If there is one city and country that deserves  all of the thousands of tourists  that the Carnival Freedom will bring, it is without doubt Dubrovnik, Croatia. When you consider the living hell they went through during the early 1990s, it is a huge tribute to the people of this beautiful place that they have rejuvenated themselves  and,  in turn,  their tourism  industry. I urge everyone to take a cruise that goes to Dubrovnik. It has chocolate box charm and the old town is straight out of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy  tale .

Even though the weather was damp and cold today,  the guests still had nothing but great things to say about the people of Dubrovnik -  their hospitality and the magnificent place they call home.   Let’s all hope that this remains so forever.

Tonight’s show is a tribute to the Beatles and is called Ticket to Ride. It is produced and directed by a fantastic team of choreographers,musicians, set designers and behind-the-scenes personnel who together have produced another award-winning spectacular.

This show was designed by a young lady I have known for many many years, Kerry Stables. Kerry was a dancer on the Celebration when I was a  Cruise Director. I have watched her grow from a young, beautiful dancer to a still-young-looking and still-beautiful Director of Production Entertainment. She, along with other friends of mine like Preston Bircher  — our Entertainment Designer and master of lights, sets and all things entertainment  –  have made the successful transition from shipboard to shoreside personnel . I am so very proud of them.

Tonight’s performances were extra special as it was opening night. I do not want to spoil it for those who have not seen Ticket to Ride but the finale left us all with a feeling of  exhilaration and the ovation that followed made our young cast feel on top of the world.

Katakolon is the nearest port that allows the exploration of Olympia. Our shore excursion program is amazing and we have all put a lot of effort into choosing tours that  show case the true history of our spectacular ports. There are some destinations where a tour guide could be someone who just woke up and said “I think I will go down to the cruise ships and be a tour guide.” In Europe, it is really different and the tour guides are professional people who spend years at university to get a degree to gain the knowledge of their own country and its history. I always advise guests to take a tour and allow these passionate people  to provide a unique perspective on their culture and heritage heritage.

In Katakolon the locals made a huge mistake  –  boy did they pay the price. To welcome our guests to their town for the first time they set up tables on the pier providing………wait for it………………………………free wine and food ! Now, I am not sure if they realized what would happen when 3000 passengers see free food and wine on the pier but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that the following stampede lasted all day as our guests grazed away at the free stuff. Seriously though, it was a wonderful welcome and the Feta cheese and local wine was a great surprise,  as was the flower presented to each lady as they disembarked.

I spend about 6 hours a day behind the computer. E mail has, in some cases, enhanced our lives but it has also increased our work load in all walks of life. I have just sat down to find 108 e mails in my inbox. The thing that drives me mad about e mail is the fact we e mail each other when we are only a few feet away. On the ship we send e mails to each other when all it would take would be a 20-second walk to someone’s cabin. I find this so annoying as I can never fully express myself in email. This feels very strange talking about email and my hatred of all things computer (I use my CD-ROM as a cup holder) yet here I am writing something called a “blog” onto a computer which if I am lucky will be read by someone other than my Mum.

Showtime tonight was a fantastic singing trio who performed in the style of Il Divo.

I have just read that 6 people have read my blog and I am surprised and grateful.

To all of them a big hello especially the ones who are cruising with me soon. I promise to do my best to give you the best time ever. A special hello to Stormin’ Norman who if you don’t know him has a personality the size of the Australian outback. I miss you mate.

Heidi is now calling me to bed………..so………….as much as I would like to share a bedroom “blog ” with you, I won’t!

Goodnight.

Just finished the show – its now 12:05am and I must say I feel pretty good. Even though I have some “stock” jokes, I try and make the show different every week. Interviewing guests is my favorite thing to do and you never know what you are going get when you pick a guest to come on stage.

Someone asked me why I choose certain people. I have no real answer to that, it is just a feeling when you see them. I had some great characters tonight including a lady called B.J. who is married to a man called O.J. I had a lot of fun and even though the audience are very tired after two days in Venice and a previous trans-Atlantic flight . They laughed a lot,  hence my good feeling.

