Recently, I spent a few days on board the Crystal Symphony with a group of about 400 travel professionals, Virtuoso's best of the best. I’m not much of a cruise person. People that know me, know that. So, I didn’t have great expectations about my four-day float in the Caribbean.
I’m still not a big fan of “cruising”. It’s just too confining and structured for me. But, I’m very enthusiastic about the staff aboard the Symphony. From my initial welcome by my housekeeper, Aniko, to the group send-off at disembarkation, it was truly a wonderful service experience. And, of course, being in the “business”, I became curious about what made this fine tuned clock tick so well. So, I started holding conversations with the staff, determined to find the root cause of the “problem”.
It came down to this…caring. The staff cared about me because the management of Crystal cared about them. I heard over and over again how they were well taken care of in every aspect of their life as a cruise ship employee. And, in comparison to other cruise lines (most of them had worked for another at some point), they had superior accommodations, more recreational opportunities, better food, a staff bar, higher compensation and most of all, bosses that cared more about them, and treated them as equals.
What a concept. Care for your people to get the best attitude and service for your guests.
Don’t screw around when it comes to taking care of your employees. If you do, your guests will know.
Bravo to Crystal Cruises!