Today, crew members aboard the Majesty of the Seas protested Royal Caribbean’s latest failure to follow through with its  repatriation of its crew members. Several hundred crew members congregated on the pool deck making signs protesting Royal Caribbean’s refusal to follow through with plans to send the crew members home. The repatriation plans have reportedly changed at the last minute on five occasions, including three times dating back to last month.

The crew members chanted “send us home” and erected signs saying “Do You Sleep Well Mr. Bayley” (right) referring to the CEO of Royal Caribbean International Michael Bayley who was quoted earlier by the Miami Herald stating that flying crew members home via private charters was “too expensive.” Mr. Bayley collected around $25,000,000 in compensation in the last four years. A second sign (below left) stated “How Many More Suicides Do You Need?” This sign was created in reference to the Death of a Polish engineer who apparently jumped overboard from the Jewel of the Seas and the recent death of a Chinese assistant waiter who died on the Mariner of the Seas earlier this week.

The protest was covered by Miami Herald reporter Taylor Dolven who has closely followed Royal Caribbean’s dilatory conduct.

I have written about the failure of cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, to repatriate their crew members in a timely manner several times.  Every major newspaper has covered the story of 75,000 to 100,000 crew members stuck at sea, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Quartz, The Cut, SFGate, GuardianFortune, USA TODAY,  ABC NewsCBS News, CNN, NBC News, Daily Mail  and even FOX News.

The Miami Herald has done an outstanding job of covering this issue and has written about Royal Caribbean’s refusal to acknowledge and agree to comply with the CDC’s guilines for repatriating crew members, Royal Caribbean’s false accusations blaming the CDC for keeping its crew trapped on its ships, Royal Caribbean executives agreeing in principle to the CDC’s terms for repatriating the crew, and its ongoing refusal to repatriate its crew.  The Herald has covered the hunger strike which took place on the Navigator of the Seas due to Royal Caribbean’s unreasonable delays.

As of three days ago, Royal Caribbean had agreed to the CDC’s guidelines and  signed the required acknowledgments for only 20 crew members, all of them U.S. nationals. As of yesterday, Royal Caribbean had increased the number of CDC approved repatriations of only 557 crewmembers, from the U.S., U.K. and the Philippines.

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Photo credit: Anonymous crew members