Favorite Cruise Directors

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

anyone remember Rachel from 2007 or so from the disney magic.

 

[mcd2745]

Jo was also an amazing singer. On one of our cruises, she did an incredible version of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide (backed by John Charles, who we also miss seeing perform) on guitar.

Yes! Her and John Charles (miss him a ton as well) clearly enjoyed working together. They did a great "Jolene" on one of our cruises.

 

[travellingwithnikki]

Jo and Natalie were so great together! They made our cruise so much fun. Who is the Cruise Director on the Dream currently?

Anthony was the CD on the Dream last month.

 

[bcwife76]

Count me as another one who misses Jo terribly We last sailed with her to Alaska in 2019. A couple of months after that we were on the Magic and had Tony from Spain. Everyone loved him, we liked him but he's no Jo
As for CD's we've only had Clayton once before he left DCL but did get to witness the Carlton dance Current faves for us are Ashley (my oldest daughter has had some wonderful interactions with her) and Trent. Darren is pretty great too

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

Yep - And Jo was hands down the best. No one ever comes close.

I was going to say, maybe we should start a similar thread but about club hosts
But since Jo is gone, I haven't even paying attention to who was the host when we cruised.

The concept of club host has lost all its meaning for me since Jo left DCL.
Yes, that's how entertaining and meaningful she was. To us at least.
We'd have sailed 3-5 more times than we have so far if she was still on the ships, just to see her, be around her.
That's how impactful she was.

Well done, DCL, for letting her go

I really miss the Club Host role, and Jo in particular. We really enjoyed her on our first two sailings on the Wonder. Having a consistent person at so many of those events really added something to a cruise!

 

[CamColt]

I really miss the Club Host role, and Jo in particular. We really enjoyed her on our first two sailings on the Wonder. Having a consistent person at so many of those events really added something to a cruise!

I completely agree! Our first cruises back after Covid (especially last year on the Wish), everything seemed so disjointed and we missed that camaraderie. Last summer however, on the Fantasy, while he didn't have the title of Club Host, YoYo did run all the nighttime events in the Tube, and some Trivias. He basically did the job of CH, but without the title, and it was fun again. He had his "thing" and the running jokes went throughout the cruise. I hope they keep that trend going.

 

[DMMarla07860]

I completely agree! Our first cruises back after Covid (especially last year on the Wish), everything seemed so disjointed and we missed that camaraderie. Last summer however, on the Fantasy, while he didn't have the title of Club Host, YoYo did run all the nighttime events in the Tube, and some Trivias. He basically did the job of CH, but without the title, and it was fun again. He had his "thing" and the running jokes went throughout the cruise. I hope they keep that trend going.

that's good to hear when you cruised the Fantasy to sort of had somone run all the nighttime events even if not offically CH

 

[Erica1016]

I also like having the consistency of the same person all week, even if they don't have that exact title. I feel like it really brings people together!

while he didn't have the title of Club Host, YoYo did run all the nighttime events

I would love to have YoYo in that role! We had Warren for our whole week and he was great, too!

that's good to hear when you cruised the Fantasy to sort of had somone run all the nighttime events even if not offically CH

We had the same person for a whole week on the Fantasy last May. They rotate from week to week but are consistent within each cruise.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I loved John Charles when I saw him 2017. On the last night of that cruise, I was lucky enough to get a pic taken with one of the cruise staffers by the adult comedian who would was just about to go on stage to introduce him. She was a funster and so hilarious

 

[CamColt]

I also like having the consistency of the same person all week, even if they don't have that exact title. I feel like it really brings people together!


I would love to have YoYo in that role! We had Warren for our whole week and he was great, too!


We had the same person for a whole week on the Fantasy last May. They rotate from week to week but are consistent within each cruise.

Funny thing, my son sailed with YoYo working in the kids club (teen club maybe?) many years ago. I remember hearing him talking about him then. The same son was with us on this particular cruise and got see him again, now as an adult in the adult clubs.

 

[anjuan]

I completely agree! Our first cruises back after Covid (especially last year on the Wish), everything seemed so disjointed and we missed that camaraderie. Last summer however, on the Fantasy, while he didn't have the title of Club Host, YoYo did run all the nighttime events in the Tube, and some Trivias. He basically did the job of CH, but without the title, and it was fun again. He had his "thing" and the running jokes went throughout the cruise. I hope they keep that trend going.

Yoyo played that role on one of our post-COVID cruises and I also thought he was great!

 

[Erica1016]

Funny thing, my son sailed with YoYo working in the kids club (teen club maybe?) many years ago. I remember hearing him talking about him then. The same son was with us on this particular cruise and got see him again, now as an adult in the adult clubs.

That's fun! I think YoYo said he's been with DCL for maybe 20 years! I remember him talking about having been in the kids clubs. We had a great time with him and I'm hoping he's on board still in May when we're back on the Fantasy!

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Completely agree. Cruise Directors on DCL just don't do much outside of introducing the main shows in the theater and maybe a morning show (do most of them still do that?). It seems a majority of their responsibilities is "behind the scenes" - scheduling and whatnot. They have all been very nice and engaging if you see them and strike up a conversation, but don't do a lot to move the needle as far as enhancing your experience because they are hosting specific activities/events. They're often observing the events in the background.

On other cruise lines, the CDs seems to host a majority of the day's events - particularly on Carnival. They basically separated the job into two people. The CD is essentially the ship's emcee hosting events all day long and can really impact the overall cruise experience. They also have an "Entertainment Director" who handles all the behind the scenes stuff so the CD can be out and about the ship all day and night.

The cruise director on our carnival ship made the experience ten times better that’s why I’m quite unsure what their roles are on DCL besides introducing shows like why bother at that point?

 

[CarolynU]

The Dream Team (as in the best not DCL Dream ) ha ha. Natalie CD and Jo as Club Host! I’m very sad those days have gone.
The loss of the formal Club Host role for me has definitely led to a downgrade of experience.

 

[CarolynU]

Yes! Her and John Charles (miss him a ton as well) clearly enjoyed working together. They did a great "Jolene" on one of our cruises.

Sadly Jo went during Covid along with the actual CH role! A huge loss and Disney did not renew John Charles contract and that was a huge loss to everyone who loved him and to John himself. Jo has carved out a good life for herself shoreside now and JC is still entertaining audiences just not on DCL.
Natalie still works for DCL in a senior position shoreside.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Jo was also an amazing singer. On one of our cruises, she did an incredible version of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide backed by John Charles (who we also miss seeing perform) on guitar.

She sang Jolene on our cruise- oh my goodness, she was fantastic!

We had Warren recently as well-he is the guy from Jersey? Bagels, Bon Jovi and Bada Bing? He was fun-not Jo.