Undercover Boss (2010) s02e12 Episode Script
Norwegian Cruise Line
Male announcer: America is struggling to shake off the recession.
Public distrust of wealthy CEOs remains high.
But more and more bosses are looking for radical ways to reconnect with their workforce in order to find out what's really going on in their companies.
Each week, we follow the boss of a major corporation as they go undercover in their own company.
This week, Kevin Sheehan, the CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, one of the world's largest cruise companies, is recognized by one of his employees.
Oh, my gosh.
How will he complete his undercover mission? My mind went blank, and I said, "oh, my God.
What am I gonna do now?" Find out next on Undercover Boss.
With its headquarters in Miami, Florida, Norwegian Cruise Line has 11 cruise ships sailing all around the globe and serves more than 30,000 vacationers a week.
At the head of this $2 billion business is one man.
I'm Kevin Sheehan, the CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line.
Hey, Patti, can you do me a favor and see if you can follow up with this guy? - Okay.
- Norwegian Cruise Line is the third largest cruise line among the contemporary brands.
We have ships that are positioned in the Baltic, in the Mediterranean, in Alaska, in Hawaii.
So I got a call from Bernard.
Four of the banks have set their commitment.
We were the first to purchase our own island in the Caribbean as a destination.
Wherever the customers want to go on vacation, we can position our ships to accommodate them.
Bye.
I was born in Manhattan, and after high school, I had a lot of very interesting jobs.
I was delivering flowers.
I worked in the liquor store.
I worked for the Department of Sanitation on snow emergency days.
And then I had an epiphany and said, "you know, you're wasting your time.
" So I went back to school with a vengeance.
Took a job as a taxi cab driver, and that helped fund my college education.
And I went through college in three years.
So that kind of turned the juice up in me as I began the journey that I had for the next 25-plus years.
I was part of a group that launched the Spanish language television network Telemundo.
And I integrated the Avis and Budget car rental brands into one successful network.
I joined Norwegian Cruise Line back at the end of 2007 with the goal of taking it from good to great.
Miami, Florida.
It's our headquarters.
And I bought a residence down here.
I live down here.
You know, that was a big commitment, because my family is up in New York.
It, uh, at times, is quite challenging.
Hi.
How ya doin'? I'm fine.
You? I-I miss ya.
Lorraine and I have been married for 34 years.
Break a leg.
Cute, thanks.
All right.
Bye-bye.
I'm a very passionate person, and when I dive into a opportunity, I become absorbed.
Yeah, that's a flaw in some respects, because you're losing a bit of a balance in life, but it's my DNA, so it's-- I don't know how to change it.
When I joined the company in 2007, the product was inconsistent.
The turnover of the employees was far above what it should be.
I'm very proud of where we are today.
We've come a long way.
But we have a very stable work force.
We've more than doubled the earnings of the company.
So now it's a great time to get in there and see: Are we getting the payoff for all of the initiatives that we put in place? Are there other things that we could be doing to drive the value and the experience for the customer? While undercover, I'm posing as Peter Francis, an unemployed New York City cab driver.
My coworkers will be told that I'm taking part in a program where two people are competing for one open position within Norwegian Cruise Line.
So here it is, day one.
I'm going undercover on the Pride of America.
While undercover, I will be staying in an average room similar to where our employees stay on ships.
Today, I'm going undercover as a deck repairman.
The Pride of America is a five-year-old vessel within our fleet, a little bit older than many of the ships.
So it's critically important to see that we're maintaining the look and image of the ship.
Whoop.
Is there a guy named John here? Yeah, that's me.
And you are - Peter Francis.
- Hey, Peter, nice to meet you.
- Good to see you.
- So you're my new guy, huh? I gotta take you downstairs someplace you can change.
So you been on a ship before? Uh, Staten Island Ferry.
Staten Island, you're from New York? I'm a New Yorker.
I'm sorry to hear that.
I'm from Brooklyn.
Ah, I won't hold that against you.
Hey, I don't hold it against me either.
I live in Saipan now.
- Who? - Saipan, it's an island.
Is it-- is it near Brooklyn? Uh, yeah, about halfway around the world.
Being on the ocean puts a lot of wear and tear on the ships.
So we need to ensure that everything is handled as soon as it becomes a maintenance issue.
Okay, you're gonna be working in the deck department.
We basically handle the outside of the ship.
We take care of all the painting, the chipping, the cleaning.
What you basically wanna do is you wanna keep all the rust off it.
Salt water.
Salt water--it eats, it eats, it eats, it eats.
And then when it's done eating, it starts eating some more.
Now, we're gonna be power washing.
We're gonna get all the salt.
Even though you can't see it, there's salt all over this.
- I got ya.
- There you go.
Remember, important-- stay up top.
You don't wanna miss a spot.
Wherever you miss, there's gonna be another job you don't wanna do later on.
You're in Hawaii, so you'll be getting a little cool mist on you.
You got a nice, cool breeze.
It's tough to complain.
So you don't want to spray actually into the vents.
Yeah, I was over it.
Yeah, so just try and stay over it.
As you can see, we've only gone a couple of feet, and you can see all the work that needs to be done here.
You take a look from a long way away, it looks white.
You get up close It--you see a little-- well, you want to keep it white.
So what'd you do before you did this? Uh, I was a cab driver in New York.
- Cab driver in New York? - Yeah.
This can be the start of a new career.
Yeah.
A little late.
Doesn't make a difference.
We have people That's what they call me, anyway.
Come here when they're We have people that come here when they're in their 50s.
You like your job? Most of the time.
And when do you not like it? When I start missing my wife.
You get to talk to her most days? The cell phone service when you're in the middle of the ocean, you can't get any service, so Yeah, that makes it tough.
Especially now, I got a child on the way, and I'm over here working.
So she's due, the doctor said, anywhere from three weeks on.
Oh, three weeks out.
Yeah, I'd rather be home with her, but I'm at work right now.
- Yeah.
- All right, Peter.
We're basically done with this.
We're gonna be moving on.
The chief mate wants me to go to the forward mooring deck.
This here, this is called a chock.
A chock is an opening where a line goes through.
Don't lean on that.
These things do snap.
Oh, okay.
And this is called a roller chock, but as you can see, they get wear and tear.
They rip the paint off.
We gotta clean all the rust out from underneath.
Just give it a good Whack, like so, and you'll start stripping off all the paint.
How far, uh I want you to do the whole thing.
What, you looking to get out of work already? No, no, I meant do I go all the way up here? No, six inches all the way around.
Look, get get in.
Give it a whack.
It's not--trust me, you're not gonna break this.
This thing can hold That's not elbow.
That's wrist.
This is elbow.
Okay? John's a no-nonsense guy.
You know, he had me doing all the, uh, the rookie work.
I got a plane to catch in a week.
There you go.
I felt like I was being hazed for a fraternity.
I thought you were a big-time new yorker, tough guy.
You seem like you're from Jersey.
Come on! Hit it! You remember New York enough to know how to insult a guy.
Close? I see paint.
Strip an oval over here.
Hey, that looks pretty good now.
Unfortunately, I had to do Well, I enjoyed watching you.
- That's wonderful.
- I learned.
All right, let's go check out some stuff that was done yesterday that needs to be finished up.
Here we have quite a beautiful view.
Doesn't look like Brooklyn or Queens from here, right? It's quiet a different skyline than the Manhattan skyline.
But it's, uh, this is part of what you get with the job.
All right, as you can see, this has been primed.
We're just gonna do these two coats here.
And we have another set over here.
Here, you really gotta be more precise and more attentive to detail.
Okay, I wanna get off all the drips So I don't have to wipe them up later.
I'm gonna have you do that.
Now, that dripped down there.
Even though it was me, you're cleaning it up.
And we don't wanna put too much on.
You see, we're getting more.
I only had one drop.
You got about five of them.
No, I'm take-- I'm fixing your drops! - Oh, is that what it is? - Yeah.
You wanna borrow my glasses? Do 'em right the first time, 100%, because it'll be three years later before you get called back to do the same job.
- Okay.
- Now it's done? UhI think it's done.
Oh, you're getting ready to pack up, so I'm gonna assume you think it's done.
So let me just give it one more check.
You got all spots right along here.
I didn't think you were gonna get back down there.
Yeah.
His mental approach to the whole thing was like, "you gonna check?" Yeah, it's your first day on the job.
This whole section here isn't done.
Course I'm gonna check.
No, I'm just gonna turn the ship over to you.
And I might as well let him drive tonight, just so I can get a good night's sleep.
You gonna trust me on this one? Yeah, since you didn't look at the bottom one.
You just kind of went-- no, I did look at the bottom! I think Peter's a good guy.
I think he's looking for his notch in life, and I just don't think this is it.
When did you first hit the sea? My whole family was dock builders.
But I'm, like, the first one that actually Left the dock and went out.
So when you look back, is this where you thought you'd be? I look back, I think the thing that intrigued me the most is I didn't know where I would be.
It's a completely changed career.
It's a completely changed life.
- Yeah.
- There's an inner calmness.
There's a spiritual comfort that comes along with a man that's been on the sea and seen the world.
