Do you care if you see the cruise director/captain?

[#1TravelMom]

I'm just curious. Maybe our opinion is unique. We are mid 40's - 40+/- cruises - so far. I just read a review and the writer took issue with not seeing the Captain and seeing very little of the Cruise Director. We could care less if we ever see or meet these people. Of course they both have vital roles onboard, but we just don't care if we see them or not. I've also seen posts about - "Who's the Cruise Director". I'm sure no one is willing, but if you offered me a billion dollars, I couldn't name a Captain or Cruise Director on any ship on which we've cruised.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of people who are not obsessed with where and when they can find creme brulee on each ship(this possibly describes me). Interesting to see the little things that are important to each individual.

[LHT28]

As long as they are doing their job I could care less if I see them

[Ashland]

Many many cruises with RCI and I could care less....however only one Captain has made an unforgettable impression on us and we've been lucky to have sailed with him twice..once on the Radiance and recently on the Oasis and that's Captain Trym Selvag...:D

[AKman2495]

As for the captain, I'm not going out of my way to see him. The CD , on the other hand, I do expect to see and often.

 

A good cruise director, imho, makes a good cruise great. A bad curie director can leave it as a "good" cruise.

 

On our cruise last Nov. we has a CD who did his job and nothing else. One day he came out of an office while we and a few others were waiting to get into the theater. He looked at us with sort of panic in his eyes, glanced at his watch as if he had something important to do and ran off.

 

On our cruise last month, the CD was everywhere always with a good word as she went by. There was a big difference in the feel of that cruise.

 

Same thing on our first cruise. We had a very open cruise director. One day we were sitting and he came by and just chatted with us about the cruise for a few minutes.

 

That was a nice touch that goes a long way in giving the feeling of "welcome aboard".

[Nebr.cruiser]

I really don't care one way or another if I see the Captain and CD around. Mostly I don't, which is fine. There is actually only one cruise director I even remember (and even then, not his name) because he was really funny and friendly and not cheesy. He was more out and about than most CD's, so I guess that was nice.

[OCruisers]

We don't care!

