What has happened to the quality of the on board activities / shipboard experience

[IslandThyme]

Well, I for one do care who he captain is, because our lives are in his (alas, not "or her") hands. And the Cruise Director can make things more fun, or not.

 

What I also care about is how snarky these boards have become in the past few years, since I last participated here. I am hoping that will not reflect the tone of the onboard experience!

[baggal]

Well, I for one do care who he captain is, because our lives are in his (alas, not "or her") hands. And the Cruise Director can make things more fun, or not.

 

What I also care about is how snarky these boards have become in the past few years, since I last participated here. I am hoping that will not reflect the tone of the onboard experience!

 

I believe there is a female captain on another line - just can't remember which one now.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I believe there is a female captain on another line - just can't remember which one now.

 

There is a female captain on Cunard. I don't recall her name.

[iancal]

We don't care who is who. Don't care if we see the Captain, meet the Captain, or dine at his table.

 

What we find very fascinating is people who say so and so is such a good Captain. We do not know how one would judge that. Personality and a conversation perhaps is hardly the way the evaluate how good a person is at the Captains position. Perhaps it is the uniform, some greying around the temples, and a good personality.

[ithaca gal]

But this has about the same meaning as "Joe Schmo" is the head of housekeeping on the Mythodam! Perhaps I am a bit demented. But after more than forty years of extensive cruising, on many lines, we have never understood the fixation some folks have on "who is the Captain," "who is the Cruise Director." "who is the Chief Engineer," who is the Environmental Officer, etc. Who cares? And why?

 

Hank

 

Oh, I'm with you on this one. We have never understood the fixation either. I cringe when people are planning a Meet and Greet and are hoping that some officers are there. Really? Do you actually think they WANT to be there?

 

There are a couple of Cruise Directors who have made our cruises more enjoyable and I would be happy to encounter them on future cruises, but I would never think to ask "Who is the Cruise Director on the such and such?" and never, ever would care who the Captain is ...... unless there is one who is infamous ...... then I might want to rebook! :D

[sandbag7]

We don't care who is who. Don't care if we see the Captain, meet the Captain, or dine at his table.

 

What we find very fascinating is people who say so and so is such a good Captain. We do not know how one would judge that. Personality and a conversation perhaps is hardly the way the evaluate how good a person is at the Captains position. Perhaps it is the uniform, some greying around the temples, and a good personality.

 

 

In 20+ cruises I never gave a thought to a Captain or any officer, and if I shook hands with him it was forgotten by me a moment later. On our cruise last month on Noordam I did find the Captain’s announcements entertaining and I enjoyed the way he took us through Milford Pass; he also strategically changed departures depending on wind and currents, but never to our disadvantage; sadly I think he’s retiring.

A large number of passengers, and people in general have almost a fetish about officers and public personalities; they are thrilled to go to a mediocre restaurant like Ditka’s in the hope of meeting him or some other minor sports figure, kind of a hero worship thing: I’m guessing good looks and greying temples will be looked on favorably by both men and women of this ilk.

[Hlitner]

There is a female captain on Cunard. I don't recall her name.

 

 

There is also a female Captain (a US citizen) on Celebrity (most call her Captain Kate) :). As to the board being snarky...we think that is not the issue. Somebody mentioned they care who the Captain is...because of safety. So I would ask that person if they can list a few dozen Captains that make them feel safe, and one or more that make them feel not safe? And I cannot help but wonder if that poster applies the same standard to an airline pilot who is flying their plane? Do you care about the name of that pilor, how many hours he/she has in type, etc? As to the Cruise Directors....at one time they really were important players on a ship. But now, on most lines their job has become one of being a visible spokesperson who might be responsible for some vitally important things like the daily schedule and who is assigned to trivia. On most lines there are now entertainment directors that deal with the that part of the cruise (this used to be done by CDs). Personally, I could care less if a CD does a good job introducing an act, or even telling a joke. As to schedules, most of what they do is now dictated by company policy and or the Hotel Manager (who is the really important person vis-a-vis passengers.

 

Hank

[sammiedawg]

Oh, I'm with you on this one. We have never understood the fixation either. I cringe when people are planning a Meet and Greet and are hoping that some officers are there. Really? Do you actually think they WANT to be there?

 

There are a couple of Cruise Directors who have made our cruises more enjoyable and I would be happy to encounter them on future cruises, but I would never think to ask "Who is the Cruise Director on the such and such?" and never, ever would care who the Captain is ...... unless there is one who is infamous ...... then I might want to rebook! :D

 

Numerous times I’ve been puzzled to read comments along the line of “great captain, I would sail with him again”. Huh??

