Fasination with Cruise Directors

[stormynow]

Who watch's TV on a cruise?

[cruiseacecat]

And you didn't mention his "Golden Suit" lol We had Alejandro on our recent Infinity cruise and he is a lovely guy!

 

I have to agree with others on here that I had never paid any attention to CDs before, until we sailed with Sue Denning on the Summit last year. She was far and away the most memorable cruise staff we have met. She was that ship! She was anywhere and everywhere on the Summit, taking time to talk to everyone. And we can't forget her shoes and her many outfit changes! My partner and I would certainly never book a cruise for the CD, but we always hope to cross paths with Sue again. We always tell our friends about her because she influenced the cruise experience so much.

 

 

Michael

Hi Michael,

I did not mention the "golden suit" because I have not seen it yet. I have something to look forward to.:D He really is just such a sweetie.

[jayoldschool]

Our cruise directors have been unremarkable. Except for one cruise. This was about ten-eleven years ago, and might have been a Christmas cruise on Millenium (but they all blend together after the years!). We had two CDs, a pair of Canadian guys, and they were fantastic. Funny, engaging, not fake. I wish I knew where they ended up. Anyone remember this duo?

[ncdachsiemom]

Hmm I had heard that Sue was in Labadee, nice to know she will be on our cruise on the 22 March (sorry miched you were right).

CD's were not someone I took any notice of until we had a truely terrible woman a couple of cruises ago. She was so horrid I avoided her as often as I could. Now I am looking forward to meeting one that is noticable in a nice way.

Cheers, h,

we are the

'Exotic Southerners'

_________________________:D_______________________

 

I think the Sue in Labadee is a Sue Richardson...I don't know her but read that post somewhere on here. Sue Denning is the only cruise director whose name I can remember from my cruises. I think she is the best....personable, fun, and always speaks to everyone and remembers them. When Sue is on board the entertainment seems to really step it up a notch and she is everywhere....seems to be in all the venues and always with a smile. She is returning to the Eclipse on February 8....my cruise! :):)

 

Linda

[4cats4me]

We've been on over 20 cruises and I couldn't for a million dollars name one Cruise Director we've had. I know we see then introduce the stage act's and stand next to the Capitan at social events but I don't get the idea of falling in love with them. We've been on enough cruises to be able to figure out what to do and when to do it so we don't need an activity coach.

Would someone tell about people who follow them from ship to ship and why they dole on about them.

Sorry to sound bitter but I think this cold weather is getting to me.

J.

 

I concur. We don't really care about the cruise director. However, it has been said that a cruise director can make or break a cruise, especially if there are many, many sea days, a good cruise director will have many activities planned, whereas a lackluster one won't. To each his own.

[LeftcoastBC]

Names may be forgotten but if you have cruised with a good CD or a great CD you can sure tell the difference when you cruise with one that is not up to the job. Organizing behind the scenes all those many things you never really think of...taking the lead during small and sometimes unfortunately major incidents are when you will really appreciate a CD for his or her abilities.

If you don't notice them or if you notice them doing what you think is a good job ..that is a good thing.

[MicCanberra]

Names may be forgotten but if you have cruised with a good CD or a great CD you can sure tell the difference when you cruise with one that is not up to the job. Organizing behind the scenes all those many things you never really think of...taking the lead during small and sometimes unfortunately major incidents are when you will really appreciate a CD for his or her abilities.

If you don't notice them or if you notice them doing what you think is a good job ..that is a good thing.

 

Agreed.:D

[baggal]

We may be talking about two different people. This Alexander always wore a different color of pants each day....salmon, red, baby blue, pink? I didn't hear any TV show, but I remember they did mention he was very very new to Celebrity.

 

The most annoying was the guy who would do his tv show (Beavis & Butthead) there were two of them sitting nightly outside of the specialty restautants filming their lame show for TV. I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES!!!

 

We're talking about the same person. I just found his style to be very irritating. And yes, he became even more irritating when he was with the activities manager Mickey (Beavis? Butthead?)

[baggal]

Who watch's TV on a cruise?

 

I do. When I'm getting dressed in the morning. Hard to break a "morning tv show" habit in 7 days.

[NJ Fred]

My bride and I have well over 60 voyages under our belts. Some Cd's are blissfully forgotten others stick in our memories for reasons that are significant to us.

 

Among those who we fell added to the cruise experience positively are:

 

Eddie Dawson of the former Home Lines

Stanley Kayne also of the now-defunct Home Lines

The GREAT Allan King whom we sailed with during his tenure with Costa

Peter Tredgett of Princess

Rich Clesen of Celebrity

Stewart Turnbull of Celebrity

 

Among those who were benign-to-boring:

 

None worth space in our memories

 

On May 10, we sail from Yokohama to Vancouver aboard Millennium. I have learned that a gentleman named Steve Gayda (as CD) will be on the last cruise of his contract on that passage. We know nothing about Mr. Gayda and look forward to learning - with optimism.

