November 5, 2025, 10:24 am | Read time: 11 minutes

Paul (name changed by the editors) lives in a small town in Upper Bavaria and was a cruise director on several river cruise ships for years. After training as a merchant, he initially worked in the financial sector for several years—but found it too boring. After a breakup, Paul wanted to explore new horizons. He worked as a bartender in a cultural center, as a receptionist in a hotel, and finally on various river cruise ships. He originally wanted to work on large cruise ships, but the requirements of the shipping companies were too demanding for him. On the “smaller cruisers,” he worked his way up from assistant to cruise director—a time he wouldn’t want to miss for anything.

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Why and what he liked less “in the mills of cruise tourism,” Paul reveals exclusively in the TRAVELBOOK interview.

TRAVELBOOK: What attracted you to working on river cruise ships, and what fascinated you later?

Paul: “My somewhat naive idea before I started working on a ship was shaped by the TV series ‘Das Traumschiff.’ I really thought that’s how it was on a ship. Even a Caribbean cruise on an American liner with 2,000 people on board didn’t open my eyes. I thought it was ‘working where others vacation.’ When I finally got on board, the appeal was clear: I was solely responsible for my job and had no boss—I could do almost anything I wanted and earned pretty good (tip) money.”

What exactly was your position and what were your areas of responsibility?

“On the river, the positions are somewhat different from those on an ocean liner. There are generally fewer guests and, accordingly, less staff. I worked as a cruise director—nowadays it’s called Cruise Director. It’s a mix of cruise director, tour guide, shore excursion manager, and entertainer. I was the representative of the shipping company on board and responsible as a tour guide for everything related to the trip—from arrival, the time on the ship, to the return journey. I informed about excursions, designed and accompanied them, and made route announcements on the ship. We had fewer announcements like ‘Dolphins, ship ahead!’ and more like ‘On the left, you see a church (again).’

The entertainment on a river cruise ship is rather limited, but the guests still need to be entertained. Whether it’s bingo, language courses, lectures about life on board, show cooking with the officers, or tedious sun deck parties—I was at the forefront, with and without a microphone, and didn’t really enjoy it. Ultimately, along with the hotel director and captain, I was also the one who listened to and handled complaints.”

What were the positive aspects of working on a river cruise ship?

“The colleagues! You get to know people intensely in such a confined space. The pay was also good, and there were really very nice guests. I also appreciated that a season ‘only’ lasts seven to eight months. There are really many positive aspects to the job and the industry. But it’s not for everyone: The job is tough, but also addictive.”

Also interesting: I stayed in a luxury hotel for the first time—and wouldn’t do it again 

What were the most bizarre moments you experienced on a river cruise?

“My God, almost everything on the ship was bizarre and funny. I often traveled with ‘older folks,’ and of course, there were border crossings with passport controls in the middle of the night. You can’t imagine the nightwear I’ve seen—nightgowns, curlers, or too-tight men’s pajamas. Or missing dentures and aroused private parts.

Additionally, many guests leave their brains at the reception—I don’t exclude myself from this on vacation. I ‘trained’ my guests from day one to listen when I said something. For example, before every excursion, I would say, ‘Buses one to five are on the left at the port, guests from cabin area xyz please board bus number so-and-so.’ Occasionally, something would come up, and this announcement would be made by the reception or an intern. You can’t imagine the disaster if the speaker forgot to say ‘left’: 200 guests suddenly stand still, no one says anything, no one moves—like robots. Simply because no one said they should go left.”

Were there any embarrassing moments?

“I found it embarrassing to have to explain my guests to other tour guides from other countries. For example, many tour guides from Ukraine were convinced that all Germans constantly fart. But that was actually quite easy to explain: On the day of the Ukraine excursion, there was always garlic cream soup for lunch—don’t ask me why. Most guests probably didn’t manage to visit the cabin toilet due to the tight schedule between lunch and the start of the excursion, and thus paid tribute to the delicious soup with bowel sounds on the bus.”

To ensure passengers have to worry about almost nothing, a lot is demanded of the crew. What were the conditions like on a river cruise ship, and how did you find the work?

“I was often torn: On one hand, I cursed the job daily from mid-season. Time changes, daily tasks, unexpected situations, and nighttime ’emergencies.’ I was just tired! The crew cabins are also really very small, usually with two people in a cabin. There’s almost no privacy. You can’t really avoid each other on a river cruise, you’re never alone—that’s tough. For department heads, officers, captains, and also for me, it was a bit different: I had a single room—that was luxury. But a waiter really has time off when he has time off. If there was a disturbance on the ship at 3 a.m., the hotel director, the captain, and I were called. It didn’t matter if I had just gone to bed at 1 a.m. or had to get up again at 6 a.m.

