Cruise Directors

[Jancruz]

My favorites..Leslie Jon and Dottie 

Jancruz1

[sunlover12]

5 hours ago, Rosroz said:

I should think their  job is pretty boring as far as I can see they don’t have a lot to do as the activities and entertainment is pretty non existent , this is no reflection on them as people . It would appear that a lot of what they do is very generic, there are very little impromptu activities  unlike Azamara where the officers seem to have a bit more freedom.

The CD introduces whatever entertainment is happening each evening. They also produce a daily show on Oceania TV and they host daily trivia. Their schedules are busy from what I've observed. 

 

On my last O Cruise in March one of the singers was ill one evening.  Rather than cancelling the show that had been planned, the CD Julie James did a one-woman 45-minute show with the house band. They put that show together in a matter of a few hours.  It was very good.  Julie is a talented singer.  I'd call that impromptu. I was sorry to hear that Julie is retiring because she's my favorite CD on Oceania. 

[khuselid]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Peter Roberts

He usually has about 80 prs of shoes  plus some funky outfits  LOL

They had a video of  behind the scenes & showed his cabin for his shoes & outfits 

He was so personable and human. Great at trivia and a minimalist for announcements. I hope we see him again!

[LHT28]

2 minutes ago, khuselid said:

He was so personable and human. Great at trivia and a minimalist for announcements. I hope we see him again!

I always ask what new shoes he has this trip LOL

Some are quite humourous

[basor]

2 hours ago, khuselid said:

We were on Marina in March and out CD was Peter but I don't know his last name so will call him "Peter with awesome shoes for every occasion". He was one of the best CD's we have ever had!

He also has some amazing "holiday" outfits!!

[basor]

4 hours ago, no fuss travel said:

Carson is on the Nautica. I think he is due for leave in July. He has an interesting bow tie collection 

Also, he is an extremely talented singer.....his show is one of the best I have ever seen onboard any ship!  Loved Carson and hope to sail with him again!

[aqua]

It sounds like there are many different opinions about cruise directors. I am sure that all of the CDs on Oceania are very skilled and have passengers who are fans.  My husband and I found Dottie to be hard working and friendly. We had two ports cancelled due to weather so Dottie had to scramble to change the daily schedule. We thought her announcements were helpful, especially since we sometimes missed notices that were in the "advertising" insert of Currents instead of the main body of the flyer.

[MEFIowa]

On 6/16/2022 at 10:21 AM, ak1004 said:

Paul Baya on the Riviera sailing in December 2021. I was not impressed at all. He seems like a nice guy, but we hardly saw him.

I was on Riviera 12/13-23/21 (W. Caribbean). Have to STRONGLY disagree here about Paul Baya.

 

For example, he was at our Veterans Get Together early on the cruise. I think we had about 30 veterans. By the end of the meeting, he personally addressed us each by name by memorization, in the exact order of our own presentations to the group. Every time I saw him during the cruise he'd personally acknowledge me. I even talked with him once about getting our two oldest veterans together, since one of the sons wondered who the other oldest one was. I believe he did get them together.

 

And during the mid-cruise survey I mentioned that we didn't have any presentations on the ports or areas we visited. That night he personally called me. I wasn't in but he left a detailed message about accessing the library of related presentations that were in the video library accessible on the TV. The only time I used the phone was to listen to his voice mail! Of course, I thanked him in person the next day after I watched 2 of the videos.

 

Now we only had 719 passengers. But Paul was out and about and accessible. Always friendly. And always looking out for the passengers.

[ak1004]

Well, I'm not a veteran, and we had an opposite experience. He never acknowledged us, never addressed us by name and never contacted us after the mid-cruise survey (and we did make few comments). Was he friendly? Yes. But not everyone who is friendly is a good CD.

[MEFIowa]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

Well, I'm not a veteran, and we had an opposite experience. ...

Which 12/21 Riviera cruise were you on? I read that the Riviera cruise after ours had serious COVID issues, which our 12/13-23/21 cruise did not have. The cruising world got really weird in late Dec & Jan. 

[FetaCheese]

On 6/16/2022 at 3:40 PM, AMHuntFerry said:

I am admittedly an inexperienced cruiser, but we liked Paul on our December 2021 Riviera cruise. He was friendly (but not overly fake friendly), called us by name, and we enjoyed asking to see his socks each day (he has a fun collection!).

Had a CD  on HAL 3-4 years ago who showed his socks every night. Don't remember his name, a young guy. Another pax told me that since HAL CD's had to wear a "uniform" , grey suit every night, it was his way to be an individual.  Possibly same guy?

