Monday, March 8, is International Women’s Day, commemorating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It was first celebrated in 1911.
In honor of the holiday, several cruise industry players are doing much to showcase successful women, how they've overcome challenges in business and their advice for forging a successful path in their career and in life. Here's a sampling of options with several events today (most also available after-the-event on social media or online).
Cruise Holidays Raises Awareness
Travel Leaders Network is celebrating all female leaders in travel as Mimi Comfort, president and co-owner of Cruise Holidays, will moderate a virtual panel discussion at 7 p.m. ET Monday night. Cruise-focused executives will speak candidly about overcoming challenges, raising awareness against biases and taking action for equality.
Panelists will include Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, trade support and service, Royal Caribbean International; Paula Hayes, vice president of sales, the Globus family of brands, which includes Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, and Kristin Karst, co-founder and executive vice president of AmaWaterways. Registration information is available at travelleaders.zoom.us
Norwegian's Step Up, Speak Up
Norwegian Cruise Line has launched a month-long effort encouraging its employee team members to “Step Up, Speak Up, Stand Up, and Never, Ever Give Up.” Throughout this month, Norwegian Cruise Line will host speed-mentoring sessions and empowering talks with female leaders, as well as encourage team members to share their stories and show appreciation of team members around the globe.
In addition, programming will include a conversation with radio’s Danielle Monaro and Medha Gandhi of Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, an American syndicated weekday morning radio program and Norwegian Cruise Line partner.
“The past 12 months have undoubtedly been some of the most challenging in our lives,” said Harry Sommer, president and CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line. “We are happy to take this time to recognize and celebrate the women across our organization who are helping see us through this unprecedented time, and who will inevitably help lead us into a future characterized by innovation and success. Today, and every day, we want to empower all of our team members to challenge the status quo and rise to the occasion all challenges pose.”
Celebrity's Female Mariners
Globally, only two percent of all mariners are women but Celebrity Cruises has made hiring qualified female mariners a corporate mission. The number of women on its bridge teams rose from three percent to 28 percent in 2020.
Last year on March 8, 2020, Celebrity Cruises set sail on Celebrity Edge with the first ever all-female bridge and onboard leadership team. Days later, the pandemic suspended the line’s sailings indefinitely. One year later, the same women will reunite to reflect on the historic sailing, discuss the challenging year that followed, share their stories of joy and heartbreak and why it’s important to choose to challenge.
The team will gather virtually, coming from their homes across the globe and from onboard Celebrity Edge stationed in the Bahamas. The conversation will feature Captain Kate McCue, the first American female cruise ship captain, and Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, the first female president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises.
They’ll be joined by chief officer Rachel Arnold (U.K.); second officer Elizabeth Marami (Kenya); chief security officer Mor “Mia” Segev (Israel); and many other female leaders of Celebrity's shipboard departments.
Advisors can tune into Celebrity Cruises' Facebook Watch Party at noon ET Monday, March 8. During the airing of the conversation, Captain Kate will take over Celebrity Cruises’ Facebook page to take questions from the public and offer more commentary. Good to know: Celebrity says that even if advisors aren't able to attend today's presentation, they can view it later on the line's Facebook page and YouTube page.
Lutoff-Perlo emphasized that “our mantra has been to use this time away from the water to come back stronger than ever and reuniting these incredible trailblazers is a sign of that. Together, we will continue to sail beyond conventional thinking and wisdom into a new world of opportunity.”
AmaWaterways' "Sip & Sail"
AmaWaterways is inviting travel advisors and guests to a virtual "Celebration of Empowering Women on Our Rivers”-themed conversation that's one of its virtual “Sip & Sail” events at 5 p.m. Monday, March 8. It will be hosted by Karst, recently named one of 2020’s “Top 100 Female Founders” by Inc. Magazine.
Karst will be joined by Samantha Brown, AmaMagna’s godmother and television host of PBS’ "Samantha Brown’s Places to Love," as well as Chef Joanne Weir, television host of PBS’ "Plates & Places."
The women will share personal insights into their experiences within travel and tourism, highlighting their favorite river cruise journeys. Female cruise managers from AmaWaterways will also provide insider tips and personal testimonies on how to best personalize a river cruise.
This virtual “Sip & Sail” will be broadcast on Facebook Live at Facebook.com/AmaWaterways and on YouTube at YouTube.com/AmaWaterways. Travel Advisors can sign up for the event via the travel advisor portal on AmaWaterways.com. The event will also be available to view later on those two channels.
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