Originally Posted by
YVR Cockroach
It's been hypothesized that a lot of the better cruise service workers left during the COVID shutdown and recruiting suitable replacements has been a challenge for almost all the lines since. It's been reported that most lines are short-staffed and/or poorly-staffed (substandard) in the hotel department. All lines (at least the non-gratuity-included ones) pay pretty poorly partially made up from the hotel service charge (i.e., gratuity) pool.
That has a lot to do with it. I know a few cruise employees who didn't go back and found jobs in their home country. Also, MSC for instance used to port in India and after the pandemic, they never went back. That's where lots of their staff was from, and they could easily go home for a short break. Many of the current staff on many ships have no prior experience. Even hotels lost staff during the pandemic.
It will be years before things straighten out, as many of the newly hire are quitting due to burn out, so the cycle starts over.