I met a lady tonight who said the most remarkable thing……..she told me that she couldn’t tell one cruise ship from another because ” they’re all the same.”
Good Morning from our day at sea and as I sit here at 5:55pm I have to tell you its been a very interesting day.
It started with The Morning Show of which i will write more later and then the debarkation/Amsterdam talk and Q and A. Now, just to remind you of the Q and A format that I use here which is rather than have everyone stand in line waiting for me I have the staff walk around the room. If someone has a question they are handed the mic so everyone hears the question and answer. Experience has taught me that most peoples questions are exactly the same so this helps elevate the waiting.
Anyway, the second or third question was not about debarkation or the tours or port information on Amsterdam it was a ” comment.”. No problem there…….the ladies comment was that she had cruised on all the major lines and that she was very happy with everything here except the library which she said was too small. ………..I agree…………….and she is not the first nor will she be the last to make that comment…………certainly on longer European cruises we need more choice in the book department. Anyway, she said that she had been on a ship recently that had ” Audio Books “………..books that come on CD or MP3 players. I thought this was a great idea and asked her what ship she had seen this great idea on………….it was then that she replied ” I don’t know, all the cruise ships these days look a like “………..now, I guess I should have left it there but my mouth ran away with me and I said ” no they don’t” out loud………..this upset the lady because she shouted down the mic that ” yes they do, they are all the same.”…………….I said that I was sorry, thanked her for the idea and moved on…………in full automatic mode. I was answering questions on train service to London and canal boat rides in Amsterdam but all the time I was thinking about Mrs. Audio books statement.
Right. I see. So because all books have words in them and are made from paper they’re all the same, too. Nonsense. Even someone who can’t read and only speaks French would be able to tell the difference between Shakespeare’s The Tempest and The Cat In The Hat.
I roared onwards in my mind, thinking that that even the biggest dunderhead would be able to tell at a glance that a Carnival ship is not the same as a Seabourn yacht or a Cunard liner. Yes, all ships are gleaming hunks of steel…….rather like myself……….but each and everyone has their own identity…….their own soul.
She had really gotten under my skin and I wanted to drag her up to my office and show her photos to see if she could spot the difference between a The Queen Mary 2 and the Pacific Princess……………and look how far we have come.
Nope, today’s ships have similar amenities and all have a bow and a stern. But, the similarities stop there. Each has there own beauty, passion and soul and just as many men with beards can tell you what airplane or train it is that you are looking at, so are there hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who can see a ship on the horizon and tell you which line, the ships name, the ports it has been to and who the Cruise Director is……………long may that continue.
Oh, by the way……….audio books………….good idea?
A day at sea and with one hour back at the end of the night will be just right for the guests after three heavy days in port. All in all everything continues to be going well. I read some negative comment cards from last week including a couple that thought my humour was unsuitable for families…………..that always makes me feel bad……………….one that said I talk too much………….probably true…………..and three comments that said that my jokes were the same as last year. This is always a tough one. On one hand you have the scenario of if something is working don’t fix it. If you go to see a Broadway show its going to be the same show if you go back next year. However, I understand that hearing a joke twice either on stage or in person is not funny and while the majority of the audience may not have heard it before there is always someone who is going to be annoyed.
However, I only have one real repeated show and that’s the Bedtime Story. i know this is similar every week but its also different every week as well. The idea is to make the guests famous and indeed for those who have seen it you will know that’s exactly what they become. Yes, the base is the same and I even stopped doing it for a few weeks last year but then guests were disappointed when I didn’t.
I think the obvious answer here is you cant please all the people all the time and I apologize to anyone who has had to sit through a joke or sketch that they have seen before.
Some comments though are quite nasty………..I know Cruise Directors take these to heart so I hope people remember that when they write personal comments down. It can be most disheartening.
Oh, I met the most wonderful group of people today. There were all from Vancouver BC and were all first time Carnival cruisers. The reason I mention them is that they were all traveling with one special lady. Her name is Muriel Colear who was a teacher…………at the same school for 36 years……………but that’s not all…………because Muriel is sight impaired and has taught brail for all those years to thousands of children. Muriel was joined by her husband and three children and 5 grand children for this cruise and this morning after the debarkation talk I took a photo with the group. I also presented Muriel with some gifts including two bottles of champagne for them to take to dinner so they could toast this remarkable lady.
