Posted on 02/18/2021 8:23:58 AM PST by Capt. Tom
It is not pro cruise industry, but gives info that will help some Freepers understand why the Cruise Lines are not being helped out by some countries.
Remember politicians want to Tax, and Cruise lines are a problem they can ignore, and the CDC type health organizations don't care either. -Tom
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“They have mastered the ability to get their hands into people’s pockets and to take out every last dollar,” says Ross A. Klein, a professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, who has closely studied the cruise ship industry. “They can almost give a cabin away for free and still make a profit.”
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I’m reading this, and I’m wondering am I reading about the cruise industry or the gaming industry in Vegas?
Imposing US taxes and labor laws on the cruise industry is the quickest way to destroy the cruise industry. US taxation and labor laws will do to the cruise industry exactly what they’ve done to the US maritime fleet.
One little tidbit on cruise scams that supports the general tone of the article:
Cruise lines will take American tourists in the Caribbean and Mexico to a location on-shore where they can buy “Cuban cigars”.
However, the cigars are almost always fakes—and it sounds like the cruise lines and the vendor share the profits from the shore visit.
Or organized crime... or the IRS.
The standard contract for a crew member like a cleaner or dishwasher requires a mandatory 308 hours per month — 11 hours a day, 7 days a week, for as long as 8-10 months, with no days off — for the equivalent of $400-700 per month, or $1.62 to $2.27 per hour.
“With no days off”, if that was true I have to wonder just who were those guys and gals leaving the ship from the crews gangway? I have often seen crew members acting as tourist while in port.
Personally I would not want to be a crew member on a ship but if I had no other prospect and I qualified I would take the job.
People go into business to make money, not to create jobs or get onerous Taxes or regulations put on them.
The Cruise Lines are no different except they have found way to avoid taxes, jut like many individual citizens have. -Tom
AMEN!! PLUS, most Americans do NOT want to work as hard as the Indonesians, Phillipinos, Mauritus, etc.......Canadians don’t want to work that hard either....or Aussies.
They get time off during the day....they do shifts...they do NOT work 11 hours a day.
There are NO GRUMPY PEOPLE on CRUISE SHIPS except some OBNOXIOUS passengers! The crew is always happy......we have been 0n 89 cruises, and know many of the crews on Celebrity and Crystal River Cruises and we have NEVER run into a grumpy one!
Also they presumably get room and board the whole time which is certainly a factor
You might also compare the prices of a cruise to the Bahamas or Alaska to a US river or Great Lakes cruise.
You will find that a US cruise of comparable number of days will cost you at least 3 times as much.
The ships are small and the number of passengers is smaller so there are fewer customers to share the cost but also the company has to cover the cost of US taxes and abide by US labor laws.
Businesses do not pay taxes, they collect taxes. Never forget that.
Could also add that’s $1.62 to $2.27 with free room and board. Not an expert so I won’t dispute the 8-10 months, but in my experience most crew talk about 3 month contracts, with a month or two off between contracts. And by implication he’s comparing cruise ship contracts with US wages. US based employees, port employees, and US suppliers are governed by US law. I suspect for the 3 major lines he’s addressing the overwhelming number of passenger port days are non US. Other than Alaska and a few New England cruises, most cruises and thus their crew spend either zero time in the US, or largely embarkation and debarkation day. Most of their time is in areas where average wages are quite different from the US. As to no time off, you’re right, they get time off, though that might be dependent on the position. All in all a poor comparison. Crew wages, as opposed to officers, should be compared to the alternatives at home, most frequently Central and South America, Asia and Eastern Europe.
While this may be true, it does not offset the fact that these foreign corporations are begging the US to bail them out.
Let Panama and Liberia worry about them.
I was thinking it sounds like what strip clubs do.
“Buy me a drink, Sailor?”
Strip clubs around here used to have $5.00 steak lunches to drive in business.
I’m not a genius, but I am smart enough to know better than to eat a $5.00 steak.
Ok but there are thousands of US jobs at risk also. That is not an exaggeration
So far I’ve made a nice profit from carnival. I bought at 5000 shares at 12 bucks. It’s in my Roth. Yesterday it was over 21. Keep going. I’d love you to be the next Game Stop. Lol.
I’m sure there are indeed thousands of cruise jobs at risk.
Just at the Wuhan Flu has put millions of US jobs at risk.
And that too is not an exaggeration.
After 2008 crisis, we decided to help US workers by taking Alaska cruise for vacation. As far as I found, there were two (2) Americans working on that whole huge ship. And yes, talking to the workers, they work long hours with No day off!
On the other hand, we took the only American Cruise ship, the one circling Hawaiian islands and which is by law 100% staffed by Americans. I do not thing it was any more expensive than the Alaska one.
Yes of course
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