Is the Captain the Captain?

[over50visits]

On our January Wonder cruise, the "Captain" was a tall, handsome man, blonde and blue-eyed as they grow them around Norway. He was ALWAYS walking around greeting folks, making happy talk, hosting receptions, etc.

We were just wondering - do you think DCL hired a dashing figure to be the public "Captain" while the real ship's master was on the bridge actually commanding the boat?

[grin] See what kind of thoughts can go through your head while relaxing with lots of time to think about things at sea???

 

[232271]

I suppose that could be true. I think of a handsome man when I think of the captain, and yes that would be a great idea!
but what about the men... do they need a dashing model pretty
cruise director?

 

[twoprincessesmom]

Well, I don't think we even had a Captain! I heard him a lot on the announcements, and that was it! Your cruise must have been special

Sharon

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Ours was Captain Thord--we saw him at the captain's reception, the castaway club reception, etc. I think he must be the captain because he also has to sign stuff, etc.
Last year on the Wonder a very well-off looking blonde swept onboard about half an hour before boarding==the CM told us it was the captain's wife.
Robin m.

 

[mmouse37]

We have sailed with several of the captains on our 10 DCL cruises...yes...they are indeed the "Captain" not a figurehead.

WE love attending the Q&A sessions with the ships officers and captain during the sea day seminar in Rockin Bar D. Lots of info..you can ask them all kinds of questions.

MJ

 

[inkkognito]

Trust me, that was the captain! Disney has some stereotypical looking captains and some not as close to the stereotype. We have met many of them, and they are indeed the commanders of the ship (well, actually we know that Captain Mickey is, so I guess it would be second in command).
Barb

 

[HooKooDooKu]

You'll notice that the times you see the Captain walking around are times when the ship is at sea. It's not so difficult to stear a ship in open water that the captain has to be at the wheel at all times.

However, you never see the captain when ever the ship is pulling into port (except for seeing him controlling the ship from one of the exterior side bridge extentions.

 

[StuartMI]

Oh come on. You know the real captain is really Captain highliner with that pipe, skippers cap and the rain slicker on. He's up on the bridge complete with peg leg and just says "arrrrrrrrrrr" all day while eating fish sticks. He's the brains behind the whole outfit for sure.

 

[KarenB]

Early one morning on the Magic this July (Cozumel day), DH and I were having our coffee and reading on Deck 4. Those great deck chairs called our names every morning!

Anyway, I went for a few walking laps around Deck 4, and all of a sudden Captain Thord came out of a door and just walked with me!! We just chatted and he only walked about the length of the ship with me, but I did notice that his eyes were always scanning everything. He seemed to be "visually inspecting" the ship as we were walking!

Later that day, we watched him dock the ship (with one hand!!) from the part of the bridge that extends out from bridge.

Karen

 

[MarkRG]

Take the bridge tour, you'll learn a lot. I havn't, but have seen a Travel Channel show that covered bridge operations.

Basically the ship drives itself when at sea. It's not like the old days with a big wooden wheel. It's all computers now and you just set the heading and the ship folllows. The job is now more about watching the monitors for ship status, other ships and other objects in the sea, or bad weather, that would need to be addressed. Think of it as the ultimate cruise control(pun not intended), like you would have in your car, but it would follow the road too, not just maintain speed. Those times the Captain can certainly delegate the conn to another bridge officer and tour the ship. Just as important to the Captain as sailing the ship is the presentation of the ship itself. Like KarenB just said, they walk the ship looking at everything, always looking for anything that might need improvement.

Norway is still very much a seafaring nation, you'll see more than not of ship command crews from there.

 

[Scott5150]

The Captains regularly rotate on and off the ship, so each ship actually has 2 Captains. I believe they are on for 3-4 months and then off for 2 or so. There are times when both are on board. So the Senior of the 2 is the official Captain and the Junior is the "Staff Captain". Most of the Disney Captains have been with the Ships since the beginning. Captain Hans left for less than obvious reasons, but it seems like a job that most people do not want to give up.