Cruise directors can make anywhere from around $50,000 per year to over $80,000 per year, with a $67,651 median salary. However, how much one makes depends on quite a few factors, including level of expertise, the cruise line and location.
Here’s everything you need to know about how much you can make as a cruise director and how to become one.
In This Article:
- How Much Does a Cruise Director Make?
- What Does a Cruise Director Do?
- Perks of Being a Cruise Director
- How to Become a Cruise Director
- Examples of Real Life Cruise Director Backgrounds
- Examples of Cruise Director Job Listings from Real Cruise Lines
- Career Path for Cruise Directors
- Is Becoming a Cruise Director Right for You?
How Much Does a Cruise Director Make?
According to Salary.com, cruise directors from the United States make a median salary of $67,651. Some, though, make much less than this, while others make much more. The bottom 10% base salary can hover at around $56,000 per year, while the top earners can make as much as $80,450 per year.
There are a lot of factors that influence how much cruise directors make.
How Cruise Director Salaries Differ According to Geography
Cruise directors make more when they’re based out of certain cities. According to Salary.com, directors in the following cities all make more than $75,000 per year, putting them above the median salary.
- San Jose, California
- San Francisco, California
- Oakland, California
- New York City, New York
- Queens, New York
- Parasmus, New Jersey
- Passaic, New Jersey
- Bergenfield, New Jersey
- Stamford, Connecticut
- New Brunswick, New Jersey
Not unsurprisingly, a lot of these top-paying cities both are situated near cruise hubs, and are also cities with high costs of living.
How Cruise Director Salaries Differ According to Cruise Line
According to Columbia, the cruise line you work with will impact your salary as well. The more luxurious the cruise line, the more likely that they’ll pay you more.
The university estimates that luxury cruise lines will pay salaries around $80,000–$120,000; mid-range cruise lines will pay salaries around $50,000–$90,000; and budget cruise lines will pay salaries around $40,000–$70,000.
How Cruise Director Salaries Differ According to Ship Size
Additionally, Columbia noted, cruise directors will often make more on larger ships.
This makes a lot of sense, as a cruise line’s biggest ships are often newer or flag ships that thousands of people will look forward to sailing on — so a cruise line will put a cruise director with a higher experience level at the helm. The large amount of experience required plus the high level of responsibility results in larger paychecks for cruise directors.
Columbia estimates that cruise directors on large ships make around $80,000–$120,000; cruise directors on mid-size ships make around $50,000–$90,000; and cruise directors on small ships make around $40,000–$70,000.
What Does a Cruise Director Do?
A cruise director is, in essence, the face of the cruise, or the face of fun, if you will. They’re interacting with guests and making sure they have the best possible time. This sounds like an easy job if you love cruising, but it’s actually a lot of hard work!
On a day-to-day basis, cruise directors might:
- Organize social events and activities
- Manage staff related to social events and activities
- Welcome guests to the ship
- Provide guests with recommendations for what to do, both on the ship and in port
- Ensure guests are behaving appropriately
- Provide customer support to cruise guests when necessary
- Provide support in the event of a cruise ship emergency
- Make daily cruise ship announcements
- Source and scheduling cruise ship entertainment
- Host their own entertainment, such as game shows
- Gather cruise passengers’ feedback and adjusting the experience accordingly
It’s also worth noting that a cruise director job isn’t one that you can just leave at the end of the day. Cruise directors are contracted to work on the ship for a certain amount of time — such as six months or so — and they often work all day long. As such, it’s important to have a true passion for the job.
Perks of Being a Cruise Director
There are many benefits to becoming a cruise director, starting with, obviously, the ability to spend every day, all day cruising around the globe, exploring different cultures.
Read Also: Carnival Cruise Director Schedule
However, for those who love to entertain, be around people and provide memorable moments for those around them, a role as a cruise director can be exceptionally fulfilling.
How to Become a Cruise Director
Pursue the Right Education
If you’re interested in becoming a cruise director, you’ll want to start with pursuing the right education, such as a degree in hospitality, communication, tourism, business administration or entertainment (like theater).
If you don’t have a degree in one of these fields, you may be able to make up for that with enough years’ relevant job experience.
It can also be very helpful to be fluent in a foreign language (or a few foreign languages!). Then, a cruise line could assign you to cruise routes that travel to countries wherein that language is spoken, making it easier for you to work with locals. Likewise, this skill can help you better accommodate international cruisers.
You may also want to pursue additional certifications, such as those offered by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). This type of continual education can boost job prospects throughout the entirety of your career as a cruise director (resulting in a higher salary!).
Develop the Right Soft Skills
Beyond education, though, many cruise lines are also looking at applicants’ soft skills. Successful cruise directors are excellent communicators, leaders and problem solvers.
They’re able to think on their feet, remain calm in a crisis and adapt as necessary. They also typically have very entertaining, funny and charming personalities.
