While researching this, a few crew members told
me that mafias exist onboard, and you need to know how to work with them. That revelation threw me, but as you will hear, there is
a real positive in there for us. I also discovered that taking pictures
of crew members could create serious problems for them. And I
finally unraveled what the crew really think about gratuities,
and what they would like is to do. You are about to discover these and some
other genuinely surprising cruise tips I have gathered from talking to crew members. If you are new here, by the way, I'm Gary
Bembridge and it's my goal to make it easier and much more fun to discover plan and
enjoy unforgettable cruise vacations. A friend of mine in the service industry
(not a crew member) once said to me, never be unpleasant or rude to someone who's alone
in your bathroom with your toothbrush or prepares and brings you your drinks or makes you your food.
The images that conjured up has never left me. Now, I am not saying crew do
anything suspect along those lines, but the point my friend made is true on ships. I was told by every crew member is
that we should be nice or nicer. As one did say to me on a recent
Princess cruise, it's straightforward, being nice will get you way further
than if you're rude or angry. He kept stressing that the crew don't
set the prices, they don't sail the ship, they're not paid particularly well but (as
he put it) they work their butts off for every single passenger and are expected to
be super friendly while they do that. And being kind and considerate in return will go
a long way to enhance and smooth your cruise. This is where the “mafia” I mentioned
comes in. It was pointed out that crew are incredibly inter-connected and it’s often these
informal connections that can unlock and make things happen for you. Things work not
just through the official channels, using the informal system can be a real plus. The crew member’s roommate,
friends and people they hang out off duty could be the very ones to get
things done for you or solve problems. Whether it's a show that's sold out, an excursion you missed out on or any other
problems you've got they may know just the person on board who can make it happen
– and not through the usual channels. I have found that works. I once needed to fix my suitcase and asked at Guest Services
who said the ship could not help but spoke to my stateroom attendant and they
were able to get a handyman friend to fix it. The tip crew members told me is
start with your stateroom attendant. If they don't know the answer,
they will know who to ask. I once asked if they knew
of a great Indian restaurant in a particular port and she checked with
an Indian friend where they go to eat. So, if it’s where to buy something, best
thing to see or best place to hang out and get free Wi-Fi, start with your stateroom
attendant. They will know or know who will. However, just how far does being nice to your
crew member go? They had tips around this too! I found this out the hard way, we were
a four-week cruise on the Queen Mary 2 and became extremely friendly with one of the
fitness instructors through doing so many of her fitness classes. We started to meet up with
in some ports and go out and have a great time. She got into serious trouble because she was seen
out with us in a bar being, and it was felt she was being “too friendly” and was reported to
her manager by a senior crew member. Nothing romantic or inappropriate was happening, but
she got told off and received a written warning. I asked numerous crew members about this
area, and they had some sober and good tips. First, all crew members said ''it's
important to get to know crew members.'' Not only as they are a font of knowledge, but
crew members like us to remember their names, take an interest in them as individuals and
not treat them as an anonymous service agent. But being too friendly can
be an issue, as we found out, and hitting on the crew romantically
can cause them big problems. There is a strict, no tolerance rule when it comes
to relationships between the crew and passengers. Many cruise lines train crew how to diffuse a
situation if people come on too strong. If the crew are found having inappropriate relationships
with passengers, they are usually fired. There is also a real fear of being
accused of inappropriate behavior. One crew said to me, ''If passengers ask to take a
picture with me, I resist them wrapping their arms and hands around me, and I never put my
arm and hands around them.'' He says he always thumbs up gesture with both hands in shot,
so his hands are showing when anyone takes photos. If you're taking photos of the
crew, do it in a way that's sensitive and not likely to cause any issues Get to know the crew but understand the
boundaries. Don't push it too far, and don't ask then to take you into crew-only
areas, as that too could get them fired. I also discovered another reason the
crew are so keen for you to get to know them and remember their names. And I had not
appreciated why it was so important to them. I’m had never been particularly diligent at
filling out the end-of-cruise questionnaire, until I found this out. Every crew member, when they heard I didn’t always
fill it out, begged me to do it. And critically, call out any crew member by name
who has provided incredible service. And getting their name right is so key that
they suggested I either write their name down or take a photograph of their name badge. This
also has an added effect as it means they know that you're going to mention them in that survey. Taking the name badge photos struck
me as a genius tip, as after on my last cruise I only got round to doing the
questionnaire a week later, and I couldn't properly remember everyone's name
and how to spell it. I felt bad, because they had given amazing service
and it hadn't been properly recorded. Those end-of- cruise questionnaires are
important, because while the overall score that an area gets can affect incentives or rewards,
more importantly the names of those called out go to the managers and it genuinely affects
ability to get promotions and advancement. Fill out the cruise questionnaire, and make sure
you have recorded crew names to get them right. That is one tip on how to
help the crew, but what about the most contentious topic of all?
