Who's your favorite crew member(s)?

[Dori Saltzman]

Do you have a favorite Celebrity crew member? Someone you'd want to hear from or send a message of hope to? Do you have a favorite crew member memory you'd like to share? We'd love to hear your stories!

[Orator]

It would take more than a page to simply just list the crew that we consider members of our family. They range from Captains to restroom cleaners. I regularly communicate to many. Just this past week I asked at least 20  where they were andhow they were doing . They all appreciated my concern. 

On my birthday as I approached Al Bacio I heard a familar voice singing "Happy Birthday" in Japanese.  One Turkish waiter knew that my DW loves Turkish Delights and brought her some from his private stash. The  Executive Chef, Restaurant Opperations Manager and the F&B Manager came to Muranos to deliver a special cake. The F&B Manager, a good friend told me that the meal was on them and presented us with a pricy wine. We love the crew!

Edited April 6, 2020 by Orator

[jelayne]

Agree with Orator there are too many to list.  One of our favorite thing about cruising is boarding a ship and seeing some of our favorite crew members.

[m8zenblue]

Sue Denning, without a doubt !!!

[JRG]

No question about this one for me.....

 

 

Alejandro----the cruise director of Connie on our last Med Cruise and most recently the Eclipse...

 

 

 

[Orator]

I've met a few people who tell me that other than ordering they never talk to a waiter. I believe that those with that attitude are missing out on one of the best cruising experiences. For the most part members of the crew are highly educated. I've been served by lawyers, educators, civil engineers and in one case, a MD. Remember your waiter or Stateroom Attendant may become a HD and will remember how you interacted with them when they were just starting out. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Orator

[Texed]

11 minutes ago, Orator said:

I've met a few people who tell me that other than ordering they never talk to a waiter. I believe that those with that attitude are missing out on one of the best cruising experiences. 

 

Ditto!  😊

[Pinboy]

5 minutes ago, Orator said:

I've met a few people who tell me that other than ordering they never talk to a waiter.

The people referred to above sound like " entitled snobs " in their own little world.

Their waiter probably counts down the days until they are gone.

Over the years we have met so many staff members, really nice people , and truly enjoy chatting with them. 

It's fun to share stories and can be quite a learning experience as well hearing about where they come from, their families, and their experiences with guests. It adds to our enjoyment of cruising.

 

 

 

[goldsmip115]

Cesar our butler in the PS twice on the Summit.  I love that man!  He is the gem of the fleet in my book.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

There are so many favorites of mine, but I'll mention the Colombian man who has been on more than a few cruises we were on. 

He serves coffee and pastries in the morning in the buffet. He is so funny as he circulates among the tables calling out, "Happy, happy morning. Happy, happy coffee!" He gets to know the regular folks and remembers their preferences. He is always funny and pleasant. My sister and I would be there together and he always called us Sisters. We are very pleased when we are on a Celebrity ship and hear him calling out in the morning, "Happy, happy coffee!"

[grandgeezer]

We are really low maintenance so they all seem the same, friendlt, talkable, etc.

Someone  mentioned Sue Denning. We had her on a transatlantic B2B probably ten years ago. We found her arrogant and snobbish. It seemed like she thought she was doing us a favor just by talking to us. Maybe she's changed. All the other cruise directors we had were either very good or excellent. 

[Esprit]

My favourite crew member was on our Edge inaugural back in December 2018.

A talented, engaging and most charming person you could ever meet.

She loved her job as activities manager and got to be a Cruise Director for a few days aboard Reflection too. 

Oh! ........... and she is my DD😂

Edited April 6, 2020 by Esprit

[cheeseheads4ever]

Totally agree with Orator. Part of the excitement of cruising is talking to the crew, finding out where they are from and what their homeland is like. We’ve met a lot of crew that really stand out. Peter who was a flair bartender on Equinox- hopefully I got the ship right but now is on the Edge. Kodak another flair bartender that was on Silhouette in November and also very friendly young lady by the name of Catherine she worked at Coffee shop during the day and was a drink order taker in MDR in the evening. She was so friendly we really enjoyed her. There were so many more.These were just a few that stood out to us..

