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Does the CD make a difference?

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CruisingJoe09

CruisingJoe09

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I think it depends on what type of cruise you are on and whether or not you go to the events anyway. If you're on a small ship and/or a itinerary with cold weather, then a good CD plus a good Activities Manager is imperative to make sure you have things to do when you can't go to the pool or the other amenities (if the ship even has them). The Activities Manager is equally as important since they manage the trivias and all of those events and sometimes a decent AM can make up for a below average CD.

 

On a warm weather cruise on a big ship, probably less so but some of us still enjoy going to the events. A CD doesn't make or break a cruise for me but they can affect certain events such as the Love and Marriage or theme nights which I like. And I also enjoy a decent morning show on the TV, the likes of Abe Hughes & Leigh Xuereb (neither are Royal CDs any more) were great with that but my most recent cruise on Odyssey, the morning show was just so basic and lasted only a few minutes.

 

It's also personal preference as to what style of CD you like. I've had 12 CDs in total, 9 I've liked and there were 3 who were not my cup of tea. It doesn't make or break a cruise but it's better when you get someone with a bit of energy and humour and seems somewhat engaged with guests (wouldn't judge them on how visible they are though since the mega ships require a lot of behind the scenes work).

Edited by CruisingJoe09
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broadwaybaby123

broadwaybaby123

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May I offer a slightly different perspective as an Activity Director for a Retirement Community?  I know it's a different sector, but it's still the same field.

 

For me, they make all the difference.  I steal their ideas to bring to my folks.  But there's a lot more that goes into the job that people don't even think about.

 

For starters, we do not try to be annoying, we're trying to get you involved.  While we cannot force you, getting involved has been scientifically proven to fight off serious issues such as depression, anxiety, and even motion sickness (in the case of cruises).  If you're distracted with the offerings we have on the ship or, in my case, a retirement community, you're not thinking about those other issues, and in many cases, you become less stressed and isolated.

 

We provide activities more or less for socialization and enrichment (when appropriate).  It may not be to your liking, and that's fine.  We do not expect everyone to participate in everything, it's nearly impossible. 

 

The hope is that by offering a wide variety of activities, we pull people out of their cabins for a little bit.  We understand that you're not going to like everything, and that's fine, we just ask that you try.  Part of our job is to try and bring you out of your comfort zone.  

 

With that said, the personality makes all the difference for me.  In order to succeed in this field, you not only have to be willing to try new things, but you also have to be bubbly and flexible.  Things will most likely not go your way and you need to be able to adapt.  

 

I find that I bond with the Activities staff on my cruises over my job.  It's not often that you have a passenger say they do the same job you do on land!  With that said, I stalk them the entire trip and learn all their tricks to bring back to my folks.  I find that the ones that I bond with the most are the ones that have that bubbly personality.

 

What I just explained is the tip of the iceberg.  Please show some appreciation towards the Activities staff next time you see them.  We put our hearts and souls into every activity we plan, and it's not always easy.  Everything that you see, from lining up entertainers to planning all the fun contests and games comes from us.

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slyster

slyster

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Interesting to see this thread.  One of the reasons I prefer RC activities to say Carnival is that everything seems so organized on RC.  That was always my experience.  Everything started and ended on time.  I have been on over 10 RC cruises and this last cruise on Enchantment, I noticed things were not really organized well.  Examples:

 

Back to Back activities in same lounge.  Activities ended right as the next activity was to start so the following activity started late because of folks waiting for folks to leave the activity and getting seated.  We would arrive 10-15 min before an activity and we would have to wait for the current activity to end.  Bingo started like 15-20 min late because the activity we were finishing ran into their time, etc.  This happened on 3 days of our cruise that affected us.  It wasn't a one day thing.

 

A couple of activities started like 5 or 10 minutes late. (Again, not used to that as I have always found them to start things on time).  

 

Last night of cruise, there were no theater shows.  There was a Battle of the Sexes game.  The lounge was full and it was supposed to start at 8pm.  Folks waited 15 minutes for the game to start and then finally began to leave.  As we left at 8:20, we saw the activities manager jogging to the game, but probably half the people had left by then.

 

I only mention this because it's not my experience and I wondered if the cruise director or activity director was responsible for the schedule and making things run smoothly?

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cruise1957

cruise1957

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14 hours ago, Airbear232 said:

I don’t see them as much as I used to, I guess the role and responsibilities have evolved.  My fav of all time was Dave Chapman, he was hilarious. 

Totally agree, you used to see them all over the ship, now it's just at shows. Don't know if it's just me, we've only been on big ships recently. Going on Jewel in January I'll have to watch and see if there is a difference. We had a cruise on Adventure years ago, it was great, the CD was awesome and his second in command was being promoted to CD the next week, so essentially we had 2 cd's on that cruise.

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broadwaybaby123

broadwaybaby123

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41 minutes ago, cruise1957 said:

Totally agree, you used to see them all over the ship, now it's just at shows. Don't know if it's just me, we've only been on big ships recently. Going on Jewel in January I'll have to watch and see if there is a difference. We had a cruise on Adventure years ago, it was great, the CD was awesome and his second in command was being promoted to CD the next week, so essentially we had 2 cd's on that cruise.

