Cruise Ship Blues: The Underside of the Cruise Ship Industry (24 page)

Some officers, particularly those who head a department and manage its budget, are able to augment their salaries with year-end bonuses.
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Many companies pay a percentage bonus to the master, chief engineer, and hotel manager for staying under budget. In some cases bonuses are shared with others in the officer’s department. Others, such as doctors
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and salespeople, receive commissions based on generated income.

No Minimum Wage

In reviewing the salary figures shown in Table 5.1 it is necessary to keep three things in mind. First, these rates of pay are for workers covered under ITF-approved contracts. Not all cruise lines have contracts consistent with these standards. Carnival Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Line are the only large North American carriers without such an agreement.

Second, workers who receive tips have their income from gratuities included in their guaranteed monthly income. Consequently, on most mass-market and some premium cruise lines, waiters and room stewards earn base salaries of $50 per month. The remainder of their income is drawn from tips. The cruise line guarantees a certain salary level in case tips are insufficient to reach the minimum salary provided by contract.

Third, there is no minimum wage law covering cruise ships. Because most cruise ships are registered in countries other than the USA — using what are called “flags of convenience” — it is the labor laws of those countries that apply to work conditions and to wages. Congress has attempted to bring ships operating out of American ports under American labor laws, but so far unsuccessfully.

The closest that Congress came to imposing American law on foreign-flagged cruise ships operating from American ports was in 1993. In the course of congressional hearings, the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) threatened that the cruise industry would leave American ports (and relocate to non-American ports) if Congress passed the proposed legislation. ICCL president John Estes pointed out how easily cruise ships could be moved from one homeport to another, and that

in order to keep international costs competitive we do in fact on occasion move from country to country. International shipping will always seek a hospitable economic and political climate from which to operate . It would be an unfortunate failure of united States policy not to recognize that homeports are unimportant to passengers.
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WHEN DOES $10 EQUAL $1,000,000?

A number of years ago, I was on a cruise aboard Holland America Line's
Rotterdam.
Every morning at 7:00, a Filipino deck boy would set up lounge chairs and cushions on the back decks. Midmorning and midafternoon he served beverages; every evening he collected dirty towels, restacked the chairs and cushions, and cleared out the garbage receptacles. This was his routine every day of the week for the full duration of his 14-month contract, without a day off.

I noticed that every morning he would set up two chairs at the back of the pool deck. They faced out to the sea, had extra towels, and by 7:30 every morning would have the passengers' belongings there to reserve them for the day. On the fourth day I asked the young man about the chairs. He said, "Oh, those are for Mr. Larry. When he comes on the ship he expects me to do this for him." It became apparent that the expectation was not rewarded with any kind words nor any form of gratuity. On the last day of the cruise, as a gesture for the kindness he had shown me, I handed the deck boy a folded $10 bill. He flatly refused to take it. When I slipped it into his shirt pocket, tears came to his eyes and he expressed the warmest appreciation I have ever felt.

While to me the $10 was throwaway money, to him it was quite a bit more. I learned later the value of what I gave him; his monthly income was roughly $250. The knowledge that such a small gesture could mean so much was worth considerably more than what it cost.

ultimately, the 1993 effort was unsuccessful. Hopes for future congressional intervention ended in 1995 with election of a Republican majority. Without congressional intervention, workers with cruise lines that abide by ITF guidelines earn incomes that, by American and Canadian standards, are dreadfully low for the number of hours worked. Those people working for cruise lines that either ignore or circumvent ITF guidelines are left with the choice of either accepting the situation or being unemployed. Neither choice is particularly attractive.

But Look at the Tips Received by Service Personnel

Despite all that, many passengers think that room stewards, dining room waiters, and busboys are making scads of money. Why?

Because of the cruise line’s recommendations for minimum tips. The industry norm per passenger is $3.50 a day for waiters, $2.00 a day for busboys, and $3.50 a day for room stewards. Some cruise lines also recommend passengers pay a tip of $1.00 a day to dining room headwaiters and/or the maitre d’.

If waiters were able to keep all of that money, their income might be reasonable. However, workers may be expected, if not required, to share their tips with others.

Some maitre d’s expect waiters to hand over six to ten percent of their tips; chief stewards expect the same from room stewards. There isn’t much a worker can do. In the case of a dining room waiter, the maitre d’ decides which station (area of the ship) the waiter will

work in — a station with big tippers or another where income is low. In addition, the amount of shared tips may influence the number of passengers the waiter is responsible for serving and the location of his or her station. The more waiters pay, the better their situation.

Cruise ship hotel workers often have to make under-the-table payments to staff with the power to affect their situation. For example, a room steward may pay people in the laundry in order to be among the first to receive clean linens. A dining room waiter might pay workers in the galley to ensure that food orders are warm. This onboard mafia is kept quiet and is only scarcely discussed.
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I first learned of it from a ship’s physician. The physician hears about it because she or he is an independent concessionaire, unbeholden to the company, and seen by workers as their personal doctor, obligated to maintain strict confidentiality.

For Your Convenience, We Now Centralize Payment of Tips

In recent years several cruise lines have begun centralizing payment of gratuities. Norwegian Cruise Line and Princess Cruises

automatically charge $10 a day to passengers’ onboard accounts. Other cruise lines have experimented with the system on certain of their ships. passengers are told this is done for their convenience. However, the real agenda is that, as the number of alternative restaurants onboard a ship increases — resulting in passengers no longer having the same waiter for the duration of the cruise — the cruise lines want to ensure that tips cover all of workers’ salaries. Without a centralized payment system, the company would have to make up any difference between tips individually received and the minimum income level provided under the ITF-approved contract.