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Current Cruise Director & Activities Manager List


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3 hours ago, Lindsay said:

I could only watch 5 minutes.  BOOOOORING.  Snooze-fest.

I considered walking out but stayed as I still liked L&M and was curious to see what else he had in store. A few funny moments but they were all canned and not spontaneous. He keeps going back to that awful "Brutally honest" line as he seems to know of no other way to get an honest answer out of a contestant or a crowd reaction. It's a bizarre L&M approach. The 4 couples may have worked in the 90's when he started as CD, but it is 2018 now. I thought we were becoming more gay friendly and that gender roles meant nothing (hence why men shouldn't have to stand and talk about how good their wife is at cooking).

A complete contrast to Abe Hughes. This was from a sailing about 6 weeks prior to my B2B. Great CD and seems to actually have a rapport with the contestants.

 

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36 minutes ago, Joe01 said:

I don't think any of the female CD's have children. A few are married though. 

Some male CD's do have children (Marc Walker springs to mind), but the majority of CD's and AM's don't, so it isn't as hard. I do know that we had an Activities Manager on Independence in 2012 who left about a year after to start a family, so never made it to CD. Casey Pelter (CD) also took a shoreside job recently as his daughter is only 5 months old and presumably he wants to spend more time with her.

That's kind of where my thinking was going...they never make it to CD because they might want to have children or have children etc.

Clo has a son.  He's around the same age as my daughter, around 11 or 12.  She spoke about it during the M&M about what a juggle it is.

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17 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

That's kind of where my thinking was going...they never make it to CD because they might want to have children or have children etc.

Clo has a son.  He's around the same age as my daughter, around 11 or 12.  She spoke about it during the M&M about what a juggle it is.

Sorry, I forgot about that. I did know that Clo has a son. I think that is why she works shorter contracts, so that she isn't far away from him for too long.

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I am providing a CD & AM update. The AM List on CC is never updated, and I already do the CD List there so can paste that into here.

CD:

Adventure OTS - Mercedes LaFuentes took over February 27 for 6 weeks. (then who?)
Allure OTS - Jimmy Rhodes returns March 11 for 4 months, then Mitch Meruccireturns mid-July for 2 months.
Anthem OTS - Clo O'Connor early March until May 13, then Dennis Charles returns May 13 for 4 months.
Brilliance OTS - Abe Hughes started March 31 until early-July, then Clo O'Connor will be CD from July until September. (exact dates needed)
Empress OTS - Hugo Arenas began November 10 for 4 months. (then who?)
Enchantment OTS - Michelle Pimentinha Oliveira returned December 15 for 4 months, then Bobby Broughton returns late-April. (need handover date)
Explorer OTS - Graham Seymour returned February 9 (until when?). Topi Ylönenreturns June 8 until July 27. Graham is wanted to be kept on Explorer by the HD, so may be regular CD again for the rest of 2018.
Freedom OTS - Drew Devine starts March 17 until July 28, then Topi Ylönen returns July 28 until September 29, followed by Drew September 29 for 4 months.
Grandeur OTS - Bob Leininger began November 30 until mid-April, then Mike Szwajkowski for 2 months, then Bob returns mid-June until October 6, then Mitch Merucci from October 6 until December 1, followed by Bob starting December 1 for another 4 month contract.
Harmony OTS - Marc Walker begins February 3 until April 21, then Dru Pavlov returns April 21 until August 4, then Marc returns again from August 4 until October 6. 
Independence OTS - Tim Connor started March 15 until May 28, then Joff Eatonreturns May 28 for the Summer season for 4 months. 
Jewel OTS - Andrea Olivieri started February 25. (for 4 months?)
Liberty OTS - John Blair took over January 14 until May 27, and returns July 22 for 4 months.
Majesty OTS - Susan Adams took over February 26. (for 4 months?)
Mariner OTS - Ricky Matthews is said to have taken over for the repositioning, dry dock and start of the Miami cruises. (Will Carlos Torres also be working on Mariner later this year, as initially reported?)
Navigator OTS - Simona Ferraiuolo took over March 16 for 2 months. (then who?). Cuddy Cudworth returns in August after a contract on Radiance.
Oasis OTS - Jeff Arpin returned early March for 2 months, followed by Dan Whitney early May for 4 months. (need dates)
Ovation OTS - Mike Hunnerup returned March 23 (for 4 months?).
Quantum OTS - Chris Brown returned mid November for 4 months, then Paul Rutterstarts in March for 2 months and again from September for 3 months. (need handover date)
Radiance OTS - Mitch Merucci started March 18 until April 18. Cuddy Cudworth is joining Radiance for his next contract. (dates unknown)
Rhapsody OTS - Elvis Pinto returned early February for 4 months. (then who?)
Serenade OTS - Carly Boileau returns February 5 (until when? then who?)
Symphony OTS - Michele Scarpato and Bobby Brown are the launch CD's, sharing duties. Current dates are unknown, but Michele will be CD in early-July, and Bobby for the TA. Marc Walker takes over November 9 in Miami until February 16. (He joins Oct 23 for a 17 day handover)
Vision OTS - Ken Jones returned February 9 for 2 months, then Steve Davis returns April 6 until August 11.
Voyager OTS - Carlos Torres began late-January until late-May.

