Tag Archives: Cruise Industry News

Crew Members Go Months Without Shore Leave During Pandemic

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Some crew members working back onboard have not stepped a foot ashore for months, according to Cruise Industry News’ research.

Employees of AIDA, Norwegian Cruise Line and Marella Cruises, and other major cruise lines have said on the grounds of anonymity that they have largely not been allowed to leave the cruise ship they’re working on, with one crew member admitting that this left him feeling “pretty depressed.” Some crew interviewed asked not to identify their ships or employers. 

An employee working on the Norwegian Jade said that he and his fellow crew members have been on board for two months with only one shore leave – for vaccination purposes.

“We left the ship escorted with busses to get our vaccinations done where there were military police. Once vaccinations got done, we were escorted back to our bus to go straight back to the ship,” he said.

“Everyone was assigned to a group with a leader and counted before (boarding) the bus and on the bus,” he added.

However, according to him, Norwegian’s no-shore-leave policy will be re-evaluated once the ship cruises with guests for two months.

“Shore leave might be discussed,” he said. “If a crew member is coming to travel, bring a long lens camera because right now it’s about staying healthy while supporting our families.”

A crew member with a major cruise line also said that he was not allowed to go onshore.

“Before the pandemic, crew shore leave was allowed whenever crew member was off duty, with shuttle buses organized more or less every 30 minutes, or you could go on your own,” he explained.

An employee working on a Marella cruise ship for the last two months said that he was lucky to be able to go ashore before shore leave was banned entirely.

“I have been ashore once for 30 mins, which was strictly to buy essentials and come straight back. Shortly after, shore leave was banned entirely by the company because they are restarting operations soon, and they worry that if a crew member brought COVID onboard they wouldn’t be able to have passengers,” he said.

“I’ll be on board for another few months but highly doubt I’ll be able to go ashore again,” he added.

According to him, prior to the pandemic, crew members could go ashore “more or less every day.” Not being able to leave the ship, as well as lack of socialization, is making crew members “pretty depressed,” he said.

However, other crew members were more optimistic.

“Shopping-wise, the cruise lines have brought the necessities onboard to purchase. They also have agreements with Amazon and port agents so that you can still purchase personal items online. Ships need to stay in the guidelines right now in order to keep us up and running,” one crew member said.

New MSC Ships As Green As Possible

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A wide range of technologies will be on display on MSC Cruises’ pair of 2021 newbuilds, the Seashore and Virtuosa.

According to Linden Coppell, director of sustainability, both ships will have hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems, selective catalytic reduction and shore power capability

Potable water will be generated aboard through reverse osmosis, and wastewater will be treated via the latest advanced technology.

“For every new class of ship, we really work on the energy and fuel efficiency piece,” she told Cruise Industry News, “making sure each new ship is as efficient as it can be.”

That means not only new systems but big data.

“For the Virtuosa, we are looking at how the Grandiosa is operating now and the results,” Coppell said. “We collect a lot of data from the ships and analyze it, and work with the shipyard.”

The company expects the Virtuosa to be more efficient than her sister vessel, the 2019-built Grandiosa.

“We are looking at internal (items), like the HVAC systems,” Coppell explained. “These are the big technology pieces, but then there is a lot of fine-tuning, adjusting and reporting back to the captain and his team.”

With the 5,200-guest World Europa debuting in 2022 and featuring not only LNG-fueled engines but also a fuel cell, MSC will underscore its leadership position in green cruising.

The World Europa will be MSC’s first ship powered by LNG and part of a series of five LNG-powered newbuilds.

The World Europa also features the first solid oxide fuel cell aboard a cruise ship, where LNG will help create heat and thus electricity for the hotel load through the fuel cell. The fuel cell is expected to be scaled over time from its initial 50KW output.

Norwegian Cruise Line To Repatriate All Non-Essential Crew

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Norwegian Joy pictured above.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings will repatriate all crew members that joined recently and are not part of the skeleton crew aboard the fleet, according to Crew Center who cites an announcement made at a meeting.

This announcement comes just a couple of months after Norwegian boarded thousands of crew members to prepare the ships for a resumption of service after the CDC regulations allowed for conditional cruising, which has now been pushed to at least May.

“(T)he crew onboard received a letter with all the details regarding the latest repatriation process,” Crew Center reported.

According to the Crew Center website, the repatriation will take place on two appointed ships: The Norwegian Joy and the Norwegian Encore.

The Joy will be gathering non-essential crew from the ships stationed in the Caribbean and then proceed to the Philippines; while the Encore will be collecting crew on its journey from Southampton to Asia.

“The repatriation process will be similar to the one that took place last year with crew transfers to the appropriate vessel, before the crew finally sails to their homes in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, with anticipated arrival to the final destinations in late March or early April 2021,” Crew Center wrote.

“This will be a long and sad journey for all the crew onboard as their hopes and dreams to be the first to set sail with guests onboard will not materialize at this point. They have made countless sacrifices, PCR tests, and quarantines to join the ships again to serve guests and ultimately provide for their family,” it added.

According to Crew Center, this decision did not come easy to Norwegian and was not in the company plan. The cruise line promised the crew members who are to be repatriated that they’ll be prioritized for new assignments “as much as possible.”