Most Unhappy Crew is on Norwegian...

[Crusin6]

I don't know about that, but the issue would be that crew members that leave to work on the Joy are no longer working on the other ships. Does anyone know how many are being taken from the rest of the fleet? Even if it's like only 1 out of 20, I think this could have a noticeable effect on morale, team spirit, productivity, etc. Even if they are replaced one for one by new recruits (which I kind of doubt), they are not interchangeable spare parts.

 

 

Why would you say that?

 

They work for Ncl and are placed on a particular ship

 

So when contract is over

 

Or

 

When crew is needed elsewhere

 

Or

 

Time to promote crew

 

 

Or any number of reasons....

 

 

Ncl will look at their workforce and see where they can...

 

Promote

Transfer

Re-hire

New-hire

 

Etc etc....just like any company does

 

 

And no I am not saying crew will be "forced" to relocate....but just like in the "real " world...the company...Ncl in this example....can and will ....offer...suggest...encourage...crew to transfer if need be....sometimes crew will like it...as in a promotion or better job....sometimes they won't like it...as in ..time to find a new job....or even accept a demotion

 

 

Just like in the real world and we really need to stop worrying about the crew and how their company treats and pays them

 

 

They work hard...harder than we might want to do ourselves...but so what? As long as they are treated and paid appropriately and to the extent that their contract specifies...then it is not our business

 

 

If however, you don't like to see crew work as hard as they contracted to , then just dont travel any longer because the vast majority of those in the hospitality business work very very hard

 

 

From the top dog on the ship/hotel/restaurant/resort/country club ....to the dishwashers and engine room crew.

 

It's the nature of the business so either support it and enjoy your trip or don't support it and stay home but the industry will survive regardless and is unlikely to change...and I'm not sure why we even think it should change because it actually works well

 

 

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Edited April 25, 2017 by Crusin6

[roger001]

I certainly can't speak for that particular cruise. However, last time we were on the Jewel, then the Jade past December, and just off the Pearl last week, wow, the crews were the usual fantastic persons we've always seen. Guess only the crew know what the problem is at a particular time and ship.

[hawkeyetlse]

I don't disagree with anything you say, I am just wondering about the numbers. The introduction of a new megaship potentially has an effect on the rest of the fleet (was this actually observed with the Escape, GA, etc.?) I know that the crew changes all the time, I just wonder if the numbers of people leaving for the Joy at the moment are causing above-average levels of disruption in the rest of the fleet. I'm not saying anyone is being forced against their will or not being paid enough for it, I have no idea about that.

[luckyinpa]

i only have 2 cruises on the breakaway under my belt but i can count the number of unhappy or unpleasant employees on 1 or 2 fingers. i found them all to be super friendly. some could consider it over the top really. no negativity from the employees, regardless of other faults you could find on the ship

[NLH Arizona]

I guess I've been very, very lucky. On all my cruises, the crews have been great; awesome service, always happy and always a greeting when I pass by.

[Radcruiser68]

It's interesting to read the comments on here and to see what other cruisers have experienced. I have read that some people have had not so enthusiastic crew members on certain NCL sailings. The Spirit being one of them. We found the Spirit to be the absolute friendliest ship. Up until this year we have always had cheerful, smiling, enthusiastic crew members who went the extra mile to make our experiences memorable. This year we sailed the Dawn in January. We found them to be not as friendly and certainly not enthusiastic. No one stood out as memorable where as on all our previous sailings we can recall several crew members and staff. The overall atmosphere was more reserved. Not one single time during the week did I hear NCLs famous "washy, washy!" And actually missed it. I wonder if they are being trained to be more subtle like some posters have suggested. Our next cruise is on the Jewel this December. It will be interesting to see what the atmosphere is.

 

 

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[armwinder]

We were on the Jewel in February for a couple of weeks and found the crew very pleasant and happy. The only crew member who was rude was a fellow on the cocktail bar who refused to make and drink not on the "menu". I think he had limited skills and was having a bad day. I went up to O'Sheehans and ordered what I wanted. All in all a happy crew we thought.

[NLH Arizona]

Not one single time during the week did I hear NCLs famous "washy, washy!" And actually missed it.

I love this site, because it just shows how different we all are with our likes and dislikes are. If I never hear "washy, washy" again, I would be a happy person.

[newmexicoNita]

I think the Hotel Director set's the mood.

 

It was very noticable morale decline in the crew after Sir Calvin Lodge left Dawn. :(

 

.

