ken3028

Can anyone confirm if Carlos is back on Empress, and if Elvis has moved over to Enchantment yet?

I'm friends with Carlos on FB, he's on Harmony this week still on vacation , I believe he'll be back to Empress next week. I'll update if I hear more.

Update from Elvis: he will be on Empress until the 21st, when Carlos returns and Elvis moves down the terminal row to Enchantment

Donna - off Empress this morning, Carlos Torres is on his last sailing before a 6 week vacation, this is turnover cruise to Elvis Pinto.

What was the Empress' original itinerary being that they were in Nassau yesterday

We're on Empress, our original itinerary was Coco Cay on Friday, which we made, yesterday was supposed to be a sea day but we were in Nassau. Sunday was supposed to be Key West, it's now a sea day. We're going maybe 5 knots right now, don't know where we are because the position map is not on the TV

Donna - based on a post from Simona's FB page, she's back on Majesty.

While Pullmantur did start sailing out of Havana in 2004, those cruises ceased immediately following Royal Caribbean Ltd.'s purchase of Pullmantur in 2006.

 

Cuba's push into opening up tourism had been slowed by Venezuelan and Chinese investment, but that influence seems to be waning.

 

I think the greatest influence on RCI's movement on the Cuba front was the announcement that MSC would be operating year-round out of Havana.

It has been my understanding that companies who had their headquarters in the US could not easily do business with Cuba under the Embargo, which would explain why when Royal purchased Pullmantur in 2006 the sailings to Cuba ceased. There were specific exceptions, none of which would have applied to a cruise line, from what I read in an article from the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/19/business/us-businesses-assess-cuba.html?_r=0

In the article I did find it interesting to read that for tourists who will want to go to Cuba and stay in a 5 star hotel that experience may be 10 years away.....but floating hotels like cruise ships could certainly fill that gap, especially if they do an overnight stay.

Time will tell of course.

Adventure OTS - Mercedes Lafuente started Nov 7 until March 5 or 12, then Dan Whitney (need exact handover date)

 

Allure OTS - Luke Aerowsmith November 15 until February 21, then Dru Pavlov (Dru will be boarding on Feb 7 for a 2 week handover)

 

Anthem OTS - Abe Hughes December 12 until March 7 or March 19 exact date,? then who? (Dru Pavlov said that he expects to have a few contracts on Anthem in 2016 but does not have the exact dates yet - he is currently filling-in on Allure. Leigh Xuereb may also be assigned to Anthem in the future (June through Sept?))

 

Brilliance OTS - Tim Connor November 30 until March 26, then Ricky Matthews begins March 26 for 2 months, then Jerome Sueur for the summer sailings out of Barcelona (May 14 through October 17), then Clo O'Connor for the transatlantic back to Tampa (dates need confirming)

 

Empress OTS - Carlos Torres will be the CD beginning March 30

 

Enchantment OTS - Marc Walker January 22 until the ship moves to Miami on May 3, then Rich Edwards

 

Explorer OTS - Ken Jones January 28 until March 30. Graham Seymour returns from his break March 30 until July 29.

 

Freedom OTS - John Perry January 24 until late-May (is this John's new regular assignment?)

 

Grandeur OTS - Paul Rutter November 11 through mid-March (need exact handover date?), then John Blair mid-March until July 16, then Paul Rutter returns July 16 through Sept 15

 

Harmony OTS - Ken Rush until the ship reaches Barcelona on June 5, then a yet-to-be-named CD will take over from June 5 through October 23. Ken will return Oct 23 to take the ship to Florida and will be on her through the New Year.

 

Independence OTS - Leigh Xuereb November 21 until late March (exact date? then who?) (Joff Eaton will be the CD for some of the UK season beginning in early-June- exact dates of his contract need confirming)

 

Jewel OTS - Dennis Charles January 24 (until when? Then who?) (The Blairs have been reassigned to another ship)

 

Legend OTS - Keith Williams February 18 (for 4 months?)

 

Liberty OTS - Amy Fickert-Southgate December 6 until early-April. (Jeff Arpin is covering Feb 7 until Feb 21 while Amy attends classes) Amy should be back onboard at the beginning of June until the end of September

 

Majesty OTS - Simona Ferraiuolo January 15 until February 22, then Rich Edwards February 22 until the ship goes into drydock May 3. Marc Walker reports to drydock May 3 and will take out the ship from Port Canaveral beginning May 16 until June 26. He will return on August 27 for 8 weeks onboard alternating with 16 weeks break.

