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» Cruise Talk   » Cruise Lines   » NCL's Kevin Sheehan on "Undercover Boss"

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Author Topic: NCL's Kevin Sheehan on "Undercover Boss"
joe at travelpage
Administrator
Member # 622

posted 01-03-2011 03:18 PM      Profile for joe at travelpage   Author's Homepage   Email joe at travelpage   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Just curious if anyone else caught Norwegian Cruise Line President and CEO Kevin Sheehan on "Undercover Boss" last night?

It was the first time I saw the show and he and the cruise line came across in a postive light (no surprise there).

Best part was when he had to install the "ice skating" rink on the basketball court on Norwegian Epic. That experience convinced him to kill the project. I took a look at it when I was on board and it was a joke - not sure any real passenger every used it.

Joe at TravelPage.com


Posts: 29976 | From: Great Falls, Virginia | Registered: A Long Time Ago!  |  IP: Logged
eroller
First Class Passenger
Member # 1649

posted 01-03-2011 05:33 PM      Profile for eroller     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by joe at travelpage:
Just curious if anyone else caught Norwegian Cruise Line President and CEO Kevin Sheehan on "Undercover Boss" last night?

It was the first time I saw the show and he and the cruise line came across in a postive light (no surprise there).

Best part was when he had to install the "ice skating" rink on the basketball court on Norwegian Epic. That experience convinced him to kill the project. I took a look at it when I was on board and it was a joke - not sure any real passenger every used it.

Joe at TravelPage.com


I watched it and quite enjoyed it. Mr. Sheehan seems like a pretty cool CEO.

I must say though that sometimes I am surprised just how out of touch senior management can be. You would think they would have been well aware of the skating rink (it's not ice) and the process involved to install it when they authorized it as a feature on the ship?

Sometimes I get the feeling that NCL really didn't know what was going on with EPIC. When I think about things like the skating rink, the small sinks, the troubled faucets, and some other design deficiencies I have to wonder who signed off on it all? Please don't say "Colin Vietch" as this man certainly cannot be held accountable for everything that went wrong with EPIC, even though he has been made a scapegoat of sorts.

Ernie


Posts: 7046 | From: Miami, Florida USA | Registered: Oct 2000  |  IP: Logged
LeBarryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 5308

posted 01-03-2011 06:42 PM      Profile for LeBarryboat   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I watched the show too and enjoyed it. What puzzled me was the immense cost and logistics that must have went into bringing a film crew on two different ships at three different times. It's not easy to coordinate such a project, unless NCL was extremely involved, cooperative and generous with all the scheduling details and logistics. Mr. Sheehan is indeed a nice guy, I had a chance to interview him aboard the Epic and I could tell he seemed more down-to-earth than some other cruise line CEO's I've met. Interestingly enough, however; he is not really a "cruise" guy, he came from an entirely different background.
Posts: 1955 | From: Minnesota | Registered: Jan 2005  |  IP: Logged
SSTRAVELER
First Class Passenger
Member # 15170

posted 01-03-2011 07:24 PM      Profile for SSTRAVELER     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by eroller:

I must say though that sometimes I am surprised just how out of touch senior management can be. You would think they would have been well aware of the skating rink (it's not ice) and the process involved to install it when they authorized it as a feature on the ship?


Ernie

Actually I could see some salesman pitching them "we have this ggggggggreattttttt concept for you...." and they were so caught up in all the "firsts" for the EPIC that no one stopped and said this is going to be a pain to set up and what's more they did not seem to promote it or time it well during the day. From the show it looked like they were doing it at 4 or 5 in the afternoon .. a time when the activities start to slowdown.

There were a few misses in the show .... none the least of which is they said Kevin was in a "normal crew cabin." He was clearly in passenger cabins on both ships.

Also why did they do the "reveal" in Hawaii having to fly the people to Hawaii? I suspect they might have filmed it in the other order, i.e. EPIC first, then Pride of America and the Reveal -- but he was also if I saw it correctly in two different cabins on either the Pride or the Epic because one shot was an inside and the other an outside.

Either way lots of good publicity for NCL .... unless you looked too closely at some of the passengers who worked their way into the shots!


Posts: 757 | From: New York | Registered: May 2008  |  IP: Logged
Maasdam
First Class Passenger
Member # 3858

posted 01-03-2011 07:53 PM      Profile for Maasdam   Author's Homepage   Email Maasdam   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
It's not the first time a cruise line ceo is in that programm. Bob Dickinson (if I have his name correct) of Carnival did the same thing years ago.

Greetings Ben.


Posts: 4695 | From: Rotterdam home of the tss. Rotterdam. | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Cam J
First Class Passenger
Member # 24617

posted 01-05-2011 06:49 PM      Profile for Cam J   Email Cam J   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I saw it early this moring on Comcast's On Demand. It was pretty funny how that waitress reconized him immediately. I never really knew how hard it was to put the "ice skating" rink together and after seeing how "popular" it was im glad they decided to get rid of it.

I thought it was kinda weird how his wife lived all the way in New York and he stays in Miami.

Nice Guy, Horrible Dancer.


Cam J


Posts: 503 | From: Belvedere, CA | Registered: Jun 2009  |  IP: Logged
Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 01-05-2011 07:40 PM      Profile for Malcolm @ cruisepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Cam J:
I thought it was kinda weird how his wife lived all the way in New York and he stays in Miami.

