Every Carnival cruiser quickly becomes familiar with their voyage’s cruise director, who they come to know and love as the leader of the fun.
But what some cruise fans might not get to see is the small-but-mighty group of fleet cruise directors, who work to support the Fun Squads across all of Carnival’s ships.
Other cruise lines have similar positions, but Carnival Cruise Line has been the most public about what it really means to be a “fleet cruise director.”
In this Article:
Why Does Carnival Have Fleet Cruise Directors?
Carnival Cruise Line introduced the role of “fleet cruise director” in 2022, with the role first filled by the popular Mike Pack.
All of the fleet cruise directors, at least so far, have been the best and the brightest of Carnival’s cruise directors.
While an individual cruise director is responsible for coordinating and hosting the entertainment and activities onboard their assigned ship, fleet directors support, train, and encourage current cruise directors.
Nobody knows how to bring on the fun like they do, and they use their own unique experiences as cruise directors to help the next generation of Fun Squad leaders shine.
What Do Fleet Cruise Directors Do?
Digging deeper into the nitty-gritty, it becomes clear that Carnival’s fleet directors have a fun, but very demanding job.
Rather than being assigned to one ship, these entertainment experts are temporarily assigned to different vessels for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the assignment.
They typically work essentially non-stop for three months at a time, before getting a month of vacation time to reconnect with their loved ones and recuperate.
“As a team, we’ll be traveling around the fleet supporting both the cruise directors and the fun squad team members that are out there, helping to nurture future talent and support current talent,” Fleet Director Lee Mason explained in a YouTube video soon after being promoted.
While the role requires these former cruise directors to take a step back from the spotlight, they may also pick their microphones back up to cover sailings as needed or for special events, such as new ship inaugurations.
These professionals, Lee Mason included, also maintain an active social media presence in which they share sneak peeks of their travels and the behind-the-scenes of cultivating top-tier entertainment for Carnival’s ships.
In this way, they also function similarly to influencers, who help get potential future cruisers excited about booking a Carnival sailing.
Who Are Carnival Cruise Line’s Fleet Cruise Directors?
There is no set number for the amount of fleet cruise directors that Carnival can have at one time, but there only ever seems to be three or four fun leaders fulfilling the role at most.
Currently, four people are sharing this responsibility. None of them seems to outrank each other, but rather work together to support the fleet as a whole.
Everyone who has been selected has been a long-time veteran of Carnival’s entertainment team and among the most popular cruise directors.
Leon Smith was promoted to the role in early 2025 after serving as the cruise director on more than a dozen Carnival ships.
He was tapped to join the fleet director ranks soon after the beloved Lee Mason, who was promoted in the fall of 2024.
Chris “Donkey” Salazar has also been in the role since 2023, and Erin Weigand made history as the first female fleet cruise director in 2024.
Former cruise-world celebrities like Mike Pack and Chris “The Flying Scotsman” Williams also previously filled the role, but have since retired.
How to Meet a Fleet Cruise Director?
Many cruise directors – and not just those that work for Carnival – develop a fanbase. Some passengers will even book sailings specifically to meet their favorite cruise personalities.
But because of the frequent travel this role requires, Fleet Cruise Directors are rarely in one place for too long and may not get a lot of advance notice for where they are going next.
If your dream is to meet one of these people, the best course of action is to watch their social media for updates about their next destinations or what special events they may appear at.
The Social Profiles for the Current Fleet Cruise Directors:
- Lee Mason (Facebook)
- Chris “Donkey” Salazar (Facebook)
- Erin Weigand (Facebook)
- Leon Smith (Facebook)
What Cruise Lines Have Similar Positions?
Other cruise lines do have people serving similar functions as Carnival’s fleet cruise directors, but these roles aren’t usually guest-facing personalities or cruise-world celebrities.
They are also usually identified as corporate or regional entertainment managers vs. a fleet cruise director.
Princess Cruises and MSC Cruises, for example, usually have a centralized entertainment team that oversees their fleets from brand headquarters.
Mike Pack, who you may remember as the first Carnival fleet cruise director, was appointed to the newly created role of national training and entertainment manager for Princess Cruises in November of 2025.
Read Also: I’ve Sailed on Princess and Carnival Cruise Ships: How Do They Compare?
This is in Santa Clarita, California, for Princess Cruises and Geneva, Switzerland, for MSC Cruises.
As another example, Royal Caribbean employs entertainment directors and senior managers of entertainment at the corporate level, who are responsible for overseeing the cruise directors.
Finally, it’s not uncommon to see job listings from Norwegian Cruise Line for corporate cruise directors or entertainment operations managers who perform similar roles in a less public-facing way.
But no matter what they are called or how well-known these people may be, cruise fans across brands should appreciate the work these people do to make sure they have a great time during their vacations.
