Celebrity Cruises denies TV programme’s claims

Celebrity Cruises has responded to what it calls the ‘unbalanced portrayal’ of life working onboard a ship in a recent ‘fly on the wall’ documentary.

The cruise giant said it was disappointed that the Channel 4 Dispatches programme "Cruises Under Cover: The Truth Below Deck" represented the industry in a predominantly negative way.

The programme claimed to ‘lift the lid’ on employment abuses after an undercover reporter worked on Celebrity Eclipse – one of Celebrity Cruises’ ships.

Despite its denials, Celebrity Cruises said all allegations were taken very seriously and it would investigate the validity of them.

Celebrity Cruises said: "In our opinion, the concerns raised by the reporter relating to his short time working onboard are not representative of more than 13,000 satisfied shipboard employees who deliver memorable holidays for our guests.  

"Celebrity Cruises operates in full accordance with International Labour Organisation (ILO) recommendations for minimum wages for seafarers.

"All of our shipboard employees are provided with free room and board during service onboard, mandatory rest hours, medical coverage, sick pay, and disability pay, compensation in the event of death in service, a retirement plan and many other benefits.  

"All onboard standards such as rest periods, reasonable pay, benefits to employees and conditions for mandatory pay for overtime work are agreed with industry bodies including seafarers’ trade unions.

"Celebrity Cruises also denies any claim stating that employees are assigned workloads which require them to hire a personal helper to complete.

"There have been instances where employees voluntarily pay another employee to assist them with their work; however, this practice is not sanctioned by the company and equally, is not a violation of the labour agreements.

"Should we discover that anyone within the company, or at the hiring and placement agencies we work with, has violated our procedures and requirements, we will take swift and corrective actions." 

The industry has come out in support of the cruise line, see previous story.

Willie Stewart, chairman of  The Leading Cruise Agents of the UK (LCA), which represents 70 cruise specialist agents, said: "Whilst no business sector is perfect, cruise companies have demonstrated a willingness to innovate, and generally to care for client and crew member alike.

"In our experience, Celebrity Cruises is an exemplar of this best practice."