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33 minutes ago, UkuleleCruiser said:

Drew Devine? Not familiar with him. But I will be soon....

Afraid you won't be. Drew leaves for vacation on Sunday and John Blair replaces him until May 24th. Not a John fan, hope you like him more than I did.

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56 minutes ago, Beyond Vertical said:

Marc Walker announced he will be on Symphony from 10/23/18-2/16/19. He's an awesome director and a hoot to follow on Facebook. 

He'll be on Harmony 1/27/18-4/7/18 -  8/4/18-10/6/18

I actually know all of those dates, I just can't find a way to incorporate them into this list.

I agree that Marc's FB page is fun to follow, and that he is a great CD. So glad he will be doing the Symphony TA. He should really also do the takeout instead of Bobby Brown but I guess he is spending a bit of time on Harmony to ensure he is familiar with the class before doing the Symphony. Wondering if Matt is reading this thread as Marc was his CD when he sailed Indy over Thanksgiving.

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1 hour ago, Joe01 said:

Freedom          Abe Hughes          Alexander Schmidt

Can anyone comment on how Abe / Alexander are? I think I remember seeing positive comments about Abe from @twangster in his recent Freedom live blog, but if anyone else know either of them from other sailings they were on...

And of course, if they're good then hopefully they're not also switching ships or going on vacation before March 31. :3_grin:

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3 minutes ago, UkuleleCruiser said:

I've had John Blair before. Ho-hum. 

"ho-hum" is what I would use to describe Bobby Brown from the Harmony. 

Personally, I feel that John and Katrina are both stuck in the late 80's/90's days of cruising. Not really a modern day style, and certainly not to my taste. I'll leave it there.

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1 minute ago, JLMoran said:

Can anyone comment on how Abe / Alexander are? I think I remember seeing positive comments about Abe from @twangster in his recent Freedom live blog, but if anyone else know either of them from other sailings they were on...

And of course, if they're good then hopefully they're not also switching ships or going on vacation before March 31. :3_grin:

Abe is my favorite CD. So fun, friendly, energetic, and loves what he does. He is really good. 

Not familiar with Alexander, but maybe someone else will have had him.

 

At the moment, it is looking like both are leaving on February 11th, with Topi Ylönen and Aysy Sadrislamova replacing them until March 17th. Not sure if Abe and/or Alexander are returning then. Hopefully for you!

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3 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Can anyone comment on how Abe / Alexander are? I think I remember seeing positive comments about Abe from @twangster in his recent Freedom live blog, but if anyone else know either of them from other sailings they were on...

And of course, if they're good then hopefully they're not also switching ships or going on vacation before March 31. :3_grin:

I liked Abe.  Can't remember who the activities director was though.   

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57 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

The best CD I have come across so far has been Tim Connor.  He was on Allure but now he's on Oasis.  He is younger, super energetic and so unbelievably funny!  I laughed so hard I cried on more than one occasion.  Heard great things about Abe too but have not had the pleasure yet to sail with him.

Abe is fantastic, hopefully you will get the pleasure of sailing with him one day. 

Heard fantastic things about Tim. He seems really funny from what I have seen, and I do appreciate a younger and energetic CD, not someone stuck in the old days of cruising.

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4 minutes ago, Joe01 said:

"ho-hum" is what I would use to describe Bobby Brown from the Harmony. 

Personally, I feel that John and Katrina are both stuck in the late 80's/90's days of cruising. Not really a modern day style, and certainly not to my taste. I'll leave it there.

That's exactly right! It's like an 80's flashback. You nailed it!

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3 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

I liked Abe.  Can't remember who the activities director was though.   

When were you on FR? Angelle Rutten van Hemert was AM prior to early December. 

 

I will mention that with Abe, he tends to like the spotlight and doesn't really give his AM a chance to shine. This was apparent on the July 1st Harmony sailing, where he did some of the AM duties such as L&M auditions, sailaway party and the morning show on his own (which was awesome, by the way!) The guests barely got to know Katy McCullagh (Activities Manager) as Abe seemed to dominate everything.

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1 minute ago, Joe01 said:

When were you on FR? Angelle Rutten van Hemert was AM prior to early December. 

 

I will mention that with Abe, he tends to like the spotlight and doesn't really give his AM a chance to shine. This was apparent on the July 1st Harmony sailing, where he did some of the AM duties such as L&M auditions, sailaway party and the morning show on his own (which was awesome, by the way!)

Freedom was beginning of November 2017 for me.

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1 hour ago, Beyond Vertical said:

Marc Walker announced he will be on Symphony from 10/23/18-2/16/19. He's an awesome director and a hoot to follow on Facebook. 

He'll be on Harmony 1/27/18-4/7/18 -  8/4/18-10/6/18

Thanks for the tip!  I just started following him on FB. We'll be on Harmony for Spring Break.  

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1 hour ago, Beyond Vertical said:

Marc Walker announced he will be on Symphony from 10/23/18-2/16/19. He's an awesome director and a hoot to follow on Facebook. 

He'll be on Harmony 1/27/18-4/7/18 -  8/4/18-10/6/18

Marc was on Indy over Christmas.  I liked him.  I'll be on Symphony with him in October.  Cool. 

