We were on the Celebration last week which sails out of Corfu,Greece.

The staff told us that many Fillipino staff had been sent home the week before to allow Greek staff on board to comply with new legislation brought in by the Greek government from 1 May 2009 which says that all cruise ships sailing around Greece must allow some Greek staff to get jobs on the ship.

The Greek staff were struggling to learn the ropes, and to cope with some animosity from the remaining Fillipino staff.But by the end of our week we observed that harmony was being achieved.The Greek staff had been given 6month contracts- the cruise ships only do Greece in the Summer season, whereas the Fillipino staff, who were still very much in the majority, had 10month contracts, then 2 months back home.

Flopsy