Soltice Entertainment Director/Entertainment

[PARROT POP]

We were on the Soltice the week of April 26th..when they had a major,major problem with the stage and had to cancel shows for several nights(this on a 7 day cruise) His idea was to have the entertertainment in the atrium with only a few people able to look over to see and listen..Then one night he decided to put a show on..well,bad wasn''t the word, people were walking out. We phoned him about our disappointment and at first he hemmed and hawed..then he agreed that he shouldn't of had a show that night.. As I mentioned I've never concerned myself with E.D. until we saw somebody named Alan King on one of the Celebrity ships and he really made a difference, I am thinking of re-booking the Soltice, but not if he is on....Nukesailor.. y our right..he didnt know what the h eck he was doing..only talked about his movie and tv career

[Ma Bell]

I don't quite understand why someone would complain about trying to have some entertainment when there was a problem in the showroom. I think I might appreciate that he was trying to have a little something rather than nothing.

[mathgeek1978]

We sailed on the Solstice in June and the CD was great. The parties were awesome. I am particularly impressed by the Latin Night pool party "Sizzle". I have videos of all the parties in my YouTube channel below.

[uktog]

we have cruised twice on Solstice & both times had Dru Pavlov... he followed the inital CD. Dru is terrific--such a classy gentleman,.. We have enjoyed his talents and hospitality on several ships-- as well as bookin gfuture cruises with is wife Melanie.... a lovely lady

 

Does anyone know what ship he is on now? I am hoping he'll be on Equinox n Jan...

 

Dru and Melanie were on Equinox in early February and by what he said will be on vacation just now or just returning

[PARROT POP]

Let's hope he is not on the Equinox in October..To answer a poster...I felt he handled after two or three days without shows the matter poorly. The entertainment to me is important...lol..they don't have the Corning Show continually..lol AND the name Susie rings a bell....

[Lois R]

Let's hope he is not on the Equinox in October..To answer a poster...I felt he handled after two or three days without shows the matter poorly. The entertainment to me is important...lol..they don't have the Corning Show continually..lol AND the name Susie rings a bell....

 

Hi ParrotPop:) sorry you felt he was so bad. Actually, I never book a cruise based on the CD. If I find a ship and itinerary I like, I book it:D

The CD never makes or breaks my cruises:) but then again, the enterainment has a lesser value for me.

[PARROT POP]

Our cruises are ALWAYS booked for itinerary and I would never not book a cruise because of the E.D., as a matter of fact except for that gentleman and one other I don't know their names..Yet, I found on one Celebrity cruise an E.D. and his wife who made a difference.We are musical theatre buffs and enjoy on our cruises good entertainment.. that's one of the things that makes our experience so enjoyable..

[Ray_Ray]

Grantham was the CD during our January cruise. Not to be overly critical but he "phoned it in" that week.

[jd1966]

Grantham was the CD during our January cruise. Not to be overly critical but he "phoned it in" that week.

It must have been his last week. We sailed on the 17th and had James Calhoun...........

[hcat]

Dru and Melanie were on Equinox in early February and by what he said will be on vacation just now or just returning

 

Our Equinox cruise is not til Jan but hope they'll still be on by then--they make any cruise even better!!! & if it's Melanie we'll definitely book a future cruise with her!!

 

The CD is very important in terms of how the shows & other entertainment & activites run... we did enjoy Sizzle and the other big party event...

[rick47]

We were privledged to be onboard on his 1st CD cruise and we also had him on our last Solstice cruise in Mar 09 . One of the nicest,kindest and most hardworking guy we have had in 50+ cruises. The hours these people put in would kill most people and they are highly visible to all aboard while at work plus those invisible duties that we don't see. I truley respect those who serve us on board and have had very few occasions where we had problems or complaints regarding ship personnel. I guess we all have our own expectations and opinions so I wish you luck and happy sailing on your next cruise. My wife and I can only hope that John or Simon will be our CD in Feb 2011 on the Equinox 11 day Ult Carib cruise.

[FinelyCruising]

*sigh*...

[bubbie617]

I wouldn't choose a cruise because of the Cruise Director, but I would certainly be very excited and look forward to taking another cruise on a ship which Paul Baya is working. We thought he was exceptional in many ways and a great asset to Celebrity.

[CruisinNole]

I wouldn't choose a cruise because of the Cruise Director, but I would certainly be very excited and look forward to taking another cruise on a ship which Paul Baya is working. We thought he was exceptional in many ways and a great asset to Celebrity.

 

bubbie617 - we definitely agree with you. We never book a cruise because of the CD. In fact, Paul is the only one whose name we remember. We thought he was a talented singer and a very nice guy.

[RhondaPerr]

Isn't it funny how people experiencing the same thing have such different perceptions. We started our cruise out with James and I have to tell you he ranked among my least favorite. John G. took over mid-way through our cruise because James had to leave and I thought the whole tone changed for the better. is he a little impressed with himself...I think so.. but I thought he was so much better than James was. Our meet and greet was a joke, the first time half the people never got invitations, and then when we had a second one, he spent maybe 10 minutes with us.

