Price increase?

[Paulchili]

Just spoke to Leslie, (he is in China, right now) and he says that he is staying with Oceania.

Thank you, Jesus!

 

Amen to that :)

I will ask the “source” again soon about this subject.

[sitraveler]

i didn't believe Leslie would leave. Was almost ready to ask my TA>

[Paulchili]

OK - this is what I was told today.

As J&S stated, it is not Leslie (thankfully). It is Nolan Dean (a shame) and Ed Goth/Garth? (whom I do not know) and apparently a third person.

Time will tell for certain.

[ORV]

OK - this is what I was told today.

As J&S stated, it is not Leslie (thankfully). It is Nolan Dean (a shame) and Ed Goth/Garth? (whom I do not know) and apparently a third person.

Time will tell for certain.

 

I've traveled a few times with Ed Garth, but he was an assistant CD at the time. No big loss either way. Was that sarcasm about Nolan?

 

I also like Jason from AU that was an assistant CD. I thought he did a very conscientious job. I wonder if he's been moved up or is still around?

[Paulchili]

Was that sarcasm about Nolan?

 

No, not at all. I really like Nolan and his sense of humor - that is why I said it was a shame to lose him.

[Go-Bucks!]

Just curious.....

 

After reading the recent posts about Cruise Directors and the feelings about those who are leaving (or not).....why does it matter who the CD is? In 16 cruises, I've never known who was the CD, nor did I ever meet one, nor did they make a difference in my cruise experience. The only time I ever saw them was on the "morning show" or as the emcee of the evening shows. So, why is the CD so important to some people? (Not trying to start any arguments....just curious). ;)

[pinotlover]

Go Bucks;

 

Some cruisers, not us, are greatly into Trivia and claim the personality of the CD, which typically runs Trivia, affects the experience.

 

I’m with you on this one. The CDs to us are like the wallpaper, just there with no interaction. Same goes with all the senior staff, could care less who the Executive Concierge is, or even the Captain. For others it seems a big deal.

[p598738]

Agree on the CD issue. Not one has ever really enhanced my cruising experience.

 

On the other hand, I love the Captain's welcome aboard on Oceania. No announcements and no introductions, just a long open bar.

[Cruseforme]

Go Bucks;

 

Some cruisers, not us, are greatly into Trivia and claim the personality of the CD, which typically runs Trivia, affects the experience.

 

I’m with you on this one. The CDs to us are like the wallpaper, just there with no interaction. Same goes with all the senior staff, could care less who the Executive Concierge is, or even the Captain. For others it seems a big deal.

+1 - We don’t play trivia/bingo, etc, and don’t really care who CD is. As far as officers, don’t need hobnobbing, I just want them to do their job.

[palakika]

I'll speak up for those who do enjoy the CDs. We've had many nice interactions with them over the years. And believe it or not, an organized CD can help to facilitate orderly desembarking from the ship! They can also make a number of events on board (crossing the equator and ship building contest come to mind) more fun. If none of this matters to you, so be it. We think everything is fun about cruising.

[ORV]

As a dedicated trivia player that's about the only time it matters to me. Especially on Oceania, other cruise lines not so much as most times the CD doesn't run trivia.

 

Trivia is kind of a big deal on Oceania to a lot of regulars.

[golfguyhhi]

Paulchili and Palakika,

 

I'm with you as regards the CD. I happen to be very fond of both Nolan Dean and Ed Garth. Have sailed with them several times and really enjoy their sense of humor. Was very fortunate to be able to have dinner with them on the December 2017 Trans-Atlantic cruise in Polo. Great stories, a lot of laughs.

At the end of the cruise, Nolan left for his home leave and we were on the same flight from Miami to Atlanta and landed just as the electricity went out. Sat on the plane for 7 hours and then slept on the floor in the terminal with Nolan (and several thousand others) until we were able to get a flight out the next morning. Nolan didn't think he was going to be able to get out until the following day.

Since his fiance Elle Adda lost her voice, and her job on Oceania, Nolan was going to stop working the O ships and just stay on the R ships.

Now he won't even be there.

I'll be on Viking's Orion in December. What a hoot that would be if he were the CD.

[Mura]

I've always assumed that we were the only ones who really don't care who the CD is (and we've had several who were top notch) -- maybe if we did Trivia we'd care more. But since we don't ... I can't remember ever disliking one either. It's just not important to us.

 

Mura

[LHT28]

We have met some CD's & they were fine but as long as they are not on the loud speakers all day ... it is not that important to us

I agree though a good CD can make the things onboard run more smoothly

 

JMO

[Sea42]

We have never been on a cruise with more than a couple of sea days. I don't think ever more than one in a row. Maybe the CD would be more important to us on a cruise with a lot more time on the ship. We'll see.

[Go-Bucks!]

+1 - We don’t play trivia/bingo, etc, and don’t really care who CD is. As far as officers, don’t need hobnobbing, I just want them to do their job.

