Pierre the Frenchman went out last night, drunk three bottles of Chateau De Rude, ate a dozen frog legs with extra garlic. He then met his Russian friend and film star Georgy Hamiltonov and they both downed a dozen vodkas.
They are both now living in my head.

Well, that’s how I feel this morning as I sit here at 6:45 am waiting for our arrival in Grand Cayman so I can start the tender operation. Last night’s show starred my friend and top comedian Al Ernst. Al pretended to be a blogger and started the show walking through the audience in his own special and “southern ” way. We then did 15 minutes of material together which went down like a storm. I then introduced him for his midnight show……………which for those of you confused at what time that started ……….it was midnight.

Henceforth it was 1:30 am before my head hit the pillow whereupon I went straight to sleep and was dreaming of hiding for the rest of the cruise in Shaquille O’Neal’s shoe …………..when the alarm went off……….at 6 am.
So, here I sit, writing to you. Heidi is eating a croissant (her support of the French drives me mad) and I am nibbling on a bagel.

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There were three thousand happy, smiling faces today as the sun rose in the morning and decided to spend the entire day with us. There are a lot of red faces too as people from places such as Minnesota and North Dakota baked sun worshipped and ended the day looking like they had been slapped round the face a dozen times by a moody Britney Spears. Everyone was happy…………well…………..nearly everyone.

From: FREEDOM PURSERS
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 9:10 PM
To: FREEDOM CRUISE DIRECTOR
Cc: FREEDOM PURSERS; FREEDOM CHIEF PURSER; FREEDOM ASSISTANT CRUISE DIRECTOR
Subject: 7*&^ – Bloggers Gifts

Good evening John,
Mrs. &*^%$ called the desk asking to speak to you immediately. She is unhappy with the complimentary gifts she has received for your blog cruise. She stated they are cheap and not worth any money. Please call her when you have time. Thank you 

Kind regards,

Livija Rajcic
Purser Carnival Freedom

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Before I write about anything else and in case I forget I wanted to say thank you for all your comments, I have read each and every one of them. I know you are used to me answering all of them but with me working 16-hour days this week I just do not seem to have the time. I know I have been saying this for some time now but I promise faithfully that I will resume this very important aspect of my blog thingy once I return to the Carnival Freedom on February 9. Until then I want to say a huge thank you for all the kind words of support and please ……………….keep writing.

Well, after a rainy day in Cozumel the late afternoon period was much better and tonight everyone seemed to be in a great mood.

Heidi and I hosted a Bloggers event called Battle of the Sexes which we also opened to the entire ship and eventually we had 500-plus people laughing at the antics of their fellow guests…….it was a great hour of fun.

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My heart sank this morning when I looked out of the window as we arrived in Cozumel and not because I could see my naked reflection in the glass………….it was dull, windy and the sun had buggered of to Australia………………..a continuation of yesterday.

It’s now 9:45am and I just went down to the pier to speak to the Shore Excursion team to check what tours are canceled and unfortunately its most of them……..especially the water based tours.

The sea is still a bit angry and the last thing we want to do is put guests in a dangerous position so therefore we canceled 50% of the tours……………a real shame…………..but safety first of course.

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I thought I would share this one with you.

Guest:__________  Ref: ________Owner: (FDMAITRED) Freedom Maitre’D
Cabin: _____  Booking#: _______ Added-Changed: 01/20/08 – 01/20/08

The guest  said that she had been told by her travel agent that complimentary caviar was available every night if requested as the guest is in a cat 11 suite. Purser apologized and explained that this was not the case. Maitre”D Ken was requested to contact her.

Guest then said that on her previous Cunard cruise the Cruise Director had been a professional and that the Cruise Director John was a cheap imitation. Purser apologized and said Mrs ______’s comments will be forwarded to CD.

So that’s me then, brought back down to earth and after all the adoration I am relegated to a cheap imitation. Still, she may have a point as the Cunard Cruise directors are brilliant, swauve……. Suave……..seuve……bugger…how do you spell that word. As for free caviar……well, why would her travel agent say that?……….you know what………they probably didn’t.

Anyway, Ken is serving her Caviar tomorrow night…………..well…………….it’s not quite Caviar………….it will actually be rabbit droppings………..I wonder if she will taste the difference?…………….kidding…….I am kidding…………just in case anyone would actually think I would ever do that………….don’t be silly ………….. where the heck would I get a rabbit from?

My feet are killing me. My ankle especially after the day I have had ……….. maybe its time to see a doctor. Anyway, it has been a great day so far. This afternoon Heidi and I hosted a bloggers game show and then we stood in the lobby and took loads of formal photos with our new friends. We just visited some of the bloggers in the dining room and now its time to go to the show.

