Princess Senior Ship Staff, inc Cruise Directors & Entertainment Directors

[suzyed]

On 2/28/2020 at 7:02 PM, karabear15 said:

Yep, all we have gotten so far is who our Captain is...I guess that's the most important, at least someone will be in command of the ship 😂

We haven't even gotten that one.....and we leave in 4 days!

[Bazandgiz]

CHANGES SUMMARY:

 

Ruby (CD)

SHIP	CRUISE DIRECTOR	ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR
Caribbean Princess	CURRENT: unknown DuVaul Gamble (scheduled to have left on 2/2/2020; returning in late-3/2020)	Bernie Fuentes (as of 1/3/2020 sailing)
Coral Princess	Fernando Cunha (as of 1/21/2020 sailing) Jody Miles (begins 5/2020)	Matias Chimicz (as of 1/21/2020 sailing)
Crown Princess	Paul Chandler-Burns (as of 2/15/2020 sailing)	Matt Thompson (as of 2/5/2020 sailing)
Diamond Princess new staff will join upon scheduled resumption on 4/29/2020	current: Natalie Costa & Mikiko Ikemoto	current: Caroline Desbuquois
Emerald Princess	Aaron Hawkins (as of 2/1/2020 sailing)	Lisa Ball (as of 2/1/2020 sailing)
Enchanted Princess first cruise: 6/19/2020
Golden Princess	Victor Stevenson (leaves 3/10/2020)	Kelvin Joy (as of 2/12/2020 sailing)
Grand Princess	Steve Campbell (now-4/11/2020; returns 7/18/2020) Matt O'Brien (4/11/2020-7/18/2020)	Lee C h i l d e r s (as of 1/27/2020 sailing)
Island Princess	Matt O'Brien (leaves 3/17/2020)	Susan Rawlings (as of 1/9/2020 sailing)
Majestic Princess	Andrew Kadillac (leaves before 3/2020 dry dock) Benny Yau (begins 4/18/2020)	CURRENT: unknown Ron Goodman (starting mid/late-2020)
Pacific Princess	Peter-John de Kock (joins mid-2/2020)
Regal Princess	Gary Golding (began 2/9/2020 sailing) Corey Moir (10/7/2020-12/15/2020)	Billy Hygate (as of 2/9/2020 sailing)
Royal Princess	Marcus Prince Juanta (leaves 4/11/2020)	Ron Goodman (leaves 4/11/2020)
Ruby Princess	Callie Smit (began 2/24/2020)	Michael Kujawski (as of 1/13/2020 sailing)
Sapphire Princess	Michael Reitano (as of 2/13/2020)	Marissa Wurms (begins 2/13/2020)
Sea Princess	Andrew (Andi) Sanders (as of 2/2/2020 sailing) Gary Golding (will be on for 5/8/2020 World Cruise)	Stuart McGunigall (as of 2/2/2020 sailing)
Sky Princess	Corey Moir (2/1/2020-3/28/2020) Alexander Yepremian (3/28/2020-7/11/2020)	David Pitchfork (began 1/25/2020)
Star Princess	Kaylee Lloyd (began 1/28/2020) Corey Moir (5/13/2020-8/1/2020)	Neil Rose (as of 12/19/2019 sailing)
Sun Princess	Jody Miles (leaves 2/22/2020) Kevin Tugwell (replacement)	Warren Smith (as of 11/13/2019 sailing)

 

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[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for posting. I was look to see what ship CD John Loney is on. He is fabulous. 
Tony 

[Grego]

Thanks for the update.

 

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for the update.

Tony

[Thrak]

So weird seeing all these names that are obviously pretty new. I've experienced a few new Cruise Directors. One was truly excellent. Two were horribly pathetic. We haven't cruised with Matt O but did sail with him when he was an assistant CD and, at that time, I told him he was going to be a GREAT CD one day. The next year he was. It's good that some turn out great but it's a drag that some are pathetically bad.

