Cruise Directors

[BellaSweet]

I'm not a big cruiser..we have our 3rd one scheduled for June 30th. For the past 2 cruises, I've gone the entire cruise and didn't know who the cruise director was. I keep seeing people here posting about how so-and-so is such a great cruise director..and they just loved him/her. Or asking who's the director on which ships..  It seems like some of them have fan clubs. I've had no reason to interact with them, I just don't understand what I'm missing? Should I seek him/her out? What is their purpose?

 

Thanks..

 

 

[xbatt8]

Just depends on you. If you get involved in the many activities on board, then chances are that you will see, and likely meet the Cruise Director. But if you don’t go to the deck parties, shows in the theaters, or activities in the atrium, your only exposure will probably be the announcements over the intercom...

 

CDs won’t make or break a cruise for me, but some are more fun, more engaging, more hands on than others. Some, such as Lee Mason and Mike Pack have a Facebook page where you can follow them. Lee Mason also has a YouTube channel where he regularly posts videos from his sailings. On that channel, he also videos tours of his ship, posts self help videos for new cruisers, and lots of other information. Many of them also do a morning talk show which you can see on your cabin TV or see in person.

 

On your next cruise, make it a point to go join in some of the deck and atrium parties, or go see the welcome aboard show, or just ask a fun squad member to meet the CD. They are generally very friendly and accommodating. 

 

Bob

Edited May 14, 2019 by xbatt8
Additional info

[BellaSweet]

31 minutes ago, xbatt8 said:

Just depends on you. If you get involved in the many activities on board, then chances are that you will see, and likely meet the Cruise Director. But if you don’t go to the deck parties, shows in the theaters, or activities in the atrium, your only exposure will probably be the announcements over the intercom...

 

CDs won’t make or break a cruise for me, but some are more fun, more engaging, more hands on than others. Some, such as Lee Mason and Mike Pack have a Facebook page where you can follow them. Lee Mason also has a YouTube channel where he regularly posts videos from his sailings. On that channel, he also videos tours of his ship, posts self help videos for new cruisers, and lots of other information. Many of them also do a morning talk show which you can see on your cabin TV or see in person.

 

On your next cruise, make it a point to go join in some of the deck and atrium parties, or go see the welcome aboard show, or just ask a fun squad member to meet the CD. They are generally very friendly and accommodating. 

 

Bob

Thank you for posting your experience with them. We really haven't gone to many shows and such.. We usually hit up the late comedy shows. 

[stobe1]

I have never much cared who the CD was. They don't make or break my cruise whatsoever. We cruise to eat, drink and relax. The CD doesn't affect us one way or another.

[mikayla73]

I think it depends on what kind of cruiser you are. Are you at all the shows/parties and go to all the ship activities, then the type of CD may matter. Their energy can be infectious and amp up the fun. 

 

But if you are a relax/quiet time kind of cruiser, you'll likely have less interaction with them and whether or not they are energetic and fun at the shows, parties, and other activities won't matter.

 

We are in the middle, we enjoy some shows and parties, but don't go to all of them. So for us a good CD can enhance the cruise, but if they aren't great there's little affect on our fun and enjoyment of the cruise.

[xDisconnections]

3 hours ago, BellaSweet said:

It seems like some of them have fan clubs. I've had no reason to interact with them, I just don't understand what I'm missing?

 

 

Some of them have huge fan clubs, such as Heald’s KAN and Matt Mitcham’s Instagram. Not sure why people care so much about the cruise director... some of them just like to hear themselves speak on the PA system.

[TNcruising02]

I never paid any attention to the cruise directors until I had Matt Mitcham on a Vista cruise.  Wow.  It was like comparing hamburger to steak.  I didn't realize the difference a good cruise director could make in the overall vibe of a cruise.  He was so funny and involved.  He was everywhere the entire cruise, even at the adult comedy shows.  He was constantly interacting with passengers.  When he spoke, he made a lot of jokes and was very entertaining.  His personality is so upbeat and he appears to really enjoy what he is doing.

I never realized a cruise director could be so entertaining.  Anyway, now that I know what it's like, the others have paled in comparison.  Hopefully, I will get to experience another one as good as Matt.

[GradUT]

I never cared one way or the other about cruise directors until we sailed on the Pride last fall with Dr. E as our CD.  He was hilarious and did the best shows in the atrium in the evenings.  

 

I see  that we have the oft-recommended Lee Mason as the CD on our next cruise but I don't see how he could top Dr. E.  

Edited May 15, 2019 by GradUT

[mscreneet]

I never ever knew who the cruise director was on any of the ships that weve sailed until a few years ago on the Magic. We had Rev Dr E and he was awesome. That was our  first experience of truly enjoying a cruise directly. since that time weve only had 1 other that was great "Kendall Fire" 

They don't make or break the cruise for me but a good one can make it much more fun

[waterwatcher]

I agree about Dr E.  He is awesome!

