Episode 4 | Hotel Manager, Ivan Lawrence

Intro [Music] hopefully not [Music] [Music] my name is Ivan I was actually um born in London uh North London but I currently live now in Windsor so uh a lot of people don't know where that is it's uh home to the king so that's where I'm from right next to Heath Airport position board Hotel manager so I oversee the hotel functions which is the housekeeping the guest services the food and beverage uh the entertainment and quite a lot of other things in between Morning Routine my day starts around about uh from 6:00 in the morning is when I'm up can't start up coffee have a good coffee in the [Music] morning all right so we start normally 7:30 and just break out the date for the [Music] te I I do actually when I come in um up making my coffee is that I open all the emails and I look at the critical emails um that we need to kind of um go through regarding the ship and its operation and then we go for a walk cuz at 8:50 uh we have a uh Hotel meeting with uh the team so I need to be ready and establish what tasks I need them to do around the ship uh 7:00 I'm already doing my my walk around [Music] [Music] Breakfast how is everything yes yeah how about you sir yeah ready yeah yeah yeah L there you go all right I leave you to it have a good day you all right how are you good morning morning okay so breakfast hello good morning how are you good [Music] sir what we makeing anything nice yeah sauce sauce [Music] yeah morning morning what we making today yeah we broccoli soup broccoli soup broccoli soup oh that's my favorite I everything working only this side this one not there this one working one not yet that one working but at this moment we have only used the that side okay but you going your home huh yeah almost all right have a good one good all right everything set up really really nicely manual ordering chips [Music] Laundry [Music] actually how much carpet's got [Music] left he so this is our kind of um B andq um so this is all the carpet that we have around the vessel just kind of count exactly how many carpets we have left of where they need to go as you can see this is all the tiling that we use in arounders ship uh the veneer and even more tiling and lots of underlay yeah full attack main laundry today yeah is Louise next door yes if she is there at 9:00 we're a little bit early so we can go and take a look at the um the central St keep all the [Music] food this is this is our Central store room this is where we keep all the uh tasty things so everything is under a lock and key just in case somebody gets a little bit peckish so I'm going eats everything and then we have no food left and this is just one of our freezers yeah this milk ex ni cheese and we just need to make sure that everything is always on right and Flor the public health and then next door to this we do have the freezers which are at - 18 I entered the industry when I was 19 years old so I've Experience been about for a good 20 years um my first uh ever time actually in the hotel environment was with um marot um so I was a a receptionist did a little bit of work for Hilton uh then I worked for thisle Gman hotels looking after a quite large uh project uh with the Olympics in 2012 and in 201 and 13 also I decided to um come to see so uh the first company I worked for was uh piano okay that's part of uh Carnival UK um from piano um I then I joined Roy Caribbean as a guest services manager and then uh just before the pandemic Princess um as associate Hotel general manager I've completed most uh of the onboard roles so uh I started off as an assistant manager of P um from that um I was looking after the front desk the crew office um Administration um I also did a little bit of a fly cruising um which was like a flights manager um so we would Charter aircraft to the the vessel in Barbados um two night um turnaround day um and then uh shortly after that I've also done things like night manager um a lot of administration work as well uh reception events manager uh conci manager um yeah so it's uh it's been quite a bit of a journey um to get here I've been on the Odyssey for the good part of um 3 months actually uh almost uh to the day so I joined the Odyssey here in Belfast on the 26th of April uh I joined this vessel when it was actually at anchor um a few miles out um and I remember um I joined by attender so we kind of went around the vessel and she was blue now she's she's white um I remember coming in and again the ship was turned off for a huge amount of time since um the the the global pandemic um and seeing everything um turned off yeah and not see seeing people around actually it reminded me of a time um a few years ago um when I was out in Singapore on in the pandemic itself um and it also reminded me of um when I activated several vessels after the pandemic as well so um most memorable experience I would say is just walking on board and and everything um was quite unique cuz everything was turned off and I I almost thought that I've lived this before um and it's um quite energizing now that we are turning everything on very slowly but turning everything on and the ship is now um growing life um what really brought me New concept here is a sense of adventure and a completely new concept that's um very new um not only to the industry but to myself um I've never worked on a vessel where we have residents actually people purchase um beautiful Villas and then we set sale around the world um also the sense of adventure when it comes to uh this uh very last lar dry dock that we've been in for the last uh few months um so again it was completely new uh challenge um and you know when I spoke to Mike and Kathy um I explained to them that I wanted to join I wanted to join the company um to be able to Showcase my capabilities so to bring uh on board all the various different things that I know um to then uh showcase a a product which is which is new to me and also new to quite a lot of us as well when I first uh got here um the ship uh the ship looked a lot different from what it does now I had a a very small team um we Small team instantly started um working away um at revitalizing the different areas around um but with such a small team at at the very beginning stages um it was a lot of Hands-On uh work I mean I was in the office until 2:30 in the morning um but the the greatest I guess the greatest part especially for the beginning uh was coming on board and having our uh colleagues which