CCL-Carnival Cruise Line announced it would pause some onboard events and limit the number of passengers sailing on some of its liners due to crew shortages.
CCL's Brand Ambassador John Heald said in a post on social media that the company was unable to bring more crew on time due to "the situation with the United States Government who are themselves short-staffed,”
Heald added they had a massive backlog of visas that the crew needed to come to the USA and on to the ships to work.
The crew who needed to join the vessels in the UK are facing greater challenges. Due to the COVID crisis, the UK Government closed some of its embassies, and the crew members needed to travel to the neighboring countries to apply for visas. Many have been re-assigned to US-/EU-based ships but this was not an option for the crew members who needed to join cruise companies operating in the UK like P&O and Cunard.
During the COVID crisis, the crew were sent home without the certainty of when they'll be able to return to work. Many found land-based jobs and quit the cruise ships, leaving the lines to seek new crew members in a short period of time.