What is it like working shore excursions on a cruise ship? — featuring Cruising As Crew (Virgin Voyages)

0:00 hey Sailors welcome back to cruising as crew my name is Lucy and I am here with the wonderful Danny and we're going to do an interview about her job on board so Danny what are you doing I work with the short things uh so basically the excretions that we do when we are on board so amazing amazing so uh she works

0:22 in shore excursions and this is by far one of the most desirable jobs one of the jobs that I get asked about the most so Danny is this your first contract uh yeah this is my first contract with Virgin voyages so you worked for another Cruise Line before yes uh it was uh Royal Caribbean ah but I

0:41 work for Royal as well yeah yeah they're really cool and then did you do shore excursions with royal as well yes uh there the job was a little bit uh different because I was doing the shore excursions but also diving instructor so I was teaching diving and also selling the excursions oh my God that must have

1:00 been busy yeah well diving was like our priority for some of us so we used to have a team uh a big team like 12 13 people and then three of us would be dive instructors so we were teaching on board yeah teaching diving we had the party program um and we can we could use the swimming

1:22 pools to do the theory part and once we are on ports we could do the you know so people people could go on a Royal Caribbean cruise and get their Paddy qualification oh yes yes yes yes so and as far as I know until now they can do that what should we want uh I was on the Oasis and alone doing this job both of

1:42 them oh Majesty as well and for a short period of time I was on the freedom like just Freedom yeah it's nice nice class of ships yes oh wow I also did the aquacet super diver so I was on the aqua shows on the aqua theater wow okay yeah those are for the big ships so I was doing that on the Allure that was my

2:05 last contract uh forever you know I've always seen those and thought I could have never done that it's so high wow that was incredible I had no idea you did that yeah it was really nice it was a very very nice game and yeah I got to learn a lot and got to know uh lots of incredible people and you have to trust

2:26 each other and to build that trust and it was it was really nice it was a great experience so what made you you decide to come over to Virgin voyages then well then in 2016 I left Royal Caribbean then I went to to Canada I was studying there for a while yeah and then after that I

2:45 went back to Brazil uh this is my country that's where I live then I was doing some uh like online jobs then pandemic came then we all know that so then we had I had to wait and after the pandemic it was interesting because during the the pandemic yeah I was thinking uh about coming back like

3:08 something clicked inside of me and I felt like I want to go back I want to be again close to to people and cultures and so yeah then I I came back then I applied and then I got the job wow amazing okay and so did you decide on the shore excursions job because you had done that previously like you already

3:29 had experience yes yeah easy okay yeah yeah and because I really like this job I really like it yes okay all right so we'll get into the job so your job is to primarily sell and organize excursions yes right like we don't really uh organize them we have the tour operators uh they are the ones uh doing that for

3:51 us offshore uh but we have to be in contact with them and we have to make sure that everything goes uh nice right yes nice and smoothly and then and obviously on board we are telling uh the sailors what to do and what excursions are best suit for them and so on so wow okay so after the pandemic when you

4:13 applied to Virgin voyages how long did you have to wait to get on board uh actually uh yeah after the interview and all the process uh they gave me something around two months two and a half months yeah yeah yeah and it was great because I had to renew my stcw course and do my medical

4:34 renew my c1d Visa as well so then I had time to organize all that yeah and did just the company reimburse you for all of those things oh yes they are uh on the process of doing it so I already um uh submit or yeah all the receipts and so on but yeah they would like so you'll get all the reimbursements for

4:54 the documents because they are expensive especially when you have to do all of them at once it's like her oh my belly's gone yes and before getting the job so yeah exactly like this better workout exactly and because you had done this before you've done this job of Royal Caribbean have you received much

5:13 training from Virgin voyages because although it's the same job if they obviously do it very differently because there's a different cruise line so have you had a lot of training or um not not uh not a specifically for the job okay uh because the job is very similar even though yeah like we use a

5:33 different system but also similar to the one I used to to deal with yeah but I got many trainees for the for the Virgin way of doing things yeah yeah so then and I think that was really nice because it's more relaxed and the way we talk to the sailors and you know the way we deal