My major goal is to make the guests famous. I want people to be stars for a cruise and when I see that this happens and people who may not get to be in the limelight

In their normal lives, they normally don’t get this opportunity but they do here on the Carnival Freedom  and it gives me a huge sense of satisfaction.

So, now I am sitting at the computer writing this blog thing. I am not sure if anyone is ever going to read this so I might just be doing it for myself .  Who knows? It is a strange thing to do and I am even less certain that anyone cares about the stuff I write about, but just in case anyone is reading this, I hope you are well and I hope we get to meet someday on a  Carnival “Fun Ship” ship.

So, bedtime, and a goodnights sleep and hopefully a dream about my Mum’s Roast Dinner with lashings of Yorkshire Pudding.

We have just sailed from Venice and it is always a thrill to sail past all its glorious sights .  For many of our guests, it is a a major highlight.

It’s 10pm now and I am getting ready for the Welcome Aboard Show. This will be the first time I have been on stage since early November. I had a wonderful two months at home with Heidi and spent a lot of time eating too much of my wife’s and my Mum’s home cooking. It’s surprising how much energy you need on stage. Even stand up comedy can be tiring both physically and mentally as you try and think of something funny to say. So that last Yorkshire Pudding I had at my Mum and  Dad ‘ s may be the reason I am not funny tonight! My Mum and Heidi are great cooks – my Mum’s Shepherd’s Pie is amazing (she uses real Shepherd) and Heidi’s Ikel Stew (it’s Dutch) is fantastic although a few hours after I digest it my wife tends to stay in a different room!

I listen to music when I get ready for shows, usually Jazz, but tonight its some old 1980′s rock by a band called Deep Purple.

I wish I had a picture of me running around the cabin naked, head banging to Smoke on the Water. I am sure if such a photo existed you would all want a copy – if I get enough requests than I will post it on the website.

Anyway, Showtime, back soon.

Met with my entertainment staff today to plan the cruise ahead. I have a wonderful staff of Stephanie, Gary, Lloyd, Mouna, Shawn and Adele. I must not forget my wife and Assistant Cruise Director Heidi – without her I am as useful as a hairbrush would be to Britney Spears.

After the meeting we began the embarkation process. It’s always good for me to walk around on embarkation day as many guests do not know me yet so I can blend in and see the guests boarding. This did not work very well as the first group of guests I saw came running over to hug me and shouting how wonderful it was to have me as a cruise Director again and they had planned their trip just to return to see me.

When something like this happens it really shows what an impact you can have on someone’s vacation. The fact that they have chosen their vacation based on what ship I am on is a humbling experience. I should point out that being hugged by a group of guests who have just endured a 13-hour trans-Atlantic flight is also a very “interesting ” experience!

Seriously though, I have guests return to see me every week and I am so very grateful to each and everyone of them, especially people like Robert and Suzann Schneider who have chosen their vacation around my schedule for the last 15 years. I have no words to express my gratitude to the Schneiders and many others like them.

The first night of the cruise is an overnight call in Venice. As such, it was rather quiet evening with everyone out exploring the city so Roger, Heidi and I met up with our friends Harry and Nadia Salmon who were staying in town.

We had a wonderful meal in a Venetian restaurant called Gaterpados which is Italian for “How Much!” Nadia is an expert guide in Venice and she led us all on a relaxing walk through the canal side streets of the most romantic city in the world. Roger insisted on having a gelato (ice cream) even though he had just finished dinner so Nadia took us to a fantastic shop just a few minutes from St Marks Square where we feasted on a single scoop of ice cream except Roger who had something called a “Tuutcha ” which translates into a triple scoop of ice cream and comes with a free roll of toilet paper!

We said goodbye to Danny and Nadia who were returning to England. If anyone visits England’s famous Tower of London make sure you stop by a the local Hot Dog Stand located next to the main entrance. Its run by Harry and is called “Harry the Hotdog” and if you say you have read this blog you get a free hot dog…they are the best!

Anyway, back to the ship and preparation begins for my travel talk the next day in which I will provide information on all the ports of call. Rhodes, Athens and Katakolon in Greece, Izmir in Turkey and Dubrovnik, Croatia.

