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- Margaritaville at Sea
Crew member who worked aboard Margaritaville at Sea two cruise ships Islander and Paradise says the company sells “high salaries and big promises” but the reality is a mix of questionable salary practices, fear of retaliation, and unsafe, unsanitary crew conditions that people are afraid to report.
The crew member says the contract falls short of basic protections under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), including an unexplained withholding of pay and a salary structure that makes overtime, leave, and holiday calculations far less transparent than crew are led to believe. They also describe repeated concerns around safety equipment, cleanliness in crew areas, and discriminatory treatment, saying complaints are routinely dismissed, mocked, or punished rather than addressed:
Here is what the crew member reported:
They offer high salaries and big promises to make the crew stay, but the reality is far from it.
The whole contract lacks important regulation according to MLC. For example, one irregularity they do is that they never pay you 15 days of initial work, having always a “delay” in the payments. This is not under the contract. They retain 15 days of work without our consent and not mentioned in the contract. Apparently, they return the money later, but since this is not stated in the contract, it is illegal according to MLC.
Also, the way they count the salary is not transparent. They give everyone a “minimum wage” salary and a “bonus,” so the salary of the month is based on this minimum wage. Vacation leave, holidays, and overtime are all based on this number, which is less than 30% of the total salary.
But the most concerning problem is related to safety and cleanliness in the crew areas. All reports are seen as a “bad action,” and with this I am including retaliation, even from the captain.
I was onboard MVAS Islander and Paradise. My working station didn’t have a working PA system on Paradise. Machines were not properly secured (all tied with a weak cord). Once, I saw a cockroach near the main laundry. After the break of the pest control officer, he approached me in an unprofessional way because I made them wake him up during his afternoon nap.
It is definitely a culture that comes from the time MVAS Paradise was the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. This ship is so problematic, and everyone is afraid of speaking up. No crew is allowed to have their I-95 on their first contract at Paradise. It doesn’t matter if you have 10 years of experience at sea or if you just came from MVAS Islander in a vessel transfer. They say it is the port request, but it is very strange because the port authorities always give us the stamp, and the HR onboard keeps our document.
Not only that, but it is the most dirty ship I have ever stepped into.
They don’t allow us to take pictures of the cabins, but the situation there, mostly on deck 2, is sad to live under those conditions.
I think nobody was allowed to talk about it, but on Islander during October/November they had two days of sailing without AC and water for guests and crew. This AC issue was known before; the cabins were without AC completely. When I reported it, I was met with mockery and sexism. They even started to say that the temperature was okay and that I was the one with issues.
Last but not least, racism onboard Paradise. I saw many of my African friends receiving different treatment compared to Asians or white people, especially regarding compassionate leave. HR was claiming that “people like them tend to fake a deceased death only to stay in the USA.” They wanted to charge my friend USD 700 plus the officer escort to the Miami airport. Her brother had just died from asthma, and they were asking either the USD 700 to be deducted from her salary or for the family to pay for the ticket. According to MLC, as far as I know, compassionate leave should be granted with all repatriation covered by the company if the death is proven. I managed to buy my friend a ticket so she could be with her family.
When I reported the difference in treatment of Black people to the captain, he replied that “they have different cultures onboard; it is not racism.” By the way, racism is something big onboard all cruise lines and should be shouted to the world. Is there any Black captain in any company? How many Black people work on the bridge? In my entire career, I have never seen Black people in leadership. Specifically on Margaritaville, this is alarming. There is no Black person at all in leadership. They demote them to promote Indian or any other person. They give them warnings when it wasn’t even their fault. I heard this from many crew members, not only one or two, and that really impressed me.
The world needs to know the Margaritaville garbage under the carpet.
The crew member says the contract falls short of basic protections under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), including an unexplained withholding of pay and a salary structure that makes overtime, leave, and holiday calculations far less transparent than crew are led to believe. They also describe repeated concerns around safety equipment, cleanliness in crew areas, and discriminatory treatment, saying complaints are routinely dismissed, mocked, or punished rather than addressed:
Here is what the crew member reported:
They offer high salaries and big promises to make the crew stay, but the reality is far from it.
The whole contract lacks important regulation according to MLC. For example, one irregularity they do is that they never pay you 15 days of initial work, having always a “delay” in the payments. This is not under the contract. They retain 15 days of work without our consent and not mentioned in the contract. Apparently, they return the money later, but since this is not stated in the contract, it is illegal according to MLC.
Also, the way they count the salary is not transparent. They give everyone a “minimum wage” salary and a “bonus,” so the salary of the month is based on this minimum wage. Vacation leave, holidays, and overtime are all based on this number, which is less than 30% of the total salary.
But the most concerning problem is related to safety and cleanliness in the crew areas. All reports are seen as a “bad action,” and with this I am including retaliation, even from the captain.
I was onboard MVAS Islander and Paradise. My working station didn’t have a working PA system on Paradise. Machines were not properly secured (all tied with a weak cord). Once, I saw a cockroach near the main laundry. After the break of the pest control officer, he approached me in an unprofessional way because I made them wake him up during his afternoon nap.
It is definitely a culture that comes from the time MVAS Paradise was the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. This ship is so problematic, and everyone is afraid of speaking up. No crew is allowed to have their I-95 on their first contract at Paradise. It doesn’t matter if you have 10 years of experience at sea or if you just came from MVAS Islander in a vessel transfer. They say it is the port request, but it is very strange because the port authorities always give us the stamp, and the HR onboard keeps our document.
Not only that, but it is the most dirty ship I have ever stepped into.
They don’t allow us to take pictures of the cabins, but the situation there, mostly on deck 2, is sad to live under those conditions.
I think nobody was allowed to talk about it, but on Islander during October/November they had two days of sailing without AC and water for guests and crew. This AC issue was known before; the cabins were without AC completely. When I reported it, I was met with mockery and sexism. They even started to say that the temperature was okay and that I was the one with issues.
Last but not least, racism onboard Paradise. I saw many of my African friends receiving different treatment compared to Asians or white people, especially regarding compassionate leave. HR was claiming that “people like them tend to fake a deceased death only to stay in the USA.” They wanted to charge my friend USD 700 plus the officer escort to the Miami airport. Her brother had just died from asthma, and they were asking either the USD 700 to be deducted from her salary or for the family to pay for the ticket. According to MLC, as far as I know, compassionate leave should be granted with all repatriation covered by the company if the death is proven. I managed to buy my friend a ticket so she could be with her family.
When I reported the difference in treatment of Black people to the captain, he replied that “they have different cultures onboard; it is not racism.” By the way, racism is something big onboard all cruise lines and should be shouted to the world. Is there any Black captain in any company? How many Black people work on the bridge? In my entire career, I have never seen Black people in leadership. Specifically on Margaritaville, this is alarming. There is no Black person at all in leadership. They demote them to promote Indian or any other person. They give them warnings when it wasn’t even their fault. I heard this from many crew members, not only one or two, and that really impressed me.
The world needs to know the Margaritaville garbage under the carpet.
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