Well, this morning I mentioned in my talk the new arrival and departure times for Amsterdam, Holland. For this cruise and all remaining voyages we will arrive in Amsterdam at 10:00am with all guests back onboard at 5:30pm.
We have changed the times of our excursions to allow for this and if anyone reading this has a private tour booked I suggest you change your excursion to allow for this. So, just to repeat………the old time was Noon arrival – 6:30pm onboard………….the new time is 10:00am arrival……….5:30pm onboard.
The next big challenge is Tallinn……..more on that soon.
Lets have a look at some letters in today’s ” In Their Own Words Section.”
And a few photos
Captain and Senior Officers Introduction on Cruise Elegant night
Chocolate Truck in Tallinn
Chocolate Truck in Tallinn
Chocolate Truck in Tallinn
A busy day in Tallinn
Racing a ferry on its way to Denmark
Last night I hosted the Talent Show which went very well as did the Bedtime Story. However, the evening was made more difficult by something all Cruise Directors fear as much as a missed port…………………the dreaded stage mum !
have a look at this.
From: SPLENDOR PURSERS
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2008 5:38 PM
To: SPLENDOR CRUISE DIRECTOR
Cc: SPLENDOR PURSERS; SPLENDOR CHIEF PURSER; SPLENDOR CRUISE STAFF; SPLENDOR YOUTH DIRECTOR; SPLENDOR HOTEL DIRECTOR
Subject: 6453-CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN THE TALENT SHOWGood Evening,
Please see below crs report.
Regards,
2nd Purser6453-CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN THE TALENT SHOW
Mrs ____________ came to the information desk stating that she was very angry that her 12 year old daughter had been refused entrance to the talent show. Guest said that her daughter was more talented than any of the performers and that she had been allowed to take part on her NCL cruise last year. Guest said she would not leave the desk until she had spoken to someone in charge.
Guest remained at the desk. Her daughter was crying so Purser called Cruise Director
Let me take up the story from here. So, realising that it would be better to talk to her now I dragged myself down to the lobby where i was confronted by a lady with smoke coming out of her ears and a daughter with puffy eyes and a tear stained face. These were not the first things I noticed though………….both Mum and daughter looked exactly a like. Both had blonder than blond hair tied back in the same style………….and .both had the same pink style jogging suit on .
Well, Mum didn’t even let me say hello before she told me that her daughter had won Miss Michigan kids show and in the town of Flint where she was from that she was a star. She was a singer who had performed the national anthem at a baseball game and ” was going to be a superstar by the time she was 15.”……….these words were said with such venom that all i could think about was the poor kid who looked like all she wanted to do was put some normal clothes on, mess up her hair and go and play guitar hero with her friends.
I won’t bore you with the rest of the conversation except to say that I explained that there was a Camp carnival and Circle C talent show and that I was sure she would enjoy performing in that…………..but Mum refused……………stormed off saying that she would be telling all her friends of my ” brutality ” and that she would never cruise Carnival again………………….all I could think about was the kid……………I wonder if she was happy……………probably not…………….I hope I am wrong but Stage Mum seemed to have her kids life mapped out already………….it will only end in more tears.
However, the highlight of the day for me was receiving this letter which i shared with everyone on The Morning Show.
Once again, a letter to keep and treasure and a letter full of mixed emotion. What a shame that this brave bloke feels that what he does is not appreciated until he came onboard. I am not a soldier………….I am as far away from that world as you can get but I guess it must be so frustrating to do his job and not understand why you are doing it. we met for a coffee and a cigar this afternoon and for me it was amazingly rewarding experience.
We spoke for some time and for some reason he really opened up and afterwards I asked if I could write about our hour together for the blog……..he agreed providing I remove his last name.
Pete is an aircraft mechanic for the US Air Force and as you saw in the letter he has felt that the support for what he and his colleagues are doing has wavered the past year or so especially when people hear that he is not ” a frontline soldier.”
I want therefore today to pay tribute to the thousands of backroom ladies and gents like Pete . Their life, far from the fighting, behind the blast-proof walls and the razor wire and the guard dogs and the sentries, is about as horrible as it’s possible to imagine………….. Unless you work in the French sewers.
