New Current list of Cruise Directors (CD)

DonnaK · July 8, 2016

Joff's already said he's on Ovation and Explorer in Australia for the Winter. Judging by what he's saying his contracts are as follows:
Indy until Sep 19.

Break from Sep 19 until Nov 18.

Ovation November 18 until mid January

Explorer Mid January until mid March.

Break from Mid March until mid May.

Indy from Mid May next year (probably until Sep 2017)

Thanks Joe. I had forgotten about those assignments. I edited the most recent list.

Paulette3028 · July 8, 2016

Carlos Torres has told me that his final sailing on Empress will be the weekend of August 25. By that time Elvis is expected to be onboard preparing for handover.

DonnaK · July 8, 2016

Carlos Torres has told me that his final sailing on Empress will be the weekend of August 25. By that time Elvis is expected to be onboard preparing for handover.

Adventure OTS -Clo O'Connor June 11 (until mid-August? then who? Dan Whitney?)

Allure OTS - Tim Connor April 24 until late August, then Dru Pavlov for 2 months (need exact dates)

Anthem OTS - John Blair June 25 until late-September/early-October (exact date? then who?)

Brilliance OTS - Jerome Sueur May 14 through October 17, then Clo O'Connor for the transatlantic back to Tampa

Empress OTS - Carlos Torres May 28 through August 25 then Elvis Pinto

Enchantment OTS - Michele Scarpato June 24 (for 2 months or 4 months?)

Explorer OTS - Graham Seymour March 30 until July 29, then Ken Jones July 29 for approx 2 months, then Graham should be returning Late-September through mid-January, with Joff Eaton covering mid-January through mid-March (need exact dates)

Freedom OTS - Casey Pelter May 15 until mid-August (exact date? then who?)

Grandeur OTS - Bill Brunkhorst June 18 until mid-July then Paul Rutter (for 2 or 4 months?)

Harmony OTS - Ken Rush until when? (need exact handover date) then Bobby Brown through October 23. Ken Rush will return Oct 23 to take the ship to Florida and will be onboard through the New Year.

Independence OTS - Joff Eaton May 28 until September 19, then Jamie Fentiman for two months. Joff will be back on Indy in mid-May 2017 for 4 months after doing a split contract on Ovation and Explorer.

Jewel OTS - Simona Ferraiuolo beginning July 3 for the remainder of the European Season (then Dennis Charles returns?)

Legend OTS - Chris Brown from June 20 through October 19, then Keith Williams returns to re-position the ship from Hong Kong to Australia on October 19 until Jan 15, 2017. then Chris Brown should be returning Jan 15 to cover Keith's break again.

Liberty OTS - Jeff Arpin June 26 (until mid-August? then who?)

Majesty OTS - Susan McColl July 1 through August 27, then Marc Walker returns Aug 27 to Oct 23

Mariner OTS - Fang Lixin end of March until mid-August, then Keith Williams mid-August through October 17. (Need handover date)

Navigator OTS - Rob McNally May 21 until October 1

Oasis OTS - Patricio Honoresjoined the ship June 25 for a one week handover, and took over as CD on 7/2 for 2 months, then Drew Devine should be returning at the end of August for 4 months.

Ovation OTS - Gordon Whatman May 26 through July 12, then Jimmy Rhodes beginning July 12 Until Nov 18, then Joff Eaton Nov 18 though mid-January.

Quantum OTS - Ken Jones May 21 until July 14 then Ricky Matthews July 14 until late-November, then Ken Jones for 2 months.

Radiance OTS - Steve Davis Jan 31 through July 15 then Jamie Fentiman for 2 months

Rhapsody OTS - Michelle Pimentinha Oliveira June 24 until the end of October.

Serenade OTS - Topi Ylonen May 15 through September 13, then Carly Boileau for the Canadian Season (September 13 through October 30 or November 11)

Vision OTS - Mike Hunnerup Feb 27 until late June (then who?) (IS MIKE STILL ONBOARD OR HAS HE GONE ON BREAK. INFO/CONFIRMATION IS NEEDED)

Voyager OTS -Mitch Merucci April 16 for 4 months

Jamie Fentiman is awaiting medical clearance post-back-surgery

Rich Edwards is temporarily out due to back issues and will not be returning until at least October 2016

Amy Fickert-Southgate is taking a job shoreside as of June 8

Luke Aerowsmith is working at the corporate office in London

Ken Rush works behind the scenes on the new ships, helping to provide smooth take-outs. In between, he works with the new builds at the shipyard, and he fills in on the larger/newer ships as CD during the regular CD's break

Gordon Whatman is retired, but will be filling-in from time-to-time if needed (see Ovation - May 2016)

Allan Brooks works for Celebrity in their corporate office.