LuLu

~~~

[Cruisin' Chick]

As for the captain, I'm not going out of my way to see him. The CD , on the other hand, I do expect to see and often.

 

A good cruise director, imho, makes a good cruise great. A bad curie director can leave it as a "good" cruise.

 

On our cruise last Nov. we has a CD who did his job and nothing else. One day he came out of an office while we and a few others were waiting to get into the theater. He looked at us with sort of panic in his eyes, glanced at his watch as if he had something important to do and ran off.

 

On our cruise last month, the CD was everywhere always with a good word as she went by. There was a big difference in the feel of that cruise.

 

Same thing on our first cruise. We had a very open cruise director. One day we were sitting and he came by and just chatted with us about the cruise for a few minutes.

 

That was a nice touch that goes a long way in giving the feeling of "welcome aboard".

 

I agree. The captain's primary job is getting the ship from place to place safely Part of his job is public relations, but not the most important part.

 

On the other hand, the cruise director is responsible for overseeing the activities, so he or she should be visible around the ship. If you never go to shows or ship game shows, then you probably don't care. But the CD is responsible (as I understand) for getting the activities and entertainment planned as well as producing the daily newsletter. As someone who likes to participate in trivia and likes to go to the shows, I feel a good CD will add to my enjoyment.

 

Our last two cruises were the same itinerary and on the same ship, just two years apart. The first one of these, we had a CD who was filling in for another who was on vacation. The only times I saw him was on "The Wake show" on the TV and saw a glimpse of him on the last night of the cruise when there was a party going on in the grand atrium. He was looking from the deck above and left after about 15 minutes, while many of his staff were dancing with passengers. The rest of the two weeks, his staff emcee'd shows and seem to run all the activities.

 

The last cruise, the CD was everywhere. She was partying with everyone on New Years Eve. She was emceeing the shows. She was very enthusiastic. The last day of the cruise I ran into her in the Princess Theater when I came out of the restroom before the Aloha 'Oe show (I and other passengers were hula dancing or uke playing in this show). I told her that she was the direct opposite of the CD on our last cruise and I really appreciated the job she was doing.

[Dayenu]

I prefer the captain to do his job, not to mingle with passengers.

[Laurie S.]

We don't care.

[whataboutport]

As for the captain, I'm not going out of my way to see him. The CD , on the other hand, I do expect to see and often.

 

A good cruise director, imho, makes a good cruise great. A bad curie director can leave it as a "good" cruise.

 

On our cruise last Nov. we has a CD who did his job and nothing else. One day he came out of an office while we and a few others were waiting to get into the theater. He looked at us with sort of panic in his eyes, glanced at his watch as if he had something important to do and ran off.

 

On our cruise last month, the CD was everywhere always with a good word as she went by. There was a big difference in the feel of that cruise.

 

Same thing on our first cruise. We had a very open cruise director. One day we were sitting and he came by and just chatted with us about the cruise for a few minutes.

 

That was a nice touch that goes a long way in giving the feeling of "welcome aboard".

We had that same CD, as we were on the second leg of your b2b. I felt the same about him. Come to find out our cruise was at the end of his contract, so perhaps that was why?

 

So far I loved the CD and Capt on the Allure when we sailed March 2013. I forget the CDs name but he was very lively and made the events fun. The capt was Capt Johnny from Norway (the one with the Harley motorcycle) and he was very funny and I enjoyed his morning show and his announcements.

 

Oops. I didn't even answer the OP's question. I don't care beforehand who is on what ship, but if we get a bad CD it is noticed. But a capt isn't bad unless he crashes the ship!

Edited March 9, 2014 by whataboutport

[mousey]

They used to have parties where you would get free drinks and meet the Captain. We used to go to them but now could care less. I don't think they even have those parties anymore. We get invited to past guest parties but we don't go to them either. We're just not that interested. As far as the CD...I've met a few in the past, but again, we could personally care less as we have no reason for interaction with them. I remember my girlfriend always wanted to have dinner with the Captain when she cruised. It was the main focus of her cruises. Not so much with me.

[Happy ks]

Easy answer ... no, we don't care if we see the Captain or CD.

 

A couple cruises ago remember asking a person in our group who that annoying guy was that I kept seeing around the ship. Turns out he was the CD, really full of himself. I honestly had forgotten there was such a thing as a CD. I haven't been to a show in years and don't participate in activities.

 

The Captain, well we listen to the announcements, but I doubt I would recognize him/her if I bumped into them in the hall.

[Ms Jo UK]

We couldn't care less about either.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I see those threads all the time on the HAL board -- Who is the captain, hotel director, CD, etc.

We could care less. There was a time when we would recognize the names of captains, etc. The last several cruises we have had new captains whose name we never recognized. CD's don't last long on HAL. Hotel directors -- many new ones.

It doesn't bother us if we don't see any of these people during the cruise.

I know there are people who hang out in the bars with some of the officers -- not us.

[I-Cruiser]

We don't really care either. It just not important who they are as long as they do their jobs (and try to tell less cringe worthy jokes:))

[NICruisers]

Maybe just to put a different perspective on this, we really enjoy meeting the Captain at the welcome back party, but could care less about the CD. Whilst I couldn't honestly say I remember many of their names, one who left an indelible impression was Caprain Bill Wright on our sailing of Oasis of the Seas a few years back. His warmth, charm and wickedly infectious sense of humour were both seen as he toured the ship meeting the guests, and heard in his regular announcements. Which, by the way, many people would stop and listen to; something I've not seen on any other cruise.

[Bonnie J.]

We have been on one ship a lot and have gotten to know the cruise director and one captain. We know them well enough that the cruise director and I email each other- she is on vacation now but her last email had her picture with her two nephews. We got to know the captain well enough to call him by his 1st name and he has taken us to his cabin- how many passengers or even crew has been to a captain's cabin? We also email each other and he sent me a picture of his son's, whom we 've met, 1st birthday. These we care about and maybe one or two CDs who know us and call us by name.

On our last cruise, two weeks ago, we knew the assistant CD as he had been our CD friend's assistant and it turned out the CD had been trained by her. We had fun with them.

But, on this cruise we had brunch with the captain and we should have said no to the invitation.

[okgirl]

I wouldn't say that I couldn't care less if I meet the Captain or CD, but I'm not bothered when I don't. Not meeting or encountering them doesn't negatively affect my enjoyment of the cruise.

 

Having said that, I rarely get off the ship anymore, so it's nice occasionally to have them come up to me while sitting somewhere and inquire if I'm enjoying myself.

 

On my recent Carnival Sunshine cruise, my sister and I were at the lobby bar having a Bloody Mary, when Butch (the CD) came through and stopped to chat. He recognized us from a previous cruise and we had a chance to catch up and learn a bit more about his life off the ship.......later in the cruise we again encountered him while sitting at the Casino bar and he commented that he loved that the sisters were having Bloody Mary's in the morning and switched to Wine in the evening.

 

That's actually what I enjoy most about staying on the ship when it's in port. There are plenty of opportunities to visit with the crew. It makes no difference to me if they are workers or senior staff.

[Sherlock43031]

we could care less...

[FawnRiver]

I can't say that it makes any real difference to us, but we've seen the Captain and CD on every cruise we've done. They've all been on Princess, I don't know if that makes a difference. They show up at least for the Captain's Circle receptions and the Champagne waterfall night.

 

 

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[cb at sea]

Makes no difference to me, either! As long as someone capable is steering the ship, I'm good with it! We really don't care who the CD is....or even, if there is one!

[bbwex]

If the Cruise Director is good, you are going to hear and see him/her from time-to-time. After all, they are the ones planning the daily activities if you are at sea, and they certainly add "life" to the cruise. Do I feel a need to meet them? Not really.

 

As for the captain, I have little interest, and they generally (and I said "generallY") they like to act important and not have much time to mingle. Frankly, they ought to mingle more than I see them mingle. The cruise business is a business, and they ought to be part of the welcoming part of the crew. As I said, I find the ships' officers generally a bit aloof, though it could be that they too like some quiet time. As far as which captain I would "try to sail with," I would really like to know a whole lot more about them to make that type of decision. After all, people all tried to sail with Captain Smith (Titanic) and Captain Calamai (Andrea Doria). How nice a guy he is has very little relevance to how good of a captain he is.

[LandlockedCruiser01]

I've only cruised twice, so I haven't seen enough captains or cruise directors to know who's better and who's worse. As long as they steer the ship correctly (themselves or by giving orders) and keep me entertained, I'm fine with whoever is doing the job. I might take 15 minutes to meet them and get my picture taken with them, for the enjoyment of having a picture with a high-level officer, but I wouldn't choose a particular ship just because a certain captain or cruise director is on it.

[tip]

As long as they are doing their job I could care less if I see them

 

Same here. My name is not Hyacinth Bucket!;);)

[Lizzie68]

Same here. My name is not Hyacinth Bucket!;);)

 

LOL - I've seen some posts that could have been written by Hyacinth!:D

 

And I have no interest in knowing who the captain, Cruise Director or anyone else is, as long as they do their job.