Cruise Director??

[arewethereyet]

It has never occurred to me to care who the cruise director is. But, maybe I'm missing something. So, this is a real question. What does a cruise director do, or not do, that shapes your cruising experience?

 

I'm asking this question on other boards as well.

[Mary Ellen]

Most of the time we can take 'em or leave 'em. They are just there and are fine. A few have been VERY annoying. There are two that come to mind. One was the CD we encountered this year who read the Daily Program over the PA system three times a day. :eek: I don't know if he felt we were all illiterate or just too stupid to read the program. I suspect he just liked the sound of his own voice. The other I never hope to sail with again would say things (failing in his attempt to be funny) and then follow up with "just kidding". We gave up even listening because there was no use. He probably liked to hear himself on the PA too. That cruise was the only time I could NOT wait to disembark. I couldn't get off that ship fast enough. Reading this back it looks like making too many announcements is something that makes a BAD CD for us.

 

Thom on the Prinsendam was the only HAL CD who stands out for being excellent. Maybe it is because of the diverse itineraries that ship sails, but the activities and events seemed more interesting. Not the same old, same old.

[mamasu]

I've seen some snooty, snotty and snobby ones when they thought no one was looking or listening. There was one great one on the NCL Dawn August 2010 that made the cruise a pleasant experience. He made up for the little things that went wrong.

[PCruzer]

It has never occurred to me to care who the cruise director is. But, maybe I'm missing something. So, this is a real question. What does a cruise director do, or not do, that shapes your cruising experience?

Until we cruised with some fabulous cruise directors, our opinion of CD's in general was about the same as yours. We have encountered 2 cruise directors who absolutely made our cruise experience wonderful. The first was J.T. Watters on a 14-day Panama Canal sailing a few years ago. The second was Linda Minnikin on the Voyage of the Vikings cruise. They both performed their jobs to perfection. Both made sure that they mingled with passengers and got to know them. J.T. was present at almost every activity that we went to. He was fun, had a great personality, and was also very professional. He was also the youngest CD that we have ever sailed with. Linda was truly a class act. She knew her job well. She was always seen around the ship and always had time to chat to the passengers. She is the only cruise director that we have ever seen in the audience before a show talking to all the passengers - every night! If I was going on a cruise, I would be more than happy to hear that either J.T. Watters or Linda Minnikin would be the cruise director!

[cle1]

Most of the time we can take 'em or leave 'em. They are just there and are fine. A few have been VERY annoying. There are two that come to mind. One was the CD we encountered this year who read the Daily Program over the PA system three times a day. :eek: I don't know if he felt we were all illiterate or just too stupid to read the program. I suspect he just liked the sound of his own voice. The other I never hope to sail with again would say things (failing in his attempt to be funny) and then follow up with "just kidding". We gave up even listening because there was no use. He probably liked to hear himself on the PA too. That cruise was the only time I could NOT wait to disembark. I couldn't get off that ship fast enough. Reading this back it looks like making too many announcements is something that makes a BAD CD for us.

 

Thom on the Prinsendam was the only HAL CD who stands out for being excellent. Maybe it is because of the diverse itineraries that ship sails, but the activities and events seemed more interesting. Not the same old, same old.

 

We have been on 3 Prinsendam cruises with Thom & Tina, and was VERY surprised to hear he was going to thr Rotterdam. He seemed like part of the Prinsendam "family". Wonder if he will be back. We really thought a lot of him, both as a person and as a CD. Carol

[Himself]

The two I found to be the ones I liked best were Patty Honacki and Anthony Choice.

[fleckle]

Most of the time we can take 'em or leave 'em. They are just there and are fine. A few have been VERY annoying. There are two that come to mind. One was the CD we encountered this year who read the Daily Program over the PA system three times a day. :eek: I don't know if he felt we were all illiterate or just too stupid to read the program. I suspect he just liked the sound of his own voice. The other I never hope to sail with again would say things (failing in his attempt to be funny) and then follow up with "just kidding". We gave up even listening because there was no use. He probably liked to hear himself on the PA too........

You are so right. It seems most annoying when you are in the middle of a conversation or just enjoying some quiet time or trying to concentrate on something and the CD thinks it is necessary to come on the PA system to interrupt you in a booming voice to "remind" you to go to activities that are clearly listed on the daily program.

 

The other most annoying times are at shows where a good CD will introduce the act and get off the stage, or thank the performer at the end, announce any important information and get off.

 

But there are also the bad CDs who will ramble on and on saying nothing of any interest or importance, wasting everyone's time by asking insipid questions of members of the audience.

 

Does anyone else really care that a guy in the third row is from Podunk, this is his third cruise and his wife is named Agnes?

Then the CD will ask how long they have been married, and regardless of what answer is given, the entire audience is expected to applaud.

 

Oh, they have been married for 2 years. (Applause)

This couple has been married for 38 years. (Applause)

So you came here all the way from _____ (fill in the blank) - (Applause)

 

Usually this type of CD feels compelled to repeat the same tired old CD jokes that are told by all the other bad cruise directors on all other cruise ships. He always tries to pretend it is something original that he just thought up or overheard.

 

Often it will be a story about something stupid that he claims a passenger said or did, not realizing that he appears to be the stupid one because it is a story that most of the passengers have heard many times before.

 

If it is your first cruise, you may laugh, but by the second or third time you hear a CD tell the same story, it is no longer funny and by the 7th or 8th time ........

 

The only solution is to have enough drinks before and during the show to make them seem funny again. Maybe that is why the cruise ships sell so much liquor. ;)

[mancunian]

I did not know that Thom had moved to Rotterdam. Does anyone know if he will still be there in October?

[Krazy Kruizers]

We rarely see the same CD on a ship.

 

The last few years HAL has been hiring quite a few new ones. Some only last a year.

 

So we never really get to know any of them.

[Randyk47]

It has never occurred to me to care who the cruise director is. But, maybe I'm missing something. So, this is a real question. What does a cruise director do, or not do, that shapes your cruising experience?

 

I'm asking this question on other boards as well.

 

I can't say that we're in the "love the CD" camp. In fact, we'd probably fail the name-your-CD contest with flying colors. For us the best CD is probably the one we don't hear or see too often. I know that might sound harsh but we're really not into organized ship activities so maybe that's why we really aren't interested and don't care who the CD is on a cruise.

[arewethereyet]

I can't say that we're in the "love the CD" camp. In fact, we'd probably fail the name-your-CD contest with flying colors. For us the best CD is probably the one we don't hear or see too often. I know that might sound harsh but we're really not into organized ship activities so maybe that's why we really aren't interested and don't care who the CD is on a cruise.

I'm in that camp as well. :)