 

Mariner OTS - Fang Lixin started October 29 until Feb 9 or 14, then Dan Whitney Feb 9 or 14 until March 4 (then who?)

 

Navigator OTS - Jerome Sueur November 10 until March 13, then Jeff Arpin March 13 until late-May/early-June, then Tim Connor late-May/early June for the summer season (exact dates?).

 

Oasis OTS - Drew Devine January 23 for until late May

 

Ovation OTS - Joff Eaton March until the end of May 2016, then Gordon Whatman (exact dates?)

 

Quantum OTS - Jimmy Rhodes January 23 for until late May

 

Radiance OTS - Steve Davis January 31 for until late-May

 

Rhapsody OTS - Michelle Pimentinha Oliveira November 19 until April 20, then Jerome Sueur begins April 20 (until when?).

 

Serenade OTS - Topi Ylonen from Jan 25 until March 18, then Carly Boileau March 18 through the TA to Copenhagen (May 15), then Topi Ylonen returns for the European Season through the TA to Boston (May 15 through September 13) then Carly Boileau for the Canadian Season (September 13 through October 30 or November 11)

 

Splendour OTS - Bill Brunkhorst November 14 until March 21, then then Simona Ferraiuolo March 21 until the ship leaves the fleet on April 20

 

Vision OTS - Rob McNally November 14 until mid-March (then who?) Bill Brunkhorst thinks he will be assigned to Vision after his break beginning in mid-May.

 

Voyager OTS -Mitch Merucci beginning October 22 until February 28, then Chris Brown

 

Ken Rush works behind the scenes on the new ships, helping to provide smooth take-outs. In between, he works with the new builds at the shipyard, and he fills in on the larger/newer ships as CD during the regular CD's break

Gordon Whatman is retired, but will be filling-in from time-to-time if needed (see Ovation - May 2016)

Allan Brooks works for Celebrity in their corporate office.

Richard Spacey is a CD with Celebrity

Becky Thompson works for Celebrity Cruises in their corporate offices in Miami.

Dave Chapman is a CD with HAL

James Andrews is a real estate agent in Sydney

Mike Szwajkowski is a Canadian Mountie

Leo Papa at Cornell University working on a Master's degree in Hospitality Administration/Management

Anna Bass is now Client Services Manager at ISS London

Abe Hughes is Director of Port Revenue Operations at Royal Media Partners and sometimes works onboard as fill-in CD or Port and Shopping guide

João Pereira is studying Portuguese/English education and translation at Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas in Brazil

Kirk Detweiler is now CD with Silversea cruises.

Simeon Baker - married a dancer, had a baby girl and is a sales exec at a Porsche dealer in Saskatchewan

Matt Baker - Sim's brother - recently married and living in Wales. They bought a pub called the Tiddley

Kieron Buffrey - CD with Holland America

Tom Canosa - teaching 6th grade science in North Carolina

Peter Benfield and Johnny Osborne have emigrated to Thailand

Anthony Richards is living in Miami with his wife, and is working for Royal Media Partners as Manager Port Revenue Operations

Rico du Breil is now a travel & show consultant in Canada

Paul Lancaster is no longer with RCI, and resides in England

Abel Jeney is Customer Service & People Manager at Momentum Services Ltd

Parker Cristan is living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - staging/choreographing for local theater

Ashley Kerr - married and living in Vancouver BC, working as a marketing rep for a PR firm

Karen Maybury - has a consultant/pr/entertainment agency

Jannie Cloete - leading expeditions on small ships

Warren Allen (aka Warren Melhuish) lives in Ontario, Canada. He has retired from ship-life but still works on the stage

Thomas DeCell is no longer with RCI

We were speaking to Simona last evening, she said she'll be on Majesty thru Feb. 29th with Rich Edwards coming on board on the 22nd for handover. She also said she'll be on Jewel sometime after its dry dock for the European sailings, she didn't have exact dates yet.

Has anyone heard from Elvis Pinto lately? We enjoyed him quite a bit as Activities director back in 2014,and heard shortly after that cruise that he was to be promoted to CD I believe his residence is in San Juan.

Elvis is still doing duty as AM on Vision.

We just got off Serenade today and bobby didn't mention leaving. So sorry I didn't ask directly.

A friend of mine boarded Serenade today and posted the 'who's who' sheet, Topi is listed as the CD.

What is Mitch Marucci like?

Mitch is very personable, high energy and lots of fun. DW and I had the pleasure of spending time with him when he was CD on Majesty.

I'll touch base with her and see if I can get the status

Not to confuse things, but on Twitter, Joff has posted several photos, on several different days, of someone named "Amy" filming the morning show with him. She is likely a member of the activities staff, but doesn't the AM always co-host the morning show with the CD?

