Americans on Board

March 13, 2012

There are only about 50 Americans among our 1200+ person crew at any time. At least that is the official estimate that we hear. However, one dancer decided she was going to try to count them and only came up with 25. Regardless, you get the picture. Even if we have 50 that means only 4% of the crew is from the U.S. The thought that it is probably closer to 2% definitely feels closer to reality.

Not that it matters, much. It isn’t like Americans choose to only commingle with others from the 50 states. That just isn’t our style. There are other nationalities, which are represented at much higher levels, where you see that happening more frequently. But given our scarcity and the nature of most Americans as a little more outgoing than peers from other nations, it is the norm that we simply reach out to the nearly 70 nationalities represented on our ship. Still, it is enjoyable to sit down and have a meal with people whose life experience is much closer to yours.

The reason there are so few Americans is simple economics. Most Americans, when they can get a job, will choose the higher paying job on land to the nomad’s life of the sea. For most of our crew the wages they earn with Celebrity are far higher than anything they can get in their own countries. I encourage anyone who thinks that these hardworking people are taking American jobs to apply for one of the many positions on this ship. They will be distressed by the low pay and the constant work. That brief editorial was simply a way of reinforcing why there are so few Americans working on ships. That being said the motivation for those of us who do make this choice is rarely economics. For the younger men and women it is generally a great chance to get experience that will transfer to land later. For entertainers, it is an opportunity to get steady work in their chosen profession. For others, it is the chance for adventure, to live a dream, or to follow their star.

The vast majority of the Americans onboard Silhouette are our entertainers. Our production singers and dancers are highly biased toward American talent. Yes, we have a few dancers from other countries: Patrick from Canada, Alrico from South Africa, just to name two, but all the lead singers are American, our Cruise Director is American, as are several of our dancers. (The same dancers, by the way, who choose to once a cruise have gelato for dinner . . . just because the can. It’s great to be young, athletic, and burning several thousand calories a day!) Our Celebrity Orchestra, our ‘house band,’ is virtually all American, led by our bandmaster, Nick, whose dad I found out much to my dismay was born in the same year as me. One of my favorite musicians in that group is Mike who plays the wickedest trombone east of New Orleans. Fortunately, he is my age group which makes me like him even more. Our Jazz band is virtually always American, as this is a truly American music form. The  a Capella group follows suit for the same reason. Our Party Band is not. That seems to be the province of the Filipino musicians. Wow, I’ve almost exhausted the list. Those that run our guest facing i-Lounges are also as American as an Apple Macintosh. Occasionally, you will find someone working in hotels or finance that is American, and with increasing frequency Americans are populating the role of T&D.

As I teach in our Cultural Diversity course this gives us each the opportunity to explore the cultures of people you won’t normally see in your lifetimes. What a unique opportunity for each of us to grow. As one guest told me based on her experience, “if ever world peace is achieved, it will be by nations learning from Celebrity Cruise Lines.” But still, it is nice when you can speak with common cultural references in similar American accents, yearning for the same things that we miss. It is comforting. Which explains to us why some of the more highly represented cultures do tend to seek out primarily the company of their countrymen.

But for Americans onboard . . .

The adventure continues . . .