7/22-7/29 Zenith--Don Fluke is back asCruise Director

[drfun48]

Just got home from a great week on the Zenith,where Don Fluke just started a new term as cruise director---what a pleasant surprise. The man is a real pro.

I was also happy to find the most friendly ,thoughtful Captain's Club hostess,Melanie Mowat. What a nice person.

Also glad to see,for a forth time, the excellent head wine steward,Michael,who upon recognizing us,switched our table to his section...a really nice touch.

Seas were rough going out,remnants of the last hurricaine and we had one really nasty weather day in Bermuda,but the rest of the week was great.Coming home the ocean was calm.

Bayonne at both ends was a breeze,but if you have to go to Newark airport after the cruise,consider Rt 440North to Rt 1-9 south to Newark Airport, instead of the Turnpike extension as they have been doing construction on the bridge forever and it really CRAWLS from 14A to 14.

[uktog]

You lucky people having Don He was our CD on Constellation 20 May - he is a really nice guy and all the guest acts seemed to really respect him As a result the entertainment was the best we have had on a cruise

[Andy]

Just got home from a great week on the Zenith,where Don Fluke just started a new term as cruise director---what a pleasant surprise. The man is a real pro.

I was also happy to find the most friendly ,thoughtful Captain's Club hostess,Melanie Mowat. What a nice person.

 

Hi DrFun !

 

Thanks for the update on Don Fluke. Last I heard, he was onboard Constellation and his contract was ending. I was wondering where he was. Mystery solved. We sailed with Don onboard Summit, and he was excellent.

 

We are sailing on Constellation in November. Hopefully, he will be back on Constellation at that time. It would be great to sail with him again.

[pamkev]

I've heard so much about this CD and I can't wait to get on the Zenith to see how he is!

 

Pam

[Sky Sweet]

You lucky people having Don He was our CD on Constellation 20 May - he is a really nice guy and all the guest acts seemed to really respect him As a result the entertainment was the best we have had on a cruise

 

Hi UKtog :)

 

Don Fluke was also the CD on our Baltic Cruise in June, and I agree the entertainment on the Constellation was the best we ever had on a cruise :)

[Sky Sweet]

A few years ago, one of our tablemates on the Mercury, who was an airline pilot for Air Canada, told us that there was a correlation between the size of a plane and the pilot's salary. Is that true for a cruise director, as well? Considering that Constellation is an M class ship that is highly rated, while Zenith is the smallest ship in the fleet, as well as the only Celebrity ship that never makes the list of top rated ships, it seems like a come down for Don Fluke to go from Constellation to Zenith.

[CaptainG]

Had a chat with Don while on the 5/6 Constellation sailing. Since he is the most senior CD on the Celebrity staff, he works like a roving problem solver. When a CD takes a vacation, or leaves the company and there is nobody aboard to step up (maybe the assistant CD is not ready to handle the job yet), Don typically gets the call.

 

If he's on the Zenith now, it's because there was a personnel change or a problem within the existing CD staff on that ship that needed fixing.

 

Don is the best, a true showman.

 

Gordon

[Sky Sweet]

Had a chat with Don while on the 5/6 Constellation sailing. Since he is the most senior CD on the Celebrity staff, he works like a roving problem solver. When a CD takes a vacation, or leaves the company and there is nobody aboard to step up (maybe the assistant CD is not ready to handle the job yet), Don typically gets the call.

 

If he's on the Zenith now, it's because there was a personnel change or a problem within the existing CD staff on that ship that needed fixing.

 

Don is the best, a true showman.

 

Gordon

 

Hi CaptainG :)

 

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. Based on my experience on the Constellation in June, I agree that Don Fluke is an excellent Cruise Director. That is why I was so surprised to hear that he has plans to go from Constellation to Zenith. However, thanks to your response, I have a better understanding of the rationale for this decision.

[drfun48]

Had a chat with Don while on the 5/6 Constellation sailing. Since he is the most senior CD on the Celebrity staff, he works like a roving problem solver. When a CD takes a vacation, or leaves the company and there is nobody aboard to step up (maybe the assistant CD is not ready to handle the job yet), Don typically gets the call.