Get Some Prior Job Experience
Most cruise directors do not go straight from getting a degree in hospitality to a cruise director role. Many start out in lower positions on a cruise ship and then work their way up, as cruise lines appreciate applicants with prior experience living and working on a cruise ship.
You might get a role as a cabin steward or activity director, for example, or a role as a cruise ship entertainer. Many Carnival Cruise Line cruise directors start out as a member of the Carnival Fun Squad before being promoted to cruise director status.
Examples of Real Life Cruise Director Backgrounds
You can look at the resumes of prominent cruise directors working in the industry today, to see their career paths and what led them to becoming cruise directors. This will give you an idea of what you might need to similarly do.
For example, popular cruise director Leon Smith (who we’ll discuss more momentarily) has a degree in theater and music education, and held roles as a Chuck E. Cheese cast member and Nickelodeon resort activity host before becoming a cruise director.
Similarly, cruise director Lee Mason has a degree in musical theater, and held roles as an entertainment manager, performance host, radio presenter and assistant cruise director, before becoming a cruise director at Carnival Cruise Line.
Examples of Cruise Director Job Listings from Real Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Line requires its cruise directors to have:
- At least three years in the entertainment industry
- Cruise ship experience
- On-mic experience
- Experience managing budgets
- At least three years of management experience (preferably)
Additionally, the cruise line notes it’s looking for cruise directors that are charming, engaging and able to train and mentor other staff.
On Princess Cruises, meanwhile, cruise director applicants are required to have at least five years of experience hosting events, activities, shows or theatrical performances.
Princess Cruises likewise looks for applicants with charismatic, funny and lovable personalities. Applicants are also required to submit a head shot, as well as an unedited, unscripted video that includes a summary of the applicant’s life story, a recounting of a funny life moment, a welcome speech to cruise guests and other details that give hirers an idea of one’s stage presence.
At MSC Cruises, the cruise directors lead teams of hundreds of other individuals, so the cruise line is looking for applicants with leadership experience, as well as experience having worked with a cruise line, and in entertainment or presentation.
Applicants should all be knowledgeable of the cruising industry in general, and MSC Cruises likes cruise directors to be fluent in at least two European languages.
Career Path for Cruise Directors
While a cruise director job in general can seem like a great opportunity for someone who loves cruising, the opportunities don’t stop there. Once you become a cruise director, you have many more career paths ahead of you.
Fleet Cruise Director
For example, some cruise directors are promoted to what’s known as a fleet cruise director. A fleet cruise director is a leadership position overseeing other cruise directors for a cruise line. A cruise line can have multiple fleet cruise directors.
Often, cruise directors are awarded this role after they’ve spent many years with a cruise line and proven that they can deliver a superior cruiser experience, with every cruise.
For instance, in early 2025, Carnival Cruise Line promoted cruise director Leon Smith to fleet cruise director. Smith has been with Carnival Cruise Line since 2015 and is one of the line’s most beloved cruise directors with avid cruisers. He’s also worked on more than a dozen of the cruise line’s ships, as well as received many awards, such as Cruise Director of the Year.
Carnival Cruise Line has similarly promoted many of its cruise directors to the fleet cruise director role. In the latter half of 2024, Lee Mason was promoted to fleet cruise director, having been with the line since 2016 and serving on quite a few of the line’s ships. Earlier in 2024, Erin Weigand was promoted to fleet cruise director as the first woman to take the role.
Cruising Influencers
Another opportunity for cruise directors? Many now take their effervescent personalities into the online realm, by posting about their journeys to social media, basically becoming influencers, which comes with its own career opportunities.
It’s nothing new for avid cruisers to quickly come to know who their favorite cruise directors are, and to specifically book cruises where that cruise director is in charge.
With so many cruise directors taking to social media in a broader way now, though, it gives cruisers yet another way to connect with these individuals vital to their cruising experience.
Popular cruise directors-turned-influencers include Christine Kesteloo, a former cruise director with 141k-plus followers on Instagram and 1 million-plus followers on TikTok, and who currently sails with her husband, who works as an engineer on Holland America ships.
There’s also John Heald, a UK-based senior cruise director for Carnival Cruise Line, who became a cruise director in 1990 and now has a following of more than 600k on Facebook.
Kyndall Fire, similarly, has 165k followers on Facebook, and currently works as a cruise director for Carnival Cruise Line, recently wrapping up a contract on Carnival Jubilee.
Other, more “micro” influencers include Carnival Cruise Line fleet cruise director Lee Mason, with 30k followers on Facebook; and Mark Walker, a Royal Caribbean cruise director with 53k followers on Facebook.
Is Becoming a Cruise Director Right for You?
So is becoming a cruise director right for you? It all depends on your career goals and whether or not you feel you have the right personality and mindset for this very unique role. It’s definitely not a job that’s for everyone, or even for everyone who loves cruising.
You’ll need to be comfortable staying at sea for months at a time, and love entertaining, being around lots of people and putting your cruisers’ needs first.
If, though, that sounds right up your alley, then becoming a cruise director can be an enjoyable career that comes with a very comfortable salary.
