Crew Members Share What Happens if They Get Fired

Nobody accepts a job anticipating to get fired – particularly after they reside at their job like crew members who work onboard cruise ships do.

Nevertheless, generally a crew member’s performance merely isn’t as much as snuff or they break a strict rule – ensuing within the termination of their contract. So, what occurs subsequent on this unlucky state of affairs? 

Opposite to some myths going round, the cruise traces won’t throw their ex-employees overboard and more than likely won’t evict them on the subsequent port of name – particularly if the port isn’t positioned inside their dwelling nation. 

The cruise manufacturers have a authorized obligation to repatriate their staff, together with these which are fired, when their service at sea has come to an finish. 

In keeping with those that lived it, information of their termination got here as an early knock on their cabin’s door when the ship arrived in its homeport to disembark present visitors and embark a new set of passengers.

This turnaround day can also be when crew members starting and ending their contracts on regular phrases would arrive or go away the ship. 

“I work for cruise ships and what they do is if you end up getting fired, the subsequent turnaround port (the place all of the passengers go away) they are going to have safety knock in your door at 5 am and let you know to pack up your stuff and you permit inside a half an hour,” one crew member defined in response to a query on Reddit.

What makes this particularly jarring is that the now-fired worker seemingly wouldn’t get an opportunity to say goodbye to the chums they’d made onboard. Whenever you spend months dwelling and dealing with these individuals, these associates can really feel extra like household.

“The cruise line wouldn’t let you know that you just’re fired till that day. So you can be onboard for an additional seven days or extra, working with out figuring out when you’re fired or not. They do that, as a result of some individuals up to now would trigger an enormous scene and quite a lot of issues,” they continued.

Whereas there are clearly conditions the place instant motion could be taken – equivalent to confining a crew member to their cabin or the brig till they could possibly be faraway from the ship – much less critical offenders could also be left in suspense, particularly if they’d already been given a warning. 

Ex-crew members then supplied conflicting experiences on in the event that they have been supplied with transportation dwelling after they received the information – as some stated they have been escorted to their airport and others stated they have been left to determine their very own subsequent steps.

“I used to be fired from a cruise ship. In my case they merely advised me that I might have a listening to with the Captain and employees captain once we received again to our dwelling port, and so they fired me that morning. I used to be escorted onto the aircraft in Miami and flown again to the UK which was my dwelling nation,” one other former cruise worker shared.

Particularly amongst those that disembarked for the ultimate time in a rustic during which they weren’t a citizen or everlasting resident, the cruise line did safe their transportation dwelling – however some needed to pay for the airfare as a result of they didn’t fulfill the obligations of their contract.

Why Crew Members are Fired 

As Lucy Southerton factors out on her YouTube channel, Cruising as Crew, it may be each “straightforward and arduous” to get fired from a cruise ship. All of it comes right down to the character of the offense. 

With almost a decade of engaged on cruise ships below her belt, Southerton has seen it all through the years. In her expertise, firing both comes after repeated warnings surrounding poor efficiency or in response to breaking a strict security rule. 

“So, like with most massive firms these days, you don’t get fired after making one mistake. There’s a course of that you just undergo,” she defined in a latest YouTube video.

For instance, an worker who’s persistently late or doesn’t full their assigned duties might obtain warnings, which finally results in extra extreme punishments if the habits isn’t fastened.

“It’s essential to get three warnings earlier than you get a disciplinary, and that you must get three disciplinaries earlier than you’ve a listening to the place they focus on whether or not they would possibly fireplace you or not,” Southerton continued.

Learn Additionally: Which Crew Members Will You Meet on Your Next Cruise?

The exception to this rule is that if a crew member is caught violating security guidelines – equivalent to getting caught with a blood alcohol stage above 0.04%. 

It is because crew members are required to be ready to act in the unlikely event of an emergency always, and might’t accomplish that if they’re too intoxicated. On this case, the cruise traces would seemingly take a zero tolerance method. 

Equally, if a crew member is caught breaking the legislation, they are going to be fired and handed over to the suitable authorities. 

Most lately, a crew member working onboard Norwegian Encore was arrested in Alaska on Could 6, 2024, after allegedly attacking different individuals onboard – and naturally didn’t have a job to return again to after that. 

Earlier within the yr, a male stateroom attendant working onboard Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas was additionally fired and taken into custody for placing hidden cameras in a number of cruise cabins. 

That stated, prison offenses by crew members are fairly uncommon. Based mostly on Southerton’s content material, it looks as if poor efficiency or overindulging within the crew bar are more likely causes for a profession at sea to fulfill it’s abrupt finish.