HALLOWEEN IN AMERICA

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Yes, it  is Halloween in America. But, this is no trick and it certainly is no treat.

Carnival Cruise Line crew members have come forward to tell their side of the story, and for the most part, it is not a pretty picture. Much of the story is disturbing, and I am sure all of the story will be disputed by Carnival Cruise Lines and their advocates.

There is no way to prove if any of it is true, we have to just take it at face value. But, to some degree none of this is new news, as it fits the final pieces into the horror puzzle that passengers have been sharing pieces of in recent years.

The crew members who seem to have the largest base of complaints are kitchen, bar staff and waiters. For the most part, what we heard was they loath Americans and their relentless demands. The list of complaints was wide.

ALCOHOL DRINK QUOTAS

They say there is a problem with passengers becoming angry because they they are having alcoholic drinks pushed on them by Carnival crew. According to several crew members, they are forced to push alcohol on passengers and push it hard.

They are given target sales goals ,"quotas" by their supervisors according to their reports and if they are not reached, the crew member is terminated. Those targets are high, and if true, show a basis for the drunken antics onboard ships that have ended tragically for many. 

We have heard this same charge by passengers and even some journalists who say alcohol sales and the sales of goods onboard cruse ships from various lines are a high prority.  Liquor is used to prime people into compliant states of mind in preparation for sales pitches including excursions, artwork, jewelry and health products.

Alcohol excess has also been identifed as major cause of excessive gambling losses in casinos around the world where alcohol is permitted. This is why some casinos with an ounce of ethics prohibit drinking in their casinos. The cruise line has a captive audience during most of the cruise, and the cheap cruise booking is only an appetizer on the plate of industry profits.

Numerous crew say when they took the job they had no idea it was a sales job, with sales background a very important asset. They say they have seen co-workers terminated for not meeting sales goals on the alcohol, simply because they had no idea how to "sell" the product quickly and move onto the next sale.

If they are too friendly with the passengers they waste valuable time to sell booze to other passengers. But, making friends can go a long way in selling the drinks. They say the pressure is unbearable to meet quotas at the end of a long day, especially the last night of the cruise when they are exhausted.

THE LAST NIGHT OF THE CRUISE IS THE MOST DANGEROUS

This information of excessive alcohol pushiness coincides, perhaps coincidentally with many Cruise Bruise missing passenger cases that begin with " . . . it was the last night of the cruise . . . ". It may explain numerous missing persons cases onboard where the alcohol may have contributed to boldness of a crime. 

Such cases might be Jill Begora, Christopher Caldwell, Annette Mizener, Roberta Muzquiz Pagan, Sabin L, Mia Yokoyama McDonald, Mandy Pierce, Amy Lynn Bradley, Randall Gary, David T Pincus, Andrew Gready, Glenn Sheridan,  Vonnie Ales, Karleen Pang,  Tammy Grogan Un-named Carnival Passenger.

All the above passengers went missing on the last night of their cruise and remain as unsolved mysteries. There were no witnesses. They comprise about 80% of the missing person cases in our data base where the passenger was not seen falling overboard, jumping overboard or are known to have gone overboard after leaving a suicide note. This makes the last day and night of the cruise the most dangerous day for a passenger in the unsolved mystery category.

If we add in Karen Roston, who we know was murdered by being thrown overboard on the last night of her cruise,  by her husband (later convicted) and Paige Washington who was also murdered by her mother on the last day of the cruise (later convicted) the percentage of last day possible murders rises.

One crew member poses a general question to all guests. Where do you think your luggage goes after you set it out the night before the ship comes back home?  He explains that it goes  to the crew area of course where they go through it to take what they want. It is not hard to decide which bags to go through from which cabins, because the guests are flaunting their electronics throughout the cruise and a mental note is made of which bags to target. We have had passengers come to Cruise Bruise who cruised on other lines and tell us this exact scenario, on more than one occassion, so it comes as no surprise.

But, it is not just guests targeted for theft, other crew members say their paychecks (cashed) were taken right after their bags were packed for disembarking. They left the ship with no pay at all.

Since it is the last night of the cruise that luggage is left out in the hall and thefts take place, it also coincides with those mysterious passenger disappearances. Can it be that the last night of the cruise is well-known to criminals, both crew and passengers alike,  as the time to commit the perfect unpunishable crime?

ALCOHOL BRAND DECEPTION

One bartender says that when a passenger orders a premium brand of liquor such as Grey Goose vodka often an inferior budget house brand is substituted if the passenger is not watching. This is done to protect the inventory levels of the high priced brands when too much of the premium brand is measured into drinks. He too says the cleanliness procedures he would love to follow but it is "nearly impossible" because of shortage of cleaning chemicals. Chemical shortages for barware and place settings could explain quick spread of illness.

