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**New** Current list of Cruise Directors (CD)


DonnaK
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Adventure OTS - Dan Whitney started June 27 until Nov 7 (then who?)

 

Allure OTS - Jerome Sueur May 19 for all of the European cruises thru Oct 25 then who?

 

Anthem OTS - Joff Eaton March 18 until September 15 Graham Seymour joins the ship on September 1 and will take over CD duties on September 15 until November 4, (then does Joff return, or will it be Luke Aerowsmith?)

 

Brilliance OTS - Steve Davis July 29 through September 3, then Clo O'Connor returns September 3

 

Enchantment OTS - Marc Walker July 20 through November 20. Marc will return from his break on Jan 18, 2016 until May 3 (when the ship moves to Miami) (who is covering Marc's break Nov 20-Jan 18?)

 

Explorer OTS - Tim Connor July 29 until sometime in November. Graham Seymour joins the ship sometime in November as its new permanent CD.

 

Freedom OTS - Jamie Fentiman June 7 until Aug 16, then Casey Peltier returns for 4 months

 

Grandeur OTS - Mitch Merucci April 28 until August 23 then Jeff Arpin Aug 23 until late-October. (Mitch will not be returning to GR after his break)

 

Independence OTS - Leigh Xuereb May 17 through September 6, then Ricky Matthews from Sept 6 for 2 months to cover Leigh's break. Leigh is expected to return at the beginning of November.

 

Jewel OTS - Dennis Charles July 17 for 3 months. John Blair expects to return from his break in mid-October.

 

Legend OTS - Chris Brown from the end of June until late August

 

Liberty OTS Dru Pavlov July 16 until November 1. (then who? Will Luke Aerowsmith be returning, or has he been reassigned to Anthem?)

 

Majesty OTS - Michelle Pimentinha Oliveira August 3 for 2 months then Carlos Torres returns from his vacation at the beginning of October. (Marc Walker will be bringing the ship to Port Canaveral in May 2016 Marc will be celebrating his 20th anniversary with RCI during that contract and plans to retire shortly thereafter to spend more time with his family)

 

Mariner OTS - Ken Jones until August 19 or 21, then Jamie Fentiman August 19 or 23 until sometime in November

 

Navigator OTS - John Perry July 5 for 4 months, then Jeff Arpin will cover in early-November for 2 months

 

Oasis OTS - Drew Devine July 25 for 4 months

 

Quantum OTS - Jimmy Rhodes July 20 for 4 months

 

Radiance OTS - Amy Fickert-Southgate May 15 for 4 months

 

Rhapsody OTS - Mike Hunnerup July 19 until Nov 19 (transatlantic) then Michelle Pimentinha Oliveira for the Brazilian season. (Graham has been reassigned to Explorer and will not be returning to Rhapsody)

 

Serenade OTS - Topi Ylonen May 9 for the Baltic/Nordic season (until Aug 30? then who?).

 

Splendour OTS - Simona Ferraioulo July 11 for the rest of the European Season (Nov 28?)

 

Vision OTS - Mercedes LaFuente started April 26 until September 13 then Steve Davis returns September 13 until January 21

 

Voyager OTS - Fang Lixin for the Asian season; then Mitch Merucci beginning October 22 for the Australian Season

 

Rich Edwards is home and currently recovering from surgery.Any updates? Grandeur at the end of August?

Allan Brooks left Royal Caribbean to take a position in Celebrity corporate office.

Richard Spacey is a CD with Celebrity

Becky Thompson works for Celebrity Cruises in their corporate offices in Miami.

Dave Chapman is a CD with HAL

James Andrews is a real estate agent in Sydney

Mike Szwajkowski is a Canadian Mountie

Leo Papa at Cornell University working on a Master's degree in Hospitality Administration/Management

Anna Bass is now Client Services Manager at ISS London

Abe Hughes is Director of Port Revenue Operations at Royal Media Partners and sometimes works onboard as the port and shopping guide

João Pereira is studying Portuguese/English education and translation at Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas in Brazil

Kirk Detweiler is now CD with Silversea cruises.

Simeon Baker - married a dancer, had a baby girl and is a sales exec at a Porsche dealer in Saskatchewan

Matt Baker - Sim's brother - recently married and living in Wales. They bought a pub called the Tiddley

Kieron Buffrey - CD with Holland America

Tom Canosa - teaching 6th grade science in North Carolina

Peter Benfield and Johnny Osborne have emigrated to Thailand

Anthony Richards is living in Miami with his wife, and is working for Royal Media Partners as Manager Port Revenue Operations

Rico du Breil is now a CD with NCL

Paul Lancaster is no longer with RCI, and resides in England

Abel Jeney is Customer Service & People Manager at Momentum Services Ltd

Parker Cristan is living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - staging/choreographing for local theater

Ashley Kerr - married and living in Vancouver BC, working as a marketing rep for a PR firm

Karen Maybury - has a consultant/pr/entertainment agency

Jannie Cloete - leading expeditions on small ships

Where is Warren Allen? (aka Warren Melhuish)

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Thanks for the updated list. Do you happen to have an updated list of the captains? Curious as to who is currently on Enchantment.