 

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AM:

Adventure OTS – Daniel Dornas until April. (no replacement known yet)
Allure OTS – Grant Martin returned January 21 for 4 months.
Anthem OTS – Caroline Peters started February 9 until April 7, then Tanya Yates Tongue (aka Tornado Tanya) takes over April 7 for 4 months, followed by Flavio Maeda in August for 2 months.
Brilliance OTS – Enzo Matijaca started early April.
Empress OTS – Mickey Martin started late February/early March. 
Enchantment OTS – Assata Young-Mayers returned in December for 4 months.
Explorer OTS –  Current AM unknown, as of last week. Aysy Sadrislamova will likely return in June.
Freedom OTS – Alexander Schmidt started early December until mid April, then Margot Van Erck takes over mid April until June.
Grandeur OTS – Cecy Del Razo started February 10 for 4 months.
Harmony OTS – Jerry Kubli returned February 3rd until late-May. 
Independence OTS – Elizabeth Hackett started mid-January until May 20. Mark Rous returns May 20 for 2 months.
Jewel OTS – Daniel Klophaus started in November for 4 months. He may be on vacation now, but replacement is currently unknown.

Liberty OTS – Katrina Blair started January 14 for 4 months, then Alex Green takes over May 27 until July 22, followed by Katrina again July 22 for 4 months.
Majesty OTS – Mosese (Moe) Vatuloka started in September, although Geoffrey Jones from the Cruise Director's Staff has stepped up to AM on a number of occasions since. Unsure of who is currently there.
Mariner OTS – Renato Arana started early April for 4 months.
Navigator OTS –  Mark Rous returned March 1 until May 20, then Daniel Edward returns May 20. 
Oasis OTS – Tresha Robb started February 11 until mid-June, then Flavio Maeda for 2 months.  
Ovation OTS – Angelle Rutten Van Hemert started late-January for the rest of the Australian season. An Asian AM will likely take over soon.
Quantum OTS – Bonnie Bai was onboard in December, although unknown if she is still there.
Radiance OTS – Alex Green started mid-March for 2 months. 
Rhapsody OTS – Eric Lopez returned late-February for 4 months.
Serenade OTS – Alison Hasler started January 26 for 4 months. 
Symphony OTS – Katy McCullagh joined March 31 for 4 months. Amy Tripp is also onboard, likely to assist while the ship is still in her first few sailings.
Vision OTS – Currently unknown. Possibly Talita Leoni?  
Voyager OTS – Claire Booth started late-January, although is due for vacation soon.

