Are Low Staffing Levels Part of Celebrity’s Plan to Cut Costs and Increase Profitably?

[Ipeeinthepools]

I’m currently on the Summit and it is painfully obvious that Celebrity does not have adequate wait staff in the MDR.  There are long lines for anyone without a reservation and at first I though this was just a result of everyone showing up at the same time.  People with reservations seemed to be seated quickly.  The fact of the matter is that there are only so many tables in the dining room and when they full, there’s nothing else than can be done.

 

However after eating there for a couple of nights you notice that there are tables that are empty the entire time I was in the dining room.   After you are seated, the service is very slow because there just aren’t very many servers.  After someone leaves the table is left dirty because no one is available to reset the table.

 

So the problem with the long waits and slow service in the MDR on the Summit isn’t the rush of people showing up between 6:30 and 7:00, it’s a self inflicted problem because Celebrity has not hired enough staff.   I understand the difficulty of re-staffing ships as they return to service but the Summit has been sailing for quite awhile.  If Celebrity really can’t hire more people, perhaps they should consider not sailing as many ships.   I’ll also suggest that Celebrity could do what other businesses do when they need to hire more people, increase the compensation and hire people from your competitors.   So the issue isn’t that Celebrity can’t hire more people, it’s that they have chosen to staff their ships at these levels.

 

However my larger concern is that after awhile this current degraded level of service becomes the new normal.  I’m sure that there are financial analysts in Miami are thinking that people are sailing on the Summit with this level of staffing, let’s extend it to the rest of the fleet.  Many of us are willing to allow Celebrity some time to rectify these issues, but people will start heading to the exit gates if these long waits and slow service become the new normal.

 

 

[delondin]

It seems to be a cruise industry problem, rather than just a Celebrity issue. For example, Cunard have reduced capacity on their sailings by cancelling some booked passengers. Their reasons are difficulty documenting staff due to covid delays. Also difficulties with flying the crew from their home countries due to airline problems and airspace issues with the Russia situation. We don’t know how many potential crew are caught up in the war situation etc. 
 

Apparently  it can take up to 12 weeks to get the visas, covid jabs etc and then when they do get on board they have to isolate for several days before they can work

 

A crew member was posting on social media about how it is now not a very attractive job. For them wearing a sometimes double mask all the time, no crew bar socialising and limited, if any, time ashore due to covid protocols. Also they are finding that they could get to the end of their contract and they are not allowed home as there is no one to replace them. Therefore I imagine there is not such a big pool of willing people to become crew as there was in the past. 

[chemmo]

Could some staff be isolating?  Could a significant number of guests be isolating and pressure being put on room service resulting in staff redistribution? Also newer staff may not have the training, experience or confidence to juggle the multiple roles in the MDR…It has always amazed me how efficient they usually are.

Before reasoning about the ‘why’ I would see how you can best get the most out of your cruise…Perhaps if those with booking are not having to wait it could be an idea to make reservations yourself? Have a chat with the M’D? Choose to dine some nights in the speciality restaurants or the buffet? I don’t think you are the first to comment that Summit MDR presently has issues…

We are all aware that $$$ must be on the agenda of all cruise industry board meetings and things like the increase in cost of drink packages etc reflect this. However,  it does seem the Summit is struggling more than other ships…

 

Despite the service issues I hope you manage to enjoy your cruise!

 

 

[Ipeeinthepools]

26 minutes ago, chemmo said:

Could some staff be isolating?  Could a significant number of guests be isolating and pressure being put on room service resulting in staff redistribution? Also newer staff may not have the training, experience or confidence to juggle the multiple roles in the MDR…It has always amazed me how efficient they usually are.

Before reasoning about the ‘why’ I would see how you can best get the most out of your cruise…Perhaps if those with booking are not having to wait it could be an idea to make reservations yourself? Have a chat with the M’D? Choose to dine some nights in the speciality restaurants or the buffet? I don’t think you are the first to comment that Summit MDR presently has issues…

We are all aware that $$$ must be on the agenda of all cruise industry board meetings and things like the increase in cost of drink packages etc reflect this. However,  it does seem the Summit is struggling more than other ships…

 

Despite the service issues I hope you manage to enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Thanks for the reminder, but yes I will find a way to enjoy myself on the cruise.  It’s always great to be on the water and we are sailing with friends.  We only booked this cruise a couple of weeks ago and all of the reservations were already booked.  
 

As you noted the Summit seems to be struggling more than other ships.  We are sailing with about 1700 passengers increasing to about 1900 for the next trip and then at capacity after Memorial Day.  Things aren’t going to get any easier for them.

