Episode 1
Cruise Convos | Alex Zeitz, Virgin Voyages
Join Claudine Pohl for this all new season of Cruise Convos - here on Seatrade Cruise Talks!
For the very first episode, Claudine catches up with good friend Alex Zeitz, Director of Customer and Employee Experience at Virgin Voyages to learn more about him and his journey in the cruise industry.
Don't miss Claudine & Alex discussing what Virgin is all about and what it is really like to take a Virgin Voyages cruise - but also what it is like to work on board?
Alex shares with us some of the things that Virgin do for their crew to make life on board a home - and creating a culture of belonging at Virgin Voyages which encourages their staff to be themselves!
Transcript
What is currently happening in our cruise industry today? Join me for as we discover Cruise Convos and learn from cruise industry leaders across the globe, all within 28 minutes! I am
Claudine Pohl:Claudine pohl, I'm the host of Cruise Convos. Join me in conversation with Alex Zeitz, Director of Customer and Employee Experience at Virgin Voyages. Tune in, we're gonna discover the uniqueness of
Claudine Pohl:Virgin Voyages. I am so excited to welcome our very first guest to Cruise Convos, someone who was on Cruise Convos before a really great friend and someone I absolutely love and admire. Alex, please
Claudine Pohl:introduce yourself to everybody listening today.
Alex Zeitz:Yeah, I'm so happy to be here as well, Claudine. So my name is Alex Zeitz. I work with Virgin Voyages currently, and I'm the Director of Eperience. So covering everything from book to
Alex Zeitz:board, as we like to say. So as soon as our sailors or customers book all the way until they get on board and including supporting our amazing first mates are what the industry calls our travel
Alex Zeitz:agents.
Claudine Pohl:I love it. Alex, I want to, again, say thank you for being here.
Alex Zeitz:My pleasure.
Claudine Pohl:And I want to dig a little bit deeper, I want to get people to get to know you, I want people to know who you are, understand the brand a little bit. And to really see, you know, what
Unknown:is virgin all about? So let's start off first with how did you get into this industry. Tell us a little bit about your background?
Alex Zeitz:Yeah you know, it's such a great industry, it's one that I kind of, you know, didn't think I'd be in it as long as I am. Because you're like, Yeah, I'll try working on this ship thing. And
Alex Zeitz:I'll see how it goes. And my first contract, I was working for another cruise line out at sea, and I had never been on a cruise before I never thought about it. And it was something that was just kind
Alex Zeitz:of presented to me as an opportunity. And you know that energy of you get one life, go ahead and do it and try it. And so I have done it. And that was for, um, Holland America Line, almost, let's see,
Alex Zeitz:almost 20 years ago, that I had that opportunity. You know, flash forward, I worked for Disney and its parks around the world in Florida, as well as in Tokyo. And then I had the really great
Alex Zeitz:opportunity to go to Disney Cruise Line and Adventures by Disney, where I really got into the corporate side of the business, learning lots of different things, managing terminal operations on the
Alex Zeitz:east coast of the US and in Europe. And then also then later on premium services, handling everything from media events, to weddings, to travel agent relationships, before I had the great opportunity
Alex Zeitz:to go to Virgin \voyages, almost about four and a half, almost five years ago in the beginning days of Virgin Voyages. So it's been a great journey. And you know, I've definitely found my spot,
Alex Zeitz:working with other companies is really kind of set me up for success and met some amazing people in the industry. But I kind of found the brand that kind of fits with who I am and what I love to bring
Alex Zeitz:to the you know, our customers or as you call them, sailors.
Claudine Pohl:That is great. I love the Virgin brand. I'm telling you, I'm currently supposed to be on a Virgin cruise we have our online community group is on Virgin, right now doing a whole team
Claudine Pohl:cruise together. And I've been seeing some pictures, they're having a blast. Alex, talk to me a little bit when you joined Virgin, brand new and where you are now almost five years, I imagine tons has
Claudine Pohl:just changed within five years. And things that you've had in the pipeline, you're seeing it come into life, like what has that been like for you to be there from the beginning. And to journey along?
