What you need to perform it
Primary qualification
- Business/commerce/marketing degree or a higher vocational diploma in the field: Spanish Higher Technician in Sales and Commercial Space Management (Royal Decree 1573/2011) or international equivalent (as a guide).
- Hiring is usually through a cruise retail concessionaire (e.g. Starboard Cruise Services or Harding+) or directly by the line; the position has no maritime certificate of its own.
Basic STCW
- STCW Basic Safety Training (A-VI/1).
- Passenger ships (Regulation V/2): Crowd Management (A-V/2) and, as a team lead with emergency duties, Crisis Management and Human Behaviour (A-V/2) according to the muster list.
- Maritime security awareness (A-VI/6-1).
Specific courses
- Duty-free and customs regime: trading only while sailing, sealing in port and per-call goods documentation (operator training — as a guide, itinerary-dependent).
- Inventory management and merchandising in travel retail: cycle counts, shrinkage and rotation by itinerary.
- Product training from the luxury brands carried (brand courses in watches, fragrance and spirits).
- Retail KPIs: sales per guest and per trading hour, conversion and average ticket (as a guide, the concessionaire's dashboard).
Indicative experience
As a guide: 3-5 years in luxury or travel retail, including 2+ managing a team and P&L; on board, a prior stint as Assistant Shop Manager before taking the manager role is the norm.
Observations
Typical route: Shop Assistant → product specialist (e.g. Watch & Jewelry Specialist, own card in this explorer) → Assistant Shop Manager → Shop Manager → shoreside fleet retail. The role often appears on the emergency role card as a stairway guide or muster assistant. The calendar rules: sea days concentrate sales and events (auctions, flash sales), and a port call added to the itinerary can cut trading hours and the month's target (as a guide).
What this role does
Although the job is to sell, onboard retail staff live on the ship and form part of the emergency organisation, and the shop itself trades under maritime rules: tax-free sales only while sailing, closing and sealing in port under customs control, and inventories replenished only on storing days. The manager combines the P&L of a luxury business with the operating discipline of a passenger ship.
Typical watches
- Retail hours linked to navigation periods and events
Key responsibilities
- Manage duty-free sales, inventory and monthly boutique targets.
- Coordinate promotions, luxury brands and onboard commercial operations.
- Close and seal the shops on entering port or territorial waters according to the call's customs regime.
- Plan commercial activity around the itinerary: sales events on sea days and staffing by time slot.
Operational scope
- Boutiques, promenades and retail galleries
- Retail stockrooms and the goods-receiving area on storing days
Profile reviewed by HydroAbyss (2026). Cited rules and timeframes are indicative: the final requirement is set by the flag State, the Administration and each company.