Cruise Staff on HAL

I recently spoke to someone who just cruised on the Koningsdam and she told me that the Cruise Staff consisted only two people: the Cruise Director and one Cruise Staff. She said that the Cruise Director noticed her line dancing ability and asked if she would "teach" a line dance class to the passengers. She agreed and the Cruise Director filled the role of playing the music. Has the Cruise Staff on HAL been cut that badly? It's been a few years since our last HAL cruise because we were so disappointed with the entertainment on our last sailing.

On both our Koningsdam sailings the cruise director had 3 assistants

Yes -- the staff has been cut --just like staff throughout the ships.

We noticed about 4 or 5 years ago the cruise director had only 1 or 2 helpers.

We had 5 (I think) on the Eurodam in December. There was the cruise director, assistant CD, DJ/Host, cooking demo Hostess, and one other staffer. I'd be really surprised if the Koningsdam, a larger ship, had fewer staff than the Eurodam.

When the Koningsdam came out, the Entertainment Dept was revised:

The new position of Entertainment Director (Dept Head) was created which oversees five (5) Dept. managers:

Cruise Director

Youth Program Coordinator/Director

Location Guide(s)

Media Manager (former Program Manager)

Stage Manager

Directly under the Entertainment Director fall the Digital Workshop host, the Culinary Arts Center/America's Test Kitchen host, Entertainment Technical Assistant, guest entertainers, the Band, The B.B. King All-star band, Lincoln Center Stage musicians, Billboard Onboard musicians, the solo pianist, clergy and guest staff

The Cruise Director has an Assistant Cruise Director (on most other ships performed by the Show Host/DJ)

The Youth Program Coordinator/Director a Youth Program staff

Location Guides will have local troupes, local guest entertainers, guest speakers and guest chefs

The Media Manager will have a printer and media technician (until filled, this job is performed by the Asst. I.T. officer)

The Stage Manager will have the production cast, stage supervisor, two audio technicians, a lighting technician, a media technician, lounge technician, stage technician, and four stage crew

Until these changes are implemented fleet-wide, on most ships you'll find the Entertainment Dept. still consisting of a Cruise Director, an Event Manager, Youth Program Coordinator and staff, Location Guide, Show Host/DJ, the Culinary Arts Center/America's Test Kitchen host, Digital Workshop host, Librarian (AMDM & PRDM only), production cast, guest entertainers, the Band, the B.B. King All-star band (eight ships), Adagio duo, Neptune trio, Lincoln Center Stage musicians (three ships so far), Billboard Onboard musicians (three ships so far), solo pianist/piano bar entertainer, and/or solo guitar, local troupes, local guest entertainers, guest speakers, guest chefs, stage manager, stage supervisor, entertainment technical assistant, two audio technicians, a lighting technician, lounge technician, stage technician, and six stage crew

Yes -- the staff has been cut --just like staff throughout the ships.

We noticed about 4 or 5 years ago the cruise director had only 1 or 2 helpers.

I agree.

When the Koningsdam came out, the Entertainment Dept was revised:

 

The new position of Entertainment Director (Dept Head) was created which oversees five (5) Dept. managers:

 

Cruise Director

Youth Program Coordinator/Director

Location Guide(s)

Media Manager (former Program Manager)

Stage Manager

 

Directly under the Entertainment Director fall the Digital Workshop host, the Culinary Arts Center/America's Test Kitchen host, Entertainment Technical Assistant, guest entertainers, the Band, The B.B. King All-star band, Lincoln Center Stage musicians, Billboard Onboard musicians, the solo pianist, clergy and guest staff

 

The Cruise Director has an Assistant Cruise Director (on most other ships performed by the Show Host/DJ)

 

The Youth Program Coordinator/Director a Youth Program staff

 

Location Guides will have local troupes, local guest entertainers, guest speakers and guest chefs

 

The Media Manager will have a printer and media technician (until filled, this job is performed by the Asst. I.T. officer)

 

The Stage Manager will have the production cast, stage supervisor, two audio technicians, a lighting technician, a media technician, lounge technician, stage technician, and four stage crew

 

Until these changes are implemented fleet-wide, on most ships you'll find the Entertainment Dept. still consisting of a Cruise Director, an Event Manager, Youth Program Coordinator and staff, Location Guide, Show Host/DJ, the Culinary Arts Center/America's Test Kitchen host, Digital Workshop host, Librarian (AMDM & PRDM only), production cast, guest entertainers, the Band, the B.B. King All-star band (eight ships), Adagio duo, Neptune trio, Lincoln Center Stage musicians (three ships so far), Billboard Onboard musicians (three ships so far), solo pianist/piano bar entertainer, and/or solo guitar, local troupes, local guest entertainers, guest speakers, guest chefs, stage manager, stage supervisor, entertainment technical assistant, two audio technicians, a lighting technician, lounge technician, stage technician, and six stage crew

I find Copper's response interesting. I went through and tried to count the number of "new" positions as compared to the number of "old" positions. I originally thought I would try to count the actual number of people involved. But, that is impossible, I think, due to the probable variations needed by size of ship, number of people to be served (i.e. number of Youth Staff that probably would be required for a specific cruise, etc.), and itinerary of a specific cruise.

I arrived at 32 "new" positions as compared to 31 "old" positions in this Entertainment Department revision.

It used to be so simple. The Cruise Director was in charge of everything considered to be "entertainment". Or was I being naive?

I agree that there are a lot less staff on board and that is why there are so few activities now. I was on the K'dam in January and only saw one person helping the cruise director. Of course,no librarian, no IT person, no dance classes etc.

We sail primarily on Princess ships. One of the downsides to our taking HAL cruises is the lack of activities. On our Zuiderdam cruise last month, there were a cruise director, show host, and culinary arts center hostess doing the activities we wanted to do--trivia and cooking demos. Not counting spa and fitness center activities, there were some mornings without anything scheduled.