Who in the World is Char Patton

For those wondering who in the world I am, I am a person who grew up in an average suburban family and after raising two children, my daughter Lizzie and my son Alden (who now has his own family, S.O. Char (yes, that's her name too!) and Grandsons Zack & Rhett, and working in business for most of my adult life (so far) now find myself very fortunate in life to have what I consider a dream job. I am employed by a major cruise line that has taken me to over 120 countries!

The cruise line I work for is Holland America Line, based in Seattle Washington. We currently have 14 ships sailing in our fleet ranging in size from 38,000 tons (793 guests) to 88,000 tons (2100 guests). I work onboard one of our "dam" ships (each ship in the fleet has "dam" in the name - Statendam, Maasdam, Ryndam, Prinsendam, Noordam, etc.) for 8 months of the year. This is considered full time employment as when I am onboard, I work 7 days per week. My 8 months on board are not continuous. My contracts range from 2-4 months, with 1-2 months off in between contracts. I have sailed to most areas of the world but find that the more places I visit, the more places I want to visit.

My next contract should be the most exciting so far as it will take me around the world. I begin my journey on December 23, 2009. I will be journalizing my trip as well as my preparation for the trip. Let me know what you would like to hear more about.

What in the World Does Char Do?

My job on the ship is quite simple - I sell cruises! So when people on board are happy and want to do more cruising, they come to see me and I set them up with their next cruise. Our ships have the best itineraries taking people all over the world and since I have been to so many places, I can find just the right trip for people. Here's a photo of me at my desk on the Westerdam, talking with a bright young man who was very curious about all aspects of ships and cruising. At the end of the cruise, he came to see me with his Mother and they booked a future cruise that he had personally selected, right down to the actual stateroom choice and dining options.






This job is really a perfect fit for me but I never realized that I had been training for it for several years. I began work on ships in the Purser department (Purser - keeper of the purse - this is accounting work which I had done all my life). Other experience that helped groom me for the position include secretary to the Captain & Hotel Manager which taught me so much about the things that go on behind the scenes in cruise ship operations. I have been intrigued with Alaska for a number of years and had the opportunity to live for two summers in Skagway, the northern most stop in the inside passge. I was a port agent there which means I was the shoreside rep for all the cruise lines that came into that port. We had 25 cruise ships each week visiting bringing approximately 600,000 visitors per season. And the final experience which led me to my job as Future Cruise Consultant was staying home (not working onboard ships) for four years as a home-based travel agent. All of this opened the door for me to be in this dream job.