Great article from the Houston Chronicle on the Bloggers cruise and John’s thingy…

Also a very interesting tidbit from PA007 about the ship name signage issue on the Splendor. (caps versus the typical lowercase “Carnival” font that is present on the rest of the fleet. I erroneously assumed it was due to the ship originally being a Costa design but… alas it is corporate being persnickety on the font. I do see their point when I look at it. The Triumph looks as if the “p” is pseudo superscripted making the entire “mph” segment look misaligned. Conquest has a very odd capital Q amongst the remaining lowercase and Victory & Glory have just the “y” on the end that is pseudo superscripted. Capitalizing everything makes it look much cleaner.

Loved the story about Captain Los and the dog, think we have mentioned before that life would be perfect if we could bring our dogs on holiday. Perfect for us, but probably not for a lot of other passengers. Anyway we are always appreciated when we get home. Also loved the stories about the true Brits. How true they were, and don’t we all have our idiosyncracies. We love meeting all the different nationalities on board and one of the things that stands out is the staff with their badges and where they come from. This can create so much conversation and we find out about their lives and backgrounds which is always fascinating and in some instances quite sad. On our last trip on Freedom we were amazed to find that the Australian contingent had probably tripled from the year before (if not more) and were thrilled that we actually got our own Newsletter, this was particularly rewarding as it was getting to the end of our Australian Rules Football Season and you were publishing the results. Also as avid horseracing followers we were kept up with what was happening with the Equine Flu bout. Luckily here in Melbourne our races continued, but they have only just resumed in other States. Love to see all the notes from the regulars and would hope that any of them who ever intend travelling down under will post any questions or requests for advice to us and we will be happy to help if we can.

Regards
Suzanne & Lisa

Things are starting to get lined up with the Evil Crew…. wheels are rolling, so to speak. And plans are being made. Looks as though we will have a practice run, as so many of us are already booked at the same hotel, before the BC in NOLA.

When are we going to hear from the lovely Heidi? We all miss her!

Hello to Alan and his family. Hope they are all doing well.
Barb

When I saw the title of this edition of your blog thingy, my thoughts were completely unrelated to the homage and tribute to the wonderful Carnival ship captains….

Instead I thought of a pinball game…One that I played quite frequently when I was but a young chap ….(I am showing my age again)

http://www.homearcades.com/images/Cap_Fantastic6.JPG

Popularized by the musical Tommy and performed by Elton John and originally The Who. (Some other famous Brits). Now I have that song in my head….

Ever since I was a young boy
I’ve played the silver ball
From Soho down to Brighton
I must have played them all

.
.
.

How very cool and noble of Captain Los to rescue that poor dog. I likely would have done the same in that situation. It really bothers me that some people can be so cruel to these loveable creatures.

I have been lurking about reading your blog for quite awhile now and just had to comment on your post for today. Your story’s about the Capt’s you have sailed with warmed my heart. One can really get a feel of how much you love you job.

You spoke of the night you and Heidi got engaged,,was wondering how long you have been married? Did you meet on the ship?

I also want to tell you that seeing how much fun you all had on the 1st blog cruise has made me sign up for #2.

Although I must confess I am a Carnival virgin We have been on several “other” cruiselines.

I’m looking forward to this. We are booked with the Cruismates group.
We have sailed with them b/4 so I know just what kind of wild and crazy time to expect from Kuki and that gang. Now with you and Big Ed’s group,,,well all I can say is LOOK OUT NOLA and Carnival !!!

JoAnne

I just wanted to let you know I posted your response about Cruise Critics meeting location request on the thread. I had some smart a** responses, but the majority were thrilled! I wasn’t sure where we would contact you about this and directed them to this blog. Let me know what the best way to request a meeting place and I will post it on the site!

I love the information on the Captain’s! Having an italian husband, I enjoy the accents (although mine doesn’t have one, darn it!) and they have always been so personable when we met them!

I laughed when you talked about people pushing the elevator button when others were already there and waiting. I had one on one of our many cruises (Carnival of course!) asked me if it would take them to the front of the ship. There is always one in a crowd.

Thanks for the advise on St. Thomas (going to St. John), but we only have one listed available on our shore excursion list. Are some only available on board? We will actually be in St. Thomas on our 20th anniversary and want to do something special! Any suggestions of a nice “romantic” restaurant we could enjoy there also!

I know you have a lot to read so I will close for now!

Till next time!

Susan