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New UPDATED Cruise Director (CD) List - starting from April 2018 onwards

Joe12

By Joe12,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Joe12

Joe12

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FYI, Andrea Oliveri is on Jewelt til June 30th then 2 months vacation.

 

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Did he say who is replacing him and if he is returning to Jewel?

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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Did he say who is replacing him and if he is returning to Jewel?
He did not know who is replacing him. He hopes to go on spectrum when it goes to China I have no idea when that is

 

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Joe12

Joe12

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He did not know who is replacing him. He hopes to go on spectrum when it goes to China I have no idea when that is

 

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I highly doubt that they would send an Italian CD to the Chinese market. Spectrum will head to China next year.

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Joe12

Joe12

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He said he speaks fluent Chinese, it's what he wants

 

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Good luck to him in getting that assignment then. If he speaks Chinese, then he is perfect for that market.

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Joe12

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Happy Monday! Thanks all for the updates!

 

 

Adventure OTS - Chris Brown started mid-April until July.





Allure OTS - Jimmy Rhodes returns March 11 for 4 months, then Mitch Merucci returns mid-July for 2 months. (Mitch's schedule is tentative due to his contract extension.)

Anthem OTS - Clo O'Connor until May 13, then Dennis Charles returns May 13 until July, then Chris Brown starts in July.

Brilliance OTS - Abe Hughes started March 31 until early-July, then Clo O'Connor will be CD from July until September 1. (need July handover date)

 

Empress OTS - Hugo Arenas began November 10 for 4 months. (then who?)

Enchantment OTS - Bobby Broughton returned April 6 for 4 months. Mike Szwajkowski is rumored to be on EN for his next contract, but no confirmation yet.

Explorer OTS - Graham Seymour returned February 9 (until when?). Topi Ylönen returns June 8 until July 27. Graham is wanted to be kept on Explorer by the HD, so may be regular CD again for the rest of 2018.

Freedom OTS - Drew Devine starts March 17 until July 28, then Topi Ylönen returns July 28 until September 29, followed by Drew September 29 for 4 months.

Grandeur OTS - Mike Szwajkowski started April 14 for 2 months, then Bob Leininger returns June 2 until October 6, then Mitch Merucci from October 6 until December 1, followed by Bob starting December 1 for another 4 month contract. Mike is reported to be leaving June 2 for a 3 week vacation then returning. Any updates to this info?

Harmony OTS - Dru Pavlov returned April 21 until August 4, then Marc Walker returns August 4 until October 6.

Independence OTS - Tim Connor started March 15 until May 28, then Joff Eaton returns May 28 for the Summer season for 4 months.

Jewel OTS - Andrea Olivieri started February 25 until June 30. (then who? Simona?)

Liberty OTS - Mitch Merucci joined April 15 for an emergency fill-in. (until when? then who?)

Majesty OTS - Susan Adams took over February 26. (for 4 months?)

Mariner OTS - Ricky Matthews until July, then Carlos Torres joins in July for 2 months, then Ricky returns in September for 4 months.

Navigator OTS - Rob McNally started May 6 until August, then Cuddy Cudworth returns in August.

Oasis OTS - Dan Whitney returned early May for 4 months.

Ovation OTS - Mike Hunnerup returned March 23 (for 4 months?).

Quantum OTS - Paul Rutter starts April 9 for 2 months and again in the Fall for 3 months. Who will fill in for Paul's vacation? Fang Lixin?

Radiance OTS - Ken Jones joined April 17 for 2 months, then Cuddy Cudworth starts late-May/early-June for 2 months.

 

Rhapsody OTS - Elvis Pinto returned early February for 4 months. (then who?)

 

Serenade OTS - Jamie Fentiman started May 6 for 4 months.

Symphony OTS - Michele Scarpato joined March 11 and will still be onboard in mid-July. Bobby Brown will eventually return and be CD for the TA. Marc Walker takes over November 9 in Miami until February 16. (He joins Oct 23 for a 17 day handover)

 

Vision OTS - Steve Davis returned April 6 until August 11.

 

Voyager OTS - Carlos Torres began late-January until late-May. (then who?)

Where is Patricio Honores?

Jerome Sueur has left RCI and is reportedly joining Carnival and getting married soon.

Casey Pelter is now working shoreside for Celebrity as Manager of Entertainment.

Graham Seymour is stepping back from cruise life after July 28, 2017 except for occasional fill-ins. (Graham is filling in on Explorer from Feb 9.)

Rich Edwards has unfortunately passed away in June 2017. RIP Rich.

John Perry has left Royal and is now Operations Manager at Hyatt Hotels (per LinkedIn)

Ken Rush works at corporate in Miami as RCI's Director of Entertainment. He may occasionally fill-in as CD

Amy Fickert-Southgate has taken a job shoreside as of June 8

Luke Aerowsmith is working at the corporate office in London

Gordon Whatman is retired, but will be filling-in from time-to-time if needed.

Allan Brooks works for Celebrity in their corporate office.

Richard Spacey is a CD with Celebrity

Becky Thompson works for Celebrity Cruises in their corporate offices in Miami.

Dave Chapman is a CD with HAL

James Andrews is a real estate agent in Sydney

Leo Papa is a Product Manager at Tauck Corp in Connecticut

Anna Bass is a make-up artist

João Pereira has returned to Royal Caribbean and is now the Cruise Sales Manager on the Liberty of the Seas.

