Entertainment on a cruise ship encompasses from the production of shows in the ship’s theater, the theme parties, the live music in the various public venues, the in-cabin television, the visiting entertainers and all of the organized activities that take place around the ship during the day and night. And Dominican Luis Manuel de la Cruz Zapata (Luigi) has climbed the professional ladder and for about a year and a half ago has been cruise director/director of entertainment at Celebrity Cruises, of Royal Caribbean Cruises.
In a recent interview with Listin Diario, De la Cruz told his story. He said he applied online and took a job as a janitor that was the only position available. He left a good paying job in local tourism industry working as an entertainment organizer in a number of Puerto Plata resorts. He had completed his accounting studies at UNAPEC but felt more at home in entertainment. Yet he explained he took the bottom starter job because he said he wanted to get a start in the cruise ship industry.
Once on the cruise ship, he got his break two months later from a fellow worker, a Jamaican, who worked in the bar, who saw how well tourists related to him. He switched from cleaning to interacting with passengers. In less than six months he got another break and returned the entertainment field. In less than a year he was promoted to the number two post in the entertainment division, a job he held for four years, prior to his promotion to cruise director/entertainment director a year and a half ago. He said he has now been working in the Celebrity Cruise company for seven years.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
30 January 2018