Richard Spacey is a CD with Celebrity

Becky Thompson works for Celebrity Cruises in their corporate offices in Miami.

Dave Chapman is a CD with HAL

James Andrews is a real estate agent in Sydney

Mike Szwajkowski is a Canadian Mountie

Leo Papa is a Product Manager at Tauck Corp in Connecticut

Anna Bass is a make-up artist

João Pereira is studying Portuguese/English education and translation at Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas in Brazil

Kirk Detweiler is now CD with Silversea cruises.

Simeon Baker - married a dancer, had a baby girl and is a sales exec at a Porsche dealer in Saskatchewan

Matt Baker - Sim's brother - recently married and living in Wales. They bought a pub called the Tiddley

Kieron Buffrey - CD with Holland America

Tom Canosa - teaching 6th grade science in North Carolina

Peter Benfield and Johnny Osborne have emigrated to Thailand

Anthony Richards is living in Miami with his wife, and is working for Royal Media Partners as Manager Port Revenue Operations

Rico du Breil is now a travel & show consultant in Canada

Paul Lancaster is no longer with RCI, and resides in England

Abel Jeney is Customer Service & People Manager at Momentum Services Ltd

Parker Cristan is living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - staging/choreographing for local theater

Ashley Kerr - married and living in Vancouver BC, working as a marketing rep for a PR firm

Karen Maybury - has a consultant/pr/entertainment agency

Jannie Cloete - leading expeditions on small ships

Warren Allen (aka Warren Melhuish) lives in Ontario, Canada. He has retired from ship-life but still works on the stage

Thomas DeCell is no longer with RCI

Leigh Xuereb is the CD of Carnival Freedom (his AM Frankie Portera is the CD of Carnival Liberty)

TechKnowBabble · July 8, 2016

Hopefully someone who is traveling on Anthem now can ask him and report back to us.

He began this contract on March 15, so he is due for a break mid-July, and should return from his break mid-September.

Whether he goes back to Anthem remains to be seen, as Abe is supposed to have the 4 month contract on Anthem with Dru doing the 2 month vacation fill-in, unless something has changed.

Hmmmmm...have not sailed with Abe.....still hopefully for John and Katrina though...John encouraged my now hubby to propose to me so I feel like I should reward him for a job well done :D

TechKnowBabble · July 8, 2016

Saw John again today and he confirmed he will definitely be on Anthem until the end of September now and possibly into October. As of now, he still doesn't know who will take his place come October.

YAY YAY YAY!!!! Thanks so much!

TechKnowBabble · July 8, 2016

I care, and so do the other participants on this thread. Yes, I will choose a cruise based on the CD.

Why do you choose to read a thread and comment on something that means nothing to you?

I don't care about certain topics on this forum so I just move on and respect those who do.

Thanks...I was going to write a similar post SHEESH I have adored some of our CDs and would LOVE to see them again

Arzeena · July 8, 2016

Another vote for John and Katrina......hope they stay on the Anthem longer.

Arzeena · July 8, 2016

Thanks...I was going to write a similar post SHEESH I have adored some of our CDs and would LOVE to see them again

I won't sheesh and shush and will NOT choose a cruise for the CD, but I really like to see my favorites too.:)

And I do like to read these threads and chat with the folks, give my two cents.:D

Back to the discussion...Just read that Leigh Xeureb is now on the Carnival Pride? Is this true? What became of his sidekick Erky?

DonnaK · July 8, 2016

Back to the discussion...Just read that Leigh Xeureb is now on the Carnival Pride? Is this true? What became of his sidekick Erky?

Leigh is on the Carnival FREEDOM. His sidekick Frankie is on Carnival LIBERTY. Erky retired from cruise life a while ago to marry and work as a pilot in Turkey.

rafinmd · July 8, 2016

Another vote for John and Katrina......hope they stay on the Anthem longer.