 

If he's on the Zenith now, it's because there was a personnel change or a problem within the existing CD staff on that ship that needed fixing.

 

Don is the best, a true showman.

 

Gordon

It's also true that there is less need to put the best entertainment,staff,chefs,etc on the Millenium class ships as the ships sell themselves. The Zenith may need the more competent crew to make up for the fact that she is 15 years old.

[BobJanice]

We wish that he would have been on the July 1st sailing. We were very disappointed with Jeff Potts...

[spalady]

I often wondered why people asked who the CD was on a cruise and why they cared. Now I know!!!!

I had no idea that the CD would actually have control over the entertainment.

Again cruise critic teaches!! Thanks:p

[Sky Sweet]

I often wondered why people asked who the CD was on a cruise and why they cared. Now I know!!!!

I had no idea that the CD would actually have control over the entertainment.

Again cruise critic teaches!! Thanks:p

 

I only realized recently that the CD had control over the entertainment for a ship. Consequently, I now have to reconsider who I thought was our best CD because the entertainment on that particular cruise was not as good as our other Celebrity cruises.

[CruisingChick]

We wish that he would have been on the July 1st sailing. We were very disappointed with Jeff Potts...

 

He was on Constellation for our July 1-15 cruise. He was the best CD we've enountered on all our Celebrity Cruises. Glad we had him.

[Scott Cyn]

I often wondered why people asked who the CD was on a cruise and why they cared. Now I know!!!!

I had no idea that the CD would actually have control over the entertainment.

Again cruise critic teaches!! Thanks:p

 

I'd like to know more about this. Is it assumed that the CD actually BOOKS the entertainment? I find that a little hard to believe. Surely the entertainers are booked months ahead of time and perhaps even before a certain CD is on the ship. In the absence of any info, I would have guessed that the entertainers are booked by the cruise line's corporate office.

 

Scott

[BobJanice]

We sailed with Don in 2004 on the Infinity in Alaska and he is a great person.

[Grumpy611]

Hi Drfun48,

 

I was on the same cruise, and boy that first night was indeed rough! Someone told me that most of the ship fell ill that night. Just my luck being it was our first cruise. Otherwise, the trip was fantastic, the service was terrific.

 

I was hoping maybe you can help me out; I am in the process of putting together a scrapbook of our cruise, and I was wondering if you kept the Celebrity Today! daily program of activities for Thurs. July 27th. Unfortunately, I seem to be missing that one. Guess Relations had copies of everyday except for Thurs. Had no luck surfing the web for this.

 

Anyone else out there reading this that can help me would also be much appreciated.

Thanking you in advance.

 

Grumpy611@aol.com

[drfun48]

Hi Drfun48,

 

I was on the same cruise, and boy that first night was indeed rough! Someone told me that most of the ship fell ill that night. Just my luck being it was our first cruise. Otherwise, the trip was fantastic, the service was terrific.

 

I was hoping maybe you can help me out; I am in the process of putting together a scrapbook of our cruise, and I was wondering if you kept the Celebrity Today! daily program of activities for Thurs. July 27th. Unfortunately, I seem to be missing that one. Guess Relations had copies of everyday except for Thurs. Had no luck surfing the web for this.

 

Anyone else out there reading this that can help me would also be much appreciated.

Thanking you in advance.

Sorry,They usually make the trash the next day.I can understand your disappointment missing that one piece in your collection.

As far as the choppy seas ...I had no trouble but I guess I've aclimated after 22 cruises. The Atlantic by late July is often that way.Next time try a few weeks earlier or treat youself to more cruises...that should work.Good luck on your search.

[florisdekort]

I have been on 6 Celebrity cruises... and have sailed twice with three different Cruise Directors. I liked Simon Weir best, Don Fluke is a close second and Damian De Lorenzis comes in last.

 

I found out that Simon Weir will be our Cruise Director for the November Transatlantic on Millennium; I am looking forward to that. He is a blast :D

 

Does anybody know who the current Cruise Director is on Infinity?

 

Floris