[Jim_Iain]

May be caused by a perfect storm of events.    Talking to staff I was told it is related to a number of issues.

 

1.  Activating Beyond and Eclipse pulling staff from all ships.  On Beyond they took the best of the fleet leaving other ships struggling to train new staff

 

2. Covid and Crew in Isolation

 

3.  Some staff in countries like India are having a hard time getting a visa because of low staffing at the U.S. Embassy.

[chemmo]

28 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Thanks for the reminder, but yes I will find a way to enjoy myself on the cruise.  It’s always great to be on the water and we are sailing with friends.  We only booked this cruise a couple of weeks ago and all of the reservations were already booked.  
 

As you noted the Summit seems to be struggling more than other ships.  We are sailing with about 1700 passengers increasing to about 1900 for the next trip and then at capacity after Memorial Day.  Things aren’t going to get any easier for them.

 

17 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

1.  Activating Beyond and Eclipse pulling staff from all ships.  On Beyond they took the best of the fleet leaving other ships struggling to train new staff

 

 

We cruised on Equinox once (years ago) after loads of their staff were transferred to a new ship.

 

The only time we ever had poor service on Celebrity. It was a case of nothing being in sync…Everywhere from the MDR, room cleaning to bar service and if you were not drinking beer or red wine at the Elite cocktail evening you were literally waiting forever for a drink (why could they not at least put some white wine on loaded trays?).
 

Quite simply those who knew what to do were trying to do it and then instruct others. When everything from trying to get a drink to getting the correct meal at a decent temperature becomes a regular occurrence it is wearing…

 

OP,  so pleased you are managing to enjoy your cruise despite the service issues…Fingers crossed as things settle down ‘Normal service will be resumed’.

Edited May 15, 2022 by chemmo

[Jim_Iain]

The new staffing was rather apparent on Silhouette.  The bartender in Retreat didn't have a bar back and had to do everything himself which he said was a lot of work.    They also had waiters that were being training in Luminae on everything including what silverware to put out with each meal. 

 

The Retreat Manager was also a Virgin only coming on 6 weeks before the crossing and had never worked on a cruise ship.  His only experience was he had managed a restaurant.   It was really apparent and not to the level we have ever experienced before.  One of the two concierges had a tendancy of not following through on thighs while the other really experienced on was stellar.

[wrk2cruise]

We were on Summit a few weeks ago for the repositioning from Miami to Cape Liberty.  We only had 353 passengers and 600+ crew.   They seemed to be struggling with that.  As others have said, new and poorly trained staff was noticeable in many high profile places.  It was very obvious to me they would really struggle with the 1600+ they were expecting the next sailing and beyond.

 

My other observation is there seems to be an excess of middle management on Celebrity ships.   There are all kinds of stripes walking around.  I always ask myself "what are they doing to make the passengers trip more enjoyable?"   I worked in the IT industry and whenever things were tight those middle management layers were hit hard to preserve the customer facing and R&D jobs.

 

[chemmo]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

The new staffing was rather apparent on Silhouette.  The bartender in Retreat didn't have a bar back and had to do everything himself which he said was a lot of work.    They also had waiters that were being training in Luminae on everything including what silverware to put out with each meal. 

 

The Retreat Manager was also a Virgin only coming on 6 weeks before the crossing and had never worked on a cruise ship.  His only experience was he had managed a restaurant.   It was really apparent and not to the level we have ever experienced before.  One of the two concierges had a tendancy of not following through on thighs while the other really experienced on was stellar.

I am now rather pleased we are not on board until October…By then hopefully the staff will know what they are doing!

 

Retreat Managers seem a bit hit and miss in our experience. We did have an issue on Reflection which we shared with the Manager and his response was outstanding. On other ships they tend to have been rather invisible, including pre covid…I guess their role should only really kick in if there are issues other members of the Retreat team cannot deal with but it would be nice to see them once in a while!

[Bo1953]

4 hours ago, delondin said:

It seems to be a cruise industry problem, rather than just a Celebrity issue. For example, Cunard have reduced capacity on their sailings by cancelling some booked passengers. Their reasons are difficulty documenting staff due to covid delays. Also difficulties with flying the crew from their home countries due to airline problems and airspace issues with the Russia situation. We don’t know how many potential crew are caught up in the war situation etc. 
 

