Ever held that special type of job where you struggle to explain to others what it was that you did? Either because the industry is so far out of the public view that the average person does not know what it entails or because your particular position was so far behind the scenes, that people have to be reminded that someone is back there, pulling the strings?? Here is my attempt at getting around that for my job as a key account manager in the cruise department of a destination management agency in Copenhagen. Produced 2015

1. WHEN THE BOAT
COMES IN

2. 5RESPONSIBILITIES OF A
FOR DMC DENMARK
or

3. ..I worked as a Key Account Manager for
the cruise operations department of DMC
Denmark in Copenhagen.
1

For anyone unfamiliar with the business of
destination and service management for
cruise ships, here is a brief overview of what
that job entailed.

4. 2
I Client relation management ..................................
II Call operations ...........................................................
III Turnaround operations ............................................
IV Service management ................................................
V Product development ..............................................
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9
15
22
25


6. 4
The client
The Los Angeles-based Crystal Cruises ope-
rates the two medium-sized, five-star cruise
vessels, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Sere-
nity.
For decades Crystal Cruises has been ran-
ked among the top luxury cruise lines of
the world, and caters to a loyal segment of
experienced and discerning travelers.
Crystal’s Baltic and Norwegian itineraries
are very popular - hence one ship almost
always spends a summer season in the
Baltic out of Stockholm or Copenhagen

7. Crystal Cruises was a valued client of DMC
Denmark since they first started sailing the
Baltic seas in the mid-90’s and is today
handled by DMC in Sweden, Norway and
Estonia as well.
As Key Account Manager I was responsible
for the communication and coordination
with the corporate office in Los Angeles
and (in season) with the ship.
I was also responsible for the planning, pre-
paration and execution of both calls and
turnarounds in Danish ports.
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Crystal Cruises & DMC

8. 6
Copenhagen
Los Angeles At sea
Corporate communications
Annual contract negotiations
New program developments
Long-term planning for:
• Turnarounds
• Special requests
• VIP programs
• Onboard enrichment programs
Ship communications
Seasonal set-up & verification
Port of call tour requirements
Short-term planning for:
• Turnarounds
• Special requests
• VIP programs
• Crew arrangements
Illustration credit: JBL
Communication, coordination, negotiation



9. With such an exclusive client base, there
was rarely a shortage of special requests
that required much flexibility, ingenuity and
customized response.
Securing reservations and admissions at
very exclusive restaurants and venues,
tracking down long-lost family or friends of
guests, securing local onboard enrichment
lecturers...
And then that time I had to find two adult-
sized polar bear costumes for the Captain
and Cruise Director to play a prank on
guests during a cruise to Svalbard, Norway.
7
Never a dull moment

10. Though Crystal Cruises was my key account
I frequently supported and managed other
key cruise accounts, such as...
8
Norwegian
Cruise Line
Holland
America Line
Carnival
Cruise Line
Disney
Cruise Line
AIDA
Cruises
Fred Olsen
Cruise Line
Key account support

12. When cruise ships make stops for sight-
seeing purposes on an itinerary this is
known as a ‘call’.
A call is typically a half day (5-6 hours) or
full day (9-10 hours) spent in port, letting
guests off the ship to enjoy the destination
and running Shore Excursions for them.
Calls in Denmark are typically in ‘cruise
season’ (May to September), although a
few intrepid British cruise lines also called in
December for Christmas itineraries.
10
A port of call

13. As the cruises began, I would coordinate
continuously with the ship’s tour office to
match onboard demand with shoreside
supply, adjusting prebooked services and
resources and arranging any additional
special services.
On the day of call, I would be present on
the pier, directing tour operations, coordi-
nating with the ship’s tour staff, settling
payment with the purser, trouble shooting
and checking tours back.
After the call date I would follow up on any
remaining issues from the call and go about
preparing the next call.
Operating a call
11

14. Tour Guides
Shore Excursions
Meals /
refreshments
Admissions/
inside visits
Special
vehicles /
activities
Tour buses
Shuttle service
Shuttle coordinators
Shuttle buses
Shuttle coordinatorsCity
Call Manager
(key account manager)
TourguestsIndependents
Ship’s tour
manager
Private car
bookings
Illustration credit: JBL
Cruise
pier
12
Cruise call dynamics

15. Coordination of all ser-
vices required for the
tour program (guides,
buses, meals, admis-
sions etc.)
Shore Excursions
Coordination of private
vehicles / guides / ser-
vices for individual cus-
tomized itineraries.
Private Bookings Coordination of buses
and freelance coordi-
nators for a shuttle
service into town.
Shuttle Service
Call services
13

