How important is the cruise director?

I've seen some reviews and other posts mentioning praise - and critique - of their cruise director. But how important are they when you're deciding what cruise to book? I think I know how people are going to answer, but I'm always open to surprises.

Thank you for your time.

I've seen some reviews and other posts mentioning praise - and critique - of their cruise director. But how important are they when you're deciding what cruise to book? I think I know how people are going to answer, but I'm always open to surprises.

 

Thank you for your time.

My favorite cruise directors are invisible and silent.

I rarely have any idea who will be our CD until we are on board. Some are better than others. However, no CD will ruin our cruise and no CD will make it wonderful

Absolutely none at all.

Desperately important to some. ;)

Basically to those who want to get involved in shipboard stuff. Or like the idea of a "host" though I think of them more as "cheerleaders"

CD is the public top-dog of the entertainment (though I don't know just how much decision-making he/she does), but also fronts many of the more mundane things like announcing disembarkation details. You'll hear him/her on the speaker system, often hosts a morning chat on ship's TV along with the activities organiser, usually acts as compere for the evening shows.

Some are good, some are boring, some are in-your-face, some are soooo repetitive & predictable. I like the efficient ones that don't shout & have a laid-back sense of humour.

I can take 'em or leave 'em, but generally prefer to leave 'em.

JB :)

Cruise director = Ahh SoSo

Hotel director = a little more so

.

While a good C.D. can be of great benefit, I usually book too far in advance to know whom that person might be.

john

I do not book with though of the CD. However, a good CD can make the cruise better. A bad CD really can't torpedo the cruise, but it may not be as much fun.

IMHO

I wouldn't know the CD if I tripped over them! Whether there is one or not...doesn't matter to me.

My favorite cruise directors are invisible and silent.

Exactly! All that I ask is that they stay off of the ship's PA system.

Certainly less important to my enjoyment of a cruise than a competent cabin or dining room steward, obviously less important than cabable deck or engineering officers, hotel or beverage staff: the list goes on. A cheesey one is annoying - a good one is not annoying, but certainly not vital either.

While a good CD can be a real plus and a bad CD can be a big minus, we don't consider the CD when booking a cruise. :)

LuLu

We book a cruise for the itinerary -- not who the CD is, or the captain or hotel director, etc.

I do not book with though of the CD. However, a good CD can make the cruise better. A bad CD really can't torpedo the cruise, but it may not be as much fun.

 

IMHO

Pretty accurate, I would only add a cd can set the mood on a cruise with a positive but not overbearing attitude or a sour/somber disinterested air. We've had both. A lot depends on the cruisers personal likes/ dislikes.

To me of no importance at all, but I do not need entertaining.

Absolutely irrelevant! They introduce acts at shows, tell you where to shop at the port shopping talks (so they can get their cut) and that's the extent of what I've ever seen them.

My favorite cruise directors are invisible and silent.

I have found that the CD has absolutely no effect on how good a cruise I have. The cruises that weren't as good as they could have been were either due to shoddy service in the MDR or due to the fact that the ships' excursions returned to the ship very late, several hours after the ship was supposed to set sail, and the MDRs were already closed. (This took place on two cruises.) I do not consider either circumstance to be the fault of the CDs.

However, a good CD can make the cruise better.

I respectfully disagree, because although, as I said, the above doings were not the fault of the CDs, I don't know what they could have done to make things better.

For some reason I am unable to vote in the poll from my iPad. The CD makes little difference to me and I have never been on a cruise that the CD made a huge difference in my enjoyment of the cruise. I certainly would not let the CD be the deciding factor in booking/not booking a cruise.

Although some are definitely more annoying than others, I could care less who the CD is. I've never understood folks who buy into the "rock star" status that some CDs confer upon themselves. :rolleyes:

These days, most entertainment is driven by the corporate entertainment people not on the ship. I'd imagine the CD coordinates the staff and is the "face" and "voice" of the ship. I am more interested in getting good cabin service and having decent dining choices than who the CD is. Some folks enjoy being near the CD and participate in amateur talent shows and game shows on the ship. To them, I'm sure the CD is important.

Do not care 1 bit.

If a ship I was on didn't have a CD I probably wouldn't notice. Likewise I wouldn't notice if they had 10.

my favorite cruise directors are invisible and silent.

like! :)

Actually I couldn't select one of the options. We don't make our decision based on who the cruise director is because we probably won't know who it'll be until closer to the cruise. Usually Princess switches them around quite a bit or your favorite may be on the ship you book but happens to be on vacation when you board.

But definitely for me, I'm into the activities and entertainment. We've had excellent CDs and meh types. I like the CD to have the newsletter out the night before so I can thinking about what to look forward to. I've heard there's a CD who is often late (not getting it out til the next morning) and this is something several people have mentioned on CC. I also don't care for a CD who feels that it's necessary to use the PA to announce the latest "last chance bingo match" or "last chance art auction." If these activities were important to me (and I think you would have to pay me to be in the same room as either one), I would have read it already.

Rock Star status?

Perhaps some are a legend in their own mind however we do not care for any of them. A few are tolerable, many are simply a PIA. They have one thing in common with cruise ship comedians....infantile jokes.