You're the newest CCL cruise director....

[havanadaydreaming]

and you are asked to implement some out of the box things that might be popular with guests.   What do you suggest? 

 

 

First, this exercise is meant to be fun.  Speaking of fun, i think the Fun Squad does a great job.  The best at their craft at sea.  i admire their hard work and long hours. 

 

I will throw a couple things at the wall and see if they stick.  

 

*bourbon/whiskey tasting.  most fellas i know back home are bourbon and whiskey fanatics.  might be a cool excursion for an at sea day.  I remember one of my favorite things to do was on MSC where they had a red or white wine tasting and then folks were able to make their own blended wine.  And bottle it (for a fee) and take it home.  i LOVED this.  im not a big wine guy but i did make a couple MARGARITABILL bottles and serve that at holiday dinners for both sides of the family.  FUN! 

 

*it seems like Halloween is many peoples favorite or second favorite holiday of the year.  i have no scientific proof of this, just my own observation.  we were at sea over halloween once and actually dressed up.  it was more fun that i thought it would be.   i'd say maybe 25% of the guests did likewise.  I was thinking of having a costume night once every week on 7 nt cruises.  (my wife had a great Cruella De Ville costume and i patched together a hobo/homemade goofy costume.  i was goofy at walt disney world three decades ago) 

 

i have a few other things stewing, but i'll keep it brief (for now).  

 

 

 

 

[txcruiser1234]

 

 

1) We absolutely love live music at sea. Most Carnival cruises have a solo singer/guitar player, a string trio and some sort of multi-piece band. We'd absolutely love it if some form of jazz could be added once in a while... maybe a trio or quartet...

2) We'd love to see a play at sea. On longer cruises and Journeys cruises, Carnival usually brings on one-night-only specialty acts like crooners and variety acts (our last had a 'stunt' juggler). We've seen small traveling theatrical troupes in europe that we thought could put on a good ship show. They're about 10 people strong, travel with their own costumes/minimalist sets, usually perform relatively cheap outdoor shows, set up one day and are gone to the next town tomorrow - very mobile. Anyway, we always thought this kind of troupe might be a good way to get a play on a ship...

[deelightfull]

Improv style games with the fun squad.  Something like whose line is it anyway, later in the evening at a smaller venue like the punchliner.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

Have armed Fun Squad members monitor trivia for cheating.  

[Saint Greg]

If I’m Austin Morris I’m shaving the beard and losing the earrings and glasses.

 

[cruiserbrianj]

I'd be really happy with more lido deck games during sea days. Over the years these game/contests have really almost become non existent. Seems like when I first started cruising ('16) there were several "events" during sea days....now, there's barely 1. Seems like a small thing but I've always enjoyed them.

[shof515]

38 minutes ago, cruiserbrianj said:

I'd be really happy with more lido deck games during sea days. Over the years these game/contests have really almost become non existent. Seems like when I first started cruising ('16) there were several "events" during sea days....now, there's barely 1. Seems like a small thing but I've always enjoyed them.

noticed the same thing too. back in the day sea day had lots of good things during the day

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, havanadaydreaming said:

and you are asked to implement some out of the box things that might be popular with guests.   What do you suggest? 

 

 

First, this exercise is meant to be fun.  Speaking of fun, i think the Fun Squad does a great job.  The best at their craft at sea.  i admire their hard work and long hours. 

 

I will throw a couple things at the wall and see if they stick.  

 

*bourbon/whiskey tasting.  most fellas i know back home are bourbon and whiskey fanatics.  might be a cool excursion for an at sea day.  I remember one of my favorite things to do was on MSC where they had a red or white wine tasting and then folks were able to make their own blended wine.  And bottle it (for a fee) and take it home.  i LOVED this.  im not a big wine guy but i did make a couple MARGARITABILL bottles and serve that at holiday dinners for both sides of the family.  FUN! 

 

*it seems like Halloween is many peoples favorite or second favorite holiday of the year.  i have no scientific proof of this, just my own observation.  we were at sea over halloween once and actually dressed up.  it was more fun that i thought it would be.   i'd say maybe 25% of the guests did likewise.  I was thinking of having a costume night once every week on 7 nt cruises.  (my wife had a great Cruella De Ville costume and i patched together a hobo/homemade goofy costume.  i was goofy at walt disney world three decades ago) 

 

i have a few other things stewing, but i'll keep it brief (for now).  

