Lessons Learned and New Opportunities

I survived my first seasonal contract on the M/S Seaward—and I was hooked! Even though I didn’t get to spend Christmas with my family, I celebrated with an amazing ship family. We had a Secret Santa exchange, the kids had the best Christmas ever, and New Year’s was an absolute blast. We worked hard and played hard!

When my contract ended, I left the ship not knowing what was next, but hoping I’d be asked back for the President’s Day sailings—two high-demand weeks when East Coast schools were on break and extra staff was needed. Waiting those next few weeks felt brutal. In the meantime, I picked up an office job back home. During the interview, the manager said, “If we hire you, you’ll probably get called back to the ships. If we don’t, we’re both out of luck.” They hired me anyway—and sure enough, three days later, I got the call that saved the day. As I’ve said before, every job is a learning experience, but let’s just say that office work was definitely not for me.

By mid-February, I was off to join the S/S Norway—once the legendary S/S France. She was older than the Seaward, but she was stunning, and at the time the largest cruise ship at sea, carrying about 900 crew and 1,400 passengers. The kids’ space was called Trolland, still decorated with a mural left over from her S/S France days. It wasn’t nearly big enough for the number of kids onboard, so we made it work—between Trolland, the disco, lounges, scavenger hunts, tanning on the Sky Deck with the teens, and (everyone’s favorite) afternoon ice cream stops right next door.

When I boarded, the ship felt enormous. To my surprise, I was reconnected with Sally Evans, the person who originally interviewed and hired me. She was a natural leader and knew her programs inside and out. My cabin was all the way forward on Atlantic Deck, right next to the anchor—which meant no sleeping in on port days (you can imagine the noise when that anchor dropped!).

That first week, I shared the cabin with one of Sally’s friends from South Seas Resort, who I had actually met before at the RCRA Conference. Sally also brought the Executive Director from RCRA onboard—not only to work with the kids but also to observe and give her feedback. I thought that was brilliant: bringing industry friends onboard as guest staff gave them a firsthand look at ship life, while Sally gained fresh ideas and an outsider’s perspective to improve her programs across the fleet. A true win-win.

The first two weeks flew by. I learned so much about South Seas, RCRA, and new ways to run programs on the S/S Norway. When Sally’s friends left after the first week, it was sad to see them go—they had been such a huge help with fresh games and energy.

Going into week two, Sally asked me to extend another two weeks. I was thrilled—it brought me closer to my goal of going full-time at sea. When we hit port, I called my parents to share the news, and they told me that Stacy from South Seas (one of Sally’s friends and my former cabinmate) had already called to ask if I could fill in at their resort for six weeks before returning to the ships for Easter. I didn’t even hesitate: Absolutely, yes! Another chance for adventure and experience at a property I’d heard so much about during my internship search.

Back onboard, I had the teens that week. One of the other male coordinators, who’d worked on the Norway before, knew all the ins and outs of the teen program. I kept asking him about supplies and rules for the big activity, and he kept saying, “No problem, we’ll go through it.” But that prep never happened. The day of the event, he went off on a port tour, and I was left scrambling. That night, with the teens filling the room, the other coordinators and Sally watching, I had no choice but to figure it out as I went. It wasn’t perfect—there were a few bumps—but we pulled it off, and the teens still left happy.

Later that night in crew bar, I finally saw him again. Frustrated but exhausted, I headed back to my cabin—only to find Sally waiting on the stairs. She’d just dismissed another coordinator and asked me to sit. All I could think was, “Oh no… here it comes.” My nerves kicked in instantly.

Sure enough, it was the talk. Sally reminded me that I needed to be prepared and that I should have come directly to her with questions instead of relying on someone else. She was right—it was ultimately my responsibility. I didn’t throw my colleague under the bus, but I knew he’d left me hanging. It was my wake-up call: never wait until the last minute and always be ready to run a program with or without help.

Just as she was about to bring up another point (which I still think might’ve been about crew bar), the same coordinator came walking down the stairs. Sally sent me on my way and sat him down instead.

The next day, things smoothed out. After those tough conversations, our team actually became stronger—communicating more and working together better. One thing about Sally: she never had to say something twice. She was respected, trusted her instincts, and set the bar high. Watching her lead, I knew I wanted to follow in her footsteps.

The next two weeks flew by, and once again we were part of the Cruise Director’s staff, taking on a mix of responsibilities. One of the biggest lessons that stuck with me—something I still carry to this day—was the 15-Minute Rule.

On ships, you always had to be ready, especially when you didn’t have a designated space like Trolland on the S/S Norway. That meant keeping a bin packed with supplies for morning, afternoon, and evening activities, no matter where you were assigned. The 15-Minute Rule made all the difference:

Be set up and ready at least 15 minutes before your scheduled start time. Be set up and ready at least 15 minutes before your scheduled start time. Because whether you’re on a ship or anywhere else, being five minutes early is already ten minutes late.

Being early gave you time to double-check supplies, run and grab anything missing, and—just as important—take a breath to mentally prepare before the kids or guests arrived. Plus, there were always the early birds who showed up ahead of schedule, and it felt good to be ready for them. And if you were the one on the microphone, announcements usually started 15 minutes before the activity anyway—so by following the rule, you were exactly where you needed to be.

Favorite Quote: By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.    – Benjamin Franklin

Next up: New Opportunities to Share Ideas