Risa Barnes, CD of the Fantasy

[I Luv Crusin]

Is she good?

[Chigirlcruzin]

Risa is great! You can tell she enjoys her job and genuinely enjoys interacting with the pax. You can tell she's just a good person. As you can tell, she's one of my faves :)

[Vanessa L]

You'll get a variety of opinions...mine is that she is about as exciting as Ben Stein on downers. We cruised the Fantasy 3 times last year and the only time you saw Risa was during rare events on board (like hosting a show). You never saw her just "out and about" talking to passengers, smiling, enjoying her job. On one of the cruises she was on vacation and Kevin Noonan substituted. In contrast, he had a wonderful sense of humor--made me look forward to all those announcements instead of thinking, "Oh my God, would you SHUT UP!" like would happen when Ben, I mean Risa would do them. Noonan was out and about all the time, we saw him on numerous occasions, just out talking to passengers, he wasn't formally hosting anything. The times we ever saw Risa, she seemed to be hurrying to whatever it was she was hosting and never, ever had time to stop and chat.

 

CDs don't make or break a cruise for me, but a good one can certainly add to the positive experience. Risa falls horribly short of that expectation, IMHO. You'll just have to go and see for yourself. If you've ever had a CD with a sense of humor and personality, you will definitely notice that deficit in Risa.

[ANGSWIN]

Oh, I hope that we like her. She has a lot to live up to. Our CD on our last cruise, the Costa Atlantica, was AMAZING! He spoke like seven languages and would just switch from one to another during the shows,announcements, etc. He would do this even when he was singing. Also, he was HILARIOUS! He would crack you up by just looking at you. Easy on the eyes, too, - if you know what I mean ;).

 

I think that a CD can really affect the atmosphere on a ship. You would really want a dynamic one!