Pete says he is based in the dessert. The view is gray. I imagine from what I have seen on TV that you look over a vast gray camp with gray buildings to the grey concrete walls and beyond to the gray desert that blends into the dust-choked gray sky. There is no green. There is no yellow. ……..just gray………..I cannot tell you how he loved being on the ship amid its blaze of colours
And at night it’s cold he said. Bitterly, numbingly cold. So cold that even the troops from Alaska roll their sleeves down.
Happily the tents have heaters, which sounds lovely. But annoyingly the heaters in question have only two settings: “off” and so “on”, you could bake a bloody potato in there.
Pete laughed as he told me I should mention the lavatory doors, which someone erected four inches from the bowl. This is fine if you 5 foot or under, but everyone else has to leave the door open. And I’m sorry said Pete but doing your number twos in plain view of everyone is only all right if you are camel. …….we both had a giggle at the image of Pete and those doors.
Then you step into the showers, which are great. Except for one tiny detail. Water is in short supply so your allowance wouldn’t be enough even to baptize a baby. …..Pete told me that you just get used to the smell of body odor both on yourself and on others………..I told him to just close his eyes and pretend that he is in Paris……….we giggled again.
At night there is nothing to do. There is no gym, no cinema, no bar, no pool, no tennis court. There is, however, a shop where you can buy orange juice and coffee. Beer? Nope. It’s dry, even on Christmas Day.
So a typical day for the soldiers who keep the frontline troops fed, watered and armed is: get up. Chisel ice from your nose. Defecate in front of your mates. have a shower for thirty seconds which is just enough time to wash your left nipple . Walk to work. Do work. Walk to cookhouse. Walk to tent when tired. Repeat seven days a week.
And it’s not as if you’re out there for a couple of weeks. The tour of duty is six months, broken only by 14 days’ … theoretically. Sadly, Pete has this 12 day cruise plus three weeks at home in Richmond Virginia at then its straight back out again
Still, said Pete there was some cheery news when a General dropped in for a 40-minute pat on the back the other day. He said simply that the forces would be in Afghanistan for another 10 years. And then he got on a plane and buggered off home.
Pete then turned the subject to George Bush.
Now, hold on……..Before you get your Dear John letters out and lace them with Bird Flu I am not going to do any Bush bashing………… but what I am going to say is that one thing about George Bush was that finding Bin Laden was always going to be impossible.
He had a good look round Afghanistan and a quick mince over to the border of Pakistan but he found nothing. So does this mean that Ozzie is off the hook? No, not a bit of it, because he is now to be hunted down by the world’s most fearless and monosyllabic soldier.
Yes, the CIA with its sophisticated spies in the sky failed to find him. And even though they blew up every cave from Iran to Ohio, the air force failed to kill him. So now it’s time to wheel out the human nuke.
Enter, with a fireball in the background and his long hair flowing in the wind, Sylvester Stallone, (who I watched, as had the Doc recently) as Rambo, the 1980s superhero
And guess what? This time he was in Afghanistan ready to stab some Taliban and mastermind a plot which brings Bin Laden to justice by firing a crossbow up his bottom.
We spoke about the movie and then the Doc said something which astounded me. He had watched the previous Rambo 3 movie which was made back in 1988.
Then Rambo was fighting WITH the mujaheddin against the Russians in a film that was dedicated, and I quote, “to the gallant people of Afghanistan”.
I came back to the cabin and looked up this movie on Google and IMDB and found this quote as part of the story line given by Rambo to the Russians: “Every day your war machine loses ground to a bunch of poorly armed and poorly equipped freedom fighters.
So, come full circle to Afghanistan today and it is therefore no surprise that ” Pete” is a little frustrated and confused. However, this last 12 days he has been enjoying a wonderful vacation with his family and as the letter says…………for the first time in many months he has realized that what he is doing is indeed appreciated by many and the wonderful people who have shared his cruise vacation with him have made him feel exactly what he is………a very special man. He is proud to serve his country and although he is not on the front line, without him the planes would not fly and the war on terror would not be won.
This blog is therefore a tribute to all the backroom lads and lassies…………….we salute you all
Goodnight
Your friends
John, Heidi and Sergeant Pete
Filed under: Destinations, Europe, Tales from the Ship, Travel | Tagged: Carnival Splendor
Pete… thank you. Believe me, I have the highest respect and appreciation for crew folks. Coming home alive depended on those guys with the wrenches. I bought my ground crew many cases of beer for giving me a bird that kept me alive.
