Fakarava, South Pacific atoll for its remoteness and beauty.

Bora Bora for the most beautiful water in the world.

Iles des Saintes for its quiet charm.

I’ve got a lot more favorites!

What is a typical sea day like for you?
A sea day is usually a little bit more calm than a port day. We usually have a morning meeting, then we start the activities. Mostly there are a lot of sport activities like mast climbing, gymnastics, aquagym, etc., but also additional programs like treasure hunts and quizzes.

I prefer to do paperwork on these days because I never leave the ship like the other days for excursions. So I have the maximum time to do the paperwork. On the other hand, its also a great day to do lectures because everyone is on board. The lectures are about historical subjects, etc.

What is a typical port day like for you?
In port we have a lot more activities and I have to be in many different places. The most important thing is that the tender service is working properly. We have tenders going in and out for excursions and everyone has to be in the right place at the right time. So I am on the ship doing paperwork, leaving the ship to meet the excursion agents, going back to the ship and writing the program, going back to shore and picking up the excursion again…

Besides that, there are a lot of water sports activities as well, either from the ship or from the beach which take place at the same time as other activities.

I don’t really have a typical day. Most of the activities strongly depend on the arrival and departure time, so I might either start with an excursion in the morning or with the conception of the next daily program or with a lecture, sports activity, dance class, quiz, paperwork … Usually I start very early in the morning and try to finish as much work as possible, then I take a little break after lunch or go out myself and then I start again in the afternoon. After the evening entertainment “the job is done” but I like to stay with the guests in the bar and talk to them.

What activities do the guests seem to enjoy?
As there is a very wide range of activities, almost every guest can find the perfect entertainment for himself or for herself — from fruit carving to knot tying. Usually the “special” activities are very much appreciated, such as mast climbing, the photo tender around the ship, engine room visit, talent show … It depends on the type of passengers, but usually they like everything that makes the ship and the cruise special and everything that is personal like the talent show. The don’t want to watch a movie on tv, they appreciate more the entertainment where they are in a direct contact with the crew.

What are your favorite kinds of activities to arrange?
I always try to find the corresponding activities for the type of passengers. I think excursions with a historical background are quite interesting, but also typical sailing ship activities like mastclimbing. I am personally very much into scuba diving and sailing in general. My favourite activity is actually being on deck when we have the sailaway. Still after many cruises its so impressive to stand on deck and listen to the sailaway music while seeing the lights fading away.

There are many different things:
Organization/Coordination:
* Organization of the whole daily program. This means that I put together all activities from the different departments, depending on the destination, arrival, departure, availability, etc.
* Check all activities with the people in charge (e.g. mastclimbing has to be approved by the captain, etc.)

Excursions:
* Promotion and presentation of all shore excursions, recommendation of the right excursion for the particular passenger
* Confirmation and cancellation of the excursions with the local agents
* Escort the groups to the meeting points (in advance: check landing place, accessibility for buses, etc.)
* Organization of an appropriate tender service for the excursions depending on the number of participants
* Administration of the excursions

Entertainment:
* Organization of the other entertainment activities (knot tying with the rigger, dance class, cocktail demonstration, etc.)
* The entertainment has to be the right combination depending on the type of passengers (nationality, age, interests, culture, destinations…). So there is no week that has the same program, it actually changes every day and it has to be adapted to all the passengers so that everyone has the maximum opportunities to enjoy the cruise.
* Evening entertainment: talent show, fashion show, line dancing contest, ship’s quiz, music quiz, karaoke, pirate night…

Shore operations:
* Organization of transfers for the guests at the end of the cruise
* Information about all the destinations (going to the tourist office, providing the guests with maps, collecting materials about every place, etc.)

Embarkation/Disembarkation:
* Supervision of all embarkation and disembarkation processes
* Transfers

Sports:
* Organization of a varied sports program for the guests

Anna is quite the multi-tasker! We’re lucky to have her on board!

When I was 11 years old, my mother went on a cruise with me on the Star Flyer. She actually thought that there are only old people on the ship but she wanted me to come with her. I was looking forward to that cruise although I had no idea how it was going to be like.

I will never forget this moment when I came out of the cruise terminal in Athens and saw that beautiful ship the first time. It made me speechless and I still have this picture in my mind. This cruise was the best week of my life, also for my mom.

From that day on, I always told my mother that I want to work on this ship when I’m grown up. First she was laughing at me because it sounded like other young girl’s dreams like “I want to become a princess one day” and so on. After a couple of other cruises on the Star Flyer, my wish to work there became very serious. After I finished school, I just applied for a position in the Sports Team, as I am very much into sailing and water sports. It was worth a try I thought. First I wasn’t successful because I couldn’t offer a long working period. But all of a sudden, the evening before my final exam at high school, I got another offer for joining the Sports Team on the Royal Clipper.

So I sailed in the Med for a couple of months in 2009 and that was the best time of my life, I enjoyed it so much. As I am studying international event management and marketing I thought about becoming a cruise director one day because it’s very much related to what I am studying so I just applied again.

Now I interrupted my studies for a while in order to take this fantastic opportunity and work as a cruise director.

We also asked Anna (as we ask all of our well-traveled crew) about her favorite part of the world. She responded:

I am very curious and looking forward to seeing Costa Rica. So far, I have only sailed in the Mediterranean with Star Clippers and there my favourite area was definitely the Adriatic Sea. I love Croatia and I was very impressed by the Fjord of Kotor in Montenegro. Apart from that, I also love Sweden and I might move to Sweden one day as well. The most important thing is that its close to the water.

Anna told us a lot more about what a typical day is like for her on board, so check back tomorrow to read part 2 of “Meet Crusie Director Anna Laeng.”

Dear Star Clippers,

My husband and I went on the Tahiti cruise from 6 to 13 December 2009. This was our 7th cruise with Star Clippers and we had a wonderful time.

I am attaching some of my favourite pictures. They are very special to me because Tahiti and her islands was a dream come true for us and our favourite spot was the Motu where the beach BBQ took place. They are even more special, as they are the last pictures of my husband. He died unexpectedly on January 15, 2010.

Thank you very much for these wonderful memories – I hope to be back on board eventually…

Best regards,
Roda Gross

My daughter and I went on a trip to Tahiti as a graduation from high school gift in July 2009. It was the best trip we have ever taken and we have traveled a lot.

We had such a great time and loved the ship so much that when we moved to another house and had to remodel it, we added a huge print of the Star Flyer as the focal point of a wall. This isn’t a great photo of it — it looks much better in person and we get all kinds of comments on it. No one can believe it is the actual ship we were on in Tahiti. It doesn’t show the size well but the wall is about 15 feet across and the picture is about 5 feet high and 6 feet wide. It is a great decoration of the room which is huge itself. — Sandra Hall.

Photos from the cruise:

In the Crow's Nest after climbing the mast.

The ATV excursion in Moorea to the top — the best excursion ever.