Tuesday, June 24th, 2008...11:20 am
A Public Relations Dream
After spending years scorning the Eye Pod I admit that since Heidi bought me one I have accepted it into my life and confess that I am a born again Poder.
However……………after today…………….I wish I never had.
In the beginning, listening to an iPod was a solitary pursuit. No one knew what you had on there, so you could load it up with all your favourite tunes, no matter how embarrassing and full of sugar they might be
But now you can plug your personal music library into all manner of systems for all your friends and family to hear…………………..bugger.
We all have guilty secrets, things that we’d rather leave buried in the deep recesses of our cupboards. I, for instance, used to have erotic dreams about Wonder Woman.
I’ll admit to this. In fact I just have. But I would never have admitted, even to my closest friend, that I recently paid $1 to download Mariah Carey singing Hero.
I know it’s a terrible song. I know there’s a horrible segue in the middle. I know that its mostly listened to by teenagers wearing pants with the word Pink or Cool on their bottoms or by single middle aged men who wear glasses with tape round them and who read Stalkers Weekly magazine……….. But secretly I like it, so one day, when Heidi was out and the house, I downloaded it to my EyePod and since then have spent many happy, albeit slightly guilty, hours on planes listening to it.
But then today while working in the office surrounded by my staff I foolishly plugged my EyePod into a pair of loudspeakers. To begin with all was well. There was a bit of Clapton, some Deep Purple and a smattering of Def Lepard. People tapped their feet approvingly as they worked …………..all was well as Smoke on the Water came to an end.
But then on came Mariah and one by one everyone stopped talking. Slowly their heads turned to me. “Did you download this?” “Yes.” “On purpose?” “Yes.”
You could have cooked sausages on my face…………….and things were about to get even worse…………..Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney were about to sing Ebony and Ivory.
Since then, Heidi has been giving me funny looks. It’s almost as though she’s suddenly found out that I’m weird and maybe wear her clothes when she is out. She thought she knew me. But since she found I have Mariah Carey on my Eyepod she realizes that actually she doesn’t know me at all.
Nor I her. Because recently we were listening to hers, and in among the Dutch Music and light and breezy pop I was attacked — and that is the right word? — by something called Amy Winehouse.
I can only assume that Amy won a competition at some point to see who could make the worst noise on earth. It’s an extraordinary sound: like she is drunk and high or is singing with a baseball shoved in her mouth. As she is singing she has hired that athlete Flo Mo to run her huge fingernails down the side of a blackboard as her background music.
As a result I cannot have Heidi’s Eye Pod on any more than she can have mine……..thank goodness she never found out I had downloaded some Liza Minnelli and Cher!
Well, its Tuesday morning now and I am up very early as I received an unexpected and special invitation to explore the Pacific Princess which is docked down the road in Portofino…………..actually…………..I think its at anchor. Anyway, never one to say no to seeing one of our sister ships I will be collected by car and whisked off to visit her. A full report with pictures will be with you on Wednesday.
I have not had chance to read your comments about the interview with Stein Kruse the President and CEO of Holland America. I know though that you will have enjoyed his comments and will have checked out the Eurodam blog.
Talking of comments a quick public thank you to Stephanie…….you have no idea how hard she works for this blog each and every day……..including the weekend. Thanks Steph.
Sometimes, I get a little complacent about this blog thingy and I must never let that happen. The fact that we have interviewed the Presidents and senior executives of Cunard, Princess, Seabourn, Holland America, Costa, AIDA P&O and, of course, Carnival should not be overlooked. These busy ladies and gents do not give interviews often and when they do they choose the publication they are talking to carefully …………..the fact that we have been allowed to look through the key hole and into their lives is something to rejoice about. I thank them all so very much.
I have not spoken about the diet much. It’s going OK and I am staying strong. I thought I had lost lots of weight today because my pants fell down…………turns out the elastic had snapped in them.
Still, I feel good but I am also tired and not helped by the fact that the cheap sods in the shipyard keep turning the dam air conditioning off. I spoke to one of the Fincantieri engineers today and asked why it was so hot. He told me it was to prepare the ship should we ever need the heating on in colder ports of call and Atlantic crossings…………I didn’t say anything………………preparation …………..mmmmmmmmm……………….so instead of saying anything I just patted him firmly on the bottom……….”What’s that for?” he asked …………”It’s to prepare your bottom for my foot going in it if you don’t turn the damn air on”………………..Now that’s preparation!
Here are some striking photos of the Red carpet Dance Club and the 15 - 17 year old Club O2.
