Royal Caribbean Bartenders' Grueling Hours Exposed (Leaked Work Schedule)
Recently leaked documents and schedules reveal that Royal Caribbean bartenders work 70-hour weeks with no days off! What's their daily schedule actually like?
Recent posts on the Chinese social media platform, "Little Red Book," show RCI's employment documents and shed light on the harsh reality of bartenders' labor conditions aboard Royal Caribbean ships: bar servers are working 70 hours a week with no days off!
Leaked offer letters and contracts show that these employees are signing up for grueling schedules under terms that most passengers never consider. For instance, in one example, a bartender is offered a 29-week contract with a meager guaranteed monthly pay of $1,377. While the company does agree to reimburse for visa costs, they won't even cover the employee's flight to the embarkation port.
The Hours
Breaking down the fine print, these contracts show the pay is based on working 303.1 hours per month, adding up to 3,637.2 hours per year, or an exhausting 69.95 hours a week. This staggering figure translates to nearly double the standard 40-hour workweek that most employees are accustomed to, highlighting a significant disparity in expectations and workloads. Despite this demanding schedule, their guaranteed pay remains below industry standards, raising critical questions about fairness and sustainability in the workforce.
The Daily Schedule
Another leaked document reveals the grueling reality of a bartender's life at the Boleros Bar on the Wonder of the Seas. These Bar Servers are working 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. This schedule is an arrangement of 3 shifts squeezed into a 12-hour window, each shift lasting 3 or 4 hours with a one-hour break between shifts. It's a staggering 12 hours on, 12 hours off. This specific bartender's torment begins at 2 PM and stretches into the early morning hours.
The Pay
What's even more shocking is the tips. While most passengers think they're tipping their servers directly, all recorded tips received are first deducted from the bartenders' guaranteed pay amount. In other words, they don't get to pocket the tips, they're essentially subsidizing their own base salary with them.
This labor system raises serious questions about the fairness of Royal Caribbean's employment practices. Royal Caribbean, it seems, is putting its bartenders through a work marathon, without fair compensation or transparency to match.
To dive deeper into the bartender salary and tipping scheme, Check out my other post: Royal Caribbean Bartenders' Salary Exposed.
