During long sticky days at sea, one of the many exciting activities offered to passengers (we called them cones for some reason) on a cruise ship is skeet shooting. We used lead free pellets and biodegradable skeet discs to make certain that no creatures of the sea were harmed in any way. Never mind that we were handing a shotgun over to an inebriated, over heated, somewhat older and usually male cone. Happily full from the generous late afternoon lunch buffet and rum-runners, these cones would pay about thirty dollars just to pop off a few rounds and hopefully hitting enough targets to brag about it at the dinner table that night. Our older cones usually traveled in threes, husband, wife and his heart condition. This heart condition would make itself known at the most interesting times.

As part of the emergency response team (yes, they put a twenty year old cruise staff member in charge of saving lives!), my job was respond to a code alpha announcement with basic paramedic supplies while the ships doctor squirmed his way out of whatever cones cabin he might have been lounging in for that particular cruise. In this case, a code alpha was called to the aft section of the ship, the skeet shooting area. As I sped along the deck with supplies in hand my mind was going crazy. Had a deranged old man killed his wife in a drunken fit of rage? I was expecting to arrive to gruesome scene all blood and guts, only to find a peaceful looking man laying on his side, a heart attack victim. His ticker shut down with the explosive sound of the shotgun. As I began my unfortunately

Chapter Eight-Bang-Bang, Make Room in the Walk-In Continued unsuccessful revival routine his wife of obviously many years was by my side telling me how she expected this to happen and that his doctor warned us not to go on this cruise. As he vomited all over me as I attempted to inabate him, I wanted to smack her. I knew she was just trying to make herself, and me feel better. It was nice, but I had heard it all before. It happened at least two times per cruise. We called it the cruise to death plan. Someone condemned by their doctor to a life of pain and misery usually from congenital heart disease would quite literally go on a cruise as their last hurrah, a final happy chapter in their life. I really could not blame them, why not go in paradise? It just bothered me a bit that I always ended up with my fingers down their throat trying to find the tongue that they had just swallowed.

What was even better was the fact that our older cruise ships did not have a morgue. Not able to just leave poor John Doe at the next foreign port of call, it was necessary to find a way to keep him cold until we got back to Miami so his wife could make the sad arrangements. So what do you do with the recently deceased when you are at sea and the temperature is in the upper eighties? You call the chef. The huge walk in refrigerators on this older ship often doubled as make shift morgues. So we made room next to that nights dinner for the body bag.

As I sat that night at the Captains table with the wife of the just departed, I could not bring myself to eat. I bought the new widow a drink and wondered to myself as she busily gnawed away on a leg of lambdid she have any idea?

Kurt Bjorkman

Kurt Bjorkman began his hospitality journey at a very early age. Camping across the western states with his family and their pop-up camper at every vacation opportunity instilled in Kurt a fascination for travel, new experiences and moving in every direction possible. Kurt has never held a job outside the hospitality industry. Starting with the obligatory job at the local burger joint, Kurt discovered that he loved the pace and the concept of serving others.

Who is Kurt Bjorkman continued? After attending Northern Arizona University, Kurt ventured seaward and joined Norwegian Cruise Lines where he sailed for over 2 years. From the sea to land Kurt joined the Buena Vista Palace in Lake Buena Vista Florida where he truly began his twenty year career.

After seven years of learning at the thousand-room convention hotel in the heart of Disney World, the west began to beckon. Moving to Las Vegas Nevada, Kurt had the unique opportunity to work at the now leveled Desert Inn, as the Director of Convention Services at the Mirage Resort and as part of the pre-opening team and Director of Catering and Convention Services at the Regent Las Vegas (now the JW Marriott). It was here in Las Vegas that he was voted ?Mentor of the Year? by the University of Las Vegas Nevada.

Moving further west, Kurt accepted the position of Director of Catering and Convention Services at the famous Fairmont San Francisco. After two years in San Francisco he was promoted to Director of Operations at the Fairmont Santa Monica in southern California. Most recently Kurt worked with the Kor Group and their Viceroy hotel brand as Hotel Manager at the Viceroy Santa Monica and as General Manager of the Viceroy Palm Springs. Kurt recently opened his own hotel consultant business and is working with unique hotels around the world. His company is called ?ver5. Kurt believes that to be exceptional in this industry you must be willing to serve. ?It?s a genetic thing,? he says with a laugh. ?It?s not about getting a Mobile Five Star rating, it?s about the attitude and the willingness to serve others energetically?.