Crews and getting Back to Sea.

[brittany12]

I have been thinking about what the crew and crewing problems must be like for refitting the ships and going cruising again. Many of us are thinking of cruising when it all is safe, if that ever happens.  Cleanliness is paramount. Quality of food coming out of kitchen and waiters is one problem and quality of whole crew and service another. On Seabourn the crew was small, maybe couple of hundred, but now scattered to the four winds. Many of those back  in their home countries looked for or took other jobs if they could find any. I'm sure they were not paid by Seabourn. How does the cruise line reassemble  a first class crew?  How many will be willing to return? The problem is throughout the ship - even the engine crew and engineering people. We have to know we are sailing with a first class and trained engineering crew. Every department.  No ship has ever faced this before. And now it is an entire fleet of 7 ships. Anyone have any ideas about this?  I know some the ships have had a skeletal crew on aboard to keep the engines and systems going, but only a small few in number unless the ships was shut down cold..  Have all these management and staff people been waiting around to be recalled? Are the other cruise lines desperate for a good crew trying to steal them away? All new waiters, Cabin staff?  Can 7 ships in the fleet get back to sea with fully qualified and trained personnel? And will we get the level of trained staff we once experienced that made Seaborun stand out? I am sure the Seabourn people int Seattle monitor these comments. Crews sleep four or six to a cabin. Illness rapidly spreads in cramped crew quarters. I'd like them to address how they plan on accomplishing the recrewing of the entire fleet in a way that we the loyal Seabourn passengers would expect to find welcoming and acceptable, and the health of the crew issue as well.

[Flamin_June]

Thank you for a thoughtful and thought-provoking post. Hopefully some posters with inside knowledge and/or experience will be able to provide some answers. I imagined, if I thought of this at all, that crew were somehow retained, and perhaps lined up for various start dates , and that there would be re-training and special training for the new Health and Safety protocols that will have to be in place.

Like many others I long for a return to Seabourn sailings. Whatever the failings of the shoreside operation (and there is a long history of disgruntled posts relating to these), the on-board experience was always first rate. I kind of hoped it would be 'just the same as always' when sailings resume. But clearly, in the shorter term at least, that probably can not be.

Edited June 12, 2020 by Flamin_June
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[Flamin_June]

Just a thought....

with Social Distancing, maybe occupancy will have to be adjusted. The O class ships would drop down to Little Sister passenger numbers, and Encore & Ovation would scale down to O class.

That would work for me.

Availability and price might be an issue though......

[Ka Honu]

I've received a number of emails, links, etc., that indicate at least some Seabourn crews are still aboard (without passengers) and "weathering the storm" fairly well (and, by some reports, using and staying in "passenger spaces"). They seem to say they miss the passengers but are getting a bit tired of drills, training, and cleaning unused spaces over and over. In general, however, the tone is that they're glad to be where they are instead of where they might be.

 

My informaqtion is purely anecdotal - I don't how many ships and crew members are involved and what their status will be when they finally disembark (in terms of time off before taking a new contract). I also have no idea what crew members not currently aboard or "off contract" are told about the future.

[Isklaar]

On Sojourn the Hotel Director Theresa is still onboard. She was HD on our cruise that now seems a lifetime ago in early December through early January. Captain Hamish is also still onboard since embarking in Cape Town in early February. The ship was in Costa Rica today having been in Mexico for several weeks. I assume is heading to Panama Canal. 

 

Not sure how many crew remain onboard but they have been staying in guest suites, enjoying the pool deck and so on.

This situation must be very difficult for them all. 

Edited June 13, 2020 by Isklaar

[rallydave]

Not sure where the number 7 for Seabourn ships came from.  Pretty sure there are only 5 ships in the Seabourn fleet.

 

Extremely thought provoking post by the OP.

[jenidallas]

On 6/12/2020 at 2:34 PM, brittany12 said:

Crews sleep four or six to a cabin. Illness rapidly spreads in cramped crew quarters. I'd like them to address how they plan on accomplishing the recrewing of the entire fleet in a way that we the loyal Seabourn passengers would expect to find welcoming and acceptable, and the health of the crew issue as well.

My understanding from various Seabourn crew over the years is that they are 2 per cabin (at least the passenger facing crew are) and some positions rate a solo cabin.  While their accommodations are definitely not on par it’s passengers, they have their own housekeepers who service their cabins daily as well.

 

The handful of crew I stay in touch with are looking forward to a return to the ships when crew are called back.  While we may not see them all return, I think a good number will be back... the line treats them well and I understand from them that Seabourn is considered a desirable line to work for as a result.

[Paulchili]

I imagine that the great majority of the staff will jump at the opportunity to return. I am pretty certain that they make a lot more in salary on SB than they might at home - if they can even find a job. Why else would they be willing to stay away from their families and children for many months at a time if they could make the same living at home. They certainly don't come to SB because they miss us - although many are happy to see familiar faces.

Not to mention that most of them live in a much cleaner and safer environment on SB than at home.

JMO.

[koalapanda]

5 hours ago, Paulchili said:

I imagine that the great majority of the staff will jump at the opportunity to return. I am pretty certain that they make a lot more in salary on SB than they might at home - if they can even find a job.f they can even find a job. Why else would they be willing to stay away from their families and children for many months at a time if they could make the same living at home. They certainly don't come to SB because they miss us - although many are happy to see familiar faces.

Not to mention that most of them live in a much cleaner and safer environment on SB than at home.

JMO.

Seabourn Staff and Crew I love you all, it is my dearest hope to see you again.

Unemployment??? Is this not the state of the World presently?

Sacrifice - Many of the staff and crew come from countries where family is everything and duty is even stronger. Enduring long stints away is a heartache. However they look to the future, their love and duty is the encouragement. That they and their families and the future generations can look foward to a more prosperous future.

Safer environment -  At this time we have all sorts of anomolies threatening us all.

I am just glad you added it was YHO. It certainly is not MHO.

Seabourn Staff and Crew I love you all, it is my dearest hope to see you again.

 

Edited June 14, 2020 by koalapanda
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