Working hard at sea

OK, back to the cruise - maybe for the last time, but no guarantees.

One thing you notice immediately on a cruise like the one we took (eastern Caribbean) is that virtually the entire crew is comprised of foreign workers. It is truly a melting pot of nationals. You know this because their nametags list their country of origin. They came from southeast Asia (especially the Philippines), eastern and western Europe, South America and Central America. The ship commodore was from Italy.

By and large they were very friendly and worked very hard. These are not glamorous jobs - waiting tables, tending bar, preparing food, working the front desk or cleaning rooms. The workers were interesting to speak with and seemed to enjoy talking about their homeland. One had to wonder what they thought of the huge amounts of food on the ship, given that many come from countries where food is a daily concern for millions.

One thing you didn't see were any workers from the U.S. I saw exactly one person, and she was an assistant cruise director - a supervisory administrative role.

So the question easily came to mind: Why does Princess Cruise Lines, a U.S.-based operation, have to recruit workers from all ends of the earth? Isn't the U.S. sliding into a deep recession and unemployment heading skyward? Shouldn't there be U.S. workers lining up to apply for these jobs? What gives?

Maybe the answer is simpler than we thought: Yes, there are jobs out there - but not jobs that Americans want to work.