Just a year ago, all Celebrity Cruises cruises were run by female crews. Unique and interesting. It shows that women have a role that is no less big than men. That’s how they commemorate International Women’s Day.
A year later, on March 8 to be precise, the female team members met again but virtually to talk about history, share experiences of happiness and sadness, and think about the future of the world tourism cruise industry.
They greet each other from homes around the world, including the Celebrity Edge crew stationed in the Bahamas. Captain Kate McCue, captain of America’s first female cruise ship; and Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO of the first woman Celebrity Cruises, contributed to the conversation.
Chief Officer Rachel Arnold (UK); 2nd Officer Elizabeth Marami (Kenya); Chief Security Officer Mor Segev (Israel); Hotel Director Niina Huataniemi; Assistant Director of Hotel Milana Dortangs; Guest Relations Director Julie Sherrington (UK); and Cruise Director Sue Denning (UK) also did not miss to join.
Understandably, after celebrating International Women’s Day last year the pandemic came, so you could no longer repeat the voyages that were all run by women. Never mind that, the shipping alone is not fully operational yet and people are still postponing their trip because the pandemic is not over yet.
Discussing about cruise tours is a virtual solution. “Our mantra has been to use this time away from the water to come back stronger than ever and to reuniting these incredible trailblazers is a sign of that,” Lutoff-Perlo explained.
The women involved are very powerful people. Why not, of the total number of seafarers that exist today, only 2% are female seafarers. But Celebrity Cruises has been working to increase its female team from the current 3% to 28%.
In the spirit of International Women’s Day, they are eager to return to the sea to travel around the world with travellers who are thirsty for entertainment, fed up with the state of the prolonged pandemic. “We will continue to sail beyond thought,” said Lutoff-Perlo.
