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A recent investigation into a Carnival ship in Australia has raised serious questions about crew working and living conditions. The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) describes the reports as “horrifying,” while the company says inspectors found no major issues. So what’s really going on? From experience situations like this are rarely black and white. On one side, many of the claims long hours, pressure to work while sick, and fatigue are things crew across different cruise lines have...

Crew member who worked aboard Margaritaville at Sea two cruise ships Islander and Paradise says the company sells “high salaries and big promises” but the reality is a mix of questionable salary practices, fear of retaliation, and unsafe, unsanitary crew conditions that people are afraid to report. The crew member says the contract falls short of basic protections under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), including an unexplained withholding of pay and a salary structure that makes...

Anonymous testimony I worked for Celebrity Cruises for ten years. Ten years of steady career growth, commitment, and responsibility. Ten years of showing up, even in the most difficult circumstances. During the Covid period—one of the most challenging crises the cruise industry has ever faced—I stayed. I continued working on board, managing emergencies, supporting passengers, and ensuring operations continued under constant pressure, uncertainty, and fear. In addition to my official...

We are 1500 crew onboard the startup cruise line called Aroya Cruises from Saudi Arabia, operated by Columbia Cruise Services. Since the inauguration on December 16th, the situation and living conditions for the crew are getting harder and more uncomfortable. Prices in the crew bar are getting higher a can of soda costs $2.50, even a bottle of water costs $1, and $12 for a pack. No promotion, no discount, and you can only get it between 6 PM and 1 AM. Five refilling stations have been under...

First of all thank you very much for letting me share my experience at Explora Journeys, it was my first contract with this company, however i've been in other company. I had a terrible contract with this company, when i was embarked from my country to Turkey, they aren't provide us accommodation like hotel, so no rest on that day, after pick up time from airport we directly went to the ship, we had a training for one hour, afterwards we have to go to our section 8 p.m in the evening after...

Bakers working on Celebrity Cruises say a long-running issue is starting to wear them down: extended vacations between contracts that keep getting longer, and keep happening over and over again. Several bakers report being left off ships for four to five months after finishing a contract, far longer than what’s usually expected in normal crew rotations. What’s raising eyebrows is that this problem seems to hit bakers almost exclusively, while other positions rotate more smoothly. The...

Am a crew member on msc splendida , waiter is getting less salary No seniority allowance and cutting $100 on our salary repeatly monthly was December peak season and january the ship went to drydock but only $1600 its seen the management and company stealing crew member several time we went to hr and crew purser only take msc id but nothing happen we want an full explanation about this matter Msc .

Hello everyone, I work as a Cabin Steward on MSC Seaview. I would like to share some serious concerns that many of us are facing and hope this post can bring attention to these issues. For the past two months, we have been doing luggage duty, but the company has not paid us for this work. There has been no clear reason given for why the payment has been stopped. Luggage duty is done outside our regular working hours and should be paid. We usually have luggage duty two times per week...

While most of the attention has been on the 18 Carnival Sunshine crew members recently deported by CBP from Norfolk, it looks like this wasn’t an isolated case. We’ve now learned that 19 Royal Caribbean crew members were also deported back in April 2025 and under very similar and troubling circumstances. One of them shared his experience: I am a former crew member who worked for Royal Caribbean International. I am writing this with a heavy heart. I loved my job and gave it everything I...