France vs. Europe on Uniworld: Service Levels

[paul21]

I recently took a river cruise on Uniworld in France, and it seems French labor law is being fully enforced now:

 

• Crew can only work 8 hours each day, 6 days a week or 48 hours per 7 days
• Crew get one day off per week
• Some cruise lines were caught violating, so now there is strict timekeeping with a badge in/out that takes a photo (saw it on the progressive dinner)

 

There were also some other oddities, like the captain was French and the cruise director was also French which is probably another requirement but I'm not sure. 

 

I asked a crewmember about other rivers, and the standard Uniworld contract was:

• Crew work 10 hour days, 7 days a week
• Crew get one day off every 2 weeks
• Contract rate is the same fixed pay per week
  • France has a 2 year limit now because of is desirability (hours vs pay)
  • Half the crew are new with half veterans

 

If I compare these two options, with 59 crew on two ships, the available crew hours are:

• Europe: 59 * (7 days a week * 10 hours a day - 5 working hours off per week on average)
  • Total: 3,835 man hours per week
• France: 59 * (6 days a week * 8 hours a day)
  • Total: 2,832 man hours per week

 

This means France has 74% of the available hours as Europe for the same crew count. Since I've only been on one Uniworld cruise in France, and my comparison is Scenic, there were a few service oddities that I'm looking for some opinion on:

• The bar and sun deck were not or understaffed until 5PM with no one checking for drinks; no one welcomed us from morning until 5PM
• Dinner service was a bit slow sometimes, with empty plates sitting for 5 minutes or more on occasion
• Drink refills were pretty slow at dinner and lunch, but breakfast was fine
• Only one butler was provisioned for 6 occupied suites, and he took a day off with no replacement and didn't answer during the day from 9am until 4pm

 

Overall the cruise was enjoyable, but I'm wondering if anyone has compared France and Europe on the same line to know if there is a service level difference? The crew were always busy when they were working, so I have no complaints about that. 

[Canal archive]

Last year on our Seine cruise the marine gendarmerie came aboard at Rouen to check the credentials of all except passengers on board. We were moored up and they arrived by boat and evidently it’s always the marine branch that does the checking. Cruise director does not have to be French but the marine crew as far as I could understand were okay as long as they had full French qualifications. Our two captains gained their full marine pilot credentials during our mooring in Rouen so they no longer require a pilot to enter Honfluer harbour although one was a year to young so he will be okay this year.

[Gourmet Gal]

On 5/18/2024 at 11:39 PM, paul21 said:

I recently took a river cruise on Uniworld in France, and it seems French labor law is being fully enforced now:

 

• Crew can only work 8 hours each day, 6 days a week or 48 hours per 7 days
• Crew get one day off per week
• Some cruise lines were caught violating, so now there is strict timekeeping with a badge in/out that takes a photo (saw it on the progressive dinner)

 

There were also some other oddities, like the captain was French and the cruise director was also French which is probably another requirement but I'm not sure. 

 

I asked a crewmember about other rivers, and the standard Uniworld contract was:

• Crew work 10 hour days, 7 days a week
• Crew get one day off every 2 weeks
• Contract rate is the same fixed pay per week
  • France has a 2 year limit now because of is desirability (hours vs pay)
  • Half the crew are new with half veterans

 

If I compare these two options, with 59 crew on two ships, the available crew hours are:

• Europe: 59 * (7 days a week * 10 hours a day - 5 working hours off per week on average)
  • Total: 3,835 man hours per week
• France: 59 * (6 days a week * 8 hours a day)
  • Total: 2,832 man hours per week

 

This means France has 74% of the available hours as Europe for the same crew count. Since I've only been on one Uniworld cruise in France, and my comparison is Scenic, there were a few service oddities that I'm looking for some opinion on:

• The bar and sun deck were not or understaffed until 5PM with no one checking for drinks; no one welcomed us from morning until 5PM
• Dinner service was a bit slow sometimes, with empty plates sitting for 5 minutes or more on occasion
• Drink refills were pretty slow at dinner and lunch, but breakfast was fine
• Only one butler was provisioned for 6 occupied suites, and he took a day off with no replacement and didn't answer during the day from 9am until 4pm

 

Overall the cruise was enjoyable, but I'm wondering if anyone has compared France and Europe on the same line to know if there is a service level difference? The crew were always busy when they were working, so I have no complaints about that. 

You would definitely need more sampling to determine if French labor laws are creating a deficit in service.  You may also be making some assumptions.  Staffing levels may vary by ship and the hotel managers may be more creative with covering each venue.  And personally, I don’t care if there’s no staff to “greet” me nor does 5 minutes seem like a long time for a plate to be cleared.