Hi everyone. I'm Chris Frame and thanks so much for joining me. In normal times, cruise
ships have hundreds if not thousands of crew on board. This is in addition to all the passengers
sometimes numbering in the thousands... in fact on the largest cruise ship there are over 5,000
passengers on board in addition to all of the officers and crew who are there to run the ship.
But during the COVID-19 cruise shutdown things are a bit different. For almost a year the majority
of cruise ships have been laid up, anchored and seemingly silent awaiting a return of passengers.
But if you've been paying attention to these ships you might have noticed that they are
still operational. The 'empty' cruise ships move around running on their own engines with some of
them even coming into port for a day or two every so often. So, they're not really empty... I mean
someone has to be on board to keep the ships running right? And if you're anything like me,
you're probably wondering what exactly is going on on board the cruise ships, who's on board and
what are they doing? The officers and crew manage all aspects of the cruise experience,
from things like navigation, safety and engineering to hotel experiences,
the entertainment, food and beverage. Obviously at the moment there aren't any passengers on the
majority of the world's cruise ships, so the roles on board aren't exactly what you would expect
during normal times. Legally all ships must carry a master or a captain as well as a chief engineer,
even when in warm layup. Additionally all the cruise ships need to hold a minimum
manning certificate, which specifies the number of crew each ship can carry. The
country where the ship is flagged dictates the minimum number of crew that a ship must carry,
however the laid up cruise ships are actually carrying above that minimum requirement.
This is stipulated by the cruise lines, as a general rule of thumb there is around 100 to 120
people on each of the laid up cruise ships. For most cruise ships this will be made up of around
30 officers with the rest being crew to undertake various roles. Additionally in some jurisdictions
a ship carrying more than 100 people will require a qualified medical practitioner even during the
layup period. So now we know that there are people on board the laid up cruise ships,
even when they're stationary and anchored off the coast... But you might be wondering how
long each of the individual crew members is on board the ship for? In the early stages of the
cruise pause some crew stayed on board the ships for many months. In fact at one point the number
of stranded crew numbered over 100,000 people. The causes of this problem were logistical political
and geographical... In early 2020 no one knew how bad COVID was going to get. In January and
February, most of us just went about our normal everyday lives. Trains kept running, aircraft kept
flying and cruise ships sailed to all corners of the world full of passengers and crew. As a result
cruise ships were scattered all over the world at the time the cruise shutdown started in March.
Passengers were disembarked but most of the crew remained on board the cruise ship, as the cruise
pause was only scheduled to last a month or so. At the same time that the cruise pause started,
many countries around the world started to close their international borders.
This meant that when the cruise pause was extended, the ships couldn't simply pull
into port and disembark their crew...or book them a flight home and get them home easily.
Instead repatriation was a logistical nightmare! Requiring negotiations with various ports and
governments and creative thinking on how to get the crew members back to their home countries...
I've linked to my video about crew repatriation in the description below or in the info card here,
but in short it took months to rectify. Things became a little bit easier in August 2020
when the united nations International Maritime Organization declared seafarers as essential
workers. This removed blockages in many areas and greatly assisted the cruise lines in repatriating
their stranded crew. A new normal has now been established, with crew changes taking place
regularly. Anyone joining the ship has to undergo rigorous COVID testing and daily symptom checks,
as well as periods of quarantine and isolation. Only after this, if they remain virus free,
are new arrival allowed to leave their quarantine and mingle with the rest of those on board.
Additionally most cruise lines now require crew to wear masks at all times; unless they're in the
privacy of their own cabin. While things seem worse during the COVID era, one area that has
improved for the crew is their accommodation on board the ships. In fact the crew have largely
been moved into passenger accommodation with balconies being the preference. This allows
the crew to have more space per person and also utilize the balcony to ensure fresh air comes into
the cabin. This is a far more spacious environment than the standard crew cabins that most of
the crew will be used to. On many ships crew are being fed in the main passenger buffet restaurant,
which have been altered to create hygienic covert safe environments. Some other passenger areas of
the ship are also utilized for example a specific passenger lounge or bar may be used for crew
functions and a good example of this is recent Christmas celebrations, which were held onboard
many of the cruise ships in the passenger areas. So, there's a small crew on board the cruise ships
and we now know how they're being accommodated, but you might be wondering what the crew is
doing on board the ship during the cruising pause? Firstly there's a team who run the ship.
