Top 10 Ways to Grow Your Retail Career Onboard: Your Ultimate Guide to Success at Sea
- Adrian Pittaway
- 20 hours ago
- 15 min read
Hello everyone, you may have been participating in our TOP TEN series of training courses on the E-ACADEMY. So, we thought we would bring one of these straight across to our blog page to share with you all!
Top 10 Ways to Grow Your Retail Career Onboard: Your Ultimate Guide to Success at Sea 🛳️
Welcome aboard, future retail leaders! You've just stepped onto a cruise ship, ready to embark on an incredible journey – not just across oceans, but potentially through a thriving career in cruise retail.
For many, this is more than just a job; it's a lifestyle, an adventure, and a launchpad for serious professional growth. There are thousands of success stories from the cruise retail industry across all the different operators of shoppies who start out as sales associates and are today in executive positions at many of the top companies. Just look at the CV's of most of the operations directors, regional managers, sales executives in the major cruise retailers and you will see that they generally started as a sales associate onboard.
So, it is your career to make, find and achieve!
The world of onboard retail is unique: fast-paced, guest-centric, and incredibly rewarding.
But how do you stand out among many talented crew?
How do you transform ambition into achievement?
Let's start by saying something important. There is no rule book on how to succeed in cruise retail. For every crew member it is different. Each company works uniquely, each ship works differently and each manager perceives things independently. The best thing that you can do is work on some key behaviours which will help you get noticed and in the best possible place to be promoted when the time is right. The Cruise Retail Academy is here to Illuminate Your Retail World as best as we can with our 50+ years of retail management experience .
This comprehensive Top 10 guide understand this principle and as such it is packed with actionable advice, designed specifically for new crew members who are eager to progress, learn, and ultimately lead in this exciting industry. After each of the top 10 subjects you will find some top tips and also some simple actions that you can take in order to have the best possible chance of succeeding.
1. Master Your Product Knowledge (and Beyond)
At the heart of every successful sale is a deep understanding of what you're selling. For new crew, this is your foundational step. It's not enough to just know the price tag and the basic features. True mastery involves understanding the story behind the product: where it came from, how it's made, its unique selling points, and, most importantly, why a guest would desire it.
Can you explain the difference between a quartz and an automatic watch movement?
Do you know the historical significance of a particular gemstone?
Can you tell a compelling anecdote about a designer?
This level of insight transforms you from a sales associate into a trusted product specialist.
Start with the product that you have the most passion for, the one you enjoy the best as this will give you the best possible start. However, don't confine your knowledge to one specific department. If you sell jewellery, spend time learning about the perfume ranges. If you're in fashion, understand the liquor options. The more versatile you are across the entire retail offering, the more invaluable you become to your team and the business.
TOP TIP: Opportunities appear quickly onboard, so if you are ready to take a step forward because you have gained good product knowledge then this will help you hugely. This holistic 'all-category' view prepares you for management roles where you'll have to oversee multiple categories across all shops onboard.
TOP TIP: Think of yourself as a living, breathing product catalogue. If a guest asks about something you don't sell in your shop, can you direct them to a colleague who does? This shows initiative and a team-player attitude.
Things to do:
Read: Product manuals, brand histories, and supplier brochures (often available in the retail office or online). Look for industry blogs on luxury goods, watches, and beauty.
Watch: Brand documentaries, manufacturing process videos on YouTube, and product review channels. There is so much material out there available!
Learn: Create flashcards for key product features, benefits, and common guest questions. Practice explaining complex concepts simply. Shadow colleagues in different departments during quiet times. Cruise Retail Academy's E-Academy Introduction To.... Courses are designed to give you a head start on product knowledge across various retail categories.
2. Be a Sales Superstar (Consistently)
Remember, your primary role onboard is to drive sales, and your numbers are a clear indicator of your effectiveness. From the very first day, your managers will be noting how well you are selling and what your individual performance is.
