What is the job of a cruise director? Meet Marques Matthias.
If a cruise vacation was a movie, Marques Matthias would be the narrator.
As a cruise director for Carnival Cruise Line, Matthias' voice guides guests through their days onboard, outlining the ship’s scheduled activities and giving instructions over the vessel’s speakers, or emceeing events.
“Being able to (take) a cruise and realize that people get paid to have that vacation life, I was like, ‘That's something I want to be a part of,’” said Matthias, who goes by MarQ Anthony on the voyages.
The 36-year-old Minnesotan, who has worked for the line since 2015, is cruise director of the line’s newest ship, Carnival Venezia. He spoke to Paste BN about what it's like to work on a cruise ship, launching the line’s new vessel and more.
What brought you to the cruise industry and this role?
Matthias: My grandfather passed away … and my mom kind of wanted to change the way that we were looking at our holidays and stuff. She was like, “You know what, I remember so many moments of life that were about the vacations I had with my father.” And so we decided that instead of doing Christmas as normal with the gift exchange and all that, that we were going to shake it up and be able to live on the memories of being on vacation together.
So, we ended up taking a cruise, and I had just the best time. We met so many of the crew members, and they were like, “Have you ever thought about working on a cruise ship?” And I was like: “I'm from Minnesota. We don't have cruise ships up there.” And they were like, “OK, that's not like a thing, though. You can still get away.” I was working in a cubicle (at a science museum), and I got back and was like, That life was really exciting. And so I thought, Let me just go for it.
So I put in my application, and I started off as part of the Fun Squad and had a chance to do that and just shared the interest that maybe one day, someday, I could be the cruise director. … And within a year, I ended up having the opportunity to get (experience) and so then I went to the Carnival Splendor, and that was my first ship as a cruise director. And I was only supposed to cover for a vacation, and then it turned out to be a full contract.
How long is a typical contract?
Matthias: Most of our contracts are between like four and six months that we’re on the ship, and then about two months is vacation that we’ll go to our designated homes and get to breathe a little bit and then come back rejuvenated for another dose of it.
How long do you spend on one ship in particular?
Matthias: It kind of depends. One of the cool things about Carnival is that they're always looking at us to be able to bring out the best of ourselves. So, if we are maybe trialing a ship out of Miami and we just (can’t necessarily) get that vibe of Miami, then we can have the conversations of, like, “Oh, I would really like to try a different home port, maybe a different, longer or shorter itinerary.”
So, it's cool that we do have the option to kind of switch up our ships, but if we do really enjoy (it) and we're finding that we've got a good groove on things, then we also can stick there for a couple of years at a time.
What does a typical day look like?
Matthias: It depends on the day. … So a typical sea day could literally be starting at 8:30 in the morning, where I'm starting to prepare the day, and then I go into (The Wave) Morning Show, and then I go into our debarkation presentation. And then right after that, like, for example, today, we had our Father's Day event on the Lido deck, so then we celebrated with that. And then right afterward, we had our Groove for St. Jude (charity event), and then I ran downstairs to grab a sweat rag and wipe off my face. … So there's all these events that coordinate the majority of my day. But then I'm also responsible for doing a couple (of) reports at the end of the day, making sure that my Fun Squad – which is the team that I'm the direct supervisor toward – (is) also prepared and set and whatever. And so I have the sit-down time to be able to chat with them, check in with them. …
Port days, we get up, we get everybody off the ship, and then that's kind of like our downtime. So there are times where we get to go and explore the ports, or sometimes we just need to stick around and take a nap or do some laundry.
And then for days … where it's debarkation, it's a little bit more stressful just because we've got (thousands of) guests that are going to be all getting off the ship and then we have a little bit of time to kind of catch a breath, and then we get ready to do it all over again.
Carnival Venezia: The line's new ship offers Italian-style cruising
What is your relationship with the guests like?
Matthias: I think for me, one of the biggest parts of this job is I am really all about making sure that not only is everybody having a good time, (but I also) want to make sure everybody's included. So I really try to emphasize being able to make sure that I am off the stage and walking around the ship just as much, because I want people to feel that they can come up to me and be like, “Hey, I don't know you, but you seem kind of cool and can we get a picture?” Absolutely. …
So for me, even though the days can be long, they can be tiring, it's that experience of being able to say, “I want to get you away from some of the stress, some of the headache of life on land, to give you this fun for a little while and make sure that you know that you're just as special as the person next to you and the person next to them and the person next to them.”
What’s it like to launch a new ship?
Matthias: Being able to bring the new ship (to the fleet) is stressful because there's so much pressure. But it's also really cool because – my mom had said to me, “Look, you've got all these people that are going to be looking towards you, but remember, they chose you for a reason, and it's because you know what you're doing.”
… I get to be the face of this brand new beautiful ship, but I also know that I've got a really amazing support system of my Fun Squad, of the hotel director, of the housekeeping team, from the food operations teams. Everyone's here because, at the end of the day, we just want to make sure that there's a great experience.
What is your favorite part of doing this type of work?
Matthias: To be completely honest, as cheesy as people might think it is, it's actually the people. When I originally got into the idea of working on a cruise ship, I thought, This is going to be a moment for myself to be able to go explore the world (and) see all these amazing places that I've never been to. And I have been so honored to be able to go and see so many corners and pockets of the world that I never even heard of, (and) then to consistently be able to go back there.
But for me, it's the memories of being there with the people that make that experience so much more amazing and being able to meet now friends that literally come from all over the world.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for Paste BN based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.