It appears Commodore Tom is retiring in January of next year.

TikiThunderPirates

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 7, 2018
Although nothing has officially been announced, it appears Commadore Tom will be retiring from Disney Cruise Line in January of 2021.

I thought it might be fun if we share some stories of cruising with Commadore Tom.

Normally I don't pay much mind to who the Commadore of the ship is. The one time I cruised with Commadore Tom (Forberg) however I got to know his voice very well. We ended up having to divert our course due to a hurricane in the way. Due to the bad weather for several days, we got regular daily updates in our stateroom via the announcement system from Commadore Tom. He would come on, give us weather and position updates, as well as any new news he had about what the plans were for the remainder of our cruise. I ended up getting sea sick (a first for me) so for a few days Commadore Tom was my connection to the ship outside my stateroom.

He did a great job moving us around the hurricane and we ended up with some great weather at the end of it all.
 
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Commodore Tom was the captain of our very first cruise in 2017. I loved listening to his soothing voice on the intercom each day telling us where we were and what we could see from the sides of the ship. We have been on one other cruise with him - hate that will be the last one.
 
Sailed with him in 1998. Last sailed with him a few years ago. A true DCL legend. I have no doubt that his expertise has been used for planning ports and understanding ship management. I wish him well in his next phase.
 


How do you know?

There have been rumors for a bit about his retirement, and recently internal messages about him retiring were put out, as well as a statement by Thomas Mazloum, President, Disney Signature Experiences which you can read here. Again it's not been officially announced by DCL yet, but it seems probable. As the first Captain of DCL I thought it would be great to hear some of the stories of sailing with Commodore Tom. I know for a lot of DCL cruisers he is a beloved figure.
 


We have sailed with Commodore Tom several times and one time we were on the Panama Canal cruise and about 6 days into the cruise. We were doing an activity in one of the lounges.....Commodore Tom came on the loud speaker and was giving his daily updates talking about the landscapes we were passing and some of the wildlife.....everybody started cracking up when he started talking about all the brown boobies seen up on deck. Of course he was talking about birds but everybody's thoughts in the lounge went right to the gutter.

MJ
 
We have sailed with Commodore Tom several times and one time we were on the Panama Canal cruise and about 6 days into the cruise. We were doing an activity in one of the lounges.....Commodore Tom came on the loud speaker and was giving his daily updates talking about the landscapes we were passing and some of the wildlife.....everybody started cracking up when he started talking about all the brown boobies seen up on deck. Of course he was talking about birds but everybody's thoughts in the lounge went right to the gutter.

MJ
Oh my goodness I remember that! Was on the same wonderful cruise!
 
We sailed with Captain Forberg in October 2012 on the Fantasy. A very memorable cruise. While the Dream changed course and circled just north of Cuba, we went full steam ahead into Hurricane Sandy. Main dining was cut short and second seating was canceled. We were confined to our staterooms and hanging on to the bed for dear life. The interior of the ship was trashed. Everything displayed (artwork, items in the shops, liqueur bottles, glassware, plates, etc) were on the floor and broken. Memorable is the best way to describe the cruise with Captain Tom. "Unexpected weather delay" is not how I would describe a hurricane that had been tracked for days.

Fantasy Oct 2012.jpg
 
We sailed with Captain Forberg in October 2012 on the Fantasy. A very memorable cruise. While the Dream changed course and circled just north of Cuba, we went full steam ahead into Hurricane Sandy. Main dining was cut short and second seating was canceled. We were confined to our staterooms and hanging on to the bed for dear life. The interior of the ship was trashed. Everything displayed (artwork, items in the shops, liqueur bottles, glassware, plates, etc) were on the floor and broken. Memorable is the best way to describe the cruise with Captain Tom. "Unexpected weather delay" is not how I would describe a hurricane that had been tracked for days.

He really is so calm when he speaks about inclement weather. And very detailed. I learned a LOT about winds and water depth and hurricane paths during his daily announcements during our hurricane cruise.
 
We have sailed with Commodore Tom several times and one time we were on the Panama Canal cruise and about 6 days into the cruise. We were doing an activity in one of the lounges.....Commodore Tom came on the loud speaker and was giving his daily updates talking about the landscapes we were passing and some of the wildlife.....everybody started cracking up when he started talking about all the brown boobies seen up on deck. Of course he was talking about birds but everybody's thoughts in the lounge went right to the gutter.

MJ

"The gutter" is such a happy place for us. :laughing:
 

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