I agree with you....I don't like trivia (not a fount of little facts) and haven't played bingo in 30 yrs, so guess I won't have much interaction with the CD. As far as officers, I've never met any of them either but am very happy if they're skilled sailors and keep us all safe.

 

Thanks to everyone for their answers to my question.....very insightful! :D

[pinotlover]

There are cruisers where the ship is the primary destination. We had table guest s , on our last 15 day cruise, that told us they only left the ship for for a two hour tour of orchids garden in Singapore. I’ve met cruisers on other cruises that never leave the ship. Thrre are cruisers where the ports of call are the primary destination. Those two groups often diverge on many issues.

 

I thought Dave Carr was a good CD, but obviously ineffective. Every morning in New Zealand he’d repeat over and over and over again not to take any fresh fruits off the ship. We watched the cops hauling a fellow cruiser off in cuffs exiting the docks. He ignored Dave and wanted to take a banana and a sandwich with him for a cheap lunch. Would The guy have listened to Nolan?

[Paulchili]

Go Bucks;

 

Some cruisers, not us, are greatly into Trivia and claim the personality of the CD, which typically runs Trivia, affects the experience.

 

I’m with you on this one. The CDs to us are like the wallpaper, just there with no interaction. Same goes with all the senior staff, could care less who the Executive Concierge is, or even the Captain. For others it seems a big deal.

 

It just goes to show you - different strokes for different folks.

We don’t drink so the bars and 2 for 1 are just wallpaper for us - just there with no interaction :D

OTOH, we enjoy trivia, interaction with CDs at trivia and at other social occasions. Ditto for entertainment staff and some GMs that we know.

To each their own - isn’t that great that we each can enjoy different things even on the same cruise? :)

[Ken the cruiser]

For us a truly funny CD can make all the difference, whether it's hosting trivia, introducing evening show acts or just coming up with innovative ways to entertain the guests on sea days.

 

We love to laugh and on the cruises we've had the most fun on, there was always a funny CD who truly seemed to care about making people happy.

[ORV]

Paulchili and Palakika,

 

I'm with you as regards the CD. I happen to be very fond of both Nolan Dean and Ed Garth. Have sailed with them several times and really enjoy their sense of humor. Was very fortunate to be able to have dinner with them on the December 2017 Trans-Atlantic cruise in Polo. Great stories, a lot of laughs.

At the end of the cruise, Nolan left for his home leave and we were on the same flight from Miami to Atlanta and landed just as the electricity went out. Sat on the plane for 7 hours and then slept on the floor in the terminal with Nolan (and several thousand others) until we were able to get a flight out the next morning. Nolan didn't think he was going to be able to get out until the following day.

Since his fiance Elle Adda lost her voice, and her job on Oceania, Nolan was going to stop working the O ships and just stay on the R ships.

Now he won't even be there.

I'll be on Viking's Orion in December. What a hoot that would be if he were the CD.

 

We were on the same flight, we loaned Nolan our phone to call his fiancé as his either had run out of power or he didn't have a US plan.

 

We spent the night at a hotel. The airport was a zoo, never saw anything like that. Long day

[PaulMCO]

Some cruise directors actually do have talent -- like sing and dance. Some are "ex" Comedians. They are also responsible for leading the musters.

[pinotlover]

I got to talk to Nolan recently on one of my cruises. Seemed like a nice guy. I’m not surprised he’s moved on, by his personality.

 

We all admit that cruise lines are different. Different sizes, different clientele, different philosophy, which provides for wonderful options for we cruisers. Even though different cruises aboard Oceania can vary, the truth is there is a lot of homogenenousness within the cruises. To get a true change of pace, for either an employee or cruiser, a change of lines is probably required. Not every person desires to go into his government issued office, to set as his government desk, to do the same government job for 30 years. They move on! I wish Nolan, and Garth, etc, the very best in their new environments!

[palakika]

Pinotlover..I think the CD you are referrng to is Ray Carr..not Dave. Yes, we have no bananas!! In Brisbane we had to line up in terminal while the sniffer dog checked us out. Of course there was a pax who had food in his bag:)

[Shawnino]

Out of 314 trips, there were 131 with fare changes today. There were 1315 fare updates.

 

Again, there were mostly increases today, but there are some fare decreases in trips out of Miami. In particular, look at Riviera in early 2019.

 

Your work/site is really useful.

Can't thank you enough.

[pinotlover]

I have commented on this topic as recently as yesterday. Plying the waters of the Carribean during the winter and early Spring months is extremely competitive with cabin supply far outpacing demand. It comes as no surprise that O is now cutting prices in that market on the Riveria.

 

In fact, I believe they did the exact same thing last year. O started out with aggressive pricing in that market for the early birds that had to have that special cabin on that cruise, then cut prices later to attract cruisers in the crowded market.

 

Here’s my bet. For all those that already signed up for the same cruises on the Riveria in 2020, they too will see future price reductions on their cruises this time next year.