Current Cruise Director (CD) List, starting 12-2021

[PG_Cruiser]

Hi all!   Someone messaged about a "James" taking over on Adventure from Aysy.   Does anyone know him?

[PG_Cruiser]

James Robinson will be taking over on Adventure on October 28th.

 

(Confirmed by Aysy and James himself)

[PG_Cruiser]

13 hours ago, PG_Cruiser said:

James Robinson will be taking over on Adventure on October 28th.

 

(Confirmed by Aysy and James himself)

While doing research on this I had to reach out to Kabir, Aysy, and James. I realized that was Adventure's "past, present, and future"

 

[MrsHFQ]

On 9/26/2023 at 10:37 AM, Mick B said:

Hi,

Years ago, when we first started cruising, we couldn't wait to find out who our CD would be. Back then the Cruise Directors would always be around during the day and then come on stage at night. There used to be so many great CDs and over the years some have left.

Also, back then there were some great CD staff members who I just knew would one day, if they stuck it out, become a CD.

Looking at the recent list it is nice to see that  Aysy has made it to the top. I assume this is the lively blonde girl from Russia who used to be on the Splendour 10 or so years ago out of Venice when Bill Brunkhorst was CD. Met her several times and she always remembered us. Last time was 2016 in Dubai just before the Splendour was sold off.

Also, its nice to see Bill is still around. Can anyone remember his James Bond quiz nights in the Casino where you had to name the singer of a certain bond theme and the prizes were things like Moet champers or vouchers for $90 jewelry - now its things like pens!

Also I see a Tornado Tanya, and wonder if that's Tanya Tongue/Yates who used to be with Clo O'Conner as her Activities Manager. Talking of which, nice to see Clo back on the list. Sadly, I have not been able to catch her since 2015. Anyone who does is in for a good time, you lucky folk.

Nice to Joff Eaton too is still there. Many people have told me that he is the best. Sadly, the only cruise I saw him on was on the Anthem during the Covid restrictions so never had a real good chance to have a chat and he seemed to not be around much. To be fair, during 2021 and 2022 there were so many restrictions and so many staff isolating, that I cannot say any thing bad about CDs and staff during that period. However, today, there should be no excuses.

Did get to chat with Eric Lopez on the Enchantment in May this year and he seems to be a rising star and took part in many activities.

Dennis Charles was on the Anthem back in 2019 out of Bayonne and seemed a nice guy and took part in various activities throughout the day with his staff such water sports in the outdoor pool.

Rob McNally was on the Voyager last year and had a good chat with him, and he was always around doing stuff.

Another CD was Mark from the UK (never knew his surname) and I think he was only a relief CD at the time, but used to be on ships like the Indy and was always out and about during the day and the women loved to stop him for a chat. I think he was a big Carpenter's fan too!

 

What I really like about a CD is when they take part in activities during the day (well sea days) and get to know their passengers and then when they come on stage get a really nice welcome. But sometimes you get a CD who is never seen anywhere other than on TV and then comes on stage and pretends to be like your best friend. 

Other activities where you can see who has what it takes are things like the Love and Marriage game show and The Quest.

 

Back to today, we no longer bother about who the CD will be, we are just happy to get to the port and find the ship is there and we can get on it. It is nice if we recognise a CD and it is also nice if they remember us too. Clo and Bill were 2 CDs where we had gaps of over 5 years and they remembered us. Mind you, we used to take part in many of the daytime activities with them, so that may be how they remember the passenger!

 

Also, 2 CDs I miss are Graham Seymour (somebody scream!) who was CD in the Indy back in 2008 when she was new and I last saw him in 2017 on the Rhapsody out of Venice, but I think he was just doing fill-in roles by then.

The other is Gordon Whatman who used to be on the Liberty back in 2011 and he had a really great singing voice.

 

Happy memories,

BTW I will be on the Jewel doing the TA next April, so we will have to wait and see who we get as CD.

 

Mick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had Joff Eaton on our first 2 cruises and no other CD since has met his high bar for us. He was always around, very personable, great fun. We always watched his morning show in our cabin.

On our cruise this summer we only saw the CD once, very briefly, when she introduced a show. Never saw her around the ship and her morning shows were less than interesting.

[Mick B]

With regard to Cuddy Cudworth

 

We had him as CD on the Navigator back in March 2018 doing Miami to the ABCs for 8 nights.

He always seemed good at what he did and did a good Quest show too!

IIRC he was on our flight back to the UK and said he was going to take over another ship in the Med somewhere.

