‘We want to inspire the next generation of cruise professionals’
Can The Cruise Career Springboard solve the industry’s diversity issue? We speak to the programme’s founder to find out
There are very few people in recent times who have done more to entice young people to join the cruise industry than Edwina Lonsdale and her husband Matthew.
Having set up The Cruise Career Springboard (formerly The Compass Project) in late 2022 to teach sixth-form students about working in the cruise industry, the programme has gone from strength to strength.
As well as a new name to reflect the programme’s ambition to get students into tangible jobs, a third college recently came onboard, raising the number of enrolled students to 48.
All three colleges have a strong focus on practical, vocational courses, but the other thing they have in common is that many of their students come from deprived areas.
For the sixth formers of St John Bosco College in Battersea, Itchen College in Southampton and North East Surrey College of Technology, getting over the usual preconceptions of cruise is often the first hurdle.
Sitting down to chat with the programme’s founder and owner of Mundy Cruising Edwina Lonsdale, she recalls a particular student from last year’s intake. “In 2024 we had a student who on day one had their hood up, headphones on and could barely raise his eyes to look at you at all,” she says.
“By the end of the programme, the hoodie and the headphones were gone, and he was standing at the front of the class speaking to a room full of people – it was just amazing.”
This, she tells me, is what the programme is all about: not just educating sixth-form students about a potential career in the travel industry but giving young people the confidence and drive to propel themselves into adulthood.
Tired of seeing “too many of the same people” in the cruise industry, Lonsdale’s initial goal was to stimulate greater social mobility, diversity and inclusivity throughout the sector.
She explains: “We felt there was a need for more inspirational figures to motivate young people from diverse backgrounds to come into the industry, but you can’t magic those people out of nowhere. You need to start at the bottom and put them into ambassadorial roles right at the start.”
The name change came about when Lonsdale decided they needed to work harder to get students into employment once the eight-week course was complete. She cites apprenticeship schemes from the likes of Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises as potential avenues into work for those who don’t want to go down the university route.
“We’re aiming to inspire a whole new generation of young people from different backgrounds to join the industry from the age of 18,” Lonsdale explains. The eight-week programme, which runs from April to June, kicked off last month with an introductory day mediated by the renowned trainer Debbee Dale onboard MSC Preziosa, in Southampton.
It was the first time the kick-off event took place on a ship. A grand finale day will take place on 24 June, where students will give presentations about their experience, what they learned and why they’d recommend a job in the cruise industry to their peers.
Our students really appreciate being spoken to by senior people because it makes them feel recognised in an environment where they often don’t have a great deal of self-confidence
Before then, though, students are invited to take part in ship tours and visit cruise line offices to hear from a variety of departments, from law and HR to sales and marketing, to see how each forms a vital part of an organisation’s machinery.
One session that springs to mind for Lonsdale was when Royal Caribbean’s legal team delivered a case study on the White Island tragedy in New Zealand in 2019, where a volcano erupted during a shore excursion.
Students were challenged with deciding what legal and moral obligations the line should take. Other times, they get to learn about peoples’ personal roads into the jobs they’re doing to see what paths might be open to them.
Lonsdale adds: “Our students really appreciate being spoken to by senior people because it makes them feel recognised in an environment where they often don’t have a great deal of self-confidence.”
Lonsdale is quick to thank former Regent Seven Seas Cruises head Graham Sadler, ex-Celebrity Cruises vice president Jo Rzymowska and CLIA for supporting the project from day one.
It was the latter who was able to open the door to the UK cruise line community and, as a result, as many as 18 operators are signed on to support this year’s intake, including Cunard, Princess Cruises and Uniworld.
When asked why more operators are choosing to support the initiative, Lonsdale says that for many of the cruise line employees taking part in the programme, it takes them back to the excitement of being an 18 year old with the world at their feet.
“Graduation day is incredibly invigorating,” she concludes. “I return home lit up and excited and the cruise lines have found that too. They’ve given us huge support because not only did they feel it was the right thing to do, it is also really stimulating and it reminds them how much they love their jobs.”
