What is the value of a cruise director?

[LARGIN]

bdjam. Looks like lots of judgemental people around here. It seems you cannot disagree or say something is incorrect without someone saying you are a rah rah or a monitor wannabee,,,

[bdjam]

bdjam. Looks like lots of judgemental people around here. It seems you cannot disagree or say something is incorrect without someone saying you are a rah rah or a monitor wannabee,,,

My favorite is being called a Princess cheerleader in one thread and then being told if I don’t like it I should find another cruise line in the next.

[Hammy's Manager]

What a Great name

Yes I will

See you then

 

Graham

[cabana]

Hey what happened ? Did this thread die? And why wasn't I told? Left me all hanging like that. DVD ready yet there Hammy?:)

[cruzfiend]

I was wondering the same thing "CABANA". I think it is going to be pretty funny.

[bardgal]

I pay absolutely no attention to the Cruise Director - unless he was telling me to abandon ship. I find my own things to do on a ship.

I'm kinda with you here... on my recent cruise (Carnival) the CD never stopped talking. It got downright annoying. Not only did he announce things seemingly 24/7, but would repeat the same announcement 3 or 4 ways during the same announcement. On my Princess cruises, at least the CDs have been a little less intrusive.

[LARGIN]

Lets see.. It has been 31 days since my last cruise on the Coral and I have no idea who the Cruise Director was ???

[cabana]

33 now

[Druke I]

Odd thing about recalling names of cruise directors:

 

I do recall the names of a couple of very good ones, and the names of a couple of very bad ones, but the vast majority of them - I don't have a clue.

[Pam in CA]

Odd thing about recalling names of cruise directors:

 

I do recall the names of a couple of very good ones, and the names of a couple of very bad ones, but the vast majority of them - I don't have a clue.

Normally, I haven't a clue either. To me, a good CD isn't one who is a great entertainer or is funny as hell, but rather is creative in planning things for people to do and roams the ship, making sure people are busy and enjoying themselves. The good ones (IMHO) are always around, always available to talk to, and willing to listen to suggestions. Chris Nichols is definitely in this category -- the best I've seen. I'd heard such great things about Graham Seymour but he was a total bust, not to mention offensive.

[ssbeagle]

Normally, I haven't a clue either. To me, a good CD isn't one who is a great entertainer or is funny as hell, but rather is creative in planning things for people to do and roams the ship, making sure people are busy and enjoying themselves. The good ones (IMHO) are always around, always available to talk to, and willing to listen to suggestions. Chris Nichols is definitely in this category -- the best I've seen. I'd heard such great things about Graham Seymour but he was a total bust, not to mention offensive.

 

Pam, I thought Graham was quite funny if a bit on the rough side but he wasn't among the passengers very much. I agree with you about Chris Nichols; he is the best CD I have ever seen on a ship. Janet Edwards is very good too and I haven't heard very many people mention her. She was on the Star in March and I saw her around the ship several times and she always had a nice word for us.

[Host Caroline]

Janet Edwards was on "original" Island Princess in 1998 when we did a long Alaska cruise and she was wonderful!:) On a small ship like that having a great CD made all the difference.. And her a.m. show was very very entertaining. Omar on the Diamond P was a pretty good CD.. actually very personable, out and about the ship a lot more than some are.

 

Does anyone remember the CD (probably now retired) who was on the original Crown Princess in early 90s and took the Dawn P out when she was inaugurated? His name was John and he had been a cabaret entertainer.. gray haired gentlemen.. funny as all get out -- esp. his "If I Were Not Upon the Ship...." skits and still remains one of our favs.

[ilovhywd]

Onboard the Caribbean Princess now....

 

We have had an itinerary change due to a medical emergency. Instead of going to Princess Cays tomorrow, we are going full speed to Nassau to unload this critically ill passenger.

 

Therefore, the CD and staff had to plan a completely different schedule of activities and entertainment for tomorrow. Many activities had to be added to the schedule since we don't arrive in Nassau until 1:00 PM

 

In addition, they had to organize a whole new set of shore excursions and print a description and pricelist to distribute to every cabin.

 

Then, they had to print and distribute a Nassau brochure containing a map and shopping information.

