Cruise Convos | Simone Maraschi, Cruise Gate Hamburg

Claudine Pohl: 00:00:02

What is currently happening in our cruise industry today? Join me for Cruise Convos as we discover and learn from cruise industry leaders across the blue all within 28 minutes! Cruise community this is Claudine with lemoneight and we are part of Cruise Convos today. And I am speaking with my good friend Simone, Managing Director of Cruise Gate Hamburg, Simone welcome on board!

Simone Maraschi: 00:00:35

Thank you very much. Very nice to see you Claudine!

Claudine Pohl: 00:00:38

Such an honor to have you. On I heard you were just on a cruise. Tell me a little bit more.

Simone Maraschi: 00:00:46

Yeah, well, I just got back from vacation. And yeah, we went on a cruise to Iceland, which has been amazing. I mean, the destination is just incredible sceneries and landscapes that you only of course see in Iceland. And, you know, we were in a small group with with family and friends. And I guess going on a cruise is really the best way to get to spend some times together. And

Claudine Pohl: 00:01:18

I saw some of your photos on Instagram, and I was blown away.

Simone Maraschi: 00:01:25

Yeah, amazing, amazing land. And I mean, of course you get to spend, you know, a day, but it inspires a lot. And I think we all agree after that - we're going back to spend a long time there, because it's just a incredible country with so many things to see and so much nature and landscapes to discover. So we had a great time.

Claudine Pohl: 00:01:49

So let's talk a little bit. You are from Italy, and you're working in Germany. Tell me a little bit.... How did you start in the cruise industry? Like, is this something you wanted to do when you were little?

Simone Maraschi: 00:02:05

Yeah, I mean, I guess, when you are in your early 20s finished with studying, it sometimes can be bit confused about what your plans are for life. So I don't think that working in the cruise industry has been my aim since the beginning. But I mean, I always wanted to go abroad. And that's also during my studying. So after I was finished, I decided to move Germany and I started

Claudine Pohl: 00:03:46

That's amazing, Simone, I did not know that you were working as an agent before. And I just think of the cross training and the all the experience that you're bringing over from knowing how that works into your new role now wow, that's amazing.

Simone Maraschi: 00:04:03

This, that's right Claudine, that's right, because you basically get to see understand the operations behind a call in a port, which are really complex, or the logistic going on on the pier. And the processes of course of you know, disembarking embarking the guest handling the luggage. And yeah, that gives you a really bright picture of the of the industry of the of the business

Claudine Pohl: 00:04:46

Congratulations. I love it. And I imagine you've implemented some things in the port because of your knowledge from being an agent. So that's great. I love it. So tell me Hamburg is such a popular cruise and river cruise destination. And with more cruise calls now than ever! Congrats, thank you now tell us... Yeah, tell us what makes Hamburg such a fantastic destination for

Simone Maraschi: 00:05:12

Yeah, I mean, first of all, I like to maybe emphasize that we've become a year round destination. And this is quite amazing, because we're talking about Northern Europe where weather conditions in winter, of course, change. But since now the past two years we have regular calls during winter, with AIDA and MSC,

Claudine Pohl: 00:05:33

So how long is your winter?

Simone Maraschi: 00:05:35

It depends what you mean with winter.... But...

Claudine Pohl: 00:05:38

Exactly, because I live in Canada, you realize that!

Unknown: 00:05:40

But I mean, starting from end of October, beginning of November, it gets pretty dark in Hamburg and then you know, the atmosphere change because you have then the Christmas decorations coming up. So the you have a beautiful kind of new atmosphere, which which is really nice to visit. This was the case when when we saw that guests were coming back excited and happy about the travel in

Claudine Pohl: 00:07:50

Amazing. It sounds like there's a lot to do a lot to see. And I hear the food's pretty good as well. So checks off everything. Congrats on the year long, cruising that year round cruising. That's incredible. There's a lot of destinations who are trying to that are striving to that goal. And you've done that was what were some of the challenges that you guys had at first with

Simone Maraschi: 00:08:21

I mean, weather conditions can be very challenging. Strong wind, water we have we have water tides in Hamburg, so you need always to be aware of weather changing. And then I've also Plan B, if something arise. The thing Claudine about winter cruising is that, you know, Germany is a strong source market for cruising before the pandemic, we were number two after United States. And

Claudine Pohl: 00:09:41

Yeah. And I find that people want to explore, like people just really want to see and tap into things that they may not have done before. And I think this gives such a great opportunity to do that. That's great.

Simone Maraschi: 00:09:54

And it's an it's a different atmosphere as I was saying, I mean, I took myself, I cruised with my son in December and, and I tell you in each port that we stopped, we had Christmas market we had Christmas atmosphere Christmas decoration. And and that's beautiful because you see it in a different different ways in different countries. So I invite everyone that has taken the same

Claudine Pohl: 00:10:25

I love it. That's so awesome. Simone. Let's talk a little bit Tell me a little bit what tell the audience about some of the initiatives infrastructures at the port that you were excited about, like anything new. Share a little bit with us?

Unknown: 00:10:41

Sure. Well, I mean Hamburg has always had the focus on sustainability and therefore when we talk about onshore power Hamburg was the first port in 2016 to provide an onshore power system in Europe. And with that in mind, we are now finishing the second onshore power system which will be ready in September 2023. And I'm extremely excited about this because it shows the you know the

Claudine Pohl: 00:12:33

and Simone. You know one of the biggest things of successful cruise destinations are having all the stakeholders working together.... Are you at the airport right now? Well - behind the scenes for our Cruise Convos audience on your way to.... Where are you going right now?

