Zimbabwe-born Presley Pfereka: A Crew Members Perspective

Send us Fan MailHello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Presley Pfereka, a crew member for Azamara luxury cruise line. I have long observed with awe and fascination cruise ship crew from the Captain to entry-level crew members and have hosted on The Joy of Cruising Podcast a cross-section of ship crew, both former as well as active over the past years. I would love to delve into their lives in an in-depth manner both on the home front as well as at sea. I have often noted that if I had the resources this is a book project I would love to pursue. While I can’t begin to do justice to that in an hour or so podcast episode, my discussion with Presley affords us a brief, unique look at ship life through her eyes. The variety of crew, staff, officers, and guest performers who have guested on the podcast range from childcare associates to maitre d’ to Captains, acrobats, magicians, to guest singers and comedians from all over the world. Presley is my first guest from Zimbabwe, in the Southeastern part of Africa. I first found out about Presley by way of an article I read in Conde Nast Traveler, “What It's Like to Be a Waitress on a Cruise Ship,” by Ashlea Halpern. Presley is a 37-year young lady from Easten Zimbabwe, Manicaland Province. She finished high school and started working at a young age as an organizing secretary for a non-governmental organization). This was after her parents passed on. Presley has two daughters aged 17 and 6. She moved to South Africa in search of greener pastures and worked a variety of jobs. In 2012 Presley met a fellow Zimbabwean who introduced her to Open Distance Learning with the University of South Africa. She enrolled with the University and attained a Higher Certificate in Business Management and then Registered for Bachelor of Commerce In Business Management which she is still pursuing. After coming across an advertisement on LinkedIn regarding cruise ship job interviews to take place in Cape Town in 2023, Presley applied as it was her wish to travel and work on cruise ships. This led to her being hired by Azamara January 2024 as Assistant Waitress. In November 2024 she got promoted to Administration as a Payroll Purser.Find Presley online YouTube: presleypfereka3174TikTok: @Presley PeeInstagram:  presley_pee87Facebook: Presley PeeEmail:  [email protected] you have a dream car? Support the showSupport thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/newSupport Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulthContact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.htmlBook Cruises http://www.thejoyofvacation.com/US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast)The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingCruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterruptedThe Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgainIntl Orders via Amazon