That's a COVID restriction that's been placed on many in my field (remember, I'm an Activity Director too). Because we come in contact with so many people daily, many have been told to limit our exposure. Plus, we've had to take on additional responsibilities due to staff shortages. So we are there, but we may be filling other roles.

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CavePearl

CavePearl

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I never used to have an opinion one way or the other. I had followed threads about favorite CDs on here, and then several years ago on one of our transpacific cruises we had a CD who was considered to be one of the “best” by many cruisers. We were so excited to finally sail with this person to see why he was so popular.

 

Our excitement was short-lived however, when on the second or third night of the cruise immediately after the comedy show, the CD announced that he would not be bringing the comedian back for a late night adult performance because “most of the guests on the ship were older cruisers.” What???

 

Okay. We assumed maybe it was just a lame attempt at a joke and he's going to clear it up on his 'clever' (which he was noted for) morning show? Nope. The next morning he stated again that the late night comedy, as well as other late evening activities would not occur. He even acknowledged that he had received many questions about such activities and that he would not be offering them. Then every morning after that on his show, he confirmed that he did not like being on a cruise with so many older cruisers and his “jokes” mocked the very guests he was supposed to welcome. Basically, he expected all of us to be in bed by 9:00pm, and his entire daily agenda reflected it.

 

Fortunately, that's not why we cruise. We book long cruises for the experience of ocean voyages, so activities aren't that important to us anyway. But in this case - yes, it affected (but we didn't allow it the opportunity to ruin) our cruise. The CDs attitude was terrible, and it's no wonder he hid for the entire trip.

 

Insulting old people who pay your salary probably isn't the best of ideas.



 

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davekathy

davekathy

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4 minutes ago, CavePearl said:

Then every morning after that on his show, he confirmed that he did not like being on a cruise with so many older cruisers and his “jokes” mocked the very guests he was supposed to welcome. Basically, he expected all of us to be in bed by 9:00pm, and his entire daily agenda reflected it.

That's what you get when you cruise with Holland America. 😁

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md80fan

md80fan

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I never though a CD would make a difference as we never interacted with them. Then we had Marc Walker on Harmony a couple years ago. I actually liked watching his tv show in the morning and it added just a little something to the cruise. We had I think it was Bobby Brown on Symphony after that and you could tell the difference between the two and how much hearing Marc on the ship just added a little bit extra to the cruise overall. Just my 2 cents

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coffeebean

coffeebean

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Hubby and my favorite cruise director of all time is Matt Baker and YES, he most certainly made a difference in our cruise experience. He hosted the game shows and had everyone in stitches. He was a natural. There are plenty more on YouTube.

 

Matt Baker Welcome Aboard Show

Matt Baker - Newlywed Not So Newlywed Game Highlights       (10:16 is the BEST Don't miss this)

 

 

Edited by coffeebean
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coffeebean

coffeebean

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1 hour ago, md80fan said:

I never though a CD would make a difference as we never interacted with them. Then we had Marc Walker on Harmony a couple years ago. I actually liked watching his tv show in the morning and it added just a little something to the cruise. We had I think it was Bobby Brown on Symphony after that and you cSpeakiould tell the difference between the two and how much hearing Marc on the ship just added a little bit extra to the cruise overall. Just my 2 cents

Speaking of the morning show.......There was a CD from Canada who was funny as hell on his morning shows and also did a great job in other venues. I can not remember his name. He would wear a bathrobe and curlers in his hair for the morning show. Of course the curlers were a "wig" because he shaved his head. Anyone remember his name? He was a Royal Caribbean CD for many years.

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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

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On 8/25/2022 at 10:35 PM, notscb said:

 

I have to disagree. Cruise Critic even did a write up (https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2974) I think any cruise would be boring without a person making sure that events were scheduled across the venues of the ships and that the appropriate staffing was assigned and prepared to host the activity. I think most folks only see the cruise director at the shows in the evening and think they don't do anything all day, when in reality these folks are in charge of a vast number of staff and events throughout the day.

 

I prefer this article 😉

 

 

Next 3 cruises are with Marc Walker.  Maybe he'll impress me. Doubt it.

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CruisingJoe09

CruisingJoe09

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1 hour ago, coffeebean said:

Speaking of the morning show.......There was a CD from Canada who was funny as hell on his morning shows and also did a great job in other venues. I can not remember his name. He would wear a bathrobe and curlers in his hair for the morning show. Of course the curlers were a "wig" because he shaved his head. Anyone remember his name? He was a Royal Caribbean CD for many years.

Sounds like Allan Brooks?

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CruisingJoe09

CruisingJoe09

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That CD who spoke negatively about older guests and scheduled little to no entertainment definitely would get a thumbs down from me but I've actually seen it in the other way around. On Serenade in 2013, there was usually only one show an evening and it was too late at night despite it being early-mid July and a lot of kids being onboard for summer vacation. Whoever did the scheduling there clearly didn't take that into consideration and it's a shame because the CD was otherwise quite good on stage. 

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time4u2go

time4u2go

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21 hours ago, homedepot124 said:

John and Katrina Blair make a huge difference if you are fortunate enough to be on a ship with them.  They are at every activity and John's Neil Diamond show is the best entertainment of the cruise.

What ship have you seen them on?

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