Junior Powell relaxes on his parents' verandah in Lennox Bigwoods, Westmoreland. - Photo by Noewl Thompson

Avia Collinder, Outlook Writer

Food and beverage manager and acting hotel director of Carnival Cruise Lines, 42-year-old Junior Powell, will set sail next month on the Liberty - the second newest ship in the Carnival line - in the position of hotel director.

Powell has under his belt two firsts - that of holding the positions of food and beverage manager and hotel director - something never before done by a Jamaican.

Born in Lennox Bigwoods in Westmoreland to single mom Celina Miller, Junior Powell is proud of his achievement and so are his fellow Jamaicans who work on board and those who enjoy vacations on Carnival Cruise Lines.

One such passenger was Heather Shields, vice-president of marketing at Scotia Bank, who says, "I met him last year on the ship and was impressed with not only his story but the feedback from the other Jamaicans working on the ship on how he has protected them and provided guidance to them when they started out in their jobs." Heather was one of the guest editors for the April 22 issue of Outlook and she suggested that his achievements be highlighted in the magazine.

Powell proved his mettle as food and beverage manager (F& B manager), a position in which he excelled and proved that he was ready for the post of assistant hotel director. In the last six months, he has also juggled the roles of F& B manager along with that of acting hotel director - a monumental feat.

Powell makes the point that, "As food and beverage manager you are the single largest department on board ship. I had 423 crew members in department on the Miracle. You are responsible for daily operations which include all dining, service areas, bar service, galleys which also include passenger dining and staff galleys. You are also overseeing storeroom operation.

"The challenge is to make sure that the guests are properly fed. All of this, overseeing and daily planning is hectic. You are serving 2,600 guests and 1,000 crew members who need to be fed and kept happy.

"If the crew is not happy, guests will not have the experience they need. You are helping them with their family problems. You are counsellor and guide."

One of greatest challenges for Powell was working as F& B manager as well as hotel director. Still, he received compliments from Carnival headquarters in Miami for a well-done job.

He says, he did his best as, "I wanted to do well. I wanted to show to everyone that the sky is the limit and no matter how things are you can go out there and make a difference."

In Lennox Bigwoods where Powell spent his childhood with his mother, stepfather Cyril Miller and two siblings, he was grown in a Christian family, raised to respect everyone, "to work hard to achieve whatever in life we could achieve."

These are principles which helped him enormously later in life.

"We were very poor," he recalls, "We had to walk to school every day, often with no lunch money, but we hung in there. It was not very easy to find the necessities, but we still managed to beat the odds."

He attended Chantilly Primary School in Westmoreland and then went to Beersheba All-Age in St. Elizabeth, followed by Maude McLeod Comprehensive High School in Darliston.

At school, he did "extremely well and had his eyes set on attending college and becoming a teacher. He recalls, "I wanted to go to college and go into teaching, but my parents could not afford this. We were really poor - just fighting to survive."

It was a neighbour who told him that she had some sons on ship and who opened the way to his securing an application form for Carnival Cruise Lines.

In September 1987, Junior Powell walked aboard his first ship, the TSS Carnival.

"It was a culture shock," he now recalls. "Moving from the environment here (in Jamaica) to one where one is confined while exposed to meeting different nationalities was a little difficult. Further, I had to share my room with eight other guys. That was a shock.

He was given the job of snack steward, making hamburgers, serving, cleaning tables, removing garbage, cleaning grills and floors.

It was hard work and his plan was to "make money and go back to school".

He states, " I had no intention of staying on the ship for a long time." His intentions were good, but after two weeks he wrote to his mother telling her that he "could not take it".

She replied and told him to stick it out as there were no other option. Powell admits, "She had sold her cows for my tickets and medical examination fee, leaving only a calf. I had to stick it out."

When Vernon Stewart, another snack steward from Lennox Bigwoods took it upon himself to help Junior to do his job, the young steward began feeling better.

"In the evenings when he finished doing his job, he came over to help me and that's where I gained some confidence."

Powell started to "get the feel of the job" started to think "well, if I am here I am going to make it happen."

In a few months, food and beverage Manager Mark Smith determined that the young recruit had management potential and asked him if he was interested in a supervisory role.

Powell was not interested. He thought, he said, that becoming a waiter and earning better tips was a better option. But the F&B manager persisted and Powell promised to try the role for a month. He accepted position as galley supervisor within the operation and became the eyes of the food and beverage manager.

After only three months in that position he was asked to join the assistant food and beverage manager programme.

In 1988, Powell went on the MS Celebration to train for six months. He completed the course with high marks and was transferred to the MS Holiday where he completed final training and was recom-mended for a promotion. He took up the position of a full-fledged assistant F&B manager on the MS Jubilee.

Junior Powell was again promoted, in 1990, gaining two stripes in as many years. Then in 1999, he was selected as an F&B assistant manager for the inaugural cruise of the MS Fantasy in Finland. Later, he went to the Mardi Gras where he was again promoted.

When Carnival restructured its operations and integrated food with beverage, Powell chose to accept the position of ship bar manager and remained in this post for seven years.

It was in September 2000 that he was promoted to food and beverage manager while posted on the MS Fascination.

While he has enjoyed his career, Powell notes that it has been really difficult leaving his family. He spends eight to 10 months of each year aboard the ship.

The sacrifice, he says, has been worth it. "I wanted to make life better for everyone, especially my mother who sacrificed much."

Still unmarried, he comments that it is very hard to have a relationship being away he now has a girlfriend.

Life has paid off in other ways, however. His recent promotion came after being asked in June 2006 to take on the acting role of hotel director which he did until he left the ship in January 2007.

He did not get to teach, but he recalls that once, "one of my neighbours said to me 'Young man, take what you get until you get what you want. Perhaps when you get what you want you won't want it at all.'"

"Some things come into your life and you do not even know it is yours to keep. Here I am in the hotel industry and I had no idea. Now I enjoy and love it."

He notes: "Being the first Jamaican to reach the position of food and beverage manager, it was really an achievement. I would like to continue breaking barriers."

Junior Powell states: "It is never going to be easy. People fail to understand that passion and love for what you do are necessary, otherwise it does not make sense. You have to love, have passion for what you do. That's very important and that's why I am still around."