Unfortunately, this isn't an announcement that the Queen of England has
awarded me a knighthood (although I do think I'm worthy of the honor).
However, our recent cruise aboard Holland America Lines' MS Amsterdam led me
to believe that scenario might be a possibility.
CLICK FOR PIC Sir Kuki on His Royal Throne
As with most cruises, on this Amsterdam sailing we had many experiences we
felt were outstanding, and found a few areas we felt could use improvement.
But from my experience, Holland America has one singular strength: its
Filipino and Indonesian service staff--especially the bar and deck staff.
They truly take the effort to please a step further than other cruise lines.
In fact, their efforts can make up for shortcomings in other areas. On day
one of our cruise, every staff member I ran into approached me in a friendly
manner and introduced him or herself. During the conversation, each one made
it a point to ask my name. Even those with some language barriers took extra
time and made an extra effort to be certain they were pronouncing my name
properly before moving on.
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The next time they saw me, they would greet me by name: "Sir Kuki," they
called me for some reason (perhaps sensing my inherent nobility). This was
typical of every one of them, whether they were providing me with some kind
of service, or just greeting me when our paths crossed. Significantly, none
seemed to care if they were selling me a drink, offering me a glass of water,
or placing towels on my poolside lounger. Their interest in serving came
across as genuine.
I'm not na�ve enough to think the staff acts like this without some hope of a
gratuity, but with HAL's "no tipping required policy," there are certainly no
guarantees for them. This desire to provide outstanding service might have
been easier to understand if I had been tipping a dollar or two as I went,
but that was not the case. It appears to be simply a miracle of Holland
America's training process, combined with the natural personality of the
individuals they hire.
By the second day of the cruise, all the service staffers were referring to
me as "Sir Kuki" or "Sir MO." Even more impressive was the fact that they
didn't limit themselves to a casual greeting. Each exchange consisted of some
friendly conversation, and an offer to assist. I really began to feel like
any request I made would be carried out, as if it were a direct order from
their monarch.
I told Mrs. Kuki that I really liked the sound of "Sir Kuki." I suggested
that I could easily get used to coming home from work every day and hearing
her greet me, "Welcome home, Sir Kuki! Can I get you anything?" Her
reaction, however, led me to believe that this isn't likely to happen.