[PhillyFan33579]

On 5/14/2019 at 8:38 PM, GradUT said:

I never cared one way or the other about cruise directors until we sailed on the Pride last fall with Dr. E as our CD.  He was hilarious and did the best shows in the atrium in the evenings.  

 

I see  that we have the oft-recommended Lee Mason as the CD on our next cruise but I don't see how he could top Dr. E.  

 

I know favorite CDs is subjective, but Dr E isn’t in my top 5 of Carnival CDs. However, I do think he does the best job during the safety briefing. 

[rascaldog]

I agree it depends on what you are looking for.  But I will say if you happen to be on a cruise that has an exceptional CD, like Matt Mitcham it will forever change your opinion on CD's.  Matt is the best, very genuine, funny and an all around good person.  He is very visible around the ship, works very hard with long hours, and always has a happy face.  He will interact with everyone he encounters.  I truly believe that he really loves his job.  It shows.

[BellaSweet]

Thank you all for giving your perspective on CD's..  I really do think my lack of knowledge on them is because we tend to keep to ourselves when we cruise. We don't attend many shows and such.

[sunonfire]

I just found out that Frankie Portera is going to be our cruise director on the Carnival  Legend January 2020. He was our cruise director on the Miracle this past November. What were the odds of that? We liked him.

[watermelonqueen99]

Never thought the CD mattered much until we sailed with Dr. E on the Magic. He's hilarious and really made that cruise more fun.

[Markmom18]

When our son joined the Fun Squad 3 years ago, I became more aware of the Cruise Director (through Marky Marks eyes).  Till then I really couldn't recall any except Dr. E. 😁😁!!  

 

 Have to say the last ship I was on with our son ( the DREAM in April) HAS one of the kindest & nicest man. Cruise Director Gary Blair. 👌🏼🙂🙂👌🏼!! 

 

🌸🌸. Bobbi

Edited May 17, 2019 by Markmom18

[PhillyFan33579]

6 hours ago, sunonfire said:

I just found out that Frankie Portera is going to be our cruise director on the Carnival  Legend January 2020. He was our cruise director on the Miracle this past November. What were the odds of that? We liked him.

 

Odds are really good because he likes being home based in Tampa. He volunteered for Miracle when it came to Tampa and he volunteered for Legend when he found out Legend would be replacing Miracle in Tampa. 

[plum24]

Here's a story about why some CDs are more popular, and also what they do behind the scenes: https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=3675

[Momto8]

On 5/16/2019 at 4:16 PM, sunonfire said:

I just found out that Frankie Portera is going to be our cruise director on the Carnival  Legend January 2020. He was our cruise director on the Miracle this past November. What were the odds of that? We liked him.

Hey! I'm going on the Legend in January. Sailing on the 5th. Hope you have a wonderful time!

[MalleyCat]

On 5/14/2019 at 7:34 PM, TNcruising02 said:

I never paid any attention to the cruise directors until I had Matt Mitcham on a Vista cruise.  Wow.  It was like comparing hamburger to steak.  I didn't realize the difference a good cruise director could make in the overall vibe of a cruise.  He was so funny and involved.  He was everywhere the entire cruise, even at the adult comedy shows.  He was constantly interacting with passengers.  When he spoke, he made a lot of jokes and was very entertaining.  His personality is so upbeat and he appears to really enjoy what he is doing.

I never realized a cruise director could be so entertaining.  Anyway, now that I know what it's like, the others have paled in comparison.  Hopefully, I will get to experience another one as good as Matt.

I totally agree. He was our 11th Carnival CD and I never paid attention to them before Matt. I'll admit to not paying attention to those since him. He made everything fun.

Edited June 21, 2019 by MalleyCat

[Bhern05]

I never set much store by the CD either, until we had Mike Pack on the Horizon. I can honestly say I don't think some of the activities would be as fun without him. The 80s and 90s music trivia in the atrium was SO FUN. Like previous people have said, if you do activities around the ship - they make a difference. If you kind of stick to yourself, then you probably won't even know what you're missing.

[JMKreno]

On 5/14/2019 at 4:34 PM, TNcruising02 said:

I never paid any attention to the cruise directors until I had Matt Mitcham on a Vista cruise.  Wow.  It was like comparing hamburger to steak.  I didn't realize the difference a good cruise director could make in the overall vibe of a cruise.  He was so funny and involved.  He was everywhere the entire cruise, even at the adult comedy shows.  He was constantly interacting with passengers.  When he spoke, he made a lot of jokes and was very entertaining.  His personality is so upbeat and he appears to really enjoy what he is doing.

I never realized a cruise director could be so entertaining.  Anyway, now that I know what it's like, the others have paled in comparison.  Hopefully, I will get to experience another one as good as Matt.

 

Completely agree on this about Matt on our Vista cruise in 2016. WE had NEVER really noticed our cruise directors before, but wow indeed. He was everywhere (and we didn't do many events), all the time, and genuinely tried to make sure you had a good time. I am bummed to find out he will be on a short break in October from the Vista when we will be on again. While not having him won't ruin the cruise, he was pretty fantastic and I get the hype that a GOOD cruise director can do.