Trusting the universe to guide me...: On Charter

The Mia Elise II

From December 26th-January 2nd we welcomed an American family on board for my first charter experience. It was full on, 15 hour days for a week straight. What an experience to finally have guests on board and turn the boat into a floating luxury resort. We hosted 4 couples and 3 children for the week, the kids were two girls 16 and 14 and a 7 year old boy. Being my first charter I was unsure what to expect and also not sure how they measured up compared to other guests. Apparently they were really mellow and nice compared to some of the horror stories I have heard from fellow crew members. Since it was a family vibe they went to bed fairly early and were not super dirty or rowdy, and they were very nice people who spoke to us with a kindness that is not always the case with other guests. I have heard stories of bachelors parties with prostitutes that demand burgers and fries at 4am and need bed changes daily. It was a great warm up for me to get my feet wet and get an idea of what it takes to execute a successful charter.

There were high points and low points during the week, which I think is to be expected in any job. Some highlights would include decorating and putting on a fantastic New Years Eve dinner party and other theme nights, getting to join the guests for a knee boarding session in our "tender" or ski boat and also accompanying them on the beach for a special set up we created complete with tenting, lounge chairs and a BBQ. Being in some amazing locales with fantastic scenery (when I was able to actually take a moment and go outside to look around) is always a bonus. I also loved being in the galley watching the meal service get executed by our two awesome chefs, they do an amazing jog and always have music going and good vibes!

Towards the end of the week the captain told me he was glad he hired me and I was doing a great job which was really nice to hear that feedback. Right before the guests departed we all gathered to watch a slide show we had put together from the trip, and it was so gratifying watching the memories flash on the big screen and seeing the guests reaction to remembering there once in a lifetime vacation, a few were nearly moved to tears. It was wonderful to see all the hard work of the week reflected back and appreciated.

Low points would be spending certain days entirely in the laundry room without seeing the outside world for 15 hours, crawling around in the claustrophobic bilge looking for decor boxes, and getting so bruised and banged up from rushing around and cleaning rooms I look like I could be a victim of domestic violence. This is not for the faint of heart, folks. There were a few moments of breakdown, specifically after spending 15 hours in the laundry room and at the end of the day still feeling overwhelmed by what was left outstanding. I thrive on knowing I accomplished a task and it is hard to feel accomplished when the work is never done. The laundry keeps showing up all day and as hard and fast as I would work it just kept coming. Plus when you are at the point of exhaustion after such long hours the littlest thing can set you off. However, once I was able to move around more with different tasks and help with table set ups and service my mood improved greatly. It is good to know all the ins and outs of each department and I need to remember I am new and need to pay my dues, laundry is like a right of passage on these larger boats.

I think the most difficult part for me was working with a team of 5 gals that had never really worked together and were all fairly new to the boat, so there was a lack of organization and direction that made the whole experience that much more difficult. Plus that many females can always create an interesting dynamic. I thrive on having order and a system in place and much of the week was spent flying by the seat of our pants which was hard for me. Paired with the fact that I have no concept of how things should be going as I am new to this world it was strange to have to rely solely on the others to direct me and just hope I was dong the right thing. I learned a lot about what not to do by observing the flow of the days, and also was shown a lot of tips and tricks on how to make the tasks easier when time is of the essence. It is funny to see how much of the skills from my past jobs can be applied to this industry, now I just have to tweak them to the nuances of being on a yacht.

At the end of the trip the reward was worth it...a $5k tip for each crew member! Not bad for a week of work :) Definitely makes all the long hours worthwhile when that cash is handed to you at the end. Tomorrow the owner comes on board and I am sure it will be a completely different experience and I look forward to gaining new insight into executing a great experience on board for the guests.