He was very much into sports( athletics and football) when growing up there. Stein then went to Spain for a course in tourism in 1986 and started his first job as a holiday rep in Mallorca that same year. He has spent all his working life in the tourism/ entertainment/ hotel business including many years as an entertainment manager for a large resort in Spain and as assistant hotel manager in the Caribbean.

Stein came into cruising in 1996, at first as an agent and port lecturer for cruise ships visiting Norway, Iceland and the Baltic. He joined Fred. Olsen in August 2001 at the same time as the Braemar was launched.