In my opinion, Vagabond Cruise is a wonderful company to work for and to this point; I am very satisfied with the experiences that I have gained. However, it is important to note that my accomplishments as a student is the single greatest reason as to why I have experienced success as an intern. Indeed the principles and concepts that I learned throughout my schooling have directly influenced my traits and abilities in my career. With that being said, I have outlined two of the most important skills that I acquired while attending the University of Utah, which undoubtedly has helped me throughout my internship with Vagabond Cruise. 

The first skill set that I learned from my schooling that has directly aided me in my internship is public speaking. When I think back on the two and half years while at the University of Utah, I frequently recall many times where my professors had us work on projects after which we were required to give presentations in front of our colleagues. At the time, I gave these presentations, I gave little thought to how talking in front of class could be beneficial to my career. However, as I reflect upon those memories, I realize now just how valuable those presentations were to installing me with public speaking skills and helping me effectively argue a point in an objective and professional manner. This skill set has been of great use to me throughout my internship, as I have had to attend timeshare seminars in which I am solely responsible for presenting Vagabond Cruise and selling its products and services.  

The second skill set from my education that as ascertained myself as an asset to Vagabond Cruise is learning about marketing. In my opinion, the Parks, Recreation, & Tourism department did an excellent job at incorporating business and marketing classes into its core curriculum. In my particular situation, even though my specialization was in Sustainable Tourism, I took three different marketing courses. Learning about marketing and how to effectively target specific audiences have been very applicable to my internship. Throughout my internship, I have acted as the Facebook administrator for Vagabond Cruise’s Facebook Page. More importantly, I have published the itineraries and events in many of our printed materials. Therefore, I can definitively say that learning about marketing and advertising has greatly helped me to competitively market Vagabond Cruise.

Brief description of the past two-week’s duties

Let me first start by saying that time certainly does fly. It is hard to fathom that another two weeks have flown by. Over the last two weeks, I have continued to work as a food and beverage representative for Vagabond Cruise, and I could not ask for a more fulfilling experience. I have thoroughly enjoyed every opportunity to help tourists register and take part in the various cruises offered by our operation.

Moreover, over the last few weeks I have also had the opportunity to work a few private special events, all of which have been great experiences as well. As case in point, a special event, which I was able to work, included a private dinner cruise for 35 of the top executives for McDonalds Corporation. Even though my job duties were the same as our typical dinner cruises, it was enjoyable to serve executives for a very reputable company.

How are you experiencing a relevant and challenging use of your skills?

I certainly attest to the notion that I am experiencing a relevant and challenging use of my skills. For example, I recently had the opportunity to conduct an a Skype interview video call with a few college students, all of whom were in the process of applying for an internship with Vagabond Cruise for next season. I really enjoyed this experience, as it required me to use my communication skills to inform these students about Vagabond Cruise and likewise answer their questions regarding an internship with our company.

Similarly, another experience that helped to challenge my skills and abilities included attending a meeting in which we learned about wines and more importantly how to serve wines. Unlike the other interns in whom I work with, this meeting significantly challenged my abilities because I had never before tasted wine nor served wine. Hence, after learning about the varieties of wines I learned how to properly open a wine bottle and the etiquette in serving wine. Overall, these experiences denote as to why the last two weeks have certainly been a relevant experience and have helped me further my understanding as a food and beverage representative for Vagabond Cruise. 

What did you learn from your experiences?

Over the last fourteen days, I have learned a key principle from my internship. This principle, which I have learned over the last two weeks, is that there are different definitions and strategies to providing customer service. As case in point, on our dinner cruises I have observed the different ways in how interns work and serve our guests. Furthermore, I have had some interns’ mention that great customer service is serving quickly and efficiently. On the other hand, I heard other interns argue that the best customer service is when on takes his or her time and is very personable with their guests. This debate has helped me realize that there is no one set way on how to provide the best customer service and similarly that one method is neither better than other. Rather I have learned from my own experiences that providing exceptional customer service can vary and that there are many different ways to ensuring our guests have a great experience on our cruises.

What worked well?

In reflection, there are two distinct tactics that I felt helped me work at a more optimal level throughout my internship. The first was recording notes of pertinent information that could help me better succeed in my internship. In other words, writing down my thoughts and impressions during learning experiences has greatly helped me retain relevant information and better perform. A second tactic that has helped me perform my internship has been maintaining a calm resolution no matter how stressful the situation. During stressful times, I have a tendency to get overwhelmed and react more than act, which regrettably hinders my ability to work efficiently. However, over the last two weeks I have been very good at staying calm in these times of distress. My ability to remove myself, breath, and stay relaxed during stressful times has helped me be able to resolve very difficult situations. This in and of itself, has been an acquired attribute that I take great pride in myself because I know it will help me in similar experiences throughout my career.

What would you change next time?

Seeing that this internship requires routine tasks and is repetitive, I am getting to that point where I am able to work very efficiently and accurately. In fact, there is nothing that I can think of which I would change or suggest to better improve my performance. After nine weeks of setting reservations, acting as a server on dinner cruises, and helping maintain our fleet, I am becoming very skilled in understanding the processes and logistics of this company.

