When Alice Toso, Project Assistant in Genoa got the opportunity to join Seabourn Pursuit’s sea trials in person, she grabbed it with both hands. Alice tells us in her own words what this experience meant to her:
“Getting the opportunity to go on board of a ship that until now I had only seen on paper or from land was incredible. For me it was a unique opportunity to explore decks and areas that are not normally accessible even to guests, to see tests that I hear about on a daily basis and to better understand some aspects of my colleagues’ work.
“It was great to get a taste of life on board by eating in the crew mess and moving between decks via the crew stairs, it may seem like nothing but for a lover of cruise ships like me it is really fascinating to abandon the usual costumer’s point of view. I also finally got to wear the CCS overalls!”
“Sea trials are a great opportunity for doing team building without having to involve colleagues in “classic” activities such as dinners or rafting: being all together in the middle of the sea for a week really allows us to get to know each other better… Can you imagine yourself having a tea after dinner with your colleagues, looking at the sea and maybe wearing pyjamas? I’ve also met some of the Seabourn team members, it was great to hear about their working days between one penguin excursion and the next, admiring their photos in Antarctica, dreaming of one day kayaking among the glaciers like the Seabourn Venture’s lucky passengers are doing.
“All of this was possible thanks to my building manager, who appreciates the enthusiasm and curiosity of all the members of his team. He saw my presence on board as an opportunity not an interruption to the work I normally do in the office.”
“It may seem too cheesy but I’m really grateful to Riccardo and to all my colleagues for this and the other awesome opportunities I have had thanks to my job in Corporate Shipbuilding, even if it doesn’t involve glaciers, penguins or polar bears (can you feel my envy here?) I haven’t had one single boring working day in three and a half years together.”
We also caught up with Riccardo who explained why he supported this opportunity for Alice:
“Alice’s enthusiasm for her job and cruise ships in general is infectious and I saw Seabourn Pursuit’s sea trials as the perfect professional development opportunity for her to get a better understanding of what happens at this stage of the build of a ship.
“Her role in the office is to support the site team in all aspects of their jobs so to be able to offer her the opportunity to expand her knowledge and experience first-hand what she often only hears or reads about was too good to miss. To hear just how much it has meant to her is really inspiring.”