Where are you based and how big is the casino department now. How many staff and ships are you in charge of? 

We are based in Carnival Place which is near the Doral Golf Resort West of Miami. We currently operate on 70 ships which comprise ten different cruise brands under the Carnival Corporation parent company and we have another eight major cruise ships under construction for delivery in the next two years. In approximate terms we are now around 800 gaming tables, 8,000 slots and 2,000 casino staff. We are currently on 20 Carnival ships and 53 non Carnival including Princess, P&O, Cunard, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Costa, Windstar, and P&O Australia

What is you background in the casino business, where & when did you first enter the business?

I answered a newspaper ad in 1974 for trainee dealers for the London Playboy Club. Although I was successful I did not take the position they offered until two years later when I started as a trainee roulette dealer.

What was your personal motivation at the time. The financial rewards, an unusual profession, or the chance to travel and see something of the world?

My primary motivation was being laid off as a representative in the construction industry. Of course the mystique that surrounded the whole world of the Playboy Clubs in the Seventies didn't hurt either. Those few of your readers who may have been connected with the gaming industry at that time will recall that there were very few casinos in existence worldwide ( outside of Nevada and Great Britain) so the overseas opportunities I remember in 1974 were mostly the Bahamas, Iran, Tasmania and South Africa.

 When did you join Carnival and how big was the company at the time? 

I  joined Carnival in November 1983 when they opened the Cable Beach Casino in Nassau after Playboy backed out of the project and, in fact, out of the casino business altogether. At that time Carnival had just acquired its fourth ship, the Tropicale.

"The Fun Ships". Not having ever taken a Carnival cruise what is it that differentiates Carnival from other cruise lines? Is the clientele, a much younger crowd? 

Although Carnival has always had an element of the young, party image it carries a remarkably diverse group of different ages and different backgrounds. I think I would best characterize the guests as 'young at heart' in so far as they all seem determined to enjoy their vacation, regardless of the economy, politics or the weather.

What does your  working day entail. Are you hands on taking care of staff issues, transfers, holidays etc.. Or are you studying the finances, results, percentages and budgets etc..? 

We are pretty much a self contained casino operation handling most of the staffing, operational and financial aspects here in the one office and I am fortunate to have a very talented team to rely on for a great deal of the detail. I still retain oversight of purchasing, budget presentation and the final say on hiring. A normal start to my day would be to deal with 80 + emails, 30 + purchase requisitions and study the End Of Voyage reports from the ships which come in at the rate of 80 per week. I also serve on the Quality Assurance Committee for the Carnival brand which requires a separate trip to all 20 ships in that fleet each year. In total I currently expect to spend around 90 nights on the road each year and travel over 100,000 miles visiting ships, shipyards, cruise lines head offices and casino shows.

Carnival's casinos are generally bigger than on other lines. After bar receipts I would presume that the casino is the largest revenue earner onboard? Is this correct?

We do have some of the larger casinos at sea not just in the Carnival fleet but also in Princess, Costa and some of the new Vista class ships of Holland America Line. In every line the cabin price will always be the major portion of the revenue and the relative income created by casino varies according to the line, the passenger demographics and the length of the itinerary. We generally take the approach that we are not a casino company, that casino revenues are less than 5% of overall revenues and consequently we don't split them out from our onboard revenue stream.

What is the nationality split. Is it true that the British staff, that may once have been a majority are now only a minority onboard? 

As a general rule we have more than 50 different nationalities represented in our casino staff at any one time. I can remember ten years ago when the British made up more than a third of all staff and that is probably more like 18% today. That is a factor of the globalization of the world economy as more countries have legalized casinos and permitted their citizens to go overseas and also the recent exchange rate changes making our $US incomes less attractive to British staff.

Where or how do you recruit? How effective is your website?

The website has transformed our recruitment process over the last five years and I suspect that upcoming planned improvements will make it even more user friendly. We do utilize our Shipboard Casino Management to conduct local interviews when they are home between contracts and we find that this gives them a much clearer view of the difficulties of effective staff selection.

