On February 3, Japanese passengers sailing aboard the Diamond Princess marked the third-year anniversary of the ship’s arrival at the port of Yokohama and the outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the vessel.

Carnival Corporation’s German brand AIDA Cruises announced that the company will implement several benefits for the crew this year, including an increase of the salaries to all shipboard employees by 5%. The pay rise will be carried out in two steps, with the first increase of 2.5% in February 2023, and 2.5% in July 2023. In a letter sent to its crew members, Aida Cruises said that the company employs about 15.000 shipboard personnel, which will see a pay rise in the coming months.

Viking Cruises is taking the initiative in the cruising industry in implementation of pay raise based promotions. Crew members from every cruise company have consistently made complaints related to the unfairness of pay that is comparable to entry levels even when they have spent years loyally working for the company.

After difficult three years since the start of the pandemic and the amazing return back to cruising in 2022, the cruise lines have many reasons to celebrate this holiday season. 

Counting down the last days of 2022, Celebrity Cruises is celebrating a conclusion of an exceptional and very successful year together with its crew. As it draws to a close, the cruise line wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on the year and share what is ahead to in 2023 in its latest edition of the Crew Newsletter "The World, at Your Service”.

The following article is a guest post from Mladen Jakovljevic - former crew member and author of the book "Modern Age Slavery"

Norwegian Cruise Lines is undertaking changes related to staff benefits on board its cruise ships that will be affecting greatly on decision making moving forward to many staff, the company and guests in retrospect. The recent changes will affect most staff members and officers who carry less than 2 stripes on their uniform, while some reduction of benefits will affect all staff across the board.

The following article is a guest post from Mladen Jakovljevic - former crew member and author of the book "Modern Age Slavery"

Crew Center received the following letter from a Ukrainian crew member asking the community to spread the word an help Ukrainian seafarers.

Several crew members working aboard Costa Cruises ships voiced their disappointment about the promotion opportunities in the company and the lack of transparency about the policy of future advancement. A crew member said that after joining Costa Cruises, seven years ago, as a Snack Steward his ambition to become a waiter was partially realized despite all his efforts to achieve his goal.