The dance club as you can see features the mannequins standing at the door. As you enter one says in a voice slightly reminiscent of The Borg from Star Trek “VIP, come right in” Then, as you enter your photo appears for all to see on the many plasma screens festooned around the dance floor………….I can only imagine how much fun that will be for the poor security guard standing at the door checking I.D’s……………….we should program it to say other stuff just for a laugh…………..”You are too ugly to enter……….you will now be assimilated……….resistance is futile”……………….”Madam, you are living proof that not everyone looks good in leather”……………or………….”Your husband is by the bar kissing a man called Bob”……………….ahh, the fun we could have.
Club O2 is teen heaven……….Xstation 3 and Wee Wee games……special activities and most importantly parents and anyone who can’t sing the lyrics to “Slap My Bitch Up ” can’t come in.
We finished the 12 day Capers today, the show Vroom had its first full run through, Mouna the Karaoke Host arrived and oh yes ………….did I tell you that the ship was hotter than a bowl of lava.
It’s now only a few days to the 30th when Carnival takes full ownership of the vessel……………we can clean the ship, stock the bars, make the beds, tune the TV’s, fluff the pillows, fill the pools, and turn the air on.
Many months ago I mentioned my shock at how popular scrap booking was onboard. Since then all our staff have been trained and earned black belts in this ancient art form. Seriously, it is really fantastic and its popularity grows day by day……………..so much so that we have launched a new on-line tool called “scrapblogging.”
Scrapblog Partners with Carnival Cruise Lines to Create and Share Vacation Memories in a Digital Way
Cruisers can now create fun Carnival Cruise Lines-themed multimedia digital scrapbooks with Scrapblog
MIAMI, FL – June 24, 2008 – Scrapblog, Inc., the first web-based service for creating and sharing multimedia scrapbooks, announced today a partnership with Carnival Cruise Lines to provide its guests with a unique and easy way to share memories from their “Fun Ship” cruises. Carnival is the only cruise line to offer this on-line feature to its guests.
Scrapblog is the latest addition to the line’s popular social networking site, CarnivalConnections.com, and offers cruisers an entirely new way to interact and connect though shared vacation experiences. Cruisers can add digital pictures, videos and audio to a customizable Carnival theme to create a personalized, one-of-a-kind multimedia scrapbook of their “Fun Ship” vacation.
Five different “Fun Ship”-themed scrapblogs are available, each patterned after the line’s most popular destinations: the Caribbean, Bahamas, Mexico, Alaska and Europe.
Scrapblogs can be shared with fellow cruisers through the Scrapblog Gallery on CarnivalConnections.com or through direct publishing on popular blogging and social networking platforms including Facebook, Blogger, Typepad, WordPress, Flickr and MySpace.
“Carnival is all about creating a lifetime of wonderful vacation memories and Scrapblog’s easy-to-use, highly interactive platform enables our guests to relive their ‘Fun Ship’ vacation experience through these on-line digital scrapbooks,” said Ruben Rodriguez, Carnival’s executive vice president of marketing and guest experience.
“Preserving and sharing stories of travel experiences is one of the top reasons for creating scrapblogs. This, and the fact that Carnival values community and fun as much as we do makes this partnership ideal,” said Carlos Garcia, CEO and co-founder of Scrapblog.
To view the Scrapblog Gallery on CarnivalConnections.com please visit:
http://www.carnivalconnections.com/scrapblog. Launched in January 2006, CarnivalConnections.com is the cruise industry’s first social networking site and houses a variety of interactive message boards, videos and features, as well as the widely popular blog of Senior Cruise Director John Heald which has generated more than 2.5 million hits since debuting last March.About Scrapblog, Inc.
Scrapblog is the first web-based service for creating and sharing multimedia scrapbooks online. It enables everyday people to express themselves online in creative ways. Users can aggregate their photos and videos from multiple online sources and mix them with music, audio, text and thousands of creative elements in an environment that is truly drag-and-drop-easy and free. Scrapblog, Inc. is privately held and based in Miami, Florida. For more information on Scrapblog and its features, please visit http://www.scrapblog.com.About Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) 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, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, the Panama Canal, Canada, New England, Bermuda, Europe and South America. The line currently has three new ships scheduled for delivery between now and 2011. The first of those, the 113,300-ton Carnival Splendor, is scheduled to debut in Europe July 2.
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That’s wonderful and I am sure many of you will take advantage of this great partnership.