Never seen him again though!

 

 

[Mick B]

When we met Joff on the Anthem back in September 2021 there were still loads of Covid rules stopping the mixing of staff and guests so that may explain why at the time CDs were not seen around as they were before the pandemic.

 

As for today, do those rules still apply in some way?

Has Covid completely gone?

Will it ever go?

Will CDs or the cruise lines use it as a excuse/reason not to have the CDs mingle with the guests?

 

I used to have a lot of chats with the CDs when they weren't busy as some I had met several times and it was always nice to catch up. I would guess too that some CDs are quite lonely people at times and a chat with an old or new guest would make their day.

 

Also, sometimes the CD was present at the border patrol, sorry, entrance to the diamond lounge overspill or top tier event so you get a chance there too to have a good laugh.

Problem now of course, is there's nothing much happening in the world to laugh about anymore - unless its about the prizes in the schooner bar for winning the quiz!

 

Mick.

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Mick B

[Shamrock Girl]

We are on the second leg of a B2B on Mariner out of Port Canaveral. Last week we went to Bermuda and CocoCay with CD Dan Whitney. This week our itinerary includes CocoCay, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. The new CD as of 10//21 is Cruzin’ Susan.

[DELTABLUE]

ADVENTURE: Aysy Sadrislamova #1055, James Robinson as of 10-28-23 #1052 

ALLURE: Mark Rous on Aug 27 #1055              

ANTHEM: Danny Turner as of 9-21-2023 #1101

BRILLIANCE: Brain Leavitt as of 9-24-23 #1122

ENCHANTMENT: Mey "Hey Mey" Lau as of 9-11-23 #1130

EXPLORER: Tornado Tanya 7-16-23 #931,  Clo O'Connor as of 10-8-23 #1145

FREEDOM: Mickey Martin #1055

GRANDEUR: Talita Leoni as of 5-27-23  #895 until 11-24-23 #1079

HARMONY: Jeff Arpin as of 9-2-23 #1069, Cory Rogers as of 10-29-23 #11-36

ICON: Mike Szwajkowsk CONFIRMED!  #1025

INDEPENDENCE: Bobby Broughton 8-28-23/1-20-24 #1023

JEWEL: Katheryn ‘Kat’ Falcon 7-23-23/Mid November #1027

LIBERTY: Colette Coster 8-24 / 9–2-23 , Mario Isla  9-2-23 #1049

MARINER: “Cruzin” Susan Adams as of 10-21-23 #1157

NAVIGATOR: João Ribeiro # 935, Mark Walker 9-8-23/1-26-24 #1075

OASIS: Katie McCullagh on 5-28 #861, Elvis Pinto on September 24  #1031

ODYSSEY: Ana Ribeiro as of 7-15-23 #967, Ricky Matthews 11-20-23/1-28-24 #1147

OVATION: Steve Knisley as of 9-22-23, then Mike Hunnerup on 12-12-23 #1114

QUANTUM:  John Granthum 8- 21-23 #1035  

RADIANCE: Caroline Peters #1094

RHAPSODY: Michelle Oliveira #907

SERENADE: Ken Jones as of 9-8-23 #1082

SPECTRUM: Bonnie Bai as of 7-27-23, #994

SYMPHONY: Eric Rodas as of 9-10-23 #1085

VISION: Bal Gabor as of 9-9-23 #1084

VOYAGER: Rob McNally as of 9-28-23 #1139

WONDER: Ricky Matthews 7-9/10-1 #881, Chris Brown 10-1-23 #1073

NEW BUILDS: Bobby Brown #1055

*NEW INFO

[robmtx]

I'm trying to fill in the blanks on my tracker (nerd alert) - I have the first name of my Liberty 1/20/19 cruise as "Jeffrey" but no last name. The only other Jeff/Jeffrey I've been able to find via searching is Arpin. 

 

Would anyone know if that would have been the same Jeff/Jeffrey. The only other cross-referencing I've done external to these boards is the archive of cruise planners which also shows only his first name as Jeffrey.

[PG_Cruiser]

4 hours ago, robmtx said:

I'm trying to fill in the blanks on my tracker (nerd alert) - I have the first name of my Liberty 1/20/19 cruise as "Jeffrey" but no last name. The only other Jeff/Jeffrey I've been able to find via searching is Arpin. 

 

Would anyone know if that would have been the same Jeff/Jeffrey. The only other cross-referencing I've done external to these boards is the archive of cruise planners which also shows only his first name as Jeffrey.

