This #MeetUsMonday, we're introducing you to a few of our senior crewmembers from the Vessel Operations Team.
Between our winter season and peak summertime tour season, the number of crew within Argosy Cruises can swell almost threefold. A lot of training and mentoring goes into getting new crew ready to "hit the decks" on our tours, and senior crewmembers like these three are vital to keeping things shipshape.
Two of this week's subjects are bosuns (senior crewmembers assigned as leads on particular vessels) and one is one of our jack-of-all-trades senior crew. All are a few of our resident Argosy "rockstars," and we're proud to call them our coworkers and to show them off for you.
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Meet Greg Kramer, Bosun of the Spirit of Seattle
Argosy Cruises Team Member since 2010
Originally from Colorado
Meet Samantha Kelly, Bosun of the Goodtime III
Argosy Cruises Team Member since 2014
Originally from Minnesota
Meet Jay Micayas, Senior Deckhand
Argosy Cruises Team Member since 2014
Originally from the Phillippines
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What is your favorite Argosy vessel?
Jay: The Goodtime II! It's the most fun to be on board.
Samantha: My favorite thing about the Goodtime III is that it's a perfect combination of a good tour boat and a good party boat for charters.
Greg: The Sightseer. It's adaptable and you can use it for pretty much anything: Locks Cruises, Harbor Cruises, going out to do the Tillicum Village Excursion...it's a lot of fun.
What is your favorite Argosy cruise?
Samantha: My favorite tour is the Locks Cruise. It gives you a perfect combination of every part of the city. You get to see the harbor as well as the Lake Washington Ship Canal and all of the different neighborhoods, and get a really good, in-depth idea of Seattle in just two hours. And you get to go through the Locks, which is really cool!
Greg: My favorite tour would have to be the Harbor Cruise. As crew on board that tour, we see a lot of different people every day and get to tell them about our favorite city, and share our wealth of knowledge with thousands of people every day.
Jay: My favorite trip is our Tillicum Village Excursion. It takes you outside your normal everyday experience and you get to experience something really unique and magical out on Blake Island.
What is something that each of you does here at Argosy that is your "specialty?"
Greg: When I come into work and I narrate the Harbor Cruise, it's like I'm not even working. You're just up there talking to hundreds of your friends and telling them about your favorite city.
Samantha: At work for me, one of the most rewarding things I do, and I feel pretty good at, is training. From more experienced crew, down to our new hires, I'm good at explaining things in a way that everyone can understand.
Jay: My favorite part of this job and what I excel at is the bartending. Making drinks for people and helping them enjoy the cruise all the more!
What other department would you like to job shadow for a day?
Jay: The Maintenance Team. I'd like to see all the work on our vessels behind-the-scenes and the ins-and-outs of everything.
Samantha: I would like to shadow Guest Services because it's a completely different side of the operation from working down on the boats. We work with them every day, but not directly. And I know how hard they work, and would like a chance to see that effort up close.
Greg: I would like to job shadow Marketing because you get to do all the fun social media stuff, like taking lots of photos, meet a lot of people, and share our company with the world. (I was gonna say "Accounting so I could put an extra zero on my paycheck," but whatever.)
What is your favorite Waterfront area stop (besides us)?
Samantha: I visited the Seattle Aquarium a month or two ago, and it was even more amazing than I expected. Really fun and unique way to learn more about the Seattle area. And visiting helped me improve that part of my tour, for sure.
Jay: While on our tours, I like the part of Elliott Bay when we approach Vigor Shipyards. Not only are there a number of industrial structures that you don't often see, there's often a lot of wildlife hanging around.
Greg: My favorite stop is Beecher's Cheese by the Pike Place Market. They make the best mac 'n cheese, and you can't go wrong with that.
If you could charter one of our boats, which one would you use, where would you cruise, and what would the party be like:
Greg: I would charter the Sightseer, since it's such a fun boat to take around for a cruise. I'd have my birthday on there. And we'd tool around either the lakes or the saltwater side.
Samantha: I would also lover to charter the Sightseer, because it's my second favorite boat. She's super fun and would be perfect for a little party. And I've to take her into Lake Washington and down into Meydenbauer Bay. It's one of my favorite spots in the city.
Jay: I would like to charter the Spirit of Seattle and take her down into South Lake Union, maybe with a party of 10 [Greg and Samantha laugh because the Spirit can hold up to 400 people!] because she makes quite an entrance, especially when going through the Locks.
What makes Argosy such a unique and special place to work?
Greg: We get to be out on the water all day, taking people around and get to share the beauty of the area with them. Might even be a brand new experience for them, and it's fun to share those moments. And because we're out here on a boat, we're not stuck in an office all day!
Samantha: One of the best and most unique things about the job is the job itself. I never would have dreamed that I'd work on boats in my life. But I came down here, got the job, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
But the thing that makes Argosy amazing is all the people we get to work with. I love all my coworkers, and we have a really good time while we are at work. You can't say that about many jobs, I don't think.
Jay: Besides all the great people here -- and I have yet to meet one I didn't like -- the company itself is a unique place where you can experience different things every other day. And not only that, this company takes care of its people.
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