Consistent high performance in sales is one of the quickest ways to get noticed for promotion.
This isn't just about closing a transaction; it's about the entire sales journey. Learn to engage guests, identify their needs (even before they know them), recommend suitable products, and expertly handle objections. (We have many different courses in the E-ACADEMY to help you here).
Successful selling also involves understanding metrics like Average Transaction Value (ATV), Units Per Transaction (UPT), and conversion rates. How can you encourage a guest to buy an accompanying item? How can you ensure every interaction has the highest chance of resulting in a sale? Continuously refine your techniques, observe the best sellers on your team, and ask for constructive feedback from your managers from the very start. Feedback is super important here in understanding how well you are doing, try and ask for some each day from all angles (managers, colleagues, guests). Setting personal sales goals beyond what's required demonstrates ambition and a proactive mindset.
TOP TIP: Don't just sell products; sell experiences and solutions. A watch isn't just a timepiece; it's a memory of a special cruise, a gift for a loved one, or an investment piece.
Things to do:
Read: Books on sales psychology (e.g., "Influence" by Robert Cialdini), retail sales techniques, and upselling/cross-selling strategies.
Watch: Sales training videos on LinkedIn Learning or YouTube channels dedicated to retail sales excellence (such as Victor Antonio). Observe senior colleagues during their sales interactions.
Learn: When you get onboard, as difficult as it may seem, practice role-playing different sales scenarios with a colleague. Analyze your own sales reports to identify strengths and areas for improvement. Set daily micro-goals for ATV or UPT. You can find comprehensive Sales Training within the Cruise Retail Academy platform, packed with interactive lessons and practical role-playing exercises to help you master these skills.
3. Embrace All Training Opportunities
The cruise industry is incredibly supportive of internal growth, and training is your golden ticket.
Whether it's a formal brand training session, a workshop on visual merchandising, an e-learning module on responsible alcohol sales, or simply a quick briefing from your manager, treat every learning opportunity as invaluable. Training builds successful cruise retailers, it is that simple. Think of the start of your career as being like an uncharged phone, at 1%. Each time you take part in training, you are being charged up, until eventually you get to 100%.
Showing eagerness to absorb new information and acquire new skills immediately marks you as someone invested and motivated in their career.
Beyond formal training, seek out informal learning. Ask questions, observe how experienced team members handle challenging situations, and volunteer for tasks that might be outside your immediate comfort zone. The more diverse your skillset – from operating the POS system to understanding inventory counts, from handling ship-to-ship transfers to managing and resolving difficult guest interactions – the more prepared you are for leadership roles where a broad understanding of all operations is essential.
TOP TIP: Keep a training log. Document what you learned, key takeaways, and how you plan to apply it. This shows commitment and provides a reference for your next performance review / appraisal. It also helps when you move from ship to ship.
Things to do:
Read: Internal training manuals, company policies and procedures, and industry publications about retail trends.
Watch: All provided e-learning modules thoroughly. Seek out online tutorials for common retail software or inventory management principles.
Learn: Actively participate in all training sessions. Volunteer to lead a brief recap of a training session for your team. Ask your manager about advanced training options.
Cruise Retail Academy provides a wide array of accredited courses, in particular our Cruise Retail Diploma, allowing you to continuously build your resume with certified skills.
4. Become a Guest Service Champion
On a cruise ship, guest service isn't just about the retail store; it's about the entire guest experience across many different departments and functions. Every interaction you have with a guest contributes to their overall perception of their holiday.
Delivering exceptional, memorable service that goes above and beyond creates loyal guests for your store and repeat cruisers for the line, and gets you a strong reputation. This means remembering names, anticipating needs, actively listening, and handling any complaints or issues with empathy, efficiency, and a solution-oriented mindset.
