Passenger to crew ratio on the Solstice....

[elena7seas]

We have recently booked a cruise on the Solstice in an Aquaclass cabin.

 

I have noticed that the ratio of passengers to crew is markedly higher on the Solstice compared to other Celebrity ships that I have sailed. I'm looking forward to our trip, but am wondering what effect this lower staff ratio will have on the level of service.

 

For the sake of comparison, I took a look at the ratio on several other ships:

 

Oceania Nautica....... 1.71 (no. of passengers per crew member)

Celebrity Summit...... 1.95

Celebrity Mercury..... 2.06

HAL Zuiderdam......... 2.31

Princess Crown......... 2.73

Celebrity Solstice...... 2.85

RCCL Serenade OTS... 2.91

 

Are there other factors that need to be taken into account when looking at passenger:crew ratios?

 

Superior service has always been something we have been able to rely on with Celebrity. Is it realistic to think this can be maintained on the larger ships, with significantly higher levels of passengers per staff member?

[MoreCruisesNow]

Well, the way I compute it, the ratio on Solstice is 2.28, but I think that doesn't address the larger question:

 

Every cruise line, every business, in fact, has to be trying to do more with fewer people - especially a fuel intensive industry like cruising.

 

I'm actually finding it difficult to find current crew numbers -

 

But the point is that some cutting can be done without impacting the guest experience. I'm sure any of us can think of our last cruise and can find superfluous staff we saw whose absence would not have had a negative impact on our cruise experience.

 

I suspect crew morale and the quality of management on the ship has a great deal more to do with the guest experience than the raw number of employees onboard. (But isn't that true everywhere?)

 

I further suspect that when cuts to staff begin to impact the guest experience, cruise lines respond quickly to restore positive reviews.

[nps001]

It's been discussed a few times on this board before. The real issue is that the average passenger wants superior service, wonderful cruise, a ship in perfect shape, yet they are not willing to pay for it. Compare it, if you will, to airlines.

 

I fear we will continue to see a trend towards decline in all kinds of travel.

 

As for staff ratios, it is difficult to compare apples to apples. A new Solstice may not need the amount of workers that maintain the ship (new), some things that were done manually, may now be automated. It would be interesting to compare direct contact staff on this ship versus the other ships. I don't know of a way to that.

 

As for morale, on my cruise in January, I was told that the staff will have majority single berths. They will share a bath only. As of now, most share a room with a bath (3-4 to a room). This is a first in the industry. Cruise lines are getting creative in enhancing the quality of life on onboard for staff.

 

Also, a majority of the staff that I spoke with on my recent cruise said they were not interested in going to the Solstice right away as they said it is too much work to start operations on a new ship. They would rather go once it has been established.

 

Let's hope that the lower ratios don't diminish the service they provide on board.

[elena7seas]

Well, the way I compute it, the ratio on Solstice is 2.28, but I think that doesn't address the larger question:

 

Every cruise line, every business, in fact, has to be trying to do more with fewer people - especially a fuel intensive industry like cruising.

 

I'm actually finding it difficult to find current crew numbers -

 

The numbers that I was able to find for the Solstice were: 2852 passengers, 999 crew, which I calculated to be a ratio of 2.85 passengers per crew member.

 

NPS001...I haven't been on the boards as often lately, so missed the discussions about the service ratio on the Solstice. Sorry to be repetitive :) . I think you make some very good points, and the bottom line is....we will just have to wait and see, I guess.

[chessbriar]

Keep in mind a good sized part of the crew is below deck you never see. As the ships get larger and more advanced below deck, the below deck crew numbers don't change or even go down. Yet the number of passengers goes up.

[MoreCruisesNow]

Latest figures for Solstice I've been able to find show 2850 guests (at double occupancy, so it could well be more) and 1250 crew.

[elena7seas]

Latest figures for Solstice I've been able to find show 2850 guests (at double occupancy, so it could well be more) and 1250 crew.

 

Would you let me know where you found that crew number? I try to keep track of this kind of information for the ships that I sail, or am considering. I would be happy to have more accurate information in this case, as so far I haven't been able to find much on the Solstice other than the few statistics that Celebrity posts.

 

I am very happy to hear that the ratio is 2.28 and not 2.85. I'm just a little bit tentative about sailing on a ship as large as the Solstice (I love the size of the Millennium and Radiance class ships), and would be disappointed if the service was much below what we've come to enjoy on other Celebrity ships.