You know, they say a picture's worth a thousand words.
But when you're standing in front of the actual thing, sometimes, there's no words that can actually explain it.
Right.
There's just nothing that comes along with that.
Now, is this gonna be tough with you and the new baby? Uh, yeah, it's gonna be tough.
But, you know what? If I didn't get involved in shipping, I never would have met my wife.
- Right.
- I wouldn't be having a child.
God knows where I'd be.
I'd probably be back in New York saying, "I wish, I wish, I wish.
" And you're living your dream.
Like so many people do.
It's heartwarming to see that we have crew members who are here because they love to be here.
You get a great appreciation for what John and the other every single day to protect the ship.
To keep it in first-class condition.
And that makes you feel very good.
And it's a confirmation that we've got a great crew.
You know, me and the wife-- has your wife been to New York? - No.
- This'll be the first? She's been from where she's from and she's been to Saipan.
But God willing, next year, you know.
Yeah.
All right, so, Peter, the whole bottom over here is not done, see? - Ah, yeah, you got me.
- That's why we look at it.
We just--just-- nice and even.
Take your time--don't throw it overboard, please.
- Okay.
- Okay? You want me to go down there and pull that sucker around? Kevin gets up-close and personal with the guests.
Oh, myGah.
And later, how will the boss react when his cover is blown? Oh, my gosh.
My mind went blank, and I said, "oh, my God.
What am I gonna do now?" Kevin Sheehan, the CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, is a boss undercover.
I got a plane to catch in a week! His employees think he's part of a television show, where two people are competing for one open position within the company.
It's not a flower pot.
It's not gonna break.
His journey continues in Miami aboard the Norwegian Epic.
The Norwegian Epic, our newest ship, cost us well over $1.
1 billion.
Close to $1.
2 billion.
We bet the farm on this ship, and we need to make sure it's truly a huge success.
Today, I'm going undercover as a member of the recreation staff.
On the ship, we have a wide range of industry firsts, including a rappelling wall, an ice skating rink.
We have water slides.
We spent a lot of money putting together lots of different experiences for our guests on this ship.
I wanna be sure each and every one of them is paying off.
- Hi! - Hi, are you Jessica? - Are you my next person? - I'm Peter Francis.
Peter Francis, I'm Jess.
It's so nice to meet you.
Could you put on A uniform for me? This project is also very timely in that we're about to embark on some new ship orders.
So for me to be able to see how each of these activities is being relieved by our guests, I'll be able to gauge that as we design the new ships.
Clearly your shirt's not even tucked in.
Oh, it's supposed to be tucked in.
I'm a New York guy.
We don't know how to dress.
Step one, we have waivers.
Next step, give everybody shoes.
And then hook everyone with a harness.
- This is the sizes.
- Mm-hmm.
This is their brake that they'll use, like so-- - to go down.
- Yeah.
And then after he goes, we're gonna harness you up.
Because if you're telling other people to do it, you should be able to do it yourself.
I was not mentally prepared for this.
I would have--I would have-- - it's okay.
- She thinks I'm a big baby.
And, uh, she's probably right.
You're not gonna kill me, right? - Huh-uh.
- All right, Peter! You're doing it good.
That's it.
Good job, good job.
- Ah! I came out too-- - squeeze your break.
Squeeze your break till you can There you go.
Oh, you get a wedgie.
Oh, my God! I'm gonna start talkin' loud.
- How is that for you? - I had my eyes closed.
I was just a little nervous about having never done it before.
Having done it now, I'm a seasoned veteran.
Did you want to climb as well? Oh, okay.
Now, have you filled out a waiver yet? No.
If you want to come in here, it's probably easier to write on the bench.
The ship is, obviously, Epic.
And then you want to pull this through your legs.
Thank goodness I stopped.
I was almost gonna handle that part.
Let's get you a helmet.
And then once you get up to the top, Paul will take care of you.
Good job, Theresa! Good job.
Look at that.
Hey, have you guys filled out a waiver yet? Oh, you need to sign a waiver too.
Initials, initial, initials.
Oh, my goodness.
And then initials.
And another signature, if you don't mind.
- Oh, boy.
- I know.
.
Why wouldn't we have a form like this that when people check in the first day-- I think that they should have them in their rooms, so they see them there, and then they can just bring 'em.
I'd like to see us reengineer the liability certificates.
It needs to be simplified, so that we can keep it moving and everybody can have the opportunity to, uh, appreciate the rappelling wall.
- You're new at this, huh? - Yeah, I'm a rookie.
I don't wanna get too personal here! That's okay, I just had a guy hugging me and--and giving me kisses at the bar.
You have Peter flustered now.
When it came to interacting with female passengers, I don't think Peter's ever interacted with a woman.
Now you want me to go down there and pull that sucker around? You can ask her to pull it through her legs.
I'll help him.
He was so nervous.
This could get, like, really compromising here.
Oh, myGah.
Peter is making people more nervous than calm.
And that's the complete opposite of what you wanna do when you're sending them up a rappelling wall.
You gotta squeeze your rope while you do that too.
Good job.
There you go, there you go.
Go ahead.
She might start to slide.
Pull her.
Oh, perfect! Whoa.
Oh, aah! - Good job.
- That was great.
I thought Jessica was awesome.
You're amazing.
She's got a great personality for this.
And she's got great interactions with the guests.
Well, now that we're done with the rock wall, we are gonna head all the way up to the sports court.
We're going to set up ice skating up there.
Ice skating? Who's making the ice? - We're making the ice.
- Oh, my God.
So this is our ice As much as it does not look like it.
It's basically a giant puzzle that we're gonna put together.
Um, it takes up half of this court.
When it's done, we spray this disgusting, greasy solution on it.
And that gives it the slick.
It's not the complete real thing, obviously, but, um, they use real ice skates on it.
How would you rate this overall for all the-- This is the worst job ever.
How can you lift those? We are about to find out.
You're not gonna do it.
Yes, I am going to do it! You're gonna lift this stuff? I do this every time.
Okay, are you okay going backwards? Be careful.
They're heavy.
Yeah, I just noticed that.
To your left, to your left.
This correct? See, like a puzzle.
Like a puzzle.
These are the kind of things you're not necessarily ready for when you sign up for ship life.
Okay.
Push, push.
Lift up.
No, lift up there.
Good.
And, like, ice skating, I think it's just all part of that "let's do something different.
" Right.
Whoa! It's a couple of hundred pieces of plaster board that probably weigh This is ridiculous.
No, I hear you.
I hear you.
My back is, uh, is feeling pretty broken right now.
Put a little heart into it! This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.
He hates this.
He's like, "my back will give.
" And I was like, "that's what we were having issues with.
" My back is broken.
Where do I get off this ship anyway? Okay, you're done.
And now, Peter, we wait for guests to arrive.
They're gonna see how awesome you set up this ice.
Look at Clinton go.
And how many people come to skate? There'll be nights where you go hours without seeing anybody.
- Yeah.
- And then It's like somebody decided this without thinking of the consequences.
I think there's a lot of form over function.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- It's just-- it sounded like a good idea, but it's actually ridiculous.
Yeah.
The ice skating rink is disheartening to me, because it wasn't up to the same level as all the other activities.
You know, seeing it first hand, there's nobody skating.
We're like, we're spending a half hour to set it up.
The teardown is just as bad.
I think it's, uh, wrong to make people do this.
It's a tremendous amount of work for the crew.
It's crazy.
For little reward.
We came to run fun and games, and we're lifting and moving and Right, right.
It's sad because I know a lot of people don't wanna come back to the Epic.
The management didn't have a grasp on things.
I don't like to see our crew, who work hard enough as it is, working on a task that doesn't have any logical sense to it.
WellPeter I would love for you to see some ice skating.
But it doesn't seem like anyone's gonna be around right now.
I don't wanna keep you up.
Okay.
- It was nice meeting you.
- Same here.
Take care.
Bye.
I'm exhausted after helping put the--the rink together.
My take-away was it just wasn't worth it for our team because they had to work really hard to put that together, you know.
I'd rather see them interacting with our guests and turning, you know, everything into a lot of fun, as opposed to working like that.
I have never in my career had a failed venture, and it's, you know, quite different than what I'm used to.
Madame, for you.
We have 20 restaurants on the ship.
But the Manhattan room is the most important dining room on the Norwegian Epic, because on a daily basis we serve over 1,200 meals.
Good evening.
Today, I'm going to be working undercover as a waiter.
I need to be sure that we are providing exceptional service for our customers from the minute we open it to the minute it closes.
Hey, I'm looking for someone named Sylvia.
Sylvia's right there at the water station.
Hi, is Sylvia here? Oh, my gosh.
At first, I wasn't quite sure I heard my name.
But then when she said it a second and third time And my mind went blank, and I said, "oh, my God.
What am I gonna do now?" Oh, my gosh.
I'm shocked.
I'm surprised.
I started to walk down the walkway, and she immediately screams out my name.
"Kevin Sheehan! Kevin Sheehan!" Do you know if there's a woman named Sylvia here? Sir, I'm right here.
Hi, Sylvia.
My name is Peter Francis.
I'm just here to work with you today.