A positive guest experience often leads to increased sales, positive feedback (which management will notice), and a strong personal reputation that can carry from ship to ship. Imagine hearing that a guest will take a cruise on a ship because they know you will be onboard - how powerful is that?! Being known as the crew member who always goes the extra mile for guests is a powerful asset for career progression, particularly in the high visibility of social media presence. Management looks for individuals who can consistently uphold the high standards of guest satisfaction expected in the cruise industry and give a strong ambassador of their business.
TOP TIP: Create "wow" moments. This could be remembering a guest's preference from a previous visit, offering a small complimentary service, or simply going out of your way to find an answer to a non-retail related question.
Things to do:
Read: Books on guest service excellence (e.g., "Raving Fans" by Ken Blanchard), articles on emotional intelligence in guest interactions, and company guidelines on guest relations.
Watch: Videos on effective communication, handling difficult guests, and empathetic listening. Observe how senior managers and guest service staff interact with guests.
Learn: Practice active listening. Develop your problem-solving skills by thinking through potential guest issues and how you would resolve them gracefully. Ask guests for feedback directly. Our Guest Service E-ACADEMY courses teach you how to master guest relations and turn any interaction into a positive experience.
5. Take Initiative and Show Leadership Potential
One of the clearest signals you can send to management that you're ready for more responsibility is by taking initiative. Don't wait to be told what to do. See a display that needs tidying? Tidy it. Notice a process that could be more efficient? Suggest a solution. Think a product not listed would be a great sales success? Suggest it.
Volunteer for tasks that might be outside your immediate job description, such as helping with stock counts, assisting with visual merchandising changes, or even offering to onboard new team members. Show readiness that you are able to do more.
Proactivity and a willingness to step up demonstrate a managerial mindset from the outset. Don't wait... get yourself into 'you can count on me' mode from the day you walk onboard. Managers are always looking for individuals who can think critically, solve problems independently, and take ownership beyond their core duties. Every time you proactively address an issue or take on an extra task, you're building a reputation as a reliable, proactive and ambitious team member.
TOP TIP: Document your initiatives. Briefly note down when you took on an extra task, solved a problem, or suggested an improvement. This provides concrete examples for your performance reviews / appraisals and will help you if you switch ships or a new manager embarks for you to refer easily to.
Things to do:
Read: Articles on leadership traits, problem-solving methodologies, and continuous improvement in retail.
Watch: TED Talks on leadership, videos on effective delegation (even if you're not delegating yet, understanding it is key), and time management techniques.
Learn: Identify a small process in your store that could be improved and present a suggestion to your manager. Offer to train a new colleague on a specific product or procedure. Cruise Retail Academy's Cruise Retail Diploma Level 2 when launched in the next weeks will give you the foundational knowledge to start thinking and acting like a manager from day one.
6. Build Strong Relationships Onboard
Networking isn't just for shoreside executives; it's truly vital for your career onboard.
Building positive, respectful, and professional relationships with your retail colleagues, your direct managers, your shoreside office and most importantly with crew members and officers in other departments creates a strong support system and opens doors. A good reputation spreads quickly on a ship. Having a 'can-do' attitude will make you shine brightly with many key personnel.
When you get onboard, learn from your experienced colleagues; they hold a wealth of knowledge about the company, the products, and the unique challenges of ship life. They will talk you through the ways to get stuff done, to influence others and to achieve positive results. Seek their advice, offer your help, and be a positive force within your team from the very start. Similar to the last point about initiative, building relationships is truly important in an effective and supportive onboard community. Managers will notice if you're a team player who collaborates effectively and contributes to a positive work environment. Building rapport across departments (e.g., with Guest Services, Housekeeping, or F&B) can also provide invaluable insights and make your job so much easier, as well as showing your ability to work cross-functionally – a key management trait.
TOP TIP: Be known onboard for your positive attitude and willingness to help. Get seen at the key events onboard. A smile, a kind word, and an offer of assistance go a long way in building strong relationships.
Things to do:
Read: Articles on effective communication, teamwork, and building professional rapport.