 

wolfcathorse keeps the Captain's list: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1441813&highlight=captain Make sure you go to the last page for the most current info

Edited by DonnaK
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Love to know who our CD will be on our TA on the Allure leaving Oct 25.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It's probably too soon to know this, but we're working on it and I will update the list when the info is announced.

 

Since you have a cruise booked, you can try to send an email to web_reservations@rccl.com and ask them who will be the CD on your sailing. Just note that info sent by RCI in response to these emails aren't always accurate, and the most accurate info comes directly from the ship and the CDs themselves.

 

Perhaps you can post on the roll call for the next Allure sailing and see if someone can ask Jerome or another member of the activities staff and report back to us.

Edited by DonnaK
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Yey!

A new thread!

Will be watching closely for Summer 2016 as there are some sailings I am considering and hope to avoid John Blair! :eek: Don't expect to know much now though!

I wonder where Leigh will go next summer. A shame that he doesn't want an Oasis Class. They need the most dynamic CD's and he is right up there!

Thanks for all your hard work!

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Great to put a new thread up for this.

 

I hope someone who is on Voyager could tell me who the Activity Manager is? Don't post the information here, put it in the Activity Manager thread that is located at: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2158014

 

It has been very difficult to find out who it is....I know I will get the info from Mitch when he joins Voyager in October, but that is a long way off still.

Edited by Paulette3028
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So if I'm on FOS sailing 11/29, that means my cruise director is Casey Peltier?

 

Is he/she a good one? :D

 

Not one of my favourites.

He does get some good reviews and seems to be doing well on the Freedom but I wasn't impressed. He is INVISIBLE.

Edited by Joe12
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Yey!

A new thread!

Will be watching closely for Summer 2016 as there are some sailings I am considering and hope to avoid John Blair! :eek: Don't expect to know much now though!

I wonder where Leigh will go next summer. A shame that he doesn't want an Oasis Class. They need the most dynamic CD's and he is right up there!

Thanks for all your hard work!

I second the John Blair notion....

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

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I second the John Blair notion....

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

I know.

Seems like he is absolute marmite!:D:eek:

I found him to be loud, annoying, in your face, smug. He only does the Neil Diamond rubbish because he knows it will give him attention, even if it is negative. He thinks he is great at singing :roll eyes:

Also the morning show was just all about him and his wife and nothing about the passengers or what was happening that day or any humour, from what I remember. With Enchantment being a smaller ship he had more of a presence so he was harder to ignore.

Joff Eaton (Jewel/Indy)and Leigh Xuereb (Explorer) were excellent.

Jimmy Rhodes (Oasis) and Jerome Sueur (Allure) were fine but with Oasis and Allure being such big ships their presence was very little.

I didn't care for Casey Pelter (Serenade) much but he was good compared to John Blair. :cool:

Edited by Joe12
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I know.

Seems like he is absolute marmite!:D:eek:

I found him to be loud, annoying, in your face, smug. He only does the Neil Diamond rubbish because he knows it will give him attention, even if it is negative. He thinks he is great at singing :roll eyes:

Also the morning show was just all about him and his wife and nothing about the passengers or what was happening that day or any humour, from what I remember. With Enchantment being a smaller ship he had more of a presence so he was harder to ignore.

Joff Eaton (Jewel/Indy)and Leigh Xuereb (Explorer) were excellent.

Jimmy Rhodes (Oasis) and Jerome Sueur (Allure) were fine but with them being such big ships their presence was very little.

I didn't care for Casey Pelter (Serenade) much but he was good compared to John Blair. :cool:

John was the CD last year on Serenade. The first day or two I thought he was a drunk passenger, his wife kinda reminded me of a different type of entertainment worker. Someone said "oh there's the cruise director and his wife" and pointed to them, I was stunned. I really didn't care for either of them.

 

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Given the numerous questions about different CD personalities, Donna, how about occasionally putting up a post with the past ships/years a given CD has been on and maybe a little Zagat-like review conglomerated from the experiences of cruisers on the whole? It seems, for instance, that John Blair is universally disliked and a new cruiser may want to know what to expect beyond just "John Blair is the CD of my cruise."

