Cruise’s crews issues

CRUISE lines are cancelling sailings, closing restaurants, and allowing fewer guests on board amid hiring difficulties. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride

of America (pictured) which typically operates with more than 900 crew members, is now sailing with under 550 workers, according to reports.

As a result, Norwegian has cut Pride of America’s guest capacity, and reportedly, some unluckier guests travelling on overbooked itineraries will have to be transferred to another, as reported by Insider.

Cunard Line has also limited its number of guests, and has cancelled sailings aboard Queen

Elizabeth (inset) and Queen Victoria, reportedly blaming the “wider impact of COVID-19” on its difficulties with hiring.

Cruise lines less affected include Holland America Line, which has decided to “pace its restart over the year,” as per Insider.

Royal Caribbean International also acknowledged similar difficulties in hiring, but doesn’t expect it will be cancelling any future itineraries.

While there is sufficient demand to work on ships, securing visas, particularly for the Schengen Area and the United States, can prove to be a lengthy process, occasionally taking up to six months.

“We do have some shortages, but we are fortunate we’re being able to move staff from one ship to another ship to fill those gaps,” Holland America SVP Guest Experience Michael Smith is reported to have said.

“Most of our shortages are in the galley operations, but we are moving staff within departments, not necessarily to go and cook but maybe to...do other cleaning jobs in different parts of the ship”.