Is Ken Rush a fun CD?

[setsail]

Thank goodness rci does not consult CC on how to run their ships, or we would wind up with 22 cookie cutter CD's:p

[Paulxyz2004]

Another thought on Ken - If he is on a Nextel kind of phone on the ship, these are work calls, making decisions on what to do with other crew, and not talking to home.

 

Workload on a CD is enormous on a big ship.

 

While I have not experienced the phone issues with him, I do have to disagree with you.

I agree the workload of a CD can be enormous and I also agree his calls might have been work related, however this does not make it any more appropriate.

 

My Job requires constant availability via a cordless phone as well. But at the same time I know when to set it to Vibration and when to remove myself out of a public Setting before answering or calling back immediately after I have excused myself.

To me there is no excuse to disturb passengers with loud phone conversations. It´s easy enough for him to just excuse himslef to a behind the Scenes area.

[hairymelon]

I sailed on Allure last Nnovember and thought Ken was very good and certainly a cut above the previous CD I have had but in June Joff Eaton was the CD and I thought he was fantastic full of energy and very likeable :)

[treborrv]

We had Ken on Allure in December 2011 (the week before Christmas) and thought he was great. He was very much into the holiday spirit, and on the occasions where I got to interact with him closely (The Quest & a special Christmas thing they did for the kids on board) he was funny and charming and very personable.

 

Just had Allan Brooks on Allure in June 2013 and enjoyed him as well. Funnier than I remember Ken, but the humor was targeted at a younger demographic, particularly the Babbling Brooks morning show and the parody commercials and music videos.

 

Would sail again with either guy in a heartbeat.

 

Rob

[The Big Booper]

Brooks is our favorite as well. We also like Bingo Boy Dave (Chapman) his protege. Dave always seems spontaneous and it is great to watch him during Love & Marriage with a difficult couple. We've had Dave three times, 2x EXOTS + MajOTS.

 

Looking forward to Amy on Oasis in September.

[BillOh]

We had Ken on a b2b Allure and noticed that he used the same routines both weeks. Most people don't cruise b2b and so wouldn't pick that up..

 

I have no doubt, but Ken does seem to vary things long term a bit, perhaps to relieve his own boredom. I cruised on Allure twice 24 months apart and saw similarities, but some new things. Enough to keep it interesting.

 

 

I also cruised twice with Ricky on Majesty. 2007 and 2010 I believe and I saw several things that were exactly the same word for word, but I still like the guy. I might think when you are on a ship with a lot of repeat business you might vary things up a bit more. Yes, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express recently.

[BillOh]

Thank goodness rci does not consult CC on how to run their ships, or we would wind up with 22 cookie cutter CD's:p

 

Agreed, even in this thread, I have read things about Ken from people that love him and hate him, but I see truth in both. CD isn't in my top 3 reasons to pick a cruise, but does make for interesting conversation.

 

Personally I find him "personable" when addressing crowds, but have never tried to talk one on one with him. The only one on one interaction with him came via facebook and I assume it was him ;) Our last cruise on Allure came as Alan was finishing a stint and Ken was coming back, I just verified for our roll call whom we were going to have. I was happy with Ken, but would have welcomed a chance to see Alan.

[janeyzee]

How do you find out who the CD will be on your cruise? Is it posted somewhere on the RC site? or in Cruise Critic somewhere?

[Clarea]

How do you find out who the CD will be on your cruise? Is it posted somewhere on the RC site? or in Cruise Critic somewhere?

It's not posted on the RC site. Donna keeps track of the CDs here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1859416

 

Go to the end of the thread and work back up for the most current list of CDs.

[KMagz]

Two points:

 

1) Ken Rush is easily my LEAST favorite cruise director. It's like he's going through the motions, saying the things he's supposed to say, none of them sincere

 

2) The Cruise Directory really won't make or break a cruise for me

 

 

PS - We loved Leigh Xuereb on a recent Explorer of the Seas cruise (OK -- 3 points then) :)

[janeyzee]

It's not posted on the RC site. Donna keeps track of the CDs here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1859416

 

Go to the end of the thread and work back up for the most current list of CDs.

 

Thanks, I'll check that out! Gotta love Cruise Critic, where all my questions get answered :p

[momzcruzing]

Nice to have my feelings validated, I too, thought he came off as very arrogant.

 

Like others have said, the CD does not "make or break" a cruise for me, however, they ARE inescapable. You do have to listen to lots of their "stuff" if you want to enjoy some of the amazing entertainment onboard. Is the answer bring my Ipod and stick it in my ears till the show starts?

[m*u*g*]

yes...

