What does a cruise director do?

[fatpug]

Hi,

 

I recently returned from a cruise on the Carnival Elation with cruise director Jeff Bronson. He was on the TV channels and ran a couple of shows (marriage show, variety show, etc. ) but I NEVER saw him walking around the ship.

 

On my carnival cruise last year on Destiny the cruise director Noonan was everywhere....

 

 

The two ships were completely different on how the cruise director managed them. Which approach is typical for carnival? What are they supposed to do to help you enjoy the cruise?

[cruiseguy83]

That's a great question! I've seen it be very "hit or miss" with CD's. Sometimes I wonder if there's even one on board if they don't interact with guests much, besides a 1 or 2 quick shows. What else could they be doing the entire day? Making the Fun Times guide?

 

**No disrespect to any Cruise Directors out there... maybe I just missed the area they are hanging out around the ship (and I know they deserve breaks too). It's just a clear difference when you have a great CD or one that vanishes after a show. Or when I see my cabin steward/pool attendant/servers 100x more than a CD.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I've never seen the CD's around much on CCL other than in the showroom.

 

Just off NCL and the CD was everywhere, dancing with pax, etc.:)

 

Each line is different.

 

Bill

[MichFish]

Funny. On my previous CCL cruise, the cruise director was everywhere. TV, shows, walking around. On my NCL cruise, I wasn't even sure there was a cruise director - other than his name appeared in the daily paper thing.

[MissyMac13]

I agree about Jeff Bronson. He was absent except for some of the shows and disembarkation! My favorites have been Steve Cassel and Stu Dunn. I've never sailed with John Heald but I hope to someday.

[ccruisequeen]

Jeff was on the Paradise and he was all over. He even arranged trading some of my medallions for a ship on a stick. You just have to be in the right place at the right time.

[TMWTim]

After a few cruises here and there we have yet to see the CD other than a PG party and a couple of times on the Lido. No worries at all, as we weren't looking for them, but a lot of people expect such things....and strawberries. If anyone follows JH then you know they are busy, always.

[DEL67]

I have had both very visible CDs and ones you rarely see.

 

Regardless in addition to their "public appearances", CDs are also responsible for their staff, scheduling the daily activities, etc.

[kingoftheicedragons]

I definitely agree that the CD is hit or miss on some of the ships. Sometimes I see them all over and other times you hardly see them at all. On Fascination, I didn't even know who the CD was until the end of the second day of the trip. Of course, part of that is our fault as well as we didn't go to the Welcome Aboard show. You typically do need to get involved to really know the cruise director as well as the rest of the entertainment staff. The CD isn't going to go around and introduce himself as such--at least not any place I've seen.

[Aplmac]

Having sailed on VICTORY four times

I can say that twice there was no apparent CD

 

-and the other two times, Karl Bird (Karl-with-a-K) was to be seen everywhere!

Karl does an excellent job!

 

 

.

[DevCruise]

I think a lot of it depends on what type of cruiser you are. We don't tend to go to shows, games, etc. We eat, see ports, etc. So we just are never at the places the cruise director is, but it doesn't bother us.

 

It's funny though, I can tell you the name of the cruise director on the first cruise we were on because we loved his style of doing announcements. Couldn't for the life of me tell you who the cruise director on our second cruise was. Don't remember his announcements, did see him at the port shopping talk and seemed like a great guy. Just don't remember his name.

[SkyMaster]

As noted above, the CD is in charge of scheduling all the entertainment aboard the ship. Also as noted, there is a huge difference between CD's. If you sail with Butch Begovich, you'll wonder how he does it, as you'll see him EVERYWHERE, and he always has time to stop and talk to everyone. On the other hand, if you sail with Steve Cassel, you'll think he's a magician, as he totally disappears after each and every show! You won't see him at all, until, perhaps, the day you leave the ship. He MAY be standing at the gangplank, waiting to see that you leave. :rolleyes:

 

"SKY"

[woodey]

I agree with sometimes they are everywhere and sometimes there no where statement.....but then sometime I am everywhere and sometimes no where as well...:D

[H82seaUgo]

Hi,

 

I recently returned from a cruise on the Carnival Elation with cruise director Jeff Bronson. He was on the TV channels and ran a couple of shows (marriage show, variety show, etc. ) but I NEVER saw him walking around the ship.

