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Cruise director vs captain

The differences between cruise directors and captains can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a captain has an average salary of $52,161, which is higher than the $44,713 average annual salary of a cruise director.

The top three skills for a cruise director include safety procedures, bingo and game shows. The most important skills for a captain are customer service, safety standards, and food preparation.

Cruise director vs captain overview

Cruise DirectorCaptain
Yearly salary$44,713$52,161
Hourly rate$21.50$25.08
Growth rate10%1%
Number of jobs4,7484,430
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age3442
Years of experience-6

Cruise director vs captain salary

Cruise directors and captains have different pay scales, as shown below.

Cruise DirectorCaptain
Average salary$44,713$52,161
Salary rangeBetween $24,000 And $82,000Between $31,000 And $85,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-Google
Best paying industry-Transportation

Differences between cruise director and captain education

There are a few differences between a cruise director and a captain in terms of educational background:

Cruise DirectorCaptain
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaStanford University

Cruise director vs captain demographics

Here are the differences between cruise directors' and captains' demographics:

Cruise DirectorCaptain
Average age3442
Gender ratioMale, 53.8% Female, 46.2%Male, 65.4% Female, 34.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 9.9% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 3.1% White, 75.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage9%11%

Differences between cruise director and captain duties and responsibilities

Cruise director example responsibilities.

  • Manage recreation staff and programming for assist living and rehabilitation and skil nursing facilities.
  • Act as in-house DJ, orchestrating an inviting an energetic atmosphere for onboard events.
  • Implement a comprehensive counselor in training program to ensure consistent leadership by helping campers with developing productive and positive life skills.
  • Schedule, recruit coaches/players/officials and supervise youth soccer, basketball and baseball programs.

Captain example responsibilities.

  • Delegate responsibilities to crew members, verify inventory, manage payroll, steer the ship and operate dredge.
  • Lead the team as defensive captain to win the national championship of the most elite football level in Mexico.
  • Lead a platoon that earn numerous awards for jamming opposition force artillery nets and conducting counterattacks on opposition electronic warfare platoons.
  • Participate in intramural volleyball, basketball and indoor and outdoor soccer.
  • Ensure the synchronized delivery of additional manpower to combat operations by utilizing all available assets and effective logistics management.
  • Complete CPR and a training.
  • Show more

Cruise director vs captain skills

Common cruise director skills
  • Safety Procedures, 23%
  • Bingo, 11%
  • Game Shows, 10%
  • Cruise Lines, 9%
  • Social Events, 5%
  • Caribbean, 5%
Common captain skills
  • Customer Service, 21%
  • Safety Standards, 11%
  • Food Preparation, 11%
  • POS, 5%
  • Role Model, 5%
  • Logistics, 4%

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