Topic: Cruise firms condemn new Equality Act

British cruiselines and ferry companies are up in arms regarding new rules about crew salary pay. So much so that they've penned a letter to the media warning of "intolerable" crew costs in the UK.

The letter, which you may have seen in the Daily Telegraph recently, details that many major shipping companies will have no choice but to re-register their ships away from Britain due to obscure regulations arising from the Equality Act.

Carnival UK chief executive David Dingle, P&O Ferries fleet director John Garber and Stena Line director Robert Akerland are among the eight signatories "in dismay".

The letter reads: “These companies currently pay seafarers resident abroad at levels that are related to those of highly skilled professionals in their home countries.

“What is proposed would compel British-flag operators to pay British rates to these seafarers – even though they may never set foot on British soil.

“The costs will put our British operations under intolerable pressure not felt by competitors abroad.”

They accuse the Government of “encouraging shipping companies to take their business elsewhere" and urge PM David Cameron to intervene “to help Britain trade its way back into prosperity and avoid the collapse of a success story”.

There we go Carvival - your opportunity to pay a proper salary, make your cruises inclusive of gratuities and increase the price accordingly. Neil Down will be delighted. The area for Carnival to lobby the Government on is to make it compulsory for all adverts for cruises to include the cost of gratuities in the advertised price then they will be on a level playing field.

What cruise companies have british flagged ships?. For the rest of them and us this is irrelevant.

as for the ferry companies, tough, just reflag your ferries and problem solved!

QUOTE:

What cruise companies have british flagged ships?. For the rest of them and us this is irrelevant.

as for the ferry companies, tough, just reflag your ferries and problem solved!

Hi Dave
The companies were happy enough when John Prescott fought for many years,and got,preferential tax rates for British flagged merchant fleet.
JC

The point being that the cruiselines will simply reflag accordingly to achieve the required objective for their stakeholders. This is really a no news item.

QUOTE:

What cruise companies have british flagged ships?. For the rest of them and us this is irrelevant.

as for the ferry companies, tough, just reflag your ferries and problem solved!

P & O have Aurora and Cunard have QM2 and Victoria. Just reflagging may save money but loses the last vestige of pride in our country from these vessels.

When we were on the Eclipse had Valletta (our capital), Malta all over the decks and the Maltese Marine Flag. It surprised me.
I wonder if other Celebrity ships are flagged in Malta.
(They should give me a discount coming from Malta)

QUOTE:

There we go Carvival - your opportunity to pay a proper salary, make your cruises inclusive of gratuities and increase the price accordingly. Neil Down will be delighted. The area for Carnival to lobby the Government on is to make it compulsory for all adverts for cruises to include the cost of gratuities in the advertised price then they will be on a level playing field.

Our first cruise was with Carnival in 1998. When we found out that our busboy in the restaurant was paid $1 dollar a day, I and the rest at our table (all British) agreed it was a disgrace. It also came to light that Carnival contracts were usually for a minimum 10 months compared to most other lines 5 months.
The year after we sailed with Celebrity and found that their basic pay rates were much higher with more time off and better crew facilities.
Has anything changed with Carnival since then?

I expect they will say that they have to take into account the food, laundry and clothing that they provide as well as medical bills and use of cabins etc. A bit like haveing a live in nannie, that their wages are taken into account of the same factors. I am thinking that they will incorporate the high insurance for each crew member as well. If they are paying the going rate from the country that the crew member comes from, does that mean different people get different rates of pay. If that is the case, it is about time wages were sorted out properly and everyone gets the right pay for the job.
EDNA

QUOTE:

...If they are paying the going rate from the country that the crew member comes from, does that mean different people get different rates of pay. If that is the case, it is about time wages were sorted out properly and everyone gets the right pay for the job.
EDNA

Could be why cruise companies often employ staff from the same country for certain positions on the ship.