Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

TV Show: Cruising Inc Big Money on the High Seas

MrsPete

Recommended Posts

MrsPete

MrsPete

Posted
Posted

I'm watching this show right now, and it's pretty interesting -- it's about cruising from a ship's finance point of view. I don't know whether it's all truth or not; we all know that's not really a necessity for television.

 

One thing they said caught my ear: The show features the NCL Pearl. They say that they need to sell $7.25 worth of beverages to each customer each day to be "okay". I took this to mean "have an acceptable profit" rather than "break even", though they didn't actually explain what they meant.

 

So, if that's true, they're satisifed if they JUST sell you the soda package.

Or if you JUST buy two beers per day.

Or if you JUST buy one mixed drink per day.

Milkshakes, specialty coffees, and other non-alcoholic drinks add up too.

 

I suspect they make well over this amount on the average customer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MrsPete

MrsPete

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Other things I learned from the show:

 

The top three money-makers on the ship (in order):

Beverages -- includes both alcohol and soft drinks

Casino

Excursions

No surprises there.

 

One ship

comes to one island

for one day . . .

between port taxes, shopping, dining, excursions . . .

a quarter of a million dollars changes hands.

That, of course, isn't ALL the ship's money; I'm sure it included money earned by island residents.

 

The ship's biggest island profit day is -- you're going to guess this one -- their private island day. People probably spend less money, but it ALL goes to the ship. ALL the drink sales, ALL the excursion sales, ALL the merchandise sales. Whether you stay onboard or go ashore, they make money.

 

They said 75% of the people on the ship will book an excursion through the ship. Initially I took this to mean "on every island", but as I think about it, I think they meant "at some point during the cruise". I could be wrong; a few things they said were worded a bit . . . oddly as if to conceal information, and this may've been one of them.

 

On the particular cruise that was highlighted on the show, excursions were down by 18%. It rained a good bit, and that hurt their sales. On the other hand, their spa sales were 68% "above plan", so I guess people were still spending money -- it just changed locations.

 

The wait staff and the cabin stewards make more money each month than I do (I'm a teacher with 17 years experience). PLUS they have free room and board. I'm not saying they don't work for it -- not a bit -- but that's not bad money for a job with skills that can be learned fairly easily.

 

Again, it was an interesting show. I wish I'd seen it from the beginning. If you get a chance to catch it, do so!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
2girlsnlovefl

2girlsnlovefl

Posted
Posted
Other things I learned from the show:

 

The top three money-makers on the ship (in order):

Beverages -- includes both alcohol and soft drinks

Casino

Excursions

No surprises there.

 

One ship

comes to one island

for one day . . .

between port taxes, shopping, dining, excursions . . .

a quarter of a million dollars changes hands.

That, of course, isn't ALL the ship's money; I'm sure it included money earned by island residents.

 

The ship's biggest island profit day is -- you're going to guess this one -- their private island day. People probably spend less money, but it ALL goes to the ship. ALL the drink sales, ALL the excursion sales, ALL the merchandise sales. Whether you stay onboard or go ashore, they make money.

 

They said 75% of the people on the ship will book an excursion through the ship. Initially I took this to mean "on every island", but as I think about it, I think they meant "at some point during the cruise". I could be wrong; a few things they said were worded a bit . . . oddly as if to conceal information, and this may've been one of them.

 

On the particular cruise that was highlighted on the show, excursions were down by 18%. It rained a good bit, and that hurt their sales. On the other hand, their spa sales were 68% "above plan", so I guess people were still spending money -- it just changed locations.

 

The wait staff and the cabin stewards make more money each month than I do (I'm a teacher with 17 years experience). PLUS they have free room and board. I'm not saying they don't work for it -- not a bit -- but that's not bad money for a job with skills that can be learned fairly easily.

 

Again, it was an interesting show. I wish I'd seen it from the beginning. If you get a chance to catch it, do so!

as a teacher i am pretty sure you don't work 16 hours a day seven days a week 10 months out of the year, but that is what most cruise ship employees do. why do you think the ships are always registered in another country? u.s. labor laws would not alow it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MrsPete

MrsPete

Posted
  • Author
Posted
as a teacher i am pretty sure you don't work 16 hours a day seven days a week 10 months out of the year, but that is what most cruise ship employees do. why do you think the ships are always registered in another country? u.s. labor laws would not alow it.
Cruise ship personnel don't work 16 hours a day, seven days a week either.

 

My point was that they don't do too badly, especially considering that their job isn't one that requires any formal education. Sure, they work hard (and in their case, it's hard physical labor), but who doesn't?

 

I think the ships choose to register in certain countries mainly for tax reasons. There's nothing illegal about having adults work beyond 40 hours per week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
2girlsnlovefl

2girlsnlovefl

Posted
Posted
Cruise ship personnel don't work 16 hours a day, seven days a week either.

 

My point was that they don't do too badly, especially considering that their job isn't one that requires any formal education. Sure, they work hard (and in their case, it's hard physical labor), but who doesn't?