[C 2 C]

We can no sooner pick someone else's favourite colour, favourite foods, favourite music or favourite people. All of these are based on our own individual preferences. I detest acapella groups and will flee any location where they happen to perform. At the same time many cruisers praise this type of music. Are my ears deceiving me? Do my taste buds lie? You hated that joke? Cruise critic is based on the fact that there are certain things (and people) we enjoy and others that we detest. A person's opinion is not necessarily wrong, it's just different from another's opinion. It is nice to know however that if you agree with a certain poster most of the time, that person is brilliant; if you disagree with a poster most of the time, that poster is prone to verbal diarrhea and their opinion is worthless.

My evaluation of cruise directors is based on the degree to which they support the activities staff and the quality of trivia. I used to have a very high opinion of Gary Walker until our January Equinox cruise when the "T" word could not even be mentioned.

Several years ago, when we cruised primarily on HAL, I made a point of determining whether a certain CD would be on board prior to booking. While he was the CD on a previous 20 day cruise there was only one activity a day during many rainy sea days, his jokes were anything but funny... etc. Yes, a CD can affect your enjoyment and I can understand someone avoiding a sailing as a result of not liking their style or wanting to be on one because your favourite is on board.

Alan King is my favourite; his groaners make you groan, his trivia is tough and non-repetitive, he's talented and he is a true professional with other staff.

[FinelyCruising]

I used to have a very high opinion of Gary Walker until our January Equinox cruise when the "T" word could not even be mentioned.

 

Glad I was not on that cruise then (assuming it is a cruise wide issue and not a private convo) since I have no impressions of cruise directors or EDs as the OP calls them since I thought Gary Walker was so unique that he was actually noticeable as a staff member who added incredible value to my cruise experience. That was until of course the time I heard he went into HQ after only about 5 minutes of being a great CD.:o

 

What's the T stand for?

[junglejane]

It is nice to know however that if you agree with a certain poster most of the time, that person is brilliant; if you disagree with a poster most of the time, that poster is prone to verbal diarrhea and their opinion is worthless.

 

Xellent you are a genius! (Except when you disagree with me, lol).

[Lois R]

Glad I was not on that cruise then (assuming it is a cruise wide issue and not a private convo) since I have no impressions of cruise directors or EDs as the OP calls them since I thought Gary Walker was so unique that he was actually noticeable as a staff member who added incredible value to my cruise experience. That was until of course the time I heard he went into HQ after only about 5 minutes of being a great CD.:o

 

What's the T stand for?

 

I bet TRIVIA?

[FinelyCruising]

There was no mention in November...

[C 2 C]

Glad I was not on that cruise then (assuming it is a cruise wide issue and not a private convo) since I have no impressions of cruise directors or EDs as the OP calls them since I thought Gary Walker was so unique that he was actually noticeable as a staff member who added incredible value to my cruise experience. That was until of course the time I heard he went into HQ after only about 5 minutes of being a great CD.:o

 

What's the T stand for?

 

"Trivia"... became an unmentionable, deleted from all programs; it was no longer considered "Celebrity Style" in any form during or Equinox voyage in January. Someone came up with the name "wakey wakey time" for example... and "Fun in the Sun Challenge"... when it was a quiz in the sun...

[FinelyCruising]

"Trivia"... became an unmentionable, deleted from all programs; it was no longer considered "Celebrity Style" in any form during or Equinox voyage in January. Someone came up with the name "wakey wakey time" for example... and "Fun in the Sun Challenge"... when it was a quiz in the sun...

 

wakey, wakey time??? Holy Cow. :eek:

[Andy]

Alan King is my favourite; his groaners make you groan, his trivia is tough and non-repetitive, he's talented and he is a true professional with other staff.

 

Hi Arno !

 

How are you ? I hope all is well. I agree with you, that Allan King is the best CD with Celebrity. However, based on what I saw on Solstice, it's clear Celebrity is going in a very different direction, as they want their CD's to be high energy. We thought Paul Baya was great, but he's the total opposite of Allan's style.

 

While I realize that some guests are not interested in CD's... many of us feel it's an important part of your Cruise experience. What I'm wondering is... what's Celebrity's long term plans for CD's ? What I'm hoping for, is that if Celebrity insists on going with high energy CD's, perhaps they will keep the more energetic CD's on the Solstice Class ships, and the more traditional CD's on the M-Class ships. We will see what happens.

[PARROT POP]

We never remember the names of E.D. but because there was also a famous American comedian by that name and a special english comic from the old Dolphin lines was on the ship those two weeks it stays in my mind..ANDY..DOES that mean Alan King is no longer with Celebrity? On the other hand the entertainer who is so beloved in Michaels Lounge on the Constellation I think, Perry Grant, I find obnoxious...lol Will be interesting to see what they provide for trans-atlantic cruises and 14DAYS with predominately a bit older and more sophisticated cruiser

[vickykay]

We had a wonderful CD on our Summitt cruise in early may - can't remember his name however.