When I think about a cruise day, smooth operations often appear invisible — and that’s exactly the point. Guests rarely glimpse the flurry of phone calls as we figure out a new route around construction, the scribbled dispatch notes, or the impromptu huddle as a hundred passengers are rerouted in real time. What they see instead is calm, clarity, and a warm smile. That’s where trust is born — and that’s what our Living Lab is all about.
Every cruise season in Saint John, our Pierside Team doesn’t just show up to execute plans. We bring Aquila’s Purpose to life:
Aquila’s shining stars will light the path of excellence, inspiring meaningful connections and transformative discovery for all who work, live, and play in the cruise industry.
Those aren’t just words on a poster — they’re a daily mantra, carried in the small moments we create when things don’t go as planned. And in operations, things often don’t go exactly as planned.
I remember a morning last season where we had a medical emergency on tour. A lovely man on one of our buses became unwell quite suddenly (we learned later it was dehydration). How did our team respond? No panic. All the processes and training kicked in. The Tour Guide called 911 and then called the Cruise Manager, who called me because I was the Emergency Response person for that day. I was able to get to the bus at the same time as the ambulance, and follow the ambulance to the hospital with his wife.
Guests can be very overwhelmed in situations like this, especially when they’re not in their home country. In the end, everything worked out. The sick guest was given IV fluids and was able to return to the ship later that day. His wife felt comforted knowing that she wasn’t alone and I was there to help her figure everything out. While waiting for the ambulance, the guide made sure to collect the guests’ names and cabin numbers — details the ship and its agent needed right away. At the same time, our Cruise Manager kept the ship’s team informed with real-time updates.
That’s our Living Lab in motion. It’s more than just checklists — it’s like a symphony. As the Cruise Operations team, we are each like musicians in an orchestra, playing our part with precision and purpose. I often think of our Cruise Managers as orchestra directors: scanning the dock like a conductor at the podium, listening for harmony, ready to change the tempo when the rhythm shifts. When we all play our parts, and play together in sync, the result isn’t just seamless — it’s like a beautiful piece of music.
At Aquila, our goal is to make every cruise day appear seamless to our guests and our cruise lines, even when we’re solving problems in real time. It’s easy to think of operations as schedules, checklists and logistics. And yes, we love a good checklist! But we believe that the real magic happens when our team brings heart into the equation — when a driver waits for a late guest without complaint, or a Transport Team member holds an umbrella for someone who forgot theirs. Because what guests remember is the warmth of the welcome and smile, the reassurance when plans shift, and the feeling that they were cared for, no matter what.
That’s why I believe our Purpose lives in the hands of our Cruise Operations. Excellence isn’t what we plan on paper; it’s what we do in real time, when people need us most.
Every season, Saint John becomes our classroom. Our Living Lab teaches us new lessons in compassion, flexibility and grace. And those lessons ripple outward in the training that we do in cruise destinations around the world — inspiring destinations, tour guides, tour operators and frontline teams around the world to Aquilafy their own operations: to lead with care, to plan for everything, to have rock solid processes, to show calm in chaos, and to put human connection at the heart of everything.
When was the last time someone made things feel easy for you — even when they weren’t? I’d love to hear that story because those are the moments that inspire what we do.
#LivingLab #CruiseIndustry #OperationsExcellence #CustomerExperience #BrandLoyalty #TourismLeadership
Aquila Center For Cruise Excellence