If anyone reading this blog has never been to Europe and in particular these ports, I urge you to please come and visit me. The history and spectacular sights await your discovery and it will be a huge honor to be your guide and cruise director. So, as I walk out on stage now to tell 3,000 people what incomparable places they are about to visit, I hope that one day YOU will be on the other side of the curtain.

Showtime…will write more soon

Woke up this morning and for a minute I had no idea where I was. It seemed like I had only just gone to sleep. The realization hit me that I was the Cruise Director of the newest ship in the world and that the 6 hours of sleep I just had would have to be enough until I went to bed again after midnight.

It was time to disembark the VIP’s and my mates from our head office in Miami. The VIP’s included our Chairman Micky Arison and his charming wife Madeleine as well as El Presidente Bob Dickinson and other top Carnival People.

As I made the announcements over the Public Address system from my cabin, I am sure they all thought that their Senior Cruise Director was smartly dressed and alert at 7:00am. Little do they know that I am half asleep and dressed only in my Marks and Spencers underwear ( British pants at their finest ). It’s now time for a cup of coffee made by my wife Heidi and then a staff meeting.

I received some photos from Vicki Freed, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing for Carnival, with the Carnival Freedom’s Godmother, Kathy Ireland. Vicki has also started a blog for travel agents, and I encourage you to visit it; simply visit vickilovestravelagents.wordpress.com. I’ve also received some fantastic shots of the ship in Venice, truly a sight to see. A special thanks to Radu Ursu, Senior Photographer for these spectacular images.

Will write more soon and this time fully clothed

It seems only yesterday that my wife and Assistant Cruise Director Heidi arrived in the Venice shipyards to board our new home the Carnival Freedom. You think you will have all the time in the world to get your department of 65 entertainers together, prepare the daily schedules and bring all the departments together but that time disappeared faster than a Aston Martin Vanquish with James Bond at the wheel.

It was an incredible feeling of anticipation as we waited for the 1,700 special guests to board our sparkling new mega-liner for a night of entertainment and fun.

The good thing about these functions is that I get to see all my friends from the office. When you are based in Europe you don’t see them as much as you would like so it was wonderful to chat with so many.

At 10 am, Roger Blum, Carnival’s vice president of cruise programming and a great friend for many years, myself and others gathered in our show room the Victoriana Lounge to rehearse for what is always the most nerve racking part of any new ship delivery — THE NAMING CEREMONY.

On paper it looks so easy. Smash a bottle of champagne against the bow, applaud, have a photo and go and drink a glass of champagne .

In reality, it is not as easy as it looks. From the old days of swinging a bottle tied to a piece of old rope, we have developed Space Shuttle Technology to make sure that expensive bottle of French bubbly does indeed break. If not, you will see many a sailor crossing themselves and touching various parts of their bodies as superstition dictates.

Roger had worked hard to make sure this would happen and he explained the process to the ships beautiful Godmother Kathy Ireland I could see that it was going to be another tense affair. Kathy and Captain D’Aita rehearsed along with Maurice Zamarti our Vice president of sales who would Emcee the event and I couldn’t help feeling jealous that I would not be the man on the microphone. I tried to explain to my wife that it had nothing to do with being close to Kathy Ireland.

So, the rehearsal became the real thing and after the speeches were made Mrs. Ireland hacks at the rope with a hatchet. I watch the bottle swing towards the bow, it seems to take forever. Time stands still as everyone waits and then the first thing I see that tells me it was a successful mission is Roger Blum performing a celebration fit for the winning touch down at the Super Bowl.

And so, after a lot of stress and worry the Carnival Freedom is dedicated, our cast performed a show to a huge standing ovation, everyone eats, drinks and there is much merriment and backslapping all round. To view the complete video, visit www.carnival.com/freedom.

After a debrief with Roger and the staff I look at my watch, it is 1:40am. I have to be up for debarkation of our guests at 7 am and then embark 3 ,000 new ones for our inaugural cruise.

I get back to the cabin, write a quick e mail to Mum and Dad and then Heidi and I go to bed at 2 am exhausted but with a huge sense of satisfaction and a lot of pride.

More to follow.