wouldn't usually get involved in the hotel side of the business which was deck because they were kind of looking after themselves and then um having them also understand kind of like what we do and taking a Handover from the staff captain of the hotel so that was quite um interesting yeah um and then since then I mean the team has now grown we've got 185 uh crew on board uh at the moment um and as you've seen uh the areas are looking absolutely stunning and beautiful and uh we're doing a lot of training at the minute yeah to bring everybody up to speed with the less Manning that we had at the beginning uh we had especially I mean I was the I was in charge of the we didn't have a chief housekeeper we didn't have a a um a chief Pur we didn't have any Administration um so a lot of the things were very very Hands-On um but again uh we've got a lot of hidden talent as well um so we had to make very good use of the resources that we we had um and also it gave me the opportunity to really um and truly engage uh with the team and find you know find out who they are as individuals and it's surprising actually when you get to speak to people regardless of their role on board um what they're actually capable of uh when given the opportunity it was a little bit of a challenge for us at the very beginning um when we entered the dock um especially with uh the fact that we had to bring everything on by the gangway um which took a lot of help from hotel deck technical cluding yourself we were lifting pallets uh pallets of uh food and and materials um on board the vessel we had all of the new TVs for all of the cabins show up this morning uh right at lunchtime and had an all hands Evolution to come in and carry all of these TVs from the shipyard uh dock side walls and and onto the ship that was a a hugely um challenging time for us um as well not having for example like a a provision Master on board as well so having to um learn that aspect of the business as well so getting really stuck in to look at the provisions um first in first out fridge temperatures and things that naturally I wouldn't directly get involved in also uh um being able to cover the whole entire ship with a team of like 12 uh people um we had a lot of long days um but I think what really helped is is the engagement um of the team um so very early on um I kind of understood that I would have to really meet with my uh Team um and understand uh really the things that we could achieve and it seemed quite a lot at the time um but the one thing I've always said to them even if you have 20 different things to do in a day but if you can just achieve one it's still an achievement yeah so um at that stage especially without my leaders that are now on board um we were I was housekeeping I was a food and beverage I was the chef I was the aunt The Nanny um I was the crew office um it was quite a unique experience um because a guest services desk for example wasn't open the C office wasn't open um the management office uh came almost The Hub um of the vessel um normally we you have the guest services that's called The Crew office taking care of either your guests or or the crew um so it was a lot of uh a lot of long days um but we managed to really uh take care of um people yeah at the very Functions beginning with uh the hotel we have uh the food and beverage um so that is the dining uh rooms uh the beverage areas and of course uh where all of our food is uh made which is in the in a galley uh then we have Guest Services uh housekeeping and on board the ship as well and we have uh entertainment and in between that we've got smaller functions in the crew office um as well as Administration as well um we have uh two daily meetings uh one is at 8:15 the other one's at 6:00 um and I've always said you know the greatest um feeling ever for an individual is being um involved in something so I I kind of let my leaders um come up with their suggestions and and their ideas um as well as the crew um and then we sit and we discuss Guest Services boy yeah um mxp light training U Melissa is aware of it um I would like you guys to just put together some light training for the the managers okay um to be able to use the property management system and then hopefully once you guys have got that ready then um all of us will be incorporated in that training um it is great because meliss has sat with me about for 15 minutes the day and it's amazing how much you can learn in such a short period of time um it's not going to be War and Peace just showing people how to log in yeah how to P guest information and so forth okay um deck nine for today um we're going to be able to reach you think yes of course yeah with the manow that we have on hand and everybody's willingness to get the things achieved it's a should mission to Hotel set up um and yeah I I guess the results really and truly now speak for themselves um and it's not because they've been given instructions to do something it's because they're actually working on ideas that they've um evolved themselves yeah and so what has been done to make the hotel set of the ship ready for residents to come and Bo a good question um yeah it is um the a lot really and truly a lot I mean we as you can see the hotel um we've set up all the staterooms now um there there's been significant work in main Galley um down in the main laundry which is still ongoing um a lot of training uh almost that goes on multiple times throughout the Cabin inspection day so this is our our uh bi-weekly cabin inspection that's taking place uh this morning uh we have all the senior leadership um so for the full length of about half an hour and we're going to be inspecting all the crew cabins just to make sure that everything absolutely worksome that their living conditions are are good and as per mlc Crashing Bin standards 384 okay cabin inspection cabin [Music] inspection very nice SM good looks good cabin inspection yeah crashing bin hello but um yeah I guess uh overall I mean it's very nice yeah [Music] yeah okay next is 3086 okay cabin inspection we've touched everything um chipping dusting painting jet washing we've moved things in in different areas and moved them again so that they actually look VY as as opposed to The Old Company um so it's been it's been a hell of a lot and it still is ongoing um even up until this morning we've definitely turned a corner um and you can feel it in the energy of of the people and the energy of the vessel there are