Later, I will sit with Tim Gallagher our Vice President of Public Relations and my friends from the press. Tim and I will crack open a couple of Diet Cokes and chat with the press. I think Tim is wonderful and absolutely brilliant at his job and very respected by all the press……….which is no easy task. Anyway, got to go…..Showtime……………back soon.

OK, I am back. The show was amazing, not just because of the huge ovation the cast received but because they were able to perform to such a high standard with the ship moving so much (we are experiencing some rough seas)………….I was very proud of them. It was also quite apt that the show was the New Orleans Tribute “Big Easy?” …………..having decided to hold the Bloggers cruise on the Carnival Fantasy it was sort of a taste of things to come.

I spoke to a non-blogging guest tonight (a Platinum guest) who recently cruised on the Carnival Imagination. He was blown away by the new additions and clearly stated that it had become his “favorite Carnival ship.” This has me very excited to cruise on her next week and finally I can see for myself what everyone else is raving about.

The football games were very popular today, especially the one that’s being played as we speak. I just passed across Lido Deck and there is a great camaraderie between Giants and Packer fans………it’s great to see.
It appears that the Packers with my friend Emm at Quaterback and Heidi as wide catching thingy are doing well and hopefully by the time I have finished this blog they will have won the game and the Samsonite Trophy.

Bugger…………….I just discovered that the Packers have lost and have to pack their equipment for another season. So the Super Bowl will be the Giants and the Patriots……………who should I cheer for?

OK, I am off to the second seating show and then its time to meet the press and then get some sleep before we arrive in Cozumel tomorrow……………………I wonder if they sell rabbits?

John with VP of Public Relations, Tim Gallagher

John with MSNBC’s Anita Dunham Potter

Goodnight
Your Friends
John and Heidi

Hi Everyone!

Roberto and Stephanie here.  We’re still working on posting some special snippets from the first two days of the blogger’s cruise.  But, we wanted to take a quick minute to post the picture below as we know it’s long awaited.  So without futher ado, here’s John and Bid ED.

johned.jpg    

Its 7:30am and even though I am typing this blog through squinting eyes after having just had 6 hours sleep I must say that yesterday, the first day of the Bloggers Cruise, went really well…………….I think.

So, good morning everyone from the Carnival Freedom as we head to Cozumel. The weather though looks to be a bit grey and overcast and little white horses are strutting their stuff atop of the waves ………….. ahhhhhhhhhh. I hope the weather gets better, I know so many people have come from cold and miserable weather hoping for some Caribbean sun……….fingers crossed then.

So, what happened yesterday? Well the fun started during embarkation and as I went down to the lobby bar about 2 pm for a coffee I was attacked by a hoard of screaming fans who were kissing me, hugging me, ripping at my clothes and trying to drag me back to their cabin …………..and that’s just Big Ed ! ……………….OK, I drifted off into the realms of fantasy then but it was quite extraordinary as dozens of people approached me, most wearing T-shirts advertising they had seen my thingy.

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Hi Bloggers – Stephanie and Roberto here.

 Day one has been completed. It’s definitely been an exciting day. It’s amazing to finally match some of the faces to the names we’ve been seeing for the past few months.

John will have a post ready in the morning, but we thought we’d give you a sneak peak from the welcome aboard party.

We’re going to finish unpacking and getting settled. We’ll see you guys in the morning!!

The alarm sounded at 5:30am this morning and as I scrambled to turn it off, forcing myself not to roll over and return to the dream I was having about a Bentley, George Hamilton, Uma Thurman and a bucket of soapy water. Then the starfish next to me awoke and the day began with the usual conversation of who is using the shower first and who therefore gets the extra time in bed. Obviously that decision was never going to be made by me so I was instructed that I had 15 minutes to shower and get dressed thus allowing Heidi a full 45 minutes of the allotted hour.

So, that was me, in the shower, the curtain sticking to my back like some overweight and naked superhero’s cape…………Blog Man.

As I dressed and then sat waiting for Heidi to do whatever takes her 45 minutes to do I began to slowly prepare myself for becoming a fully fledged Cruise Director again.

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Hello Bloggers – Roberto here!The big day is tomorrow. We’re all excited about the first ever Bloggers Cruise, especially John and Heidi. They cannot wait to meet each and every one of you.

As you’re checking in tomorrow at the port, don’t forget to let the embarkation agent know that you’re part of the Bloggers Cruise. Once you’re onboard, if you have any questions, please feel free to stop by the Hospitality Desk; Stephanie and I will be there.

Safe travels to all coming and we’ll see you tomorrow.