For NCL America recruits, it's all a matter of Pride

PINEY POINT, Md. -- Its lunchtime and, just as on the Pride of Aloha, theres a line for the buffet. Young, fresh-faced Americans wearing NCL Americas distinctive, blue, button-down crew uniforms grab the serving trays.

But this is no cruise ship buffet, and Hawaiis Na Pali coastline isnt just outside the windows. And these crew members arent serving guests. Not yet.

These are NCL Americas recruits, hundreds of them from all over the U.S. They are undergoing a rigorous, three-week training program at the Seafarers International Unions Paul Hall Center for Maritime Education and Training in southeast Maryland.

Executives here say trainees undergo more training than what an international crew member would receive before joining one of NCLs foreign-flagged ships. But for NCL America -- at least right now -- more is at stake: The company is hoping the training will help the American-crewed cruise line, which debuted last year and immediately ran into trouble with the crew.

The lines upcoming challenge is a smooth introduction of the flagship, the Pride of America, which will be christened in New York on June 17. NCL aims to show it can mold and train a pleasant, hard-working, homegrown crew.

Its a point that NCL has been trying to prove for a year. Its first attempt, with the U.S.-flagged Pride of Aloha, got off to a rocky start. The ships first crew was inexperienced, and the turnover rate was high. There were suggestions that Americans simply dont make good crew members.

But NCL is refusing to buy into that notion. It has two U.S.-crewed ships ready to roll and a third one on the way in 2006.

What we want is to show that you can deliver a good product with a U.S. crew, said Bill Hamlin, NCLs executive vice president of fleet operations, during a lunch cooked and served by future NCL America crew members.

At Hamlins remark, everyone at the table -- the top brass of the Seafarers International Union (SIU) and school administrators -- raised their water glasses in a toast.

Theres a number of people who thought we wouldnt come this far, Hamlin added.

School days

During the week starting May 8, about 315 NCL America recruits were on campus. On average, about 100 recruits start training each week. As of early May, 915 people had graduated from the program.

The trainees at Piney Point are not yet officially crew -- NCL is paying for recruitment and training. Trainees get a $50-per-week stipend during their stay. Their time at Piney Point is basically an interview, said Mark Kansley, who serves as NCLs permanent hotel director at the school.

Some trainees dont make it through the three-week program, which is designed to start slow and build up to the lifestyle the crew would have onboard: 10-hour workdays and seven-day workweeks.

This is probably the only place where you couldnt finish the program because of your attitude, said Ed Jenks, president of the Jenks Group, a corporate-strategy consultant thats overseeing the crews customer-service training.

You could qualify for your merchant marine documents, but if your attitude isnt good here at any time, the instructor could pull you over and say, Im looking for a smile, Im looking for you to be engaged, and if youre not engaged with us, youre not going to be engaged with the guest, he said.

Each week, soon-to-be waiters, busboys and cabin stewards leave Piney Point and fly to the Pride of America in Germany, where they join previous graduates of the training program and former Pride of Aloha crew members. They take their places in the ships restaurants, laundry or maintenance room.

After 90 days of employment, crew can qualify for an affiliate union of the SIU.

And just like a turnaround day on a cruise ship, a new busload of recruits arrives in Piney Point on the same day the graduates leave.

Three programs

The three weeks of training are split into three separate programs. Theres one week of Coast Guard-mandated safety training, which every crew must pass in order to get required merchant marine documents (MMDs).

Theres a week of departmental training, in which crew members learn the tasks theyll be performing onboard.

NCL shipped a couple of Norwegian Jewel cabins from Germany to Maryland so trainees could practice cleaning a real cabin.

Prospective bartenders mix drinks in the school bar. (NCL trainees can drop by for a drink after class hours but must adhere to the same alcohol policies here that they would onboard -- a limited amount of beer and wine.) Cooks, meanwhile, train at the culinary department and feed the trainees. A third week is devoted to customer-service training in a classroom setting.

In one of the classrooms, about 50 trainees were watching a movie about customer service. Theres almost always someplace else [customers] can go, the man on the screen told the room.

