It’s Thursday afternoon and I am sitting in the cigar bar and having had a very busy morning I thought I would say a quick hello to you all. Although it has been very productive few days and very necessary both Heidi and I cannot wait until Saturday for many reasons. Before I mention the obvious there is the little fact of living out of suitcases since we arrived in Miami. We stayed in a hotel for 5 days; we are now in our cabin until Saturdaywhen we will move again into the Cruise Directors cabin. 

All this moving has led to a bit of stress in the Heald household. As frequent blog readers know my wife runs a clean, neat and tidy house/ship and living out of three suitcases and packing and unpacking has left her in a pretty bad mood. Now, where as normally I live in a state of mess and confusion it has actually gotten too much for me as well. it’s hard to find things and this morning (and I promise this to be true) I woke to find I had run out of clean underwear……………………………..usually Heidi has my three pairs in rotation but thanks to the constant moving all three pairs were at the laundry………….bugger.

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It’s Wednesday and in between preparing for next week, scheduling and meeting with various folks I thought I would drop you all a line.We are in St. Maarten today along with the usual gaggle of cruise ships of all shapes and sizes.  Even some of the private yachts that were with us in the Med last year have made it across to the Caribbean.  It is very strange being here…………….I have not been in the Caribbean for three years and as I sit here typing on my balcony using the laptop thingy I am getting used to the beats of the islands again.

Although I have no time to go ashore I my vantage point from cabin 7369 allows me to see the thousands of guests from the ships head out on tours and of course to go shopping.

These two groups are easy to spot. The families going snorkeling or on adventure tours seem happy and bright and full of excitement, indeed, they are virtually skipping down the pier…………………..and then there are the ones who are going shopping………………these families are also easy to spot.

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Hi Bloggers….Roberto here.

We’ve all witness John and Heidi’s love stories on the blog. Now Carnival wants to hear from you. Visit www.carnival.com/love to learn about an exciting contest Carnival’s having in honor of Valentine’s day. Submit your favorite love story and you could win a 4 day cruise aboard the Carnival Inspiration or Carnival Imagination in the Owner’s Suite, plus have the story featured in Currents past guest magazine. Visit www.carnival.com/love today!

Hello John…….we missed you John……………great to see you and welcome home. These proclamations have been ringing in my ears since I walked onboard the Carnival Freedom a few hours ago……………more about that later.

Firstly, lets go back in time…………oops………….forgot to say hello…………..”hello” ………….and it’s been a busy few days of meetings and seeing great friends. As I mentioned I went to see the circus which by the way gave me the strangest dreams the following day ……….I won’t go into them but just to say it involved a tiger eating various parts of my anatomy while George Hamilton — dressed as a clown in full mascara and make-up — watched………….I think I need help.

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Last night I saw Zebras, Elephants and Tigers…………………..last night I went………..to the circus. 

Good Morning everyone. I am sitting here in my hotel room and the digital clock is telling me that it is 6:07 am and considering I did not get to bed until past midnight I guess my body is still as confused as a Frenchmen with a bar of soap. 

Heidi is somewhere under the covers doing her impression of a starfish and I am not looking forward to when she wakes up. This will be because of the vat of wine she drank last night………more about that later. 

So, back to the circus. We were due to meet some great friends for dinner last night and I had received a cryptic message from them saying they would be picking us early because they had “a surprise ” for me……………Now, when someone says something like this you spend time wondering if this is a good surprise like a ride in a Bentley, a photo of Uma Thurman’s bottom or a restaurant with the sign “all you can eat” outside. Then there is the bad type of surprise…………….being told you are going to take a yoga class…………..a photo of your ex girlfriends bottom or a restaurant that only serves French food. 

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There is an old cruise director standard joke that we all talk about. It’s the one where we say how after a day of traveling, flying, and standing in lines you finally reach the ship. You walk onboard……………your hair looks like you just drove a convertible through in a hurricane, your clothes have more creases in them than one the Michelin Man and you smell like you have splashed on loads of Eau Of The Toilette…….and what do we do………….we take your photo.The same can be said of today’s adventures. I arrived into Miami after a 9 hour and 40 minute flight ……………more about that later……………..I looked like hell and I certainly smelled like I had had not bathed in years……………in fact I looked and smelled so terrible that someone asked me if I was French.

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If it was not for Heidi I would arrive in Miami tomorrow afternoon with no underwear and then be forced to wear Heidi’s…………….something I would hate to have to do ………again.    

So, thanks to Heidi and her scientifically based formula on packing my underwear and I should arrive safely on American Airlines flight from London Heathrow to Miami on Thursday afternoon.

I am writing this from my Mum and Dads house and specifically from my Dad’s office (or shrine to Carnival Cruise Lines) as we are here to say goodbye to them for a few months. Saying “goodbye” to family has been and always will be the hardest fact to face about the life I lead and a huge sense of guilt washes over me as I do so. However, since a young, thin and somewhat handsome 22-year-old boarded an airplane 20 years ago they have been nothing but supportive in my chosen career………….however, saying goodbye gets harder each and every time. 

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During the last few days I have been reading in newspapers, watching on the tele and listening to friends and family as they all talk about the same subject…………..New Year’s Resolutions. Obviously the most common denominator is the will to lose weight and I indeed need to join that band wagon pretty quickly and return to my no carb diet. I have put weight on over the last two months and this was noticeable when I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and realized as my friend Al would say that I did indeed……..I looked like the letter Q. So, a diet is definitely going to be part of my new year’s resolution starting once I walk back onboard. Where as most people find that taking a cruise is a guarantee of gaining extra pounds and profanity as you try and do that favorite pair of jeans up for me, it is a little different. When you are busy and have no comfort time then eating three basic meals makes it easier to shed the pounds………………so…………….that’s something to look forward to then. OH, sorry, I forgot to say good morning by the way on this Sunday morning. Now, don’t worry, this blog is not going to be dedicated to my weight loss program but it is a nice segue into the subject of New Year’s resolutions. As I have said you hear so many with topics such as weight loss, getting fit, stopping smoking and putting the toilet seat down toping the list. However, do you ever hear anyone say that their resolution for the New Year is……………..”to have fun.”……………………..nope, me neither but you know what, as well as trying to lose the equivalent weight of a hippopotamus’s left buttock ………is……….to have fun.

What does that mean?…………….I really don’t know……………but I do know that I am going to dedicate more time to laughter and not worrying about the small things and enjoy every day of my life to the full.

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Ouch………….that really hurt. Yesterday I was doing my job as a man and taking the rubbish (garbage) bags out to the yard when I slipped on the ice that had formed on the decking and that was me on my bottom and I appear to have sprained my ankle which when I put weight on it going down stairs feels like tiny insects are munching on the bone………….and do you know whose fault it was that I slipped and now look like I am 90 years old when I walk down stairs……………………..do you know who is to blame ………………its The Duchess Of Cornwall…………………Camilla……………..the bottle didn’t break when she christened the Queen Victoria………………I was there ………….. therefore ……………..its the curse of Camilla.

Good morning and of course it has nothing to do with the Duchess that I fell but as she is being blamed by my friends in the British press for 80 people becoming sick with Norwalk or a similar virus onboard the Queen Victoria the Daily Mail decided to blame Camilla and call it “her curse” ………………because the bottle did not break. Now, how about writing that the ship has been welcomed in every port like the Royalty she is or that on the same day the National Health Service here in the UK informed everyone to wash their hands after visiting public places.

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