THE UNLIMITED FOUNTAIN CARD

This complaint intermixes with the complaint of the endless soda pop drink card "fountain card" for kids and adults. Crew members say that many passengers feel they should have an endless amount of soda pop and as a result are constantly demanding their free pops so they can get their money's worth. This slows down the selling of alcohol and places additional pressure on the crew to hustle those paid drinks. The worst down side is not being tipped for all those free beverages they are serving . As a result, in the diningrooms they try to avoid the tables with families and children because they consume the most amount of the non-quota drinks.

CREW KEEP THEIR MOUTH SHUT

One crew member defends Carnival Cruise Lines, saying that if you close your eyes to all that goes on,  you can realize your dreams and see ports that guests see. If you open your eyes to the reality of life on a Carnival ship, it will "destroy you" and you will  just "keep on dreaming".

AMERICANS TARGETED

Still more troubling is the comments by several crew that many of those who work onboard are from countries that hate Americans, and they wonder aloud why the Americans do not realize this and not cruise.

They say crew from India many who hate Americans frequently sabotage the food and the drinks. One galley cook  says  that the Indians (from India) control the kitchen and they never wash their hands after using the restroom. Nobody checks to see that the cooks are wearing their gloves in the galley. It is no wonder the people get sick.

This fact is supported on a consumer watchdog site by a passenger who became ill on a Carnival cruise.

"My family was on a four day cruise [aboard Carnival] to Mexico and all of us became sick on the last day of the cruise. All the symptoms were consistant with a Novovirus. This was not suprising due to some of the sanitation practices we witnessed on the ship. Those practices included crew members not washing their hands after using the head or following sneezing or coughing." Kirk of Trabuco Canyon

They claim that if food is sent back by the passenger, it is thrown in the trash, contaminated with filth and spit, then re-served. This is not a problem limited to cruise ships, as you will see in that video. Two employees are being sued by A & P for what is shown in their video.

They also say that food that hits the floor, goes right onto the plate, and nobody says a word for fear of retaliation. Then, there is the room service delivery, don't bother to complain about that because the beverages are tampered with spit or a "potion" says one waiter.

A crew member we call Rau says he works in the casino and hates his job as the passengers who lose money are extremely mean sometimes. He says that cabin stewards who are unhappy with the passengers collect bodily fluids passengers have left behind and put them onto the drinking glasses in the cabin.

DOING THE RIGHT THING "NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE"

You would think that the food is at least served on a clean plate, think again. One crew member who says he is a galley supervisor says that dishes are washed quite often with water alone, as the "chemicals" to clean the dishes are not in supply. If they run out at sea, they have no more until they are back in port, and it is a frequent problem.

One crew member, a waiter from the Philippines says that on CDC inspection date, it is a joke. The ship is ship shape for two days a year, both of them the CDC inspection date, which they have advance notice of.

DISGRUNTLED WORKERS

What we heard from a dozen crew members was they are unhappy. They are unhappy because they are underpaid and over-worked, often working several hours a day of overtime, they are never paid for. They are also unhappy because the passengers do not treat them well and tip very lightly, if at all.

They are unhappy because Americans tell them if they do not like it, quit and go home. Some say they would love to quit but there are no jobs in their third world country and they have a family counting on them to bring home that little bit they do make. Also, once on the cruise, they are trapped. If they want to leave or get terminated they are forced off in port right where they are, and have to find their own way home.

Yet, another says they never tell the guests how they feel, they have to smile no matter what and tell guests when they ask, that "yes, we love the job". One crew member posed the question, "Do they really think I can tell them that I hate my job? I would lose my job!"

HIGH COMPANY PROFITS WHILE WORKERS MAKE CENTS AN HOUR

How much pay do crew make? All the crew who spoke say that they are not allowed to discuss how much they are paid. But, one says anyway, it is less than any minimum wage. Gallery steward and hotel stewards make $550 a month. They work 12 to 14 hour days, seven days a week.

On a 30 day month that is only $1.52 an hour for 12 hour days. Out of that, they have to pay other crew members for favors in order to perform their job. This means the real pay is less than a buck an hour for the crew members who work the hardest. They rely on tips heavily but say that on those cheap Carnival cruises tips are poor.

This too is not surprising as waiters and waitress across America have been screaming about the huge increase in non-tippers. So much so, some restaurants have resorted to adding the tip onto the meal ticket, automatically.

