To start I wanted to say thanks to Carnival for allowing me to sail on the Carnival Imagination. Thanks to the Captain, Officers, Staff and Crew for their warm hospitality. I hope to sail on another ship soon but until then there is work to be done as I return to my job as Cruise Director.
Tomorrow (Saturday) Heidi and I will disembark the Carnival Imagination. This of course means packing and unpacking and this is a guarantee that at sometime during the weekend you can guarantee that I will be back in the doghouse again. I am excited to see a Super Bowl game. I have never watched one in full and I shall be sitting in my hotel room with a bag of Doritos trying to understand the rules. I really do not care who wins I just want to experience all the hype for myself.
Then, on Monday we will be sailing on the Carnival Victory with Roger, Chris and all the cruise Directors for our annual conference. We will be joined by various Senior and Executive Vice presidents and of course our President and CEO Gerry Cahill……………….oh, talking of people with top jobs I am excited to announce an addition to our talented team of policy makers so please welcome ………………….. Lynn Torrent. I am now going to slap on the official press release but I wanted to add a welcome on behalf of the 1,509,000 people across the world who have read my thingy. Good luck Lynn, have fun and it’s an honour to say welcome aboard………………….oh……………..and can I have your first interview please?
LYNN C. TORRENT NAMED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT – SALES AND GUEST SERVICES AT CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES
MIAMI (February 1, 2008) – Cruise industry veteran Lynn C. Torrent has been named senior vice president of sales and guest services at Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines, the world’s largest cruise operator. She will take on her new role on March 3.
In this capacity, Torrent has overall responsibility for Carnival’s various sales activities, particularly as they relate to supporting our travel agent partners, who account for the vast majority of the company’s bookings.
In addition to overseeing the line’s award-winning sales force comprised of business development managers throughout the U.S. and Canada, Torrent is responsible for Carnival’s call centers in Florida and Colorado Springs, Colo., as well as embarkation teams in the line’s 20 different homeports.
She is also responsible for Carnival’s CARE Team, which provides assistance and support to guests and their families should medical incidents or other emergency situations arise during their vacation.
“Travel agents are the key component of our distribution system and we’re very happy to have someone of Lynn’s caliber leading this effort. She is a highly talented and respected executive with wide-ranging knowledge and experience. I have tremendous confidence in her ability to lead the industry’s top sales team,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO. “I’ve known Lynn a long time and I have seen her excel in a number of different roles, including most recently leading Costa Cruises’ North American operations where she did a fantastic job,” he added.
Commented Torrent, “I have thoroughly enjoyed the last six years with Carnival Corporation & plc, particularly the last three years at Costa, and I am happy to be staying within our Carnival family. I’m very excited about this opportunity and look forward to working with what is, unquestionably, the best sales force in the travel industry.”
A 13-year cruise industry veteran, Torrent most recently served as president and CEO – North America of Costa Cruises, a sister company to Carnival Cruise Lines, where she was responsible for the company’s operations in North and Central America. Prior to that, she served for three years as vice president of marketing for Carnival’s parent company, Carnival Corporation & plc. She began her career in the cruise industry in 1995 as executive vice president of sales, marketing and passenger services for Renaissance Cruises.
Early in her professional career, Torrent was a senior auditor with Arthur Anderson in New York and later served as chief financial officer with Safecard Services, where she worked for Gerry Cahill who was then Safecard’s chief operating officer.
Torrent earned a bachelor’s degree from CW Post in New York and her MBA from Florida Atlantic University.
Carnival is the largest and most popular cruise line in the world, with 22 “Fun Ships” operating voyages ranging from three to 18 days in length to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, New England, Canada, the Panama Canal, Europe, Bermuda, and South America. The line currently has three new ships scheduled for delivery between now and 2011.
So, back to the CD conference where we will be discussing new and exciting ways that the Cruise Directors and the entertainment teams aboard and ashore will continue to provide the best shows, activities and events at sea.
These discussions will be very confidential and very private and I will therefore be sharing them on a nightly blog each and every day ……………. sssshhhhhhhhh………….don’t tell anyone. These blogs will be written late at night and posted the next morning so please forgive any delay.