I would be hard pressed to remember the name or face of any officer I’ve sailed with. Even when onboard.

After years of reading here I’ve concluded some posters really thrive on onboard attention and recognition.

 

Don’t forget Bravo’s Captain Sandy!

Edited March 15, 2018 by sammiedawg

[albingirl]

I'm actually impressed with a Captain who I can understand. Usually, I have a hard time following them due to a heavy accent. No offense meant here, of course.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I'm actually impressed with a Captain who I can understand. Usually, I have a hard time following them due to a heavy accent. No offense meant here, of course.

 

The captain on our Amsterdam cruise last fall was English. Our other favorite line is Cunard, so when he made announcements, I was confused about whose ship I was on.

 

Some captains are more visible than others, and I think some people see this as better. Obviously, the captain's first job is managing the ship. Second job is PR, and some do it more willingly than others. I can think of two Cunard captains who were out and about often, and always seemed to enjoy stopping to say hello. I can think of two others who were practically recluses, even to the point of handing off announcements to a junior officer as quickly as they could. I admit I liked the friendly ones better, but I would never say that they were better at being captains.

[taxmantoo]

Somebody mentioned they care who the Captain is...because of safety. So I would ask that person if they can list a few dozen Captains that make them feel safe, and one or more that make them feel not safe? ... As to the Cruise Directors....On most lines there are now entertainment directors that deal with the that part of the cruise (this used to be done by CDs).

Exactly. In all my years of reading Cruise Critic, I have never read or even heard about anyone booking a cruise and then coming back and telling us all they cancelled because they learned who the Captain or the Cruise Director would be :rolleyes:

[Roz]

HAL is a mass market line and as such, needs to compete in that market. Many of us have said for years that HAL needs a brand (not "branding" as in coming up with licensing agreements with Lincoln Hall or BB King or Oprah, but an actual brand). One reason for the success of Cunard, in my opinion, is consistency of the brand. You know what you're going to get with Cunard. With HAL, not so much. HAL has big ships and medium ships and one small ship. HAL has old ships and new ships. HAL has basic and shorter itineraries in the Caribbean and Alaska (and to a lesser extent Europe) and longer and varied itineraries in many places. HAL has BB King and Tamarind on some ships but not others. And so on. In short, HAL has a bit of an identity crisis.

 

Cruisemom's mention of branding got me thinking. The line is named Holland America. The first couple of HAL cruises I took included a Dutch night in the MDR featuring various Dutch and Indonesian dishes. I still have a couple of Delft figurines I bought in the gift shop. HAL has a tradition and heritage that set it apart from other lines, yet they've done just about everything they can to wipe it out as far as the onboard experience.

 

Cunard seems to be successful with their traditional British offerings, why not HAL?

 

Roz

[Jade13]

I believe there is a female captain on another line - just can't remember which one now.

 

 

 

Captain Kate on Celebrity. One of the friendliest Captains at sea.

 

 

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[iancal]

How does someone know if a Captain is 'safe' or 'good'. I would really like know how the average bunny can discern this?

 

OK, so we know that the Captain of the Concordia was not good. But that is a backwards looking view. I have zero seafaring knowledge, zero knowledge on marine safety, and zero knowledge on being the Master of of cruise ship. Does this mean that others do possess this knowledge and can make a reasonable judgement?

 

I spent a fair amount of time dealing with mining companies that operated those huge dump trucks. They actively recruited and trained female drivers. Why? Female drivers had significantly less driving incidents and they were much easier on the equipment from a maintenance perspective. Both added up to less down time and less expense for the company. Wonder if the same is true with ships?

[Roz]

How does someone know if a Captain is 'safe' or 'good'. I would really like know how the average bunny can discern this?

 

OK, so we know that the Captain of the Concordia was not good. But that is a backwards looking view. I have zero seafaring knowledge, zero knowledge on marine safety, and zero knowledge on being the Master of of cruise ship. Does this mean that others do possess this knowledge and can make a reasonable judgement?

 

I've wondered the same thing.

 

Roz

[JRG]

We sailed with Captain Kate on Summit last November. She added quite a nice touch with her down to earth announcements including a daily riddle. When sailing away from St. Kitts while docked next to RCL Oasis, she announced that they typically engaged in a 'toot off'' as they pulled away, last toot wins. It was an enjoyable change of pace to our shipboard experience from what we have usually seen.

 

Although she brought a fresh perspective to a typically dominant male role, it still doesn't matter to us who the captain is and we never have never even considered it when booking new cruises.