 

On my carnival cruise last year on Destiny the cruise director Noonan was everywhere....

 

 

The two ships were completely different on how the cruise director managed them. Which approach is typical for carnival? What are they supposed to do to help you enjoy the cruise?

 

in 27 years of cruising, i can count on half a formed peace sign the amount of times a cd was just mingling among the guests.

 

and as the social hosts started playing more prominent hosting roles, they even showed up less at events they used to mainstay.

[tropicaledrink]

I don't remember much about my CD from cruise #1, but on the Elation we had Steve Knisley both times and I was not impressed. We basically only saw him at shows and major events. I don't know how we managed this either, but we happened to ave the exact same "outside" entertainment on both trips months apart.

 

On the Dream, we had Butch, and he is awesome. We saw him ALL. THE TIME. He was leading the deck parties, greeting guests on the ocean plaza, appearing at both shows and the Punchliner, and we even saw him at breakfast in the MDR a couple of days.

 

It's like anything else - you are going to have some awesome CDs and some that are not as awesome. We have Karl with a K on the Liberty, and I'm looking forward to him!

[crusinpsychRN]

Buth was fabulous! He knew so many cruisers names it was hard to imagine. James on the Legend is also all over.

[waynbo]

Had Butch and Jamie on our 2 Dream trips, they were everywhere and stopped and talked with anyone that wanted to chat. Loved them.

 

Just came off a B2B on the Fascination with Paul Santley and in 9 days only saw him at the game shows or on TV. NEVER anywhere around the ship. His only saving grace was his assistant CD (from Kansas, wore red shoes everywhere) was all over the ship and very personable.

 

CD's definately don't matter in my planning but it is nice to have one that's as outgoing as Butch or Jamie.

[maldenmusic]

I've cruised on 3 different Carnival ships and had all different kinds of CD's. However, the presence or non-presence of the CD doesn't really impact my cruise one way or another.

[mephistoles]

Having sailed on VICTORY four times

I can say that twice there was no apparent CD

 

-and the other two times, Karl Bird (Karl-with-a-K) was to be seen everywhere!

Karl does an excellent job!

 

 

.

 

I agree with you about Karl. It seems that he was EVERYWHERE. I remember passing him once (he was going downstairs and I was going up) and he took a couple of minute to chat...I also remember seeing him on the ship quite often and he always spoke...I saw him (and I assume his family and/or friends) while we were walking to Junkanoo Beach....at one point I joked that he must have had clones walking around because he was so visible. Very nice guy.

[skyeman27]

I think that cruise directors work very hard, if passengers want to see more of the cruise director go to the functions they are hosting. They also have many behind the scenes responsibilities, as they manage all of the entertainment staff, which is probably the hardest part of their job.

[cruizinisthebest]

I guess it depends on the approach of the cruise director. On the paradise, we saw him all over the place. Ditto for the Imagination.

[Tithonus]

The only one we saw out and about was Malcolm Burn.

[gcooper]

a lot of people expect such things....and strawberries.

I could care less if I bump into the CD...but strawberries, that's something that would be dearly missed if absent on my cruise.

 

and ice cream

[buckeyefan10]

Just off of Dream and Jaimie Dee was AWESOME. She was all over along with her assistant Gumbie. She walked around the ship and talked with people, had a morning show, led line dancing. I don't remember see much of the CD on my 3 other cruises.

[Rockee4055]

That's a great question! I've seen it be very "hit or miss" with CD's. Sometimes I wonder if there's even one on board if they don't interact with guests much, besides a 1 or 2 quick shows. What else could they be doing the entire day? Making the Fun Times guide?

 

**No disrespect to any Cruise Directors out there... maybe I just missed the area they are hanging out around the ship (and I know they deserve breaks too). It's just a clear difference when you have a great CD or one that vanishes after a show. Or when I see my cabin steward/pool attendant/servers 100x more than a CD.

 

My wife and I were in the newlywed not so newlywed game one cruise. We had an absolute blast. The CD saw us several times around the ship and addressed us by name. Can't remember who it was though.

 

Most of the CD's you see at the talks and before the big shows. Other then that usually nothing. But your point of not being in the right place at the right time could have some truth to it.