Popular Carnival Cruise Director Makes Big Change for Charity

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Carnival Cruise Line’s “Groove for St. Jude” event is always a popular onboard dance party collecting donations from guests for the children’s research hospital. But one cruise director recently stepped up in his own way to entice guests for even more donations on a very special cruise.

The fundraiser happened on Carnival Spirit‘s most recent Carnival Journeys cruise, a 12-night roundtrip Southern Caribbean voyage from Mobile, Alabama with visits to Grand Turk, Aruba, Curacao, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman.

Carnival Journeys sailings often feature unique events and more immersive experiences, such as guest lecturers, special menus, and local entertainment.

What makes these unique cruises the very best, however, is the dedication of the ship’s crew to ensure they are amazing voyages for everyone. No one did more onboard Carnival Spirit to make this sailing more memorable than the cruise director, Alex Siegler.

One of the most popular cruise directors for Carnival Cruise Line, Siegler and his cropped hair and beard are a familiar and welcome sight for guests who want to make the most of their Fun Ship sailing.

Thanks to the very successful Groove for St. Jude onboard Carnival Spirit, however, that sight will be a bit different for the next few cruises!

“This year I challenged the Spirit family to raise $5000 for St. Jude on this Journeys cruise, and in exchange I vowed to go totally clean shaven for the first time in over ten years,” Siegler said.

The Groove for St. Jude event is typically held on a sea day and is a fun dance party where guests can show off their moves for a good cause. Donations collected for the event are 100% contributed to St. Jude, a longtime charitable partner of Carnival Cruise Line.

“After the numbers were tallied, we came up with just over $4,700 raised!” Siegler announced after the event. “We may have been just a hair short (pun fully intended) of our goal, but this is still no small feat and we did so much good for the kids today!”

To be a great sport about a great effort to raise money for a great cause, Siegler did shave his beard – just not quite all the way down to the skin.

“I may not be 100% clean shaven, but I could not tell you the last time I saw this much of my face,” he joked on his Facebook page. “Thank you all so much for showing up and showing out for the kids of St Jude on behalf of the spirit family. Weโ€™re truly going out with a bang for the last cruise of Mobile season!”

Siegler’s “facial sacrifice” has not gone without notice, as St. Jude responded to his social media post in acknowledgement of his good-natured fundraising.

“Your kindness and dedication are changing lives, Alex. Thank you for being a hero for the kids of St. Jude!” St. Jude’s replied.

The Carnival Journeys cruise, which returned to Mobile on Thursday, January 30, is Carnival Spirit‘s last sailing from the Alabama homeport for the next few months. The vessel has now departed – without guests – on her way to Spain for a planned dry dock refurbishment.

While no announcements have been made for the updates or upgrades that may be in store for Carnival Spirit, guests aboard the ship’s March 16 departure will be the first to enjoy them.

That next sailing is a 14-night one-way transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Miami and will mark the ship’s return to service. From Miami, Carnival Spirit will then make a one-way journey through the Panama Canal to Seattle, where she will settle in to spend the summer offering 7-night Alaska itineraries.

The ship will return to Mobile at the end of October, and Siegler is scheduled to be her cruise director for much of the summer and fall.

Alex Siegler With Shaved Beard
Alex Siegler With Shaved Beard

Carnival and St. Jude

Carnival Cruise Line has partnered with St. Jude Childrenโ€™s Research Hospital for many years, and in 2024, set the phenomenal fundraising goal of $50 million by 2030. The cruise line kicked off that goal with a symbolic $50,000 donation.

Every Carnival cruise hosts poolside Groove for St. Jude events. Other fundraisers are often found onboard as well, such as the Build-A-Bear Workshop at Sea, where kids (and kids-at-heart!) can create their own St. Jude-themed keepsake bears.

Occasionally, very special events are also dedicated to St. Jude. This was the case with the retirement of Carnival Ecstasy, for example – the only Fantasy-class ship to have gotten an official “retirement” party from the cruise line. Five of her sister ships were retired during the pandemic shutdown when no final sailings were possible.

Read Also: Former Carnival Cruise Ships – Where Are They Now?

When it was announced the ship would be removed from service in 2022, a special onboard auction of memorabilia was planned for her final cruise. Ultimately, the auction raised an astonishing $39,000 for the charity.

Carnival Cruise Line used to promote a one-time donation to St. Jude in each guest’s name when loyal travelers reached the Diamond level of the VIFP program.

That donation was discontinued in early 2024, but the cruise line remains strongly committed to supporting the charity – as Siegler has demonstrated with his heartfelt (or “hairfelt”?) act!

GigSky Cruise SIM

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Melissa Mayntz
Melissa Mayntz
Melissa has been offering her expertise on cruises since 2017 and reporting on cruise news since 2021. her work has been featured in newspapers, blogs, and websites on a wide range of subjects, but cruises remain her favorite topic to cover. She has been on more than 40 voyages to the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, and more, and always has at least one more sailing booked on the horizon.

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