I received an e-mail tonight from my friends in the Public Relations Department. It appears that I am going to be taking part in a few interviews over the next few days for newspaper, radio and magazine. Obviously the subject will be the Carnival Splendor and possibly the Carnival Dream and maybe the Blog.
I don’t mind interviews and always try to give fresh unregurgated (is that a word?) answers. As I sit there conducting these on the record chats I know by my side are Vice President of Public Relations Tim Gallagher, Director of Public Relations Jennifer De La Cruz and Manager of Public Relations and Blogging Vance Gulliksen.
I have become great friends with these three and I know some of the things I have said to reporters have made them squirm over the years and now it’s even worse as I get to write what I want everyday. Still, the stress of working with me aside I know I could never do their job.
Yes, PR works for celebrities and PR put a fully loaded idiot into No 10 Downing Street who then handed it over to another one, but mostly there is no tangible measure of success. Did the cell phone become a global phenomenon because of great PR? Did the Segway bike thingy that was supposed to revolutionize transportation fail because the PR wasn’t good enough? Nope…….it failed because it was crap… PR people sit in that grey area between the vagaries of making something a sure fire hit or a Laser Disc style failure.
In theory what you try to do in PR is raise awareness and shape public perception. But in reality what you do is take journalists out for lunch and hope you bought them a more expensive meal than the competition did.
Let’s say you are the PR Executive for casual shoes with holes in them called Gators.
You spend weeks trying to get a mention of the Gator shoe you’re promoting in any publication, no matter how small or insignificant. And you’ll find yourself punching the air in red wine-enhanced moment of ecstasy when you find that two dozen phone calls, the promise of a trip to a lap-dancing club and six redrafted press releases have got the product on to page 18 of Foot Fetish Weekly.
However, today, I salute the PR department of Carnival Cruise Lines whom are simply the best………..and following on from PA 007’s breaking news they decided to give me these magnificent renderings of the dream which has come true. ……………the Carnival Dream
Aft Lido
Aft Lido
Dance Club
Dance Club
Dance Club
Waterworks
Outdoor Cafe
Outdoor Cafe
Goodnight
Your friends
John, Heidi, Tim, Vance and the other one
27 Comments
June 24th, 2008 at 11:30 am
John,
When are we going to get to see that character fantasy episode??
BigMike
June 24th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Scrapblog sounds like fun. I will try to load up my April wedding on St. Thomas.
I can’t believe you were able to post pics of a new Dream. Looks gorgeous!
Will be waiting right here for your report from Pacific Princess. Stay cool!
June 24th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Hello John & Heidi
I can totally relate! To each their own musak!
Kahuna & I Both have Eye Pods. and when we down load I end up with his Indian music and I have to delete it off my list. He has to keep my Neil Diamond off his(some of it)
Saw the fantasy clip yesterday John. I CANNOT beleive they could not use yiur last name John, what’s up with that? YOU are still our celebrity and with this blog and these interviews and the TV shows & radio gigs IT still proves you got the touch! Congrats on the weight loss. I am still working on the big Kahuna, moving in hummus & fruit for snacks and moving out thew chips & cqndies he craves. Love the DREAMY pictures…
Take Care
Elizabeth Tucker
June 24th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
John, you can’t imagine the attention that The Dream is getting at Cruise Critic! As each new photo is released they’re being enlarged, stared at, speculated about and ooo’d and ahhhh’d over. Of course there are a few who aren’t impressed in the least as The Dream doesn’t have a hockey rink, a rock falling-off-of wall, a mall or a theme park. Not surprisingly, these folks are a bit more prone to sail a Somethings of the Seas than a Carnival vessel. That’s fine. They have found a cruise line that properly suits their taste and so have I.
Eye pod thingies can be dangerous, as you have discovered. I NEVER take mine anywhere with me, with the exception of on a cruise and then it’s sanitized. Plenty of Jimmy Buffett, a little Beach Boys and a smattering of Bob Marley.
Let me pass along my thanks to Stephanie, as well. I can’t imagine how she has a personal life. She’s a gem.
Please tell Heidi I said hi!!
Cheers for now, my friend!!
Host Mach from Cruise Critic
June 24th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
STEPhANIE
THANK YOU
FOR
ALL
THAT
YOU
DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 24th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
John, quit your -itchen. They got to make sure the heat works also. When I take the DREAM cruise out of New York in November of 2009 needing heat I want to know when I get to the Caribbean it will change to AC over night. So let them do all there testing and if you need earplugs for the PA system tests let me know I will send you some.
BIG ED
I see a DREAM in my future.