John, thank you for spending time with him and I’d like to thank each and ever person who took a second to stop and shake his hand.
Host Mach
John, jokes can be changed but your stick like in the Bed time story, Dick Little, Willey Banger and others changes itself with each show. That’s why we all like them we know what it is but everytime you see it the cast of people make it so differtent every time. We laugh every time we see it just as we did the first time. I even think that the people that are laughing the hardest are the ones that have seen it many times. If you make that sitcom the episode with the bed time story will be in reruns forever.
BIG ED
BIG ED
John:
I feel so sorry for that poor 12 year old child being raised by such an idiot.
No matter how talented, how cute, how superstar …if a 12 year old is going to resort to “tears”, because she did not get her way and watched her Mom act like a snot, because she did not get her way….both have way worse problems ahead in life than not getting to perform in a cruiseship talent show.
This woman will soon learn that there are many talented young men and women out there who never “got their chance”, because the folks with the money refused to deal with their “stage Moms”!
This woman is proof positive that Ron White is correct… “You can’t fix Stupid!” And her daughter will ultimately pay the price.
Please tell Pete that folks all over the world appreciate his contribution…..mainly the brave men and women whose very lives depend on the great job he does!! The only reason those aircraft stay in the air and perform is because he does his job every day!!
Now since we have only cruised Carnival…I can not speak of the other cruise lines that sail the seas…but I can tell you that each and every Carnival ship is different. By the end of the year, we will have sailed on all but 6 of them (many now retired)….and each and every one of them is different….even those in the same class have their own “spark”. So, once again John, you are correct!
Linda (Mom of your friend DJ)
sgt pete! thank you for your service. my prince charlie retired from the service having served 26 years and not one person said that to him in all that time. only in the past few years has that wrong been corrected. we do not let that happen to others whenever possible!!
smiles, bonnie and prince charlie
John, sitting aboard Virgin Atlantic flight headed to London and just caught today’s thingy before stowing all electronic devices.
Another brilliant human interest story of Pete, thanks for bringing it us, feel terrible for the young girl and so it goes.
Cheers, Ray
Hi John!
I completely agree with you about all the men (and women) in the Middle East. I am not an American, but I am grateful for everything they do out there. If it wasn’t for them, our lives would be so different today.
On another note;
I have just returned from the beautiful Carnival Freedom and I just wanted to share with you and the readers of this blog some quick details about the cruise.
Every single crew member onboard this ship is a credit to Carnival. They could not do enough for you. Our waiters were amazing! They made myself and my families cruise. There is no way to describe how fantastic they were! The CD, Todd was great, not as good as you were though John!
His assistant Noortje was so much fun and is so down to earth! A lovely woman. She should be promoted to CD ASAP!
The food onboard was fantastic, the best I have experienced in 15 cruises on 5 different cruise lines, especially in the Supper Club.
Entertainment was great at night. The 3 production shows were stunning, espescialy the tribute to the Beatles. The fly on entertainers were great espescially Steve Rawlings who was hysterical!
Anyway, I think I’ve rambled on a bit now, just telling you that Carnival should be proud to have such great people working for them onboard the Freedom, they made it a vacation of a lifetime!
Steve Jameson
John and Bloggers
There are several organization where you can adopted a soldier like the link below;
http://www.soldiersangels.org
It is a simple way to let these men and women know how we feel about what they are doing. You can send letters and packages that can include books, magazines, snacks, games, etc. Just hearing from anyone is important to them.
We have two soldiers that we write to once or twice a month, and like the blog we just talk about anything and everything that is going on in our family, good and bad. And they do the same thing.
Check it out.
Yours truly,
CarolAnn
John – Great blog! Thanks for the info.
My son has been over twice and we need to thank them and their families for the sadrifice4s they make to keep opur country safe. Berg
John,
Thank you for your wonderful sharing of a soldier’s life in a war torn territory. My son recently returned from Iraq. To celebrate this, I booked a cruise for us and his family. Since they had recently had a baby who was only 3 months old, we could not cruise Carnival. So we cruised @#$%^#of the Seas. I told my son that when he wore his uniform, he would be recognized for his service. I surely thought this would happen since I knew it did happen on Carnival. Needless to say, no one said anything to him. It was as if he was just another passenger. I am honored to know that you and Carnival made one soldier very happy. Believe me, it makes a world of difference. Bless you.
