CONGRATULATIONS!!! Your blog is a great success and so uplifting for those of us not on a cruise.

John, you were the cruise director on our very first cruise aboard the Ecstasy. I actually presented you with a photo of my daughter and her friend you with at the Captain’s Cocktail Party. You were so handsome with all that dark hair. I remember you calling Heidi over to see that picture. LOL

I work with special education students during the day and I am also a home based travel agent. I book many groups on Carnival, some of which I am lucky enough to personally escort. It is an added bonus when you are the cruise director!!! I have never known anyone that could make people laugh like you can. No matter how many times I have seen the “Bedtime Story”, I still laugh so hard that I hurt! The time that you interviewed my parents (then married 55 years) at the Love & Marriage Show, and I learned things about my parents that I never knew – and don’t know that I wanted to know………like the fact that when they were first starting to date that my mom would walk by my dad’s house & he would be working under his car and he got some wonderful views of my mom!!! In those days, the girls all wore dresses. Oh my goodness……..!

I would love to send you a photo of you with my daughter, but cannot figure out how to attach it to this blog thingy. If you could tell me how to do it, I would surely refresh your memory with the original picture from the Ecstasy as well.

My husband and I are escorting a group of 32 cruise addicts on the Carnival Valor November 4, 2007. (Last November, we escorted nearly 130 folks on the Miracle.) I just hosted the Pre-Cruise Party for them. I do this for all my groups so that they can meet each other and we go over everything that they need to know so that the trip is a success. After each group returns from their cruise, I host a Post Cruise Party where I show a DVD of the video and pictures that I edit together from our trip. We re-live our vacation and have such fun doing it.

Any clue when you plan to write that book you promised? I know it will be a best seller.

In closing, I just want to say that over the years, I have witnessed the wonderful job that you and Heidi both do. You sincere kindness, caring, and the gift of laughter are a great inspiration to all of us.

Sea ya,
Cathy Pietras

The shows on board was great but Iespecially liked the tribute to the Beattles, that was extraordinary. My only disappointment was not seeing enough of you John, you are a funny man.

Thanks again for making our cruise in Europe so special.

Paul & Lessie Danis

Anne E.
(who is a transplanted Canadian living in Colorado)

Between work and a weeks holiday I’m just catching up on the ‘blog thingy. So to catch up, a laundry list of comments!

1. A very late CONGRATULATIONS! on receiving the SeaTrade award; I’m sure that put a grin on your face for days.

2. I loved your interview with John Cleese, he’s a favourite (spelt correctly) of mine.

3. I hope Alan continues to improve. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

4. The “Carry On” movies always had me in stitches and I miss them. Trying to describe those to my American colleagues is just about impossible! I guess Mel Brooks is the closest the U.S. has come to that style of comedy. I have several of my favourite (again spelt correctly!) jokes/puns for you, none of which I can take credit for…

Your interview with John Cleese reminded me of this one:

Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and George W. Bush were set to face a firing squad in a small Central American country. Bill Clinton was the first one placed against the wall and just before the order to shoot him was given, he yelled out, “Earthquake!” The firing squad fell into a panic and Bill jumped over the wall and escaped in the confusion.

Al Gore was the second one placed against the wall. The squad was reassembled and Al pondered what his old boss had done. Before the order to shoot was given, Al yelled out, “Tornado!” Again the squad fell apart and Al slipped over the wall.

The last person, George W. Bush, was placed against the wall. He was thinking “I see the pattern here, just scream out a disaster and hop over the wall.” As the firing squad was reassembled and the rifles raised in his direction, Bush grinned and yelled, “Fire!”

And here are two pun stories:

Mahatma Ghandi walked barefoot everywhere, to the point that his feet became quite thick and hard. He also was quite a spiritual person. Even when he was not on a hunger strike, he did not eat much and became quite thin and frail. Furthermore, due to his diet, he wound up with very bad breath. Therefore he came to be known as a…….

Super calloused fragile mystic plagued with halitosis!

And finally,

A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack. “Miss Whack, I’d like to get a $30,000 loan to take a holiday.” Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick, and that it’s okay, he knows the bank manager. Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral. The frog says, “Sure. I have this,” and produces a tiny porcelain elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed. Very confused, Patty explains that she’ll have to consult with the bank manager, and disappears into a back office. She finds the manager and says, “There’s a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000, and he wants to use this as collateral.” She holds up the tiny pink elephant. “I mean, what in the world is this?” The bank manager looks back at her and says…

“It’s a knick-knack, Patty Whack. Give the frog his loan. His old man’s a Rolling Stone.”

Cheers!
Anne E.