 

[nps001]

Way too many to list.   We have become friends with so many officers and crew and still keep in touch with them today.   God bless them and keep them healthy in this mess we are dealing with. 

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by nps001

[phoenix_dream]

There have been so many over the years - I would hesitate to try to name them all for fear of accidentally missing out on a favorite.  Getting to know the crew members is truly one of my favorite parts of cruising.  Now that we are retired we cruise a lot (and hope to do so again soon!), and looking forward to seeing some of our favorite crew members is a huge plus for us.  It makes boarding the ship almost feel like coming to our second home.  

 

Even though I don't want to pick a favorite, I will mention the one we have known the longest and still keep in touch with - his name is Fazli and he is a Maitre d' on Equinox.  He was our waiter many, many years ago on the Century.  He was such a good waiter that we never forgot him.  Back then he had always talked about his ambition - which was to become a Maitre d'.  So happy to see that he was able to make this career aspiration come true - and so well deserved!  

[MamaFej]

4 hours ago, Silvery Seas Cruiser said:

There are so many favorites of mine, but I'll mention the Colombian man who has been on more than a few cruises we were on. 

He serves coffee and pastries in the morning in the buffet. He is so funny as he circulates among the tables calling out, "Happy, happy morning. Happy, happy coffee!" He gets to know the regular folks and remembers their preferences. He is always funny and pleasant. My sister and I would be there together and he always called us Sisters. We are very pleased when we are on a Celebrity ship and hear him calling out in the morning, "Happy, happy coffee!"

I believe you are talking about Morales. He's so much fun!

[Cookiegirl1329]

7 hours ago, Silvery Seas Cruiser said:

There are so many favorites of mine, but I'll mention the Colombian man who has been on more than a few cruises we were on. 

He serves coffee and pastries in the morning in the buffet. He is so funny as he circulates among the tables calling out, "Happy, happy morning. Happy, happy coffee!" He gets to know the regular folks and remembers their preferences. He is always funny and pleasant. My sister and I would be there together and he always called us Sisters. We are very pleased when we are on a Celebrity ship and hear him calling out in the morning, "Happy, happy coffee!"

We have sailed with Happy Happy several times.  He is from Cartagena and we have enjoyed getting to know him.   

[K12Guy]

Rakesh from Luminae on two cruises. Then Valery (assistant waiter) a year or so ago. She was on EDGE and is now assigned on APEX, as the inaugural crew.

And LOTS of other great people, along the way.

[Gasdoc]

Rikki from the Philippines was our butler on the Summit in 2004. Our first cruise. He was absolutely outstanding. We have had so many great staff over the years, however none have reached the high level of excellence that we experienced from Rikki. 

[SteveGT3]

I think it is very unfair to single out any one person. There are so many that do an outstanding job, work inordinate hours, are away from their families, etc.. To name one would not be something I prefer to do.

[davekathy]

Over the years we've had a lot of great memories of some fantastic crew/staff members. To be honest I can't remember any of their names, except. "Eddie". He was or stateroom attendant on our September 2019 New England/Canada Summit cruise. Hands down the best of the best. Eddie started working for Celebrity in 1988. His plans were/are to retire after his next contract, Great. We were suppose to be back on the Summit doing a B2B cruise 28 March and 4 April and we told him we would be back on the Summit at that time. Our plans were made with Eddie to meet up with him on those cruises to wish him a well deserved retirement. Nope, Celebrity cancelled both cruises. Bummer!! 

[NMTraveller]

Captain Merrill Stubing ...

[paphoslady]

We have recently returned from the epic 30 day Eclipse cruise. Alejandro has got to be top

of my list. He worked tirelessly to keep everyone entertained. Going round in rectangles off the coast of Chile was no fun but Alejandro made us laugh and worked hard to put on a full entertainment program

[keesar]

1 hour ago, NMTraveller said:

Captain Merrill Stubing ...

 

How about Julie McCoy?  She was always one of my favorites. 

[bigbenboys]

3 hours ago, keesar said:

 

How about Julie McCoy?  She was always one of my favorites. 

Do you mean Julie Mc? with red hair? She is in my top 5.