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Guest toodle68

On the last day of the cruise, it was announced that Mercedes was leaving to get married, but would be back. Not sure if that is how it works, but here assistant was taking over in the mean time.

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4 minutes ago, toodle68 said:

On the last day of the cruise, it was announced that Mercedes was leaving to get married, but would be back. Not sure if that is how it works, but here assistant was taking over in the mean time.

Nice to hear that. I thought Daniel (activities manager) would be due for his vacation soon. Unless someone else is now AM.

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On 3/29/2018 at 12:03 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I would think that it takes a while to get to the title of CD.  Most women would have to juggle that and family which I can't even imagine (as a mom and wife myself).  They have to be away from their families for months at a time.  Perhaps a lot of women put their family first and drop out of climbing that CD ladder?  I'm just guessing here.

Do many of the male cruise directors have families (not just a spouse, but children)? I ask because it doesn't seem like a job that lends itself to people with kids, so that wouldn't be a hindrance to either gender, but perhaps I am making assumptions.

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1 minute ago, Zacharius said:

Do many of the male cruise directors have families (not just a spouse, but children)? I ask because it doesn't seem like a job that lends itself to people with kids, so that wouldn't be a hindrance to either gender, but perhaps I am making assumptions.

@Joe01 would know more but I believe that some of them do.  But I do agree, it makes it hard on family life.

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1 hour ago, Zacharius said:

Do many of the male cruise directors have families (not just a spouse, but children)? I ask because it doesn't seem like a job that lends itself to people with kids, so that wouldn't be a hindrance to either gender, but perhaps I am making assumptions.

Some do:

Marc Walker, Tim Connor, Dan Whitney and Jeff Arpin are all fathers. Clo is a mother. There may be a few more but those are the ones that I can think of. Quite a few are married or in relationships but without children.

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Anyone had a good AM recently? I'm disappointed that we have Katy again on Symphony - didn't care for her at all on Harmony. Shame that most of the great AM's (e.g.  Chris, Tino, Darryl, Erky, Frankie) are gone. 

Also - anyone had Michele Scarpato as CD? We will have him on Symphony and hope he is good. I have read some positive reviews.

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Those who know me from CC know that I run the CD List and help out with the info on the AM List, but I am done helping with the latter one. I provided an update there yesterday (poster had been inactive for nearly 3 weeks on there). The regular poster on that list then came back today and ignored some of the updates that I added to the list, and the new version is once again full of grammar errors. Will not be helping that list again. 

However, I will happily run the show for both CD's and AM's on here. Please provide me with any updates if you get them. :)

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I know that this video is 8 years out of date, but it made me think that Joff would be a good fit for Symphony. He has already done the Anthem and Ovation takeouts. He is very British, so not sure what the Caribbean cruisers would think of him, but definitely perfect for the European cruisers (many Brits) and the crowd on the Transatlantic. 

 

I actually remember this video from the first time that I boarded a large ship! - July 17th 2010 on Independence of the Seas with Joff as CD. His Assistant was Steve Davis, who is now CD on Vision. They were a dynamic duo!

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I want to start a campaign! #joffforsymphony in Europe & TA then #abeforsymphony when in Florida. I do like Marc Walker though.

Who is your favorite CD and name 2 CD's that you would nominate to do Symphony?

Doing this on CC as well.

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32 minutes ago, Joe01 said:

RCI gave me the wrong answer - Margot van Erck will be AM for my SY B2B.

Anyone sailed with Margot before?

We have sailed with Margot van Erck twice.  Once on the Legend and last June on the Radiance.  She is very nice and extremely high energy.  She was a CD staff member on the Legend and AM on the Radiance with Steve Davis.  We are sailing tomorrow on Freedom for 8 days and according to your list we will see her onboard. 

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1 hour ago, SouthernYankee said:

We have sailed with Margot van Erck twice.  Once on the Legend and last June on the Radiance.  She is very nice and extremely high energy.  She was a CD staff member on the Legend and AM on the Radiance with Steve Davis.  We are sailing tomorrow on Freedom for 8 days and according to your list we will see her onboard. 