June 24th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Oh John,
Mariah Carey? Really? I’m so disapp… No, I’m just kidding. We all have those songs or artists that we secretly enjoy. I’m not ashamed to admit that mixed in among the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Warren Zevon, Crowded House, Elvis Costello and Tom Waits is a healthy dose of Andy Gibb, Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Rick Springfield, Abba, and… Night Ranger. Egads!
Want more embarrassing? I was out at a karaoke bar with some friends two months ago and someone noticed and pointed out that I sang all of Britney Spears’ “Baby…One More Time” without looking at the words. The shame was almost too much to bear! (I’m also a closet N’Sync fan, I appreciated the fact the seemed to understand what they were and that they had a shelf life.)
I’m seriously contemplating booking one of the Dream sailings from New York City now. The ship looks amazing! Thanks to PA007 and the PR folks for the updates and the renderings.
You know I’ve lived right across the river from the New York Port and never sailed out of it. I mean, I’ve been all over the harbor on the Circle Line and various ferries, but I’ve never actually sailed out of it.
That will be remedied next week on July 3rd when I board the Victory for the 4 day to Canada. I’m so excited. It will be my 5th cruise, but a first in many other ways. My first cruise with the boyfriend. My first sailing out of New York. And my first balcony. Better yet, we’ve got a balcony on the port side so we’ll have a terrific view of the Statue of Liberty and the whole Jersey side. I know everyone always wants to know which side is best for viewing New York as they sail out. But I look at that all the time. There’s plenty to see on the Jersey side if you know what to look for, like the cliff in Weehawken where Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in their famous duel. The Erie-Lackawana Train/Ferry terminal in Hoboken where many of the newly arrived immigrants from Ellis Island started their journey to the interiors of America. The Hoboken Waterfront which served as an embarkation point in WWI (”Heaven, Hell or Hoboken by Christmas”) and the list goes on. I once got tired of all the posts on cruisecritic asking which side to see New York, so I posted a long listing of things to see on the Jersey side. I wish I still had a copy.
Anyway, I hope your air gets turned on soon! But aren’t saunas supposed to be good for weight loss? Oh and enjoy your spa treatment! I beg to differ here… Real men do get pedicures and massages!
My best to Heidi and Stephanie. Any updates on Alan?
Cheerios,
Laura (aka divetrash, aka Princess Laura, the sweet and compromised of Big Ed’s Evil Krewe)
June 24th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Hi John, Loved your iPod comments. I bought several different MP3 players over the years. They were all crap. What I really wanted was an iPod. I just didn’t want to spend the money for an iPod. I finally quit wasting money and bought a 60GB iPod. Recently Dave decided he wanted to carry his music. We got a really good deal on a 160GB iPod so I gave him the old one and kept the new one. My Daddy didn’t raise a fool. Anyway all the iTunes are on his computer and we have the same music on both Ipods. There is enough space on both that we can pick which music to listen to.
Jo and Dave Myerly
June 24th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Eesh, I meant we have a balcony on the starboard side. Some sailor I am huh?
Sheepishly,
Laura (aka divetrash, aka Princess Laura, the sweet and ship lingo/directionally challenged….)
June 24th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
John:
You often say you are behind the times when it comes to electronic gadgetry….but I’m trying to figure out how to “work” the scrapblogging thingy.
I am blogging challenged!
Terri
June 24th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Liza Minelli? Cher? Mariah Carey? Ummm, John, don’t the British have a word for guys like that? And doesn’t it begin with P?
HAHA!
Amy Winehouse is a drunken drug addict.
And I have a large Laser Disc collection. Oh well, you can’t predict them all.
June 24th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
John:
Thanks so much for the pictures of Club O2…DJ is so excited!!
I think we should all keep Stephanie in DODs on the Blogger’s Cruise as a reward for putting up with us!!! If someone walks by Stephanie and there is not a DOD in her hand….the new rule is to put one there!!!
I walked 5 miles today for the first time. That is now my new goal…5 miles a day. Once I reach my goal weight, I will take it back to 2 miles a day to maintain!
Linda ( 5 pounds lighter)
June 24th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
John,
LOL, I know what you mean about having certain songs on your eyepod thingy. I have some songs in my MP3 player that I wouldn’t wanna blast on any loudspeakers! Although, I’m sure you would rather play all of your songs on the ship’s PA system, than put up with the Italian music all day……
The splendid photos and renderings are truly wonderful. I’m telling cruise lovers I know about all this and they, too, are attracted to this. Even though we have over a year for the Dream, it will be worth the wait! A dream come true for all Carnival lovers! The Dream’s profile on Carnival’s site looks great!! Less than a week to go until the Splendor is given to the cruise line!
