ADVENTURE AWAITS
Welcome
Being a Cruise Director has been my dream since I was a young boy. I can still remember my first cruise aboard the MS Sunbird. From that day on, I fell in love with the sea.
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Traveling the world, performing and leading a fantastic team is truly an honour. You can always join in by listening to my podcast, Keeping Afloat, as well as by following me on instagram.
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I am honoured to be able to work with and lead amazing teams that are able to entertain so many people. Everyone has their story, and I am excited to learn more about yours.
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Travel safe,
Kabir.
WHAT DOES A CRUISE DIRECTOR DO?
Life on a ship is very different to life on land. Most of the time it's smooth sailing, but there are sometimes missed ports, operational delays and medical emergencies. It's what you would expect from a small city. But working on a ship is also like working from home; everything is very close together and it's easy to get ready and go.
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As a Cruise Director, I am part of the Senior Officers Committee on board. I oversee all Entertainment and Activities, as well as act as the main Host of the cruise including making announcements and performing on stage. This means managing the Production Team, Cast, Cruise Staff, Youth Team and Musicians.
Every single thing that I do on board can't happen without the help of my amazing teams. I have been very fortunate to work with some great people along the way and can't wait to meet many more.
A NORMAL SEA DAY
A normal sea day begins for me at 7:30am. The light is usually shining through my window, as I try my best to wake with the sun. Initially, I will take a few moments to do some deep breathing and arrive in the day, and the check my emails for what happened during the evening and night.
After a 15 minute meditation, I go about getting ready and I am out the door by 8:30am. This is my time to speak to guests, as well as make sure that all of our venues look good. Then it’s up to the top deck for my guided morning meditation with the guests. This is one of my favourite activities of the day!
By 9:30am I’ve made it back to my office in time to do the morning announcement, as well as prepare for The Morning Show Live by getting the days headlines ready and ensuring the Keynote presentation file is updated with some new YouTube videos (my favourite part of the show is sharing funny videos we find online!). This is also a good time to check in with the Hotel Director about the day’s events as well as to catch up in general.
Also while I am in the office I meet with the Assistant Cruise Director about the day’s events and the details of what’s needed. Both of us head backstage together and conduct the show in the Main Theatre (which is always a thrill!). In The Morning Show Live, we talk about the day’s finniest headlines, play some trivia, name that tune and give away prizes, speak to our Musical Guest and then play the videos that we’ve found. It’s mean to start the day with good energy, just like the meditation!
My Signature Bollywood Dance Class takes place at 12pm on the Lido Deck under the sun, and I make sure to get my espresso beforehand; critical to keeping that energy up. This is quite possibly the highlight of my day because it’s like a 12pm pool party and it’s awesome to see people having fun. However, I will say - dancing so much for 30-45 minutes under the hot sun can take it’s toll and after class I usually socialize and then I’m usually laying under the A/C vent. This is a good time to grab lunch, and get changed for the afternoon. By 2:30pm I’m out and ready to socialize, making my afternoon announcement and then going straight backstage. The afternoon gameshow is at 3pm and could be anything from Liar’s Club, The Feud or Celebrity Heads. We have quite a number.
At 4pm I’m filming the Morning Show which plays in our TV’s for the following morning - I do this with myself and one member of the team. It’s all filmed on my iPhone and uploaded shortly after. Then it’s time for a break until the evening.
By 7pm I’m in the theatre again to watch the show; it could be a production show by the resident cast, or a show put on by some of our amazing guest entertainers that fly in to perform. At 7:45pm I am on stage telling everyone about what’s up next, plus informing them of our arrival into our next port of call. I take the time after this to socialize and meet as many people as possible by visiting the various venues on board. Getting to know my guests is very important to me and it makes everything a lot more personal.
Late night activities can range from a deck party to a late-night gameshow like The Great Lip Sync or one of our featured comedians. And I know our guests love their late night entertainment - sometimes our parties go until the wee hours of the morning.
Throughout the day I’ll meet incredible guests, and often spend as much time with them as I can. And of course none of this is possible without the help of the incredible team of officers and crew that work so hard to deliver the best service possible. At the end of every day I think back to the people I’ve met and offer gratitude to be able to do something that I love for my work.
