As an intern for Vagabond Cruise, I am required to work on a variety of different tours and excursions. However, I am also dooly responsible for answering phone calls and setting reservations in our ticketing booth. On one particular day, I came into our ticket booth to work a typical shift. When I came in, the phone rang and I was quick to answer it. Thinking that I was going to set a reservation, it came to my surprise when I heard a woman’s voice livid with anger. I quickly recognized that this was not your so-called “typical phone call.” Thereafter, I began inquiring as to why this woman was so frustrated. The woman told me that she had recently taken one of our cruises and after she got off the boat and was talking off the pier, she tripped over a mat, which resulted in her falling over and rolling her ankle. As I continued to listen to this woman’s story, she soon became very aggressive as she began to blame our company for her fall and was responsible for her injury. 

Upon the conclusion of this phone call, I did my best to express my condolences for her injury. However, I told the woman that since she was on the pier and not on our vessel, we were not responsible for her injury and as such were not going to give her any compensation. As one can expect, this feedback did not go well with the woman. Rather, her intensity raised and her anger then was geared to me directly. She began to criticize me by telling me how poorly I am at customer service. Seeing that she was starting to take her frustration out on me, I told the woman to stay on hold while I get a manager to discuss options available for her. I then called my manager and asked what I should do about this woman’s sad circumstance. My manager told me to write down the woman’s story in an incident report and tell her that we would get back in touch with her. Upon these directions, I quickly did as I was instructed by writing down the woman’s story and telling her that someone from our management would be in touch with her soon. 

In reflection, I believe I did everything I could have to solve the woman’s incident quickly and effectively. Similarly, I believe I was very professional and courteous to the woman by not reacting to her attacks on my character or dismissing her claim. After submitting the incident report, my manager called me and congratulated me for holding my composure. He also told me that I handled the situation very well and was both personable and professional. Therefore, I really feel there was nothing more I could have done to improve this situation. Overall, this experience was very challenging, required a good deal of patience, and gave me an opportunity to apply my skills and abilities in working with customers in difficult situations.

Brief description of the past two-week’s duties

After completing another two weeks, I have performed the typical duties expected of me for my internship. In other words, I have continued to act as a food and beverage representative by preparing and serving food on our dinner cruises. Moreover, I have maintained my success as a salesperson by selling vagabond cruises to customers visiting our ticket booth. Even though my duties have not differed, I have been able to implore my duties in way to better my expertise and success with Vagabond Cruise.

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

It comes by no surprise to me nor to those, in whom do I affiliate, that I am experiencing a relevant and fruitful internship, one that is allowing me to use both my talents and abilities. To prove this notion, I have been able to use my strong sense of organizational structure towards organizing the ticketing booth and our wine inventories. Additionally, I have been able to use my keen understanding of social media outlets towards promoting the Vagabond Cruise Facebook page. These two tasks have allowed me to control the social marketing directions of Vagabond Cruise and ensure that we were logistically sound and well structured.

What did you learn from your experiences?

Over the last two weeks, I have learned that balancing both work and leisure is very important to a person’s attitude and success. Initially when I started my internship, I frequently worked many hours each week. As the weeks progressed, this procedure prohibited me from having any personal time or leeway to plan my own activities. Consequently, I became very tired and started noticing that my performance at work was dropping. However, over the last two weeks, I have made it a priority of mine to work less and play more. Thus, as I designated time for my leisure activities, I have found that my workload was lighter and my attitude towards work was easier. All and all, I have learned and can attest to the notion that life is about finding the right balance between our work and personal agendas.

What worked well?

The last two weeks have actually been the easiest weeks in terms of workload and scheduling. I have found more time to relax and enjoy the moment. Hence, over the last two weeks, what has worked well for me has been spending quality time with each of the interns. For example, over this last weekend, a few of the interns and myself went on a road trip to visit Charleston, South Carolina. Spending time in this historic city was wonderful but what made it more memorable and personable was that I was able to visit with Rachel Irick and Sara Comp. As we visited historic sites around Charleston, we were all able to learn more about each other. Since our trip, I can personally say that my relationships with both of these women have been strengthened. Ultimately, this in return has helped our chemistry in working with each other. 

What would you change next time?