5:54 with things uh so we had to do yeah to change like to reset the mind and do things on a different way but that's what I that's exactly what I wanted because I really wanted that challenge I wanted to learn different things and be with different company and get to know different people and

6:17 cultures and so on so I think it was great that way yeah okay so as vocation day we have a c day and we have a port day so can you tell me what a normal embarkation day like is for you in short things um in short things um during the morning we are well at least for the staff we are

6:44 relaxed that's the the morning that we can go out uh in this case go to Barcelona enjoy a little bit then in the afternoon as soon as the sailors come then we start getting busy because then one of us goes to the manor the other one to um deal with the the rock stars yeah and introduce them to the excursions and

7:07 offer them or we have oh so they got first dibs of the excursions not really because the excursions are already open even pre-voyage right so they can be booking it online Okay um but we go there like just as uh like um I would say like just to make sure that they've got what they want yes exactly

7:28 and if they want to switch something or if they want more information what to bring and where to meet us okay so then we provide this service to them uh meanwhile one of us is at the chart table um then also taking all the the requests and bookings uh and one of us is in the office uh already doing the changes and

7:49 things that we have to do uh by the request of the two operators right okay so yeah yeah and then in the evening we open the desk again we go to next to the Sailor services and then we stay there until I think nine and the break in vacation day it changed like very recently so it used to be eight but now

8:09 we stay a little longer because that's the the evening that all of them are coming they want to know how the app works and how they can book their short things there and make sure they're booked so yeah embarkation day as Prime as per my experience I think it's the busiest day yeah I'm really okay that's

8:28 interesting and then so what about a quote today or actually we'll go for what about a C Day a CD um yeah I see they like like today yes one day that uh we do things in the office and we also open the desk so we are solving uh things concerned to the previous parts that we've been to already and also

8:49 bookings for the next sports that we're gonna go to uh and then dealing with tour operators and everything like then we go to the office send emails and it's it's a lot of um let's say bureaucratic work a lot of communication to a lot offshore and yes all the time all the time back in 40 males uh about the

9:12 sports uh if we can accommodate more Sailors or not some Sailors want to cancel but we already purchased the tickets how we gonna do it all right okay so yeah that's a lot of a lot of logistics wow all right and then what about a port day yeah what time does your day start on a port day on a four

9:30 day very very early yeah because we have ports uh well we arrived to the ports in most of them very early like 7 30 8 in the morning and then we have to be prepared um because exactly like you say because of these lots of communication and Logistics uh we assign each uh staff each each one of us has a sport so we

9:54 are like in charge of that port and obviously we do a rotation oh so some one of you will get some time off exactly oh that's nice because I thought all of you did every day we do okay but then some part of the day that person who is not on duty has the free time or uh what they call site inspection so

10:17 right we schedule that person to go in one of the tours to make sure that everything is running to have an idea then comes back and makes the report upload the pictures on the system so all of all of us know a little bit more about that tour yeah okay because they are all new tools for

10:35 us of course I'm voting for you just as a new company so exactly yeah I'm sure there's a lot of Tours that you haven't inspected yet yes yes okay so we are doing it slowly and then we always make sure that one of us goes on the tours and can give us a lot of feedbacks yeah so but then they want the person who is

10:53 on duty that person stays on board and solving everything and checking emails uh keep in contact with the two operators outside to see if you know everything is going smoothly like if you know because it can happen like some you know some things can happen during the day yeah and then we have to have

11:12 someone like to yeah yes picking up the phone yeah it all goes wrong okay so because one of the big what does that one of the big reasons that people like to book excursions is for the safety element of like people don't want to go off on their own in case they miss the ship yes but everyone knows if you book an

11:35 Excursion and the excursions late for whatever reason the ship will wait for you so let's say you're the you're the one in charge that day and this excursion doesn't come back on time like what what do you do what's your part to playing uh well then I have first of all I will um get in contact with my manager yeah