 

I have a new respect for the Cruise Director and staff on this ship after seeing how they respond to unexpected itinerary changes. This is the second medical emergency this week.

[mrdawson]

Whats up with these people? The CD is just another employee, I personally have extensive interaction with my waiter/ Asst Maitre D and a few others but still can't figure out the need to "swoon" over CD's. :p They run the entertainment but the Chef runs the kitchen, an area just as or more important than the entertaiment and nobody seems to remember his name!!! :eek: Anyway, it seems some are "starstruck" by them but I just can't figure it out:confused:

[Logie]

Hi

 

By any chance were you the CD on the Dawn Princess February of 2003 when the that guy Blair, (everyone called him "Blair with a Flair") who sold custom suits on deck 7 had the jacket of the mannequin stolen?

 

There was a whole caper on the morning show with the eventual thief on the show with a paper bag over his head.

 

I never saw a ship with suits for sale after that, and that Blair guy was a bit off, I can see why they played the prank on him and stole his jacket. :) It did make for a fun a cruise.

 

I know if it was not you, I have certainly sailed with you before, and although I don't personally know you , you have a huge following.

 

I too make my own fun on the cruise and do not often have direct interaction with CD's but can remember Billy from the Dawn last year, John from the Grand in the Baltics last year, and Richard Joseph from the Golden 2 weeks ago. Richard even had a cruise critic party for us!! It was fun!!

[markannab]

Hi Graham

This is unrelated to the above topic but can't find any other way to make contact with you. I understand you will be on Explorer over our vacation starting 14 February 2016. Assuming this is correct, I'm wondering if you could give me some Cruise Director direction (and let me know if what I'm hoping for will be permitted during our cruise). :-)

 

About 15 family members will be on board to celebrate my parents-in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary. I sing and play guitar and, together with the entire family, would like to do a rehearsed "pub song" at the Crown & Kettle one afternoon.

 

By "rehearsed", I mean it won't sound like a bunch of drunks but a tight, nicely-performed song (Crazy Little Thing Called Love, to be exact). The idea is to get my wife's parents down for an "afternoon drink", then out comes an acoustic guitar and mandolin, I start singing, then the rest of the family does rehearsed backup singing. Naturally, there would be opportunity for other pub patrons to clap along.

 

When we were on Voyager earlier in 2015, it appeared 3:30pm-4:00pm might be a good time before it's too busy to fit the entire family in! But I have concerns about when a band may be playing in the Promenade (which I can't compete with in volume) and any recorded music which may be playing in the pub or throughout the Promenade. If we're inside the pub, then recorded music in the Promenade will likely not be an issue.

 

Lastly, I wonder if your onboard videographer would be able to video the occasion (5 minutes) so that, if the price isn't too high, we can buy a DVD.

 

We're already getting the song together in the hopes that we can go ahead with this (and that there's no problems with us bringing musical instruments on board).

 

If all this is OK, can you let me know the first step once we board? Do I try to locate you to sort any details?

 

Thanks so much for any help you can give!

 

Very much appreciated,

Mark

Taree NSW

[Kenswing]

This thread is 10 years old.. Might want to start a new one.. :D

[beg3yrs]

Hi Graham

...

Very much appreciated,

Mark

Taree NSW

 

Hi Mark,

 

Not sure Graham is a CD on Princess any more. He didn't reply to the previous post over ten years ago either.

 

Do you realize this thread is over ten years old?

 

Not sure what cruise line sails the Explorer but I am sure it is not Princess.

 

Try posting with the correct cruise line forum and you might get better results.

Edited October 8, 2015 by beg3yrs

[markannab]

:-( Thanks! I need to try and contact Graham and, since private messaging isn't allowed on this forum, I can only think of tacking my message onto a thread he's commented on (in the hopes he gets notified). But I'll try something else!

[beg3yrs]

:-( Thanks! I need to try and contact Graham and, since private messaging isn't allowed on this forum, I can only think of tacking my message onto a thread he's commented on (in the hopes he gets notified). But I'll try something else!

 

I figured that was your logic.

 

Your idea regarding the show sounds fun. I hope it works out for you.

