Carnival Cruise Line has promoted another of the fleet’s cruise directors to the leadership position of Fleet Cruise Director, bringing more experience and perspectives to this unique role.
Popular cruise director Erin Weigand is taking on the new role in just a few weeks and is the first female cruise director to be tapped for this promotion.
Another Fleet Cruise Director Chosen
Just two years ago, Carnival Cruise Line introduced the brand new leadership role of “Fleet Cruise Director” and to date, three notable cruise directors have been promoted to the new position. Now, a fourth popular cruise director will step into that bigger role as Erin Weigand has announced her promotion.
“It’s a-boat time I shared some news,” Weigand said on her popular Facebook page. “I am beyond thrilled to begin the next step of my Carnival career as Fleet Cruise Director!”
Her current contract as cruise director of Carnival Freedom was set to extend through June 17, 2024, but now Todd Evans will be returning to the ship on March 30 to take over as Weigand moves on to her new role. Cruise director schedules regularly shift as crew member contracts change and career plans evolve.
Weigand’s Career With Carnival
Erin Weigand began her career with Carnival Cruise Line in April 2015 as part of the entertainment staff, eventually moving up to a cruise director in November 2018. She has been part of the fun aboard Carnival Spirit, Carnival Sunrise, the now-defunct Carnival Sensation, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Dream, and other vessels.
Weigand is a dedicated and enthusiastic leader, eager to help all her fellow crew members bring their very best to Carnival Cruise Line.
“I am so honored to be a part of such a unique and talented group of people, all of us bringing something different and special to the role,” Weigand has said of her experience as a cruise director. “What we do as CD’s is not always easy. But I can tell you this… Every one of us does it because we absolutely LOVE it.”
Weigand will undoubtedly bring her love of cruising and enthusiasm for the guest experience to her new leadership role, helping train, motivate, and collaborate with other cruise directors for new activities and events across the Fun Ship fleet.
Other Carnival Fleet Cruise Directors
Three other cruise directors have been promoted to the leadership position of Fleet Cruise Director in the past two years. Mike Pack was first in early 2022, followed by Chris “Donkey” Salazar in March 2023. The most recent promotion was given to Chris “The Flying Scotsman” Williams in November 2023.
Erin Weigand is the first female Fleet Cruise Director, and will undoubtedly bring her own unique perspectives and ideas to the role, helping further expand training options and expertise that can be shared with all Carnival cruise directors.
Typical duties of Fleet Cruise Directors include onboard trainings, serving as mentors to new cruise directors, developing new activities and programming, conducting staff assessments and evaluations, and more.
The position is a shoreside role, and Fleet Cruise Directors are not assigned to a specific vessel. Instead, they may travel to different ships at different times, and may even fill in if necessary to cover vacations or other cruise directors’ reassignments.
They are also part of events on land helping promote Carnival Cruise Line – such as when Weigand was part of the New Year’s Eve festivities in Times Square to welcome 2024.
The promotion of more popular cruise directors into these leadership roles shows how useful the position is for Carnival Cruise Line, though there is no confirmation of how many Fleet Cruise Directors the cruise line intends to have on staff at any given time.
