theotherchad

Not only was that great fun to read, but the first time I have ever had occasion to speculate upon the trade value of my wife, in terms of goats. I'm told she's quite attractive. I could make a killing!

It's hilarious that the same CDs that are the absolute favorites of some cruisers are the absolute least faves of others.

I was just observing to my wife that we thought Eric Dowis was hands down, and by far the funniest CD we've had, I wondered if his "southern cornpone" persona would translate to everybody.

Sure enough, a British poster labelled him "the worst."

The other thing is, there are really three aspects of a CD's job that might influence different folks to have opposite opinions.

1) Hosting and being funny onstage

2) Affability on a personal level when not onstage and visibility onboard.

3) The way they manage their staff.

Like Eric. He was hilarious! I honestly can't imagine a funnier guy. He was quick and never missed a beat. And I am not easily impressed, comedically. He's a pro. On the other hand, I never saw him onboard other than when he was onstage. On another positive note, though, his staff (Patrick, Carolyn, the Italian girl, the DJ and his Activities Director, whose names I forget) was fantastic, and I tend to think that he has to have something to do with that.

Dan Whitney was mildly amusing, a generally good MC (he was particularly good at annnouncing the horse races, poolside). Not nearly as funny as Eric, but I saw him everywhere. He was never too busy to talk and was always super friendly. He made a very strong positive impression with a customer service attitude. On the other hand, some of our cruising buddies (who have been on dozens and dozens of cruises) did not think much of him as an entertainment director, and the shows and jokes were a parade of all that is cliched in cruise world.

Somewhere, someday, hopefully, we'll get a cruise director who excells in all three areas.

Several people have said that the CD doesn't really matter to thier enjoyment of a cruise. I think that is true, unless you have a really great one. Then, it can really make a big difference.

At that www.yucatantoday.com site, there is a page with maps. You can print a basic map of the cruise port area from there.