Now, I will be returning to Miami on Sunday the 10th. This is new, as the conference continued until then. Once that is over I will then fly into San Juan or St Thomas to join the Carnival Freedom. Then I can finally get back to being a CD and of course answering all your comments and questions which is something I know so many of you are looking forward to.
I read all your comments on the topic of Formal Nights. These were very interesting and we shall be discussing this further at the conference next week……………..is there anything else you would like me to bring to the table?…………..If there is…………….let me know in the usual way.
This last week the blog had 28,000 slaps and we are heading for 2 million. I met many readers this week on the Carnival Imagination who have never sailed with me but recognized me from the blog…………..I even spoke to a Entertainment Staff member from another line today (can’t say which one) who reads the blog every day……………..hello to Sascha …………..
(Carnival Sensation and the Carnival Glory docked at Nassau)
We met in a restaurant in Nassau and before she returned to work she said how much she and her family enjoyed the blog………..so much so that she and her Mum and Dad and brothers and sisters had booked a cruise on the Carnival Splendor and how excited they were. She then had to rush back to work ………….I can’t say what ship but she had to go and put her Mouse costume on.
I would also lıke to say a bıg hello to Lında who ıs saılıng as part of the press group here on the Carnıval Imagınatıon. She has a wonderful sıte and I encourage you to stop by: www.cruisediva.blogspot.com. Thanks to Lında for her wonderful support.
Heidi has started packing so time to go and annoy her by taking something out of the suitcase that she has already packed…………….I will be in the doghouse but sometimes …………..it’s worth it.
As your faithful Blogist I will slap one on over the weekend.
Goodnight
your friends
John and Heidi
Filed under: Tales from the Ship
Hey John,
A couple of suggestions for you for next week’s meetings.
1. JUNK MAIL – they really need to stop inundating the cabins with junk mail. I feel like I need to post a sign on m door saying ..We don’t accept junk mail.
It feels like all the SPAM I get in my email… which I hate so much.
2. On some ships we’ve sailed they had a team pub crawl before a deck party. I thought that was a great mixer, and you may want to expand on that.
3. Get rid of the booths and banquettes in the dining room on the Destiny and Conquest class, as they’ve done on the Imagination.
4. Group cocktail parties (which often affect us) should be held on Day 1 (good because there’s generally only 1 welcome aboard show anyway) or Day 3 – rather than on Day 6. This allows the groups to meet and socialize early in the cruise instead of hunting each other out during.
That’s good enough to start with
Hope your meeting are fruitful and fun!
Regards,
Kuki
CruiseMates.com
Good Afternoon John and Heidi,
I agree with keeping the bands and more hours for the cruises. Jack and I love to dance and it seems like there just isn’t enough music or dance floors. We love “old time rock and roll” and country so we aren’t too hard to please. Would love to see a band nightly in the lounge.
You take care and Heidi we need a blog from you!
Joan
GO PISTONS
Hi John
I have a suggestion for you to discuss.
Food- We cruised together last summer on the freedom. Dont get me wrong, anytime that I do not have to cook I am happy but… My only dissapointment on that cruise was that the food was too “american” gourmet. I would have loved to have a choice or two that was special to the port we were just in that day. So when we were in Sicily we could have had something Sicilian. etc… I loved having the sangria party when we left barcelona and it seems like every port could have had a special drink, dessert or a dish!! I did not have a chance for tapas that day because we went to the Hard Rock, (traveled with my teenagers) I know I missed out. I would have been delighted if that had been a choice that evening. I guess you probably get the idea.
Thank you for the best trip our family has ever taken- last summer. We have 2 more cruises booked, May 10th 08 and the bloggers cruise in feb 2009.
May god bless you and Heidi
Thanks Again-Cindy
Carolyn,
Our thoughts and prayers will be with you and your family.
John,
The Bloggers cruise was wonderful, thanks for the laughs and memories. We can’t make the February 2009 Bloggers cruise. Is there any chance of a 2nd Bloggers cruise in 2009, perhaps November or December on the Splendor when it comes over? Or how about Alaska in the summer of 2009?
Formal nights – my daughter and her husband enjoy them, but my husband and I (seniors) do not. We feel obligated to dress formal in order to go to the dining room on these nights. We’d rather dress in resort casual, but then we do not have anywhere to eat except Lido Deck on the formal nights. After breakfast and lunch there, we would like to go to the dining room and be waited on.