16. In the early days of Baltic cruising, only
Copenhagen was a port of call or turn-
around destination. But as cruise guests’
demands for varied itineraries and new
destinations grew, more and more smaller
Danish ports began attracting cruise ships
for calls.
In the course of my DMC career I have
worked with many vendors and authorities
online and on-site from all over Denmark,
making succesful Shore Excursion programs
happen in Skagen, Aalborg, Aarhus, Rønne,
Kalundborg and a few other places.
14
All over Denmark

18. The operation in which a cruise itinerary
starts and finishes, involving the full dis-
embarkation of all previous cruise guests
and the embarkation of new cruise guests
in the span of one day (less than 12 hrs), is
known as a turnaround.
It is a three-pronged operation requiring
exact choreography of guest flows in the
hundreds between multiple locations, in-
volving staff task forces of more than 50
staff, and lasting as many as 7 days in its
entire duration – all executed with the best
possible level of hospitality services.
16
Defining a turnaround

19. 17
3 teams, 3 locations
The airport
where new and old cruise guests arrive
and depart continuously all day long
An airport team
to direct and assist guests with cruise
packages in and out of the airport

20. 17
The hotel(s)
where the guests on the pre- and
post-cruise programs are staying
A hotel team
to direct and assist all guests on the pre- or
post-cruise programs and liaise with the hotel(s)
3 teams, 3 locations

21. 17
The cruise pier
where one set of guests disembark
AM, another one embarks PM.
A pier team
to direct and assist disembarking guests and
to direct and check-in all embarking guests
3 teams, 3 locations

22. Cruise pier Airport
Hotel(s)
Embarking
Disembarking
Pre-cruise
Pier team
Airport team
Hotel team(s)
(Hospitality Desk)
Transfer Assistants
Pre-cruise
Post-cruise
Post-cruise
Interim
Interim team
(Hospitality Desk)
Only during Pre-
& Post- phases
Turnaround Manager
(key account manager)
Guides for
debark tours
Transfer buses
Luggage
trucks
Illustration credit: JBL
Transfer buses
Guides for
embark tours
Private cars
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Dynamics of a turnaround

23. The actual turnaround takes place in the
span of 12 hours or less, but I also handled
the pre- and post- cruise programs – the
add-on package of transfers, hotel accom-
.
19Illustration credit: JBL
Pre- & post- cruise programs
modation and hospitality services that
allows guests to stay in Copenhagen for up
to 3 nights prior to embarking (pre-) or up
to 3 nights after disembarking (post-).
Pre-
Post-

24. 3 night
pre-
Turnaround
day
2 night
pre-
1 night
pre-
1 night
post-
2 night
post-
3 night
post-
# pax handled
# days
100+
200+
300+
400+
500+
Illustration credit: JBL 20
Program duration & volume
Pre-cruise Post-cruise
Pre-cruise program – For the last 3 days
prior to turnaround guests arrive conti-
nuously and in ever increasing numbers
and have to be met, transferred and
taken care of at the hotel(s)
HOTEL

25. 3 night
pre-
Turnaround
day
2 night
pre-
1 night
pre-
1 night
post-
2 night
post-
3 night
post-
# pax handled
# days
100+
200+
300+
400+
500+
Illustration credit: JBL 20
Pre-cruise Post-cruise
Turnaround day – Pre-cruise guests de-
part hotel for ship, post-cruise guests
depart ship for hotel, arriving guests
transfer to ship, departing guests tran-
sfer to airport. This day sees the largest
numbers of guests handled.
HOTEL
Program duration & volume

26. 3 night
pre-
Turnaround
day
2 night
pre-
1 night
pre-
1 night
post-
2 night
post-
3 night
post-
# pax handled
# days
Pre-cruise Post-cruise
100+
200+
300+
400+
500+
Illustration credit: JBL 20
Post-cruise program – For the following
3 days the disembarked guests enjoy
hospitality services at the hotel and
transfer continuously and in ever de-
creasing numbers for the airport as per
their individual travel arrangements.
HOTEL
Program duration & volume

27. This is merely a simplified overview – the
actual reality of operations is much more
complex, hectic and often hastily impro-
vised on the spot.
A turnaround requires extensive planning, a
solid grasp of the ‘Big Picture’, utmost
attention to detail, the best possible staff in
all the right places, precision communi-
cation and coordination as well as a tole-
rance for overtime.
And more often than not, the true skill of a
manager is tested, not in pulling off a
flawless operation as planned, but in sal-
vaging one that has gone off the rails.
21
What’s in a turnaround?

29. Supplier relations
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In order to run cruise operations based on
such a wide array of external supplier ser-
vices, it is necessary to maintain and ex-
pand the logistical framework continually.
The entire supplier network of transporta-
tion, staff, services, attractions and venues
needs to be continually maintained, deve-
loped and contracts renegotiated in order
to secure a reliable, innovative and com-
petitively priced quality product to cruise
lines.
This was a major part of my off-season
duties.

30. Another major off-season task is planning
and pre-booking all the required services
for the contracted calls and turnarounds of
the clients.
Every single service required for the exe-
cution of tour programs and turnaround
services, from guides and buses to meals,
admissions, staff, hotel rooms etc. needs to
be reserved in advance.
Based on the availability of services, a tour
schedule is then finalized with the cruise
lines for each and every call / turnaround of
the season.
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New Year
High season
- practical
operations
Seasonal preparation
Post-season
- contract
negotiations
Pre-season
- final prep &
start-up
Low season
- planning &
pre-booking
Summer

32. DMC relies heavily on guides and free-
lance hospitality staff to execute cruise ope-
rations. As ‘outsiders’ to DMC, fostering
consistent quality of services and awareness
of DMC expectations was always a chal-
lenge.
To that effect I developed a comprehen-
sive guide manual and a ‘training program’
for local guides (held in Aarhus, Aalborg
and Kalundborg) and an equally compre-
hensive freelancer manual and presentation
format, designed to get freelancers up to
operational speed faster.
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Teaching & training

33. Cruise lines are always looking for new
tours to vary their Shore Excursion pro-
grams and keep them attractive and
exciting to repeat guests. Crystal in par-
ticular was very much about novelty, ex-
clusivity and luxury.
I spent a lot of time researching new tour
options, coming up with both new out-of-
the-box concepts and innovative variations
on the ‘classics’, and composing compelling
write-ups on them, not just in Copenhagen
but all over Denmark.
27
New tour development

34. Over the years I have carried out a major
overhaul, re-organization and expansion of
the DMC Shore Excursion portfolio for all
Danish cruise ports.
From a handful of outdated and obscurely
organized tours in a few ports, I devised an
expandable system of tour codes designed
to distinguish tour type, location and
duration in a 6-digit code, updated and
added standard tours in a number of new
ports, introduced ‘Sight to see’ categories,
systematized operational info and much
more.
HEL
CPHKAL
KOR
ÆRØ
SVE
ESB
FRE
AAR
RNN SVA
28
AAL
Tour portfolio development
SKG

35. These 5 tasks were my main responsibilities
in the 5 years I worked as a Key Account
Manager for DMC Denmark.
I hope this overview has given you an idea
of my work experience and capabilities but I
am always willing to share more detail in
person, should you have any questions.
Thank you for your kind attention!
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So, there you have it...
Copenhagen, July 2015


36. 30
Other presentations
Resume of a Great Dane –
my master visual resume
A Shorex Career – Visual review of a
cruise ship career 1999-2006
Seven Feats from my career with DMC
(Star Wars style)
10 clues to me – a personal
presentation


37. If my presentation design and title reminds
you of long bygone TV entertainment and
starts you humming a memorable little
tune, there is reason for that.
Title and slide design is inspired by the
opening credits of the classic BBC period-
drama When the Boat Comes In from 1976
for no other reason than that I remember
that show fondly from my childhood and
the title was a fitting match.
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‘Thou shall hev a fishy
on a little dishy’


38. (+45) 50 34 60 66
j.lyngsoe@outlook.dk
Jacob Lyngsøe
32


39. Page 3 / Crystal Symphony - crystalcruises.com
Page 3 / Crystal Cruises logo - crystalcruises.com
Page 4 / Couple on balcony - blog.icruise.com
Page 4 / Crystal Symphony - www.getacoder.com
Page 6 / Icons by Iconfinder, Iconarchive & Findicons
Page 8 / Cruise Line Logos – respective websites
Page 12 / Icons by Iconfinder, Iconarchive & Findicons
Page 14 / Denmark map - netvaerk.tdc.dk
Page 17 / Airport picture – bestourism.com
Page 17 / Hotel picture – en.wikipedia.org
Page 18 / Icons by Iconfinder, Iconarchive & Findicons
Page 19 / Airport picture – simplexitytravel.com
Page 19 / Hotel picture - www.buildingbutler.com
Page 20-21 / Icons by Iconfinder, Iconarchive & Findicons
Page 23 / Icons by Iconfinder, Iconarchive & Findicons
Page 27 / Den Blaa Planet - designdautore.blogspot.com
Page 27 / Helicopter - www.heliflight.dk
Page 28 / Denmark map - da.wikipedia.org
Page 29 / Me in Aarhus - aarhushavn.dk/nyheder
Page 31 / When the Boat comes in - www.tvrage.com
Page 32 / Contact icon - www.iconshut.com
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Pictures & icons
All other images used taken or owned by creator.


40. 2015