impact of the Captain and Cruise Director?

[jlynch924]

Very interesting to read through these diverse opinions! As @Dug720 said, different people gel with different CDs. Our most memorable ones have been Darren and Clayton, both of whom we liked because they were energetic and fun. We just got off the Wonder earlier this week, where we had Natalie (with Ashley as an ever-present sidekick). We were totally unimpressed with Natalie. She brought no excitement, and in person when we’d see her, she basically didn’t engage people. It seemed like Ashley was doing all the engaging.

 

[emma'smom]

We've found that the CD's on DCL cruises really raise the whole cruise experience to a higher level. I've not been impressed with most CD's on other cruise lines as they always seem less professional and more "schlocky". The CD's on DCL are considered officers and dress accordingly. We personally love Clayton the best out of all of them. He's an all around nice guy, great entertainer and handles issues that come up with a great level of professionalism. I recall a cruise where the a stage performance went awry on a very rocky ship and the jugglers dropped a chair which fell off stage and hit a passenger. He swooped in to address the passenger who was injured (not seriously injured, but still...at the time it was unclear), sought medical attention, cleared the stage and returned to address the audience all in a matter of moments with a level of quick thinking and calm that was admirable.

 

[lucky1]

I think the captain plays a very important role, just behind the scenes. He is the one that keeps us on calm seas and away from harm. Cruise director, we have experienced, Darren, Lesley, Ashley, Trent, Natalie, Christian, Clayton with Christian and Clayton being our all time favorites just being the most approachable. But CD are responsible for all entertainment on the ship. (Are they ones responsible for back to back showing of the live shows or are they being directed from Corporate?) I believe Darren got some feedback from guests that Solo was not showing at night in the WDT and so he scheduled it for the last sea day in the WDT to accommodate the guest that wanted to see it.

 

[mcd2745]

I've always felt the impact the CD had was way overblown on here. They don't make or break the cruise. I don't look for much from them anyway. We're not looking to interact with them throughout the cruise. We've had some good interactions with some, but it's not something we seek out. They happened organically. We did have a fun interaction with Clayton before dinner during one night "picture time" (DW is a picture fanatic - we always pre-order the all photos package and end up with a couple hundred), as we were talking to him and it came up that our son was still in our stateroom and didn't want to take pictures. He said" let's go" and actually went with us to back our room to practically drag our son out to the atrium.

Anyways...I've heard Clayton just left DCL, so his many fans will be disappointed.

 

[SlickWilly]

We've had Darren 3 times (3 nt, 7 nt eastern, 7 nt alaska) and Carly once (5 nt).

My family loved Darren especially. He was very engaging and fun and made a point of saying hi to my boys and other young guests all cruise long, asking what port adventures they did and what they were doing in the kids clubs. Cruise staff seemed to enjoy working with him as well. No entertainment problems throughout the cruise that I could tell.

Carly was good too. We had her as an ACD once also. I thought she was a better ACD, but she seemed to handle herself fine as the CD.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Anyways...I've heard Clayton just left DCL, so his many fans will be disappointed.

Where did you hear this?

 

[Toy Story Fan]

Where did you hear this?

I don’t know if Clayton is leaving, but according to this schedule, he is not listed past June 14, 2018.
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2018/06/captain-cruise-director-schedules-as-of-june-2018/

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

Where did you hear this?

I was curious so I wandered over to his FB page, which is at least partially public. It appears he is now living in Colorado and references working there as well.

 

[DMMarla07860]

Anyways...I've heard Clayton just left DCL, so his many fans will be disappointed.

I heard he left from a friend who knows him as well and just got off Magic

 

[Dug720]

I was curious so I wandered over to his FB page, which is at least partially public. It appears he is now living in Colorado and references working there as well.

I don’t know if he has left or not, but most of the Crew Members have their hometown (or where they lived when they began working for DCL) as their “lives in” designation. So that is not a give-away.

The profile I saw still lists DCL as “works at”.

Again, I do not know one way or another. But I do know some crew and none of them have “Disney Cruise Line” as their “lives in” but rather either their hometown or where they were when they got hired with DCL.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I don’t know if Clayton is leaving, but according to this schedule, he is not listed past June 14, 2018.
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2018/06/captain-cruise-director-schedules-as-of-june-2018/

Maybe he's on vacation?

