Meet Holiday Hero; Kieran

Our amazing colleagues on board our ships work so hard to create unforgettable holiday happiness for our guests, so we’re taking a moment to shine a spotlight on them! Continuing our Holiday Heroes series, we’re introducing you to some of our incredible P&O Cruises colleagues, both guest facing and behind the scenes. Find out what makes them shine, hear about their roles, ambitions, hobbies, and what life is like working aboard a P&O Cruises ship.

Next up, get to know Kieran O’Driscoll, third deck officer…

Kieran O’Driscoll is a third deck officer on Arvia and will soon be heading back to shore to further his studies and progress his career at sea. He’s from Southampton and both of his parents have worked for P&O Cruises.

“I grew up in Southampton. My mum was in the company years ago, my dad still is. It’s nice to work for a company that operates from your hometown. I think in Southampton, with its maritime history and cruise terminals, it’s more common than anywhere else in the UK to go into the maritime industry.Every day is different so you can’t ever really get bored of the job. It’s constantly changing. I’m proud of what I do. Seeing a ship being floated for the first time, or the first time having passengers on, or going to a new port… it’s an amazing experience.

My favourite part of the job is mooring. It’s hands-on and satisfying and I really like the camaraderie that comes with it. When I went from being a cadet to a third officer, I gained responsibility. There’s real job satisfaction involved in that.

It’s really nice working on the bridge because you’re a proper team. Working as a big team is really satisfying and I think it only bonds you better as a department. After this contract, I go back to college for eight months to do my chief officer exams. Then I’ll come back and hopefully become a second deck officer. Then the journey keeps going to hopefully, maybe, one day become a captain. You’ve got so many friends on board and can do so many different things. In the Caribbean especially, there’s so much going on ashore, and so many groups of people to socialise and explore with.”

Thank you Kieran for sharing your story with us!