Alex Zeitz:I think for me, that's what's been some of the most exciting energy around working at Virgin Voyages to go from a place where you have a blank slate and that many of us in our careers get
Alex Zeitz:that opportunity where it's like start here and just go ahead and do it right. Here's the data set. Here's the information about who we're going after. We've worked with, you know, Virgin Group, as
Alex Zeitz:well as Bain Capital in the beginning to really design what we thought was going to be an epic experience. And you know, obviously everyone would say this about their own company they work for but we
Alex Zeitz:really delivering that I think we're about I would say 15 months into operations with Scarlet Lady and about five months into operation with Valiant Lady. And it's just amazing to see that we have
Alex Zeitz:people coming back to us 6, 7, 8, 10 times in that time period. It's a testament. I've never been a parent by picture kind of similar to being a parent, that sense of you. You create this thing and
Alex Zeitz:you put it out into the world and you kind of like what is it going to be like and what are people going to react to and how are they going to react to it? And it's really been positive. I think in
Alex Zeitz:the beginning we were kind of the new kid at school right? I think you know that I think about that typical American movie where the high schooler comes in and and the new gun comes in and kind of the
Alex Zeitz:popular kids look at you and they kind of push you aside and they do things to kind of get in your way, and we have come forward and say, no this is who we are! We are we're coming in, we're going to
Alex Zeitz:be, we encourage everyone to be themselves. And that authentic energy has really come through in everything. But I mean, to go back to the beginning of your question, it's really been such a great
Alex Zeitz:journey to be part of something to say, this is how the energy is going to be to present it to, you know, board of directors, and to our SLT and things like that. And to go through and say, This is
Alex Zeitz:what I think will be the best thing and then to watch it come to fruition, and to have customers actually love it is just really exciting, and really amazing career moment as well, as a personal
Alex Zeitz:moment.
Claudine Pohl:For sure. I recall talking to one of our friends, we both know who he is, I won't mention his name. We both love this guy. He works in the cruise industry, not with Virgin. He's a fan
Claudine Pohl:of Virgin.
Alex Zeitz:Yes!
Claudine Pohl:I think him and his partner have gone on, like, I think five virgin cruises back to back to that just like just loves the experience just loves the experience. And from talking to some
Claudine Pohl:travel advisors and travel agents, they really love the one price, you know, they can go to their customers and say, Look, this is your one price. And that's one of the things when I talk to travel
Claudine Pohl:advisors, I'm like, What do you like about this brand? What do you like just for research? Right? Of course, and this is this is probably the number one for Virgin? They're like, it's easy to sell,
Claudine Pohl:because...
Alex Zeitz:Correct?
Claudine Pohl:And that's the answer.
Alex Zeitz:And I think sometimes people get that that moment where they shop everything right? They shop all the different brands, and every brand prices themselves differently and offers different
Alex Zeitz:products. But I think one of the things I love about Virgin is that you literally can see the price and you could go on that holiday that vacation that voyage. And that's when anything else if you
Alex Zeitz:didn't want to right? Or so many other brands, you step on board and the first thing you get hit with is gratuities or there's a tip line in every purchase of beverages you want. Or you walk up to a
Alex Zeitz:bar and you like I just like to have soda because I'm not drinking, and they're perfect. We'll get that for you. And we don't have to send you somewhere else. I think when we designed everything we
Alex Zeitz:sat down, we thought were like what we want it to be like for ourself, right? If I was sending my loved ones, my family members, my friends, myself on a holiday, I don't want to deal with all that
Alex Zeitz:charged me ahead of time, that's fine. I want to know what I'm going to be spending for my holiday. And then of course, if you want to do more you can. And that's what I think is great about it. It's
Alex Zeitz:designed for, you know, everyone to go into it. And if you want to go beyond that, then you can.
Claudine Pohl:I love it absolutely have one of our friends who never cruise before, and one of our Travel Advisor friends that convinced her to cruise for the first time. And she decided to go on a
Claudine Pohl:Voyage. And it was the Virgin Voyage. And now she's on her second one right now. So she had an epic experience for sure.
Alex Zeitz:I think it really comes to life, I think with the crew on board, right? I think everyone has amazing crew, right? The industry is really in again, a general statement that the industry is
Alex Zeitz:driven by some amazing people who have helped us get through hard times who have sacrificed being away from family and friends. And I say that because I feel that the short term I did that I knew that
Alex Zeitz:feeling. But they're just amazing people, I think at Virgin Voyages, what we've done is we've allowed them to be themselves, right, we've said your service standards, this is what we expect of you,
Alex Zeitz:but also come as you, right? And then we don't have people worrying about like trying to cover a tattoo or, or trying to act like something that they're not in putting energy at that what they do do
Alex Zeitz:is put the energy at the customer or sailor that's in front of them. And it resonates you see it in our scores on the continually drive that fact that they love being there is our food and beverage.
