KUDOS to two O Crew Members!

[shedridt]

It's rare for folks to point out high performance in a special message link, but after our recent (Feb 2-12, Riviera) cruise I really feel that two Oceania crew members made the trip for me & never one to be silent - I have to pipe up.

 

The first was Cruise Director Dottie K...if there's another cruise director out there who is more dedicated or hard working I would like to meet her. Dottie is just amazing, & from serving popcorn HERSELF during a movie when we were blocked out of docking at Cozumel to organizing a tremendous Super Bowl party that functioned on two floors of Riviera - WOW. She's just amazing. Funnily enough on our disembarkation day I sat at breakfast recounting the cruise with some people & I mentioned how impressed I was with her. Good call on my part! I was talking to her brother & sister-in-law!

 

The second is a much more behind the scenes kind of guy & that was chef Karlis, who ran the culinary program on Riviera this cruise. What a gift he is! I've taken cooking classes for years here at home & I learned more from him in half an hour than I did in all those other classes combined. BIG round of applause to him & this program. He's a wonderful teacher who knows that it's important to both control a class & open it up. I'd love to take more classes from him (did 2 on this trip, & a 3rd was canceled due to port cancellation - a great disappointment).

 

We learned on this ship that we really do prefer the smaller ships on Oceania (& Azamara & Seabourn), but those cooking classes are a huge attraction that may draw us back.

[sitraveler]

No tribute to Dottie is too much. Hard working and dedicated, she makes every Oceania cruise extra special. And sometimes she is on the big ships.

[potterhill]

And when we had occasion to cruise with her, we thought she was fine but no reason for extra kudos. But then we don't take particular notice of the cruise director. Having said that that have been some we liked more than others, generally the ones we saw around the ship daily, engaging casually with passengers. Dottie was pretty much invisible. And no, we haven't played trivia in years.

[Mura]

I have a different take on this from Potterhill. We, too, tend not to pay attention to who the CD is and we also don't do Trivia, but we were on a cruise with Dottie three years ago and certainly saw her all over the ship and even interacted with her ourselves. I don't know if Potterhill was perhaps on a more recent cruise with Dottie -- we met her prior to her illness. I'm not sure if that is a factor at all.

 

She impressed us very much, which isn't our usual reaction to the CD ... who like Potterhill we usually don't notice!

 

Mura

[MickeyP]

We were on the Mayan Mystique and Dottie did a commendable job. She was very always out and about and very promptly answered our concerns. I think she just likes her job and that is fine.

[LHT28]

Somehow I do not think she did the super bowl party alone :D

 

We have had a couple of them with different CD's they were great fun

lots of food (like we needed more food)

[Baandb]

No tribute to Dottie is too much. Hard working and dedicated, she makes every Oceania cruise extra special. And sometimes she is on the big ships.

 

I guess we all learn something new each day :)

[sammiedawg]

Usually I could care less about a CD but she is special. Dottie is the hardest working person I have ever seen on a cruise ship. She spends hours and hours trying to speak to every passenger, I've seen her standing in the hot sun going up and down rows of chairs to meet everyone. She stands port side dispatching tours and independent travelers and hands out bottled water. She runs countless events over and above what other CD's do. If you have any issues talk to her, she responds and makes ad hoc changes to keep things running smoothly.

Kudos to Dottie, she is a great ambassador.