When do crew/staff changeover?

Wondering when the contract cycles for on board employees generally are?

Do they stagger or will they turn over all at once? For example will a ship have a fresh group for the Caribbean season?

There is constant turn over of crew. They have contracts that expire at staggard times. The crew is not hired as a whole entity and only to serve on that ship. Sometimes a steward from one ship might transfer to another ship but more oftren they complete theri on board contract and go home for a stated period of time . Most stewards contracts are in the range of approximately 9-12 months and stewards sailors, barrtenders come and go. Officers not the same/

We once boarded the Amsterdam on the day she ended a Grand World Voyage. Looking down from the Lido at lunchtime I would guesstimate we saw about 200 crew with the baggage on the dock, waiting to be processed through customs/immigration. For the Amsterdam, that would be about 30%. Other than a situation like that, I would bet that only about 5%>10% change at the end of any cruise.

Each crew member has their own contract and their time onboard is generally staggered (when compared to others). There are other factors which can result in a large turnover...such as the staffing of a new vessel. And not all the contracts have the same lengths....and some are extended. So a 6 month contract might become a 7 or 8 month contract because it better serves the needs of the cruise line...and the employee is OK with the contract extension.

Even Captains sometimes get extended...although the norm is about 3 months on...3 months off. That sounds like a good deal until you consider that a Captain (Master of the vessel) is technically never off-duty. When they are on the ship they are responsible for everything....24/7!

We think that one of the myths on HAL is that they have a special handpicked crew on the Grand Voyages. The reality is that a large majority of the crew are simply working their normal contract periods (meaning many were on the ship before the Grand Cruise and many will stay on after the Grand Cruise). Yes, the cruise line might assign a few key employees to that Grand Cruise....but we have never noticed that on our 2 Grand Cruises. All the key employees we questioned told us they were working their normal contract period.

Hank

We saw a crew change over in Juneau Alaska. We were surprised, as to us, it would have made sense to do it in Vancouver, where the airport is large.

Sandra

We sailed Carnival Sunshine on the first cruise after a Dry Dock. There was a large change-over of staff which delayed passenger boarding in Charleston (they're not too used to large ships there anyway:))

It took a day or 2 but the staff fell nicely into the rhythm of their new posting.

(I only mention this since CCL and HAL are owned by the same parent company)

Although on a Celebrity ship, I watched 5 new cruise persons come on board in Ketchikan this summer. It is quite a process. Each has a like a binder full of paperwork which they have to show to about 3 different crew members who show up at different times. The whole process took about 30 minutes before they could board. Interesting to watch.

We saw a crew change over in Juneau Alaska. We were surprised, as to us, it would have made sense to do it in Vancouver, where the airport is large.

Sandra

Only a guess but thhink of airfares and schedules from Juneau t vs Vancouver to Indonesia and Phillipines. Also, who knows when so many of ttha t crew that left in Juneau had joined tthe ship? Possible there was a tight window for the end of their contracts?

Captains are extended sometimes but it is usually because r of a personal situation for 'on coming captain. perhaps there is an illness, family emergency .

I asked my two cabin stewards about this on my 11-25 September Great Alaska Explorer cruise (Amsterdam). Their contract was for 10 months, and they would have 2 months off before the start of the next contract. I overheard one of the Main Dining Room waiters talking about this, and his situation was the same; 10 months contract, then 2 months off. I don't know if that's the case for everyone or if it had to do with the fact that it was the last Alaska cruise of the season. I'm glad to read that they stagger crew changes -- just seems like a smoother way to handle it (no abrupt changes).

We sailed Carnival Sunshine on the first cruise after a Dry Dock. There was a large change-over of staff which delayed passenger boarding in Charleston (they're not too used to large ships there anyway:))

It took a day or 2 but the staff fell nicely into the rhythm of their new posting.

 

(I only mention this since CCL and HAL are owned by the same parent company)

As is Princess, Costa, P & O, Seabourn and Cunard? Is that it or did Carnival Corp buy anogther cuise line recently? :)

Wondering when the contract cycles for on board employees generally are?

 

Do they stagger or will they turn over all at once? For example will a ship have a fresh group for the Caribbean season?

Seems to me that it would make no sense for a cruise company to do a 100% changeover but then again we all know that cruise companies sometimes do really dumb things.

DON

We saw a crew change over in Juneau Alaska. We were surprised, as to us, it would have made sense to do it in Vancouver, where the airport is large.

Sandra

Quite often in Alaska the entertainers will switch ships in Juneau, since there quite often is another company ship in port at the same time. Sometimes deck crew members will swap ships to gain new experiences or promotions.

I don't believe I ever experienced a turn-around day where there were not several crew changing out. It is a continual process. There may be a large change over if a charter is happening, and the crew have personal reasons for not wanting to work the cruise. Sometimes, after a repo cruise, there is a larger than normal turn over, because some of the crew were held over for the duration of the repo.

As is Princess, Costa, P & O, Seabourn and Cunard? Is that it or did Carnival Corp buy anogther cuise line recently? :)

Add AIDA to that list. EM

An Indonesian friend of mine who did more than 15 contracts with HAL told me that the World cruise is not desirable for the crew. They prefer shorter cruises where new guests come along with more possibility of extra tips. The topic came up because I told him that doing a world cruise must be an amazing experience and said he avoided it.

On many occasions he extended his contract in order to make more money before going home. If the crew leaves the ship before the end of their contract and it's not for a sickness or death in the family HAL does not pay their return airline ticket.

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One time our cabin steward left us part way through a cruise -- HAL had him scheduled to get off in Grand Cayman -- a tender port. We had been in Ft Lauderdale just about 3 days before -- thought it would have been better to have arranged for him to go home from there.

For the rest of that cruise, we had a bell hop as our cabin steward.

As is Princess, Costa, P & O, Seabourn and Cunard? Is that it or did Carnival Corp buy anogther cuise line recently? :)

Add AIDA to that list. EM

:D With these as well as Carnival & HAL there's definitely something for everyone :D