I thank you, Stephanie, for all your hard work within this blog thingy. It means a lot to us!
Hope the “bowl of lava” cools off soon! Have a great day guys!
Alex G.
June 24th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Hi John/Heidi:
The pictures/renderings of the Dream are quite wonderful. The Outdoor cafe looks really cool and it seems like a very unique addition to the Carnival fleet.
Being a stockbroker who reads press releases all day, I can tell you how hard these PR departments work to get the information out. I have followed Ms. De La Cruz for many years and hope to have the honor to one day meet her since i’m a cult follower.
Enjoy the Mariah soundtrack.
Def Leppard? Now you’re talking my language.
Great hearing from you.
Take care,
David
June 24th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
John,
Now all you need is some Barbara Striesand to complete your collection!
June 24th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Lauren, I was thinking the same thing! It’s funny cause it’s true.
June 24th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
John,
Hmmm…I must reply to this quote from today …”Many months ago I mentioned my shock at how popular scrap booking was onboard. Since then all our staff have been trained and earned black belts in this ancient art form. Seriously, it is really fantastic and its popularity grows day by day……………..” Gee, I remember when you said all it was, was cut and paste. Didn’t I talk you into taking it farther on the ships? Didn’t I give you the idea to have scrapbooking classes on the ships? Didn’t I ask you to try? Didn’t I tell you how popular it was? Now look at how far Carnival is going with this.
Did I even get a fruit basket on the first BC for my idea? No, a t-shirt, no, a free Diet Coke, no, a free scrapbook from the ship (like you got one…LOL) no. I am sooooooo disappointed in you…LOL.
Princess Susan
June 24th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
First you trash Barry Manilow and now Amy Winehouse. Geez, John, spread your wings a bit.
I like them both. Not so much Mariah C., but you shouldn’t be ashamed to like her stuff. It’s not like she never sold an album, eh?
My iPod has everything from Offspring to Bob Marley to Al Green to Holst (The Planets) to Willie Nelson. Diversity is the spice of life. And I like my life extra spicy.
Try it.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
If Lauren can’t give you Streisand, I can. I can also give you the Capt. and Teneille as well as…Donny and Marie.
I can’t believe I just admitted that.
June 24th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
John, no Barry Manilow on your eye pod thingy,
I’m shocked.
Papanh
June 24th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
John,
I read the Scrapbloggin and the Wii Fit releases today… OUTSTANDING!!! Virtual EVERYTHING!!!! What better way!!!! Carnival is coming up with cutting edge stuff!!! WOW!!!
The DREAM is just more proof of the cutting edge stuff. I truly don’t think BIGGER is better… but from what I’ve seen and these new renderings… I think CARNIVAL is out to prove me wrong in this case!
Host Mach is keeping us up to date on CC… and bringing interest to your blog thingy over there. It’s GREAT to listen to others RAVE over the ideas Carnival is creating with the DREAM!!!
As for iPods… I have one. It’s still in the box. I must figure it out and see if I can make it work… I love music, but I listen to my walk-man… my goodness, I guess I should be embarassed to admit that! In this case, I’m not sure SMALLER is better…
John, I agree with your comments on Stephanie… We just would be LOST WITHOUT HER!!!!
God Bless you!!!
Lambie
June 24th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
John,
Since we’re confessing the indefensible in music tastes, Milli Vanilli is on my IPOD.
June 25th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
John,
The renderings of the Dream look incredible!
Thanks for sharing them with us!
Cathy & Tom
June 25th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
John,
Thank’s for the wonderful “DREAM” Thanks to Steph and the rest of the gang that make all of this possible!!!!
Kathy
June 26th, 2008 at 9:38 am
I think everyone secretly has music stashed somewhere on ipods, cell phones, computer hard drives, or on the old fashioned CDs that they would rather not tell the world they own. Music from legends (I use that word somewhat loosely) such as (gads) Neil Diamond, The Go-Go’s, and Barbra Streisand.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:55 am
John,
The scary thing is your music selections are being stored, scrutinized, analyzed, etc in some large database somewhere to be used against you in even more embarrassing ways…..maybe explains the new Victorias Secret pubs..heh
June 27th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Hey, I like Amy Winehouse’s music. So she now has emphysema from smoking all that crack…so what!!!!!!! So she ’s been to rehab more times than Steven Tyler, and Britney Spears,…so what!?! LOL
SuefrmNarrowsburg
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