undercover cruise

[Kenneth Kenny]

My Dad,was in the Cunard Ships,and Royal Mail Ships,always came home with big Roulette Whell,the canvas cover with all the bets you have on it.Dozens of playing cards(used)he would teach all the lads,seven of us to play all cards games,poker,rummy,new Market,crib,stud and draw poker,pontoon,many more.If we played on Sunday me Mam would take them and throw them on the fire or rip them up,we all had just come from Church,holy day,me Dad had gone back to sea then,we would all go out to play football,on orrell pleasure,then a Policeman would chase you for you could not play football on Sunday's,happy day's.Dad alway's took the Roulette Whell away with him.Ken.R634898.

[happy daze john in oz]

Interesting point here is that none of you who watched it have said which ship was involved or which company!
I am of the opinion that wages differ very much between the companies, there is no standard set for all as was the case in our day. I can only speak from what I have seen and been told by crew as to wages and conditions. Princess cruise has now done away with the compulsory tip, it is left up to the bloods to deicde who to pay and how much. Royal Caribbean are similar in their approach to it. P&O Australia however are different and insist that you pay, it is added to you final account.
Yes I agree it gets very crowded around the pool, ever been on a holiday to places such as Benidorm? It is the same there. Water attracts them like flies to a dung heap, but if you are smart, and many of us are, there are plenty of quiet spots where you can go without the crowds.
Crusiing is not for everyone, but for those who enjoy it a god time will be had.
I will be off on my next one in late December and again I will spend as much time as I can talking witn the crew.

[Jim Brady]

John it has been mentioned on here that it is now on You Tube have you not tried yet to see if you can get it.I suppose if you google You Tube undercover cruise you may get it.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Tony Morcom]

I watched an old recording of Under Cover Boss last night. It was about the CEO of Stenna Lines. He was aboard one of their ships that carry Philipinno crew. They work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for 6 months and then have 2 months off. I believe they were on £2.64 an hour. They seemed to be very content with their lot. They had excellent cabins plus free Skype and Internet to contact their families. It pretty much agreed with all the positive aspects mentioned in this thread. As the Boss said, it was all down to economics and competing with other companies doing the same thing. As someone pointed out in this thread, these crew members would not keep coming back if they did not feel they were being fairly treated, in just the same way the foreign crews kept returning when we were at sea.

[Tony Wilding]

cant find it on you tube , only an AD for it.

[Tony Morcom]

Cruises Undercover: The Truth Below Deck - YouTube

[Ivan Cloherty]

Interesting point here is that none of you who watched it have said which ship was involved or which company!
.

John, it was CELEBRITY CRUISES, cannot remember the name of the ship

[Captain Kong]

It was registered in Valleta and Maltese flag.
I would not sail on a ship like that,
Brian

[Tony Morcom]

The ship was the Celebrity Eclipse.

I have now just watched the documentary in full and like Dave Williams find it incredible that in 2012 any ship owner should allow some of these practices to continue no matter what nationality the crew. It seems to me that the biggest problem is the deductions to pay the "agency fees" etc. If the company stood by its statement that it would stop this happening then these guys probably would be better off than working shoreside in their own countries. As for cruising myself, there is no way now that I would ever contribute money towards the ridiculous profits these companies make at the expense of their crews. Yes I understand the sentiment that if nobody went on cruises then none of them would have jobs. However that is never likely to happen. I just refuse to be part of it. I only thank god that I was lucky enough to have a career at sea with a wage packet and benefits 2nd to none at that point in time.

[Tony Wilding]

Hi Tony, unfortunately that You Tube Video is not available in the Philippines. Tony W. ? ? ?, PS, Regarding Filipino salaries, the Sales Girls in the big Shopping Malls earn 30 Pesos per Hour, there are 65 to one pound, if a minute late they lose 30 minutes, can work after there shift for no extra pay, very hard to get work if you are over 30 years old, most big businesses are Chinese Owned, Hospitals also, so 240 Pesos Per Day for 8 hours, most work longer, 6 or 7 days a week, 1440 pesos for 6 Days at 8 Hours, £22 15p per week. cheapest mobile phone is 1000 Pesos, all seem to have one, forever texting, which is very cheap here, but so many expensive modern cars here , so there are some very wealthy people, a modern 4x4 new is well over 1 million Pesos, ten or twelve year old Toyotas or similar are £2000 pounds in good condition,cheapest are Suzuki Multi Cabs, small Van like Vehicles like the old Honda Acty Van. imported from Japan in bits secondhand, totally rebuilt and converted to left hand drive, rebuilt as new about 140,000 Pesos, a very good used one 80,000, about £1500 for a good one, seem to be the local workhorses. many versions of them including Ambulances.