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Seeing the world on the waves
By Scott Richardson
srichardson@pantagraph.com
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FAIRBURY -- At first glance, growing up as a landlubber surrounded by a sea of corn in Central Illinois doesn't seem to be the right start for a guy who spends his work days on the ocean.

Clint Wells, 35, of Fairbury is a cruise director for the Norwegian Cruise Line. He works while other people enjoy their vacations.

He's visited all seven continents. His career took him to several of them. In his free time, he traveled to Australia and backpacked in New Zealand for three weeks on one vacation and visited the last continent, Asia, on a recent vacation to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

"It's been fun," said Wells, son of Richard and Terri Wells of Fairbury. "It's a very addicting lifestyle. I don't have to cook meals, I don't have to avoid traffic. I work with a lot of fun people. ...When I first started, I was so in love with it, I didn't want to take a vacation."

Joining the staff of a cruise ship was not his first plan. Wells graduated from Prairie Central High School in 1990 and headed off to Southern Illinois University to become a weight trainer. But, he soon changed his mind about what he wanted to do.

"I decided my sophomore year I wanted to work on a cruise ship. I'd never really traveled, so traveling outside the U.S. was really attractive," he said.

Wells switched his major to commercial recreation and eventually interned at a resort where the owner had connections with cruise lines. Wells soon joined the staff of someone from Champaign who worked on a cruise ship before launching a company that provided youth counselors for cruise lines. Wells' first job onboard was to keep kids entertained. He oversaw everything from painters to entertainers geared to the younger set.

He quickly grew to like life on the ship. But, he knew he couldn't stay a youth counselor forever, so he hired on with a cruise line and began working his way up the ladder. He was a host first, then a cruise director. In his current position, he oversees a staff that takes care of all onboard entertainment, including the bands, for nearly 3,000 guests. His staff also publishes a daily newsletter that lists events of the day, the times and other bits of information about ways to have fun.

Many other cruise directors are comedians or entertainers. Not Wells.

"I'm just me. That seems to work out all right," he said.

He's assigned to the Norwegian Gem, one of the two newest cruise ships in the U.S. market. Life onboard is lived "freestyle," according to the cruise line. Attire is casual. The line's Website promises "a complete disregard for watches and alarm clocks." The ship has 11 bars and lounges, a bowling alley, even a rock-climbing wall. Passengers can dine at any one of 12 restaurants.

The crew numbers 1,253. Wells noted the Gem can hold a maximum of 2,940, which is more people than live in his home town. Most cruises host about 2,400.

"This ship is a small city," he said.

Wells gets two months off and works four months on duty. He works seven days a week onboard, and he's on call 24-hours a day to troubleshoot problems as they arise.

He can leave the ship at ports of call only for brief periods. But, one advantage Wells has over tourists is that he's with the ship when it returns to the same places over and over again. If he misses sights on one trip, he can catch them on the next. If the weather is bad on one cruise, he's bound to be back when the weather is better.

Cruise directors have it good onboard. Crew members lower on the totem pole share rooms. But, he has a large room near the captain's room and the bridge. He also gets transferred from ship to ship, so he has a chance to get to know different crew members and serve with different captains.

"The nice thing about the job is it's always new," Wells said. "It's definitely not a monotonous job."

Wells has tips for potential cruise clients;

• Know what kind of experience you want before you book a trip. If you want a family experience, book during school holidays. Expect crowds. The opposite is true if you want to avoid kids.

"There is a lot of difference between going when a ship has 2,400 guests rather than 2,900," Wells said.

Book a smaller cruise ship if you want the crew to know your name, but expect fewer amenities onboard compared to a ship like the Gem. The crew may not get to know you on bigger ships, but the there's far more to do.

"Honestly, I like both big or small. It is easier on a small ship because you get to know everyone. But if someone has the larger ship experience, they ask, 'Is this it?' (if they cruise on a small one.) But smaller ships, the crew knows them. Larger ships have more entertainment options. I like them both, but both have their challenges."

• The longer the cruise, the older the clientele. If cruises stretch for more than a week, younger crowds are often closed out by workloads, a lack of vacation time and cash. Trips to places like Alaska or Europe generally appeal to older travelers while younger people like the Caribbean.

"I think they need to understand that a guest will come on an Alaskan cruise or European cruise and expect what they had on a Caribbean cruise. But, just because they're on a cruise ship, it's not all party, party, party," he said.

• The crew can control many facets of the experience, but they can't control the weather. Rough seas come with hurricanes and storms. Ships have ultra-modern gear to monitor the hazards and to chart courses around trouble, but they can't avoid all of it all the time.

Wells' plans for the future? He'll step on dry land somewhere at some point, he said, but for now, he has places to go, people to see.

Take a look
Fairbury native Clint Wells is cruise director onboard the Norwegian Gem.
Wells has been to all seven continents. Here he poses in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Wells appears to kiss the Sphinx in Egypt.
As cruise director, Wells' job is to keep it light as he did in this Arctic Circle ceremony performed to mark the moment whenever a cruise ship reaches that point.
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