You miss friends and family, dream of the bathtub at home and watching some silly movie on the couch at 8:15 p.m. But that’s not possible: So you’re lonely, sad, and feel alone. On the other hand, you constantly have someone around you: You argue, love, work, are sick together, and healthy together. And: I had more than one opportunity to quit and take a nine-to-five job.”

Time pressure, tight spaces, demanding passengers—there must be some tense situations.

“The time pressure because of the passengers was very stressful for me at first, but over the years I became quite unfazed. If a guest wasn’t there for embarkation and we didn’t know anything, I waited 30 minutes, then the ship left. If someone didn’t return from an excursion, I waited an hour, then we moved on. Delays of the ship (lock closures, accidents, currents, engine failures, debris, etc.) were difficult. Guests had no understanding of this and insisted on rights that were not feasible: If for whatever reason I am 12 hours late, then a port is canceled. There’s no other way.

Delays and also excessive expectations of the cabin often lead to loud complaints, insults, and even threats. I didn’t understand much of it—in the end, such situations wear you down. What many guests don’t believe is that we really enjoy the job and that many employees try to give guests a pleasant stay. If something doesn’t work, it’s usually due to circumstances that can’t be changed. These underlying insinuations that it’s something ‘personal’ really hurt me at times, despite all professionalism.”

Also interesting: Cruise ship chef reveals: “A lot of alcohol is consumed on German ships”

Did you ever get really fed up with your job?

“Imagine a trip where everything that can go wrong does go wrong. You have bad weather, the ship has an engine failure, you can’t call at all ports, three out of five excursions were bad, for whatever reason. The food didn’t taste good to most guests, the beds were too hard or too soft, the maid didn’t dust well enough, the pool was too cold and too warm, and I wore the same suit every day (my favorite complaint). It would be nice to receive some recognition for your work on such a trip. Yes, a tip would be great, but a kind word would do. On exactly these trips, you were still being insulted up to the gangway. I really asked myself: ‘Why am I doing this to myself?'”

There’s often the “Traumschiff” image of cruises. How much does that have to do with reality on a river cruise?

“The side stories of the TV series are very close to reality. There are often family dramas or romances between crew members. In the old episodes of ‘Das Traumschiff,’ there were mostly older, wealthier people on board—until about 2012/2013, that was still the case, but it’s not so much anymore. The cabins are always depicted as very large, both on TV and in brochures. ‘Balcony’ on a river ship usually means a railing in front of a balcony door that you can open completely—so not a real balcony to go out on or lie on. And the time crew members in the series can spend with guests, hardly anyone has—and if they did, they probably wouldn’t spend it with the guests.”

Also interesting: Ex-‘Traumschiff’ hotel director: “We had wild parties”

Crew members from other shipping companies have told us about excesses within the crew and double lives of employees. Have you had similar experiences?

“Of course! What can I say about that now? There are people who have ‘been through’ the entire crew of the opposite or same sex within 14 days—and possibly a few guests as well. Although they were exemplary, friendly, courteous, ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly’ employees on duty, there were also real alcoholics on board, whom you wouldn’t notice had a blood alcohol level of two per mille. And of course, there was also enough staff who told guests that they lived at home in a wooden shack on 100 euros a month and had ten children to feed. There’s everything on board! But: What happens on board stays on board.”

Cruises are repeatedly criticized—whether for working conditions, poor environmental balance, or mass tourism. How is it with river cruises, and is there anything you think should change with river cruises and cruises with the giants?

“I know that those responsible will shake their heads at what I’m about to say, but for me, it’s the only conceivable solution: Overall, cruise tourism should withdraw from the mass market and focus more on high-quality and also high-priced trips. Then fewer ships would cruise, fewer people would be driven through narrow tourist spots by buses, and fewer people would trample down sights (such as world heritage sites). Especially with river cruises, you can really watch how the landscape is going to the dogs due to increased shipping traffic! If you travel the same route for ten years, you just notice it.

Higher-priced and higher-quality cruises or river cruises could mean fewer guests and fewer ships. That would benefit the environment, and you could (!) also pay the ‘ordinary worker’ a salary that is worthy. A dishwasher, for example, is one of the lowest-paid jobs on the ship, but also one of the most demanding.”

Can you book a (river) cruise without having a guilty conscience?

“You don’t have to have a guilty conscience. You should be aware of what you’re supporting. This generally applies to tourism, not just on the ship.”

Would you work on a river cruise ship again?

“I left for health reasons. I always thought if it were possible, I would do it again. But today, I think the 25-year-olds should do it—I don’t want to put myself through that at my age.”

Finally, please complete the following sentence from the gut: A cruise for me is …

“… a part of my past and is a vacation plan for the future in the present.”