Donna - It's Amy Tripp, she was AM the week we were on Independence and told us she was going to Anthem. She has a similar picture with Joff on her FB page.

My wife and I were on your last cruise on Indy 2 weeks ago. You are incredibly talented musicians and it was great listening to your sets. I have to say one of the highlights of my cruise was getting up to sing Brown Eyed Girl with you during Rock-A-Rokie.

Hopefully we'll cruise Anthem at some point and look forward to meeting you again.

Donna - will track down that info for you and will post on our return Sunday.

Donna - confirmed today, Ricky Matthews takes over as CD tomorrow (2/22), Gordon Travis returns to AM position.

Thank you so much for posting from the ship!!! I appreciate it, as that's the best source of accurate information

 

 

 

Are you positive that he is serving as cruise director for the entire 4 months?

 

 

 

He is listed as the Activities Manager, and just stepped up for the one sailing this week while the actual CD Jamie attended a conference at corporate headquarters.

 

 

 

My understanding is that he may be on the ship during the timeframe you posted, however he is only the CD for this week, and will be the Activities Manager for the other weeks.

 

 

 

The schedule I have posted was confirmed with all three cruise directors.

 

 

 

Can you confirm otherwise?

Donna - will track down that info for you and will post on our return Sunday.

Adventure OTS - Mercedes LaFuente began November 23 for 4 months . (Tino Carillo is filling in as CD for the Feb 15 sailing while Mercedes attends the CD conference) then who? perhaps Elvis?

 

Allure OTS - Joff Eaton from January 18 until March 1. (Michelle Scarpato is filling in as CD for the Feb 15 sailing while Joff attends the CD conference) (Who is filling in March 1 until April 19? Jerome Sueur?) Jerome Sueur will do all of the European cruises (April 19 thru Oct 25) since he is fluent in 5 languages. He is the new regular CD on Allure until further notice.

 

Anthem OTS - Joff Eaton will be taking out the ship and continuing on as its regular CD. Ken Rush will also be onboard for the first 6-8 weeks doing behind the scenes duties to provide a smooth take out

 

Brilliance OTS - Rob McNally began on December 16 for 2 months. Clo O'Connor returns in mid-February (need handover date)

 

Enchantment OTS - Marc Walker January 19 until March 13. Who will be covering Marc's paternity leave March 13 through April 17? Marc returns from paternity leave on April 17 until May 18. Who is covering Marc's vacation May 18 through July 13? Jamie Fentimore? Marc returns from his vacation on July 13.

 

Explorer OTS - Leigh Xuereb returned Nov 1st until the ship enters drydock in March 2015 (Erky from Turkey will fill-in as CD for the Feb 12-21 sailing while Leigh attends a conference). After the ship returns to service, Keith Williams will be the CD. (Leigh has been reassigned to Indy).

 

Freedom OTS - Casey Pelter from February 1 for 4 months.

 

Grandeur OTS - Dan Whitney from February 3 until April 28. Andre the Activities Manager takes over for the February 13th sailing only. Then, Mitch Merucci will return from his break on April 28 for 4 months..

 

Independence OTS - Jamie Fentiman started November 10 through February 22. Gordon Travis is filling-in for the Feb 8 sailing while Jamie attends the CD conference. Then Ricky Matthews February 22 through April 11, then Leigh Xuereb begins on April 11 for 4 months. Leigh is the new permanent CD on Indy!

 

Jewel OTS - Dennis Charles started January 17 until March 14, then John Blair starts March 14 for 4 months. (Handover date needs confirming as conflicting info has been reported- Dennis may be onboard through April and returning in June, with John Blair doing the 2 month fill in April and May)

 

Legend OTS - Paul Rutter started January 16

 

Liberty OTS Dru Pavlov started February 14 for 2 months. Luke Aerowsmith will return in mid-April.

 

Majesty OTS - Simona Ferraiuolo started January 30

 

Mariner OTS - Ken Jones started November 27 until April(then who?)

 

Navigator OTS - John Perry started November 16 until March. He will be returning for another 4 month contract in May. *exact dates?* Who will be covering John's break from March through May?

 

Oasis OTS - Drew Devine January 24 through May 23, then Ricky Matthews returns May 23 through July 25

 

Quantum OTS - Ken Rush beginning Jan 23 to fill-in until Jimmy Rhodes returns from his break need date)

 

Radiance OTS - Amy Fickert started November 5 for approx. 4 months, then who? (Paul Rutter?)