[snoozecrooze]

Just letting anyone casually scrolling by here know that a lot of the beginning/end/"as of" dates no longer apply as the operations halt has shifted many of their dates and contracts. A friendly reminder to make sure no one takes the information from this thread on Cruise Critic as complete fact for your CD/ED curiosity needs. 

[socram13]

Thanks for the update.  Good to see so many 'rise from the ranks' so to speak. They seem to have cut back on the number of entertainment staff on board recently.

 

Fingers crossed that in these lockdown times, we don't lose any of the good ones.  One or two notable absentees from that list, presumably on leave.

[travelhound]

21 hours ago, socram13 said:

Thanks for the update.  Good to see so many 'rise from the ranks' so to speak. They seem to have cut back on the number of entertainment staff on board recently.

 

Fingers crossed that in these lockdown times, we don't lose any of the good ones.  One or two notable absentees from that list, presumably on leave.

Yup, right now my family really misses the entertainment on most of the cruise ships.  After spending 11 days at a hotel in Florida, it really doesn't compare to the entertainment that you get on a ship.

[gusmom]

Glad to see the update. We were curious about some of our favorite crew members from

our trip in November/Dec. on the Island. 
Looks like the ED (was that his title?) changed on Island after the S.America  cruise. We had Tom who was amazing (& whose last name i’d love to remember — we will pick any ship he is on). Glad they changed the CD. We were not overly impressed w Benny except for the culinary show. 
 

It will be a couple of years before anyone in our family considers cruising again though :(

[trbarton]

Curious ...Dose anyone base the cruise decision based on who the CD or ED is?

 

Tom🤔

[snoozecrooze]

For anyone who's built a strong relationship with a cruise director/entertainment director/other entertainment staff member, it could be a big deal. Just ask anyone in the Matt O Fan Club for CD Matt O'Brien (apologies for not knowing the real name of the club). Believe it or not, some of these directors who deeply resonate with the guests really help drive the publicity of the Princess brand. 

[trbarton]

Curious .....I’m assuming that most of us have booked a cruise long before we knew who the CD or Assistant CD would be & possibility got a good price or perks. If after you have made a booking would or have you cancelled your cruise  because of who these people are?  I had a cruise on the Majestic from Sydney to Hong Kong which was a repositioning cruise which wasn’t repeated. 

 

Tom🤔

[snoozecrooze]

18 hours ago, trbarton said:

If after you have made a booking would or have you cancelled your cruise  because of who these people are?

Personally, I wouldn't cancel, because there's so much more to the cruise than just a cruise director. If interacting with them or participating in their activities is a priority to you, you can always build relationships with some of their staff instead of an irritable CD, if the staff really hit it out of the park with the way they're leading, for example. Also, for those who book for the sole purpose of meeting with a favorite CD or other officer, they'd likely already have confirmed with them through social media/email to ensure that their favorite person(s) would be on that cruise they're booking and not book too ahead of time to avoid unexpected crew swaps. Just my 2 cents, though.

[Holomoku]

Now I'm even more bummed about our cancelled cruise on the Ruby last Mar.  I see that our favorite CD was going to be there, Callie.  We had such a good time with him before.  I do hope he returns to Princess when they start cruising again?  Perhaps he will be on the Emerald next Mar. with us, if that one does not get cancelled?

We had the two in Mar. on the Ruby then three re-bookings for Sept./Oct. all cancelled now.  A new re-booking on the Emerald next Mar. and one on the MSC Divina for just before the Emerald and it was now cancelled this week.  This is getting old but what can one do but book new ones and keep trying to cruise?

 

[taznremmy]

49 minutes ago, Holomoku said:

Now I'm even more bummed about our cancelled cruise on the Ruby last Mar.  I see that our favorite CD was going to be there, Callie.  We had such a good time with him before.  I do hope he returns to Princess when they start cruising again?  Perhaps he will be on the Emerald next Mar. with us, if that one does not get cancelled?

