In almost all cruise ships, meals are included in the price of cruise tour packages purchased by passengers. In general, restaurants on cruise ships serve two meals a day, breakfast and dinner. Passengers are given set meal times during the cruise.
Even so, a new trend has emerged where diners are allowed to eat whenever they want. By providing a schedule of two meals, ships can have enough time and space to accommodate the needs of all their guests, including entertainment.
However, if you follow the trend of allowing guests to eat whenever they want, it can cause some conflicts with some events on board (such as shows and other entertainment). This problem is usually fixed by shortening the show schedule.
Cunard Line ships maintain the ocean liner class tradition and have separate dining rooms for different types of suites, while Celebrity Cruises and Princess Cruises have standard dining rooms and special “upgrade” restaurants that require pre-booking and an additional fee. Many cruise ships schedule "formal dinners."
Guests dress "formally", such as wearing ties and tuxedos for men, and formal dresses for women. The menu is more upscale than usual. In addition to dining areas, modern cruise ships often contain one or more regular buffet-style restaurants, which may be open 24 hours and with menus that vary throughout the day to provide meals ranging from breakfast to late-night snacks.
The ship also features many bars and nightclubs for the entertainment of passengers; Most cruise lines do not include alcoholic beverages and passengers are expected to pay for drinks when they consume them.
Most cruise lines also prohibit passengers from boarding and consuming drinks they bring from outside, including alcohol, while on board. Alcohol purchased from outside will be sealed and returned to passengers when they land. There is often a master galley responsible for servicing all of the major restaurants on board, although specialty restaurants may have their own galley room.
As with most ships, adequate supplies are essential, especially on cruise ships serving several thousand meals per voyage. The Royal Princess Cruise Ship, for example, requires a large number of workers to load and unload eight tons of food supplies at the beginning and end of each voyage.
Cruise Ship on-board facilities
Most modern cruise ships have the following facilities:
- Casino – Only open when the ship is at sea to avoid conflicts with local laws
- Shops – Only open when the ship is at sea to avoid merchandising permits and local taxes
- Spa
- fitness center
- Library
- Theater with Broadway-style performances
- Cinema
- Indoor and/or outdoor swimming pool with water slide
- Hot tub
- Buffet restaurant
- The waiting room
- Gym
- Club
- Basketball court
- Tennis court
- Pool table
- Pingpong table
- Hospital
Some of the ships have bowling alleys, ice skating rinks, rock-climbing walls, sky-diving simulators, miniature golf courses, video arcades, ziplines, surfing simulators, basketball courts, tennis courts, chain restaurants, and/or ropes courses.
Cruise crew
Crews are usually hired on 3 to 14-month contracts which can then be renewed by mutual agreement, which is based on the passenger's assessment of the service and the characteristics of the cruise operator itself. Most staff work 77 hours for 10 months straight followed by 2 months vacation.
There are no paid vacations or pensions for service workers, or non-management crew, depending on position level and type of contract. Non-service and management crew members get paid vacations, medical options, and retirement, and can participate in company insurance plans.
The base salary is low by North American standards, although restaurant staff has a sizeable earning potential from passenger tips. Crew members do not have to bear any costs while on board, because food and accommodation, medical care, and transportation for most of the employees, have been provided free of charge by the company.
This makes a cruise ship career quite interesting even though the salary isn't exactly high. Accommodation arrangements while on a cruise ship vary depending on the company, but mostly correspond to the crew's position on the ship. Generally, two employees share a cabin with shower facilities, a commode, and a desk with a television set, while senior officers are assigned a single cabin.
There is a set of facilities for the crew separate from the passengers, such as a mess room and bar, recreation room, prayer room/mosque, and gym, with some larger ships even having a crew deck with a swimming pool and hot tubs.
For the major cruise operators, most of the “hotel staff” are employed from low-industrial countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, and Central America. Although most cruise lines are headquartered in the United States. As with most international shipping companies, ships are registered in countries including the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Bahamas, and Panama.
The 2001 International Maritime Labor Convention, also known as the “Seafarers' Bill of Rights,” provides comprehensive rights and protections for all seafarers. The ILO sets strict standards regarding hours of work and rest, occupational health and safety, and living conditions for seafarers and requires governments to ensure that ships comply with the agreements that have been made.
For cruises around Hawaii, operators are required to register their vessels in the United States, including the entire crew, so these cruises are typically significantly more expensive than those operating in the Caribbean and Mediterranean.
Cruise Ship Business Model
Most cruise lines since the 2000s have dispensed with much of the cruising experience, to some extent, a la carte, as passengers jumping through significantly more than ticket sales.
Passenger tickets cover stateroom accommodation, room service, unlimited meals in the main dining area (or main restaurant) and buffets, access to shows, and use of the pool and gym facilities, while there is a daily fee to cover housekeeping and waiter service.
There are also surcharges for alcohol and soft drinks, official cruise line photos, internet and wi-fi access, and specialty restaurants. It has been reported that casinos and photos have high-profit margins.
Cruise lines generate significant revenue from selling land excursions (saving 50 percent or more of what passengers spend on these tours) offered by local contractors. In addition, cruise ships earn significant sales commissions from shoreline stores that are promoted as “preferred” (as much as 40 percent of gross sales).
Facilitating this practice is a modern cruise terminal with duty-free shop establishments within the perimeter accessible only to passengers and non-locals. Ports of call are often oriented to their own businesses and facilities solely to meet the needs of visiting cruise ships.
In one case, Icy Strait Point in Alaska, the entire destination was created solely for cruise ship visitors. Travel to and from the port of departure is the responsibility of the passenger, although purchasing an entry ticket from the cruise line for travel between the airport and the cruise terminal guarantees that the ship will not depart until the passenger has boarded.
Likewise, if a passenger books a shore excursion with a cruise line and the tour is about to end, the ship is required to stay until the passenger returns. Luxury cruise lines such as Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Crystal Cruises market their fares as "all-inclusive".
For example, the base fare for the Regent Seven Seas includes most alcoholic beverages on board and most shore excursions at the Port of Call, as well as all gratuities normally paid to hotel staff on board. The fare also includes one night's hotel stay before boarding, and airfare to and from the cruise port and destination port.
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