Your Ultimate Guide to Onboard Revenue On Cruise Ships
- Adrian Pittaway
- Nov 15
- 8 min read
For new-to-cruise enthusiasts and aspiring industry professionals alike, let us at CRA guide you through understanding how a cruise ship operates as a complete business unit.
While the initial ticket price covers the majority of operating costs, the true engine of profit for a cruise line is Onboard Revenue or OBR, as you will here it commonly referred to.
These "extra" purchases, often called "experience enhancements," are what transform a cruise ship from simply a floating hotel into a sophisticated, high-margin retail and entertainment hub.
So, in this blog we have built you a comprehensive guide to the major onboard departments, how they generate sales, the job roles within them, and how the teams work together throughout a typical cruise.
Let's Illuminate Your Revenue World! 💡
The OBR Ecosystem: Where the Money is Made
So, let's start with the definition. What is OBR?
Onboard revenue is the purchase of anything that is not included in the base fare—specialty experiences, premium consumables, and outsourced services. It can account for a significant portion of a cruise line's profit.
There are many departments onboard a cruise ship that contribute to the overall goal of the OBR targets. So, let's run through them in order from largest to smallest, so you can get a really good idea as to how they all work!
1. 🍹 Food & Beverage (F&B)
Of course, no.1 is the F&B department. Without doubt, it is the largest revenue generator onboard. Whilst food is included in most guest fares (in the main restaurants and buffet), F&B makes its revenue from 3 main areas: Drinks packages, Specialty Dining and onboard beverages.
How They Generate Sales | Typical Job Roles |
Beverage Packages: Selling bundled drink packages (soda, coffee, alcohol) pre-cruise or on embarkation day. | Bar Manager: Oversees all bars/lounges, inventory, and staff training. |
Specialty Dining: Upselling reservations at premium restaurants (Italian, Steakhouse, Teppanyaki, etc.) for a cover charge or a la carte price. | Restaurant Manager: Manages a specialty venue, focusing on service quality and reservation maximization. |
Premium Coffee/Snack Bars: Selling high-margin items like Starbucks/branded coffee, gourmet pastries, and smoothies. | Bartender/Beverage Server: Direct sales to guests at bars, pool decks, and dining rooms. |
Some examples of onboard drinks packages:
Team Dynamics on a Cruise
The F&B team operates 24/7. They focus heavily on upselling and cross-selling. Servers in main dining may encourage wine sales, while pool servers constantly move through the deck areas to ensure quick, high-volume sales of cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks. The department works closely with the Inventory/Provisions team to ensure stock levels last the duration of the voyage.
2. 🎰 Casino Operations
The casino is the 2nd largest revenue department onboard and is a major profit center for cruise ships, legally operating in international waters where gambling regulations permit.
How They Generate Sales | Typical Job Roles |
Gaming: Income from slot machines, table games (Blackjack, Roulette, Poker), and tournament entry fees. | Casino Manager: The head of the department, responsible for overall profitability, security, and compliance. |
Loyalty Programs & Promotions: Encouraging repeat play through loyalty rewards and offering free drinks to active players. | Croupier/Dealer: Runs the table games and manages payouts. |
Electronic Games: Revenue from slot machines, which are often highly optimized for house advantage. | Casino Cashier/Cage Staff: Handles all cash transactions, credit advances, and money exchanges. |
Team Dynamics on a Cruise
The casino is typically closed while in port and opens once the ship is in international waters, meaning the team's working hours are often concentrated in the evenings and on sea days. Security and surveillance are crucial, requiring a close working relationship with the ship's Security department.
3. 🛍️ Retail Shops (Duty-Free)
The 3rd largest revenue department in the OBR heirarchy is onboard retail. Cruise ships offer a boutique shopping experience, capitalizing on the duty & tax free status when sailing in international waters.