Please describe the supervision you are receiving.

Either working in the ticketing booth or upon the boats, as a passenger services representative for Vagabond Cruise, I am fortunate in having the opportunity to work directly with my supervisors every day. With a more personalized interaction, I have been able to develop positive rapport with my superiors. More importantly, my supervisors and I have clearly established an open-door policy; one in which we both express our concerns, desires, frustrations and excitements.

Throughout the last two weeks, I have received immediate feedback from my supervisors regarding my work ethic and understanding in or implementation of our company policies and procedures. In addition, I have received support and positive affirmation from external parties such as our captains, vendors, and partners. All in all the supervision I am receiving has been superb and it has been beneficial for me, as I have learned to adapt to both a new culture and workplace.

Working in the tourism industry is such a fun and exciting field of work, one that too often offers many rewarding opportunities and experiences. Whether traveling the world or learning about various cultures, the tourism industry is booming and expanding. However, just like every other industry, the tourism industry has its ethical dilemmas. A few dilemmas, which face the tourism industry today, include drug trafficking, gender inequality, and the lifestyles of employees.

As case in point, I recently came across a situation in which I had to deal with an ethical dilemma. In short, after one of our dinner cruises one of our employees came to me asking me for a favor. It is important to note that this employee is a very hard worker and is very reliable. However, on this day she told me that she needed to leave early and was in a rush to make an appointment. Therefore, after telling me about her situation she handed me her time sheet and told me to clock out for her at the conclusion of my shift. This scenario put me in a tough predicament because I wanted to help this employee but at the same time, she also knew that I would be staying at least another two hours beyond her shift. In retrospect, I could have easily clocked out for this employee but instead I told my owner and turned in her time sheet.

This situation was hard for me to deal with because on the one side I wanted to help out an employee but on the other side; I knew that clocking out for a different employee was illegal and dishonest.  Ultimately, this scenario challenged my integrity as an employee as well as tested my loyalty in obeying both our company policies and national labor laws. However, at the end of the day I am glad at how I handled the situation; by doing what was right rather than what seemed right and courteous of a fellow employee and friend. 

Brief description of the past two-week’s duties:

The last two weeks have been overwhelming and stressful but yet exciting and exhilarating. The reason as to why these weeks have differed from previous weeks is because; I played more of a managerial role. In short, over the last two weeks I have temporarily acted as the Food and Beverage Manager while my regular manager, Christian Matthews, has been out of town. Under this new responsibility, I was in charge of managing the Vagabond Cruise Sunset Dinner Cruises from Wednesdays through Saturdays. This experience created a wonderful opportunity for me to display my management skills and apply my own brand of leadership and management philosophy.

Besides my responsibility as the temporary food and beverage manager, my other duties included placing reservations, processing orders, printing boarding passes and assisting our customers on our cruises. Furthermore, on my own leisure time I have continued to post relevant ads and events on the Vagabond Cruise Facebook page. This responsibility has helped me to pursue my interests in advertising and social media marketing. Overall, my duties have continued to expand at a comparable rate in comparison to the durations of my stay on Hilton Head Island.

How are you experiencing a relevant and challenging use of your skills?

Over the last few weeks, my internship has indeed been a relevant experience and has continued to present me with challenging opportunities to enhance my skills and acquire new abilities and talents. As a manager, I have been able to direct staff members during faculty meetings, assign responsibilities, monitor inventory levels, and manage the finances of our operations. These roles and responsibilities in and of itself have helped me work in every realm of Vagabond Cruise and more importantly has helped me refine my potential as a professional within in the tourism industry.

What did you learn from your experiences?

It seems as though every day I learn at least one principle which is imperative to my career and which will help me have lasting success. Some of the principles, which I have learned, include building rapport with future clientele and establishing a strong market presence. To begin with, I have been able to shadow my owner and internalize the way in which he communicates with people. Keith Walston is very personable, professional and yet he is very direct and is exceptional at clarifying his expectations with customers. These skills as observed in Keith are something that I too embodied in my relationships with clientele over the last few weeks. Similarly, over the last two weeks I have come to understand the importance of how marketing can help build customer traffic and promote sales for a tourism operation. As the food and beverage manager, I was responsible for meeting with timeshare visitors in order to promote our cruises. This experience helped me learn how to better sell and upsell our products and services to individuals. More importantly, I learned that establishing a positive perception with customers is the single most critical action that one can take towards helping their company establish lasting success and longevity.

Please describe the supervision you are receiving.

Honestly, I received very little to no supervision over the last few weeks. In fact, as the food and beverage manager, I tended to supervise more than vice versa. Therefore, I had the responsibility to be the spokesperson for all our cruises and likewise coached and evaluated the performance of each of the fall interns. It was quite the experience to be able to have pep talks with each intern and be able to express to each of them not only their areas of improvement but also their strengths and abilities. In the end, it has been a very eventful few weeks and I have enjoyed every moment of my internship.