Yes, it was Jeff Arpin.  I looked up the old list

[PG_Cruiser]

[TPKeller]

On 10/24/2023 at 11:57 AM, robmtx said:

I'm trying to fill in the blanks on my tracker (nerd alert)

 

Hi Rob, just curious, what's this about?  I'm a bit of a cruise data nerd myself!

 

Theron

 

[robmtx]

3 minutes ago, TPKeller said:

 

Hi Rob, just curious, what's this about?  I'm a bit of a cruise data nerd myself!

 

Theron

 

 

Personal spreadsheet of our cruises that includes a variety of useless information about past sailings, including Captains, CD's, Guest performers, and anomalies (e.g. itinerary changes). It's my version of scrapbooking, but on a spreadsheet.  I also track the ports of call, what ships were in port with us, and the last time we visited a port.  I have some gaps from before I started keeping track at this level.

 

It's more of a hobby, than anything else. I also keep track of pricing, so we can look back at what we really paid for cruises, airfare, hotels, ShoreEx's and other onboard experiences.

 

 

[robmtx]

On 10/24/2023 at 4:13 PM, PG_Cruiser said:

Yes, it was Jeff Arpin.  I looked up the old list

 

Every time I search for the old list my little search fails. Can you put a link to the old here so I can access it? Curious to see a few others I'm missing, but not sure how far back that old post goes. Thanks in advance!

 

[TPKeller]

4 minutes ago, robmtx said:

 

Personal spreadsheet of our cruises that includes a variety of useless information about past

 

Very cool, thanks for the additional info!!

 

I'm also an Excel nerd.  I developed the sheet that Wolfcathorse uses to track Captains.

 

Theron

[DELTABLUE]

I'm off to the sea tomorrow for 12 days on Vision.  Will do any needed updates when I return.  You all play nice while I am away, be careful out there and wash your hands.

[leen50]

5 hours ago, DELTABLUE said:

I'm off to the sea tomorrow for 12 days on Vision.  Will do any needed updates when I return.  You all play nice while I am away, be careful out there and wash your hands.

Have a great trip! Oh, wait! I'm going too! C U at the Schooner Bar 🍺

[ValerieJo]

11 hours ago, DELTABLUE said:

I'm off to the sea tomorrow for 12 days on Vision.  Will do any needed updates when I return.  You all play nice while I am away, be careful out there and wash your hands.

 

Enjoy your cruise.  We're doing 13 day Southern on Vision the beginning of January.  Would love to hear any updates on the ship and who the cruise director might be then.

[PG_Cruiser]

Per Aysy Sadrislamova, she will be taking over on Explorer on November 25th.

[BillOh]

On 10/24/2023 at 11:57 AM, robmtx said:

I'm trying to fill in the blanks on my tracker (nerd alert) - I have the first name of my Liberty 1/20/19 cruise as "Jeffrey" but no last name. The only other Jeff/Jeffrey I've been able to find via searching is Arpin. 

 

Would anyone know if that would have been the same Jeff/Jeffrey. The only other cross-referencing I've done external to these boards is the archive of cruise planners which also shows only his first name as Jeffrey.

Jeff Arpin has been on Liberty quite a bit.  Pre-covid I use to see him at the travel expo here in Columbus, Ohio. I believe he and his wife live here. She was either a travel agent, or a Royal employee in some function.  

[Slainte!]

Joff will be joining Serenade on the 21/11.

Cheers!

[JaneStarr]

On 8/9/2023 at 6:35 AM, Tazzybear14 said:

What ever happened to Graham Seymour!?  Loved Loved that guy!

Just found him on Viking Orion last night!  He retired from Royal after 15+ years. That was before Covid. He then agreed to a temporary gig bringing Viking back from the Covid global suspension. 

 

He’s decided to continue on because small ship sailing reminded him or what he loved about the CD job. (Just paraphrasing what he told me last night. I may have some of the details wrong.)

[PG_Cruiser]

On 11/7/2023 at 4:39 PM, Slainte! said:

Joff will be joining Serenade on the 21/11.

Cheers!

Will he be taking over as the CD on that date or will be waiting until the World Cruise starts before he takes over?

[little britain]

Enchantment -Mey is leaving in Tampa - will try and find out her replacement

[PG_Cruiser]

On 11/11/2023 at 1:31 PM, little britain said:

Enchantment -Mey is leaving in Tampa - will try and find out her replacement

I’m sailing on Enchantment the week after Thanksgiving.  Mey said we’ll still see each other.