On average how long do casino staff stay with Carnival? Can you truly offer a career to those who are enthusiastic and have the necessary abilities to progress within the company? 

We currently have a large number of staff who have been onboard for over ten years and several who have around twenty years seniority. We certainly do provide every type of job opportunity from one six month contract to a full fledged career complete with pension. Wherever possible we try to promote from within the organization and with our ongoing rapid expansion there are always promotion prospects available.

What are the living and social conditions like onboard for casino staff?

Our staff generally shares a two berth (bunk) cabin with an attached bathroom.  Staff amenities vary greatly according to the fleet and the size and age of the ship but casino staff all have deck privileges ie. they are permitted to use many passenger lounges and facilities, subject to some logical restrictions, in their off duty time.  Possibly the hardest thing for the shipboard casino worker to adjust to is the fact that, even when they finish work, they are always a crew member on an ocean going vessel and are subject to certain standards of behavior and discipline.

            As a member of the crew, casino staff also has assigned duties in the event of boat drills or an actual emergency and they will be responsible for guiding guests to their boat stations or even be part of a lifeboat crew.

How long is a typical contract. What do you pay for,  presumably all flights, transport and accommodation costs? 

Contacts run from 6 - 8 months onboard with 6- 8 weeks off between contracts. We actually do not pay for air tickets for dealers at any stage of their career. Cashiers, Supervisors and technicians receive their airfare home at the end of each contract and the Management team receive round trip airfare at all times. We also pay for one night's hotel accommodation the night before boarding to start a new contract. When staff are moved between ships for our needs all expenses are borne by the company.

How much can a dealer and supervisor expect  to earn. Do individual ships keep their own tips and is there a big difference throughout the fleet?

 Some time ago we started a partial tip sharing system to reduce the differential between the top and bottom earning ships and this has resulted in a more even distribution of incomes. Our dealers currently have a total income, tips and salary, in the range of $1,500 - $3,000 or more per month and the corresponding figure for Inspectors, Supervisors, would be $1,900 - $4,000 depending on the ship and their seniority. In comparing these incomes to a land based operation you need to be aware that our staff have virtually no living expenses.

How long would be a typical working week for casino staff. Do they get one day a week off?

Since the hours of the casino operation are determined by the itinerary the ship is sailing, eg casinos are normally only open while the ships are at sea, there is no such thing as a typical casino work schedule. For most staff the working week will consist of 47 - 54 hours and days off are allocated only according to the needs of the operation and the available number of staff.

Do new recruits get any say in the ship or line upon which they are placed. Do senior staff with a few contracts behind them have more choice in this matter? 

All staff have the option to indicate a preference in ship assignment but we will give added weight to requests from our more senior staff.

What are you looking for in a potential new staff member. Is personality more important than technical casino abilities? 

We run tourist casinos where everyone is on vacation and the gaming aspect is often secondary. We look for pleasant adaptable staff who can get along with their fellow crewmembers and add to the guest's enjoyment of their cruise. Talking to the guest is an important part of the job description in our operation. Typical minimum experience would be 1-2 years of Blackjack and Roulette with a clean job history.

What is the future for Carnival. Just how big is the company going to get?

From 1983 to 2006 I will have seen the company go from around 2,500 lower beds to more than 140,000 and cruising will still be much less than 10% of the vacation market in the US. 

To put it another way five times as many people visited Orlando last year as went on a cruise so the market is still wide open for expansion and I expect the various cruise lines under the Carnival Corporation umbrella to be in the forefront of that expansion. 

And finally if you had your time over again. Would you 
like to be a casino staff member on board a Carnival Fun ship. ?

I am proud to have watched literally thousands of staff come to the ships, meet and mix with other cultures and nationalities and travel the world before returning to a land based life again. I would certainly love to experience the life onboard and I have a son and daughter who I would definitely encourage to try it.

For Rodney C Dofort

Vice President Casino Operations Carnival Corporation Casino Division