All right, nice to meet you, Peter.
This evening, when this guy walked up to me, Peter Mr.
Kevin Sheehan I was surprised.
You need to go get changed.
Okay, great.
Right now, I need to talk to Sylvia and figure out a game plan to see how we can make this work.
Sylvia, obviously you recognized me right away.
- Yes.
- And, uh How did you recognize me? And the guests, they remember me back.
That's how I am highest in comment cards.
I really trying to go undercover so that I can really see how you guys are operating.
So that we can hopefully leverage that across the fleet.
Exactly.
Do you think there's a way for me to go back into the dining room and not have people know who I am? Sure you can, because nobody has recognized you.
And I intend to keep it that way.
- Okay.
- Let's go to the dining room.
I'm gonna make sure that he learns whatever I would teach my assistant.
Because he needs to know what dirty business it is.
- So we ready? Let's-- - all set.
- Good evening.
Welcome.
- Good evening.
Hi.
My name is Sylvia, and I will be your waitress this evening.
My name is Peter.
I'll be your assistant waiter this evening.
And here is your bread.
I'll bring you the wine list.
But I'll take your order first, so that way I don't keep you waiting too long.
Peter, so now you'll pick up my appetizer and everything.
- Okay.
- "Asp" is asparagus.
- Asparagus.
- Caesar, Caesar.
I'm confused.
I will show you.
Come.
Asparagus.
And And two Caesar salads.
Yeah, you remember.
That way.
Thank you very much.
They look great.
Will you be able to carry this one? Uh, I'm gonna try.
Yikes.
Whoa.
Be careful.
Don't drop it on anybody else.
Serve from the Right.
- Okay.
- Ladies first.
Ladies first.
Are they both shrimp, the two ladies? And gentlemen.
Hope I don't spill it on you.
Is the water glass on the left side or the right side? Always right.
I'm sorry, I went the wrong way first.
This is our table number three.
Lady's having summer roll and shrimp.
So come back with summer rolls and shrimp.
I put it on a plate too, right? Yeah.
I was completely lost.
Oh, that's the way.
It's very hard.
There's a lot to remember, and I have no idea what I'm doing.
Okay.
Regular and decaf.
Peter, where's the decaf? - Oh, you want decaf also? - Ay, yi yi, Peter.
You said coffee.
Who's having regular? Regular, okay.
If somebody's finished, you remove the dirty plates.
Peter, pick up a tray and bring me two key lime pies.
Whoa.
Picking up those trays and putting them down was impossible.
Figuring out how to go from the dining room to the galley Find out where all the food was.
I have a headache from all of this.
Key lime pie.
Peter, you have the wrong dessert.
You have two New York cheesecake.
Oh! I never would be able to do what these people do day in and day out.
As far as the performance in the Manhattan room, everything that I saw was very encouraging.
Everybody was doing their task, going about their duties, and everybody seemed happy, which is comforting, especially after seeing the complexity related to the ice skating rink.
I would like to sit down and just kind ofLearn - Chat.
- And you can tell me what I did right, what I did wrong.
Okay.
Let's go.
The work you put me through.
You killed me.
And those trays are awfully heavy.
So is there anything that you see that maybe you could give me some advice or some takeaways that I could go back to the office and kind of rethink how we do things? So why don't you just talk a little bit about yourself and-- I'm like really thinking whether I should stay with this company.
So instead of hiring new hires, why don't we give positions available-- right.
The should be some loyalty given by Norwegian Cruise Line to them.
That's helpful, 'cause I didn't realize that was a, uh, a point.
Actually, I would definitely love to be a supervisor, because maybe if I can Do something for our crew that can bring a smile.
The fact that there's not that many opportunities to be promoted, we need to put some real effort into figuring out how to make the performers feel good and move up in the organization.
When I first started, six years ago, six years ago.
So you're on your seventh contract? Sixth contract? Sixth contract.
I always had ten months full.
You're aware I changed the contract term from ten months to nine months, right? Yes.
So is that a better thing for you? If it would be eight months, it would be really good.
'Cause that way we get rotations of vacation.
A lot of people have missed Christmas like me for seven years.
Oh, you're kidding.
Really? Yes.
It is very tough to be away from my family for so long.
Right.
And I have a girlfriend back home.
Oh, okay.
We're actually planning to get married.
- Oh, terrific.
- Yeah.
How is ship life for you in that situation? It can be hard for me to survive sometimes.
Yes.
Is that expensive for you to call? Yes.
It's tough.
It's very tough.
It's amazing when you step back and think of the sacrifices that people make that live on board.
Sylvia cares an awful lot, and she just happens to have a personality that's going to let you know what she thinks, and I got a lot of really good feedback that I'll bring back to the office, and hopefully we can make a difference.
Appreciate you telling me all of this.
And I want to thank you so much for everything.
- Pleasure's all mine, sir.
- Really appreciate it.
You killed me tonight.
We're not done yet.
I'll follow you out.
Today, my job is working as a member of the cruise staff.
One of the main points of the ship is the entertainment.
And our cruise staff handle over 100 activities on a weekly basis.
So while I'm working undercover today, I'll be able to really see, are they engaging the customers? Are we getting them to feel important and to ensure they're having a great time? - Hi! - Uh, yeah.
I'm looking for someone named Michael.
Yes, I'm Michael.
Peter Francis.
Peter, nice to meet you.
How are you? - Oh, great, great.
- Good.
All right, so you're here to train to be, uh, cruise staff here on board.
We're pretty much the social hosts of the ship.
We do all the activities, all the events.
Bingo, karaoke, theme parties.
Line dance classes.
You know, everybody's here on vacation to have a good time.
We're just here to-- to enhance that and make sure that they're smiling and having fun.
So the plan for tonight is we have our big white-hot party.
It's NCL's signature party, the hottest party at sea.
You'll wear white pants, a white-hot shirt.
We have this white hat.
And angel wings.
You have to wear angel wings.
You're kidding.
Angels at the party.
But right now, we need you to get into cruise staff gear.
Have you ever taken dance before at all? - Nope.
- Never? Never.
I hate dancing.
I don't even dance at weddings.
The look of death on your face.
You're gonna be fine.
This is an easy, easy dance.
The first move that you're gonna do is a roll, roll.
With your feet, you're gonna click-click twice.
Just like The Wizard of Oz.
You go click, click.
Now, with your right foot, two to the front.
Two to the back.
To the front.
To the back.
To the side.
I have dyslexia, so Getting the left and the right and doing it consistently is quite a challenge.
Here, you're gonna do a little bump like this.
Uhh! Like that.
And you have to say "uhh.
" Okay? So you're gonna go, "uhh!" No, just like that.
Really? - Yes.
- Uhh.
Just--well, a little more enthu-- go, "uhh!" Peter seems a little tight, a little tense.
Very rigid.
Be free, just-- just relax.
Roll, roll.
Click, click.
Michael was exceptionally patient with me.
To the front, to the back.
To the side, turn.
I still got it wrong, but at least he gave it the college try.
Three steps back.
Whoa.
I think he'll get it.
Mm, maybe.
Uhh! And then we start all over.
You're gonna have to teach this to, like, 1,000 people tonight, you know.
Oh, my God.
Yeah, we'll see how it goes tonight.
I think for now, we're pretty good until the white-hot party, so Okay.
Thank you very much.
How are you liking it so far? The dancing part I know I'm gonna find very difficult.
Well, how did you get into this, anyway? I, uh, I worked as an actor for a long time.
Then I did theme park work for a while.
Oh, really? Which theme park? I worked at busch gardens, Disney world.
Universal studios.
You hit all the big ones.
Yeah.
I was always intrigued by the freestyle cruising aspect.
Did a ship up in Alaska.
You find it hard being away from the family a lot? It's tough, I mean, I get to, you know, talk to them on email and call them.
But when I go home, I make sure and go and see all of my family.
My mom passed away a couple of years ago.
She got brain cancer.
Oh, my God.
- And, uh, but I-- - out of nowhere? - Yeah.
- Ah, that's terrible.
It was out of nowhere.
She was fiftyOne? She was, uh - It's tough, tough.
- Yeah.
I have the exact same scenario.
My brother passed away completely unexpected.
And it was devastating.
It is, I mean People say it's gonna get easier.
But, I mean, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about my mom, yeah.
I think about her every day.
She's, I'm sure, very proud looking down.
Thank you, yeah.
We actually had a benefit for her where we raised over $20,000 for cancer.
That's beautiful.
That's really nice.
She would be so happy that I'm - Doing what you wanna do.
- Doing what I wanna do.
Yeah, that's great.
Very sad situation with his mom.
That's enough to destroy a young kid like that.
And he took that terrible tragedy and turned it into a very positive energy within him.
It's just admirable.
All right, so what we're gonna do, we're gonna go meet some guests and try and recruit them to come to the white-hot party.
We're pretty much the faces of the ship.
We're on the front lines.
Hello, how are you? How are you, guys? You coming to the white-hot party tonight, yeah? You guys have fun.
We'll see you at the white-hot party, all right? If you see somebody you wanna talk to, like these ladies would be perfect right here.
They're wearing white.