 

Last, I can only imagine how darn-near-impossible it is to keep several thousand passengers (of mixed cultures and temperaments) smiling during a cruise vacation. I would think it easier on a port-intensive voyage of short duration. Having a bottomless pit of jokes, games and the like on a cruise that remains at sea for many days in a row would, me thinks, make that hill even steeper for a CD.

 

Happy Cruising to All!

 

BTW, what time is the midnight buffet? And does the crew sleep on the ship?

Edited January 11, 2014 by NJ Fred

[iancal]

jsf...we are exactly the same. We don't give a toss about who the CD is as long as he or she keeps the announcements to a minimum and do not seem so full of themselves (as some do).

[cavok]

i couldn't care less for the person cult that appears to exist around some CDs...

and as some others posted, what is important to us is the quality of the entertainment to choose from and not being constantly pushed and animated for stupid games.

 

that being said, i actually remember some of them for their "radio host" type voices and announcements or their energetic personalities.

in one case, one could almost suspect that the individual was on a permanent trip of some controlled substance. it was actually hilarious to watch *LOL*

and obviously they need to be "people people", one case we thought was quite the mismatch, like putting a nerd into the midst of a desperate housewife coffee circle.

 

two names that rang a bell in a positive way were john grantham and sue denning.

[miched]

BTW, what time is the midnight buffet? And does the crew sleep on the ship?

 

I can attest that the crew doesn't sleep on the ship because the helicopter that carried them off the ship every night kept me awake. 😉

 

 

⛄💨🍸🍻

[screwsmcernst]

For the most part, I can't remember most of the CD we have sailed with. We have sailed with some very nice CDs, but I don't think I would follow them around the fleet just to sail with them again.

 

I know on our first cruise the CD played the violin, and then we had a CD named Chris, and I remember him because it was gong to be his last cruise. and our last CD was Brad. That is it. No clue who the others were. :rolleyes:

[Ellen S]

My bride and I have well over 60 voyages under our belts. Some Cd's are blissfully forgotten others stick in our memories for reasons that are significant to us.

 

Among those who we fell added to the cruise experience positively are:

 

Eddie Dawson of the former Home Lines

Stanley Kayne also of the now-defunct Home Lines

The GREAT Allan King whom we sailed with during his tenure with Costa

Peter Tredgett of Princess

Rich Clesen of Celebrity

Stewart Turnbull of Celebrity

 

Among those who were benign-to-boring:

 

None worth space in our memories

 

On May 10, we sail from Yokohama to Vancouver aboard Millennium. I have learned that a gentleman named Steve Gayda (as CD) will be on the last cruise of his contract on that passage. We know nothing about Mr. Gayda and look forward to learning - with optimism.

 

Last, I can only imagine how darn-near-impossible it is to keep several thousand passengers (of mixed cultures and temperaments) smiling during a cruise vacation. I would think it easier on a port-intensive voyage of short duration. Having a bottomless pit of jokes, games and the like on a cruise that remains at sea for many days in a row would, me thinks, make that hill even steeper for a CD.

 

Happy Cruising to All!

 

BTW, what time is the midnight buffet? And does the crew sleep on the ship?

 

Loved Alan King. We were on a couple of cruises with him and he was always personable. On our cruise in September we talked to the CD and he told us that Alan is retired in Hawaii. Do not remember CD's name. But Alan was wonderful. When you were in port and he saw you, he would stop and say hello (even when his wife was with him). :)

[ORV]

 

 

On May 10, we sail from Yokohama to Vancouver aboard Millennium. I have learned that a gentleman named Steve Gayda (as CD) will be on the last cruise of his contract on that passage. We know nothing about Mr. Gayda and look forward to learning - with optimism.

 

Happy Cruising to All!

 

BTW, what time is the midnight buffet? And does the crew sleep on the ship?

 

The first 2 Celebrity cruises we were on featured Mr. Gayda, booming would be an understatement. If you're close to a loudspeaker when he does his announcements you might want to cover your ears. Other than that he's not a bad CD

[MicCanberra]

 

BTW, what time is the midnight buffet? And does the crew sleep on the ship?

 

LOL, :D

The answers are -

It depends which time zone are you in ? and

Not very much.

[20pluscruises]

LOL, :D

The answers are -

It depends which time zone are you in ? and

Not very much.

 

Lol !!

[drarill]

LOL, :D

The answers are -

It depends which time zone are you in ? and

Not very much.

 

Funny!!:D:D:D

[Hlitner]

We do agree with the OP, and say that having spent more then 3 1/2 years as cruise passengers on far more then 60 different vessels. Out of all our cruises (over forty years) we can only remember 2 cruise directors. Once upon a time a Cruise Director was a very important part of the crew with many responsibilities. But over the years, on most cruise lines, they have been relegated to a primary role as being the face and voice of the cruise line who interacts with the passengers. When it comes to key crew members, the Hotel Manager (Director) is probably the most important person when it comes to passenger issues. We once knew a CD who had an interesting technique....whenever a passenger would lodge a complain or make a suggestion he would quickly put his cell phone to his ear and make a call to deal with the issue. Of course it turned out that he never actually called anyone...but this technique worked well and made him a popular CD. Most cruise directors act primarily as activity coordinators and DW and I tend to avoid most organized activities in favor of relaxing in a deck chair with our Kindles.