still some technical challenges that we're we're still facing on board um but really and truly I I truly feel that we're almost pretty much there um we're now looking at um boarding day or embarcation experience and that what what that would look like for the individual um areas um but living on board working on board and having to take care of these people as we sail around the world um yeah it's definitely going to be a first for me um and a first for quite a few other people but that is the excitement as well as the two three days in Port um and a 2 and a half year Voyage around the world um it's something that again I never thought when I enter this industry that I'll ever do um and hence why it was quite attractive for me to to join the company um I guess this is people's home right so um we're we're as opposed to turning around a ship in a 7-Day period we're we are trying uh where possible to add um personalized um touch points in The State Room um I guess until we we truly meet all of our residents um and know exactly what their preferences are um we will meet their their demands and their requests um it is again relatively new uh for all of us um I have seen some of the requests that have come in people want fridges and washing machines and and things that you wouldn't have on a traditional cruise ship um but again as I said it's it is it will be a challenge for us um to meet all of these um requests um but it's a home away from home and that's the kind of um that's the kind of um thought process I I I also admit to the team um so that they know that these people actually live here um not like in a traditional Cruise where you go away for a few days or seven days or a couple of weeks and then you don't see the people again for maybe another couple of weeks yeah certainly the approach has to be uh very different um and again it's also the team um I always I always explained to them um that sometimes when you work for a bigger Corporation you kind of go home and you don't don't know where you're going to be assigned next um why it's so important now with v to make sure that we maintain our good relationships because there's only the one ship at the moment I'm sure there'll be more to follow um but this is your home yeah so when you go home you come back you see the same people you have the same residents so it's very important early on for us to um have that uh human connection with them and that sense of community as well for me it I think it's a little bit more uh relaxed especially with having 2 or 3 days um in Port uh you know normally you come in very early in the morning in the afternoon that you set sail away and but now you're 2 three days in Port so I guess um uh for our residents they get to experience uh the destinations where we go so they get to spend more time maybe an overnight in a hotel maybe an overnight Shore Excursion um I guess everything is personalized to the individual right so we've already met some of our residents and we're already engaging with them getting to know them getting to know their preferences um and it's just grabbing all of that information that we get and plus getting to know us as well and then bringing that all together to have that huge sense of uh a community on board definitely and all of our teammates as well I mean they come from different uh Cruise Brands um and all of them come with different levels of experience um but the the one important thing that we do have is time because normally you're expected to deliver an experience within a 7-Day or 2 we period now you get to deliver an experience uh for a lifetime yeah yeah I would say the grand Piers one which would be um one of our like uh French alternative dining uh restaurants um and then um the conference center looks really beautiful I mean I remember when I first walked in there so it's an area where you can actually um work okay um uh the the show lounges The Neptunes and we'll be showcasing a lot of the entertainment I think these are areas where um we'll be able to bring in local um entertainment on board uh which would be quite tailored to destinations where we go to the greatest thing um that I enjoy the most about working on board this particular ship is that um we have uh the likes of Kathy and Mike um the the owners so they always have um great ideas um so I look forward to collaborating a little bit more um with them to have access to the CEO is a little bit different but um it's nice to wake up and and go for a coffee uh with the owners of The Vessel and and discuss um everyday matters normally of course with with all businesses there's a hierarchy um but you know you walk out of an elevator and you see Mike and you ask a question you get an immediate answer so um yeah things kind of um a little bit more um personable uh let's say um and they kind of understand um the they they kind of understand what we need from them as well um and it's getting those immediate answers um to get the ship ready it's all uh very new but it's all very exciting um and again I've been on board the good part 3 months now it's almost for me like um when you grow a plant right so you have your soil and you have your seed and you water it and now I'm seeing the actual plant grow so I I really and truly hope um to see the ship sail away into the sunset before I go home on vacation and for me that will be the real seal of everything that we've actually um accomplished on board yeah especially from my team anyway yeah like the other day I mean um when we flooded a dock I mean that was I mean I had to I think everybody actually had their cell phones out um to touch water after several months in the dry dock um was quite an experience yeah for everybody and it also gives us that that sense that we're actually um all the great work that we're doing it's um it's all coming to life now yeah and that we're not just one step ahead we're now 10 20 steps ahead from where we were several months ago yeah been quite a bit of a journey um just seeing the excitement on um the faces of our residents as well as the crew um almost every single day we put Blood Sweat and Tears into the vessel um so um we're all very excited for the the final day to come when it does um and welcoming the first individuals and seeing people settle into their own homes um switching everything on right the ship is has been in pause for a good part of uh 4 years um so that is really a day that we're all looking forward to yeah [Music] [Music]