 

I think the ships choose to register in certain countries mainly for tax reasons. There's nothing illegal about having adults work beyond 40 hours per week.

it is illegal to work somone over 40 hours a week and not give them overtime. how many cruise emploees have you taken the time to get to know how much they have to work? i would suspect not many because they are expected to work that much for a salary with no overtime for manual labor

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gtalum

gtalum

Posted
Posted
One thing they said caught my ear: The show features the NCL Pearl. They say that they need to sell $7.25 worth of beverages to each customer each day to be "okay". I took this to mean "have an acceptable profit" rather than "break even", though they didn't actually explain what they meant.

 

I suspect they have a profit target to hit for every cruise, and by "okay" I suspect he means to meet that target. That said, the drink sales number is different on every cruise, based on the occupancy level and average fare paid. Also, that average includes everyone on board, and you have a number of people (children, teetotallers, reformed alcoholics, etc) who won't spend anything at all on drinks. Hitting that target is not as easy as it sounds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gtalum

gtalum

Posted
Posted
it is illegal to work somone over 40 hours a week and not give them overtime.

 

Not on cruise ships registered in foreign countries without wage laws. ;)

 

Why do you think that the big cruise lines (even those owned by American corporations) all register their ships overseas?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
2girlsnlovefl

2girlsnlovefl

Posted
Posted
Not on cruise ships registered in foreign countries without wage laws. ;)

 

Why do you think that the big cruise lines (even those owned by American corporations) all register their ships overseas?

that was my whole point. one of the other posting said it was just for taxes when in reality it is mostly for labor laws.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
G'ma

G'ma

Posted
Posted
Cruise ship personnel don't work 16 hours a day, seven days a week either.

 

My point was that they don't do too badly, especially considering that their job isn't one that requires any formal education. Sure, they work hard (and in their case, it's hard physical labor), but who doesn't?

 

I think the ships choose to register in certain countries mainly for tax reasons. There's nothing illegal about having adults work beyond 40 hours per week.

 

Jeez..... Lots of high paying jobs don't require any sort of formal education.....and pay a heck of a lot more than a teacher. Auto mechanics, plumbers, electricians and other "blue collar" service folks, many in the travel industry on every level, flight attendants, baggage handlers, those who work in auto plants, manufacturing plants, etc.

 

Those who work on the cruise ships at the crew level DO work 10-12 hours a day, many 7 days a week....and 10 months or more of the year. They are entitled to every dollar they earn, even if they don't have "formal education"......for crying out loud....

 

It's not illegal for U.S. folks to work more than 40 hours...as long as they are paid overtime.....and at least minimum wage.....

 

Cruise companies avoid u.s. labor laws, don't pay payroll taxes...that's the advantage to be registered offshore. I don't have a problem with that at all.

 

I have a problem, however, with those U.S. companies who shut their doors and move the operation overseas somewhere to avoid paying a living wage and taxes....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
2girlsnlovefl

2girlsnlovefl

Posted
Posted
Jeez..... Lots of high paying jobs don't require any sort of formal education.....and pay a heck of a lot more than a teacher. Auto mechanics' date=' plumbers, electricians and other "blue collar" service folks, many in the travel industry on every level, flight attendants, baggage handlers, those who work in auto plants, manufacturing plants, etc.

 

Those who work on the cruise ships at the crew level DO work 10-12 hours a day, many 7 days a week....and 10 months or more of the year. They are entitled to every dollar they earn, even if they don't have "formal education"......for crying out loud....

 

It's not illegal for U.S. folks to work more than 40 hours...as long as they are paid overtime.....and at least minimum wage.....

 

Cruise companies avoid u.s. labor laws, don't pay payroll taxes...that's the advantage to be registered offshore. I don't have a problem with that at all.

 

I have a problem, however, with those U.S. companies who shut their doors and move the operation overseas somewhere to avoid paying a living wage and taxes....[/quote']

could not have said it better myself!bravo!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
StillPooh

StillPooh

Posted
Posted
it is illegal to work somone over 40 hours a week and not give them overtime.
Not true for salaried employees. My DH works 50-60 hours a week with no extra pay.

 

Cruise employees compete for those jobs, as they earn much more money than they could back home.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MrsPete

MrsPete

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Jeez..... Lots of high paying jobs don't require any sort of formal education.....and pay a heck of a lot more than a teacher. Auto mechanics' date=' plumbers, electricians and other "blue collar" service folks, many in the travel industry on every level, flight attendants, baggage handlers, those who work in auto plants, manufacturing plants, etc.[/quote']I'd argue with the descriptor "Lots". Yes, SOME high paying jobs don't require formal education, but they are becoming fewer and farther between. Most of the jobs you listed -- plumbers, electricians, for example -- don't require a college education, but they do often require specialized training beyond high school and/or an apprenticeship. For example, I'd think that working on a ship would require less training than being an auto mechanic.
Those who work on the cruise ships at the crew level DO work 10-12 hours a day' date=' many 7 days a week....and 10 months or more of the year. They are entitled to every dollar they earn, even if they don't have "formal education"......for crying out loud....[/quote']I've been curious about this, and I've looked into it. I do believe they put in 10-12 hour days regularly, the longest days being embarkation/debarkation -- probably a little less mid-week. But if you'll look back at the previous posts, what I do not believe is that they work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's not humanly possible to have only 8 hours a day left for sleeping and meeting all the other necessities of life; oh, you could do it for a day or two, but after that your productivity would decrease significantly.