What tips do the crew have on that? Some crew on some lines told me that they see
the list of passengers that have taken off or reduced auto gratuities, so they know who has done
it. I don’t know if that is true as never seen a list but consider that if you take off auto
gratuities, the crew may know that you have. Gratuities is one of the most
divisive topics in cruising, and I was keen to see what crew had
to say about what we should be doing. All confirmed that auto gratuities, which is now
the common approach if not included in the fare, go into a pool that's split between a wide range
of people behind the scenes and passenger facing. The crew ask, not surprisingly, we don’t take them
off as they are a key part of their remuneration. It's a separate discussion about whether cruise
lines should be paying higher base wages, but today crew rely on
gratuities to bolster their pay. Crew don't earn huge salaries and pointed out not
everything on the ship is included in their wages. For example, you see so many crew hanging
around free Wi-Fi spots in town or in port, because many cruise lines
charge their crew for Wi-Fi. So, to stay connected to their
family, there is a cost to do that. The other tips they had was that first,
of course, they appreciate extra tips for amazing service or extra things they do,
but if you are going to do so then cash is king. I know some passengers, as I get asked
this often, like the idea of giving gifts from home to the crew, whilst of course
that's appreciated, nothing beats cash. Many people are onboard and sending
money home to their family, kids, parents, and grandparents.
So, cash is always king. And talking of money, there is
another big tip on this too. The costs involved can be enormous
and crew do see passengers rack up personal scary bills occasionally.
All of which could be avoided. If those passengers had taken
out and ensured it was the right travel insurance which includes medical, and
specifically costs from the medical centre. The crew told me that some travel insurance
policies do not cover ship medical centre costs, which can be very expensive, including
seeing the doctor, prescriptions and so on. Then if you must be Medevaced
off the ship or disembarked for medical reasons into a local hospital the
costs can mount fast and be eye-watering. The tip from them is have insurance
and make sure it covers everything. When I first asked crew for tips, they said there are 3 things they keep seeing passengers do
on every cruise, so although these are not new, I thought I should include them as it seems
we are still not getting these right. People forget to put phones into
airplane mode and ramp up crazy costs. Many passengers forget to set their
watch, clock, or phone onto ship time, and so arrive early or late for breakfast,
excursion meet times or almost (or do) miss the ship sailing in the evening. This is
most common when passing through time zones. And the third is passengers
not booking everything early, particularly on big ships where there are
lots of options and they get sold out quickly. They stress using pre-cruise
online planner to book, dining, excursions, activities, spa treatments, and so on as they spent so much time with
passengers frustrated things that are sold out. They said if you don't do it before on embarkation
day, the minute you get on board go and book, with one of the quickest ways via
the interactive television or app, which means no lining up to get it sorted. The crew have these tips but there are more
tips that you can learn from in the video where I look at the 7 things the smartest cruisers
do, starting with how they ignore the advice that you will find in many cruise articles,
blogs and videos. See you over there