An element of my internship that I would change in the upcoming two weeks would be to prepare for the inevitable. As a water-based tourism operation, Vagabond Cruise is susceptible to poor weather conditions and the elements. However, this is not all; Vagabond Cruise is vulnerable to festivals within our pier, harbor reconstruction projects, and coast guard statutes. During these times of change, I at times did not embrace the fluidity and alterations of what was going on. Consequently, this limited my ability to think on my toes and be prompt in responding to changes in our times, dates, and/or cruises. Therefore, over the next two weeks I want to make it a personal goal of mine to cognitively prepare myself for the inevitable. In other words, I want to envision change and prepare myself for anything so that when situations may arise, I will have been mentally trained to handle each situation smoothly and accurately.

Please describe the supervision you are receiving.

Let me first start out by saying that I love my supervisors. Danny Pegg and Christian Matthews are great leaders and I have been much appreciative of their assistance and supervision. Over the last two weeks, I have had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with both of them and talk in retrospect about their lives and on the other hand my performance as an intern for Vagabond Cruise. Furthermore, I personally like how both Danny and Christian are bold and direct when giving criticism or instruction, as this is the type of feedback that I embrace. Overall, I know that my superiors have the upmost confidence in my abilities. Thus, even though I enjoy the company of these men, in all reality, I have received little supervision from either Christian Matthews or Danny Pegg. 

Since I have completed nearly two-thirds of my internship, it seems fitting for me to take this time to reflect on my experiences and assess how I am doing in regards to completing the goals and objectives outlined prior to the start of my internship. In order to do this, I have included the goals and objectives with corresponding captions for each goal in the space below.

Goal 1: Increase professional networks.

a.       Objective: Broaden my professional network by expanding my LinkedIn account from 1,900 connections to over 2,500 connections over the next four months.

b.      Objective: Visit and personally introduce myself to at least 30 professionals who work for Vagabond Cruise and/or in other tourism operations throughout Hilton Head Island. This shall be achieved by recording the names and emails of each professional.

Caption
At this point, I have almost completed this internship goal. In detail, I have already met and recorded at least 30 professionals and I have connected with over 300 professionals via my LinkedIn account. However, as indicated in my first objective, I am not sure if I will connect with over 2,500 professionals through LinkedIn. Nevertheless, I am very proud of my progress to connect with many professionals through both media outlets and personal interaction.

Goal 2: Gain experiences in the selling procedures and evaluation processes of Vagabond Cruise tours.

a.       Objective: Sell Vagabond Cruise tours and increase passenger attendance by 3% over the next four months, comparative to 2012 records and figures.

b.      Objective: Collect input and monitor customer evaluations on Trip Advisor regarding their experiences on our tours.

Caption
I am proud to announce that this goal is in fact fulfilled. Working as a food and beverage representative intern for Vagabond Cruise during the fall season, I am proud to announce that our company has increased passenger revenue by 4% and have increased our Tripadvisor reviews 13% percent. This has been accomplished through building positive rapport with customers and helping them experience a wonderful time aboard our vessels. Furthermore, I have been prompt to remind customers to visit our Facebook and Tripadvisor pages to leave feedback on their experiences. Therefore, being personal and hasty is what has helped me accomplish this amazing feat.

Goal 3: Become skilled in tourism management and leadership.

a.       Objective: Individually lead and/or manage the Vagabond Crew in at least three tours over the next four months.

b.      Objective: Attend management meetings and collect documents over the next four months.

Caption
Working under Vagabond Cruise management has been a great experience. More importantly, I have relished opportunities to lead and manage various cruises. As such, I acted as the food and beverage manager for our Sunset Dinner Cruises during the first week of October. This opportunity helped me refine my managerial skills and provided me with viable leadership experiences within the tourism industry. Furthermore, I have attended every possible management meeting of which is typically held at 2:30pm on every Wednesday.

Goal 4: Promote Vagabond Cruise tours through social media outlets.

a.       Objective: Act as an administrator for the Vagabond Cruise Facebook Page by regularly postings pictures, promotions, and relevant information about Vagabond Cruise.

b.      Objective: Create a Weebly blog about Vagabond Cruise and use it as an online marketing tool.

Caption
Finally, this goal and objectives are complete as well. I have acted as the primary administrator for the Vagabond Cruise Facebook Page and have consistently made posts relative to our special events and tours. Similarly, I have created a Vagabond Cruise Weebly blog and I have used it to market not only our products and tours but moreover have used it to market to future students interested in interning with Vagabond Cruise. 