Kirk Detweiler is now CD with Silversea cruises.

Simeon Baker - married a dancer, had a baby girl and is a sales exec at a Porsche dealer in Saskatchewan

Matt Baker - Sim's brother - Has sold the Tiddly and is now a radio presenter.

Kieron Buffrey - CD with Viking River Cruises and recently became a father to a lovely baby boy

Tom Canosa - teaching 6th grade science in North Carolina

Peter Benfield and Johnny Osborne have emigrated to Thailand

Anthony Richards is living in Miami with his wife, and is working for Royal Media Partners as Manager Port Revenue Operations

Rico du Breil is now a CD with SilverSeas out of Italy

Paul Lancaster is no longer with RCI, and resides in England

Abel Jeney is now with The World - Luxury Residence at Sea

Parker Cristan is living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - staging/choreographing for local theater

Ashley Kerr - married and living in Vancouver BC, working as a marketing rep for a PR firm

Karen Maybury - has a consultant/pr/entertainment agency

Jannie Cloete - leading expeditions on small ships

Warren Allen (aka Warren Melhuish) lives in Ontario, Canada. He has retired from ship-life but still works on the stage

Thomas DeCell is no longer with RCI

Leigh Xuereb and his AM Frankie Portera are CD's for Carnival

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Joe12

Joe12

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I am doing a back to back on Anthem December 29

 

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Hopefully he will be regular on AN then. I've seen a few complaints about the regular CD on AN at the moment, so they could be moving him and giving the AN to Chris instead.

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Joe12

Joe12

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Chris is Australian, so could be another Leigh type for the Bayonne market.

 

It's always good to have an international CD. The older ones who act all-American (e.g. John Blair, Dennis) just alienate Brits like myself.

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Joe12

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What percent of RCs cruisers are Brits? Just curious.

 

I don't actually know. You could bank on the sailings from Southampton being about 95% Brits, and probably a fair percentage of Brits make up the guest count on Med cruises.

 

Some do take Caribbean cruises, but my guess is that they are more likely to sail from Port Canaveral, South Florida or possibly New Jersey. When we sailed out of Baltimore on EN, the ship was really catered to the American crowd and was a stark contrast as we had only sailed on UK based ships prior to that.

 

A lot of British CD's work well in the American market, but on the flip side, we rarely get an US CD doing cruises from the UK. Some American CD's seem to cater for everyone (e.g. Abe), but I got the impression from John Blair that he was only interested in the US crowd. A bit too "all American" for me.

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Georgia Syd

Georgia Syd

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My favorite has been Bobby Brown. I don't think I have laughed as hard as I did when he "demonstrated" cake baking with one of the chefs. He was on the repositioning ship from Vancouver to Hawaii. Of course, that was one of our favorite cruises. The enthusiasm and excitement kept building and building until we reached Hawaii. Bobby spoke every time he saw you and once he met you, he called you by name. His wife was sailing with him and they attended events together. Last year we did the opposite..from Hawaii to Vancouver. Each day after we left Hawaii became more and more depressing...and COLD. We had a cruise director that we've had before. I didn't care for him the first time nor the second time. I think his name is Dru, but I know his face when I see it. He was not very friendly at all.

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Joe12

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My favorite has been Bobby Brown. I don't think I have laughed as hard as I did when he "demonstrated" cake baking with one of the chefs. He was on the repositioning ship from Vancouver to Hawaii. Of course, that was one of our favorite cruises. The enthusiasm and excitement kept building and building until we reached Hawaii. Bobby spoke every time he saw you and once he met you, he called you by name. His wife was sailing with him and they attended events together. Last year we did the opposite..from Hawaii to Vancouver. Each day after we left Hawaii became more and more depressing...and COLD. We had a cruise director that we've had before. I didn't care for him the first time nor the second time. I think his name is Dru, but I know his face when I see it. He was not very friendly at all.

 

Funnily enough, Bobby ties for my least favorite CD and I could list a lot of issues that I had when he was CD. I'm not going to bother though. Maybe he works better on a smaller ship.

 

I always love to see people's opinions on CD's - they are very subjective.

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internetwhiz

internetwhiz

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My favorite has been Bobby Brown. I don't think I have laughed as hard as I did when he "demonstrated" cake baking with one of the chefs. He was on the repositioning ship from Vancouver to Hawaii. Of course, that was one of our favorite cruises. The enthusiasm and excitement kept building and building until we reached Hawaii. Bobby spoke every time he saw you and once he met you, he called you by name. His wife was sailing with him and they attended events together. Last year we did the opposite..from Hawaii to Vancouver. Each day after we left Hawaii became more and more depressing...and COLD. We had a cruise director that we've had before. I didn't care for him the first time nor the second time. I think his name is Dru, but I know his face when I see it. He was not very friendly at all.

 

 

Glad to read this. He’s our CD next week. I think we’ve had him before, but I only keep in my mind the best and the rest don’t phase me.

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Joe12

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Glad to read this. He’s our CD next week. I think we’ve had him before, but I only keep in my mind the best and the rest don’t phase me.

 

What ship are you on next week? Bobby Brown is on vacation at the moment.

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