cruise director

[dylan]

Hi Has anyone sailed with the cruise director Omar Luca. If so How did you like him Carol

[Hobbster]

Hi Has anyone sailed with the cruise director Omar Luca. If so How did you like him Carol

 

Bump cause I am curious too, how is Omar.

And how long will he be on the Golden?

[custompcsys]

Sailed with Omar as CD on the Diamond last summer to Alaska. He did a great job and was very personable. Wouldn't mind sailing with him as CD again anytime! :)

[sharpie13]

Sailed with Omar as CD on the Diamond last summer to Alaska. He did a great job and was very personable. Wouldn't mind sailing with him as CD again anytime! :)

 

I'm glad you had a good experience with Omar the Invisible CD on the Diamond last year; he was absolutely terrible on our cruise. We never saw or heard from him, only his minions. My only thoughts were that he was perhaps ill that week and too proud to inform his neglected guest. Still I'm glad to hear he improved his act...or maybe Princess actually reads the guest surveys and the captain gave him a good kick in the pants:eek:

[BaumD]

Check out this thread, looks like a lot of us don't like Omar!!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=354074

[vanessa_steve]

How do you find out who the cruise director is? We are traveling on the Sun Princess July 2-9, 2006.

 

-Vanessa

[bdjam]

I'm glad you had a good experience with Omar the Invisible CD on the Diamond last year; he was absolutely terrible on our cruise. We never saw or heard from him, only his minions. My only thoughts were that he was perhaps ill that week and too proud to inform his neglected guest. Still I'm glad to hear he improved his act...or maybe Princess actually reads the guest surveys and the captain gave him a good kick in the pants:eek:

I’m not quite sure why a good Cruise Director is equated with being visible. Does anyone really understand the breadth of responsibility the Cruise Director has? He or she is responsible for all the entertainment on board (that includes any thing going on in the theaters and/or lounges, on deck, in the atrium...), scheduling all of the events on board, even coordinating the Baked Alaska parade. Then they do their own events as well as cocktail parties and Champagne waterfalls. Then they must supervise all of the employees who directly report to them (which is anyone who has anything to do with entertainment and the Cruise Staff), including creating performance evaluations, making recommendations as to promotions, even ensuring cabin accomodations are appropriate. The fact that the entertainment portion of a cruise goes off smoothly is a testament to what the Cruise Director does behind the scenes. Just because they aren’t out pressing the flesh doesn’t mean they’re not functioning appropriately and efficiently - in fact they probably don't have time to stop by and say "hello." Being visible is what the “minions” are for – and as they move up the ladder and get more and more responsibility, they’ll disappear too.

That's one of the drawbacks of mass-market, low cost, high density cruising - the personal touch isn't there like it used to be. The bigger the ship, the more lounges, the more entertainment venues, the more the Cruise Director is responsible for. That’s why they may not be seen hanging around on the Grand Class ships.

[joanne1]

I have never encountered Omar so I can't comment on that but bdjam had some great points, and he is absolutely correct.

[cruzinchris]

... bdjam had some great points, and he is absolutely correct.

 

I agree. Brian has pointed out that whether or not passengers "rub elbows" with the CD, when we enjoy the many available shipboard performances/shows, Bingo, Trivia, art auctions, pool games, game shows like Jeopardy!, Pictionary, Family Feud, etc., Scholarship at Sea, dance lessons, Island Night, Country & Western Night - get my drift, here ;) - we know that the CD has done his job and has provided the necessary leadership and motivation to his staff who oversee the wide variety of shipboard entertainment and activities.

 

If I happen to see the Cruise Director somewhere around the ship, I am much more likely to tell him that I'm having a great time rather than telling him that I'm glad to see him out and about! jmo

 

Bon Voyage!

Chris

[bdjam]

I agree. Brian has pointed out that whether or not passengers "rub elbows" with the CD, when we enjoy the many available shipboard performances/shows, Bingo, Trivia, art auctions, pool games, game shows like Jeopardy!, Pictionary, Family Feud, etc., Scholarship at Sea, dance lessons, Island Night, Country & Western Night - get my drift, here ;) - we know that the CD has done his job and has provided the necessary leadership and motivation to his staff who oversee the wide variety of shipboard entertainment and activities.

Thanks joanne and chris…and I forgot about all those activities. Don’t forget karaoke!

[custompcsys]

bdjam's point is exactly why I said he was a good CD and I would sail with him anytime. Everything ran well and came off with seemingly very little effort. When we couldn't make Victoria on the last night of our cruise because of high winds, he even threw together an impromptu variety show that was a nice surprise. I ran into him that evening after the show in the Wheelhouse Bar and told him what a nice job he did putting that together...he stopped for a minute and chatted and was very personable. I was kind of surprised by all the negative comments on the other thread. To each their own I guess :)

[Host Caroline]

Omar was CD on our Alaska cruise last June 4 and we found him to be very personable and very busy!! We were at his table at the Captain's Lunch and IMHO the "bad rap" he gets may be because he takes his job very seriously and runs a rather "tight ship" I believe with the staff, i.e., wants things to go off as planned and when planned. The cruise staff we talked to love working with him...