Interview,with,Josef,Gruber,Ho travel,insurance Interview with Josef Gruber -- Hotel Manager Luxury Cruise S

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Austrian-born Josef Gruber is the HotelManager responsible for a staff of 230. Josef Graduated from CornellUniversity of Hotel Management in 1994, has a long ship history and hasbeen the Hotel Manager for Europa since her launch in 1999.Josefworks aboard eight months of the year on a four month on, two monthsoff basis and is relieved by Johannes Salfelner, a fellow Austrian withover 20 years of luxury ship experience.Josef’sexperience and contacts have earned him a loyal respect from his crew.Repeat passengers know well the unforgettable experiences that Josefhelps create in far-away ports.The author of “Fielding’s Guide to Luxury Cruises”, Tim Fielding,recently took the opportunity, on a beautifully calm sea day in theSouth Pacific, to ask Josef some questions about his work. Josef'sspeaks 'international' English: it's word perfect, has a slightGermanic infliction and boasts a wonderful well traveled tone.Q. Josef, what are your responsibilities as Hotel Manager on the Europa?Overall, it is to run a world-class 5 star+ hotel operation with all facets in perfect harmony.Specificallythat translates to being responsible for the total hotel operationonboard the vessel as well as the entertainment, tour operations andconcessionaires. The role is a highly diplomatic challenge as theobjective of each area of operation must be met, while still satisfyingour desire to create the most perfect vacation experience for ourpassenger’s day in and day out. My aim is to create an experience for staff and guests that cannot be found anywhere else in the cruise industry.Q. Why is the Europa so special? Primarilyit is about the guests, all staff onboard shows personal hospitalityand friendliness towards them. We know their names, habits andpreferences to the last detail, we treat them like family and carepersonally for their well being. This makes them feel like the Europais their home away from home. If ever a problem arises the managementstructure allows for fast resolution. No request is ever considered toohard to achieve and we love a challenge!And of coursefrom a ‘hardware’ perspective, we have the perfect ship for our staffto deliver the special Europa experience in a meticulously planned,total luxury environment.Q. What kind of management style do you use?Asmuch as possible I believe in direct contact. I listen to people andfind ways to satisfy their wishes. My staff, just like all humanbeings, experience a whole range of emotions and we work as a team toovercome operational challenges that the human factor creates. My staffall live by the fact that being friendly doesn’t cost anything. As amanager I am proud to have the friendliest crew on the seven seas. Ahappy crew equals happy passengers and as a manager I am always mindfulof that balance. Q. You work 12-15 hours a day with no break for four months straight. Are you mad?No,not at all. I love my job, believe me nothing compares to having thisjob at sea, most every day is extremely memorable in one way oranother. Sure there are days which are hard and tiring, but the dawningof each day brings fresh opportunities for discovery and enjoyment ofmy surrounds, and I draw inspiration from my colleagues whenever thatthought wavers.Q. Many cruise companies have problems with staff turnover, why does the Europa not have this problem? Well,to begin with our crew is a lot less international that you will findon other luxury ships. Basically all Europa’s crew that interacts withthe guests are from Germany or Austria. All my staff speak German andEnglish, on other ships English is the common language used despite theorigin of the staff member and the team spirit created by nationalityis lost. That equates to a higher turnover for them.Secondly,the Europa occupies the highest possible ground in German hotel society- basically every young, ambitious person who decides to seek a job inthe hotel industry does everything possible to get a job onboard Europaat least once. We respect that most people will not want a whole lifeat sea, but once they are here we want them to feel a powerful desireto renew their contracts for as long as they wish.Thirdly,a lot of cruise companies offer repetitive itineraries that de-motivatestaff, the Europa has a world cruise each year and non-repetitive,interesting ports of call. Crew have the chance to see the world andcollect unforgettable memories along the way, they tell it to all theirfriends and colleagues at home which produces the next generation ofaspiring crew.Q. Josef, you are a walkingencyclopedia and wonderful story teller, have you ever thought aboutwriting a book detailing your experiences?When Ihave time in my old days – and I have no plans to retire just yet, I’msure there will be the odd story told. I still have a few years to workon a snappy title. Q: Finally, what trends do you forecast in luxury cruising market?Wellthere is no doubt that guests taking a luxury cruise want to spendtheir money on a well-designed product that delivers quality andservice. The ability for a cruise line to capture first-time cruiserswill become more important as brand loyalty is high in the luxurycruising business. You can see high rates of repeat patronage with manydifferent ships, so capturing the imagination of the potential cruiseris very important trend for us.Sure, the ships in theindustry will get bigger and more guests and revenue will be the keyfactor for some operators, but this lessens the real luxury experienceand shifts them further toward the mainstream. The challenge then forHapag-Lloyd Cruises is to be able to break through the marketing hypethat surrounds the word ‘luxury’ to communicate the REAL luxury thatsmall size and high passenger crew ratios deliver. We also feela trend in the industry to offer or provide ‘trophy’ experiences forguests in ports of call – some of which are getting quite extreme. Weare continually searching for special experiences and it is one areathat my hundreds of friends and contacts around the world help usdeliver. Regarding our own clientele, we are alreadyseeing a trend toward multi-generational cruising. This two andsometimes three-generation trip is a wonderful time for families tobond and yet have room to them self. The ship caters for our youngestguests in our children's areas with special toys and entertainment, allset up and accompanied by staff that are experienced and fully-trainedin child care. Having your children looked after while you relax, yetstill having them close-by and in trusted hands is very reassuring forparents. I can’t recall a single child not having the time oftheir lives aboard Europa. It delivers a holiday experience to familiesthat simply cannot be found elsewhere. I think we will see morefamilies cruising together and our hardware will evolve to accommodatetheir needs.Josef, I would like to thank-you for your time and insight – all the best and good luck.www.fieldings-luxury-cruises.com© 2008 Tim FieldingFirst published March 2008