I love your blogs. They keep me interested. I got hooked last week.
I hope Pete knows that he is one of the guys we have to have to keep the planes flying. When Danny was in the Air Force in the 60’s he was also a machanic in Dover, Delaware and he feels whenever we are anywhere and they ask for military people to stand that he is not as important as the ones that wen to Viet Nam. But it takes all kind.
See you Wednesday
Jennifer
Hi John, thanks for the story about Sgt. Pete. Makes you think a lot when you hear about their stories from being stationed overseas… Hope he continues to enjoy his cruise, and give our regards to him if you see him again.
TO ALL OUR SERVICEMEN &WOMEN
GODSPEED
tom&jane
To find Ben Laddin, all the CIA need do is turn his name over to a college alumni association . . . THEY will find him!
Thank-You Pete and God be with you and your family for all you do!
Thank-You John for telling us about his tour and what they must indure everyday for us!!
God be with You
Kathy
Thanks Pete for your service! Who reads on cruise ships when you can eat, drink, gamble, watch people and all the wonderful shows and spend some time just watching the sea. I have never made it to the library or even watched a movie at sea except for the ones at the wonderful Seaside Theatre. I think I would watch anything just to be sitting there under the stars wrapped in a warm blanket.
Hi, John!
No, all ships are not created equal so don’t worry over the lady’s comment. Audio books are a good idea…we use them on road trips. Also, don’t worry about your jokes. Normal people would expect you to have the same repertoire (?) from year to year, since I would imagine only a few guests are annual repeats on the same cruise. When people make nasty comments you always know where you can come to get your “atta boys.” We love you.
Thanks for being so kind to Muriel and her family. I really like that you always make it a point to honor folks who are deserving and that you never cater to idiots!
Nice pictures. Someone had a special affinity for that chocolate truck!!!
Pity the budding Brittany. Hopefully, she’ll get out from under her mom’s thumb before too much damage can be done.
And thanks so much for spending time with Sergeant Pete! And “thank yous” to Pete and all the men and women like him around the world for all they do on behalf of the rest of us.
About that Afghanistan story…I’m reading a book called AMERICA’S SECRET WAR. It’s information written by a man named George Friedman who is the founder of a global intelligence company called Stratfor. Stratfor has been referred to as “The Shadow CIA.” It’s true about Afghanistan, and a lot of other stuff goes on that most of us never have a clue about. I guess if we really knew what’s happening in the world of international intrigue and espionage we’d be scared to death. Anyway, if you like stuff like that I recommend the book.
Hello to Heidi, Mum, Dad, Suze, Alan and Stephanie, and best wishes to you all!
Your Pal, Myra
First I must say Thanks to CruisinGrandma. I think that Don and I may adopt a soldier. I adopted some during another war and still have the letters they wrote me.
Now John, I have to tell you, we have cruised with you twice and have seen the bedtime story both times. We also have the DVD of the bedtime story that we bought on the BC1. We have shared it with a lot of our friends and we laugh as hard when we watch you on the DVD as we did the first time we saw you on the Glory several years ago. Please do not stop doing it. And I hope you do it on the BC2 as some of the bloggers have not seen it and or would like to buy the DVD.
In fact a cruise with you is not complete without the Bedtime Story.
Carolyn…………… Countess of the Evil Krewe
Hi Heidi and Stephanie.
First, I agree that there isn’t an avid cruiser (and the lady certainly claimed to be one) that doesn’t know what line a ship is as they do all have their distinct characteristics. It’s kind of fun to try to guess them from a distance.
Sorry you were hurt by the comment cards. I take particular care with those and if there are areas that I feel need improvement I try to explain the experience I had and why I think something needs to be changed. I don’t believe it is a place for personal attacks, but for constructive criticism. Likewise, if we have things to praise I do that as well. Sometimes I write and need more space because I have the need to explain rather than blame and other cruises don’t have anything to bring to anyone’s attention, it was just a great cruise. All cruises are great cruises, some just greater than others.