How They Generate Sales | Typical Job Roles |
Duty-Free Sales: Selling high-value goods like luxury watches, jewelry, fine liquor, and designer cosmetics at competitive prices. | Retail Manager: Oversees all retail outlets, inventory, visual merchandising, and sales targets. |
Souvenirs & Apparel: High-volume sales of cruise line branded merchandise, resort wear, and essentials. | Sales Associate: Engages with guests on the shop floor, driving high-value sales. |
Promotions: Hosting "Trunk Shows," "Sale Events," and special jewelry/art exhibitions to create a sense of urgency and excitement. | Product Specialist: Responsible for the performance of a specific department onboard such as jewelry, beauty, liquor and responsible for providing great service and high standards. |
Team Dynamics on a Cruise
Like the casino, the shops are legally required to close when in port, meaning the team is highly focused on optimizing sales during sea days and busy evenings. They rely on the Deck & Engine team to be informed of the ship's position to know exactly when they can open their doors.
You can learn more about the Top 10 Retail Categories on a cruise ship in our exclusive E-Academy course. Click on the button below to enter the free course!
4. 🗺️ Shore Excursions (Destination Experiences)
The 4th largest department (and in some areas, it can be even 2nd or 3rd) is Shore Excursions (or Shorex for short). These are activities sold to guests in the ports of call, often in partnership with local tour operators.
How They Generate Sales | Typical Job Roles |
Tour Sales: Selling pre-packaged or customized tours (snorkeling, city tours, historical sites) at a significant markup. | Shore Excursion Manager/Tour Manager: Responsible for managing the desk, training sales staff, and coordinating with tour operators. |
Exclusive Experiences: Offering higher-priced, smaller-group, or private tours for maximum revenue per guest. | Shore Excursion Specialist: Sells tours to guests at the desk and handles all related logistics and billing. |
Pre-Cruise Booking: Encouraging guests to book tours well in advance of the sailing date to secure revenue and optimize capacity. |
Team Dynamics on a Cruise
The Shore Excursion team is the bridge between the ship and the destination. They work constantly with the Bridge Team (Navigation) for port arrival and departure times, and with Guest Services to handle documentation and ticket distribution. They host port presentations early in the cruise to drive sales.
5. 🧖♀️ Spa, Fitness, and Wellness
The Spa and Wellness center sells premium services focused on relaxation, beauty, and well-being. This can often operated by a concession (ie. OneSpaWorld) that shares revenue with the cruise line.
How They Generate Sales | Typical Job Roles |
Treatments: High-margin services like massages, facials, body wraps, and specialized beauty treatments (e.g., medi-spa procedures). | Spa Manager: Manages operations, scheduling, team performance, and inventory. |
Retail Products: Selling premium lotions, skincare, and hair products used in the treatments. | Massage Therapist/Beautician: Delivers the treatments and often provides a direct upsell pitch for retail products. |
Thermal Suites/Fitness Classes: Selling day or cruise-long passes to thermal lounges, saunas, and paid fitness classes (e.g., yoga, spin). | Fitness Instructor: Teaches specialty classes and may conduct personalized training sessions. |
Team Dynamics on a Cruise
The Spa team is highly focused on marketing their services, often doing tours, free consultations, and presentations on embarkation and sea days. They work with the Guest Services team to resolve any booking issues and with Entertainment to cross-promote via daily activities and printed schedules.
6. 📸 Photo & Video Services
This department captures the memories of the cruise and converts them into tangible, high-margin products.
How They Generate Sales | Typical Job Roles |
Portrait Sessions: Offering formal or themed photo shoots and selling premium print packages and digital copies. | Photo Manager: Manages the lab, monitors quality, and drives sales strategy. |
Event Photography: Taking candid photos at all major events (dining, parties, character meets, excursions) and displaying them for purchase. | Photographer: Takes high-quality photos, both staged and candid, throughout the cruise. |
Photo Packages: Selling all-inclusive digital packages, often pre-cruise, allowing guests to download all their photos at a flat rate. | Sales Host/Photo Gallery Attendant: Manages the gallery, assists guests with digital kiosks, and encourages purchases. |
Team Dynamics on a Cruise
The Photo team works closely with the Entertainment and Guest Activities teams to know the schedule of all events. They must be present at every high-traffic location. Their busiest time is the last sea day when guests view and purchase their photos before disembarkation.
7. 💻 Digital Services & Connectivity
The fastest-growing revenue stream onboard cruise ships, this department monetizes the guest's need to stay connected and use premium digital entertainment.
