AnonymousCM5
Member
Company : Msc
Ship : msc virtuosa/msc Splendida
Position : Guest services
Salary : $1400 as a trainee and then $2200 after probation
Year : 2023-2024
Experience :
Cabin: Both ships i shared a cabin with another person&bathroom too. Your roommate can make/break your contract. I have had to ask for a roommate change. and got with someone from my own department and we remain friends till this day
On Splendida i had a lovely roommate who i still keep in touch with
Both ships had minibar in cabin but no alcohol allowed in the rooms but people found a way around it.
You get 5000mb of wifi start of every month for free and once its done, you have to puchase
Food: food was generally good on both ships and guest service also had access to guest dinning areas. Only had to call restaurant manager for reservations only on slow port days. Generally we always ate in the Buffet area. We were allowed to eat in coffee shops, get icecream cones from the onboard guest coffee shop.Themed dinners for different nationalities on their independence days and big dinners for xmass/ easter etc
Guest services had access to all guest areas such as bars, cinemas, theatre, shops but only in our uniforms and we could book for the spa for treatments(nails, massages) on their slow days
Crew bar: all types of alcohol from your high end hard liqours and champagnes to beers and soft drinks at a reasonable price. I dont drink so it was mostly soft drinks and milkshakes for me
Crew also got free pastries in the morning from crew bar which is great on days when you dont have time to grab something to eat.
Salary: was credited on the 10th of every month. Only complaint i would mention here was when any one was transitioning from a trainee salary to a confirmed final salary.. it would take them along time( 2 months for a colleague of mine and 1 month for me) for them to give you your final salary..you would have to chase crew office alot for them to take action
So basically you would still get the training salary and then eventually they would credit you the difference but this was stressfull
Crew life: msc is one of those companies that dont really care for their crew members. Hr is incharge of crew activities and the Hr professionalism varied based on maturity. On the virtuosa the Hr had alot of crew activities such as themed movie nights in the guest cinema area,pj party and best dressed always get a prize( free wifi/ voucher for shops), crew parties regularly in guest areas and free drinks, yoga mornings, pilates sessions however on splendida the Hr barely had any crew activities.
Guest services get about 4hrs/5hrs break inbetween shifts so its easy to go out and visit ports most of the time unless if its a busy port and then you work 11hrs and choose to stay indoors and rest.
As someone mentioned before if you have an issue with work or a manager, they dont really take any action or scrutiny..they tell you its ship life and things happen to get over it
Promotions wise its much easier if you are friends with the mgt position with stripes or in some type of relationship with a manager otherwise its not easy to move up. The nationalities will protect each other, particularly a nationality that holds many of the management positions and you will be left in the rain.
You work and work soo much and no recognition at all
Your management in your department makes or break your contract. I didn’t have the best time on Virtuosa because the management was a mess..there was alot of favoritism and they couldn’t sort out toxicity in the team even though they really tried and i wanted to sign off many times however an opportunity for a transfer presented itself and i was transferred to splendida where i had a fantastic team and a fantastic manager and i had a fantastic experience
However for anyone wanting to go into guest services, i would tell them to try another cruise line and NOT msc..we are not paid enough compared to other cruise lines for the things we have to put up with
There is also the issue of the long wait till you get your next assignment. I have been home going on 8 months now and fed up
I have applied to other cruise
Ship : msc virtuosa/msc Splendida
Position : Guest services
Salary : $1400 as a trainee and then $2200 after probation
Year : 2023-2024
Experience :
Cabin: Both ships i shared a cabin with another person&bathroom too. Your roommate can make/break your contract. I have had to ask for a roommate change. and got with someone from my own department and we remain friends till this day
On Splendida i had a lovely roommate who i still keep in touch with
Both ships had minibar in cabin but no alcohol allowed in the rooms but people found a way around it.
You get 5000mb of wifi start of every month for free and once its done, you have to puchase
Food: food was generally good on both ships and guest service also had access to guest dinning areas. Only had to call restaurant manager for reservations only on slow port days. Generally we always ate in the Buffet area. We were allowed to eat in coffee shops, get icecream cones from the onboard guest coffee shop.Themed dinners for different nationalities on their independence days and big dinners for xmass/ easter etc
Guest services had access to all guest areas such as bars, cinemas, theatre, shops but only in our uniforms and we could book for the spa for treatments(nails, massages) on their slow days
Crew bar: all types of alcohol from your high end hard liqours and champagnes to beers and soft drinks at a reasonable price. I dont drink so it was mostly soft drinks and milkshakes for me
Crew also got free pastries in the morning from crew bar which is great on days when you dont have time to grab something to eat.
Salary: was credited on the 10th of every month. Only complaint i would mention here was when any one was transitioning from a trainee salary to a confirmed final salary.. it would take them along time( 2 months for a colleague of mine and 1 month for me) for them to give you your final salary..you would have to chase crew office alot for them to take action
So basically you would still get the training salary and then eventually they would credit you the difference but this was stressfull
Crew life: msc is one of those companies that dont really care for their crew members. Hr is incharge of crew activities and the Hr professionalism varied based on maturity. On the virtuosa the Hr had alot of crew activities such as themed movie nights in the guest cinema area,pj party and best dressed always get a prize( free wifi/ voucher for shops), crew parties regularly in guest areas and free drinks, yoga mornings, pilates sessions however on splendida the Hr barely had any crew activities.
Guest services get about 4hrs/5hrs break inbetween shifts so its easy to go out and visit ports most of the time unless if its a busy port and then you work 11hrs and choose to stay indoors and rest.
As someone mentioned before if you have an issue with work or a manager, they dont really take any action or scrutiny..they tell you its ship life and things happen to get over it
Promotions wise its much easier if you are friends with the mgt position with stripes or in some type of relationship with a manager otherwise its not easy to move up. The nationalities will protect each other, particularly a nationality that holds many of the management positions and you will be left in the rain.
You work and work soo much and no recognition at all
Your management in your department makes or break your contract. I didn’t have the best time on Virtuosa because the management was a mess..there was alot of favoritism and they couldn’t sort out toxicity in the team even though they really tried and i wanted to sign off many times however an opportunity for a transfer presented itself and i was transferred to splendida where i had a fantastic team and a fantastic manager and i had a fantastic experience
However for anyone wanting to go into guest services, i would tell them to try another cruise line and NOT msc..we are not paid enough compared to other cruise lines for the things we have to put up with
There is also the issue of the long wait till you get your next assignment. I have been home going on 8 months now and fed up
I have applied to other cruise
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