She was scheduled to be, but plans have changed and she is on Explorer instead then Symphony. Glad to hear that you liked her!

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Quote


Which leads me to the actual CDs. When we first boarded, we were greeted by both Michele and Bobby. Both were full of energy and very excited. Set a great mood for the cruise. Afterwards we noticed we rarely saw either cruise director, with the exception of the Welcome Aboard party and when our scheduled AquaNation show was cancelled. The dynamic between to the two was strained as they have very different personalities, but by the end of the cruise their morning show seemed a little more natural , but still awkward. I recognized Michele's voice over the PA more often than Bobby's. While I think two CDs for this particular cruise and the following one made sense, pairing up the personalities would have made it better. I won't pretend to be in the know of who the good CDs are for RCI, but just our observances that our two didn't make the best of pairs.

Feedback on CC from the March 31st Symphony sailing of the Cruise Directors. Not particularly impressed at what I am hearing, and this confirms my fears about the SY TA.

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From CC:

Going to open up another favorite topic of mine: Who is the next AM that you want to see promoted to CD?

I have seen so many "old school" CD's doing their thing on YouTube videos, and no offense, but I think it is time for Royal to move on from them and promote the next generation of CD's.

For me personally, Royal need to get Darryl Dyball back and make him a CD. He really should have got it, even if it was at the expense of another one. Same for Chris Hopkins and Frankie Portera, having seen all 3 in action. They also need more LGBT CD's, but maybe that's just me.

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15 hours ago, Joe01 said:
  17 hours ago, Joe01 said:

They also need more LGBT CD's, but maybe that's just me.

I'm quoting this one again, because personally, I think that this is important. I wish that there were more, especially given that it is entertainment.

 

Can we stick to cruise topics please, RC Blog is a friendly place where we discuss cruises, ports excurions etc, Debates on peoples sexuality and should there be more LBGT staff etc should not be discussed here. 

And please dont class me as homophobic, oldest daughter of 28 has been out for 11yrs and i couldn't be more proud of her and her partner 

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46 minutes ago, Ray said:

Can we stick to cruise topics please, RC Blog is a friendly place where we discuss cruises, ports excurions etc, Debates on peoples sexuality and should there be more LBGT staff etc should not be discussed here. 

And please dont class me as homophobic, oldest daughter of 28 has been out for 11yrs and i couldn't be more proud of her and her partner 

Sure thing - I wasn't opening up a debate, but as an openly gay man myself, I think that LGBT representation is crucial.

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14 minutes ago, Joe01 said:

Sure thing - I wasn't opening up a debate, but as an openly gay man myself, I think that LGBT representation is crucial.

I'll add in another quick thing - there are some CD's in the fleet who are rather conservative and/or homophobic, and personally, I feel uncomfortable sailing with them. It's 2018, I say that you should be out and proud! I know that I will be if I get CD one day.

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1 minute ago, DunwoodyDad said:

Any reviews on Dru Pavlov?  

We had Abe Hughes last time on the Harmony and thought he was hilarious. We would get the family up early just to watch his show a couple times through. 

I LOVED Abe as well. Him and Joff are the best two that I have had. LNEMS was fantastic!

Dru gets consistently good reviews over on CC. I'm sure you will have a great time. 

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I don't have a specific AM that I want to see as CD (the ones I wanted are no longer with Royal), but here are my 5 criteria for what I would like to see in the next CD:
1) Young - not being ageist, but it is refreshing to see a CD in their 20's or 30's. I would love if the next CD was born in 1988 or later.
2) Energetic - CD's need to energize a crowd and be the leader, so someone energetic is crucial.
3) Funny - a CD is useless if they have 0 comedic value. 
4) Visible - Interacting with guests is important. If not, they are in the wrong industry.
5) Innovative - What unique things can one offer a job? If I made CD, I have some new ideas to bring to the table, so should they. New theme night, new jokes, new style of show, new activities etc.