Hey, guys.
How you doing? Good evening.
Make sure you get to the white-hot party tonight.
Tonight, you gotta go to the white-hot party.
Probably be 1,000 people up there.
Be a lot of fun.
Be sure you get to the white-hot party tonight.
Oh, yes.
Interacting with our customers is something I enjoy doing.
- See you later.
- Okay.
As we walked the ship, it was obvious Michael knew many, many people.
- How are you? - Fine.
Were you on the Star? I was on the Star, yes.
He engaged them.
I was there at the, uh, karaoke bar.
- It was fun, right? - Oh! That's exactly what you want to see, because if they make that connection, that's what they're gonna walk away and say, "wow, that was really a great cruise.
" All right, so it is time for us to go get changed for the party.
All right, so here we go.
How's everybody doing tonight? You guys ready to have a good time? That's right, it's NCL's signature white-hot party on the newest ship in the fleet.
And I'm one of your hosts here onboard, Michael.
Alongside me, we have somebody that's training to be a cruise staff.
So what we're gonna do is we're gonna teach you a line dance, ladies and gentlemen.
Peter, are you ready? I'm set.
He's ready.
Crowd, dancers, are you ready? All right, here we go.
Boom, boom.
Click, click.
Two to the front.
Two to the back.
To the front, to the back, to the side.
Turn.
Three steps back.
Whoa! Three steps forward.
Uhh! Yeah! Give yourselves a round of applause! We're gonna keep this party going! This is a good way to get people to dance up on the dance floor.
Hey.
I thought I was too late.
Now, you have to dance for this.
Oh, right.
You know, the things was, you're nervous going into something like this.
But after a while, I noticed everybody was kind of--they-- nobody cared about how I was dancing, and everybody was happy and dancing away.
To see our customers having a ball, it's exactly what we hoped for.
When we launched the new ship.
Can't ask for anything more.
Just finished my last task.
I'm not quite sure I thought I'd ever survive all of this.
My emotions ran the gamut from very high and excited about some of the, uh, activities that we have on the ships, you know, to the low of some of the things that, in retrospect, we didn't need to do, and, you know, another very important experience that I'm walking away with is seeing the hardworking crew and seeing the sacrifices that they're all making each and every day, uh, away from their families.
If there's anything else that we could do to maybe make their lives a little bit better, uh, we should give it serious consideration.
Coming up, Kevin's employees think they're coming to the Pride of America to vote on one of two employees competing for a job.
I'm a little nervous about judging these two guys but I know how they did.
How will they react when he reveals his true identity? I'm Kevin Sheehan, the Chief Executive Officer of Norwegian Cruise Line.
I am about to reveal my true identity to the employees I worked with this week.
I can't wait to see their reaction.
I'm a little nervous about judging these two guys, but I think I know how they did.
I feel good about judging them.
I'm gonna decide which one's the best.
Uh-oh.
Hey.
Oh.
Do I look a little different? - Yeah.
- You look all clean-shaven.
Yeah.
You recognize me? Do I know you? I know you from the other day.
Do I know you as a man? No, I don't.
I'm Kevin Sheehan.
I'm the Chief Executive Officer of Norwegian Cruise Lines.
I made so much fun of you.
- You did.
- Uh I felt like a real dork, by the way.
Okay, that's good.
Oh, man.
So you're regretting some of the stuff you did to me? NuhNo.
I'd still fire you.
Just so you know.
Well, it's nice to meet you.
Yeah, nice to meet you too.
So let me-- let's go back, 'cause I did learn a lot, actually.
I saw opportunities to make the life a little bit better for our crew members.
And when you took me up to the ice skating rink Oh, yeah.
And the thing that really bothered me is that you guys had to break your backs to do it, and then we completed the project, and what happened? Nobody came! There wasn't-- So you're gonna be a big hero with all your fellow workers, because that is dead as of now.
We're never gonna do that again.
- They'll love that.
- And you guys can actually do what you were really hired to do.
Yeah, thank you.
Okay.
So the other thing You know, you always have a smile on your face.
And you help the guests have, you know, a fantastic experience on the ship.
- Yeah.
- And so what I want to do is we have a management training program that we bring people in after college, and they spend periods of time working in different departments.
You'll be able to feel your way and find out what's the most interesting thing for you.
And hopefully grow into a successful executive, and, you know, follow in my footsteps.
No, that's amazing.
I came to NCL just kind of on a whim.
And to have this opportunity given to me is justAmaz-- like, it's huge, you know.
It's, you know, it really is.
I'm shaking.
I'm in shock.
Like, this opportunity is huge.
And so--so nice.
Michael, I loved watching you do your job.
People came up and you knew their names.
And that's pretty comforting to somebody like me, knowing that there's guys like you around the organization that really care about what they do.
I-I love it, and I love working for Norwegian.
Uh, and that's why it's so much fun and You know, I went back and talked to, uh, the powers that be, and, you know, we'd like you to be the assistant cruise director on the Epic.
Really? And, if that's of interest to you, that would be really exciting for us.
Absolutely, yeah.
That's great.
Yeah, you look like you're in your element on that ship.
Yeah.
I was heartbroken by your story about your mom, by the way.
Uh, uh, I saw the pain in your eyes.
And you had mentioned to me that you raised money for your--for your mom.
So what I wanted to do is challenge you to do it again.
We'll match, dollar for dollar, everything you raise for your cause.
Wow, that's awesome.
Thank you.
We'll do it in your name in her memory, and make it as meaningful as possible.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
My heart's racing right now.
I'm really--I'm excited.
Like, I'm-- I don't even know what-- I don't know what to say.
But I'm really, I'm happy and shocked.
It's crazy.
John, I love the way you go about your daily activities with pride.
It's pretty inspiring, actually.
Thank you for the kind words.
You know, we were talking, and even though you were beating me up most of the day Think you kind of brought that upon yourself.
Yeah, you're I'm a little black and blue.
But that's okay.
Yeah.
I know you're expecting a beautiful daughter.
- Yeah.
- And you're really excited.
You can see it in your face.
Oh, yeah.
The, uh, the thrill.
What I thought would be a really nice thing to do is get your wife, and, once your daughter's born, bring the three of you to New York.
You know, fly you into New York.
Get you to spend some time with your family.
Wow! That'd be great.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
I'd also like to then send the three of you along with your parents on a cruise out of New York.
And I know you love the sea.
It'd give you the opportunity to spend some real quality time together as a family.
That would mean the world to my mother and father.
My father's been talking about taking a cruise and the timing and this and that.
And I've come acr-- it's a perfect time for this.
Thank you so much.
You know, my wife, that's the first thing she wanted to do.
She wanted to come visit my family soon as we could.
And now Kevin made it all possible.
What he did is just, uh, I can't actually express my gratitude.
It's just-- it's that much.
Sylvia, before-- before I get too far, do you know what the show Undercover Boss is? Have you ever heard of it? No, I haven't.
You know, even though you knew me, you had me working hard, and telling me everything I was doing was wrong.
And you did a spectacular job of serving our guests and making them feel important.
Well, that's our job.
You know, we have a shipboard advisory committee.
And I'd like you to be part of that.
Because, you know, your insights were helpful.
Thank you, sir.
Thank, you very much.
And, uh, just want you to know you are being promoted to senior waitress.
Serious? You deserve it.
- Thank you, sir.
- Congratulations.
Thank you very much.
I can go with a big smile home now.
Go with a big smile, a little bit more in your pocket too.
Exactly.
What I wanted to do also is, uh, I wanted to make-- do something special for you.
You talked about, you know, wanting to get married, uh - Yes.
- So here's what I thought.
We'd like to arrange for your wedding on the ship.
Thank you so much, sir! You know, make it-- make it really nice.
Serious? This is like my dream come true.
I've been dreaming all my life about this.
But it's just suddenly brought in front of me, and said, "this is yours.
" So far, I've been blessed, and I'll be blessed more hereafter too.
And I'm so thankful to Jesus.
Thank you, lord.
The time has come for me to tell the company that I have been undercover.
Can't wait to see how everybody reacts.
Join me, please, in welcoming Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Thanks, everybody.
You guys all thought you were here for an all-hands meeting? You're not.
For the past week, I've been undercover on two of our beautiful ships.
I had a tough week.
And I think you're gonna get a little bit of a taste of this.
So let's take a look.
Thought you were a big-time New Yorker, tough guy.
You seem like you're from Jersey.
I don't think Peter's ever interacted with a woman.
Up, down, up, down.
Push, pull.
What a great opportunity for me to get behind the scenes and see from a different perspective all of the hard work that all of you do.
And the incredible experience that you provided for our guests.
You guys all come out here and work for months at a time and are separated from your families.
It's not an easy thing.
And it takes a lot of commitment and I appreciated that, and I thank you for that.
So as a special recognition to all of you, we're going to make a $100,000 contribution to the crew enrichment program.
We will provide for crew parties, entertainment, and anything else that can make your lives more enjoyable while you're away from your families.
Thank you very much.
I was absolutely humbled by the effort, hard work, dedication, caring, of our crew.
Absolutely.
Because it's really the 16,000 or so people that are making us successful.