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Just now, twangster said:

Marc was on Indy over Christmas.  I liked him.  I'll be on Symphony with him in October.  Cool. 

Never had Marc, but follow him on FB and have seen some of him on YouTube. Brilliant CD.

I'm assuming you will be on the TA.

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9 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

I did not care for Bobby Brown at all on the Harmony.  He was so dry.

Agree. He had some funny moments but would be fantastic on a HAL ship, not the world's largest. He's another one who I think is stuck in the earlier days of cruising. Very disappointing that he is taking out the Symphony but at least he is gone by the time I get to sail her. There are so many fantastic CD's in the RCI fleet, so I am lost as to why they think he is worthy of the biggest ship. 

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Just now, Joe01 said:

Agree. He had some funny moments but would be fantastic on a HAL ship, not the world's largest. He's another one who I think is stuck in the earlier days of cruising. Very disappointing that he is taking out the Symphony but at least he is gone by the time I get to sail her. There are so many CD's, so I am lost as to why they think he is worthy of the biggest ship. 

I was just as surprised to hear that he gets to take Symphony out....

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1 minute ago, Sabrinaklai said:

I was just as surprised to hear that he gets to take Symphony out....

Saddest part is that it was originally supposed to be Abe Hughes doing the takeout. That's a really rubbish trade. I suppose now that Ken Rush is in the office, they had to go and find a CD whose routine is fairly stale in order to do the takeouts.

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1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

Can anyone comment on how Abe / Alexander are? I think I remember seeing positive comments about Abe from @twangster in his recent Freedom live blog, but if anyone else know either of them from other sailings they were on...

And of course, if they're good then hopefully they're not also switching ships or going on vacation before March 31. :3_grin:

Over on CC it says Abe is done by Feb.11 and then Topi Ylonen from Feb.11 to March 17, then not sure?  Maybe he's going to be back for your sailing?  That one month term seems short for a CD?

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Just now, twangster said:

Agreed.  Glad he is not on Symphony.  

He is. He will be doing the takeout. Michele Scarpato (Italian CD) will take over at some point and do the bulk of the Med season then Marc arrives 10/23 for the TA and Inaugural Caribbean season. 

I will be on in July and possibly for the TA, so I am glad that Bobby will be gone by the time I sail her and I get to have much better CD's with Michele and Marc instead. 

I've seen very little positive reviews of Bobby recently. Surely they would listen to customer feedback?

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1 minute ago, Sabrinaklai said:

Over on CC it says Abe is done by Feb.11 and then Topi Ylonen from Feb.11 to March 17, then not sure?  Maybe he's going to be back for your sailing?  That one month term seems short for a CD?

Topi posted it on his website. He is on Explorer from Nov 19 - Feb 9, so basically a full contract.

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1 minute ago, Joe01 said:

He is. He will be doing the takeout. Michele Scarpato (Italian CD) will take over at some point and do the bulk of the Med season then Marc arrives 10/23 for the TA and Inaugural Caribbean season. 

I will be on in July and possibly for the TA, so I am glad that Bobby will be gone by the time I sail her and I get to have much better CD's with Michele and Marc instead. 

I've seen very little positive reviews of Bobby recently. Surely they would listen to customer feedback?

On Harmony in August he was barely present.  His AM (I think it was Alex) did most of the events.  He only showed up for the 60s party and introduced some shows.  He did the Love and marriage show but it wasn't funny at all.

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The AM in August was Jerry Kubli. 

 

The CD on Oasis Class is less visible than on other ships due to a higher amount of admin work. Abe was more present, although we did see Bobby more on a previous sailing in the Med.

I saw his L&M show in July. I don't like his format of 4 couples and the men having to stand. The additional couple is simply to make the show 45-50 minutes as Bobby pretty much only asks the questions and moves on, unlike Abe and Marc Walker who make something out of almost every answer. It was funny at times though, but not a patch on Abe's equivalent the week before.

I would also be curious as to how Bobby's L&M set up would work with a gay couple..

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4 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

Oh yes...that's right...I can really just remember his face lol and the awful 90s dance party cosutmes ?

Loved the 90's party. Katy did a great job with that one. I wasn't alive in the 70's so can't relate to it the same. The costumes were hideous though.

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It seems that many people (myself included) disagree with the choice of Bobby Brown for the Symphony takeout. It's like when people complained about Ken Rush taking out all of the new ships.

Question - who would you choose instead? I can think of plenty of great alternatives. One who comes to mind is Joff Eaton, who has taken out both Anthem and Ovation, has filled in on Allure, is a very good CD, and is loved by the British market, many of whom may sail SY out of BCN next year. Or, Abe Hughes, because pretty much everyone likes him, and he has done the Harmony inaugural season. Several other options as well.

As long as they are funny, friendly, energetic, have Oasis Class experience and set a fun atmosphere on their ship, I am happy with them. 

 

Matt - If you are reading this thread, what did you think of Bobby on the Group Cruise in comparison to Abe on the July 1st sailing? I was on the July 1st sailing as well and loved Abe.

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