Apparently  it can take up to 12 weeks to get the visas, covid jabs etc and then when they do get on board they have to isolate for several days before they can work

 

A crew member was posting on social media about how it is now not a very attractive job. For them wearing a sometimes double mask all the time, no crew bar socialising and limited, if any, time ashore due to covid protocols. Also they are finding that they could get to the end of their contract and they are not allowed home as there is no one to replace them. Therefore I imagine there is not such a big pool of willing people to become crew as there was in the past. 

Thank you for this view point, something which may not have been considered i.e. not only limited to X...

 

bon voyage

[wrk2cruise]

But that's my point with the middle managers.  If they are invisible to the high end suite guests then what are they doing?  We don't usually sail in a high end suite but historically would see the suite manager in the Retreat/MC lounge almost daily checking in with all suite guests.  The last couple of sailings maybe saw them once.  Had friends in a RS and they didn't seem them at all either.

 

On Summit they were down a butler, didn't see the SM pitching in to help out his employees.

 

I do realize they do have some responsibilities that are not customer facing but in my opinion their presence should be detectable by the customer or the job is unnecessary in a customer focused industry.

 

 

[prmssk]

This is definitely not limited to just Celebrity.  I'm seeing the same issues (and worse complaints) across the various cruise line boards I follow.  It has been really hard for any cruise line to get enough staff for various reasons mentioned on this thread.  Additionally, we are seeing an uptick in COVID case numbers on ships which causes two problems.  First, some of the crew get infected and have to quarantine and so there is even less crew to serve passengers.  And second, those infected COVID passengers in quarantine need crew to serve them which takes some crew away from their normal duties.

[drakes2]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

May be caused by a perfect storm of events.    Talking to staff I was told it is related to a number of issues.

 

1.  Activating Beyond and Eclipse pulling staff from all ships.  On Beyond they took the best of the fleet leaving other ships struggling to train new staff

 

2. Covid and Crew in Isolation

 

3.  Some staff in countries like India are having a hard time getting a visa because of low staffing at the U.S. Embassy.

I just got off the Eclipse last Saturday from an 11 night Hawaii cruise. Waited 2 hours 15 minutes in the MDR for our entree to arrive and when it did was lukewarm.  They were extremely short staffed and clearly untrained. Running out of premium wines and trying to push basic wines thereby making even more of a profit.  Sommeliers have absolutely no training whatsoever. I believe it was the first contract for many of them those who were on their second contract were much more efficient.  Guest relations were no better. I took a Celebrity transfer from airport to pier and was charged more than quoted. When I complained I got all kinds of answers from guest relations until they realized it was a coding error and fixed it. Went from bad to worse.  They didn't even know I could take out part of my refundable OBC as cash from my account  Lady pointed to an ATM machine and said to get my money from there. 

[TeeRick]

2 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

I just got off the Eclipse last Saturday from an 11 night Hawaii cruise. Waited 2 hours 15 minutes in the MDR for our entree to arrive and when it did was lukewarm.  They were extremely short staffed and clearly untrained. Running out of premium wines and trying to push basic wines thereby making even more of a profit.  Sommeliers have absolutely no training whatsoever. I believe it was the first contract for many of them those who were on their second contract were much more efficient.  Guest relations were no better. I took a Celebrity transfer from airport to pier and was charged more than quoted. When I complained I got all kinds of answers from guest relations until they realized it was a coding error and fixed it. Went from bad to worse.  They didn't even know I could take out part of my refundable OBC as cash from my account  Lady pointed to an ATM machine and said to get my money from there. 

Why did you wait so long?  I would have left the MDR long before that and went to the buffet.  

[chemmo]

I feel really sorry for the staff too in this situation.
 

I know it doesn’t make poor service acceptable but it must be really hard to be trying to best guess how to do a job without adequate support and supervision and then get ear ache from disgruntled guests…At least if our experience is bad we get off after a few days, they are on for several months!

 

29 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

But that's my point with the middle managers.  If they are invisible to the high end suite guests then what are they doing?  We don't usually sail in a high end suite but historically would see the suite manager in the Retreat/MC lounge almost daily checking in with all suite guests.  The last couple of sailings maybe saw them once.  Had friends in a RS and they didn't seem them at all either.

 

On Summit they were down a butler, didn't see the SM pitching in to help out his employees.

 

I do realize they do have some responsibilities that are not customer facing but in my opinion their presence should be detectable by the customer or the job is unnecessary in a customer focused industry.

 

 

 

It could be useful for many middle management staff to pitch in with all roles not only just in short staff situations. It would keep them better informed about both the guest experience and the pressure on staff…

 

 

[mfs2k]

4 hours ago, delondin said:

It seems to be a cruise industry problem, rather than just a Celebrity issue.