11:57 we have the staff the assistant manager and the manager right so first I will try to reach the the assistant manager and obviously that person is gonna reach the manager and we're gonna try to you know to to talk to the operator and see what happened sometimes it happens like a traffic or we we had that a couple of

12:19 weeks ago one boat was broken so we had to delay a little bit but we we didn't have to delay the ship thank God it was all good okay but then we have to be in contact to them and also the manager gets encountered to the bridge talks to the captain and lets him know let him to know that we're a little bit late so

12:39 okay yeah yeah and then we also talked to saver services to make them to know and get in contact because some Sailors are sailing with their families or friends so they make sure that everyone is aware of course like you said it's a lot of communication you got that right a lot of a lot I didn't realize how much

12:59 I mean maybe it was naive of me but I thought like you had to get it really early and obviously make sure everyone got on their Excursion okay that's correct but I thought after that it was just like no okay no no no no wow so it yeah and even like this there is a short time uh in that during the afternoon

13:18 that yes we are like just waiting and hoping that nothing is gonna yeah like nothing bad is gonna happen I mean you know like everything goes according to the plan but that and in the afternoon a little bit later in the evening we go back to the desk to get the feedbacks and to see what the sailors are saying

13:37 about the tours about excursions uh and again we do rotation some of us are going to be at the desk and some of them are going to be in the office to do the invoices to pay the tour operators to see how many people went actually on the tour how many people didn't go uh we found some people because they were on

13:55 medical condition so if we have that we have to refound and give the money back uh it can go like into the credit card or onboard account and all that so we have to to organize everything geez so you have to be very organized yeah like I think there to be a very like how to say like required very essential

14:19 yes okay organized right okay so have you been on any of the excursions yourself oh yes yes okay and what has your favorite Excursion been I have a few of them that are like that I liked a lot but recently and because this week we are doing the Spanish Obsession voyage and I've been to in

14:42 Malaga uh El Caminito De Rey okay it's a hiking tour and it's super super nice it's beautiful beautiful amazing nature like uh you go like on very narrow um Pathways yes and then you go through and and then there is water coming it's really really nice it's yeah it's a very nice story it's a long walk but it's

15:09 worth it like every single bit of it it's like I liked it yes yes like and it's a like breathtaking views you're up on the hill and you see everything down there and then slowly we the fat goes down and then we stop by the restaurant and we have some some meal and with a beautiful view outside

15:34 yeah tomorrow will be on duty so one of my colleagues is gonna take he's gonna do that one yes yes yeah I love Monica it's so so beautiful how long are your contracts uh our contract is uh more or less like five months five months and a half and then how much time off do you get in

15:53 between contracts something around six weeks six okay and that's fine yeah yeah yeah I think it's I think it's enough like you can go rest to see family catch up with your personal things yeah and as when we are working on cruise ships we all know like we stay home it's very enjoyable but then at the end we can't

16:14 wait to come back yeah he was like oh get me back exactly so I think that six weeks is perfect yeah yeah I must say actually I've had six weeks before and it's about it's The Sweet Spot yes yes and I think even the time for the for the contract I think it's also perfect it's not too long and it's not too short

16:35 yeah actually you're right I mean I so I did five months on scarlet and it was perfect yeah and this one has been a lot longer so yeah yeah five months is a good yeah I think like more than that we start getting very tired and every you know every single day starts being almost the

16:54 same yeah but until five months you see everything differently yeah how much time off do you get while you're on the ship so do you ever get do you ever get a full day off no a full day off no no so is it it's like a few hours off here and there yes yes okay and you work mostly every

17:16 morning apart from embarkation day right yes yeah in vacation day and uh on on the port days uh we work a little bit later but we work in the morning we start a little later that's all okay but but we work in the morning but the fourth days mornings are always busiest the busiest because we have to be doing

17:40 this the two dispatch so like you say make like I said make sure that everyone is on their tours and yeah that happens most often uh in the mornings right okay now yeah I guess there could be some excursions that leave later but mostly yeah and we also have some uh tours some excursions that they go uh in the