Anyone sailed with John and Katrina on the mega-ships? I've been with them only on Enchantment and found John heavy on the PA; their real strength was being around and interacting individually and in groups with the passengers, great people skills. I wonder how they shine on with thousands more people.

Roy

Joe12 · July 8, 2016

Anyone sailed with John and Katrina on the mega-ships? I've been with them only on Enchantment and found John heavy on the PA; their real strength was being around and interacting individually and in groups with the passengers, great people skills. I wonder how they shine on with thousands more people.

Roy

Getting off Anthem tomorrow, I thought John Blair was rubbish, totally invisible for the first 7 DAYS of the cruise. I don't attend much of the events but for people who are said to be around the ship interacting with passengers often, to not see them around the ship once in 7 days is pretty poor. They're both still heavy on the PA, extremely loud and annoying IMO.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Joe12

DonnaK · July 9, 2016

Can anyone find out: (thru the end of the summer)

Adventure: When does Clo's break start (mid August?), and who will be the next CD?

Allure: What is the handover date between Tim and Dru (late August?)

Enchantment: When does Michele's break start (end of August or end of October?) and who will be the next CD?

Freedom: When does Casey's break start (mid-August) and who will be the next CD?

Grandeur: When does Bill hand over to Paul (mid-July)?

Harmony: What is the handover date between Ken and Bobby (it was supposed to be a month ago)

Liberty: Is Jeff on until the end of August? Who will be next?

Mariner: What is the handover date (late August) between Fang and Keith?

Oasis: What is the handover date (late August) between Patricio and Drew?

Vision: Is Mike still onboard? For how much longer, then who? (handover should have happened in late June)

Funbobby68 · July 9, 2016

Would like to have confirmation that Graham Seymour would be back on explorer for sept 30th sailing .....fingers crossed

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

DonnaK · July 9, 2016

Would like to have confirmation that Graham Seymour would be back on explorer for sept 30th sailing .....fingers crossed

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

He often posts his schedule directly to this thread, so hopefully he will stop by soon and give us an update!

eyeglassbrad · July 9, 2016

Getting off Anthem tomorrow, I thought John Blair was rubbish, totally invisible for the first 7 DAYS of the cruise. I don't attend much of the events but for people who are said to be around the ship interacting with passengers often, to not see them around the ship once in 7 days is pretty poor. They're both still heavy on the PA, extremely loud and annoying IMO.

I was also on this cruise with 2 alpha,alpha.alphas I 100 percent agree, Who schedules the love and marriage show at 10:30 on the last night. John and his wife are the worst CD I have had on any royal or celebrity cruise.

Edited July 9, 2016 by eyeglassbrad

Joe12 · July 9, 2016

I was also on this cruise with 2 alpha,alpha.alphas I 100 percent agree, Who schedules the love and marriage show at 10:30 on the last night. John and his wife are the worst CD I have had on any royal or celebrity cruise.

I know right? I don't go to the Love and Marriage type shows but 10.30 on the last evening? Come on!

eyeglassbrad · July 10, 2016

I also walked out on the Quest. First time ever. The venue 270 is way to small and has obstructed views only four teams. Just the worst.

Arzeena · July 10, 2016

Leigh is on the Carnival FREEDOM. His sidekick Frankie is on Carnival LIBERTY. Erky retired from cruise life a while ago to marry and work as a pilot in Turkey.

OMG:D:eek::D:p...I can picture Erky saying....Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to land in someone's swimming pool.........eeeeh heeeeh heeeh heeeehe ehehe!

drewlin · July 10, 2016

Does anyone know how to contact a cd before the cruise? Trying to organise something - thanks

Ery · July 10, 2016

Does anyone know how to contact a cd before the cruise? Trying to organise something - thanks

Depending on the CD, most have a fb page and will chat on there if they have time.

Stevedan · July 10, 2016

YAY YAY YAY!!!! Thanks so much!

What happened to Abe?

DonnaK · July 11, 2016

What happened to Abe?

Not sure -he was scheduled to join Anthem on June 30, but John Blair was sent over from Grandeur due to "an emergency" instead. John confirmed that he will be there for 4 months.

I tried to ask Abe on FB, but he never responded.

DonnaK · July 11, 2016