It as been my experience if the service is lacking a meeting with the hotel director will do wonders. If the problem is simply an unpleasant crew, it really isn't a huge issue, but we all like one that is friendly and smiling. I still say a lot may have had to do wiht the time of year.

[newmexicoNita]

I don't know about that, but the issue would be that crew members that leave to work on the Joy are no longer working on the other ships. Does anyone know how many are being taken from the rest of the fleet? Even if it's like only 1 out of 20, I think this could have a noticeable effect on morale, team spirit, productivity, etc. Even if they are replaced one for one by new recruits (which I kind of doubt), they are not interchangeable spare parts.

certainly could have a lot to do with it . The company always takes the best of the best to launch the new ships. Add to that, the spring break exhaustion the crew must be feeling and a bad experience is very possible. Even though we did experience a less than friendly crew on one Jewel cruise (yes the Mex riv) we didn't experience it the first sailing on the jewel. May I also add, I think the title the OP used is a little over the top.

[Haole]

The attitude of the staff is a direct reflection of the attitude of the Hotel Director and to some degree the Cruise Director.

 

We last sailed on the ill-fated Star that lost propulsion in Asia and cancelled half of the cruise ports. Passengers were outraged at the Senior Staff's dismissive response. See video (

).

 

The dismay of the crew was evident as they were worried about their tips. Clearly they wanted to talk to passengers, but were instructed otherwise.

 

NCL has not suffered as much in the media as United Airlines, but they have some work to do on their corporate attitude.

[newmexicoNita]

The attitude of the staff is a direct reflection of the attitude of the Hotel Director and to some degree the Cruise Director.

 

We last sailed on the ill-fated Star that lost propulsion in Asia and cancelled half of the cruise ports. Passengers were outraged at the Senior Staff's dismissive response. See video (

).

 

The dismay of the crew was evident as they were worried about their tips. Clearly they wanted to talk to passengers, but were instructed otherwise.

 

NCL has not suffered as much in the media as United Airlines, but they have some work to do on their corporate attitude.

you had a bad experiemce. Stuff happens and if the passengers were upset and showed it, I can understand the crew and management being a little hostile. Stuff happens, we have to learn to see the other side. As for comparing NCL with the last few United incidences is complete off base. It is like comparing apples to oranges. I am surprised anyone would compare!!!:mad:

[fshagan]

The attitude of the staff is a direct reflection of the attitude of the Hotel Director and to some degree the Cruise Director.

 

We last sailed on the ill-fated Star that lost propulsion in Asia and cancelled half of the cruise ports. Passengers were outraged at the Senior Staff's dismissive response. See video (

).

 

The dismay of the crew was evident as they were worried about their tips. Clearly they wanted to talk to passengers, but were instructed otherwise.

 

NCL has not suffered as much in the media as United Airlines, but they have some work to do on their corporate attitude.

 

I watched that video and the one that came up next, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O40_OlvS69M, and the major complaint that everyone is yelling about is that the NEXT cruise is still listed on the website? That is the first issue and you have to watch until 10:35 in that second video to get that far. Everyone is yelling "fraud!" about a website listing. Give me a break.

 

Then the person asking the questions starts into past problems and only wants a "yes" or "no" answer. That's a ridiculous requirement. He asks "In 2015 during the Panama Canal cruise, you had problems with this ship. Yes or no?" and then he abruptly shouts the officer down when the officer tries to explain that problem. Finally he lets the officer explain that yes, the ship had a problem in 2015 and fixed it, and this is a separate problem. It seems like a reasonable response, and a truthful answer. I had my car fixed twice in the last few years too.

 

I don't think the officer showed a dismissive attitude at all, and handled the situation as well as any of us could. He was facing a mob of angry people. There's a lot about mob mentality that is evident. Individually, most of those people would probably had a different question, and would have been satisfied with the answer. Get in a mob of people and you get swept along with the group's emotion.

 

I would be upset too, and probably wouldn't sail NCL again (unless the price was right). I don't know what the final compensation was, but the video has him saying $400 now and $1,000 later, which probably wouldn't be enough for me to be happy. But the ship still listed on the website? Really?

[NLH Arizona]

I watched that video and the one that came up next, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O40_OlvS69M, and the major complaint that everyone is yelling about is that the NEXT cruise is still listed on the website? That is the first issue and you have to watch until 10:35 in that second video to get that far. Everyone is yelling "fraud!" about a website listing. Give me a break.