This includes the captain, chief engineer and officers responsible for navigation, propulsion,
power generation, maintenance, safety and manning a 24-hour watch. Throughout the cruise pause, the
cruise ships have remained 'in class' which means that they are still registered as cruise ships and
have to meet all of the statutory requirements. This includes weekly emergency drills, lifeboat
lowering, launch tests as well as weekly cabin inspections and hygiene inspections. Maintenance
teams are on board to ensure the upkeep of the ship during the shutdown. These teams maintain the
decks, remove and treat exterior rust, paint the ship and assist with engine room maintenance and
maintain the balconies. They also undertake some tasks you may not have thought of - for example
to ensure public health and safety standards are met, all the empty cabins on board have their
taps and faucets opened and toilets flushed regularly. This is a big job, particularly on
those cruise ships with thousands of cabins. Now you might be wondering about the cuisine on board?
Well rest assured there is a team of chefs on board the ship to ensure that the crew are fed
properly. There's also a small team of stewards on board who provide the crew with meal service
and ensure the dining areas are kept stocked and clean. Additionally a small hotel team can
be found on board the cruise ship. Aside from cabin servicing they are mainly concerned with
deep cleaning. This includes all the furniture and upholstery, carpets and tiles as well as
behind the scenes areas that require cleaning and upkeep... Now just because there's people on board
the cruise ships doesn't mean that the experience on board is anything like what you're used to...
in fact far from it! Most cruise ships are HUGE for the number of crew that they're currently
carrying, and as such many public spaces are mothballed until cruising resumes. These areas
are protected by plastic coverings to ensure that they remain dirt and dust free. But while they're
mothballed these areas are still accessible, with all the various corridors and passageways needing
to remain open to allow for proper ventilation and airflow. Regular inspections take place on board
the ship, there are security teams on board with 24-hour patrols of exterior areas as well as fire
patrols inside the ship. While the cruise shutdown has been characterized by anchored, laid up,
idle cruise ships, the cruise ships themselves actually do move around quite often. This has been
facilitated by cruise companies coming together to share the limited anchorages around the world.
When a cruise ship sets sail, it can be to move to a new anchorage location or to exchange water.
They also go to sea when prevailing weather makes anchoring unsafe or in response to a change of
wind or sea conditions. All cruise lines expect to resume cruising sometime in 2021 and so at
the moment, behind the scenes, the cruise lines are working very hard to prepare the ships for
a return to service. This includes the monumental task of re-crewing their ships... This will take
months and can be as challenging as the crew repatriation effort was. But we will start to
see crew returning to the cruise ships in the coming months. This is certainly a very strange
experience for all involved. Never before has the world's fleet of passenger ships been laid up for
such a long period of time on mass like this. But the cruise ships aren't empty! So the next time
you see a laid up cruise ship off the coast spare a thought for the crew on board who are keeping
it safe and maintained and ready for cruising to resume in hopefully the not too distant future.
Thanks so much for watching and I hope you found the video interesting? If you did please don't
forget to give it a like and subscribe and hit the notification bell so you don't miss future
videos... If you're interested in what else has been going on during the COVID-19 shutdown
check out my COVID and cruising playlist... If you're looking for something to do
during lockdown and you're missing cruising you might want to check out some of our
books #ad. We've written a series of books about ocean liners and passenger ships and I've linked
them in the description below. Today i wanted to show you the Cunard Coloring Book. It's full
of coloring in pictures of the various Cunard ships... There's all sorts of interior pictures
that have been turned into coloring in images, from the winter garden on board Queen Victoria
through to QE2 in Sydney Harbour and of course the great Cunard Queens docked around the world,
and we also have a section on the history of Cunard as well.
Thanks so much for watching, and when it is safe for us to travel again I hope to see you on board!
[Happy Music]