Gloria Goff

Gloria Goff graduated from C19 at the Salt Lake Campus of the Utah College of Massage Therapy Family of Schools way back in December of 1994. Not long after graduation, Gloria landed a job with Steiner Transoceans aboard the M.S. Fantasy, a Carnival Cruise ship.

Gloria spent 18 months on board the cruise ship M.S. Fantasy. The English-based beauty company, Steiner, hired her. Out of over 100 applicants, Gloria was one of only 11 therapists chosen to work on one of the 170 ships Steiner services. Gloria was surprised when she heard her name called. "I just knew I would never have a glamorous job like working on a cruise ship," she said, "But I believe that you have to at least try to achieve your dream before you admit defeat. When my name was called as one of those accepted, I was so surprised that I had the interviewer double-check to make sure that it really was my name she called."

Gloria found her training at UCMT a definite advantage once on the ship. "Most of my co-workers on ship had very little massage training, and I saw a lot of therapists go home permanently damaged from long hours of massage. I am grateful to UCMT for the training I received. It is part of who I am as a person as well as a professional," says Gloria. As a professional, Gloria finds spa work to be very glamorous, but very hard as well. "While working for Steiner, the atmosphere was very formal. The uniform was a white dress. Beauty was the main theme, so everything had to be just right. As a Steiner, you were expected to be one of the ‘beautiful people.’ What most people forget is that it is a lot of work to be glamorous," says Gloria.

Gloria had strange and humorous experiences while on the M.S. Fantasy. All cruise ships are rumored to have ghosts, and Gloria says she "bumped into" the spa ghost on her ship. "It is believed that cruise ships are haunted one way or another and the Fantasy was no exception," Gloria said. "I wasn’t the only one who experienced something strange, one day I stepped backward and hit someone. When I turned to see who it was, there was no one there. It wasn’t scary, just strange."

One of the funniest things that happened was when a client fell asleep on her table. "A young man fell asleep during the massage and would not wake up. I tried everything, finally I pushed him off the table," Gloria said.

But cruise work isn’t all lighthearted and fun, she says. The hours worked on cruise ships are long and continuous, with clients scheduled back to back for 10 to 11 hours a day. One of the hardest parts for Gloria about the intense scheduling was losing some of the personal touch you have in private practice. "It sometimes became impersonal, like a conveyor belt. It was also very physically demanding. I really missed out on seeing the benefits of having a repeat clientele and witnessing the healing benefits of massage."