 

 

 

 

I think while the idea of a "for pay" bourbon or whiskey tasting sounds like a cool thing, if it were free, the cannon ball contest at the pool would be the next event followed by lounge chair corn hole.

 

We were on a Halloween cruise and the amount of people who wore a costume and went to lido deck party was off the charts.  It was total FUN.

[jimbo5544]

8 minutes ago, shof515 said:

noticed the same thing too. back in the day sea day had lots of good things during the day

the amount of people that do the trivia contests is head scratching 

[FTLCruiseGal]

Live music on Lido - miss the steel drums. Not everyone is young and enjoys club music

Maybe a dance contest

i miss the guest talent shows

Food tastings so you can experience different types of foods. Just a nibble so food doesn’t go to waste

Bidding to have dinner with the captain- proceeds go to St. Jude

 

[MommytoAsquared]

I'd love to see more morning exercise classes.

[pcvtmom]

23 minutes ago, MommytoAsquared said:

I'd love to see more morning exercise classes.

Zumba, please!!!! I've experienced this only one day on a Jouneys cruise. It was well-attended and so much fun!

[asalligo]

First I have Quest on my ship, clearly a very popular event. Maybe even twice a week. 

 

Then I would start a weekly guest talent show, audition anything and everything that people can do and create a group worth watching. Free show for the investment of one Fun Squad member for a couple hours a day to weed out people no one would care to see on stage. Carnival has dabbled with this in the past, but never done it correctly. 

 

I would then work on a new revenue generating event that is also fun since that is what Carnival wants from their new cruise directors. Something people would enjoy wagering on. 

 

 

 

[Eli_6]

The horse races they do on Journey's cruises!  

[Eli_6]

And bring back the hairy chest contest.

 

Or do a bikini contest for men.

[Eli_6]

A bad dancer contest.  

 

Informational sessions that give the history/interesting facts about each port of call on sea days--beyond them just trying to sell excursions.

 

A crazy hat contest.

 

[txcruiser1234]

trivia contests done through the Carnival HUB app... can participate from anywhere on the ship... set up kinda like the old school bar trivia games... questions pop up, you have 10 seconds to answer, the quicker you answer, the more points you earn... sure you can google, but that takes time. Would need huge databases (like the old school bar setups) so as not to repeat questions from cruise to cruise. Winners get a drink voucher in their account (or something trivially useful). Would love some ports of call themes - history, culture, food...

Edited June 29, 2023 by txcruiser1234

[Old Fart Cruisers]

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

And bring back the hairy chest contest.

 

. . . but restrict it to women contestants only. 

[DramaQueen22]

Change up the trivia.  I've been on several cruises with the exact same questions on each!

 

Wine tastings.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, DramaQueen22 said:

Change up the trivia.  I've been on several cruises with the exact same questions on each!

 

Wine tastings.

I think they have a book of trivia questions and answers.

 

I know on one of our ships, we were asked how old am I by one of the fun squad.

 

I told that to another one of the Fun Squad who was on his first cruise and also conducting trivia, and he said that question was not in the book.

[caribe123]

The fun squad does a great job. Looking forward to seeing the great work they do on the Venieza. 
 

As your newest CD I would do more outside on the Lido Deck. More of the old games such as pool games. Things that engage more people.  Deck parties

[Kermarkim]

More regularly scheduled dive in movies to appeal to all age groups; more theatre events with audience participation such as Love & Marriage show (this one is getting old); more Lido deck competitions (not the hairy man contest) but something to get everyone involved like that contest did and something more family friendly.  Lastly change up the Playlist Productions on each ship.  They run the same plays for years and I love to cruise Carnival but it would be nice to see something new.  I've seen all the productions that are on the ships out of Miami and Pt Canaveral multiple time.  Maybe they can switch it up.  Can't take "Flick" one more time.  😉

Edited June 29, 2023 by Kermarkim

[cxr133]

yes yes and yes

 

hmm what happened to posts i quoted

 

but yes hairy chest contest

and lets have some exercise and Zumba 

Edited June 29, 2023 by cxr133

[Kermarkim]

Hope that’s water Zumba in the pool.  So much fun!

[lasvegascruising]

Agree, more fun stuff on the Lido deck on sea days.  Bring back some of the classics.  Nothing better than laughing like crazy on the Lido deck in the middle of the ocean!