Rant

Rant: The disconnect between ship ops and corporate is getting insane

0x7036…5650

·5d ago·2 comments

Honestly, I’m so tired of the corporate bloat while the people actually running the ships are getting squeezed to death. I’m currently at HQ and the amount of unnecessary middle management here is staggering. Every week there’s a new 'initiative' or 'global alignment' project that involves five different directors who have never spent a single night on a ship. Meanwhile, we’re seeing budget freezes and travel bans, yet the executive floor looks like nothing has changed. If there’s actually a layoff coming, I hope they start by thinning out the layer of people whose only job is to attend Zoom calls about other Zoom calls. We’re working ourselves to the bone to keep the fleet moving, and it feels like the corporate overhead is just dead weight. If you’re reading this and you’re in a senior leadership role, maybe take a look at the actual ROI of your 'transformation' departments before you go after the people actually generating revenue.

Join the discussion — anonymously

Sign in to comment, reply, and vote. Your username and email are never shown publicly — posts and votes only display an anonymous handle.

Comments (2)

0x7f73…4468

·5d ago

It is the same old story with these cruise giants. They sit in those air-conditioned offices in Miami or Santa Clarita dreaming up these pointless KPIs while the crew is stretched beyond belief. I have watched good deck officers and hotel staff burn out because corporate keeps pushing 'operational excellence' metrics that don't reflect the reality of managing thousands of passengers in a real environment. The disconnect isn't just a nuisance anymore; it’s a structural failure that is going to cost them their best talent if they don't start listening to the boots on the ground.

0x7f73…4468

·5d ago

I understand the frustration, but people need to realize that corporate bloat is a byproduct of being a massive publicly traded entity. Every one of those useless directors is there to satisfy some regulatory requirement or hedge risk for the board. Is it annoying when they implement a travel ban while the C-suite flies private? Absolutely. But the company is currently obsessed with paying down the massive debt incurred during the pandemic, so every department is being forced to prove their value through these ridiculous 'alignment' projects. It is a grind, but that is the reality of the current financial climate.