[srlafleur]

I was on a very port-intensive Mediterranean cruise, with very early excursions. There was the cruise director, every morning, heading up the assembling and disembarkation of the very many excursion groups in the theater. Smiling, chipper and peppy at about 7 am, after having MC'd late night comedy shows and lord knows what else that happened after I was long asleep. We had some full-day excursions and if that whole system of organization had been botched, we could have had to cut the tours short. She got us (and her staff) amped up and kept us moving (even if some of us could have used a couple more hours of sleep!).

Fast forward to the next cruise, different line, couldn't even tell you who the cruise director was. Very low key, at least in the morning. I think he may have slept in, because I couldn't even tell who, if anyone, was in charge. We nearly had to organize ourselves for our excursions, walking off in the groups we had to search mightily for in the theater. Much lower energy, much less organized.

 

The cruise director made a world of difference in those 2 cases. We are experienced cruisers, and sometimes we felt like we were foundering on the second one, as we tried to find the right group to join. I can't imagine what newbies were feeling.

Edited October 8, 2015 by srlafleur

[Cruisin' Chick]

:-( Thanks! I need to try and contact Graham and, since private messaging isn't allowed on this forum, I can only think of tacking my message onto a thread he's commented on (in the hopes he gets notified). But I'll try something else!

 

you might also try the board for the cruise line you're going on since there isn't an Explorer Princess.

 

This may help you more: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=77369827

(I did a search on his name on the thread and then went on his profile and then looked up his most recetn posts)

Edited October 8, 2015 by Cruisin' Chick

[mmckm]

Hi Graham

This is unrelated to the above topic but can't find any other way to make contact with you. I understand you will be on Explorer over our vacation starting 14 February 2016. Assuming this is correct, I'm wondering if you could give me some Cruise Director direction (and let me know if what I'm hoping for will be permitted during our cruise). :-)

 

About 15 family members will be on board to celebrate my parents-in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary. I sing and play guitar and, together with the entire family, would like to do a rehearsed "pub song" at the Crown & Kettle one afternoon.

 

By "rehearsed", I mean it won't sound like a bunch of drunks but a tight, nicely-performed song (Crazy Little Thing Called Love, to be exact). The idea is to get my wife's parents down for an "afternoon drink", then out comes an acoustic guitar and mandolin, I start singing, then the rest of the family does rehearsed backup singing. Naturally, there would be opportunity for other pub patrons to clap along.

 

When we were on Voyager earlier in 2015, it appeared 3:30pm-4:00pm might be a good time before it's too busy to fit the entire family in! But I have concerns about when a band may be playing in the Promenade (which I can't compete with in volume) and any recorded music which may be playing in the pub or throughout the Promenade. If we're inside the pub, then recorded music in the Promenade will likely not be an issue.

 

Lastly, I wonder if your onboard videographer would be able to video the occasion (5 minutes) so that, if the price isn't too high, we can buy a DVD.

 

We're already getting the song together in the hopes that we can go ahead with this (and that there's no problems with us bringing musical instruments on board).

 

If all this is OK, can you let me know the first step once we board? Do I try to locate you to sort any details?

 

Thanks so much for any help you can give!

 

Very much appreciated,

Mark

Taree NSW

 

He left his email address on post #47, try his email. it may not work but worth a try

[markannab]

Thankyou.

[Josy1953]

I've never understood this fascination with cruise directors (or ship captains).

 

We cruise annually with 3 other couples and we've done 10 crusies thus far. Not one of the 8 people in our group is able to name one cruise director or ship's captain from even a single cruise. Further more, no one really seemed to care and doubted they would even notice the absence of a cruise director.

Yet, somehow, we always manage to have a great time and look forward to our next cruise together.

 

I'm not sure what we're missing here.

I agree with you generally we have little or nothing to do with th CD and after 31 cruises I can only remember 2 CD names. Neil Oliver from P&O was by far the best CD we ever came across, been on 3 cruises with him and he was brilliant every time. Samantha Hawker-Thomas is the reason that we have not cruised with Princess for 4 years, she was the rudest person I ever came across anywhere, she was plain nasty to a handicapped lady on our cruise. We have just booked with Princess for 2016 but I really hope that Ms Hawker-Thomas is not on board.