Aside from the ship’s captain, who is responsible for navigating the vessel safely, the cruise director might be the most important crew member onboard a cruise ship, especially when it comes to embarkation day.
It’s this person’s responsibility to coordinate with various department heads to organize activities and social events – while also serving as the face of the activities and entertainment team and delivering important information to guests.
While this high-pressure job obviously involves a lot of hard work and strategizing, one of the most popular cruise directors on social media is giving cruisers an inside look at how much she fits into one day – and it might be more than you’d expect!
Kyndall “Fire” Magyar, the current cruise director onboard Carnival Jubilee, shared a reel on her Instagram with her embarkation day routine, which has been liked nearly 10,000 times.
While the video picks up at 2:30 p.m. local time on embarkation day, the cruise director does more in one afternoon than most people would do in a day – or even two!
At 2:30 p.m., Maygar wakes up from a power nap and spends the next hour getting dressed, answering emails, and making announcements to keep passengers in the know as they get oriented on the ship – which is the largest vessel in Carnival’s fleet.
From 3:15 p.m. to 3:55 p.m., the cruise personality heads to the bridge to help lead the safety briefing and make announcements for guests to go to their assigned muster stations for the mandatory emergency drill – which must take place before the cruise ships can leave port, regardless of the cruise line.
Once the safety drills are concluded, Maygar gets all the all clear from the captain and races to the lido deck to lead Carnival’s signature Sailaway Party – where she dances on stage for nearly an hour in the heat without missing a beat.
The seasoned crew member then gets a little over two hours to take a break, during which she showers and redoes her makeup in preparation for greeting guests at that night’s mainstage show – only pausing to make some more announcements for passengers.
Showtime lasts from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., after which she walks around the ship to interact with guests and make sure everyone is having a great time.
Maygar doesn’t get to eat dinner until after 10 p.m. and doesn’t make it to bed until nearly midnight – concluding a long and packed day that began at 5:45 a.m.
The Cruise Director Schedule
As with most crew members onboard, cruise directors do not get days off. Instead, they work long hours with pockets of breaks in between shifts, or in this case, events.
Cruise directors are some of the most well paid employees on a cruise ship, which makes sense considering the work they put in both “on stage” and behind-the-scenes to ensure cruisers are having fun and everything goes smoothly during their voyage.
According to ZipRecruiter, cruise directors make between $20,000 to $152,000 per year, depending on their experience and the cruise line – with the average annual salary falling between $39,000 and $70,000.
As one of the most well-known cruise directors currently sailing the high seas, it would be safe to say that Maygar’s salary is likely on the higher end of the spectrum.
Speaking to her popularity, Maygar was selected as the inaugural Cruise Director for Carnival Jubilee, which only recently entered service in December of 2023. She was paired with Matthew Boyd, who served as the 6,500-passenger vessel’s entertainment director, to “activate the fun.”
Between the pair, both crew members brought a combined 20 years of experience working on Carnival ships to the fleet’s newest addition.
Maygar most recently served as cruise director for Carnival Mardi Gras prior to joining Carnival Jubilee – but had also been part of the inaugural team for Carnival Horizon and worked aboard Carnival Vista.
Read Also: Carnival Cruise Director Schedule for 2024/2025
Also like their fellow crew members, cruise directors work on a contract basis – meaning they spend several months working onboard their assigned ship before getting a break to go home and reunite with their loved ones.
Maygar has been onboard the 182,800-gross ton ship since May 4, 2024, and will end her current contract very soon on September 7, 2024. Louie Clare, another fan favorite, will replace her until she returns on November 19, 2024 – with her next stint lasting until March 15, 2025.
After another three month break, Maygar is also scheduled to be back on board from May 17, 2025, through August 17, 2025.