We had the two in Mar. on the Ruby then three re-bookings for Sept./Oct. all cancelled now.  A new re-booking on the Emerald next Mar. and one on the MSC Divina for just before the Emerald and it was now cancelled this week.  This is getting old but what can one do but book new ones and keep trying to cruise?

 

I love Callie!!! He is one of the BEST!!!  Fingers crossed that a lot of the crew we know will return.  For some of us, they are a huge part of the cruise.  Stay healthy, stay safe.

[suzyed]

On 6/28/2020 at 11:26 PM, Holomoku said:

Now I'm even more bummed about our cancelled cruise on the Ruby last Mar.  I see that our favorite CD was going to be there, Callie.  We had such a good time with him before.  I do hope he returns to Princess when they start cruising again?  Perhaps he will be on the Emerald next Mar. with us, if that one does not get cancelled?

We had the two in Mar. on the Ruby then three re-bookings for Sept./Oct. all cancelled now.  A new re-booking on the Emerald next Mar. and one on the MSC Divina for just before the Emerald and it was now cancelled this week.  This is getting old but what can one do but book new ones and keep trying to cruise?

 

We love Callie!!

 

[socram13]

Hopefully, when cruising restarts, someone will start a new list, as no doubt, with all this down time, some staff will inevitably have moved on.  I have no idea how Princess are going to hang on to staff, especially the better ones, after over a year off, and nothing appears to be due to start for at least another couple of months down under.

 

All we can do is hope but I fully expect a lot of raw recruits on the entertainment staff - and they seemed to have cut down on numbers, even before Covid brought things to a halt. Another cost cutting exercise no doubt.

 

Those who are in email or regular contact with staff, might like to share their info? 

[itf]

Alex who was CD on the Sky late 2019 has opened a cafe so I guess he's not coming back.

[windsurferfirst]

Wondering who the CD will be on Regal Princess when she starts her UK cruises in July.

[Thrak]

I worry that all the old CD staff we loved will have moved on and we will end up with a bunch of newbies who never had the advantage of being trained by the veterans.

[nini]

19 hours ago, Thrak said:

I worry that all the old CD staff we loved will have moved on and we will end up with a bunch of newbies who never had the advantage of being trained by the veterans.

Thrak- those were exactly my same thoughts. My hope is that any new  CD's will have the "Princess Vibe".

[voljeep]

13 minutes ago, nini said:

Thrak- those were exactly my same thoughts. My hope is that any new  CD's will have the "Princess Vibe".

sometimes 'new blood' can be a good thing - new person, new ideas

[nini]

12 hours ago, voljeep said:

sometimes 'new blood' can be a good thing - new person, new ideas

Oh yes, it certainly can! I am thinking more that the newbies carry on and emote what we have come to appreciate about the cruise line itself. For example, the "vibe, atmosphere" that we have experienced on Celebrity is not one that we would return for. For us ( I realize not everyone), it was a sharp contrast.

New creative ideas are great, however, the atmosphere is what would concern me.

[socram13]

Up to regular cruisers to maybe assist in explaining to any newbies  - in the nicest possible way of course, when and if they stray.  Many of us formed lasting friendships just by talking to the staff.

 

We'll never forget our first World Cruise in 2011 with Warren Smith as CD. On our last night, of a fabulous cruise, with great staff, he confided to us that he'd had no less than 1300 written complaints via head office to deal with, most very petty and most could have been dealt with had the complainants fronted up.

 

One serial (Australian) complainer, wanted one of the most popular of all the staff thrown off the ship, because he considered her English wasn't good enough (she speaks 5 languages fluently and has a degree, in I think, psychology). Lovely, lovely staff member.

 

She has since risen though the ranks to be Captain Circle Host and  when we last caught up, Future Cruise Consultant. 

 

The 'new' staff will have some hard acts to follow and I plead with all cruisers to be kind, considerate and helpful.    

 

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by socram13