 

In fact, we find CDs to be generally annoying because they are the person who interferes with our days by making generally useless announcements. If I want to know about the activity schedule I can read the daily schedule...and we do not pay to go on cruises and listen to advertisements for the latest "sale," "jackpot Bingo," etc. So I guess we know view the perfect CD as the one we never hear except when he/she provides an intro for the evening show.

 

Guess I should mention the 2 CDs we do remember. Our favorite was Thom Faulkner (HAL) who, when he made his first announcement told everyone that he would only make a single announcement everyday (right after the Captain's daily update). Thom told folks if they want to know what going on he was confident they could all read the schedule. I should add that Thom is no longer a CD having taken the more "important" job of a Future Cruise Consultant.

 

The other memorable person was a blonde lady (with big hair) named Janet Edwards who became somewhat of a legend (because she was in the job so many years) on Princess. Janet is memorable for her last words at every announcement which was "Ciao for Now!" Others have used the saying...but Janet was the originator.

 

Hank

P.S. Can't say I ever noticed what kind of shoes any CD wore :). It is amazing what impresses some folks.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Hlitner

[DrKoob]

For us, we have always been much more affected by the Hotel Director and the Captain's Club Host(ess) than any other crew member. The HD is really the person who can move heaven and earth for you. He runs 80% of the ship and 90% of the things that affect us personally.

 

We have met many CDs and they have been very nice but when you make friends with an HD, magic things can happen. We have had HDs send us bottles of wine, get milkshakes made for friends, set up bridge tours for first time cruisers we had met and much more.

 

And since we became Elite a few years back, Captain's Club hosts have been very good to us. Especially on cruises where there were very few Elites. Went to Alaska once with Korinna from Canada as our CC hostess and there were 12 elites on board. We were treated like gold. Dinner at the Captain's table, almost individual service at the Elite lounge. And she treated us just about as well when we saw her on the same ship 10 months later in New Zealand where she had more than 300 Elites to deal with.

 

Best CD we ever had was John Howell on Azamara Quest. I think this was due to the fact that on a smaller ship, you really get to know your CD. We were onboard with John from Singapore to Hong Kong. Us and only 630 other pax. By the end of the week, John and I were giving each other a very hard time about everything in the way give my friends a hard time. Thoroughly enjoyed sailing with him. We've done three cruises with John Grantham and liked him but he didn't affect our cruise one way or the other.

 

Jim

[stormynow]

The bar waiters keep me smiling and happy..

[CathyCruises]

Hank

P.S. Can't say I ever noticed what kind of shoes any CD wore :). It is amazing what impresses some folks.

 

 

Hank, if you would have seen Lisa's shoes (same ones on two cruises a year apart) you would understand. They were very high heels, and every color of the rainbow--quite memorable. She even commented on them herself (both times). They were not your normal average everyday women's shoes!

[MicCanberra]

Hank, if you would have seen Lisa's shoes (same ones on two cruises a year apart) you would understand. They were very high heels, and every color of the rainbow--quite memorable. She even commented on them herself (both times). They were not your normal average everyday women's shoes!

 

Not really into shoes, except to say that they should be worn in the MDR especially on formal nights.:D

[20pluscruises]

For us, we have always been much more affected by the Hotel Director and the Captain's Club Host(ess) than any other crew member. The HD is really the person who can move heaven and earth for you. He runs 80% of the ship and 90% of the things that affect us personally.

 

We have met many CDs and they have been very nice but when you make friends with an HD, magic things can happen. We have had HDs send us bottles of wine, get milkshakes made for friends, set up bridge tours for first time cruisers we had met and much more.

 

And since we became Elite a few years back, Captain's Club hosts have been very good to us. Especially on cruises where there were very few Elites. Went to Alaska once with Korinna from Canada as our CC hostess and there were 12 elites on board. We were treated like gold. Dinner at the Captain's table, almost individual service at the Elite lounge. And she treated us just about as well when we saw her on the same ship 10 months later in New Zealand where she had more than 300 Elites to deal with.

 

Best CD we ever had was John Howell on Azamara Quest. I think this was due to the fact that on a smaller ship, you really get to know your CD. We were onboard with John from Singapore to Hong Kong. Us and only 630 other pax. By the end of the week, John and I were giving each other a very hard time about everything in the way give my friends a hard time. Thoroughly enjoyed sailing with him. We've done three cruises with John Grantham and liked him but he didn't affect our cruise one way or the other.

 

Jim

 

I wish I had know this as we sat at the HD's captains table on our one and only horrible Celebrity cruise due to the cabin.Any yes, I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the awful cruise. Silly me...I felt it wasn't the place to complaine and thought the front desk would do the right thing....lesson learned!