 

[cruiser21]

Isn't he on the Dream right now? According to that article none of the ships have a cruise director scheduled this Summer.

To answer the question the cruise director has zero impact on my cruise. The captain finds the good weather so I guess he does.

 

[Toy Story Fan]

Maybe he's on vacation?

Maybe.
Our cruise in September is Darren, and to be honest, I don’t pay much attention who the CD is. As long as we have a good time, that’s all that counts!

 

[CamColt]

Maybe he's on vacation?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Maybe.
Our cruise in September is Darren, and to be honest, I don’t pay much attention who the CD is. As long as we have a good time, that’s all that counts!

I'm not really enamored of any of the cruise directors. I liked Brent, but it probably has more to do with the fact that he was our CD on our very first cruise ever (DCL or otherwise) as well as 2 out of our next 3 cruises.

Christiaan was OK, I liked when did his back flips, and his ability in the 6 degrees of separation game.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

I don’t know if he has left or not, but most of the Crew Members have their hometown (or where they lived when they began working for DCL) as their “lives in” designation. So that is not a give-away.

The profile I saw still lists DCL as “works at”.

Again, I do not know one way or another. But I do know some crew and none of them have “Disney Cruise Line” as their “lives in” but rather either their hometown or where they were when they got hired with DCL.

I can't say for certain either. But there were comments that made it seem like he will be working there as well. He may still list DCL if he is finishing out a contract or other obligation. All I can say is it's possible it could go either way. Guess we'll find out on down the road.

 

[Bishoparc]

I have to echo what some others have said in regards to the captain, they aren't necessarily the "make it or break it" for me but some do play the horns more than others and some keep you in the loop on weather and such more than others. Personally, we've liked Captain Thord as he seems to engage with the cruisers.

Cruise directors, for my wife and I, they kind of level set the energy on the cruise for us (they and also the club host). Some CD's can be seen throughout the ship talking to people and very engaged with those onboard while others are rarely seen. Christian was hands down our favorite, sad to know he's only working shore-side now but he was fantastic. Clayton, again very engaged with the people on board. You would always see him around talking to guests. Very energetic and enthusiastic. If I had to pick a least favorite, it would definitely be Trent. Outside of him introducing the shows, we've rarely seen him about the ship. Obviously this could be a timing thing but all the other CD's I've always seen at the fireworks and talking to guests after the shows, Trent not so much other than at the pin trading they have to be at.

I would be deeply saddened if Clayton was gone as well. We sailed with him this past December and he said he would be on the New Years Eve cruise on the Dream this year (and we will be too). So hopefully he's just on vacation.

Overall, it just really depends on the experience you're looking for. For us, we like to feel at home. We like the overall "family" feeling that DCL has. It's nice to walk down the halls and have crew members say "Welcome home". That's the feeling that brings us back to DCL over and over again.

 

[OKW Lover]

Never found it significant to know/care who was the captain or cruise director on any of our DCL cruises. Disney hires top-notch people for these positions and we don't see any real difference when we cruise.

 

[bcwife76]

Never found it significant to know/care who was the captain or cruise director on any of our DCL cruises. Disney hires top-notch people for these positions and we don't see any real difference when we cruise.

I echo this 100% On our very first cruise we had Clayton - he was an absolute riot!! Loved him! But honestly it's not like we seek them out. It really makes no difference to us who the captain or CD is, though of course I would prefer a rather experienced captain but how the heck am I to know that unless I do research about him prior to our cruise...

 

[TestingH2O]

We have Darren right now. He's awful. His morning show is so incredibly boring. He even just replayed an old one for the first day. It Waggoner obvious since he said repeatedly that Incredibles releases in a couple weeks.

In addition, he's using his pre-show talks and PA announcements to just say choice, choice, choice. I might try to say something to him about how bad his entertainment schedule is for this cruise, but I may just wait for the comment card. The double shows are bad, but other offerings are pretty sad too.

I really never thought a CD could have such an impact. But Darren seems to hate his job, and it definitely impacts the whole ship.