Anything else that you would add to the list? 

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I seriously wish that Royal would publish the schedule of CD's for the full year. That way, I would be able to choose an October cruise based on where the best CD's are, so that I can spend some time observing them and training myself for it. I don't know what cruise/itinerary to pick, and in this situation, the CD would be the ultimate deciding factor.

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On 4/22/2018 at 1:38 PM, Joe01 said:

1) Young - not being ageist, but it is refreshing to see a CD in their 20's or 30's. I would love if the next CD was born in 1988 or later.

Is this a remotely realistic expectation? Not trying to be snarky, I just gathered from here and other posts that you have to have a lot of tenure and a really good / long track record on many ships before ever being considered for a CD position. To use an analogue from my line of work, a CD sounds like a Managing Director; you don't get to that position without first having been a member of a team, then leading a small team, then running a number of big high-profile projects, and then overseeing multiple teams at once on several different projects while driving the overall goals and results of those teams, and having a firm vision of where that all is supposed to go. CD role sounds similar, given it seems that behind the scenes they really oversee all of the day-to-day entertainment operations of the entire ship, and aren't just the face you see a couple of times a day as a passenger.

Assuming most CDs start off in very junior positions under an existing CD, that sounds like it's at least a 15-year journey, if not 20 years. That would make it hard for anyone to reach CD before their early 40's at the youngest, and that would certainly track with what I've seen in my current and prior jobs, where there isn't a single Managing Director younger than early 40s. Maybe you've already done some of those steps to start moving on that track, possibly via land jobs instead of cruising, but I'm making an assumption that you'll be starting at the bottom of any career path on board that leads to becoming a CD.

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3 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Is this a remotely realistic expectation? Not trying to be snarky, I just gathered from here and other posts that you have to have a lot of tenure and a really good / long track record on many ships before ever being considered for a CD position. To use an analogue from my line of work, a CD sounds like a Managing Director; you don't get to that position without first having been a member of a team, then leading a small team, then running a number of big high-profile projects, and then overseeing multiple teams at once on several different projects while driving the overall goals and results of those teams, and having a firm vision of where that all is supposed to go. CD role sounds similar, given it seems that behind the scenes they really oversee all of the day-to-day entertainment operations of the entire ship, and aren't just the face you see a couple of times a day as a passenger.

Assuming most CDs start off in very junior positions under an existing CD, that sounds like it's at least a 15-year journey, if not 20 years. That would make it hard for anyone to reach CD before their early 40's at the youngest, and that would certainly track with what I've seen in my current and prior jobs, where there isn't a single Managing Director younger than early 40s. Maybe you've already done some of those steps to start moving on that track, possibly via land jobs instead of cruising, but I'm making an assumption that you'll be starting at the bottom of any career path on board that leads to becoming a CD.

Abe Hughes got CD after 3.5 years with Royal and was mid-20's at the time. He is one of their very best.

Quite the opposite in fact - I've seen several move up within 8 years of employment with RCI, many in 5. The CD on your Freedom cruise, Drew Devine, joined Royal Caribbean in 2001 and was Cruise Director in 2005.

It's a massive undertaking, and you are right that there is a great deal of management involved, but I have rarely seen a CD that has taken 15 years to get to the position from joining. Can actually think of none.

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1 minute ago, Joe01 said:

Abe Hughes got CD after 3.5 years with Royal and was mid-20's at the time. He is one of their very best.

Quite the opposite in fact - I've seen several move up within 8 years of employment with RCI, many in 5. The CD on your Freedom cruise, Drew Devine, joined Royal Caribbean in 2001 and was Cruise Director in 2005.

Ummm... wow! Clearly this is a very different industry than anything I'm used to! Is this because there's high turnover, or it's a "young people's game" kind of career path (especially for those who want to be raising families and actually seeing them more than once every 6-9 months), or other factors?