 

Then the person asking the questions starts into past problems and only wants a "yes" or "no" answer. That's a ridiculous requirement. He asks "In 2015 during the Panama Canal cruise, you had problems with this ship. Yes or no?" and then he abruptly shouts the officer down when the officer tries to explain that problem. Finally he lets the officer explain that yes, the ship had a problem in 2015 and fixed it, and this is a separate problem. It seems like a reasonable response, and a truthful answer. I had my car fixed twice in the last few years too.

 

I don't think the officer showed a dismissive attitude at all, and handled the situation as well as any of us could. He was facing a mob of angry people. There's a lot about mob mentality that is evident. Individually, most of those people would probably had a different question, and would have been satisfied with the answer. Get in a mob of people and you get swept along with the group's emotion.

 

I would be upset too, and probably wouldn't sail NCL again (unless the price was right). I don't know what the final compensation was, but the video has him saying $400 now and $1,000 later, which probably wouldn't be enough for me to be happy. But the ship still listed on the website? Really?

Very well said.

[bmwman]

That sucks. We had that happen on our very first NCL cruise on the Spirit, but never since. There is no sense guessing at reasons for it, when no one really knows.

 

Good answer - anything is guess work

[spanishguy1970]

well some of them don't get nearly enough time off to recharge, rest. On my last cruise our steward looked worn out, but i have never had unfriendly staff in all of my NCL cruises.

[fshagan]

We haven't had any problems with crew attitude on any of our cruises, but ************r (if I got his handle right) is a fair person and really experienced with NCL cruises. So I'm hoping he just got the exception to the rule this time and the crew will be back to their normal selves when we board this weekend!

[spotfish]

I guess before we complain maybe we should try working for a few dollars an hour, 7 days a week for up to 6 months without a day off. When we have completed those 6 months and we were able to be happy and vibrant for everyone of those 180 days....then we can complain.

[Cruisewithm]

OP, so sorry that you felt that the staff on your cruise was not what you thought it would be. There is no bad intent here to you at all and what you experienced. :)

 

I have a couple of thoughts after having been on over 30 cruises and several different cruise lines.

I have also traveled solo and with friends and family.

 

IMHO, I do not need the staff to be overly friendly or become my friend all of the time, in fact I do not really like the 'in your face greetings etc.'.I do not expect that anywhere when there is customer service. Can you imagine being expected to be like that all of the time at work? I only expect pleasant.

 

These are adults working very hard and, again, IMHO, should not need to be 100% overly friendly to a customer. Though I don't like the 'sucking up' factor either. Everyone has days at work that are not perfect and therefore we do the best we can to be pleasant. I am not sure why it is important to some people to have their room steward or other staff be their friend.

 

I have always received excellent service on cruise ships - I cannot think of one time that it wasn't. Was it perfect, no, but I believe of the staff are working very hard are always pleasant.

 

If the 'unfriendly' interaction is 'reported' to the management, what would be said - this is subjective and unfortunately the staff would suffer. I am not dismissing rude behavior by a staff, IMHO that should be reported

 

That said, I have noticed on recent NCL cruises that the service is slow due to having not enough staff; I would be unhappy to if I was expected to do the work of more than 1 person.

 

How could I report to NCL that they did not have enough staff working without making the staff look bad - when short staffed it is never the staff's fault........:(

 

JMHO -

Safe cruising all!

 

 

I think exactly the same, This "how are you", "how was your day" all the time it's so fake and tiresome... maybe it's a country culture thing. And I mean not only in a cruise, I mean it in every where.

When I went to vacation once in Orlando, I was surprised that every time I enter in a shop that was someone saying hi,how are you? Cidst6I thought, wow people here take good care of the costumer, then I tried to reply once: I'm fine, thanks know you. How are you today?

The guy did not expect this answer, and was very disconcerted.

That's when I realized that the guy did not care how was I or anything. That was just automatic, and I started to gate this fake customer services.

[newmexicoNita]

I think exactly the same, This "how are you", "how was your day" all the time it's so fake and tiresome... maybe it's a country culture thing. And I mean not only in a cruise, I mean it in every where.

When I went to vacation once in Orlando, I was surprised that every time I enter in a shop that was someone saying hi,how are you? Cidst6I thought, wow people here take good care of the costumer, then I tried to reply once: I'm fine, thanks know you. How are you today?

The guy did not expect this answer, and was very disconcerted.