Each trainee had a yellow-bound workbook titled Personal and Professional Development.

Jenks was at the facility last month, en route to the Pride of America in Germany to oversee the kids, which is how executives at Piney Point often refer to the trainees. 

Although there are some middle-age candidates, the majority of the Aloha-shirted crew appear to be in their late teens and early 20s.

The centers main building resembles a cross between summer camp and community college -- during lunch break, the kids hang out, eating at big round tables (hamburgers and hot dogs are on the menu), chilling out on the couches or heading out in packs to grab a cigarette.

The difference is that everyone wears Aloha shirts and demonstrates the appropriate attitude for visitors they pass: Smiles and shy hellos.

Obligations of the flag

A U.S.-flag operation comes with a lot of hurdles: There are different U.S. regulations to follow, and the company must pay U.S. income tax on its earnings. But crew training was always the biggest hurdle, the biggest unknown, the make-or-break factor for the line.

The much-maligned crew on those initial sailings in 2004 were trained to the required Coast Guard standards, but customer-service training took a backseat to getting the ship crewed up from scratch.

But crew, not used to the long work hours and unfamiliar conditions on the Pride of Aloha, were jumping ship.

NCL didnt have a well of replacements. A tough working environment got worse.

When the Aloha was introduced in July, the annualized turnover was 250%, said Colin Veitch, the companys CEO, in March. These days, the turnover rate runs closer to 110%.

The challenge is to keep the flow coming and to make sure they have some skills and to retain those people so there isnt that kind of turnover rate, Veitch said. The quality of the crew is much higher.

There appeared to be a sense of camaraderie among the recruits at Piney Point, although only time will tell whether their enthusiasm and smiles will stand up to the rigors of the job.

As several executives have pointed out, cruise ship work is almost completely new to American workers.

To make the experience more true to the onboard experience, bunk beds were brought in. Trainees sleep NCL America-style, four to a room.

Prospective crew can satisfy some curiosity about shipboard life during Q&A sessions with current Pride of Aloha crew who are at Piney Point for service retraining.

As per a mandate passed down from Hamlin, seasoned Aloha crew are required to take the classes at Piney Point.

Training turns more boot camp-style over at the adjacent safety-training area, which is similar to a top-notch fire and safety facility at Barbers Point in Hawaii.

International crew also practice fire and safety training, although theirs is often done onboard their ship.

Student firefighters battle controlled blazes outside and inside a mock-up engine room. Donning a Gumby suit that protects them from frigid waters (never mind that the Pride of America will sail exclusively in Hawaii) and flipping a giant, inflatable raft are just some of the tasks recruits need to successfully perform before qualifying for their MMDs.

In another area, trainees are required to rescue dummies by navigating a pitch-black, fun house-style maze while an instructor blows in smoke to simulate fire conditions.

People come to the school and say, Im going to wash out, Jenks observed. In 21 days youre amazed.

Agents come around

Danny Ching, the president of Nonstop Travel in Honolulu, books a lot of NCL America business, so much so that he does once-a-month tours of the Pride of Aloha.

For awhile, Ching said, he was giving clients a heads-up about the onboard issues.

Now, that has abated. Basically, since November weve had no complaints, he said. They finally got a crew that knows whats expected of them, he said. Ive talked with some of the [crew], and theyre quite happy.

In October, Travel Weekly polled several travel agents who said they were recommending, at least for the time being, that their clients take a wait-and-see approach to the Aloha. Last month, the same agents said they would recommend the NCL America product.

Im becoming much more comfortable with the NCL America product, said Doug Crosby, owner of Cruise Holidays in Henderson, Nev.

Lissa Leong, vice president of Cruise Holidays in Honolulu, said her clients in the local market are well aware of the start-up problems on the Aloha.

They [clients] ask us how it is going. And we ask them when they come back [if there were] any operational problems. And they say it was fine, they had a good time. So I present that to other clients. Id say its going along quite well, Leong said.

To contact reporter Rebecca Tobin, send e-mail to [email protected].

Get More!

For more details on this article, see NCL America to take delivery of Pride of America.