[JT1962]

we have never understood the fixation some folks have on "who is the Captain," "who is the Cruise Director." "who is the Chief Engineer," who is the Environmental Officer, etc. Who cares? And why?

 

 

 

Hank

 

 

I agree. I have never once given thought or cared who the Captain, Cruise Director, etc. is and can’t imagine why it would matter to anyone. The itinerary, accommodations, food quality, entertainment, etc. are the primary concerns for me.

 

 

 

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[Stratheden]

After years of reading here I’ve concluded some posters really thrive on onboard attention and recognition.

 

Don’t forget Bravo’s Captain Sandy!

Yes you are so right. Some crave attention and complain when they don't get it.

I have to say that there was one CD whose voice and delivery of information was dreadful. I really disliked his manner. Thankfully I have never come across him again.

[sail7seas]

I ermember when HAl had cruise staff that could run acitvities and have various games etc. There is now no cruise staff like used to be and that has been the case for quite some time now..

 

What was the name of the program to encourage healthy eating and exerisce? I cannot remember but they used to award points if you walkked the organized troop doing laps on deck and stewards in MDR would give points if one ordered a healthy dinner I think enough pointss earned a HAL prize... Cannot rmember th name of the p;rogram but lots of people met fellow cruisers during thos e walks. They needed cruise staff to organize it

 

The "Are you Ms, which ever dam ship we were on? the Are you Mr. dam ship? game. Lots of folks started conversations and made friends. using i t as an 'ice breaker' to s tart chatting with others.

 

Maybe a bit corney to our more 'sophisticated world of today but they were fun, innocent and many en joyed it. It doesn't hurt to laugh at ones self from time to time.

Edited March 16, 2018 by sail7seas

[sail7seas]

DJ, Jazzy Jeff was always terrific fun. Examples of staff cut backs obliterating the providers of organized cruise fun... Yes, of course, most of us are able to make our own cruise fun but some seem to miss the organized 'fun'.

[1ANGELCAT]

I ermember when HAl had cruise staff that could run acitvities and have various games etc. There is now no cruise staff like used to be and that has been the case for quite some time now..

 

What was the name of the program to encourage healthy eating and exerisce? I cannot remember but they used to award points if you walkked the organized troop doing laps on deck and stewards in MDR would give points if one ordered a healthy dinner I think enough pointss earned a HAL prize... Cannot rmember th name of the p;rogram but lots of people met fellow cruisers during thos e walks. They needed cruise staff to organize it

 

The "Are you Ms, which ever dam ship we were on? the Are you Mr. dam ship? game. Lots of folks started conversations and made friends. using i t as an 'ice breaker' to s tart chatting with others.

 

Maybe a bit corney to our more 'sophisticated world of today but they were fun, innocent and many en joyed it. It doesn't hurt to laugh at ones self from time to time.

 

 

 

The program was called Passport to Fitness. I still have my jacket .

 

 

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[highscar]

Remember the days when we had fun games and gained points for prizes. I have several from 1998, water bottle holders, battery alarm clock, etc. They still travel with me.

[sail7seas]

The program was called Passport to Fitness. I still have my jacket .

 

 

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Yes, that is the name of the program. I could not think of it. Thank you, Angel..

[DomsPaPa]

They sound like some easy, fun meet-and-greets. I'd like HAL to do this again. Can't cost much. I'll put it into my next cruise comment email.

dh

[Nanner]

We haven't been sailing as long as some others, but our first cruise included a Dutch Night dinner. I also remember free tai chi classes on the back deck of the Prinsendam and on a few other ships. Not to mention some water exercise classes. All gone now. The port speakers were often wonderful, and with the cutbacks I fear even the Antarctic cruises will suffer from a lack of the great speakers we experienced. I don't want to hear some person who knows nothing read off a paper, I want someone with depth who can answer questions from the audience.

 

I still have a Dam Dollar from our first cruise, and thought it a nice incentive to walk the promenade. I remember thinking the Mr/Mrs Dam Ship game was a bit odd, and don't really miss that one. While I will play trivia for fun, we have many trinkets from trivia and Name that Tune games in the past-everything from playing cards to umbrellas and mouse pads. I just tossed the mouse pad, as it wore out at long last. I won it on our Hawaii cruise back on 2004, and it held a photo of us kayaking on Kauai.

 

I've given away many HAL pins, since we have two of pretty much all of them. My favorite memory of passing along a prize was at Name that Tune when I teamed up with a pair of newlyweds on the Veendam (I think) and we won, so I gave them our two mugs and they left the ship, thrilled, with a set of 4 "V" mugs.