Princess cruise Ship Captains

[beg3yrs]

17 minutes ago, dickinson said:

All the ships are out there in the water so the captains won't have lost their jobs.  

Well ... no passengers on board. Who needs a captain and a staff captain? You may be correct but I still think there could be significant changes.

[LawDog61]

With the down sized crew on board,  and assuredly less paper work to do, I wonder if they have staff captains on board during this lay up.

[Putterdude]

That’s a very good question, I would think that there has been a significant reduction of bridge officers. I have no idea if the furloughed officers are being compensated.

[skynight]

Whoever is the Captain now may not be the Captain when you board. They rotate on and off. To us we never concerned ourselves with the Captain. The Captain had very little to do with cruise enjoyment. Enjoyment was in the hands of the hotel managers and their food & beverage staffs, housekeeping staffs, entertainment & cruise director staffs. 

[Ombud]

31 minutes ago, skynight said:

Whoever is the Captain now may not be the Captain when you board. They rotate on and off. To us we never concerned ourselves with the Captain. The Captain had very little to do with cruise enjoyment. Enjoyment was in the hands of the hotel managers and their food & beverage staffs, housekeeping staffs, entertainment & cruise director staffs. 

Unless it was Captain Tuvo

[beg3yrs]

2 hours ago, skynight said:

Whoever is the Captain now may not be the Captain when you board. They rotate on and off. To us we never concerned ourselves with the Captain. The Captain had very little to do with cruise enjoyment. Enjoyment was in the hands of the hotel managers and their food & beverage staffs, housekeeping staffs, entertainment & cruise director staffs. 

Agree that trying to predict who will be the captain on any particular cruise is pretty much like forecasting the weather, you know what is likely but it can change at almost any moment.

 

I've always felt that the captain does affect the cruise although in a more subtle way. Seems that their demeanor quickly percolates down through the crew and staff and is reflected in their attitudes. I've seen this a couple of times when we had a change of captains during long cruises.

 

Regardless of who the captain is, we still enjoy our cruises, just sometimes a little more.

[lstone19]

10 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

Agree that trying to predict who will be the captain on any particular cruise is pretty much like forecasting the weather, you know what is likely but it can change at almost any moment.

 

I've always felt that the captain does affect the cruise although in a more subtle way. Seems that their demeanor quickly percolates down through the crew and staff and is reflected in their attitudes. I've seen this a couple of times when we had a change of captains during long cruises.

 

Regardless of who the captain is, we still enjoy our cruises, just sometimes a little more.

 

When the captain and other senior officers are visible during the cruise, service tends to be very good. When they're largely invisible, service suffers as the crew knows no one above them is paying much attention. My two worst cruise had largely invisible senior officers and Maitre D' who was only seen for his ceremonial jobs such as the champagne waterfall; one of the best had a Maitre D' who seemed to be everywhere (was pleasantly surprised to find him and the executive chef up in the buffet one morning just keeping an eye on things). And having the hotel manager just sit in a bar for 30 minutes observing does wonders.

[skynight]

Agree with post 382, but believe it is more the Hotel Director and their sr. officers that have the most impact on passengers enjoyment. 

[snoozecrooze]

13 hours ago, LawDog61 said:

With the down sized crew on board,  and assuredly less paper work to do, I wonder if they have staff captains on board during this lay up.

IMO they still do, since I imagine the whole lineup of bridge crew would definitely be considered essential or part of minimum manning. The ships still move around quite a lot. 

 

2 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Agree that trying to predict who will be the captain on any particular cruise is pretty much like forecasting the weather, you know what is likely but it can change at almost any moment.

 

I've always felt that the captain does affect the cruise although in a more subtle way.

Agree with both statements you made. The cruise halt has been why I stopped making my lists because it's so unpredictable. And I concur that the captain's demeanor and presence (or lack thereof) does reveal itself subtly through the staff. Hotel directors have a lot of influence of course, but in the end, overall management, priority-setting, decision-making, and work culture-setting really does start with the top. Many people point to the positive impact that Celebrity's Captain Kate has made on the staff of whichever ship she is on (and in conjunction, the guests onboard her vessels).

Edited January 18, 2021 by snoozecrooze

[antmaril]

To be honest, I have never paid much attention to the Captain when I cruise.  That is, until I cruised on the Sky Princess in January, 2020 with Captain Tuvo.  He is such a joy.  So personable and happy.   It was very enjoyable to be on that ship with him at the helm.  I have the Sky Princess booked for March 2022.  I have no idea if we will actually take that cruise, but if we do and Captain Tuvo is there, I will be thrilled.  
 

 

[AVCruzers]

 I certainly agree about Captain Tuvo.  We were lucky enough to enjoy him on two cruises and both times, his family was with him so he seemed to be around the ship even more. 
We saw him even doing things like removing dishes from a table and serving ice cream.  He is amazing and hope to have pleasure of being with him again!!

