James Deering Questions

[drdaddy]

Hey, all.

 

Saw an interesting show on the Travel Channel about the Best Ship for this and that. They interviewed James Deering when they were talking about an NCL ship. By the tone of what he was ssaying, it sounded like he worked for NCL. Now, on another post here, it sounded like he was on HAL ships.

 

So, what actually IS the story? And what actually does he do? Why should I be excited if he IS on our ship for our sailing?

 

I know I have heard this name for years, and it was associated with a trip on the SS Norway.

 

Thanks.

[Kinky.Rigger]

James Deering is currently aboard the MS Oosterdam as Hotel Manager.

[Joanne G.]

I met James Deering when he was hotel director on the Norwegian Star in 2002. He was very outgoing, loved to meet passengers, and took a particular interest in Cruise Critic members. He and his staff monitored these boards. When CC'ers started meeting at a particular time and place when the Star was cruising Hawaii, he and some of his senior staff members were always in attendance. He shared inside information about the ship and the ports, and he and his staff were readily available if we had problems. He didn't sit in his office waiting for passengers to come to him; he was out and about all the time. That's why he was tremendously popular. He also gave wine-tasting seminars that were very highly regarded.

 

He worked for a while as hotel director on the first American-flagged ship that started sailing around Hawaii. He left NCL a while back and I heard he was sailing with HAL now. Whether or not all the special attention to CC members exists on HAL as it did on the Norwegian Star, I would love to sail with Mr. Deering again. His mission seemed to be making sure that all passengers have a memorable cruise.

[Esme]

James Deering used to be a Hotel Manager with NCL. He is now a Hotel Manager with HAL - currently on the Oosterdam, but moving to the Zuiderdam on October 8th.

[FlorenceItaly]

fabulous group on our Roll Coll Board for Zuiderdam, Dec 3, 2005....about 21 of us or so, which is ALOT for HAL Roll Calls, imo. Perhaps Mr. Deering will drop by our group get together (hint, hint).

 

Marie

[rocks]

Hi Marie!

YES...it would be GREAT to meet the famous Mr. Deering! Hope he does come! When we get our CC meeting plans nailed down, we will have to send him an official invite.

** 9 more Saturdays **

rocks

[Oceanwench]

Send him an invite -- but I guarantee he'll already know about your plans!

He came to our CC party in May on the Zuiderdam, and although he had been "officially" invited by one of our roll callers, he said he knew all about our plans from reading CC.

 

He is a wonderful person, and he is always out and about on the ship. DH enjoyed speaking to him at length on more than one occasion, as did I.

[RevNeal]

While aboard the Oosterdam in Feb of this year I had dinner with Mr. Deering and learned a great deal about his background. Mr. Deering has a LONG history in the cruise industry, and has served with HAL during two periods. In the 1980s he served with HAL as Hotel Manager aboard the old Prinsendam, but left the line after she burned and sank and went to work with other lines. He was delighted to be offered an opportunity to come back to HAL and is currently serving as something of a "floater" Hotel Manager, being moved around the fleet to provide relief to other Hotel Managers and to apply his extensive expertise and experience to various problems being encountered on some ships. I suspect HAL took an opportunity to add Deering to the "family" in anticipation of the addition of the Noordam, realizing that they would need yet another experienced HM. I don't know if he'll be aboard the Noordam in Feb 2006 (I'd love it if he were), but it's a fact that HAL will need more staff by then and that includes upper-level management types.

 

Before coming to HAL Mr. Deering was, indeed, serving with NCL.

 

If you ever get the chance to chat with him, ask him to tell you about the time he served aboard the first cruise ship to visit at a Port in the People's Republic of China, and the reception they received from the Red Chinese Navy. :) It's a good story, and he's an excellent story teller! :)

[vicocala]

Hopefully he will read this thread and join our get together on the October 15th sailing. Glad to know he will be on the Zuiderdam with us!

[FlorenceItaly]

Hi Marie!

YES...it would be GREAT to meet the famous Mr. Deering! Hope he does come! When we get our CC meeting plans nailed down, we will have to send him an official invite.

** 9 more Saturdays **

rocks

 

Hi Pat! Great idea. I am thrilled about our Roll Call. We have a great group!

 

Marie

[bepsf]

DrDaddy--

 

I saw the show you are speaking of yesterday too - that was filmed in 2003 prior to Mr Deering coming over to HAL.

James is an incredibly gracious gentleman. When I first saw him aboard Oosterdam early last month, as I was about to introduce myself he introduced himself to me! He knew exactly who I was and informed me that folks aboard ship were expecting me: who to contact to make arrangements for my CC party and that he had made my reservations for dinner in Pinnacle that evening (I couldn't make reservations prior to boarding, due to the charter) Needless to say, I was astonished! When I asked him about it, he said that I looked exactly like my photo online, and that he'd read about my plans and problems w/ making dinner reservations.

Of course I invited him to my party, where he chatted w/ the CC folks and my other guests...

His wife had flown in from Tokyo and was aboard that week as well - a stunning blonde lady. When I saw him out and about, I asked him why he wasn't spending more time with her - his reply was that she understood his responsibilities. I did see them together at one of the parties - what a handsome couple!

If you ever get the chance to sail w/ him - try to take the time to get to know him - he's a gem!

[drdaddy]

Yikes. I have got to see this guy. He will be on the Zuiderdam after 10/8? Cool, we will be there 10/22. I wonder how we can get a hold of him for a get together we have planned? That would be something.

 

I think I realized that the show was probably 2 years old.