CRUISING FOR KNOWLEDGE – A PERSONAL JOURNEY
I just returned from an 11-day cruise to the Caribbean, to celebrate my birthday. While this was not my first cruise, in some ways it felt like that. I always tell students they should get comfortable talking to people they don’t know because you never know from where the next internship, informational interview or job opportunity may come. So while onboard this beautiful ship named Reflection, I decided to let my curiosity about cruise ship staff be the springboard for some great conversations!
The most pressing question for me was “how did you come to work for the cruise line?” I started with Dina, our stateroom attendant, who is from Honduras and has been working for Celebrity Cruise Lines for about 5 years. She was motivated to leave her home country and seek an opportunity that would allow her to earn pretty good wages and see the world while doing so. She expressed gratitude for her parents with whom her 15 year old daughter lives as well as the sadness of missing out on key milestones in her daughter’s life. From Dina, I learned the importance of gratuities above and beyond the daily amount charged; based on the way the “pooled gratuities” are split, she would receive approximately 26% of the daily charge. This fact is critical because her earnings are based solely on gratuities!
Next I chatted with staff in the specialty dining room where we ate daily. The way the staff worked together at every meal was like watching poetry in motion. The maître d, Umesh, has been with the cruise line for nearly 20 years. He attended university in India, receiving a degree in business with a concentration in hospitality management and was quickly hired after applying for a position at Celebrity. Param, our waiter, followed a similar path, graduating with a degree in tourism. Both men started in entry-level roles, on a few different ships and continue to rise through the ranks. My conversations with Umesh and Param centered on the challenge of being “on” in such customer-facing roles all the time. I asked about educational requirements, training that staff receives once hired, and the challenges of being away from family 6-7 months at a time. These gentlemen provided excellent customer service during every interaction with them and I wanted to know the secret sauce!
But the highlight for me was my two-hour conversation on the last night of the cruise with a couple of millennials who were part of the Shore Excursion team, Samuel and Fabio. Samuel is from Rhodes, Greece, a touristy destination, where he attended college, spent 1 year in the army, worked in and played music at a bar and had other odd jobs. Immediately prior to joining Celebrity, he was a tour operator for a company that provides shore excursions for cruise guests. Someone suggested he consider employment with Celebrity so he submitted his CV and was immediately hired – that was 3 months ago and he is loving it. Fabio attended the university in his native Portugal, receiving a degree in cultural studies and tourism and working as a waiter before joining Celebrity 5 months ago. Samuel and Fabio spoke about the balance between long work hours while getting to literally “see the world”, connecting with great people (fellow staff members and cruise guests) and then the cruise is over or there are unexpected changes in contracts for staff. Both of these young men described a working environment onboard where race, religion nor position mattered. They’ve also observed that not many of their fellow staff members are from the United States – something I noticed as well. Samuel suggested that it may have to do with US employees having to pay taxes on their income which is not the case for many countries. And since wages are based largely on gratuities or commissions for many of the positions, starting a career in the cruise may not be as financially attractive for US workers.
So why was I inspired to write this piece? Because I wanted to share a personal experience of being open to going wherever the conversation led. The way my brain is wired, I’m always thinking about how to connect the dots. In this case, I wanted to learn more about various careers within the cruise industry from folks whom I had the pleasure of interacting with for 11 straight days. I really wanted to hear from them about the skill sets they find to be most important – and ones they utilize daily — in their roles. Not surprisingly, people skills via customer relations/customer service was number one! Problem solving skills followed closely behind. This sounds simple, but imagine how you might handle a disgruntled cruise guest who felt a shore excursion experience was ruined because a cloud appeared in his photo of a perfect sunset! When I speak with students interested in hospitality management, they mostly speak about working in hotels or restaurants – never cruise lines. While I still have lots more research to do in order to assist students, the insights provided by Dina, Param, Umesh, Samuel and Fabio are definitely helpful. I will keep my promise to provide all of them with this article, as they shared my excitement about it!
My takeaway? You never know what might be a conversation starter. For us, it was a San Jose Jazz Festival T-Shirt. On Day 1 of the cruise, Samuel noticed my husband’s San Jose Jazz T-Shirt and began a conversation about being a musician and music aficionado. Dina also noticed the shirt, asked if my husband was a musician and went on to talk about her love of jazz music and how she was looking forward to an upcoming itinerary that would take her to New Orleans during Mardi Gras!
Fitting in a little “work” during vacations has become my new normal. This time I gained more than I gave and I hope to cross paths with these fine folks in the future. So take the leap and strike up a conversation – you never know where it might lead. And always remember, The Journey Begins with You…!
Antoinette Battiste is an Independent Educational Consultant and 20+ year resident of Evergreen. She is an active volunteer with many community organizations in Silicon Valley, including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Santa Clara County Alliance of Black Educators (SCCABE), Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce, the African American Community Services Agency (AACSA), and the Northern California Association of Morehouse Parents (NCAMP).