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We were on the Rhapsody in July of 2011, and the Cruise Director was a Scottish gentleman with the first name of Bobby. Can't remember his last name. He was good, and he was hysterical during the cake decorating demonstration (he picked up the cake and rolled it through the chocolate shavings).

 

Does anyone remember his last name and what he's doing now?

 

We just got off the Brilliance, where Steve Davis was the CD, and he was fantastic. He does a performance of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" with passengers dressed as zombies and doing the entire video dance. Look for it on Google. Steve has the Michael Jackson red jacket and sequined glove.

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Does anyone remember his last name and what he's doing now?

 

We just got off the Brilliance, where Steve Davis was the CD, and he was fantastic. He does a performance of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" with passengers dressed as zombies and doing the entire video dance. Look for it on Google. Steve has the Michael Jackson red jacket and sequined glove.

 

His surname is Brown. He was on AD a few months ago and is currently on break.

Never cruised with him but he gets great reviews.

Steve was Joff's assistant on Indy in 2010 and was hilarious. Glad to see he is still getting great reviews.

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We are going on the Anthem of the Seas in March 2016, how I wish Graham Seymour would still be on this ship! He is by far the best CD we have ever seen!!! Not to knock the others, but he is so funny I almost never stop laughing the entire cruise.:D

 

I still tell jokes from the last cruise I was on with him several years ago. I may have to book a cruise on the Explore just to see him!!

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Given the numerous questions about different CD personalities, Donna, how about occasionally putting up a post with the past ships/years a given CD has been on and maybe a little Zagat-like review conglomerated from the experiences of cruisers on the whole? It seems, for instance, that John Blair is universally disliked and a new cruiser may want to know what to expect beyond just "John Blair is the CD of my cruise."

 

LOL - keeping up with the names and current dates on this list is enough work for me.

 

It's ok to post little tidbits and have short discussions about CDs here, but full CD reviews deserve their own thread as so not to bog down this one. Please feel free to do that independently of this thread, if you want.

 

(The reason I had the previous CD thread locked and started a new one is because it got too long. People were repeatedly asking the same questions over and over again because it was too much for them to sift through all the posts to and search a few pages back for the answer. Also, people were quoting and bumping up lists that were two years old, instead of the current ones.

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I know.

Seems like he is absolute marmite!:D:eek:

I found him to be loud, annoying, in your face, smug. He only does the Neil Diamond rubbish because he knows it will give him attention, even if it is negative. He thinks he is great at singing :roll eyes:

Also the morning show was just all about him and his wife and nothing about the passengers or what was happening that day or any humour, from what I remember. With Enchantment being a smaller ship he had more of a presence so he was harder to ignore.

Joff Eaton (Jewel/Indy)and Leigh Xuereb (Explorer) were excellent.

Jimmy Rhodes (Oasis) and Jerome Sueur (Allure) were fine but with Oasis and Allure being such big ships their presence was very little.

I didn't care for Casey Pelter (Serenade) much but he was good compared to John Blair. :cool:

 

That was pretty much our experience too. We got the impression on Grandeur that he felt that he and his wife were the stars of the show. Grandeur being a smaller ship that hadn't been refurbished yet definitely amplified this.

 

John was the CD last year on Serenade. The first day or two I thought he was a drunk passenger, his wife kinda reminded me of a different type of entertainment worker. Someone said "oh there's the cruise director and his wife" and pointed to them, I was stunned. I really didn't care for either of them.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

A shame you didn't cruise a few weeks earlier. We had Topi Ylonen's last cruise on Serenade before his break and he was pretty good. Finns sometime have an odd sense of humor and Topi was no exception. Still, he and his AD on that cruise (a Brit whose name I cannot remember right now) did the straight man/comic bits fairly well and Topi himself did a fairly interesting presentation on a Southern Pacific sail he did with a few friends. Lots of visibility but not in a negative way and you could tell the activities staff genuinely liked him.

Edited by garnetpalmetto
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Adventure OTS - Dan Whitney started June 27 until Nov 7 (then who?)

 

Allure OTS - Jerome Sueur May 19 for all of the European cruises thru Oct 25 then who?

 

Anthem OTS - Joff Eaton March 18 until September 15 Graham Seymour joins the ship on September 1 and will take over CD duties on September 15 until November 4, (then does Joff return, or will it be Luke Aerowsmith?)

 

Brilliance OTS - Steve Davis July 29 through September 3, then Clo O'Connor returns September 3

 

Enchantment OTS - Marc Walker July 20 through November 20. Marc will return from his break on Jan 18, 2016 until May 3 (when the ship moves to Miami) (who is covering Marc's break Nov 20-Jan 18?)