 

I'd also challenge you to find anywhere that I said they don't deserve their pay. I just said it's not too bad a deal for a person who is willing to work hard but doesn't have access to a formal education. Knowing how hard I worked to get through college completely on my own dime, if I had it to do again, I think I'd go work on a cruise ship for a couple years. I'd let them take care of my necessities, and I'd save every penny, THEN I'd go to college. If you read that as some type of an insult towards the crew, then you didn't read well.

It's not illegal for U.S. folks to work more than 40 hours...as long as they are paid overtime.....and at least minimum wage.....
This is totally false. People in the US tend to fall into three categories: Hourly workers, salaried workers, and sales workers.

 

Hourly workers typically are paid the least, but they have the most protection under the law. They MUST be paid at least minimum wage and must be paid overtime.

Salaried workers must complete their work regardless of how many hours it requires, and they receive only the agreed-upon salary. If they do their work in less than 40 hours, they "win". If they spend more than 40 hours, they "lose". My husband and I are both salaried workers; his engineering job is a good example: Some months he has lots to do, and he works late night after night. Sometimes he travels and is gone from the family for weeks at a time. Other months -- especially in the summer -- he has much less going on, and he comes home early as often as he can. Regardless of how many hours he puts in, his salary is the same every month.

Sales workers are those who receive no salary and work only for commissions (and some people's compensation is a variation of this mode). Car sales people are a good example. If they sell a bunch of cars, they get paid well. If the cars aren't moving, they don't make much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MrsPete

MrsPete

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I suspect they have a profit target to hit for every cruise, and by "okay" I suspect he means to meet that target. That said, the drink sales number is different on every cruise, based on the occupancy level and average fare paid. Also, that average includes everyone on board, and you have a number of people (children, teetotallers, reformed alcoholics, etc) who won't spend anything at all on drinks. Hitting that target is not as easy as it sounds.
But keep in mind that the target number includes ALL beverages. Sure, the kids aren't buying mixed drinks, but most of them do have a soda card, and they probably have a milkshake a couple times during the week. Yes, it's far from uncommon for an adult to abstain from alcohol, but those same adults probably do drink sodas and specialty coffees. I suspect the majority of the people onboard DO hit the target amount MOST days.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
MrsPete

MrsPete

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I was able to Google this show and watched it in it's entirety on HULU. If you have a high speed internet connection, you should be able to see it also. Great show, thanks MrsPete!

 

Here is a link to the show:

Cool! I wanted to catch at least the first half of the show (which I missed last weekend), but I forgot.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 months later...
Trevoli

Trevoli

Posted
Posted

I remember when NCL put one, then two, then three ships on the intra-Hawaii itinerary (that is, you didn't sail TO the islands, you flew there and back, and cruised the islands themselves), sailing under an American flag.

 

I also remember that there were LOTS of complaints about the poor service the passengers were getting from the American crew. This did not surprise in the slightest. For the most part, I can't imagine American crew members working as hard and putting up with as much crap as their non-American counterparts, no matter how much you're paying them. I know I wouldn't.

 

Slowly, but surely, fewer and fewer passengers showed up, and now they're down to one ship in that region. I would love to know, overall, how much $$ was wasted on that enterprise.

 

If they'd sailed with one ship for a longer period of time, NCL would have realized what they were up against, and could have made the necessary corrections and concessions. Instead, they jumped in with both feet too soon, and lost a bundle.

 

Cruise, Inc was a very interesting program, as was American - A Day In The Life... I chuckled when they said that one of the ways they saved money, was to not fly with too much fuel. Well, duh. I can't believe it took them years to figure this out, and had to be told this by somebody with 25 years experience under their belt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NutsAboutGolf Holiday Sharing Rare

NutsAboutGolf

Posted
Posted
I also remember that there were LOTS of complaints about the poor service the passengers were getting from the American crew. This did not surprise in the slightest. For the most part, I can't imagine American crew members working as hard and putting up with as much crap as their non-American counterparts, no matter how much you're paying them. I know I wouldn't.

 

"Being a U.S. flagged vessel, Pride of Aloha required a crew of U.S. citizens. This made for a difficult launch as there was no established labor market to tap into. The first few months of sailings were plagued by poor service, crew-members quitting and walking off the ship while in port, and an enormous number of customer complaints. NCL initiated a new and aggressive training program to better prepare newly hired employees for life aboard a cruise vessel. Subsequently the training for all employees took place at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, a Maritime School in Piney Point, Maryland. Passenger satisfaction improved substantially since the introduction of the new training program."

 

It SEEMs that the bad service is years behind them...They still do have one ship operating which I find impressive in this economy. Kudos to NCL for trying this out long term. I feel it won't be around much longer...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...