It's normal for high flyers!


Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago!  |  IP: Logged
Beezo
First Class Passenger
Member # 1505

posted 01-10-2011 08:22 PM      Profile for Beezo   Author's Homepage   Email Beezo   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
If you are interested, you are able to watch the episode at NCL's website here:

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=UndercoverBossPromo

Regards,

Brian


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Waynaro
First Class Passenger
Member # 3484

posted 01-11-2011 12:12 AM      Profile for Waynaro   Email Waynaro   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I wondered why they decided to show PRIDE OF AMERICA first, then NORWEGIAN EPIC, when it was obviously filmed the other way around. A little detail I caught: While Kevin Sheehan said he boarded the PRIDE OF AMERICA in Maui, the footages of him with his suitcase clearly shows Honolulu.

My assumption is the filming was done on the NORWEGIAN EPIC first, then Kevin Sheehan joined the ship in Honolulu, completed the task with John the following day while the ship was in Maui. Since the POA spends two days in Maui, the revealing was done during "Captain's Hour" the following morning after the EPIC crew arrived. I was on the POA for two months in 2008 as a Deck Cadet, and if memory serves me right, crew boat drills were conducted on the second morning in Maui, and "Captain's Hour" follows the crew boat drill.

As far as the cabins he stayed in... He stayed in a passenger inside cabin on the PRIDE OF AMERICA. What was supposely his last night on the NORWEGIAN EPIC is actually him in a PRIDE OF AMERICA inside cabin (near the 33:30 mark).

Overall, it was an interesting episode. I had the chance to work with John, the deck repairman, on a few occasions. How they portayed him in the show is really how he is in person.


Posts: 6108 | From: Vallejo,CA : California Maritime Academy!!! | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged
Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 01-11-2011 04:17 AM      Profile for Malcolm @ cruisepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by eroller:

I must say though that sometimes I am surprised just how out of touch senior management can be.


That's becuse most spend their lives sitting in their 'Ivory towers' insulated from the realities of the 'shop floor'. All top managers should spend some time on the from line and not just for tV shows!

I don't suppose NCL's management actually cared how hard it was to construct the ice rink - they just wanted to boast about the facillity.

I'm sure that we all have worked with poor equipment, poor resourses or silly procedures that would instantly be changer/upgraded if the CEO had to use the!

So if you are a Manager make sure that you do not lose touch with the front line workers. After all only they can actually generate the profit for the company, you can't single-handed.

[ 01-11-2011: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]


Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago!  |  IP: Logged
Ernst
First Class Passenger
Member # 5369

posted 01-11-2011 12:37 PM      Profile for Ernst   Author's Homepage   Email Ernst   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

That's becuse most spend their lives sitting in their 'Ivory towers' insulated from the realities of the 'shop floor'[....]

So you think micromanaging every tiny aspect of the operation is the more appropriate approach for the CEO of a cruise line?


Posts: 9746 | From: Eindhoven | Registered: Jan 2005  |  IP: Logged
dmwnc1
Cruise Director
Member # 3785

posted 01-11-2011 03:13 PM      Profile for dmwnc1   Email dmwnc1   Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Ernst:
So you think micromanaging every tiny aspect of the operation is the more appropriate approach for the CEO of a cruise line?

Ernst I think you are missing Malcolms point. There is an excellent line spoken by the girl at the repelling wall that basically boils down in the workplace (CEO or not) to 'if you are going to ask your subordinates to do a task, you should be able to perform the task yourself as well'. Dont ask someone to do something that you yourself could not do. It is obvious to many laypersons how out of touch their supervisors, bosses, and CEO's are. This show has proven that time and time again. No, not mirco-manage, but be more aware of what is going on. Get out in the field and get your hands dirty.


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Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 01-11-2011 05:22 PM      Profile for Malcolm @ cruisepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Ernst:

So you think micromanaging every tiny aspect of the operation is the more appropriate approach for the CEO of a cruise line?


No Ernst, the opposite!

If I was the NCL CEO I would not need to know about the small stuff like the ice rink, but I would hope that my Managers below me were not making the staff do ridiculous/unnecessary tasks.

I appreciate that in any big organisation there is normally a very long chain of command between the chalk-face and the CEO. However I'd hope that there was a two-way information flow (both up and down the hierarchy).

In this case, Information about the staffs dissatisfaction and futility of the task (the ice rink that no one used) had obviously not travelled up-wards and/or was not being listened to. (A textbook example of the failure of a hierarchy). In this instance the Managers must have had a culture of "Do as your told".

I was once told by a Management tutor that there is a good reason the God gave Managers two ears and one mouth. They should listen twice as much as they talk.

[ 01-11-2011: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]


Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago!  |  IP: Logged
Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 01-11-2011 05:28 PM      Profile for Malcolm @ cruisepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
..I recall Carnival's Bob Dickinson did a similar show to 'Undercover Boss' some year back.

I recall that he was serving drinks on a sunny deck and sweating like a pig due to the poor breathabilty of the Hawaiian style shirt. Of course as a result the shirts were quickly re-designed, with new material and issues to all staff across the fleet.

It actually had an affect on the crews comfort and productivity.

The crew of your had suffered for several years and once again the Managers had not listened to their complaints.

[ 01-14-2011: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]


Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago!  |  IP: Logged

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