To those of you who have sailed on the NCL Spirit within the past few months...

[NODAK1979]

I say the "past few months" because I think the people I am referencing in this post haven't been with NCL all that long.

 

So I went on my first cruise, just returned on 4/10 on the Spirit. Quick question...as far as "shopping consultants" and cruise directors go, how do you feel the following people compare to their counterparts on other ships (of any cruise line)??

 

Kyle Dodson - Cruise Director

Kiwi James - Shopping Consultant

 

I ask because it will help better shape my expectations whenever we decide to cruise again, and also will help me make decisions on what and what not to attend.

[luddite]

I never met a shopping cunsultant on a cruise.

Cruise director? Met 'em and forgot 'em. Except for John Ibraihaim, who was a particular coarse and obnoxious example.

[Toyz711]

NEVER be too concerned over the shopping consultants, they are there (on all cruise lines, every cruise) to direct you to buy from certain shops. too many over priced jewelry stores pay the cruise lines for this service.

haven't been to one of these lectures in many years. rather have a great excursion consultant, even though i research excursions online, myself.

 

the last great cruise director, i had, was 15 years ago. no one has matched him for pure entertainment. still watch the video and laugh so hard we cry.

sometimes the passengers can affect the cruise director,if the passengers don't show interest or don't respond well...the cruise staff can be very quiet. a cruise with a lot of active/happy cruisers, the cruise staff can be great.

[calmpets]

I know I saw a post just the other day mentioning Kiwi specifically, and they didn't like him (or her, I don't recall the details). If you do a search you can probably find the thread.

[NODAK1979]

NEVER be too concerned over the shopping consultants, they are there (on all cruise lines, every cruise) to direct you to buy from certain shops. too many over priced jewelry stores pay the cruise lines for this service.

haven't been to one of these lectures in many years. rather have a great excursion consultant, even though i research excursions online, myself.

 

the last great cruise director, i had, was 15 years ago. no one has matched him for pure entertainment. still watch the video and laugh so hard we cry.

sometimes the passengers can affect the cruise director,if the passengers don't show interest or don't respond well...the cruise staff can be very quiet. a cruise with a lot of active/happy cruisers, the cruise staff can be great.

 

Ah OK. That was my problem with the shopping consultant. So it's likely then we'll never attend one of those "port shopping talks" again.

[MarkBearSF]

"Shopping Consultants" are just shills for the stores giving kickbacks. Ignore them. (On some more upscale lines, there is a Port Consultant who may have useful info on the ports - although in some cases, he/she is just a Shopping Consultant with the older title)

 

I was definitely unimpressed with the Spirit Cruise Director. The position can lend itself to inauthentic glad-handers, but he seemed smarmier than others I've encountered in 24 cruises. While he did the usual CD stuff, he stuck me as "off" (Additionally, there were comments and a vibe that seemed vaguely homophobic) In general, he wasn't the worst part of the cruise (that would be the food in the MDR) - but he DID fit in with the entire sub-par experience aboard.

[NODAK1979]

"Shopping Consultants" are just shills for the stores giving kickbacks. Ignore them. (On some more upscale lines, there is a Port Consultant who may have useful info on the ports - although in some cases, he/she is just a Shopping Consultant with the older title)

 

I was definitely unimpressed with the Spirit Cruise Director. The position can lend itself to inauthentic glad-handers, but he seemed smarmier than others I've encountered in 24 cruises. While he did the usual CD stuff, he stuck me as "off" (Additionally, there were comments and a vibe that seemed vaguely homophobic) In general, he wasn't the worst part of the cruise (that would be the food in the MDR) - but he DID fit in with the entire sub-par experience aboard.

 

HA!! I love your comment about the food in the MDR....it was so terrible we quit going to them.

 

Anyway....I thought Kyle Dodson was pretty smarmy, and this is why I asked. I thought that he often detracted from things because he just never seemed all that genuine.

 

I really appreciate the feedback about the shopping consultants too, because it just shows me what I already thought I knew...that the people in that position are only there because they're supported by the businesses themselves...which makes them worthless to me.

[Toyz711]

the only good thing about the talks on port shopping, the little maps they hand out. good reference for walking about the port.

[NODAK1979]

To add to this, how good was the entertainment aboard the Spirit compared to other ships you have been on?? The singers/dancers, comedian, magician, etc.

[garycarla]

Shopping?

 

Come on, most of what they "recommend" is not worth much of anything. Sorry, I don't think there is anything such as a good shopping consultant on a cruise ship. It is just another profit center for the cruiseline.

[russianmom]

Could care less about either of them! I'm on a cruise for the experience of the ports not to buy jewelry or interact with the CD

[MarkBearSF]

To add to this, how good was the entertainment aboard the Spirit compared to other ships you have been on?? The singers/dancers, comedian, magician, etc.

 

We were with a group, so we missed most of the shows.

 

This was another example of how NCL has gone downhill. For over two decades, NCL was known for their superb onboard production shows. A couple of years ago, the line ended its relationship with their contractor, the Jean Ann Ryan Dancers. We saw the Broadway revue show. While I love me some showtunes, the production was substandard. Primarily because the two female lead vocalists were off-key, wrong for the role they were singing or both. Throughout, the show simply didn't deliver. (It also had a pre-recorded accompaniment, instead of a live orchestra).

 

The showroom itself, was quite nice, although being aft instead of tucked into the bow meant that there's no fly space above for sets and effects.

 

The dance band was fine - we've heard better, we've heard worse.

[terrymtex01]

OP.. never had either that affected our cruise in any way, other than on CD who's voice to me was like nails on a chalk board.

[newmexicoNita]

I say the "past few months" because I think the people I am referencing in this post haven't been with NCL all that long.

 

So I went on my first cruise, just returned on 4/10 on the Spirit. Quick question...as far as "shopping consultants" and cruise directors go, how do you feel the following people compare to their counterparts on other ships (of any cruise line)??

 

Kyle Dodson - Cruise Director

Kiwi James - Shopping Consultant

 

I ask because it will help better shape my expectations whenever we decide to cruise again, and also will help me make decisions on what and what not to attend.

 

Anyone that would base even part of their cruise choice on the shopping consultant makes me wonder what one cruises for. I have yet, in 25 plus cruises been impressed or unemplessed with teh SD. They are all ther for only one reason: to get us to shop where they get a cut of the sales. This isn't just NCL, but HAL, Celebrity, etc.

 

As for the CD, again, we have been on many cruises where we couldn't even tell you his/her name. The CD on the Spirit isn't even the same one that was on the ship 6 weeks ago. We have found a few CDS that have helped make our cruise even better, but generally they have no baring for us what-so-ever.

 

Nita

[Sauer-kraut]

I have gone to the port shopping talks with a book, because they often have a give-away gimmick at the end or a raffle ticket. I don't really pay attention but just go IF there is nothing else I want to do so its not really wasting my time.

 

As for the CD, I basically only remember Pedro Serra because I was on a 14 day transatlantic and he was all over the ship doing stuff. Since I did a lot of trivia I saw him often. Other than him, I couldn't remember one other CD I've sailed with. I could probably point them out while on the cruise but its not a big deal for me.

[Alimo711]

I thoroughly enjoyed the shopping consultant Richard on the Gem, purely for entertainment value. He was an engaging speaker with a lovely London accent, nice to look at, which didn't hurt, and just fun to listen to. Wasn't really interested in doing any big-money shopping, but got a couple of glasses of free champagne in the jewelry store following his "seminars" and some extra raffle entries.