One crew member says he works 11 to 16 hour days, seven days a week for only $600 per month or on average about $1.42 an hour.

Common complaints are crew are worked until exhausted and under those conditions mistakes are made and they become injured due to their weakened mental and physical state as well as easily falling ill. Once injured, they are put off the ship at the next port to find their way home, frequently without any medical care. Crew have seen what happens when management doesn't get what they want, so they smile and keep their mouth shut just hoping to finish their contract and make it back home.

Hardest hit though is the hair dressers and spa technicians or as they are called the 'steiners'. One says she is paid only $49 a week and normally would make her money on tips. However she was on a "no-tipping"ship. Steiners are generally suppose to make a commission on the salon products they sell.

One requirement for recruiting them is a strong sales ability. The strong sales ablility is prevalent in many of the guest interaction roles. Crew are told to push products, and push them hard.

One recruiting firm, Steiner TransOcean, Steiner Training Ltd,  has confirmed this low pay for the steiners, and confirms that those crew work 12 hour days with very little time off during those 12 hours. But, they claim the steiners only work 66 hours a week for $50 or $0.75 an hour and get commissions.  When that is all you make unless you shove products down the passenger's throats, there is clear motivation to sell hard.

Steiner, headquartered in Nassau, Bahamas provides dirt cheap labor of about 2,000 crew members on average for 129 cruise ships including those owned by Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Cunard/Seabourn Cruise Lines, Holland America Line,, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises.

While those Steiner sends to the cruise ships make less than a buck an hour, Steiner Leisure's revenues for the third quarter ending September 30, 2007 rose 11.2% to $140.4 million from $126.3 million during the comparable quarter in 2006. Income from continuing operations for the third quarter was $11.4 million in both 2007 and 2006. Steiner not only provides cheap labor to cruise ship, they also send employees to land based businesses such as casinos and hotels. There is no information as to whether those workers are paid more or less than the cruise ship based workers.

Their stock, STNR is traded on the NASDAQ and is currently in the mid $40 range.

IT IS NOT WHAT YOU KNOW IT IS WHO YOU B---

One frustrated crew member, who says she worked as a supervisor was told who to promote, and had no choice, though others had worked harder and were more qualified. She was told by her supervisor who to promote. She claims one woman was promoted soley because she was having an affair with a manager, and she names both of their names.

SHIP JUMPERS

What echoed loudest was morale was very low for some crew members, especially those from developing nations and that ship jumping is a problem.

Ship jumpers are ship crews from other countries, who leave the ship while in a foreign port, never come back, disappearing into the population of some large American city. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirms this saying "thousands" of crew members jump ship each year, though some are from cargo ships. The CBP doesn't seem to keep any real statistics on this, as odd as that is. They have no idea of any exact numbers of jumpers from any sector of the maritime industry.

Many crew members are afraid to talk, saying that "carnival has a long arm." Whether Carnival has a long arm or not, can not be documented but we do know this.

SILENCE OF THE SHEEP

In our video library we have had quite a few crew videos that were not flattering to the cruise lines. Once placed on our website, only a short time later some of those videos disappeared. We don't know if the crew member(s) became afraid the cruise line would see it and come after them, they would lose their job, not be able to get a job on other cruise ships or whether the line recognized the ship and had You Tube pull the video. The videos disappearing are from crew on various cruise lines, not just Carnival. But, there is a growing trend of crew video disappearing into thin air.

Only today I have uploaded two very incriminating crew videos. They will likely only be there for a short time, before they too disappear. Check in our video library  to see them. But, let me warn you right now, they are SHOCKING after hour videos of a sexual nature, the most graphic we have had.

One of the videos we were about to download today, disappeared from the You Tube site during a second download and a message said the video was a violation of the You Tube policy. Oddly enough, that video had been there only a few minutes before. But, we did get to see the entire video though and it was the most shocking employee video of obscene behavior on the employer's premises I have ever seen, in any industry.

It comes as no wonder that a teen passenger was told, as seen in his video, that condoms for the crew are free, at least on the ship this passenger was on.

We have seen many pro-industry postings that say remarks and statements by crew are those of "disgruntled employees' and have no validity. Given the increasing numbers of crew who are "disgruntled", that in itself tells us to some degree how the cruise lines, this one in particular treats their employees. Happy employees do not try to spread "invalid" complaints, they love their jobs and happily make careers of them.

On the other hand, if you run naked through the hallways for ten minutes, and your photos show up on a website, it is likely a given you will be terminated, unless you have connections in very high places. In that case an employee might become disgruntled, unjustly so.