Watch: Videos on active listening, conflict resolution, and cross-cultural communication (given the diverse onboard environment).
Learn: Make an effort to connect with at least one new colleague from a different department each cruise. Offer to help a colleague with a task when your own duties are complete. Be a mentor to new joiners. Our communication skills training within the Cruise Retail Diploma Level 2 will provide practical frameworks for building rapport and resolving workplace challenges.
7. Understand the Wider Business
Retail on a cruise ship doesn't operate in a vacuum. It's an integral part of a much larger, complex hospitality business. To truly progress into senior management, you need to understand how your retail department fits into the overall commercial strategy of the cruise line. Where is your cruise retail operator succeeding, growing, evolving? How do retail promotions align with onboard events? How does passenger demographics on different itineraries impact product selection? How do your sales contribute to the ship's overall revenue targets?
Take an interest in how other departments operate – from the bridge to the galley, from entertainment to housekeeping. This holistic understanding of the ship's ecosystem will enable you to make more informed decisions, collaborate more effectively, and see the 'bigger picture,' which is essential for strategic planning at a higher level. Your ability to think beyond just your retail space is a significant indicator of your potential for greater responsibility.
TOP TIP: Ask your manager if there's an opportunity to briefly shadow another department / colleague (e.g., guest services or marketing) for an hour or two during quiet periods. This shows genuine interest in the wider operation and how your role interacts with theirs.
Things to do:
Read: The cruise line's annual reports (if publicly available) - check out some of our blog articles about this, read our weekly industry news digest in the Academy Weekly newsletter on cruise tourism and travel retail, and articles on the economics of the cruise industry.
Watch: Documentaries about cruise ships, company promotional videos, and news reports on the travel industry.
Learn: Ask your manager about why and how the ship's overall revenue goals are set, and how each part of retail contributes. Understand the different guest demographics on various itineraries, cruise length changes and how these all can influence retail strategy. Our comprehensive training programs in E-ACADEMY on the cruise industry and also here on our blog offer you free insights into the broader commercial and operational aspects of cruise retail, preparing you for a strategic role.
8. Master Visual Merchandising
Retail IS Detail!
In retail, presentation is everything. A well-merchandised store onboard is inviting, easy to navigate, well organized and encourages purchases. Developing a strong understanding of visual merchandising (VM) principles is a highly sought-after skill. This goes beyond just making things look pretty; it's about strategically arranging products to maximize sales, highlight promotions, understand best seller locations and enhance the guest experience to make their time in your shop as pleasant as possible.
You need to learn about all of the different techniques, and how these come together to create a 'model store'. Product placement, retail standards, window presentation, cleanliness, focal points, lighting, signage, and how to create engaging displays - all of these when thought of together, are critically important. Understand how to tell a story with your merchandise. Volunteer to assist with planogram changes, window displays, and general store upkeep. When novelties arrive onboard in the cargo, volunteer to learn how to merchandise these onto the shopfloor, work with colleagues in other shops and quickly learn from the experience onboard. Being able to independently create compelling displays, or even manage a small VM project, demonstrates creativity, attention to detail, and a direct impact on the store's performance – all qualities valued in a retail manager. Many times in cruise retail, you will be in a shop on your own, and therefore the initiative that you show will get you noticed very quickly. Be proud of your shop, take ownership of it and treat like it was your own business!
TOP TIP: Take photos of successful displays (with permission) and analyze what makes them effective. Start a mood board / photo album on your phone of inspiring retail displays you see, both onboard and online. Always be inspired - there is great retail everywhere and sometimes where you least expect it to be.
Things to do:
Read: Books and articles on visual merchandising, retail design, and the psychology of store layouts.
Watch: Videos on creating effective product displays, window dressing techniques, and store layout principles. YouTube is a treasure trove of VM tutorials.
