I think it definitely depends on their job or occupation. Of course Drs, Nurses, Spa attendants and entertainers are paid differently than Waiters, bartenders, stewards, cooks etc.
I spoke to a cocktail waitress from the Ukrain on our Valor cruise the first of the month. My family were all in a dispute over how many hrs they work etc. My sister did not believe they worked 12 hr days. The waitress said...oh yes we do! We have other jobs too. We asked her about the contracts. She said they have 3, 6, 9, 12 and even longer contracts for those who want them. She said they are paid in US $$ and when they convert them to their currancy they lose a lot of money unlike some other Countries where she said the US $$ is strong.
She said there are no workers on the ship from Mexico. I wonder why since the pay there is really low. While in Mazatlan we asked a hotel manager about the pay the landscapers made. He said they are paid 60 pecos a day. That is $6.00 per day! This would be a golden job for them.
When we were on the NCL Wind we were talking to a couple in their late 50s who did craft classes once a day. She said that she sent a tape to NCL telling of her interest to teach craft classes. They were offered their cabin plus dining in any of the diningrooms with full use of the ship in exchange for teaching one 1hr class daily and paying their gratuities so basically they pay $70.00 x 2 per week which is $140.00 a week and they get their room and board and the luxuries of cruising for teaching one class a day. Not too shabby!
just wondering if you know how the lounge bands and piano bar players get paid as well. Is it separate from the others?
I've always assumed they had contracts for a set fee. f-mattox used to be a pianist on Princess. Hopefully he'll respond to your question.
Thanks for your reply and I didn't know that about f-mattox being a pianist. f-mattox were you ever on any of the Carnival ships? Hope everything is okay. Mary Ann
She said there are no workers on the ship from Mexico. I wonder why since the pay there is really low. While in Mazatlan we asked a hotel manager about the pay the landscapers made. He said they are paid 60 pecos a day. That is $6.00 per day! This would be a golden job for them.
Well thare are some mexicans. During my time with NCL I worked with a few mexicans. However, they are not many, I'm not sure for what reason, but I think it could be that not many agencies are represented n Mexico.
During the later years crew from eastern european countries have increased drastically and in the hotel dept they are more and more taking over from for example filipinos because of the salaries.
The salaries are paid in USD and because of that people from a lot of countries, including my own, lose a lot of money when converting. Since I left NCL the value of dollars have dropped somewhere between 40 and 50%. This is the reason I left as well. As much as I really loved working for NCL I just couldn't afford it anymore. From when I started in july 2000 until I left in 2003 I had lost 30% of my salary. And since I come from a high cost country I'm also depending on a decent salary, which I had when the exchange rate was unnaturally high.
As I cruised with MSC I saw they charge tips on your cruise card automatically if you don't expressly deny this permission.
The amount is per day, and depends on the age of the cruiser (standard for adults, reduced or zero for children).
The total amount is then distributed equally into the whole crew, to help those who work inside - and passengers neither realize they exist.
You can't tip directly the crew: I've been told from an officer that waiters etc. can be fired if they're found getting money from cruisers.
Originally posted by RayS:
We've been cruising for some time and really enjoy meeting the crew members from around the world. But on our last cruise someone told us they get paid only $100 a week and that they have to pay the cruise lines for room and board plus laundry leaving them with only about $10 per week over the tips we give them. I can't believe that's true and I'm wondering if there is some place where I can get more information about how this really works. I love cruising, but not on the backs of people being oppressed.
As most of you know my daughter dances for Carnival. Without giving you specifics of amounts she can bank more on her cruise salary then when she danced in New York City. She has a contract for 8 months this time but has had longer and shorter. She does not pay for room or board and her room is cleaned by the housekeeping staff, but she does not get room service or the stuff you get being a guest. She gets longevity pay over her regular pay, having danced 5 years for the company. Her longevity continues as long as she does not take more than 6 mo off at a time (the number of months may not be exact). She gets extra if she takes on extra work, like dance captain, or Seamstress, or an exta show like dancing in the magic show. The entertainers do other work, in the library, bingo, embarkation etc. This is all part of the contract but if they sell enough scratch tickets and bingo tickets they get a bonus. It takes a lot of sales and they don't usually get it. All in all properly managed it is fair pay. She makes more than the assistant CD, all things considered. However she is paid in cash and the corporation will NOT do a direct deposit because the rank of a dancer does not qualify for it. This makes it very difficult for her to bank, especially as she never sees mainline US on this cruise. She is able to handle it by Money orders but that costs her. She banks the maximum in a Individual Retirement account but Carnival does not provide for her retirment with a 401k or anything. She can buy some Carnival Stock at a diso****ed broker fee. Investing in your own company is not always a good place to put a lot of your money but she has a small amount of CCL. She does not qualify for tips and assists guests without the expectation of tipping. She has qualified as a Life Boat Captain but I don't think she gets any pay for this.
All in all it is pretty good considerig she needs no apartment and no car. She could go abck to NY but doesn't. From time to time talks about going to another cruise line.
if they're found getting money from cruisers.
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