 

Rhapsody OTS - Tim Connor from January 28 through March 29. Graham Seymour will return from his break on March 29 through early August.

 

Serenade OTS - Bill Brunkhorst started January 31 then Carly Boileau starts Feb 27.

 

Splendour OTS - Michelle Pimentinha for the Brazilian season. Bobby Brown's next contract is on Splendour (need dates)

 

Vision OTS - Steve Davis from December 12 until April 11, then who?

 

Voyager OTS - Chris Brown (former activities manager) started December 7th until ship returns to Singapore in mid-March.

 

Carly Boileau has semi-retired, but will return as a fill-in CD from time-to-time

Rich Edwards is currently recovering from surgery and resting at home. He will be returning in April 2015.

Allan Brooks left Royal Caribbean to take a position in Celebrity corporate office.

Richard Spacey is a CD with Celebrity

Becky Thompson works for Celebrity Cruises in their corporate offices in Miami.

Dave Chapman has left RCCL. He is taking an extended break, and then he will be moving over to another cruiseline.

James Andrews is a real estate agent in Sydney

Mike Szwajkowski is a Canadian Mountie

Leo Papa at Cornell University working on a Master's degree in Hospitality Administration/Management

Anna Bass is now Client Services Manager at ISS London

Abe Hughes is Director of Port Revenue Operations at Royal Media Partners and sometimes works onboard as the port and shopping guide

João Pereira is studying Portuguese/English education and translation at Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas in Brazil

Kirk Detweiler is now CD with Silversea cruises.

Simeon Baker - married a dancer, had a baby girl and is a sales exec at a Porsche dealer in Saskatchewan

Matt Baker - Sim's brother - recently married and living in Wales. They bought a pub called the Tiddley

Kieron Buffrey - CD with Holland America

Tom Canosa - teaching 6th grade science in North Carolina

Peter Benfield and Johnny Osborne have emigrated to Thailand

Anthony Richards is living in Miami with his wife, and is working for Royal Media Partners as Manager Port Revenue Operations

Rico du Breil is now a CD with NCL

Paul Lancaster is no longer with RCI, and resides in England

Abel Jeney is International Manager at Kingswood Education and Adventure in London

Parker Cristan is living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - staging/choreographing for local theater

Ashley Kerr - married and living in Vancouver BC, working as a marketing rep for a PR firm

Karen Maybury - has a consultant/pr/entertainment agency

Jannie Cloete - leading expeditions on small ships

Where is Warren Allen? (aka Warren Melhuish)

We're on Indy now. Gordon Travis is the CD now, started 3 weeks ago for 4 months. We'll try to find out what will happen after this contract is up and will post after the cruise

Does anyone know the cost or menu for the Mexican dinner? Drinks/wine included?

Saw a post on FB said it was $12 pp. Couldn't tell if it included drinks.

How close to perfect did the winning team come on Majesty? Winning team usually scores almost perfect. BTW, that game has been around for at least 3 years.

I think they missed 3 altogether.

BTW, I'm the DH referenced.

My husband and two kids are leaving this Sunday on Freedom....yay!!!! Finally here!!!! This is my second cruise so I am not quite an expert yet on packing for the cruise, plus this is our first time bringing the kids. What are some must haves that I need to pack?????

Two things we found we needed last cruise was a sewing kit and an eyeglass repair kit. We had neither but people we had met did. Both very small but invaluable.

Hi there! Tell your husband he was the BEST commissioner! We really did have fun at Karaoke -- there were just some questionable versions of songs. We're a bit picky, I suppose, because we run a Karaoke business. When we were on the Vision last year, we ended up running their sound for them, because they were entirely clueless. They also couldn't get their CAVS machine working right, so we hooked up our I-pods and did some songs that way. We have a couple of thousand Karaoke tracks between us on our I-pods, and the right cable to make it work on a sound board. :)

 

We have the Jewel or the Adventure to choose from for Southern. I'm leaning toward the Adventure, mostly because of the size and features of the ship. I've heard good things about the Jewel, though, as well.

It's the "commissioner" here, thanks for the compliment. You and your wonderful wife were great at Karaoke and now I understand some of the comments you made about adapting to the songs.

I'm kind of surprised that the folks on Vision let you hook up your I-Pods to the CAVS system, we've had friends sail with RCL about 3 or 4 years ago (I think on Liberty) who had some of their Karaoke tracks on CD and USB and the staff wouldn't let them use it because they were afraid of copyright violations. Maybe things have changed over the years, and after seeing the list on Allure I know they are popping discs into their system.

Hope to see you again cruising somewhere in the future.

Ken