Alex Zeitz:It's the crews that are there. And it's really is that the design and experience that we've created.
Claudine Pohl:I love that. And talk to me a little bit about some of the special things that you do onboard for your team members working your crew, you call them crew, you call them crew. And I was
Claudine Pohl:on board, I was talking to a couple of just kind of research asking, Hey, what do you like about working here? One of the things one noted was the internet. You guys help out with that? Right? What
Claudine Pohl:else? Do you guys? Do you provide special events and things to make them feel like they're home as well?
Alex Zeitz:Yeah. So I think the one of the things that's part of my gig is also the experience for our crew members, which I think just there in that statement that the person who's charged with
Alex Zeitz:driving the employee experience also has the customer experience. That's how we put it up there. So Richard Branson is very much about if we take care of the employees, or in our case crew, then they
Alex Zeitz:will take care of your customers or sailors as we call it. Yeah, I think it's such a little thing when you say like, you know, complimentary internet, but when you don't realize what it costs on other
Alex Zeitz:brands. And again, it's the way they've set them up. I don't want to sound like I'm bad mouthing, folks, that's just the way they've designed their experience. But for us, it's very much about that
Alex Zeitz:we've stripped away the stripes, right? We do know who the captain is, and the deputy captain and, and in situations of emergency or maneuvering, all those different things, everyone knows who's in
Alex Zeitz:charge, but we don't have to wear it when you walk around. Right? We use an internal system that is basically kind of like a social media platform just for internal employees. And I get emails all the
Alex Zeitz:time or texts or direct messages, you know, our CEO will our head of people will always get messages from anyone in the business which is great, because again, a lot of companies Something happens and
Alex Zeitz:by the time it gets the top ever like it's roses and unicorns and amazing and, and in our world, we can get a direct message from someone saying, this is an opportunity, we have to fix this and make
Alex Zeitz:it better. Or they'll say, You know what, this is amazing. Thank you so much I think about the holiday time and, and how you know, I drive our diversity, equity inclusion programs with a colleague of
Alex Zeitz:mine called Jill. And she and I really work together and I have a cultural elements and just the way we try to bring everyone's holidays to life and how we celebrate them, and how we, we connect to
Alex Zeitz:them, and how we do little things such as remind leadership that someone is going through a specific time period where they might be fasting, or they might be doing other things that might potentially
Alex Zeitz:affect their performance. So how do you help them through it? How do you create a culture of connection, belonging, and then quite proud that we have a belonging score of about 90, you know, and an
Alex Zeitz:average American company has a score of about 40 to 45.
Claudine Pohl:Oh WOW!
Alex Zeitz:So it's, it's coming to life. And it's not just you know, a bunch of fluff, but it's actually what people are saying on board. So I think I'm quite proud of that.
Claudine Pohl:Wow, you should be proud of that. That's huge. So you said you guys have a score of 90, and the average in companies is between 40 and 50. For feeling like they belong. Wow. And being
Claudine Pohl:part. Great job. Congratulations. Well, very, very exciting. I've been watching some really cool videos online. And I love how virgin just pushes the bar on the innovation and how to connect with
Claudine Pohl:future sailors told me this video campaign that I had watched the entire thing I was booked, I was like, I need to be on that. I need to be on there and become part of this.
Alex Zeitz:I think it's something that we really want to do to bring to life, right. And we have a new campaign called 'now we're voyaging'. And it's really about kind of connecting what it means,
Alex Zeitz:right? It takes you through the whole journey of a couple kind of enjoying themselves out at sea. And really kind of that connection of what really happens on board we bring it to life. There's the
Alex Zeitz:movement, there's the music, there's, you know, great shots of the food and beverage that we're known for, um, you know, again, no specialty restaurants on board, everything is a specialty restaurant
Alex Zeitz:that included. So I think that that comes to life there. People who are relaxing out in the pools, the multiple pools you know in the ship and then half area. You see kind of that nighttime activity
Alex Zeitz:come to life. I love that the couple that are, you know might be what people don't think is a traditional Virgin Voyages, just couple that are a little older. And I think that's what really wanted hit
Alex Zeitz:it right. You know, every time I get the reporting I see everywhere from 18 to we've had all the way up to 98 year olds on board our ships. And I think that that was something that the industry, you
Alex Zeitz:know, wanted to pinpoint as to being a certain specific age. And we really haven't become that specific age that they wanted us to be our sweet spots where they come in between that 35 to 55 age. But
Alex Zeitz:you know, we always say we're kind of young at heart, and the whole video kind of comes together and looking like that energy of just that music fun. You know, great holiday. But there's also the
Alex Zeitz:moments of chill and relaxation, which I think is something that people have started to learn that we do well as as well.