It's not one person.
It's all of our employees.
Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode.
Public distrust of wealthy CEOs remains high.
But more and more bosses are looking for radical ways to reconnect with their workforce in order to find out what's really going on in their companies.
Each week, we follow the boss of a major corporation as they go undercover in their own company.
This week, Kevin Sheehan, the CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, one of the world's largest cruise companies, is recognized by one of his employees.
Oh, my gosh.
How will he complete his undercover mission? My mind went blank, and I said, "oh, my God.
What am I gonna do now?" Find out next on Undercover Boss.
With its headquarters in Miami, Florida, Norwegian Cruise Line has 11 cruise ships sailing all around the globe and serves more than 30,000 vacationers a week.
At the head of this $2 billion business is one man.
I'm Kevin Sheehan, the CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line.
Hey, Patti, can you do me a favor and see if you can follow up with this guy? - Okay.
- Norwegian Cruise Line is the third largest cruise line among the contemporary brands.
We have ships that are positioned in the Baltic, in the Mediterranean, in Alaska, in Hawaii.
So I got a call from Bernard.
Four of the banks have set their commitment.
We were the first to purchase our own island in the Caribbean as a destination.
Wherever the customers want to go on vacation, we can position our ships to accommodate them.
Bye.
I was born in Manhattan, and after high school, I had a lot of very interesting jobs.
I was delivering flowers.
I worked in the liquor store.
I worked for the Department of Sanitation on snow emergency days.
And then I had an epiphany and said, "you know, you're wasting your time.
" So I went back to school with a vengeance.
Took a job as a taxi cab driver, and that helped fund my college education.
And I went through college in three years.
So that kind of turned the juice up in me as I began the journey that I had for the next 25-plus years.
I was part of a group that launched the Spanish language television network Telemundo.
And I integrated the Avis and Budget car rental brands into one successful network.
I joined Norwegian Cruise Line back at the end of 2007 with the goal of taking it from good to great.
Miami, Florida.
It's our headquarters.
And I bought a residence down here.
I live down here.
You know, that was a big commitment, because my family is up in New York.
It, uh, at times, is quite challenging.
Hi.
How ya doin'? I'm fine.
You? I-I miss ya.
Lorraine and I have been married for 34 years.
Break a leg.
Cute, thanks.
All right.
Bye-bye.
I'm a very passionate person, and when I dive into a opportunity, I become absorbed.
Yeah, that's a flaw in some respects, because you're losing a bit of a balance in life, but it's my DNA, so it's-- I don't know how to change it.
When I joined the company in 2007, the product was inconsistent.
The turnover of the employees was far above what it should be.
I'm very proud of where we are today.
We've come a long way.
But we have a very stable work force.
We've more than doubled the earnings of the company.
So now it's a great time to get in there and see: Are we getting the payoff for all of the initiatives that we put in place? Are there other things that we could be doing to drive the value and the experience for the customer? While undercover, I'm posing as Peter Francis, an unemployed New York City cab driver.
My coworkers will be told that I'm taking part in a program where two people are competing for one open position within Norwegian Cruise Line.
So here it is, day one.
I'm going undercover on the Pride of America.
While undercover, I will be staying in an average room similar to where our employees stay on ships.
Today, I'm going undercover as a deck repairman.
The Pride of America is a five-year-old vessel within our fleet, a little bit older than many of the ships.
So it's critically important to see that we're maintaining the look and image of the ship.
Whoop.
Is there a guy named John here? Yeah, that's me.
And you are - Peter Francis.
- Hey, Peter, nice to meet you.
- Good to see you.
- So you're my new guy, huh? I gotta take you downstairs someplace you can change.
So you been on a ship before? Uh, Staten Island Ferry.
Staten Island, you're from New York? I'm a New Yorker.
I'm sorry to hear that.
I'm from Brooklyn.
Ah, I won't hold that against you.
Hey, I don't hold it against me either.
I live in Saipan now.
- Who? - Saipan, it's an island.
Is it-- is it near Brooklyn? Uh, yeah, about halfway around the world.
Being on the ocean puts a lot of wear and tear on the ships.
So we need to ensure that everything is handled as soon as it becomes a maintenance issue.
Okay, you're gonna be working in the deck department.
We basically handle the outside of the ship.
We take care of all the painting, the chipping, the cleaning.
What you basically wanna do is you wanna keep all the rust off it.
Salt water.
Salt water--it eats, it eats, it eats, it eats.
And then when it's done eating, it starts eating some more.
Now, we're gonna be power washing.
We're gonna get all the salt.
Even though you can't see it, there's salt all over this.
- I got ya.
- There you go.
Remember, important-- stay up top.
You don't wanna miss a spot.
Wherever you miss, there's gonna be another job you don't wanna do later on.
You're in Hawaii, so you'll be getting a little cool mist on you.
You got a nice, cool breeze.
It's tough to complain.
So you don't want to spray actually into the vents.
Yeah, I was over it.
Yeah, so just try and stay over it.
As you can see, we've only gone a couple of feet, and you can see all the work that needs to be done here.
You take a look from a long way away, it looks white.
You get up close It--you see a little-- well, you want to keep it white.
So what'd you do before you did this? Uh, I was a cab driver in New York.
- Cab driver in New York? - Yeah.
This can be the start of a new career.
Yeah.
A little late.
Doesn't make a difference.
We have people That's what they call me, anyway.
Come here when they're We have people that come here when they're in their 50s.
You like your job? Most of the time.
And when do you not like it? When I start missing my wife.
You get to talk to her most days? The cell phone service when you're in the middle of the ocean, you can't get any service, so Yeah, that makes it tough.
Especially now, I got a child on the way, and I'm over here working.
So she's due, the doctor said, anywhere from three weeks on.
Oh, three weeks out.
Yeah, I'd rather be home with her, but I'm at work right now.
- Yeah.
- All right, Peter.
We're basically done with this.
We're gonna be moving on.
The chief mate wants me to go to the forward mooring deck.
This here, this is called a chock.
A chock is an opening where a line goes through.
Don't lean on that.
These things do snap.
Oh, okay.
And this is called a roller chock, but as you can see, they get wear and tear.
They rip the paint off.
We gotta clean all the rust out from underneath.
Just give it a good Whack, like so, and you'll start stripping off all the paint.
How far, uh I want you to do the whole thing.
What, you looking to get out of work already? No, no, I meant do I go all the way up here? No, six inches all the way around.
Look, get get in.
Give it a whack.
It's not--trust me, you're not gonna break this.
This thing can hold That's not elbow.
That's wrist.
This is elbow.
Okay? John's a no-nonsense guy.
You know, he had me doing all the, uh, the rookie work.
I got a plane to catch in a week.
There you go.
I felt like I was being hazed for a fraternity.
I thought you were a big-time new yorker, tough guy.
You seem like you're from Jersey.
Come on! Hit it! You remember New York enough to know how to insult a guy.
Close? I see paint.
Strip an oval over here.
Hey, that looks pretty good now.
Unfortunately, I had to do Well, I enjoyed watching you.
- That's wonderful.
- I learned.
All right, let's go check out some stuff that was done yesterday that needs to be finished up.
Here we have quite a beautiful view.
Doesn't look like Brooklyn or Queens from here, right? It's quiet a different skyline than the Manhattan skyline.
But it's, uh, this is part of what you get with the job.
All right, as you can see, this has been primed.
We're just gonna do these two coats here.
And we have another set over here.
Here, you really gotta be more precise and more attentive to detail.
Okay, I wanna get off all the drips So I don't have to wipe them up later.
I'm gonna have you do that.
Now, that dripped down there.
Even though it was me, you're cleaning it up.
And we don't wanna put too much on.
You see, we're getting more.
I only had one drop.
You got about five of them.
No, I'm take-- I'm fixing your drops! - Oh, is that what it is? - Yeah.
You wanna borrow my glasses? Do 'em right the first time, 100%, because it'll be three years later before you get called back to do the same job.
- Okay.
- Now it's done? UhI think it's done.
Oh, you're getting ready to pack up, so I'm gonna assume you think it's done.
So let me just give it one more check.
You got all spots right along here.
I didn't think you were gonna get back down there.
Yeah.
His mental approach to the whole thing was like, "you gonna check?" Yeah, it's your first day on the job.
This whole section here isn't done.
Course I'm gonna check.
No, I'm just gonna turn the ship over to you.
And I might as well let him drive tonight, just so I can get a good night's sleep.
You gonna trust me on this one? Yeah, since you didn't look at the bottom one.
You just kind of went-- no, I did look at the bottom! I think Peter's a good guy.
I think he's looking for his notch in life, and I just don't think this is it.
When did you first hit the sea? My whole family was dock builders.
But I'm, like, the first one that actually Left the dock and went out.
So when you look back, is this where you thought you'd be? I look back, I think the thing that intrigued me the most is I didn't know where I would be.
It's a completely changed career.
It's a completely changed life.
- Yeah.
- There's an inner calmness.
There's a spiritual comfort that comes along with a man that's been on the sea and seen the world.
You know, they say a picture's worth a thousand words.
