From Lawyer to Luxury Retail at Sea: Ana’s Cruise Career Story

What does it take to change careers and build a new life working at sea?

For Ana, it meant leaving behind a career in law and stepping into a completely different world: jewellery, luxury retail and cruise ships.

Today, she has experience selling fine jewellery and luxury watches onboard and has progressed into retail management.

But that certainly wasn’t where her career began.

From law in Brazil to a career at sea

Ana studied law in São Paulo and went on to work as an independent attorney and legal consultant.

For several years, her working life involved clients, hearings, legal proceedings and everything that came with building a career in law.

Then she decided to change direction.

In 2022, Ana moved into jewellery sales at sea. It was the beginning of a completely different career.

Discovering jewellery and luxury retail

Ana quickly began developing her experience in high-ticket jewellery sales, gemstones, guest consultation and building relationships with customers onboard.

Her performance was noticed early in her cruise retail career, with Ana recording strong sales and receiving recognition for her performance.

From jewellery, her career moved further into luxury retail.

Ana became a Luxury Sales Advisor, expanding her knowledge across both fine jewellery and watches.

Her experience has included jewellery houses such as Chopard, Messika, Pomellato, Damiani and Salvini, alongside watch brands including Omega, Hublot, Cartier, TAG Heuer, Breitling and Panerai.

For someone whose previous career had been in law, it was quite a change.

Progressing into retail management onboard

Ana continued to develop onboard and eventually progressed into an Assistant Boutique Manager role.

That brought another new challenge.

Her responsibilities expanded beyond selling to include KPIs, promotional planning, marketing calendars, supporting multiple retail categories and stores, people management and career development.

It’s a great example of just how quickly a career can change when somebody finds an industry that suits their skills and personality.

Transferable skills matter

One of the things we see regularly at the Cruise Retail Academy is candidates worrying that their previous career isn’t “relevant” enough for working onboard.

Ana’s journey is a useful reminder that careers don’t always work like that.

Communication, confidence, organisation, resilience, dealing with people and managing difficult situations were already part of Ana’s professional life.

The environment changed.

Many of those skills came with her.

She then added the specialist retail knowledge, sales experience and onboard experience needed to build a completely new career.

Ana’s next chapter at sea

Ana already knows what life onboard is really like.

She knows luxury retail, she understands international guests and she has experienced the step from being a sales specialist into management.

Now she is beginning another chapter of that career.

And when you think that the journey started with a law degree and a career as an attorney, it’s quite a story.

Congratulations Ana. ❤️🚢

We’re really pleased to have played a part in what comes next.

Could your career take you to sea?

Cruise retail careers can suit people from many different professional backgrounds, from retail and luxury sales to hospitality, customer service and other guest-facing industries.

The Cruise Retail Academy helps candidates understand the industry, prepare for opportunities and develop the knowledge they need for careers at sea.

Explore the Cruise Retail Academy and current opportunities at:

academy-onboard.com