I always thought: “On your own, you go where you want to. But together you go farther…” I obviously didn’t come to sea to fall in love, but to run away — around it.

Azamara, the luxury brand of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. family is the latest cruise line to offer their crew members complimentary texting through WhatsApp on their ships.

The cruise company AIDA Cruises was recognized by the Top Employers Institute as one of the top 20 employers in Germany. The international institute is one of the world's most prominent institutions for certification of outstanding employee conditions and annually selects the country's top employers in a comprehensive study.

Recognizing the importance of the crew to keep in contact with their families and friends, Princess Cruises has introduced free Whatsapp for its shipboard employees. Starting February 14, the free texting service is available on six Princess cruise ships, and the company is working hard to expand the program throughout the fleet.

For years the business industry has attempted to determine what makes a great leader with the intention of replicating the same and teaching it in classrooms that are meant to shape the new generation of great leaders.

The non-profit organization World Central Kitchen, established by chef José Andrés and his wife, started delivering pre-packed meals and food supplies to the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship Grand Princess which is still off the coast of California. 

The luxury expedition cruise line Ponant will voluntarily suspend the cruise operations across the entire fleet as their ships are not able to continue sailing in the right conditions. Following this difficult decision the company sent a letter to all the crew members saying that a significant financial effort will be made out of solidarity to support disembarked crews.

The Leading British cruise line P&O Cruises announced that the crew will receive a goodwill payment, in addition their contractual notice in order to ensure the employees continue to receive some pay for the following months. P&O Cruises crew will receive 30 days’ notice for ending of the contract and will get paid for those 30 days. If the crew contract is due to end after June 30, they will get paid 40% of their salary for the months of May and June.

Viking Cruises, one of the world’s fastest-growing luxury cruise lines announced a quite generous financial compensation for its crew amid the global coronavirus crisis. in order to ensure the Viking employees continue to receive salary for the following months, the company has presented the crew of their ocean cruise ships with the following plan which will be in effect starting April 1.

When life gives you COVID 19 pandemic while working on a cruise ship, there are those who cry you a river and those who turn towards some form of creative awakening while rising above the power of the pandemic fear. One such amazing man is David Oscar who joined Carnival Cruise Lines in 2017 boarding his first ship with a sketch pad and thirst for experiences, friendships and travel.