18:03 afternoon so the person on duty uh that that person is responsible for the well the others can have some time off and do something else but that person on duty stays and takes care of the afternoon months or afternoon ones yes make sure that everything goes good yeah no pressure yeah what are the top three

18:25 skills you think you need to work on a cruise ship first of all I think you must be flexible okay I think I think flexibility is a very important skill because things change very fast and we are not we realize very soon that we are not in control and we're not you know we cannot control everything and so I think

18:47 flexibility because you know at any time they can change cabins they can change ports they can change itineraries they're gonna launch a new ship after that they're not yeah yeah so I think flexibility is is is very important yeah um the second one um I would say you have to be a person

19:12 that likes um explore okay uh I think you have to have that inside of you that makes you to be comfortable on uh new situations um like there are some people that don't they don't really like to go out of their comfort zone and okay my I understand but I think to work on a

19:37 cruise ship you have to step out of your comfort zone very often and even to do the first uh contract you're already out of your comfort zone yeah and I yeah and I agree I mean I think on my first contract definitely I think I must have stepped out of my comfort zone every day whether it's speaking to a new person or

19:58 doing a seminar in front of people or just the fact that you're living on a ship yeah you know it's like yes um so yeah that's a really good one yeah and we are away from our families and friends back home so we have to be open to make new friends and and to feel ourselves uh like a family I don't think

20:21 this I know that most of the people they talk about that even not meaning it but I think if you mean it you have a more pleasure experience experience award yeah definitely you have to be willing to let people in I think my contracts have only been as good as the connections that I've made you know

20:45 like even the the contracts that where I've gone to the most amazing places yes the contract where I didn't go to great places is still my favorite because I made such good friends so yeah that's yeah that's a really good one yeah yeah so that would be the second one then the third one I would say

21:05 um I don't know how to put this uh in words like but if you were very much attached to what you have offshore not only people like of course family but but things yes uh then I think you're not gonna feel great uh but if you if you don't mind leaving things behind and even some very people

21:32 that you love the most you leave them behind for a while but you know that you're doing something you love and you know that you're coming back and when you're on vacation you're gonna have very like a good quality time with them yeah then I think you know you'll be fine but if you can't

21:50 um oh let go yes yes if you cannot let go uh things and and people then I don't think you would like that job yeah you're right and it's funny I think because a lot of my vacations recently have been three months or more and in three months you really do get settled at home like I'm like okay I like having

22:13 my big wardrobe and I like being at home with my parents and the food that you have at home and I can see my friends every day yeah and then when it's time to come back although you're excited to come back it's like oh but I don't want to leave my big wardrobe and have to live with this tiny one and you know I

22:32 don't want to leave three quarters of my things at home and not see them for six months but it's amazing how fast especially with things it's amazing how fast you forget about them I honestly like at the end of my contract I couldn't tell you what I have waiting for me at home and yet they were really hard to leave

22:52 when I came but I have no idea what's there but it's quite nice because I don't know if you find this but every time you go home you're like oh I forgot I hope that yes it happens very often and that's when we realize that we have so many things that we don't even like they don't need them

23:11 yeah it's nice to have them or you know at some point they were important somehow but after a while you were collecting so much experience so many new adventures and new friendships and relationships and so on so that then when you come home you say oh I think I'll be fine even without all this and

23:31 then you realize that we need uh less than we think we need yeah for sure I actually that's such a good one I think I think that in itself has made me better at not spending money on on silly things like I literally did it just five minutes ago I went to the bag shop and there's a really nice Marc Jacobs bag

23:52 there oh my God this is amazing I need this and then I was like Lucy you have so many bags at home and I couldn't even tell you what bags they are you don't need another one that you're just gonna leave at home and forget so yeah you're yeah that's a really good one detachments from things well you know I

24:13 also think like it's nice when you get something for yourself um I I feel that also working on cruise ships I feel that if I'm on a different port and I see something different that I normally don't see home yeah I I feel like oh I can allow myself to have that yeah and who knows when I'm coming back