One solution would be to have one dining room formal and another casual for those nights only.
Or, another solution is to not make such a big deal over the formal nights, have it as an option. One feels intimidated when all they hear is “it’s formal night”; resort casual should be acceptable every night and in any dining room.
Also, is there anyway that all drinks can be sold and served before the stage show begins? The shows are so spectacular they deserve to be seen without interruption. It is very distracting having servers with lights going up and down the aisles selling and serving drinks.
Maxine
I mentioned this to your replacement CD on the TA Freedom cruise (he said it was a good idea), but wondered if it got further…
Showing movies on the outside screens in the daytime is rather a waste — you can’t see much. Instead, save the movies for the evening and use the music videos in the daytime. At least people can enjoy the music if they can’t see the picture.
I was sitting on deck reading when the DaVinci Code was on — it was like a black hole with flashes of light. Worthless. If someone had been looking forward to seeing it outside, they would be hugely disappointed. Why set yourself up for that?
BTW, I didn’t care personally (saw it in a theatre much earlier). I just thought it odd to show a movie no one could see. And, it seemed to be like that every time I passed through the outdoor theatre area.
As to formal night… it’s a pain in the neck to me to bring all those extra clothes. But I don’t hate it.
Hello again John,
The conference sounds like a great opportunity for all CD’s to share and learn, and I am sure as you are, as the senior CD looked up to as an example of what a great CD should be…. Oh help them all
… Oh if you could send a hello from my whole family to Wee Jimmy, we had such a great time on the Glory, and where thinking on booking the eastern but Kevin has booked on the Legend for Nov 30, so we can be on ship for our anniversary, and we remember the interview with the CD on the Legend “Bubba” Chris Roberts, our children where so existed they called him “Wee Bubba”
Please feel free to share this with both of them!!!!
Oh and if you are going to be in the dog house anyway and really want to experience the Superbowl for real, you could go and peek in at a sports bar. My sister work in one in Boston and as such she, for the sake of her tips is hoping the Patriots win, and with them being 17/0 so far as I last knew. It may be more interesting watching the ones watching the game and I am sure there are always some that will be glad to tell everyone what they are doing wrong in the game too
, as Kevin and I really don’t follow any sport….. 
and that is just the way I like it.
As for me the only info will get is from my sister and how well she did
Best to you and Heidi
The one and only 1
Heidi-Beth
Carolyn,
I hope the injections work for you, and I also send my sympathies to you and your family in the passing of your brother. You will be in my prayers.
Myra
John…Pull for the Giants tomorrow night!!! Also, Sallie is right. If the hotel has a bar, at least go there for part of the game so you can see how wild and rowdy it gets. Last year Scott and I went to Disney World…well to one of their resort properties, Boardwalk, which has an ESPN Club restaurant & bar, to watch the Super Bowl. The club was already full with a long line of folks trying to get in and ESPN had taken over another of the facilities, Atlantic Dance to hold the overflow. That site was also packed, but we managed to get in and get some seats. It was the next best thing to being at the game.
Can’t wait for you to get back to “work” and start “chatting” with us again.
Welcome back,
Myra
Goooo Giants (yeah, Tom Coughlin…ex Jaguars coach)
Looks like you wish the cruise would have been longer. that’s what I liked about the Europe cruise is that it was 12 days vs the standard 5-7 days. It gives you more time and it makes it feel like a better vacation.
_BigMike
Hi John, Enjoy the Super Bowl. I am not a sport fan but I do like the Super Bowl when it is a good game. Companies spend a fortune for commercials and they are better than the game sometimes.
I hope the Giants win. The Giants and the Jets (we don’t say NY Giants or NY Jets in New Jersey) have played in New Jersey for 30 years. Oh well. At least they pay rent for playing in our Meadowlands Stadium. )o(
Jo and Dave Myerly
Dearest John & Heidi,
It sounds like you both had a wonderful time aboard the Imagination. Michael (Hubby) an myself will be sailing on the Victory repositioning cruise in October and one of our stop is Grand Turk and maybe Half Moon Cay so after reading your words, I am really excited to visit these two places. We will also be sailing on the victory going to Canada in July of this year so please give her an early hello from us when you board her next week.