Brief description of the past two-week’s duties

I have performed many duties over the last few weeks. In addition, I have continued to innovate and find new avenues for furthering my roles and responsibilities in order to better my skills and abilities. My first duty and primary role as a food and beverage representative is to help serve food and drinks to passengers on our sunset dinner cruises. Fulfilling this responsibility continues to be an enjoyable experience. Another duty that I have performed over the last two weeks has been placing reservations for Vagabond Cruise tours.

One such cruise that I placed an emphasis on selling and upselling has been our Wine and Cheese sail. In short, this cruise boards our 42-foot catamaran sail boat and offers complimentary house wines and cheese platters. With a maximum capacity of 24 passengers, I made it a personal goal of mine to sell this cruise to ensure that it would indeed sail. As such, through my efforts I am proud to announce that the Wine and Cheese sold out each week. Beyond these duties, I have continued to market through social media outlets as well as monitor inventories levels and place purchase orders for supplies and materials. 

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

The last two weeks have significantly induced a demand of my time and furthermore has challenged the use of my skills. The biggest challenge I faced, involved dealing with frustrated customers after their cruise was canceled due to poor weather. On October 26, 2013, our Sunset Sail tour was canceled after a strong rainstorm hit Hilton Head Island. Being the only employee in our ticketing booth at the time, I was solely responsible for overcoming objections and likewise accountable for refunding every customer’s tickets. This scenario was very challenging and required me to instill patience, as I had to refund 100 passengers in a quick and efficient manner.

Furthermore, this scenario required me to embody positive interpersonal communication skills in talking with customers as well I comforted them and reassured them of our company regret and apology for their canceled tour. Even though this experience was challenging, in hindsight I am glad that I had to overcome this situation because it refined my customer service skills and helped me better work under strenuous circumstances.

What did you learn from your experiences?

There is one distinct concept, which I have learned over the last two weeks from my experiences with Vagabond Cruise. The first principle that I learned is how important timeshare presentations are to bringing success to tourism operations. Over the last two weeks, I had the opportunity to work with our Marketing Director in working with timeshare salespeople. These experiences helped me realize just how self-reliant Vagabond Cruise is on the many resorts located throughout Hilton Head Island. Similarly, this has also helped me realize that strong business partnerships are critical to establishing long lasting success to a company and organization. 

What worked well?

Over the last two weeks, I made it a personal initiative to give positive feedback not only to my fellow interns but to also all those in whom I work with. This was extremely beneficial as it helped to strengthen our chemistry at work. On the same note, I started to notice that the more I complimented others, the more people reciprocated the action by recognizing my efforts and complimenting my strong suits. Ultimately, this strategy has helped me strengthen my relationships with my colleagues and has helped each member on our team feel valued both as individuals and as a collective unit.

What would you change next time?

On a general statement, the last two weeks have transitioned very smoothly with very little to no disruptions or setbacks. However, as I reflect on these last two weeks there is one moment that I wish I had dealt better with. In short, on October 22, 2013 I was scheduled to work the pm shift in our ticketing booth. It is important to note, that the pm shift is by far the busier shift and can be quite demanding especially since we have six different cruises departing simultaneously during the evening. Anyways, on this day I came into work and have a few hours before the rush of our customers came. Seeing this two-hour window, I left the ticket booth so I could take an important phone call of which I intended to be very short. Unfortunately, the phone call took much longer than expected and regrettably meant I left Danny alone in our ticketing booth. By the time I came back in our ticketing booth, Danny had been very tied down resolving customer inquiries and was in dire need of my assistance. As such, I quickly jumped in, took care of the rest of the customers at our booth, and talked with all the customer phone calls on hold.

Overall, I wish I had not walked out our ticketing booth on this day so that I could have been available to help Danny. In my defense, I left the office at a dead time but regardless I wish I had just rescheduled my phone call so that I could have given my every attention and effort to helping the customers at our booth. Even though we resolved the situation, my actions on this day are the only measure over the last weeks, which I would have changed.

Please describe the supervision you are receiving.

Frequently working with my supervisors is a great experience because it allows me to have one on one conversation with them and allows me to receive feedback on my performance. In other words, I work with my managers and thus I technically receive constant supervision. However, after working here for over ten weeks, beyond the times I work with my supervisors, I receive very little supervision. In fact, my owner and our management team has told all the fall interns, such as myself, that they are confident in our abilities to run the bulk of our operations. Similarly, we as interns feel very compatible to this belief because we all feel very competent in our abilities after having several weeks of experience under our belts. Thus, in this sense I receive very little supervision beyond the few times I work with my superiors each week.