Certainly, it sounds like these are highly driven and motivated people to be moving up to these senior positions in such short time spans!

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To demonstrate how quickly people can make CD, here are the CD's I have sailed with:

Joff Eaton - worked for 2 other companies prior to RCI but was CD relatively young.

John Blair - Not sure, he's been around for decades.

Leigh Xuereb - I think he joined RCI in the early to mid 2000's. We had him in 2012 and he was only doing a fill in but was due to get a permanent promotion soon.

Casey Pelter - Joined RCI in 2000, CD in 2007.

Jimmy Rhodes - Joined RCI in 1999, CD in 2003.

Jerome Sueur - Joined RCI in 2011, CD in 2013.

Bobby Brown - Joined RCI in 1995, CD in 1998.

Abe Hughes - Joined RCI in 2003, CD in 2006.

Michele Scarpato (My CD for SY in July) - Joined RCI in 2012, CD in 2016.

Only 1 CD that I have seen who has taken longer than 8 years to get CD.

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3 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Ummm... wow! Clearly this is a very different industry than anything I'm used to! Is this because there's high turnover, or it's a "young people's game" kind of career path (especially for those who want to be raising families and actually seeing them more than once every 6-9 months), or other factors?

Certainly, it sounds like these are highly driven and motivated people to be moving up to these senior positions in such short time spans!

I just think that they are driven and it is something that they want to achieve. Those ones get there within about 5 years.

On the other hand, I have seen Cruise Director's Staff and Activities Managers who have remained in the job for 8-10 years and probably are comfortable where they are and don't really desire to become CD. If the talent and desire is there, they will get there.

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48 minutes ago, Joe01 said:

To demonstrate how quickly people can make CD, here are the CD's I have sailed with:

Joff Eaton - worked for 2 other companies prior to RCI but was CD relatively young.

John Blair - Not sure, he's been around for decades.

Leigh Xuereb - I think he joined RCI in the early to mid 2000's. We had him in 2012 and he was only doing a fill in but was due to get a permanent promotion soon.

Casey Pelter - Joined RCI in 2000, CD in 2007.

Jimmy Rhodes - Joined RCI in 1999, CD in 2003.

Jerome Sueur - Joined RCI in 2011, CD in 2013.

Bobby Brown - Joined RCI in 1995, CD in 1998.

Abe Hughes - Joined RCI in 2003, CD in 2006.

Michele Scarpato (My CD for SY in July) - Joined RCI in 2012, CD in 2016.

Only 1 CD that I have seen who has taken longer than 8 years to get CD.

Don't forget Tim Connor.  Another amazing CD and he can't be that old either.

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9 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Don't forget Tim Connor.  Another amazing CD and he can't be that old either.

Those are just the ones that I have sailed with. He's early 30's. Joined in 2007 and made CD in 2014, although he left Royal for a bit in that timeframe as well.

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2 hours ago, Joe01 said:

Am I the only one who thinks that a CD with an English accent is the best one? Certainly trading in my Scottish one for an English one if I become CD.

The reason I say that is because I love the accent, but also that many English CD's seems to be great - both Graham Seymour and Richard Spacey are British, and when I started looking at CC in 2013, they were Royal's two most popular. I also love Joff Eaton as CD, heard wonderful things about Tim Connor, Chris Hopkins was great in his CD stint, Marc Walker is fantastic.
Ironically, the only Scottish CD that I have seen is Bobby Brown, who I thought was a bit of a dud, hence my evaluation that the English make the best CD's. Abe Hughes is still my favorite though. 

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As a born and bred Yank, I have to say I like when I hear a Scots accent even more than when I hear an English one; maybe just because I interact with with folks from the London area more regularly at work? One of my favorite actors is Iain DeCaestecker, from Agents of SHIELD, and I freely admit that part of it just the joy of hearing him speak.

Besides, if it's not the norm, why not embrace it as what makes you distinct?

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