But when you're standing in front of the actual thing, sometimes, there's no words that can actually explain it.
Right.
There's just nothing that comes along with that.
Now, is this gonna be tough with you and the new baby? Uh, yeah, it's gonna be tough.
But, you know what? If I didn't get involved in shipping, I never would have met my wife.
- Right.
- I wouldn't be having a child.
God knows where I'd be.
I'd probably be back in New York saying, "I wish, I wish, I wish.
" And you're living your dream.
Like so many people do.
It's heartwarming to see that we have crew members who are here because they love to be here.
You get a great appreciation for what John and the other every single day to protect the ship.
To keep it in first-class condition.
And that makes you feel very good.
And it's a confirmation that we've got a great crew.
You know, me and the wife-- has your wife been to New York? - No.
- This'll be the first? She's been from where she's from and she's been to Saipan.
But God willing, next year, you know.
Yeah.
All right, so, Peter, the whole bottom over here is not done, see? - Ah, yeah, you got me.
- That's why we look at it.
We just--just-- nice and even.
Take your time--don't throw it overboard, please.
- Okay.
- Okay? You want me to go down there and pull that sucker around? Kevin gets up-close and personal with the guests.
Oh, myGah.
And later, how will the boss react when his cover is blown? Oh, my gosh.
My mind went blank, and I said, "oh, my God.
What am I gonna do now?" Kevin Sheehan, the CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, is a boss undercover.
I got a plane to catch in a week! His employees think he's part of a television show, where two people are competing for one open position within the company.
It's not a flower pot.
It's not gonna break.
His journey continues in Miami aboard the Norwegian Epic.
The Norwegian Epic, our newest ship, cost us well over $1.
1 billion.
Close to $1.
2 billion.
We bet the farm on this ship, and we need to make sure it's truly a huge success.
Today, I'm going undercover as a member of the recreation staff.
On the ship, we have a wide range of industry firsts, including a rappelling wall, an ice skating rink.
We have water slides.
We spent a lot of money putting together lots of different experiences for our guests on this ship.
I wanna be sure each and every one of them is paying off.
- Hi! - Hi, are you Jessica? - Are you my next person? - I'm Peter Francis.
Peter Francis, I'm Jess.
It's so nice to meet you.
Could you put on A uniform for me? This project is also very timely in that we're about to embark on some new ship orders.
So for me to be able to see how each of these activities is being relieved by our guests, I'll be able to gauge that as we design the new ships.
Clearly your shirt's not even tucked in.
Oh, it's supposed to be tucked in.
I'm a New York guy.
We don't know how to dress.
Step one, we have waivers.
Next step, give everybody shoes.
And then hook everyone with a harness.
- This is the sizes.
- Mm-hmm.
This is their brake that they'll use, like so-- - to go down.
- Yeah.
And then after he goes, we're gonna harness you up.
Because if you're telling other people to do it, you should be able to do it yourself.
I was not mentally prepared for this.
I would have--I would have-- - it's okay.
- She thinks I'm a big baby.
And, uh, she's probably right.
You're not gonna kill me, right? - Huh-uh.
- All right, Peter! You're doing it good.
That's it.
Good job, good job.
- Ah! I came out too-- - squeeze your break.
Squeeze your break till you can There you go.
Oh, you get a wedgie.
Oh, my God! I'm gonna start talkin' loud.
- How is that for you? - I had my eyes closed.
I was just a little nervous about having never done it before.
Having done it now, I'm a seasoned veteran.
Did you want to climb as well? Oh, okay.
Now, have you filled out a waiver yet? No.
If you want to come in here, it's probably easier to write on the bench.
The ship is, obviously, Epic.
And then you want to pull this through your legs.
Thank goodness I stopped.
I was almost gonna handle that part.
Let's get you a helmet.
And then once you get up to the top, Paul will take care of you.
Good job, Theresa! Good job.
Look at that.
Hey, have you guys filled out a waiver yet? Oh, you need to sign a waiver too.
Initials, initial, initials.
Oh, my goodness.
And then initials.
And another signature, if you don't mind.
- Oh, boy.
- I know.
.
Why wouldn't we have a form like this that when people check in the first day-- I think that they should have them in their rooms, so they see them there, and then they can just bring 'em.
I'd like to see us reengineer the liability certificates.
It needs to be simplified, so that we can keep it moving and everybody can have the opportunity to, uh, appreciate the rappelling wall.
- You're new at this, huh? - Yeah, I'm a rookie.
I don't wanna get too personal here! That's okay, I just had a guy hugging me and--and giving me kisses at the bar.
You have Peter flustered now.
When it came to interacting with female passengers, I don't think Peter's ever interacted with a woman.
Now you want me to go down there and pull that sucker around? You can ask her to pull it through her legs.
I'll help him.
He was so nervous.
This could get, like, really compromising here.
Oh, myGah.
Peter is making people more nervous than calm.
And that's the complete opposite of what you wanna do when you're sending them up a rappelling wall.
You gotta squeeze your rope while you do that too.
Good job.
There you go, there you go.
Go ahead.
She might start to slide.
Pull her.
Oh, perfect! Whoa.
Oh, aah! - Good job.
- That was great.
I thought Jessica was awesome.
You're amazing.
She's got a great personality for this.
And she's got great interactions with the guests.
Well, now that we're done with the rock wall, we are gonna head all the way up to the sports court.
We're going to set up ice skating up there.
Ice skating? Who's making the ice? - We're making the ice.
- Oh, my God.
So this is our ice As much as it does not look like it.
It's basically a giant puzzle that we're gonna put together.
Um, it takes up half of this court.
When it's done, we spray this disgusting, greasy solution on it.
And that gives it the slick.
It's not the complete real thing, obviously, but, um, they use real ice skates on it.
How would you rate this overall for all the-- This is the worst job ever.
How can you lift those? We are about to find out.
You're not gonna do it.
Yes, I am going to do it! You're gonna lift this stuff? I do this every time.
Okay, are you okay going backwards? Be careful.
They're heavy.
Yeah, I just noticed that.
To your left, to your left.
This correct? See, like a puzzle.
Like a puzzle.
These are the kind of things you're not necessarily ready for when you sign up for ship life.
Okay.
Push, push.
Lift up.
No, lift up there.
Good.
And, like, ice skating, I think it's just all part of that "let's do something different.
" Right.
Whoa! It's a couple of hundred pieces of plaster board that probably weigh This is ridiculous.
No, I hear you.
I hear you.
My back is, uh, is feeling pretty broken right now.
Put a little heart into it! This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.
He hates this.
He's like, "my back will give.
" And I was like, "that's what we were having issues with.
" My back is broken.
Where do I get off this ship anyway? Okay, you're done.
And now, Peter, we wait for guests to arrive.
They're gonna see how awesome you set up this ice.
Look at Clinton go.
And how many people come to skate? There'll be nights where you go hours without seeing anybody.
- Yeah.
- And then It's like somebody decided this without thinking of the consequences.
I think there's a lot of form over function.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- It's just-- it sounded like a good idea, but it's actually ridiculous.
Yeah.
The ice skating rink is disheartening to me, because it wasn't up to the same level as all the other activities.
You know, seeing it first hand, there's nobody skating.
We're like, we're spending a half hour to set it up.
The teardown is just as bad.
I think it's, uh, wrong to make people do this.
It's a tremendous amount of work for the crew.
It's crazy.
For little reward.
We came to run fun and games, and we're lifting and moving and Right, right.
It's sad because I know a lot of people don't wanna come back to the Epic.
The management didn't have a grasp on things.
I don't like to see our crew, who work hard enough as it is, working on a task that doesn't have any logical sense to it.
WellPeter I would love for you to see some ice skating.
But it doesn't seem like anyone's gonna be around right now.
I don't wanna keep you up.
Okay.
- It was nice meeting you.
- Same here.
Take care.
Bye.
I'm exhausted after helping put the--the rink together.
My take-away was it just wasn't worth it for our team because they had to work really hard to put that together, you know.
I'd rather see them interacting with our guests and turning, you know, everything into a lot of fun, as opposed to working like that.
I have never in my career had a failed venture, and it's, you know, quite different than what I'm used to.
Madame, for you.
We have 20 restaurants on the ship.
But the Manhattan room is the most important dining room on the Norwegian Epic, because on a daily basis we serve over 1,200 meals.
Good evening.
Today, I'm going to be working undercover as a waiter.
I need to be sure that we are providing exceptional service for our customers from the minute we open it to the minute it closes.
Hey, I'm looking for someone named Sylvia.
Sylvia's right there at the water station.
Hi, is Sylvia here? Oh, my gosh.
At first, I wasn't quite sure I heard my name.
But then when she said it a second and third time And my mind went blank, and I said, "oh, my God.
What am I gonna do now?" Oh, my gosh.
I'm shocked.
I'm surprised.
I started to walk down the walkway, and she immediately screams out my name.
"Kevin Sheehan! Kevin Sheehan!" Do you know if there's a woman named Sylvia here? Sir, I'm right here.
Hi, Sylvia.
My name is Peter Francis.
I'm just here to work with you today.
All right, nice to meet you, Peter.