24:31 here if I ever come back here if you ever see something like that exactly so then you just feel like okay you have to choose quickly because you know it's like you don't have much time yeah this is something else about working on cool tips we are always like looking a robots and alarms for everything yeah so then

24:49 you feel like okay I deserve this one all right or even different foods that you can go out and experience something sometimes I'm like oh but I don't I don't need that ice cream but it's so good we're in Italy the ice cream here is delicious so let's just try it and then you allow yourself more because you

25:08 know that that experience might never come back yeah so if you have that opportunity you want to take it yeah I feel that way I don't know if you understand absolutely absolutely think I spend most of my money on food for that exact reason like when am I gonna be back here I need to try this

25:26 Moroccan restaurant and you know I do and I love food and I think you know if I'm gonna spend my money on anything yeah but yeah I I definitely I always think it's a very well spent one yeah exactly yeah exactly so what is your favorite and your least favorite thing about working on a cruise ship

25:45 um my favorite is uh for sure getting to know new people uh like we're getting to know each other now it's so nice I've seen you walking around but we never had a chance yeah so it's really cool uh new people new cultures and new places so I think that's number one okay far um the thing that I don't like

26:08 um the feeling that we have that we are disconnected uh from the rest of the world because we kind of have our word here uh so much going on and we have we're normally so busy every day all the time that we don't really get to see what's happening outside and um yeah like we kind of

26:34 we kind of um forget a little bit about the word outside of course we have our families and friends and everything in our minds all the time yeah but but like it's it it's it becomes not really important like the news and what's going on because we have our own things I mean it's quite nice in some ways to be

26:56 disconnected from all the all the negativity I suppose but yeah well but also and this is what is interesting we are also disconnected from the good stuff as well yes because then some of our friends are uh celebrating their birthdays their weddings they're getting babies their marriage yeah yeah and we are on board

27:18 the ship so congrats have a good time exactly yeah we're not always available to be with them so this is the not so good part yeah definitely I agree with that and it's a shame but it's the sacrifice we like I suppose exactly yeah I think that everything has both sides right yeah it's not everything perfect

27:41 or or bad it's it's a balance of definitely yeah but anyone watching this who wants to work and show things what advice would you give them like what what skills do you need to have the job you have uh well we were talking about being organized yeah uh being a person who is um who likes this uh computer kind of

28:05 work because we do a lot of uh we deal with Excel sheets we do some of the letters that we have to write to Sailors and tour operators um obviously like uh you you have to like to talk to people and to be able to express that to them and and yeah like

28:30 um like you don't have to convince anything to anyone but you have to be able to show them the good things and uh what it what would fit them better so you look at the person and obviously you're gonna ask what they want to do and and what they like but it's nice if you have that

28:52 feeling that uh sensitivity so yeah Sensibility um yes you're sensitive to what the needs are yeah exactly so you see and then obviously like if you see like um older Sailors you're not gonna tell them okay go on this hike yeah four hours hiking tour so you're gonna give them what do

29:17 you like to do do you like sightseeing oh this one goes on a bus and takes you around stops in a restaurant yeah so I think if you like to Common Sense you have to yeah but I also like this feeling that um as if you were taking your own family to do a trip something that you have to care exactly exactly

29:36 you have to feel that uh they they will have a great time because they're not going to be pushed pushed too hard they're not going to be like oh this is boring I would like to do something more active right so if you see most of the times they have couples coming and full of energy oh why you don't do this

29:53 biking tour you go you know like do the kayak it's very nice you're gonna be active and enjoy the sun yeah so you have to have that feeling to to be able to to tell them like what the best to do uh yeah I like working on the computers and yeah that's it pretty much wonderful okay well I think I think

30:15 that's everything that's good but thank you so much Danny you're asking those questions it's amazing and thank you guys for watching I really appreciate it and if you have any questions for Danny you can leave them in the comments down below and I will ask Danny and I'll get back

30:32 to you in the comments or you can message me over on Instagram at cruisingazcrew um but yeah please like this video If you enjoyed it because it helps you out with the algorithm and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day whatever you decide to do and I will see you in the next video bye