[dogdoc2002]

I agree with post #380. We never cared who the captain was, until we had Captain Tuvo on the first 7d Caribbean sailing of the Sky Princess. We did the 3 day inaugural sailing prior to that and enjoy it, but LOVED sailing with Captain Bye Bye

We hope to sail with him again some day

[gardenbunny]

On 1/16/2020 at 7:04 PM, compozer said:

Todd McBain is one of the best captain's we have sailed with.  He gives outstanding daily bridge reports and always added something interesting about the area.   And you can understand what he is saying.   He was very approachable and friendly.   

We had Capt McBain on what would be our last cruise in 2020 on Coral Princess to Antarctica. (We got home Feb 6 just as the virus was making the headlines).   IMO he made that cruise even more special due to his unique style. I cannot say enough surperlatives about him.  I agree with another poster that he should train all captains.  He was so approachable,  always around the ship, gave THE BEST updates/reports at any time there was something he thought we should know.  He took us into areas in Antarctica that Princess or any large cruise ship had been.  He told us in his overview lecture that he liked to explore and if opportunities arose he was going to go check it out!  And he did!  I hope to have the opportunity to have him again as Captain.

[Ombud]

On 1/17/2021 at 3:52 PM, beg3yrs said:

I think it will be interesting to see what the new lineup of captains is. Some may have left Princess for work elsewhere (cargo anyone?) to make ends meet. Less ships in the fleet as well.

Exactly: these ships aren't around anymore:

 

On 2/22/2020 at 5:36 PM, snoozecrooze said:

 

SHIP	CAPTAIN
Golden Princess	Aldo Traverso
Pacific Princess	Goran Favro
Sea Princess	Tony Rugero
Star Princess	Christopher Lye
Sun Princess	Diego Perra

 

[lstone19]

8 hours ago, gardenbunny said:

We had Capt McBain on what would be our last cruise in 2020 on Coral Princess to Antarctica. (We got home Feb 6 just as the virus was making the headlines).   IMO he made that cruise even more special due to his unique style. ... He was so approachable,  always around the ship, gave THE BEST updates/reports at any time there was something he thought we should know. 

 

And earlier I had said:

 

On 1/18/2021 at 9:50 AM, lstone19 said:

 

When the captain and other senior officers are visible during the cruise, service tends to be very good. ... one of the best [cruises] had a Maitre D' who seemed to be everywhere (was pleasantly surprised to find him and the executive chef up in the buffet one morning just keeping an eye on things). And having the hotel manager just sit in a bar for 30 minutes observing does wonders.

 

And who was the Captain on that "one of the best" I mentioned in what I quoted? Captain McBain! As someone else said, a good captain can set the tone for the rest of the senior officers as the captain does have daily meetings with the other senior officers.

[Travelnplane]

Tony Ruggero took command on Crown Princess on November 17th 2020 so he at least is still on duty although his former ship was sold. 

[Ombud]

19 hours ago, Travelnplane said:

Tony Ruggero took command on Crown Princess on November 17th 2020 so he at least is still on duty although his former ship was sold. 

Which means that either Vincenzo Lubrano or Paolo Arrigo could be shifted or work less. 5 ships out, 5 less brass needed

[jwattle]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Which means that either Vincenzo Lubrano or Paolo Arrigo could be shifted or work less. 5 ships out, 5 less brass needed

But you have Enchanted and Discovery coming online, so that's two 😁

[trbarton]

Do we have a list of all Princess Ships & who the captains are?

 

Tom😀

[Ombud]

@snoozecroozelisted one right before everything stopped. No idea what it'll be post-pandemic

[Steelers36]

10 hours ago, trbarton said:

Do we have a list of all Princess Ships & who the captains are?

 

Tom😀

That was the main purpose of this thread.  I imagine it will be refreshed at appropriate time.

 

[heddyjan]

Although we are still stuck in Australia with no Princess cruises scheduled until September 2022 it would still be nice to see which Captains are where.

I'm sure some have retired (like Bill Kent).

just curious.

[cheeseclan]

Just came off the Majestic.  Tony Draper is the Captain.

[beshears]

It looks like January, 2021 is the LAST time someone posted on this posting of the "Captains" names of the Princess ships. Does anyone know where I can find a list of the Regal Princess Captain's name, as well as the staff that are right below him? The reason I ask, I was able to take a picture with a couple of them.

[startedwithamouse]

1 minute ago, beshears said:

It looks like January, 2021 is the LAST time someone posted on this posting of the "Captains" names of the Princess ships. Does anyone know where I can find a list of the Regal Princess Captain's name, as well as the staff that are right below him? The reason I ask, I was able to take a picture with a couple of them.