Now as far as the Super Bowl thingy goes. I really believe that for your first game you need to be with a crowd of people in some semi-rowdy establishment to get the true feeling of all the hype. Nothing is better than downing a pint and munching on some wings as you and a bunch of others cheer, yell and scream for their favorites. Either way, have a great time.
Michael and I will also be seeing you on the Fantasy Feb.7th, 2009. We will be a part of the CC group and I cannot tell you how much we are looking forward to this cruise.
I do have a question though. We were just on the Fantasy in January and Big Tex was the CD. He is really an amazing CD and person. After all our cruises, I cannot remember one other name of a CD but I will always remember Big Tex.
Please forgive me, I digressed.
My question is: Will he be with you on the Fantasy for the next Bloggers cruise? I do hope so because you and him together would be amazing.
In closing, I want to say thanks for all you do and all you write here on your blog & Facebook.
See you next Feb..
Sallie
John,
Glad to hear you and Heidi had a good vaca…you both deserve it after a long week with the bloggers.
Carolyn, I send my deepest condolences on the loss of your brother. Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers as you go through this difficult time.
Heidi, we need a blog from you!
elaine
Hi John and Heidi,
I am glad you enjoyed your well-deserved vacation on the new Carnival Imagination. Loving the blog as always!
Just a few comments in case these topics come up at the meetings…
-We love the bands in ships (especially the caribbean reggae bands), and hope that Carnival will keep them and not make any cutbacks in the # of bands or in their hours as this is one thing we love about cruising.
-We would love to go on a 7 night cruise that stops at a private island – either half moon cay… or maybe carnival is considering buying their own island…? Either way, it is always a day that we look forward to.
-Please keep the things that we love about cruising (and not consider cutting back like the rumors I have heard about other cruise lines)… the midnight buffets… and more importantly… the traditional dining. We love having the same dining team every night at the same time… with some dining room dancing and singing on some nights.
Thanks for the blogs again, and have a good week aboard the Victory.
Hi John,
I’m going to nag you again since you are going into a Cruise Director Conference. You know what topic I want you to discuss… More promotion for the back lounge entertainment! The lounge bands and particularly the piano bars! Those folks work so hard to entertain us every night of the week. They are very talented and deserve the recognition. Plus, think about it this way, what do people do in a piano bar? They drink! I know I’m abnormal, but I’m if you look at my sail & sign bill, almost half of it is spent in the piano bar! It’s a lot easier to get and enjoy a drink in there than it is in the big show lounge. Think of the bottom line man!
I know I’ve made this my own personal crusade, but I really do think it’s something that needs to be addressed.
I’ll stop now. Thanks again for a cruise that was as memorable as your promised!
Cheerios,
Princess Laura, the sweet and innocent
When one looks at the renovations and renewal that has occurred on this ship a whole slew of adjectives come to mind which sum up this latest renaissance……majestic inspired….stunning….the list goes on and on….. In any case Carnival should be proud of the work that has been accomplished in this transformation endeavor…..Just curious again if you have the drydock schedule for the remaining ships to undergo this upgrade?
Also if you know who is ….or will be as of March the CD of the Carnival Sensation ?
So I have a question…if all of the CD’s are at a conference what happens to those of us (ie me) who are sailing this coming week? Will we not have a CD? Or will the Assistant CD’s be in charge?
Just wondering!
Also thanks for all of the commentary about the Imagination’s updates. I will be sailing on her sister the Inspiration this week and I cannot wait to see it all in person!
Best Wishes (from a long time reader)
Ashley
John,
First of all, my condolences to Carolyn and Don. I am sorry for your loss.
You asked for anything we wanted brought to the table. There is one. In January, I cruised on the Carnival Pride. Had a BALL!! The crew was fantastic and the entertainment amazing. My one complaint…and it is the only one…is the chairs on the Lido deck at the tables. They all had arms. Now…it may not sound like a big deal, but there are some of us who are not the ‘average’ size. I am not suggesting removing all the chairs with arms, but adding a few armless chairs for those of us with big tushes would be awfully nice so that we can enjoy the Lido deck in comfort.
