Where do the hired help come from on any given cruise line? It varies, a lot, with as many 30 countries represented on any single ship. Some major cruise lines hire workers from 80 countries or more. Just quickly, try to name 80 countries off the top of your head. If you can't, try to comprise a list from looking at a world map. Now, looking at those 80 countries you listed, being honest with yourself, of the 80, how many would you be willing to travel to, as an American? Let me make it easy for you. If you list all the countries in the west, U.S, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, then list every country in South America, and Western Europe, and toss in a handful from the South Pacific,you will be far from completing the list. But, even doing that, there are countries I am sure, you would have to think about traveling to, within South America. How about Columbia or Haiti two countries racked with violence.
Now, that you have given that some thought, try to imagine where the employees come from that will attend to your needs on a cruise. It makes you think, doesn't it? While you would personally object to traveling to some countries, simply based on your personal opinion of the risk factor to you and your family, you actually move in and live with those same citizens. Have these people lived their life by social standards you feel comfortable living by? The answer might well be, NO. It doesn't matter what you think. These people will conduct themselves by standards that may be totally unacceptable to you. In fact, the term code of conduct, may be completely new to them, and they may have no real understanding of what it means. What may be totally acceptable in the country they come from, may be a felony in the United States.
C1/D1 U.S. Visa are required for cruise ship staff if the cruise ship stops at U.S. ports, only. This visa is for seamen only, and allows them to enter the United States for a limited number of hours and days when the cruise ship is in U.S. ports. They do not need a United States work visa or Green Card to work on most cruise ships, since the majority of cruise ships are registered in other countries, not in the United States. This means the staff do not go through the same extensive process as most others applying for a U.S. visa. The C1D1 visa is more of a formality.
Job functions are narrow. Top staff are the captain and managers of activities and of food and beverages and other services who have years of experience in the field. Top staff are normally hired directly by the cruise line from the U.S, Canada, and Western Europe. Other staff are hired by crewing agencys, paid by crewing agencys, and that money is forwarded by the crewing agency to the family of the crew member while they are at sea, not by the cruise line, and they work on contract periods of 3, 4, or 6 months primarily, so there is no job security. English is spoken very little by these crewing agency hires.
These are ship’s crew who live in the lowest deck and are only allowed to interact with passengers for work-related purposes. Most large cruise ships are registered outside the United States and hire people from developing under-industrialized countries , where pay is less and employment regulations are lax, to do most of the routine work like cleaning the cabins, bussing tables, and doing ship maintenance. The impression is these people only work in areas where there are no passengers, and this impression is incorrect. They will be in your room, cleaning it, maintaining it, and turning down your sheets at night. While many of these workers have no problem getting a C1D1 visa, they wouldn't stand a chance at getting approved for any other visa.
Some of these workers typically had no real idea that they would be stuck in the belly of a ship, rarely to see the light of day, working 10-16 hour days, 7 days a week, with often less than 6 hours sleep a day, bunking in a melting pot of others who may have little or no personal standards, and frequently become depressed enough to jump over board. As well, just the policy of the line is enough to irritate some workers.
For example Celebrity Cruises deducts $7 a week from the wage of bus boys and waiters for breakage, whether they break anything or not. That policy is illegal in the United States, but Celebrity ships are primarily registered in the Bahamas and Panama, where that employment practice is acceptable. It is the difference in laws of the countries ships are registered in, that make the difference in who is hired, how they are hired, how they are treated, what they are paid, how they live onboard, and what frame of mind they may be in, when you encounter them.
Let's take a look at a couple cruise lines. Carnival Cruise Lines employs from over 80 countries. In the United States, in order to work on a U.S registered cruise ship, you must be a U.S citizen or legal resident.Those ships are the Pride of America, Pride Of Aloha, and the Independence ,all of which are owned by Star Cruises.
The purpose of this webpage is to clue you in to the type of people you will likely come into contact with on many cruise ships. What you know about, you can plan for, and guard against, so you are not cruising for a bruising. See our ship registry page for information on what country governs the laws of your cruise ship.
How do some supplement their low wages on cruise ships? - Here is one way.
Note: the Disney Cruise Ship Magic, is listed.
Cruise Ship Employment Standards
Who Do The Cruise Lines Hire?
What Are Employee's Backgrounds?