This evening, when this guy walked up to me, Peter Mr.
Kevin Sheehan I was surprised.
You need to go get changed.
Okay, great.
Right now, I need to talk to Sylvia and figure out a game plan to see how we can make this work.
Sylvia, obviously you recognized me right away.
- Yes.
- And, uh How did you recognize me? And the guests, they remember me back.
That's how I am highest in comment cards.
I really trying to go undercover so that I can really see how you guys are operating.
So that we can hopefully leverage that across the fleet.
Exactly.
Do you think there's a way for me to go back into the dining room and not have people know who I am? Sure you can, because nobody has recognized you.
And I intend to keep it that way.
- Okay.
- Let's go to the dining room.
I'm gonna make sure that he learns whatever I would teach my assistant.
Because he needs to know what dirty business it is.
- So we ready? Let's-- - all set.
- Good evening.
Welcome.
- Good evening.
Hi.
My name is Sylvia, and I will be your waitress this evening.
My name is Peter.
I'll be your assistant waiter this evening.
And here is your bread.
I'll bring you the wine list.
But I'll take your order first, so that way I don't keep you waiting too long.
Peter, so now you'll pick up my appetizer and everything.
- Okay.
- "Asp" is asparagus.
- Asparagus.
- Caesar, Caesar.
I'm confused.
I will show you.
Come.
Asparagus.
And And two Caesar salads.
Yeah, you remember.
That way.
Thank you very much.
They look great.
Will you be able to carry this one? Uh, I'm gonna try.
Yikes.
Whoa.
Be careful.
Don't drop it on anybody else.
Serve from the Right.
- Okay.
- Ladies first.
Ladies first.
Are they both shrimp, the two ladies? And gentlemen.
Hope I don't spill it on you.
Is the water glass on the left side or the right side? Always right.
I'm sorry, I went the wrong way first.
This is our table number three.
Lady's having summer roll and shrimp.
So come back with summer rolls and shrimp.
I put it on a plate too, right? Yeah.
I was completely lost.
Oh, that's the way.
It's very hard.
There's a lot to remember, and I have no idea what I'm doing.
Okay.
Regular and decaf.
Peter, where's the decaf? - Oh, you want decaf also? - Ay, yi yi, Peter.
You said coffee.
Who's having regular? Regular, okay.
If somebody's finished, you remove the dirty plates.
Peter, pick up a tray and bring me two key lime pies.
Whoa.
Picking up those trays and putting them down was impossible.
Figuring out how to go from the dining room to the galley Find out where all the food was.
I have a headache from all of this.
Key lime pie.
Peter, you have the wrong dessert.
You have two New York cheesecake.
Oh! I never would be able to do what these people do day in and day out.
As far as the performance in the Manhattan room, everything that I saw was very encouraging.
Everybody was doing their task, going about their duties, and everybody seemed happy, which is comforting, especially after seeing the complexity related to the ice skating rink.
I would like to sit down and just kind ofLearn - Chat.
- And you can tell me what I did right, what I did wrong.
Okay.
Let's go.
The work you put me through.
You killed me.
And those trays are awfully heavy.
So is there anything that you see that maybe you could give me some advice or some takeaways that I could go back to the office and kind of rethink how we do things? So why don't you just talk a little bit about yourself and-- I'm like really thinking whether I should stay with this company.
So instead of hiring new hires, why don't we give positions available-- right.
The should be some loyalty given by Norwegian Cruise Line to them.
That's helpful, 'cause I didn't realize that was a, uh, a point.
Actually, I would definitely love to be a supervisor, because maybe if I can Do something for our crew that can bring a smile.
The fact that there's not that many opportunities to be promoted, we need to put some real effort into figuring out how to make the performers feel good and move up in the organization.
When I first started, six years ago, six years ago.
So you're on your seventh contract? Sixth contract? Sixth contract.
I always had ten months full.
You're aware I changed the contract term from ten months to nine months, right? Yes.
So is that a better thing for you? If it would be eight months, it would be really good.
'Cause that way we get rotations of vacation.
A lot of people have missed Christmas like me for seven years.
Oh, you're kidding.
Really? Yes.
It is very tough to be away from my family for so long.
Right.
And I have a girlfriend back home.
Oh, okay.
We're actually planning to get married.
- Oh, terrific.
- Yeah.
How is ship life for you in that situation? It can be hard for me to survive sometimes.
Yes.
Is that expensive for you to call? Yes.
It's tough.
It's very tough.
It's amazing when you step back and think of the sacrifices that people make that live on board.
Sylvia cares an awful lot, and she just happens to have a personality that's going to let you know what she thinks, and I got a lot of really good feedback that I'll bring back to the office, and hopefully we can make a difference.
Appreciate you telling me all of this.
And I want to thank you so much for everything.
- Pleasure's all mine, sir.
- Really appreciate it.
You killed me tonight.
We're not done yet.
I'll follow you out.
Today, my job is working as a member of the cruise staff.
One of the main points of the ship is the entertainment.
And our cruise staff handle over 100 activities on a weekly basis.
So while I'm working undercover today, I'll be able to really see, are they engaging the customers? Are we getting them to feel important and to ensure they're having a great time? - Hi! - Uh, yeah.
I'm looking for someone named Michael.
Yes, I'm Michael.
Peter Francis.
Peter, nice to meet you.
How are you? - Oh, great, great.
- Good.
All right, so you're here to train to be, uh, cruise staff here on board.
We're pretty much the social hosts of the ship.
We do all the activities, all the events.
Bingo, karaoke, theme parties.
Line dance classes.
You know, everybody's here on vacation to have a good time.
We're just here to-- to enhance that and make sure that they're smiling and having fun.
So the plan for tonight is we have our big white-hot party.
It's NCL's signature party, the hottest party at sea.
You'll wear white pants, a white-hot shirt.
We have this white hat.
And angel wings.
You have to wear angel wings.
You're kidding.
Angels at the party.
But right now, we need you to get into cruise staff gear.
Have you ever taken dance before at all? - Nope.
- Never? Never.
I hate dancing.
I don't even dance at weddings.
The look of death on your face.
You're gonna be fine.
This is an easy, easy dance.
The first move that you're gonna do is a roll, roll.
With your feet, you're gonna click-click twice.
Just like The Wizard of Oz.
You go click, click.
Now, with your right foot, two to the front.
Two to the back.
To the front.
To the back.
To the side.
I have dyslexia, so Getting the left and the right and doing it consistently is quite a challenge.
Here, you're gonna do a little bump like this.
Uhh! Like that.
And you have to say "uhh.
" Okay? So you're gonna go, "uhh!" No, just like that.
Really? - Yes.
- Uhh.
Just--well, a little more enthu-- go, "uhh!" Peter seems a little tight, a little tense.
Very rigid.
Be free, just-- just relax.
Roll, roll.
Click, click.
Michael was exceptionally patient with me.
To the front, to the back.
To the side, turn.
I still got it wrong, but at least he gave it the college try.
Three steps back.
Whoa.
I think he'll get it.
Mm, maybe.
Uhh! And then we start all over.
You're gonna have to teach this to, like, 1,000 people tonight, you know.
Oh, my God.
Yeah, we'll see how it goes tonight.
I think for now, we're pretty good until the white-hot party, so Okay.
Thank you very much.
How are you liking it so far? The dancing part I know I'm gonna find very difficult.
Well, how did you get into this, anyway? I, uh, I worked as an actor for a long time.
Then I did theme park work for a while.
Oh, really? Which theme park? I worked at busch gardens, Disney world.
Universal studios.
You hit all the big ones.
Yeah.
I was always intrigued by the freestyle cruising aspect.
Did a ship up in Alaska.
You find it hard being away from the family a lot? It's tough, I mean, I get to, you know, talk to them on email and call them.
But when I go home, I make sure and go and see all of my family.
My mom passed away a couple of years ago.
She got brain cancer.
Oh, my God.
- And, uh, but I-- - out of nowhere? - Yeah.
- Ah, that's terrible.
It was out of nowhere.
She was fiftyOne? She was, uh - It's tough, tough.
- Yeah.
I have the exact same scenario.
My brother passed away completely unexpected.
And it was devastating.
It is, I mean People say it's gonna get easier.
But, I mean, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about my mom, yeah.
I think about her every day.
She's, I'm sure, very proud looking down.
Thank you, yeah.
We actually had a benefit for her where we raised over $20,000 for cancer.
That's beautiful.
That's really nice.
She would be so happy that I'm - Doing what you wanna do.
- Doing what I wanna do.
Yeah, that's great.
Very sad situation with his mom.
That's enough to destroy a young kid like that.
And he took that terrible tragedy and turned it into a very positive energy within him.
It's just admirable.
All right, so what we're gonna do, we're gonna go meet some guests and try and recruit them to come to the white-hot party.
We're pretty much the faces of the ship.
We're on the front lines.
Hello, how are you? How are you, guys? You coming to the white-hot party tonight, yeah? You guys have fun.
We'll see you at the white-hot party, all right? If you see somebody you wanna talk to, like these ladies would be perfect right here.
They're wearing white.
Hey, guys.
How you doing? Good evening.