Simone Maraschi: 00:12:57

Si, I've come back from vacation, but I'm I'm traveling to Tallinn. Today I'm on my way to the Cruise Europe council meeting. And that's really exciting because it's a very important thing about you know, the cruise industry association and networking. So I'm going to the meeting!

Claudine Pohl: 00:13:18

You're on your way! It sounds like, all the stakeholders, the government, the port, everybody's working together in order to create something very sustainable successful for cruise guests and for the destination itself. One thing I wanted to add is that I met one of the ladies I forget her name, but she surprised me. She was at cruise 360 in Fort Lauderdale. And she mentioned

Simone Maraschi: 00:14:05

I'm happy you're mentioning this Claudine, because I think to become a successful destination. It takes a lot of collaboration within the destination and within all stakeholders and what we're doing in Hamburg is quite unique. We have a really strong collaboration with local tourism company and we have an association actually includes all the local hotels, but also cruise lines.

Claudine Pohl: 00:15:17

Yeah, very important. You guys are doing an excellent job and talking about events and being seen. Listen, so Seatrade Europe is in Hamburg this September I will be there! I can't wait. And you know that you also you also have what is it called Hamburg Cruise Days happening at the port? Tell us a little bit more about that.

Simone Maraschi: 00:15:40

Yeah, well, again, you know, Hamburg has a very strong maritime community and and the the cruise days is a clear example how to create an event around the cruise ships because at the end, the main act of this of this weekend party which is the Hamburg Cruise Days is is the parade on the river Elbe and on the on the on the this parade we have five, six cruise ships sailing on the

Claudine Pohl: 00:17:54

Yeah, I'm gonna be saying I'm gonna check it out. And then from there, I'm flying to Qatar, so I planned it. So I will be saying for the weekend to check that out. It's awesome. I love it. Great job. You're traveling right now to an event for Cruise Europe. But for cruise Europe, you're you're part of a sustainability. What is it? You're You're a lead? What are you?

Simone Maraschi: 00:18:16

I'm the Chair. I'm the chair of the sustainability committee.

Claudine Pohl: 00:18:19

Exactly. Yes. So how did you get involved in that? And how did you get that role? And what does it mean?

Simone Maraschi: 00:18:25

Well, I think first of all, it's very important to that ports share their expertise and experiences, especially when it comes to sustainability. We are all facing a lot of challenges. And you know, now with the European regulations coming up, fit for 55, ports will have to build onshore power. So, we we have a lot of topics that needs to be discussed and we created a sustainability

Simone Maraschi: 00:18:42

Yeah! Michael McCarthy, he, hes from the Europe group there. He he he spoke so highly about you. Like he just says he does a real good leader. And I thought you know what, that's so true. Some on your such a great leader, and you're so well, yeah, you're welcome. You're so well loved in the industry. And you the way you present yourself, you're so open to everybody, you know that, like, everybody

Unknown: 00:20:47

I'm not sure about that. But about about the about the young...

Claudine Pohl: 00:21:15

No you're still young! You know what I mean, I don't think... you're still young!

Simone Maraschi: 00:21:21

I mean, but I want to say something today. So I think there are a lot of young good leaders and and, and I see a new kind of a new kind of generation of leaders can come in coming up in the industry. And that's very exciting, because we need to have the approach this maybe in some cases, different approaches and different views. And and I think this is really exciting, because

Claudine Pohl: 00:22:15

Yeah, where do you see yourself in five years? What do you think?

Simone Maraschi: 00:22:20

I don't know, honestly, I've, I'm starting to enjoy this job after you know, two years of pandemic where I couldn't really do the things that I love to do, like promoting the destination and talking to the cruise line. So I think I feel very, very well and very comfortable in the position I am, I think, I love to engage more in in the, in the, in the associations and, of

Claudine Pohl: 00:23:14

I love it. I'm gonna ask you. My very last question. Are you ready?

Simone Maraschi: 00:23:20

Yes, go ahead.

Claudine Pohl: 00:23:22

Now, Simone, if you look back in your life, what advice would you give your younger self? If you look at yourself now and then think of, you know what? Yeah, what advice would you give your younger self?

Simone Maraschi: 00:23:37

You know, I kind of mentioned that at the beginning, you know, when you when your early 20s finished with the study, most of these people don't don't really know what you know, they're still quite confused about the future. And I think that's, that's totally fine. And they shouldn't be scared. The good thing is, I mean, look at me, I started politics in Milan, and I now

Claudine Pohl: 00:25:23

I love that.

Simone Maraschi: 00:25:24

This is my last message.

Claudine Pohl: 00:25:25

This is your last message... before you board your flight!

Simone Maraschi: 00:25:29

Before boarding yes!

Claudine Pohl: 00:25:31

I love that Simone, thank you so much for being part of Cruise Convos. What an honor. I think the world of you keep shining bright, my friend. Thank you for being part of today's episode.

Simone Maraschi: 00:25:46

Thank you Claudine. Very appreciate. Thank you very much forward to see you.

Claudine Pohl: 00:25:50

See you at Seatrade!

Simone Maraschi: 00:25:52

Definitely.

Claudine Pohl: 00:25:54

Take care. Ciao.