Learn: Familiarize yourself with your company's and brands VM guidelines. Practice creating small displays in your own space at home or during quiet times in the store (with approval). Offer to take ownership of a specific display area. Our Brand Academy courses provide hands-on, practical training in how each brand is to be displayed and which collections sit together to help you become a master of store aesthetics and design.
9. Be Adaptable and Resilient
Life and work onboard any cruise ship is dynamic and sometimes pretty tough.
It's an environment that demands flexibility, hard work and determination. Weather changes can impact footfall; inventory can be delayed; promotional plans might shift last minute; and you'll interact with a constantly changing demographic of guests. Your ability to adapt quickly to new situations, overcome challenges and embrace each change with a positive attitude, and maintain your performance under pressure is crucial for success and progression. It's that simple! If you are not resilient you will never succeed in cruise retail.
Not every day will be a record-breaking sales day, not every Ship Command will be fair and not every guest interaction will be easy. You will have to learn to brush off setbacks, learn from challenging experiences, and bounce back with renewed determination as a strong professional. Managers look for individuals who can remain calm, focused, and effective regardless of the circumstances. This resilience is like a super power in cruise retail, it will show that you have a 'suit of armor' and you are not easily put off from achieving the goal.
TOP TIP: Practice mindfulness or stress-reduction techniques. A calm mind is better equipped to handle unexpected challenges and maintain a positive outlook. Take time out every day onboard to ensure that you reset your brain, in the way that is most effective for you.
Things to do:
Read: Articles on emotional intelligence, stress management, and building resilience in the workplace. Watch this space for Cruise Retail Diploma Level 2!
Watch: Videos on managing change, problem-solving under pressure, and developing a growth mindset.
Learn: Reflect on past challenges and how you successfully navigated them. Identify areas where you can be more flexible. Practice staying calm and solution-focused during busy or stressful periods.
10. Clearly Communicate Your Ambitions
Last but definitely not least, communicate clearly!
Don't assume your managers know you aspire to a leadership role. Make it clear! During performance reviews, coaching sessions, one-on-one meetings, or even informal check-ins, express your long-term career goals and what you want to achieve. Ask for specific feedback on what you need to do to reach the next level.
What skills should you develop?
What experiences should you seek out?
Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions!
A manager is much more likely to support and guide an employee who openly communicates their ambitions and is receptive to feedback. This also shows emotional intelligence, maturity, self-awareness, and a proactive approach to your career development.
Be prepared to listen to their advice and then actively work on the areas they highlight that you agree with. Your journey to senior management is a partnership between your effort and their guidance.
TOP TIP: Prepare for your performance reviews. Think of many of the top tips that we have listed in this top 10, and have these to hand before you go. List your achievements, areas where you've shown initiative, and specific career goals you want to discuss. Think about training you need, areas you want to improve and areas you want to learn new skills before your review. If you are proactive, your manager is much more likely to support your goals!
Things to do:
Read: Articles on career planning, setting professional goals, and effective communication with superiors.
Watch: Videos on giving and receiving feedback, conducting productive one-on-one meetings, and developing a personal development plan.
Learn: Draft a personal career development plan that outlines your short-term and long-term goals. Schedule a dedicated time to discuss your ambitions with your manager and ask for specific, actionable feedback. Follow up on their advice.
We hope that we inspired you with some ideas, some top tips and some areas that you can focus on. Embarking on a career in cruise retail is an extraordinary opportunity for personal and professional growth, and remember what we said at the start of this blog. There is no rule book on how to do this. Cruise retail is a playground of personal opportunity - it is up to you to make the most of it.
By diligently applying these ten strategies, and leveraging the resources available to you, you'll not only excel in your current role but also meticulously build the foundation for a thriving and leadership-driven future in this exciting industry. We are here to support your endeavours in the best way we can. The seas are vast, and so are the possibilities for your career. Good luck, work hard, and enjoy every moment of this incredible journey, you will be a retail rockstar!
For more information on how the Cruise Retail Academy can help you achieve your career goals, visit the E-Academy and explore our full range of free courses.