[alaska_planner]

Ken Rush was the CD on our August 18th Allure cruise and we thought he was fantastic!!!

since we had seen this thread before we sailed, we were worried, but on the cruise we kept saying to each other, "what were those people talking about???"....in all our interactions with him, he was warm and friendly....and very entertaining as well..

 

i look forward to having him as CD again on future cruises...

[hazeleyes35]

We barely saw him and he seemed annoyed all the time. Not very personable.

[Loyal2RCCL]

I've had him twice, during the Liberty of the Seas inaugural season and during the Oasis of the Seas inaugural season and absolutely hated him. I can honestly say that out of the thousands of employees royal caribbean has he is the only one that has left a blemish on my vacation experience. He is rude, arrogant, and adds 0 entertainment value to a sailing.

 

I've been amazed by so many other CDs and their ability to adapt to the audience. CDs I've never even heard mentioned on these boards have been incredible, but Ken Rush is the only one who lives by a script. He does the same jokes and comments in the same order every time. He seems to lack any ability to adjust based on his audience.

 

He spends all his time trying to get in with a select few guests that he thinks can help him and could care less about the rest. He spends all his free time schmoozing, even to the crew while wasting passenger space. This really annoyed me on the Liberty. He was sitting in the Windjammer with a table of crew every day for hours just talking while passengers wondered around searching for free tables. Didn't use the windjammer on Oasis but I'm sure he probably did the same.

 

I enjoy dirty humor and don't consider myself a prude by any means. But his behavior I found often bordered more on sexual harassment that comedy. He's the only CD that actually made me feel uncomfortable to be in the audience with.

 

The final straw for me though was his general behavior and I can easily name 3 moments that pushed me over the edge. From the moment we boarded the Oasis he set the tone for the entire week. I was traveling with my mom requires a cane or wheel chair to get around. She used a wheel chair to board and then we walked over to one of the interactive TVs to get directions to where we wanted to go. New passengers on a new ship, this is a reasonable thing to do. Often times crew members walking by will ask if they can help when they see passengers searching for directions. When Ken Rush walked by with a group of other crew members. We were near the wall using the TV so long a normal person the group walked through the center of the hall and many said hi as they went by. Ken Rush being himself cut between us and the wall forcing us to step out of his way and couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge us. I can understand not helping, and honestly didn't expect or really want any, but his behavior was out of line and the rest of his group clearly paid attention in their training seminars (or were just raised properly). The second time was during the Captain's Corner in which he was standing up front next to Captain Bill Wright, the Senior VP of Maritime Operations at the time. This is someone who is on the executive team in Miami and far more important than anyone else at sea. You would think that would put ken on his best behavior, but sadly his best still falls short. During the event while passengers are asking questions and officers were trying to answer them, he was constantly on his cell phone. Standing right at the front of the theater talking loudly on the phone. IMO that was completely rude and inappropriate behavior. I know he is supposed to be running the entertainment onboard, but during an even like that he should be able to focus or excuse himself. The third moment and IMO the one that truly showcased him, was during the fountain show. We were sitting trying to enjoy the show along with a nearly full venue of passengers. About a third of the way through we started hearing some rude guy talking loudly behind us. Not even trying to watch the show, completely absorbed in his own conversation. When I turned around I expected to see a rude passenger, but instead was shocked to see Ken Rush sitting their on his phone. A crew member having personal conversations while sitting in the audience at a show. This is completely over the line behavior. If a passenger were to be doing that they would be in trouble, a crew member of his level should never have even thought this was appropriate.

 

Out of every passenger and crew member that I have sailed with only one has continuously angered me with every interaction, and it's Ken Rush. Still don't know why he hasn't been fired. I am going to be stuck with him again on the first 2 Quantum of the Seas sailing, and I've already sent several more letters to Royal Caribbean to complain about him. Hopefully they will have taken care of him by then.

 

Exactly!

[oneputt18]

Ken runs a tight ship, everything entertainment wise goes without a hitch.

He is highly visible but in my opinion has lost a bit of his personality over the years. I guess working 16-18 hours a day for twenty years eventually catches up to you.

[alaska_planner]

Ken runs a tight ship, everything entertainment wise goes without a hitch.

He is highly visible but in my opinion has lost a bit of his personality over the years. I guess working 16-18 hours a day for twenty years eventually catches up to you.

 

we thought he was really nice in our encounters with him on the august 18th cruise....

i really don't get what everyone complains about...

we enjoyed his emceeing and we enjoyed speaking with him one on one...

he certainly was far better than any of our CDs on our disney cruises!!!! and that's an understatement!!