John Heald and the Washy Washy Guy

[cleobella]

I think cruising glory days may be behind us.  I'm not that old but have been cruising for almost 25 years now and there have been so many subtle and not so subtle changes to cruising over the years.  Our recent cruises have been a bit less fun and definitely more focused on the upsell.  A couple of people come to mind who made cruising just a hoot.  While the newer staff and Cruise Directors are all pleasant and I'm sure work really hard, they do not match the experience that some of the veterans provided. They seem to tell you that you are having fun, but lack the ability create fun and be entertaining themselves.   A couple who come to mind are : John Heald (Carnival) and the Washy Washy guy (I think NCL, but maybe Carnival, sorry I can not remember his actual name).  John was a super funny and energetic Cruise Director who went beyond just introducing and updating cruisers at the show to providing hilarious commentary after the  shows, interacting with cruisers,  and providing super fun, and  silly,  games that put everyone in a good mood. I think he retired but is still somehow connected to Carnival.  The Washy Washy guy was the fellow who met everyone at the entrance to the  buffet with a funny and cheerful request to "washy washy" your hands.  No one turned him down because he was so fun and this must have been better for germ management. Now there are automatic  dispensers and sometimes a quiet person offering hand gel as you go in, but they are not usually so engaging, so they get ignored.   I feel that if cruise lines could just replicate these two people then cruising would be so much more fun!

[Honolulu Blue]

On 6/25/2024 at 3:24 PM, cleobella said:

I think cruising glory days may be behind us.  I'm not that old but have been cruising for almost 25 years now and there have been so many subtle and not so subtle changes to cruising over the years.  Our recent cruises have been a bit less fun and definitely more focused on the upsell.  A couple of people come to mind who made cruising just a hoot.  While the newer staff and Cruise Directors are all pleasant and I'm sure work really hard, they do not match the experience that some of the veterans provided. They seem to tell you that you are having fun, but lack the ability create fun and be entertaining themselves.   A couple who come to mind are : John Heald (Carnival) and the Washy Washy guy (I think NCL, but maybe Carnival, sorry I can not remember his actual name).  John was a super funny and energetic Cruise Director who went beyond just introducing and updating cruisers at the show to providing hilarious commentary after the  shows, interacting with cruisers,  and providing super fun, and  silly,  games that put everyone in a good mood. I think he retired but is still somehow connected to Carnival.  The Washy Washy guy was the fellow who met everyone at the entrance to the  buffet with a funny and cheerful request to "washy washy" your hands.  No one turned him down because he was so fun and this must have been better for germ management. Now there are automatic  dispensers and sometimes a quiet person offering hand gel as you go in, but they are not usually so engaging, so they get ignored.   I feel that if cruise lines could just replicate these two people then cruising would be so much more fun!

John Heald is no longer a cruise director (though he sometimes acts like one) and is now Carnival's Brand Ambassador.  He answers questions from the commoners on his FB page and passes along information from corporate HQ as appropriate.  

 

I've sailed with about a dozen Carnival cruise directors through the years.  They've all been good in their own ways.  Most have been perky, many were all around the ship and easy to interact with, and some have been fun and/or energetic.  There are limits to what they can do these days because cruising has changed and cruisers have changed.  The cruise directors on the lines other than Carnival I have found to be lower profile, but that's generally all right with me.

 

As for the Washy Washy guy, his scions live on at Royal, where I'm constantly accosted (to a greater or lesser degree) when I go up to the trough.