How They Generate Sales | Typical Job Roles |
WiFi Packages: Selling access to satellite internet, often tiered by speed (e.g., Basic, Stream, Premium) or device quantity. High margins due to high demand. | IT/Communications Officer: Focuses on the technical operations, network stability, and managing bandwidth allocation. |
Onboard Amusement/Gaming: Revenue from modern features like virtual reality (VR) lounges, flight simulators, arcade centers, or time-based access to special activity zones. | Digital Services Specialist/Arcade Attendant: Manages sales of time/passes for premium digital experiences and provides basic technical support. |
App Enhancements: Charging for premium features within the cruise line’s mobile app (e.g., specialty chat functions, upgraded streaming access). | Guest Services Agent: Though not dedicated, the Guest Services desk often handles the direct sale and activation of all connectivity packages. |
Team Dynamics on a Cruise
This department is a hybrid. The technical side (IT) works with the bridge and engine teams to ensure physical connectivity. The sales side (Guest Services/Specialists) is heavily focused on the first 48 hours of the cruise, assisting guests with purchasing and connecting to their packages. Because the service is sold based on a limited resource (satellite bandwidth), the team works to manage guest expectations regarding speed and reliability.
8. ⚓ Future Cruise Sales
This department, often called the "NextCruise" or "Future Cruise Consultant" office, is arguably the most vital for long-term company health. Although it is not technically OBR but more cruise sales, it is important to think about it when talking about all different types of revenue generated onboard a cruise ship.
They generate future ticket revenue by converting current guests into repeat customers before they leave the ship.
How They Generate Sales | Typical Job Roles |
Reduced Deposits & Onboard Credit: Offering exclusive incentives like low deposits and substantial Future Cruise Credit (FCC) or Onboard Credit (OBC) that are only available while sailing. | Future Cruise Consultant: A dedicated sales specialist who manages guest consultations and closes future bookings. |
"Open" Bookings: Selling a "placeholder" deposit for a future cruise without a specific date or itinerary chosen, thereby securing the guest's commitment. | Future Cruise Sales Manager: Oversees the entire program, reporting directly to the corporate sales team on retention targets. |
Loyalty Status Matching: Targeting high-value, past-guests with personalized offers, often doubling loyalty points for the next booking. |
Team Dynamics on a Cruise
This team's value is in customer retention. They are typically located in a dedicated, quiet office space. Their work starts early in the cruise with promotional seminars and is highly consultative, requiring deep knowledge of all future itineraries and ships. They work very closely with the ship's Guest Relations/Loyalty Team to identify high-value passengers and ensure a seamless booking process that credits the passenger's original travel agent (maintaining good B2B relations).
🤝 The Synergy of Onboard Revenue Teams
A successful cruise is a symphony of coordination to achieve the expected sales targets. Onboard Revenue departments are generally managed under the Hotel Director, Hotel Services Director or a dedicated Onboard Revenue Manager, who ensures all teams are working toward the same goal: maximizing guest spend and satisfaction.
Embarkation Day Blitz: The first day is critical. All teams are active, selling drink packages, spa tours, specialty dining reservations, and showing off the casino. The entire ship is essentially a large, welcoming showroom.
Sea Day Peak: With no ports to distract them, sea days are when the casino, shops, and spa hit their peak performance. Promotional events and classes are scheduled back-to-back.
Port Day Prep: While guests are exploring, many onboard teams (F&B, Inventory, Photo) use the quieter time to restock, prepare for the evening, and conduct training or mandatory safety drills.
Final Night Focus: The last night sees a final push from all departments, especially the Photo Gallery and Shops, to capture final sales before guests settle their accounts.
The job roles are demanding, exciting, requiring excellent guest service, salesmanship, and a "showtime" attitude, but they offer unparalleled experience in a high-volume, dynamic commercial environment.
If you are interested in a career driving onboard sales, which of these departments most appeals to you? CRA has over 20 different job roles across 24 cruise lines to help you grow your career. Why not visit our Jobs page to see all the different Onboard Revenue jobs we have on offer.....
This is truly enlightening, @Adrian Pittaway
Thank you for sharing such powerful insights on Onboard Revenue. It’s refreshing and fulfilling to understand the important role we play in creating exceptional guest experiences and driving the ship’s success.👍