Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Who's your favorite Holland America cruise director?

loveandcruises

By loveandcruises,
in Holland America Line

 Share

Recommended Posts

pipedreams62

pipedreams62

Posted
Posted

That was Gary on The Volendam almost 7 years ago. The others don't even come close. I coudn't even give you the names of the other cruise directors on my other nine cruises.

 

Then again,I simply don't have my act together. I don't even know the name of my beverage manager on my cruise in 2014.:rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
peaches from georgia

peaches from georgia

Posted
Posted
That was Gary on The Volendam almost 7 years ago. The others don't even come close. I coudn't even give you the names of the other cruise directors on my other nine cruises.

 

Then again,I simply don't have my act together. I don't even know the name of my beverage manager on my cruise in 2014.:rolleyes:

So funny. I totally agree. The only CD who I remember was also Gary and I think it was the Volendam a number of years ago. We met him at a party and enjoyed him socially. Rarely if ever do we interact at all with CD's in their job capacity, so they are not important to our enjoyment of a cruise. To each his own on the importance of knowing the ship's officers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RlrCstr

RlrCstr

Posted
Posted
Yes, but if they are really good, or REALLY bad, they stand out.

 

I agree with that statement 100%

 

Best: Susan, Shane, Michael

 

Worst (could actually make me cancel a cruise rather than be on a ship with him again): Drew

Link to comment
Share on other sites
peaches from georgia

peaches from georgia

Posted
Posted
Yes, but if they are really good, or REALLY bad, they stand out.

They stand out depending on the ship's activities in which you participate. Many people don't play games, do pool activities, or go to the show lounge and lead a relatively quiet life on the ship with just themselves or family and friends- having dinner, enjoying a drink in a lounge, reading or resting on their balcony or the Prom Deck, etc. There have been cruises that when we got off I wouldn't have recognized the CD, known his/her name, or had any idea if they were really good or really bad. Yet we had a fabulous time as always. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kakalina

kakalina

Posted
Posted

My personal all time favorite was John Challenger, but alas he is no longer with HAL. I would have to give a close second to Susan Woods and third to Doug Dunnell.

 

Worst ever was named Drew and I wasn't all that fond of Michelle Worthley either. But the CD doesn't make or break a cruise. However a truly bad one can make the cruise much less enjoyable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen

Posted
Posted
They stand out depending on the ship's activities in which you participate.
The last day on the cruise with Shane Michaels I was SO glad I was disembarking (first time ever) so I wouldn't need to hear his voice anymore over the PA. No way around that. If I discovered he was the CD on a cruise we'd planned, I'd change if I could. The idiot actually encouraged children to run around the ship. After all, they were on vacation.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Copper10-8 "Live from...." Rare

Copper10-8

Posted
Posted
That was Gary on The Volendam almost 7 years ago. The others don't even come close. I coudn't even give you the names of the other cruise directors on my other nine cruises.

 

Then again,I simply don't have my act together. I don't even know the name of my beverage manager on my cruise in 2014.:rolleyes:

 

Must be talking about Gary Walker, kinda short guy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pipedreams62

pipedreams62

Posted
Posted (edited)
They stand out depending on the ship's activities in which you participate. Many people don't play games, do pool activities, or go to the show lounge and lead a relatively quiet life on the ship with just themselves or family and friends- having dinner, enjoying a drink in a lounge, reading or resting on their balcony or the Prom Deck, etc. There have been cruises that when we got off I wouldn't have recognized the CD, known his/her name, or had any idea if they were really good or really bad. Yet we had a fabulous time as always. ;)

 

 

I've never done a single ship activity ie bingo,trivia,dam dollars,building a ship. I was thinking the other day "What Do I Actually Do On The Ship?"

 

Don't know don't care. I only know I want to keep doing it:D

Edited by pipedreams62
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cartervan

cartervan

Posted
Posted

I can't believe no one has mentioned Corey Moore yet. He was on the Noordam transatlantic in April, but he was set to go on vacation as of May 1, so I don't know where he is now. But anyway--he set the right balance of energy and enthusiasm with laid-back sincerity. He was up before anyone (me, anyway) every morning, and out promoting late-night activities every night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HeatherInFlorida

HeatherInFlorida

Posted
Posted

I've never cruised with Susan Woods and if she's that amazing it might change the following statement, but the truth is I don't remember the names of any of our CD's (except Peter on the Prinsendam who I really adored, but don't even remember his last name:o).

 

The Officers are generally unimportant to me and have no effect on our overall enjoyment. For us it's all about the people we meet and we've met a ton of amazing people on our HAL cruises especially.

 

Also, the crew make a difference. If a CD is extremely approachable and friendly (like Peter), that does make a difference. But otherwise it really doesn't matter to us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Copper10-8 "Live from...." Rare

Copper10-8

Posted
Posted
I've never cruised with Susan Woods and if she's that amazing it might change the following statement, but the truth is I don't remember the names of any of our CD's (except Peter on the Prinsendam who I really adored, but don't even remember his last name:o).

 

The Officers are generally unimportant to me and have no effect on our overall enjoyment. For us it's all about the people we meet and we've met a ton of amazing people on our HAL cruises especially.

 

Also, the crew make a difference. If a CD is extremely approachable and friendly (like Peter), that does make a difference. But otherwise it really doesn't matter to us.

 

Peter, actually Pieter (he's Dutch) Daems

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ToBe

ToBe

Posted
Posted
Jason Verneer ---

He was horrid!!!!!!!! Thankfully, he rarely appeared. He did like to talk on the ship microphone and on stage repeat the same jokes or attempted jokes. Snide and rude best describe him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
rkacruiser

rkacruiser

Posted
Posted (edited)

The Volendam's Asia Pacific Cruise Director Gary Walker is my #1. Captain Harris and he helped to make that cruise a truly special cruise!

 

Susan Wood is my #2. And a new #3 is Corey Moore who was the CD on the Noordam in March. He is, I think, new to the position but did an excellent job and has much potential. I was comparing him with the CD on Carnival Freedom, Todd Wittmar, whom I had just experienced the week before and who was also excellent in what he did. Corey nearly matched Todd, I thought, and I am sure Todd has had much more experience than Corey.

Edited by rkacruiser
Link to comment
Share on other sites
innlady1

innlady1

Posted
Posted
I can't believe no one has mentioned Corey Moore yet. He was on the Noordam transatlantic in April, but he was set to go on vacation as of May 1, so I don't know where he is now. But anyway--he set the right balance of energy and enthusiasm with laid-back sincerity. He was up before anyone (me, anyway) every morning, and out promoting late-night activities every night.

 

I thought Corey Moore was good. Prior to that, we've had Jason Venner and Drew Murdoch. Can't remember the 3rd one.

 

From all the rave reviews of Susan Wood, I'd love to cruise with her as CD!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted
Kinda surprised no one has mentioned Bruce Alan Scudder, former musical director on HAL, turned cruise director. Been on several of the long voyages

I like him very much as music director, but have never sailed with him as CD. Does he do any cruises other than the long voyages?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...