at the same table every night out on deck, and the same guy and girl at seperate times would always stop and chat. I believe they were servers. At one point the girl was on a break and asked if I would like some company. They made me feel great about the experience and I soon looked forward to the same greetings every night. Its optional, even if you turn your nose up at the whole thought of them mingling with the "first class" make yourself a promise as much as you would hate to do so, that on your next cruise you see crew members hanging about to say hello at least once a day, its healthy! :D [/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]