During our recent cruise, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Damian De Lorenzis, the current Cruise Director on the Celebrity Equinox. Following is an excerpt of our conversation.
Tell me a little bit about what being a Cruise Director on a large ship like the Equinox entails. I’m sure it’s a lot more than what the passengers are visible to.
My primary role is to give information to the guests through announcements, their stateroom televisions & personal interactions. Secondary is more of an administrative role. I oversee several departments, including the youth programs, the live music on board, the DJ, & all organized guest activities. 80 crew on board report directly to me.
That’s a lot more work than I think most passengers imagine. What’s a typical day like for you?
We’ll take today for an example [we were docked in St. Kitts from 8am to 3pm the day of the interview]. I was up & around the ship by 7am to see guests off the ship for their day in port. Then I do a couple laps around the ship to check the status of things – are there lights that are burned out on the pool deck, is that fountain working correctly, etc. After that is a morning meeting with senior staff on the ship, followed by the administrative part of my job – going through email & organizing crew trainings; once a week there is a crew drill, where we practice different emergency situations. By the time this wrapped up today, guests were coming back on board, so I walk around the ship, chatting with guests & making sure everything is up to satisfaction. This evening I’ll emcee the show in the theater & ensure that runs smoothly.
What’s the career path for a cruise director? How did you get to where you are now?
After I finished college, I went on a trip to Mexico & never returned [to Canada]. I got a job at a hotel there in the activities department & then moved on to work at various hotels in Mexico on the activities staff. Initially, I was reluctant to join a cruise ship because of what I had heard about working on them (it wasn’t fun, all the guests on board were older, etc), but the industry started turning around in the mid-1990s, so I came aboard Celebrity & became their youngest Cruise Director ever at age 28.
I’ve heard that you have a bit of a unique situation in that your wife also works on board the Celebrity Equinox. What’s it like to work with your spouse on a daily basis & live in what I’d imagine is tight conditions?
My wife does work on board as the activities director for youth programs. We’re very lucky that we get to be together on a daily basis, which is definitely not the norm for people work on board cruise ships. However, you’ll find that there are a number of relationships between staff, although often someone gets moved to a different ship – it’s kind of like college where you have to decide if you’re going to stay together when you go to separate schools.
One thing I’ve noticed about cruising on Celebrity is that there’s a wider age range than on other cruise lines. How do you plan activities to ensure that people my age (in their 30s) are just as happy with the activities as people my grandparents age (in their 70s)?
We know we always have to plan activities for 2800-3000 guests, since the ship always sails full. We’re able to plan out activities for a season with a projection of the demographics of passengers on board. This allows us to schedule live entertainment & activities in advance. We’ll also plan activities based on the itinerary – we may need some different activities for a European itinerary than a Caribbean one – & we’ll definitely need more multilingual activities for a European itinerary.
However, when people come on board, they should already know what to expect. The identity of Celebrity Cruises is pretty well known & people should have an idea of what the experience will be like before they book their cruise.
One thing I was impressed by was the number of religious offerings you have on board. I haven’t seen that on other cruises in the past.
We try to cater to our guests religious needs while they’re at sea, so we always have a Catholic priest on board during Lent & Advent, & he also performs a non-denominational service as well. In addition, we have a Rabi during the high holidays.
Finally, what to you have to say to my DINK readers who may be skeptical that a cruise vacation is the right thing for them?
Cruising is the best couples’ vacation out there. Think of the cost effective elements of it: for one price you get your food, transportation, & a variety of different destinations. It’s also a great use of your time, since you get to experience so many different destinations within a short period of time. What else are you going to do that you get all those things in a span of seven days?
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