Starring in My Own “STAR” Training

January 27, 2012

The say the best way to learn is to teach the subject. But I never thought the first Celebrity course that I would teach would be a required course for all new crew members that I had not yet taken. It is called the STAR training, and is the fundamental class for teaching the Celebrity service standards. It is at the heart of everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that we do.

Celebrity invests heavily in training of our crews, which is one of the greatest contributors to our success. In the first two weeks onboard everyone crew member is required to attend nine courses including several on safety, security, ethics, environment, service and the company brand. The course schedule is set in place before each cruise, and all who have not yet attending the requisite training are scheduled. If you join mid-cruise, as I did in Antigua, you simply pick up with the next offering, and continue forward till you’ve completed each course. Since STAR training is one of the first classes we teach that had already been offered on my sign-on cruise. So, I was scheduled to take it on this last voyage.

By, then, of course, I had become an experienced Celebrity crew member, having been on board for a total of eleven days! So Laura asked me if I simply wanted to teach the course and kill two birds with one stone. I would become STAR certified and get my first full facilitation under my belt at the same time. I spent the night before preparing the 90 minute seminar, and boldly entered the training room the next day. I was so tempted to begin the class with the line from the pilot, Rex, in the Star Tours ride at Disney.

“Is this your first flight in space? Well, it’s mine, too!”  However, with 20 students from 6 countries in the class, this was not the way to inspire confidence. So, instead, as I often tell the forensics students, I acted like I’d been there before. The class is straightforward, fast-paced, and integrates a STAR board game to get some healthy competition fueling the learning.  With plenty of opportunity to interject stories to illustrate our guest service principles, I was in my element. The class engaged quickly and the session flew by.

And I received a standing ovation!  Okay, they did need to stand up to leave anyway . . . but they actually applauded when I was done. One of the students, Jaroslav, a young bartender from Ukraine, told me it was the best training class he had ever been in. This from a young man who had never been on ships, and had been too seasick to stay in the safety class on his first day. I guess what made it great was the fact that he wasn’t vomiting!

Since then I have taught Diversity, Mentoring, and conducted both the Sign-off and Sign-on trainings! I will add Business Ethics and Zero Tolerance (sexual ethics) and New Hire Orientation this cruise. I plan to take over the leadership development modules soon, thereafter.

Oh yeah . . . and I earned my Silver Star pin that shows I know how to deliver exceptional guest service.

And the adventure continues . . .