That's when I realized that the guy did not care how was I or anything. That was just automatic, and I started to gate this fake customer services.

so true: a smile, being called by my name and a nicely cleaned cabin is what matters to us. :D

[Barb Nahoumi]

I watched that video and the one that came up next, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O40_OlvS69M, and the major complaint that everyone is yelling about is that the NEXT cruise is still listed on the website? That is the first issue and you have to watch until 10:35 in that second video to get that far. Everyone is yelling "fraud!" about a website listing. Give me a break.

 

Then the person asking the questions starts into past problems and only wants a "yes" or "no" answer. That's a ridiculous requirement. He asks "In 2015 during the Panama Canal cruise, you had problems with this ship. Yes or no?" and then he abruptly shouts the officer down when the officer tries to explain that problem. Finally he lets the officer explain that yes, the ship had a problem in 2015 and fixed it, and this is a separate problem. It seems like a reasonable response, and a truthful answer. I had my car fixed twice in the last few years too.

 

I don't think the officer showed a dismissive attitude at all, and handled the situation as well as any of us could. He was facing a mob of angry people. There's a lot about mob mentality that is evident. Individually, most of those people would probably had a different question, and would have been satisfied with the answer. Get in a mob of people and you get swept along with the group's emotion.

 

I would be upset too, and probably wouldn't sail NCL again (unless the price was right). I don't know what the final compensation was, but the video has him saying $400 now and $1,000 later, which probably wouldn't be enough for me to be happy. But the ship still listed on the website? Really?

 

I watched the second video, and read some of the comments written about it. One mentioned that the man named Steve, who acted as spokesperson for the passengers, was put off the ship along with his wife in Cannes. Really?

[fshagan]

I guess before we complain maybe we should try working for a few dollars an hour, 7 days a week for up to 6 months without a day off. When we have completed those 6 months and we were able to be happy and vibrant for everyone of those 180 days....then we can complain.

 

I know from my own working life, primarily in managing customer facing positions, that the time worked and the pay given is rarely a source of displeasure and rarely interferes with maintaining the proper customer service level. Look up: the problem is the people above the workers who are managing them. That is almost always the problem.

 

You also have to remember that the NCL workers from the poorer countries like the Philippines are earning about four times as much as they can at home. The US equivalent of a cabin steward's pay is about $4,000 a month in their home currency (they earn about $1,000 a month in USD).

 

They work hard, but satisfaction at work has less to do with money and time and more to do with appreciation and the sense of being valued as an employee. If ten cabin stewards are grumpy fire the hotel director (or his or her underlings who are causing the dissatisfaction). If every ship has ten cabin stewards who are grumpy fire the CEO.

 

A fish rots from the head.

[NLH Arizona]

I think exactly the same, This "how are you", "how was your day" all the time it's so fake and tiresome... maybe it's a country culture thing. And I mean not only in a cruise, I mean it in every where.

When I went to vacation once in Orlando, I was surprised that every time I enter in a shop that was someone saying hi,how are you? Cidst6I thought, wow people here take good care of the costumer, then I tried to reply once: I'm fine, thanks know you. How are you today?

The guy did not expect this answer, and was very disconcerted.

That's when I realized that the guy did not care how was I or anything. That was just automatic, and I started to gate this fake customer services.

Usually if someone greets you and they look you in the eyes and greet you, you are less likely to shoplift in that store. At least that is what research says.

[herdingdogmom]

I watched the second video, and read some of the comments written about it. One mentioned that the man named Steve, who acted as spokesperson for the passengers, was put off the ship along with his wife in Cannes. Really?

Yes, he was removed from the Star in Australia. Apparently, he continued the uprising meetings and contacted Australian authorities saying the ship was unsafe. There were also complaints from passengers. The other videos show the atrium filled with a mob shouting "more money". We were on the following cruise and were thrilled there was no rioting and our cruise ended up adrift at sea. We missed all ports but 1.

 

And back to crew attitude, all were quite good considering the stressful circumstances. Only guest services was surly/unpleasant/worn out - so we just stayed away from them.

Edited April 27, 2017 by herdingdogmom

[newmexicoNita]

Yes, he was removed from the Star in Australia. Apparently, he continued the uprising meetings and contacted Australian authorities saying the ship was unsafe. There were also complaints from passengers. The other videos show the atrium filled with a mob shouting "more money". We were on the following cruise and were thrilled there was no rioting and our cruise ended up adrift at sea. We missed all ports but 1.

 

And back to crew attitude, all were quite good considering the stressful circumstances. Only guest services was surly/unpleasant/worn out - so we just stayed away from them.

it seems like, too often Guest services is the one place smiles are not encouraged. And that goes for most cruise lines. Of course they are also the ones who listen to the most complaints I am sure.