Does the CD make a difference?

[Oceansaway17]

On 8/25/2022 at 9:39 PM, motheroftwocats814 said:

I have been on quite a few cruises. I remember maybe three of the cruise directors.

Does the CD make a difference in your cruise experience?

I know some have quite a following but to us, it makes no impact on our experience.

well for me in 2016 Abe Hughes was great on Anthem and then later on Harmony.

so many folks dropped notes to his box and he read live each day. I mean he really did chat well on his daily.

 

But some CD can be annoying like when I was on Allure recently and the CD never told us why we were missing the Hairspray show that week.  He could have cleared up a lot of rumors and explain to a lot of folks who were wondering and annoyed.

[homedepot124]

2 hours ago, time4u2go said:

What ship have you seen them on?

We have cruised with John and Katrina on Explorer, Grandeur, Serenade, and recently on Brilliance.

I think they are currently on Serenade in Alaska.

[zebra36]

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

 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.

If a Cd truly has this control, I think some fail when scheduling events in spaces too small to handle the attendance.

[vacationlover_mn]

Once, and only once, we had a cruise director so annoying that it actually impacted what we participated in.  It was still an awesome, fun trip, but we avoided sitting anywhere near her and her yowly voice- it drove us both crazy.

[pam_1024]

On 8/27/2022 at 2:22 PM, 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 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

Marc is awesome!  He was CD on our Enchantment cruise way back in 2009 🙂  He's currently on the Mariner and depending on whether he stays on there next year, I may book one on Mariner just to cruise with him again.  

[CavePearl]

On 8/27/2022 at 12:58 PM, davekathy said:

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

I can't tell you how many Holland America jokes we heard!

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, CavePearl said:

I can't tell you how many Holland America jokes we heard!

We took one HA cruise (2001) and the jokes are true. 😂

[island lady]

30 minutes ago, davekathy said:

We took one HA cruise (2001) and the jokes are true. 😂

 

Oh yeah...one and done for us with HAL as well.  

[cruise1957]

On 8/27/2022 at 11:36 AM, broadwaybaby123 said:

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.

This was pre-covid, I get that it changed after covid. Not complaining, just giving my take on it. I'm not young any more, the CD doesn't really make or break my cruise! Years ago they were much more important as we were involved in daily activities much more. Now it's relax and enjoy the trip.

[cruise1957]

On 8/26/2022 at 10:21 PM, broadwaybaby123 said:

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.

That is awesome, I hope the people you work for realize how hard you work to make things better and different for the resident's where you work.

[FOXTROT]

A really good CD makes a huge difference. We have gotten off one ship & gotten on another. You can tell the difference if one isn't as good as the other.

[aphrodite6528]

19 hours ago, pam_1024 said:

Marc is awesome!  He was CD on our Enchantment cruise way back in 2009 🙂  He's currently on the Mariner and depending on whether he stays on there next year, I may book one on Mariner just to cruise with him again.  

I've been following Marc on Facebook since I heard him mentioned positively so many times. I appreciate his passion for the job and I'm looking forward to meeting him in a few weeks!