Thanks,
athena
John hi there,
I am from South Africa and am awaiting my departure date, though it seems a while now, personnely reading your blog has helped me keep focused on the goal I have set myself and thats working on a cruise line. ” I almost feel like a fly on the wall by the way you write, keep it up.
What I would love to know is where u find the time to write? Considering your day is 11 to 16 hrs long.
I am sure we will meet in the next year or so. until then I read with anticipation your next entry SIR John………..
John,
I agree with Kevin–it would be nice to have some events for the singles at a decent hour–not late at night on the first night on board when most people have traveled all day and across time lines to get to the ship. People are usually in bed early on the first night of any cruise–walk around and check the lounges and casino and you will see that this is indeed true.
Well, by the time you read this it will be Saturday morning, and you will probably already be in the dog house! Hopefully you remembered to leave out some clothes for the morning! Or, there you will be, down on the dock in your skivies looking for your suitcases! Seems there is always someone on board every cruise that forgets to leave out clothes for debarkation morning! Ha Ha! Enjoy the Super Bowl–I will be at work hoping that there aren’t many women in labor so that I can watch some of it–mainly I love to see the commercials! It is such a huge competition by the companies to produce the best commercial. The money that the advertisers have to pay for a 60 second slot is outrageous!
Sheryl
Carolyn,
My thoughts and prayers are with you, both in the loss of your brother and with your upcoming shots for your poor feet. Let’s all hope that the injections work and you don’t need surgery. With all of the bloggers pulling for you, hopefuly the injections will be successful!
Sheryl
John,
Sounds like you really had a great time on the imagination. The 2nd Bloggers cruise is the talk of the internet cruise critic and cruisemates are really pushing it strongly. You should be proud, what is the plan once the entire ship is booked and people still want on ? I’m sure you’ll think of something. Oh if all the CD’s are on one ship who is the CD on all the other ships, Big ED is still on the freedom he could probably be convinced to stay on another week to keep a eye on the place. You asked if there was anything we would want brought up at this big meeting of the masses. Well my only suggestion is that singles need some better activities I know we spoken about this before but I think it was lost. One meeting in a bar at 11pm on the first night really doesn’t cut it. Cruises are so couple orientated or family what is a single person who likes to cruise going to do besides get drunk and watch Matlock in their cabin with the heat turned all the way up because after all thats the only way one can appreciate that show. Anyway a few (2 or 3) more semi-organized events for the singles at normal human times would be great. Oh and of Course my good friend John needs a Bentley now because he’s to i don’t know something for a regular old Aston Martin now. Next thing you know you will be onto my new dream girl Jessica Simpson. Yes go google her you know you want to ahh see there it is ahhh better. Ok gotta go
Kevin
John, please pass along my welcomes to Lynn Torrent. Your blog has made us all one huge, involved family and it appears that we have just added another member. Bravo!
Your mention of Sacha reminds me that one not look any farther than Carnival for the most complete, most entertaining vacation on land or sea. This is particularly true when faced with the possibility of dealing with out sized rodents. At least Funship Freddy has some dignity!!!
You are so right… so many of us eagerly await your return to a dialog format! You know you’re in for a seemingly endless stream of questions once you’re back in the harness, so to speak.
I’m looking forward to the insider information that you won’t share with any more than about a million five of your closest friends…
Blog away, my friend!!!
Regards,
Greg
Carolyn:
I will keep you and your family in my prayers.
So I guess is going to be some other time, right?
I hope me and my family get to see you both one more time before you go back to Europe.
Keep us updated on what’s going on with the meeting. By using your stealth techniques from the laser pointer incident and posting on the sly PA 007 will be proud of you.
Hi John and Heidi,
I’m so glad you enjoyed your time on the Imagination. But all good things come to an end. That is the way we all feel at the end of a cruise and a vacation.
Well when it rains it pours. I need some prayers coming my way. I went to the doctor this morning and he is going to give me a series of 3 shots 2 weeks apart, to try to dissolve the scar tissue around the nerves in both of my feet. If this doesn’t work then he will have to operate and cut the nerves so I won’t have so much pain.
If that isn’t enough, my phone rang right after I got home. I got the sad news that my brother had had a heart attack and passed away. He leaves a wife, that is physically unable to care for herself, and 2 sons that live a long ways from their Mother.
Please keep us in your prayers.
Thanks,
Carolyn and Don