 

[ak1004]

2 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

Which 12/21 Riviera cruise were you on? I read that the Riviera cruise after ours had serious COVID issues, which our 12/13-23/21 cruise did not have. The cruising world got really weird in late Dec & Jan. 

Same as you - Dec.13-23. Yes, we were lucky with Covid.

 

And again, I'm not disputing that Paul is a nice guy, I was just not exciting about his presence and overall performance.

 

On the other hand, entertainment and activities are not among Oceania's strengths, so maybe all O CDs are similar to him.. 

[ORV]

13 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

Had a CD  on HAL 3-4 years ago who showed his socks every night. Don't remember his name, a young guy. Another pax told me that since HAL CD's had to wear a "uniform" , grey suit every night, it was his way to be an individual.  Possibly same guy?

 

I'm pretty sure that Paul Baya came from Celebrity, which was my only exposure to him. Perhaps he was on HAL also. 

[ChadnKate]

On 6/16/2022 at 4:42 AM, ToxM said:

I had issues with her husband’s humour. As he is the ship comedian this wasn’t optimal. I can imagine it is a bit of a conflict of interest with your boss being your spouse, so expect that is why the situation is allowed to continue. 

 

 

Sorry but we loved is humor. It's a difference of opinion that makes life interesting. My wife drinks white wine, I love red ...

[shepherd really]

56 minutes ago, ChadnKate said:

Sorry but we loved is humor. It's a difference of opinion that makes life interesting. My wife drinks white wine, I love red ...

If the difference of opinion is about racism, sexism or homophobia it isn't "interesting".  

It's just straight up offensive.  You get to decide what offends you.  You don't get to decide what offends anyone else.

[jos12]

On 6/17/2022 at 3:13 PM, pinotlover said:

Dave Carr

i.m.o. Lesli Jon is the best. But is he still working on Oceania ships?

[jos12]

On 6/16/2022 at 6:38 PM, DeanoNorthPerth said:

Interesting point of view. So which of the Oceania CDs do you prefer?

i.m.o. Lesli Jon is the best. But is he still sailng Oceania?

[RJB]

On 6/17/2022 at 4:58 PM, Jancruz said:

My favorites..Leslie Jon and Dottie 

Jancruz1

Agree.   Leslie Jon Number 1 and Dottie Number 2    Both very good

[ChadnKate]

10 hours ago, shepherd really said:

If the difference of opinion is about racism, sexism or homophobia it isn't "interesting".  

It's just straight up offensive.  You get to decide what offends you.  You don't get to decide what offends anyone else.

I do believe he’s an equal opportunity offender. Sort of like most comedians of similar age and origin. Sorry but even though we’ve heard most of his jokes, and my wife thinks some too crude, we generally laugh along with the rest of the laughing audience. 

[crrose]

On 6/15/2022 at 7:17 PM, aqua said:

Dottie Kulasa is on Sirena. I thought she was outstanding.  

Dottie is absolutely the best, CD I encountered.

[ORV]

8 hours ago, crrose said:

Dottie is absolutely the best, CD I encountered.

We all have our likes and dislikes. She’s either one or the other with most people. She’s definitely enamored with the sound of her voice. 

[beardedshark]

I really liked Nolan Deane but he seems to have left the company

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

3 hours ago, beardedshark said:

I really liked Nolan Deane but he seems to have left the company

He's on Viking now.....

[kibutzer]

On 6/16/2022 at 11:47 AM, edgee said:

Julie James (who I hear may have just retired). Once when I complimented her for not making announcements too often, she told me that Oceania passengers are "not stupid" and do not to have read to them what they can read themselves. Exactly my feeling. However she also is very talented and did a fine job at triva and as emcee during the evening shows. 

Funny how we all have different perspectives.  We found Julie only spent time with her "friends", not welcoming to newbies, and that staff was not enamoured. One man's love is another's poison. 

[golfguyhhi]

3 hours ago, LaCroisiereS'amuse said:

He's on Viking now.....

Nolan left Viking in mid-cruise in the Philippines, then joined and left Silver Seas while cruising had been halted.  He is now working in the mortgage industry and living (very happily) in Johnson City, Tennessee, where he now has full custody of his daughter.   We sailed with Nolan (and his then-fiancée, Elle Adda) several times.  He was our favorite CD and we certainly miss him.  We've been in touch with him since he left the industry -- which is how we know he is very happy.