Claudine Pohl:Yes, I love it. It's funny, you mentioned that because I was talking with my mom, now, my mom's 75. And I was showing her different brands and showing her little clips. And I said which
Claudine Pohl:cruise lines is more you which one do you like? And it's funny, because mom's a little 'wooo'. She's out there. Like she likes to have fun. She said, I like the red one. I'm like, she's like, Yeah.
Claudine Pohl:And I said, Why do you like it? She said, I think if I go on there I will feel young again. And it's stuck with me. I'm like, You know what? People are getting older. But yet they want to feel like,
Claudine Pohl:you know what, I am younger, I can have this experience. Right? So that's stuck with me. I'm like, Wow, mom, that's interesting. So you're, you're hitting it!
Alex Zeitz:Well, thank you. I think it's about right, who doesn't love to feel that energy, that excitement, that connection? That that kind of that feeling you have inside you like, Oh, this is it.
Alex Zeitz:This is the girls night out that I haven't had them forever, or this is my time with my partner, you know, a loved one, or it's also the adults, right that now they're their children are over, you
Alex Zeitz:know, 18 they, you know, they're still a big trend in United States and anything in Canada as well, where adult parents will take their adult children, right. They're like, Hey, I love you. This is
Alex Zeitz:great. This life has been so good. I'm able to do that. And they do things like this where they go there. And you know, I love children. I have lots of nieces and nephews, I came from Disney where
Alex Zeitz:there's amazing children, but this product is adult by design. So because of that everyone goes and they let their hair down. And they don't worry about those things. They lay like they connect engage
Alex Zeitz:in a different way.
Claudine Pohl:Absolutely. That's a great point. Another friend of mine is writing about what cruise line would be good just for adults. And I'm like, Hey, you want to go Virgin! This is it!
Alex Zeitz:No, it's definitely a thing. Right? We see that. And I think some people will be getting like how you can make it work and how are you going to fill those ships and you know, we are doing
Alex Zeitz:well at it, you know, some of our new itineraries that are going from, you know, Athens all the way down to where I'm at right now to sit. I'm in Auckland in New Zealand right now, and continually
Alex Zeitz:changing and going down those voyages or selling out, you know, some of the fastest ones. That combination of went around the world and adult by designed and that crew experience.
Claudine Pohl:I love it. So Natasha Salzedo posted on LinkedIn new itineraries for 2023! Share something, what do we need to know Alex?
Alex Zeitz:I don't know. I think you know what... 1, I love Natasha, I love that she's sharing that great input there.
Claudine Pohl:I love her.
Alex Zeitz:She's one of the best. I love working with her. So I would say, you know, starting our launch of operations in Athens is gonna be amazing, you know, the departures from there. We know what
Alex Zeitz:does overnight in Mykonos, you know, kind of bring it to life, our long stays in Santorini. So most lines are out by, you know, four and five in the afternoon. We're staying too much later in the day.
Alex Zeitz:Those vibes are great up there. I think, you know, Kotor, for sailing to Kotor, in Montenegro after the departure from Croatia, the day prior is quite lovely. I think returning back to Barcelona, I
Alex Zeitz:mean, it's a fan favorite, right? There's a reason why, you know, the it's one of the biggest ports of the Mediterranean. I mean, really honing in on some of the things you've learned in our first
Alex Zeitz:season to make sure we amplify certain ports, and you know, give other ports opportunity to shine, I think, also really the departures from Athens to a repositioning to a new location, the world,
Alex Zeitz:which would be Australia, New Zealand...
Claudine Pohl:Yes!