 

It's not just a cruise industry problem.  It's an everywhere problem, and the hospitality industry is being especially hit hard with labor shortages.  I don't know about international staffing, but in the US there is a huge shortage of workers in the food and beverage service industry.  I'm not sure where all the workers went, but they definitely left restaurants, hotels, bars, resorts, and evidently cruise ships. 

[RTShaker]

To the OPs point about the long wait at the MDR for a table, it has always annoyed me that there are reservations taken for Select dining. In my opinion there should not be any, and the seating should all be on a first come first served basis. My understanding is that this is what the original intent was. You didn't have to commit to a certain time,  you just show up at the time you want to eat on any given day.

[Cruising89143]

It’s not just a Celebrity issue. It’s an industry issue.

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/people-opinions/cruise-lines-pushed-their-limits-staffing-recruiting

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/cunard-caps-occupancy-some-cruises-due-crew-shortages

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27378-royal-caribbean-group-to-launch-major-recruitment-drive-in-antigua-and-barbuda.html

 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Sounds like what the bigger issue is X is not renewing contracts for the more experienced crew in favor new hires which saves them money.

[Homosassa]

20 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

To the OPs point about the long wait at the MDR for a table, it has always annoyed me that there are reservations taken for Select dining. In my opinion there should not be any, and the seating should all be on a first come first served basis. My understanding is that this is what the original intent was. You didn't have to commit to a certain time,  you just show up at the time you want to eat on any given day.

However, for those of us who prefer  a fixed (traditional) MDR experience, the reservation was a way to accommodate us (same time, same wait staff) when the fixed dining times were eliminated and only Select dining was available.  The fixed times were eliminated because of the reduced passenger numbers.

 

By the way, on any line where we have been forced to do open dining because that is the only type of dining, reservations were always available,

 

The lines where we found this to true are Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, NCL, Azamara, Viking Ocean, and HAL.

[WestLakeGirl]

OP, are you implying that they are cutting back on staff deliberately, with the follow on as lowered customer satisfaction as a corporate cost-cutting strategy?  That doesn’t make any sense

[Cruising89143]

I had a conversation last week with our bartender while on the Navigator OTS. He told me that most of the crew on the ship had their contracts coming up as most had brought the ship back into service. Many contracts are being extended simply because there is no one to replace them. I asked what the issue was on obtaining more crew.

 

1. Many potential crew members had vaccines that are not recognized by RCI. They have to start over with vaccinations. 

2. Health paperwork/documentation needed which in some cases is due to situation #1.

3. Many former crew members found employment during the pandemic and have decided not to return. They like being closer to family.

4. And this seems to be the biggest issue. Getting the necessary visas need to come back to work. Appointments are hard to get. 
 

I was surprised to see that we had the same room steward as we had the first week of March. He was to have been on vacation. His contract had been extended for the third time. Hopefully he left this past Friday but he wasn’t sure if it would happen. I heard this same story over and over. The pandemic has hurt everyone and it’s going to take time for things to settle back into place. We all have a choice. Either be prepared that things as we knew might not be the same for a while or maybe now is not the time to cruise or take any type vacation as this pandemic has not only affected the cruise industry but the travel industry in general.

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Why did you wait so long?  I would have left the MDR long before that and went to the buffet.  

We arrived at 5 30 and chatting with tablemates in the meantime had wine soup and apps just waiting for main course and one person waiting for salmon which they ran out of and were preparing more. It was just a total fiasco but got slightly better the remaining nights.  Not great or even good service just a bit better. They were overwhelmed for sure just lack of training. 

[TeeRick]

6 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

However my larger concern is that after awhile this current degraded level of service becomes the new normal.  I’m sure that there are financial analysts in Miami are thinking that people are sailing on the Summit with this level of staffing, let’s extend it to the rest of the fleet.  Many of us are willing to allow Celebrity some time to rectify these issues, but people will start heading to the exit gates if these long waits and slow service become the new normal.

Ipee it seems that many people are cruising no matter what they face these days.  There is already a new normal.  That horse has left the barn.  Degraded service (whatever reason for it) is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.  More dramatic reasons (like quarantine and isolation risk) and being stranded internationally are the key culprits causing people heading to the exit gates.

[canderson]

Granted, some crew may have been pulled to Beyond or whatever after the fact, but our November Constellation cruises were fully staffed, and included many that had been with X for some years.  Was nice to see familiar faces behind the masks.  It was, in fact, the best service we've had on X cruises.  Go figure.

Edited May 15, 2022 by canderson