 

Explorer OTS - Tim Connor July 29 until sometime in November. Graham Seymour joins the ship sometime in November as its new permanent CD. need handover date

 

Freedom OTS - Jamie Fentiman June 7 until Aug 16, then Casey Peltier returns for 4 months

 

Grandeur OTS - Mitch Merucci April 28 until August 23 then Jeff Arpin Aug 23 until late-October. (Mitch will not be returning to GR after his break)

 

Independence OTS - Leigh Xuereb May 17 through September 6, then Ricky Matthews from Sept 6 for 2 months to cover Leigh's break. Leigh is expected to return at the beginning of November.

 

Jewel OTS - Dennis Charles July 17 for 3 months. John Blair expects to return from his break in mid-October.

 

Legend OTS - Chris Brown from the end of June until late August

then who?

 

Liberty OTS Dru Pavlov July 16 until November 1. (then who? Will Luke Aerowsmith be returning, or has he been reassigned to Anthem?)

 

Majesty OTS - Michelle Pimentinha Oliveira August 3 for 2 months then Carlos Torres returns from his vacation at the beginning of October. (Marc Walker will be bringing the ship to Port Canaveral in May 2016 Marc will be celebrating his 20th anniversary with RCI during that contract and plans to retire shortly thereafter to spend more time with his family)

 

Mariner OTS - Ken Jones until August 19 or 21, then Jamie Fentiman August 19 or 23 until sometime in November

 

Navigator OTS - John Perry July 5 for 4 months, then Jeff Arpin will cover in early-November for 2 months until John returns from his break in early-January

 

Oasis OTS - Drew Devine July 25 for 4 months

 

Quantum OTS - Jimmy Rhodes July 20 for 4 months

 

Radiance OTS - Amy Fickert-Southgate May 15 for 4 months then who?

 

Rhapsody OTS - Mike Hunnerup July 19 until Nov 19 (transatlantic) then Michelle Pimentinha Oliveira for the Brazilian season. (Graham has been reassigned to Explorer and will not be returning to Rhapsody)

 

Serenade OTS - Topi Ylonen May 9 for the Baltic/Nordic season (until Aug 30? then who?).

 

Splendour OTS - Simona Ferraioulo July 11 for the rest of the European Season (Nov 28?)

 

Vision OTS - Mercedes LaFuente started April 26 until September 13 then Steve Davis returns September 13 until January 21

 

Voyager OTS - Fang Lixin for the Asian season; then Mitch Merucci beginning October 22 for the Australian Season

 

Rich Edwards is home and currently recovering from surgery.Any updates? Grandeur at the end of August?

Allan Brooks left Royal Caribbean to take a position in Celebrity corporate office.

Richard Spacey is a CD with Celebrity

Becky Thompson works for Celebrity Cruises in their corporate offices in Miami.

Dave Chapman is a CD with HAL

James Andrews is a real estate agent in Sydney

Mike Szwajkowski is a Canadian Mountie

Leo Papa at Cornell University working on a Master's degree in Hospitality Administration/Management

Anna Bass is now Client Services Manager at ISS London

Abe Hughes is Director of Port Revenue Operations at Royal Media Partners and sometimes works onboard as the port and shopping guide

João Pereira is studying Portuguese/English education and translation at Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas in Brazil

Kirk Detweiler is now CD with Silversea cruises.

Simeon Baker - married a dancer, had a baby girl and is a sales exec at a Porsche dealer in Saskatchewan

Matt Baker - Sim's brother - recently married and living in Wales. They bought a pub called the Tiddley

Kieron Buffrey - CD with Holland America

Tom Canosa - teaching 6th grade science in North Carolina

Peter Benfield and Johnny Osborne have emigrated to Thailand

Anthony Richards is living in Miami with his wife, and is working for Royal Media Partners as Manager Port Revenue Operations

Rico du Breil is now a CD with NCL

Paul Lancaster is no longer with RCI, and resides in England

Abel Jeney is Customer Service & People Manager at Momentum Services Ltd

Parker Cristan is living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - staging/choreographing for local theater

Ashley Kerr - married and living in Vancouver BC, working as a marketing rep for a PR firm

Karen Maybury - has a consultant/pr/entertainment agency

Jannie Cloete - leading expeditions on small ships

Where is Warren Allen? (aka Warren Melhuish)

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Thanks for the new thread, and all your hard work.

 

Still waiting for someone to find out who the Serenade CD will be in October. (Humming Jeopardy theme)

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

 

 

Karen

 

I am on the cruise before you on Serenade, the Fall Foliage from Cape Liberty to Quebec. I hope we can find out who will be the CD before we go too! :-)

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