Alex Zeitz:I think that that's really going to be really exciting. And I think we're bringing the brand to a new place that is quite familiar with a Virgin Group, you know, down here in Australia,
Alex Zeitz:New Zealand, Richard has had many businesses, from airlines, to phone companies, to internet providers to TV channels and things. And so I think that our brand is really going to resonate here. And
Alex Zeitz:we're seeing it right in the sales as well as just the popularity and even when we walk into site visits here, in the region, people are like, Oh, we know who you are. We're excited. You're coming.
Alex Zeitz:We've heard you're coming, you're changing it up. You know, we've had the same players down here. So I really think in 23. At the end of the year, we'll see a lot of activity between Athens, Dubai,
Alex Zeitz:Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.
Claudine Pohl:That is amazing. Congratulations to you, thank you for all that you're doing and to the entire team. You guys never stop, do not stop. There's always something new and exciting. I love
Claudine Pohl:the brand. And I will openly say it because I do. And I'm pretty sure your entire team knows that I love Virgin.
Alex Zeitz:We love having you around. Definitely want to get you back on board.
Claudine Pohl:And we're gonna finish up shortly here. I want to ask you, you know, Richard Branson is such a huge player, he saw this vision. He's such a leader. And I love that he goes on board. And
Claudine Pohl:just like you see videos of him talking to people, the surprise visits, he has his birthday on there to right? Lots of fun things. And one of the questions is one ask you and I'm asking guests who
Claudine Pohl:come on is, what is one thing that you would tell your younger self? Looking at you now? And then reflecting back to when you were younger? What piece of advice would you give yourself?
Alex Zeitz:Wow, I love that, you know, I had kind of one of those moments on my last flight, right? I've been lucky enough to travel a lot of places as part of making developing shore things or shore
Alex Zeitz:excursions as the industry traditionally calls it. And I'm on one of my last flights. Actually, I had that moment of like, do you remember that the little kid the little Alex who was was 10 years old,
Alex Zeitz:on the plane, looking up at the people, you know, doing business and looking for those things and wishing that like some day you'll travel the world and, you know, create connections and bring a brand
Alex Zeitz:somewhere new and do business. And I really had that moment on the plane of like, you know, looking at the window, maybe a little emotional element and just kind of tearing up and thinking that you
Alex Zeitz:did it. You're here you're doing that. And I think to flip to the question you asked is say yes, and try things and push yourself and don't second guess your abilities, and live every day to its
Alex Zeitz:fullest. I think that those all sound very cliche, but I 100% in on them. And I think that that's exactly what I'd say it's enjoy. live every moment to its fullest. And you can do it and you should do
Alex Zeitz:it.
Claudine Pohl:Well, I got chills. I love it. I got chills, because I know it comes from your heart, Alex. Yeah, definitely one of the most real people that I know, like what you see, and what you
Claudine Pohl:project is authentic. You don't put up different faces or anything like that. You are who you are. Thank you so much, you know, for taking the time today to share with us. Why don't you leave us with
Claudine Pohl:anything you want us to know about Virgin, anything new, anything at all, and we'll finish it up there.
Alex Zeitz:I just want to share that, you know, at Virgin Voyages, we've got some amazing experiences out there. We'd love to bring those who haven't been in the industry to come see the industry. So
Alex Zeitz:I think it's a great way for us to connect to those who have never thought about our industry. We're proud about that. And I look forward to where we go with Brilliant Lady in the future and keep your
Alex Zeitz:eye out, there's some fun announcements coming up.
Claudine Pohl:That's awesome. Well, Alex, thank you so much for being part of our very first Cruise Convos podcast. It's an honor.
Alex Zeitz:My pleasure. Thank you so much.
Claudine Pohl:Take care! The compensation of Alexander's dice for Virgin Voyages. I love learning about his journey into the cruise industry years ago. Now he joined Virgin Voyages just about five
Claudine Pohl:years ago, and how he has been there from the start. Wow. I also love learning about how they engage with their teams all over. And I'm excited to see all these new itineraries all over the world. I
Claudine Pohl:want to thank you, the listeners, this show would not be possible if we wouldn't have you listening in. So please continue to join the fun! Join us on all our platforms. I look forward to bringing you
Claudine Pohl:so many more EPIC guests. And if you think you'd be a good gas, let me know I'd love to have you. Now I leave you with this. Remember I asked Alex, what would you tell your younger self? That's your