Make sure you get to the white-hot party tonight.
Tonight, you gotta go to the white-hot party.
Probably be 1,000 people up there.
Be a lot of fun.
Be sure you get to the white-hot party tonight.
Oh, yes.
Interacting with our customers is something I enjoy doing.
- See you later.
- Okay.
As we walked the ship, it was obvious Michael knew many, many people.
- How are you? - Fine.
Were you on the Star? I was on the Star, yes.
He engaged them.
I was there at the, uh, karaoke bar.
- It was fun, right? - Oh! That's exactly what you want to see, because if they make that connection, that's what they're gonna walk away and say, "wow, that was really a great cruise.
" All right, so it is time for us to go get changed for the party.
All right, so here we go.
How's everybody doing tonight? You guys ready to have a good time? That's right, it's NCL's signature white-hot party on the newest ship in the fleet.
And I'm one of your hosts here onboard, Michael.
Alongside me, we have somebody that's training to be a cruise staff.
So what we're gonna do is we're gonna teach you a line dance, ladies and gentlemen.
Peter, are you ready? I'm set.
He's ready.
Crowd, dancers, are you ready? All right, here we go.
Boom, boom.
Click, click.
Two to the front.
Two to the back.
To the front, to the back, to the side.
Turn.
Three steps back.
Whoa! Three steps forward.
Uhh! Yeah! Give yourselves a round of applause! We're gonna keep this party going! This is a good way to get people to dance up on the dance floor.
Hey.
I thought I was too late.
Now, you have to dance for this.
Oh, right.
You know, the things was, you're nervous going into something like this.
But after a while, I noticed everybody was kind of--they-- nobody cared about how I was dancing, and everybody was happy and dancing away.
To see our customers having a ball, it's exactly what we hoped for.
When we launched the new ship.
Can't ask for anything more.
Just finished my last task.
I'm not quite sure I thought I'd ever survive all of this.
My emotions ran the gamut from very high and excited about some of the, uh, activities that we have on the ships, you know, to the low of some of the things that, in retrospect, we didn't need to do, and, you know, another very important experience that I'm walking away with is seeing the hardworking crew and seeing the sacrifices that they're all making each and every day, uh, away from their families.
If there's anything else that we could do to maybe make their lives a little bit better, uh, we should give it serious consideration.
Coming up, Kevin's employees think they're coming to the Pride of America to vote on one of two employees competing for a job.
I'm a little nervous about judging these two guys but I know how they did.
How will they react when he reveals his true identity? I'm Kevin Sheehan, the Chief Executive Officer of Norwegian Cruise Line.
I am about to reveal my true identity to the employees I worked with this week.
I can't wait to see their reaction.
I'm a little nervous about judging these two guys, but I think I know how they did.
I feel good about judging them.
I'm gonna decide which one's the best.
Uh-oh.
Hey.
Oh.
Do I look a little different? - Yeah.
- You look all clean-shaven.
Yeah.
You recognize me? Do I know you? I know you from the other day.
Do I know you as a man? No, I don't.
I'm Kevin Sheehan.
I'm the Chief Executive Officer of Norwegian Cruise Lines.
I made so much fun of you.
- You did.
- Uh I felt like a real dork, by the way.
Okay, that's good.
Oh, man.
So you're regretting some of the stuff you did to me? NuhNo.
I'd still fire you.
Just so you know.
Well, it's nice to meet you.
Yeah, nice to meet you too.
So let me-- let's go back, 'cause I did learn a lot, actually.
I saw opportunities to make the life a little bit better for our crew members.
And when you took me up to the ice skating rink Oh, yeah.
And the thing that really bothered me is that you guys had to break your backs to do it, and then we completed the project, and what happened? Nobody came! There wasn't-- So you're gonna be a big hero with all your fellow workers, because that is dead as of now.
We're never gonna do that again.
- They'll love that.
- And you guys can actually do what you were really hired to do.
Yeah, thank you.
Okay.
So the other thing You know, you always have a smile on your face.
And you help the guests have, you know, a fantastic experience on the ship.
- Yeah.
- And so what I want to do is we have a management training program that we bring people in after college, and they spend periods of time working in different departments.
You'll be able to feel your way and find out what's the most interesting thing for you.
And hopefully grow into a successful executive, and, you know, follow in my footsteps.
No, that's amazing.
I came to NCL just kind of on a whim.
And to have this opportunity given to me is justAmaz-- like, it's huge, you know.
It's, you know, it really is.
I'm shaking.
I'm in shock.
Like, this opportunity is huge.
And so--so nice.
Michael, I loved watching you do your job.
People came up and you knew their names.
And that's pretty comforting to somebody like me, knowing that there's guys like you around the organization that really care about what they do.
I-I love it, and I love working for Norwegian.
Uh, and that's why it's so much fun and You know, I went back and talked to, uh, the powers that be, and, you know, we'd like you to be the assistant cruise director on the Epic.
Really? And, if that's of interest to you, that would be really exciting for us.
Absolutely, yeah.
That's great.
Yeah, you look like you're in your element on that ship.
Yeah.
I was heartbroken by your story about your mom, by the way.
Uh, uh, I saw the pain in your eyes.
And you had mentioned to me that you raised money for your--for your mom.
So what I wanted to do is challenge you to do it again.
We'll match, dollar for dollar, everything you raise for your cause.
Wow, that's awesome.
Thank you.
We'll do it in your name in her memory, and make it as meaningful as possible.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
My heart's racing right now.
I'm really--I'm excited.
Like, I'm-- I don't even know what-- I don't know what to say.
But I'm really, I'm happy and shocked.
It's crazy.
John, I love the way you go about your daily activities with pride.
It's pretty inspiring, actually.
Thank you for the kind words.
You know, we were talking, and even though you were beating me up most of the day Think you kind of brought that upon yourself.
Yeah, you're I'm a little black and blue.
But that's okay.
Yeah.
I know you're expecting a beautiful daughter.
- Yeah.
- And you're really excited.
You can see it in your face.
Oh, yeah.
The, uh, the thrill.
What I thought would be a really nice thing to do is get your wife, and, once your daughter's born, bring the three of you to New York.
You know, fly you into New York.
Get you to spend some time with your family.
Wow! That'd be great.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
I'd also like to then send the three of you along with your parents on a cruise out of New York.
And I know you love the sea.
It'd give you the opportunity to spend some real quality time together as a family.
That would mean the world to my mother and father.
My father's been talking about taking a cruise and the timing and this and that.
And I've come acr-- it's a perfect time for this.
Thank you so much.
You know, my wife, that's the first thing she wanted to do.
She wanted to come visit my family soon as we could.
And now Kevin made it all possible.
What he did is just, uh, I can't actually express my gratitude.
It's just-- it's that much.
Sylvia, before-- before I get too far, do you know what the show Undercover Boss is? Have you ever heard of it? No, I haven't.
You know, even though you knew me, you had me working hard, and telling me everything I was doing was wrong.
And you did a spectacular job of serving our guests and making them feel important.
Well, that's our job.
You know, we have a shipboard advisory committee.
And I'd like you to be part of that.
Because, you know, your insights were helpful.
Thank you, sir.
Thank, you very much.
And, uh, just want you to know you are being promoted to senior waitress.
Serious? You deserve it.
- Thank you, sir.
- Congratulations.
Thank you very much.
I can go with a big smile home now.
Go with a big smile, a little bit more in your pocket too.
Exactly.
What I wanted to do also is, uh, I wanted to make-- do something special for you.
You talked about, you know, wanting to get married, uh - Yes.
- So here's what I thought.
We'd like to arrange for your wedding on the ship.
Thank you so much, sir! You know, make it-- make it really nice.
Serious? This is like my dream come true.
I've been dreaming all my life about this.
But it's just suddenly brought in front of me, and said, "this is yours.
" So far, I've been blessed, and I'll be blessed more hereafter too.
And I'm so thankful to Jesus.
Thank you, lord.
The time has come for me to tell the company that I have been undercover.
Can't wait to see how everybody reacts.
Join me, please, in welcoming Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Thanks, everybody.
You guys all thought you were here for an all-hands meeting? You're not.
For the past week, I've been undercover on two of our beautiful ships.
I had a tough week.
And I think you're gonna get a little bit of a taste of this.
So let's take a look.
Thought you were a big-time New Yorker, tough guy.
You seem like you're from Jersey.
I don't think Peter's ever interacted with a woman.
Up, down, up, down.
Push, pull.
What a great opportunity for me to get behind the scenes and see from a different perspective all of the hard work that all of you do.
And the incredible experience that you provided for our guests.
You guys all come out here and work for months at a time and are separated from your families.
It's not an easy thing.
And it takes a lot of commitment and I appreciated that, and I thank you for that.
So as a special recognition to all of you, we're going to make a $100,000 contribution to the crew enrichment program.
We will provide for crew parties, entertainment, and anything else that can make your lives more enjoyable while you're away from your families.
Thank you very much.
I was absolutely humbled by the effort, hard work, dedication, caring, of our crew.
Absolutely.
Because it's really the 16,000 or so people that are making us successful.
It's not one person.
It's all of our employees.
Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode.