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Take part in the celebration of Norfolk Harborfest 2011, the East Coast’s Largest Free Waterfront Festival, with a festive Spirit of Norfolk Cruise!

When: June 9-12, on the Downtown Norfolk Waterfront

Spirit of Norfolk Harborfest Cruises:

Friday, June 10th

• Parade of Sails Afternoon Cruise
• Harborfest Dinner Cruise

Saturday, June 11th

• Harborfest Lunch Cruise
• Saturday Harborfest Early Dinner Cruise
• Harborfest Fireworks Dinner Cruise

Sunday, June 12th

• Harborfest Lunch Cruise
• Harborfest Dinner Cruise

Now, to highlight a couple of our most extraordinary Harborfest Cruises:

June 10th • Parade of Sails Lunch Cruise
The Parade of Sails from the water is a spectacular sight you’ve got to experience!
Call 866.304.2469 or Click Here to Book Your Cruise!

What is the Parade of Sails?

The spectacular Harborfest Parade of Sail, under the direction of the Virginia Pilots Association, will enter the Downtown Norfolk Harbor on Friday, June 10 at noon. Following tradition, this impressive fleet will include tall ships, character vessels, sleek power cruisers, sailing craft, antique and classic wooden boats, military vessels, tugs and more!

Here is a list of visiting ships and character vessels:

• Gazela: 177′, 3 Masted Barquentine tall ship: Home Port: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Kalmar Nyckle: 141′ Full Rigged tall ship: Home Port: Wilmington, Delaware
• American Rover: 135′, 3 Masted Topsail Schooner: Home Port: Norfolk, Virginia
• Godspeed: 88′, 3 Masted Square-rigged tall ship: Home Port: Jamestown, Virginia
• Spirit of Independence: 76′ schooner
• St. Brendan: 50′ gaff rigged schooner
• Army Corp of Engineer Vessels
• Learning Barge – Elizabeth River Project

June 11th • Harborfest Fireworks Dinner Cruise
Bring the whole family aboard and see illuminating Fireworks views!
Call 866.304.2469 or Click Here to Book Your Cruise!

TO NOTE: Please be aware that due to Harborfest June 9th – June 12th, there will be heavy congestion and street closures. Please allow additional time to arrive at your cruise gate before departure.

Thanks for reading. Hope you have a splendid time at Harborfest 2011!

If you’re in Norfolk this Valentine’s Weekend, well LUCKY YOU! Mix and mingle on the comfortable dining decks of the Spirit of Norfolk. You can come with your special someone, or bring a friend and socialize. If you’re looking for something totally unique, look no further than this.

What:    92.1 and 107.7 KISS Valentine’s Moonlight Cruise

Where:   The climate-controlled Spirit of Norfolk!

When:    Saturday, February 12^th

Board: Midnight

Cruise: 12:30 – 2:30am

Hosted By: Big B from the Boodah Brothers Morning Show

DJ:       Radio Raheem

Click here to learn more.

What are people saying about the Spirit of Norfolk?

“The staff was very polite and helpful!”

- Dinner Cruise

“We had so much fun, we couldn’t stop telling our friends how good of a time we had!”

- Dinner Cruise

“EXCELLENT!!!!!!! My family and I would recommend taking one. We will be cruising in the near future. Everything was just EXCELLENT!”

- Dinner Cruise

“Our waiter Mike was very helpful and friendly, very attentive to our needs.”

- Lunch Cruise

“My wife loved our anniversary dinner. I have already mentioned our trip to friends. If anyone is looking for something different to do, I would suggest the Spirit of Norfolk!”

- Dinner Cruise

“My husband and I have been on many 7-day or longer cruises and we were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed this brunch cruise. We felt like we had been on a mini vacation and were so relaxed by the end of the cruise. It is a perfect getaway when you just want to relax and have fun close to home. We have recommended this cruise to everyone and look forward to returning for a dinner cruise in the future.”

- Brunch Cruise

Have a happy weekend!

Enjoy this funformative (yea, I just made up that word) entry from our Marine Operations Manager and Captain, Dave!

Many people are aware of the Marine Operations personnel onboard our Entertainment Cruises’ vessels. These are the men and women who greet customers on the dock, get them safely to their destination on the ship, and then safely navigate our nation’s waterways. It seems simple enough, but no one ever sees everything that the Marine personnel do behind the scenes. Here are just a few examples of what is accomplished during our daily life at work:

We try and make our passengers’ moments into memories.

• The Marine department typically makes first contact with our guests on the pier. It is our job to start their experience on the right foot. We do this by always speaking to the guests first and exceeding their expectations.
• Talking to guests in our Hospitality Zones (the line for the bar, bathroom, etc) is especially important in putting our guests at ease. We check on them while they wait and chat about where they are from and what brings them out on this particular day.
• Acknowledging birthdays and anniversaries at the gangway as the guests board is especially memorable (we even have a secret code).

When it comes to safety…

• The Marine department is trained and drilled to respond to all incidents, fires, man overboard and medical emergencies; the crew is always ready to lend a helping hand.
• We work in compliance with the United States Coast Guard to ensure the vessels are inspected annually and all machinery and life-saving equipment is in good working order.
• The Marine department acts as stewards or lifeguards of the ship. Always providing a watchful eye, their goal is to prevent all incidents and accidents, not just respond to them.
• Since we cruise so often on the same bodies of water, our local Coast Guard offices look to our captains and crew to be the eyes of the harbor and look for suspicious activity.

Quality is more than just important to us…

• The Marine department is generally in charge of all vessel renovations and upgrades; bathrooms, ceilings, floors, chairs, ovens, machinery, etc. You name it, we’ve been involved somehow.
• Since we cruise in the summertime, winter means painting and upkeep. The marine department is hard at work right now re-painting the interior and exterior of the ship, so by the time you take your cruise in our busy summer season, it’s set to impress. (Trust me, this is not the most pleasant thing to do during cold months.)

Jack of all trades.

• The marine department employees are responsible for all repairs onboard the vessel. Plumbing, HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) machinery, etc; we are responsible for keeping everything in good working order so that our employees and our guests can have the most enjoyable time.

We comply with our environment.

• Before the first cruise of each day, the exterior of the ship is checked to ensure that it is clean of anything harmful that could run-off into our waterways.
• When the exterior of the vessel is cleaned, biodegradable soap is used to keep it looking great for our customers and to prevent anything harmful from going into the waterways.

As you can see, the beauty of working in the Marine Operations department for Entertainment Cruises is that every day presents you with different challenges and opportunities. Most of us started our careers with EC working part time as deckhands or mates and have continued working with EC ever since. There is just something mystical about working on the water.

I began in 2002 as a deckhand and became a licensed captain at the start of 2005. Ultimately, the desire to drive or pilot the vessel is strong. There is nothing cooler than telling someone you meet that your job is captain of a harbor cruise ship.

I hope this gives you some insight into the lives of the hard-working Marine Operations department here at Entertainment Cruises. We look forward to meeting all of our guests this year. We are a great venue to celebrate a special occasion, so I hope to see you on the water!

Capt. Dave

Thank you for your insight Dave! Quite interesting.

Some companies are all about results. Others, looking good for the media. And some are focused on treating each other with respect. Here at EC, we take treating one another kindly to a whole other level.

Think it’s cheesy?

Maybe a little, in theory. But in actuality, it makes us better workers, better employees and mainly, better people. We live by a code here at Entertainment Cruises. It’s called OSS: Our Service System.

OSS is a set of practices we all try to live by, everywhere from in the corporate office, down to the docks. It consists of our identity statement, our shared values, our five hospitality behaviors and our level 10 “WOW” hospitality. Once we memorize this code, it’s a little easier to go out into the world and really make a difference in our guests’ lives.

Every week we have OSS heroes and every two weeks, WOW finalists and winners. An OSS hero is a shipmate who has been showing extra effort, has gone above and beyond their job duties, and someone who has really helped out their fellow shipmates! A WOW nominee is a shipmate going above and beyond for an external guest.

Allow me to share an OSS story with you (written by one of our shipmates):

“In October I went on a cruise to the Bahamas with 3 fellow shipmates. When we arrived in Nassau, we decided to take a cab over to Cable Beach. We made a lot of friends using 2 of our OSS Hospitality Behaviors; Speak first and last and speak in public areas. The cab driver asked us the standard “where are you from?” When we told him we were from Norfolk, VA he proceeded to tell us that Norfolk is his favorite city in the US. Of course, our reaction was, “Norfolk? Really?”

So he shared with us his unforgettable memory he experienced in Norfolk. He asked us if we had heard of this harbor tour ship, The Spirit of Norfolk. Apparently he cruised when he was in Norfolk several years ago. He couldn’t remember what year it was, but he could remember every detail of his cruise.

After he told us how much he loved the Spirit of Norfolk and commented that “that ship was off the chain,” we told him that The Spirit of Norfolk was what brought the 4 of us together as friends and that we all work for the company. You would have thought that he had just met 4 celebrities when we told him that. So remember, it is a small world after all, you never know what memory you will create for someone and how far that memory will go.

No matter where I go, I am always proud to tell people I meet along the way what company I work for and 9 times out of 10; that person can tell me about a time they cruised on one of our ships in one of our cities.”

We are in the business of creating unforgettable memories. That is what we do. That is what we love to do. And OSS, well, it helps us do that – better than anyone else.