How To Become A Cruise Counselor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a cruise counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average cruise counselor salary is $39,235. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become a cruise counselor. Cruise counselors with a Travel and Tourism Professional (TTP) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 20% and produce 9,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCruise CounselorUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,235

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.0

Growth rate 20%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.11%

Asian 10.18%

Black or African American 7.03%

Hispanic or Latino 12.97%

Unknown 4.00%

White 65.70%

Gender

female 69.49%

male 30.51%

Age - 52

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 52

Stress level

7.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.4

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a cruise counselor

Explore cruise counselor education requirements

Most common cruise counselor degrees

Bachelor's

56.0 %

Associate

20.0 %

High School Diploma

12.0 %

Start to develop specific cruise counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	42.54%
Booking	33.20%
Reservations	24.26%

Complete relevant cruise counselor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New cruise counselors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a cruise counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real cruise counselor resumes.

Research cruise counselor duties and responsibilities

Manage civil litigation matters such as general and complex litigation.
Assist with reservations for vacation cruises.
Access all major cruise lines and world itineraries for booking.
Assist customers with booking group cruises for all the major cruise lines.

Prepare your cruise counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your cruise counselor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a cruise counselor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable cruise counselor resume templates

Build a professional cruise counselor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your cruise counselor resume.