Well done Pete and we do appreciate what you do! When I am out anywhere and see someone in uniform, I try to speak to them and thank them for what they do for our country–it doesn’t matter what their position is. The Rambo thing is scary however and yes we have come full circle. I’m glad you spent time with him.
As for the 12 year old, she has a long road ahead with a mom like that.
Its the middle of the night there so hope you are sleeping well.
Sergeant Pete God bless you.
John:
Like you for Eugenio and I it is difficult to deal with people that has gone to a cruise and doesn’t even know the name of the ship. You don’t know how many times someone has tell us that they have been on a cruise and when we ask in what cruise they don’t know. Can’t understand that. Eugenio is always reading about cruise ships and he is one of those people who can tell you from a distance what ship it is. Any line. Not only that he knows the facts tons and everything. Keep doing what you do, it’s great as it is. Every time is different in a way and it’s different people. BTW has you seen the kids are drawing you much thiner? Say Hi to Heidi for us.
Love;
Nanni
Hey John,
I am in awe…I live in a town very near Flint, Michigan & I think I know the mother & daughter that you are talking about!! Makes you want to cry, but what can you do. Please get a thicker skin as there are always those that want to complain just for the sake of complaining, makes them seem more powerful…sad that. Love your blog & would love to meet you & Heidi.
Jan
Hi John!
We have cruised with you a few times and enjoy your jokes and the bedtime story everytime. They really are never the same twice! And we still watch our DVD of the bedtime story and still laugh as if it was the first time we saw it. Don’t change anything about yourself… not even your teeth!
Please tell Sgt. Pete hello for us and that we are very proud of him and all of our military men and women no matter where they are stationed or what thier job is. The world is a much better place because of what they do! Thank you Sgt Pete!!!
My fiance and myself were on the inaugural cruise in the Baltic on the Splendor where we got engaged and just wanted to thank you and your staff for a wonderful cruise. Some people just need something to complain about on a daily basis, and we just wanted to thank you all for a job well done. Also, thanks for an entertaining chat on your morning show…We loved it! I’m sure you remember the school teacher and pilot. We are working on that helium request of yours for planes.
Hope to cruise with you again soon.
Paul and Claire
John,
I just went and applied to adopt a soldier, thanks to Countess Carolyn’s personal email to me.
Sgt. Mr. Wonderfully Cheap Budds would like to salute and shake the hand of Sgt. Pete! And I would like to say how proud I am of Sgt. Pete’s family. Too many men get “Dear John’s” letters over there from women who don’t want to wait for their guy. Sgt. Budds saw this happen way to many times. I know from experience it is very hard on the family members also. So I would like to thank the family members for supporting Sgt. Pete, and I hope all our soilders can get support from us, the good old USA, who benefits from their scarifics. I don’t care if you are a republican or demacrat, let’s pull together for “our troops”!!!
I feel sorry for the 12 year-old girl, but she has a roof over her head, plenty of water, heat and air conditioner, so I will not say anything more about her.
Sending godspeed to Sgt. Pete & family,
and all the troops!
Princess Susan
Dear John and Heidi,
Thanks for all you do.
Thanks especially to John, for sharing the story of Sgt. Pete, and for taking the time to talk to him. It is people like Sgt. Pete that make this country so wonderful.
Here is another organization that works diligently to make the lives of our military men and women a little nicer. They send care packages to all who ask:
http://www.opgratitude.com/
Anyone can submit a name and address, and Company Commanders, Department Heads and others in charge can submit the names of all people under their charge. It was started years ago by a dedicated woman by the name of Carolyn Blashek. Both my sister and my brother-in-law have received packages, and my nephew will shortly. She works tirelessly to keep this project going and I will always be grateful to her for what she has done for my family.
Thank you for letting me tell you about this wonderful organization, and for allowing this blog to be a source of information about other groups such as soldiers angels.
Take care and keep doing what you do,
Alice
Dear John,I to would like to thank every man,woman and yes the children who’s parents serve and die for all of us.To keep us safe in these trying times. Every job is equally important for the team effort to fight terrorism in the world.God bless them all.Best wishes Gary and Bug
Hi John,
I was reading you’re blog today and unfortunately you didn’t mention a “spew” moment comming !!!!!!!!!!!!
So now my company laptop is totally wasted.
Why ?
You were talking about the Stage mum and entered the magical words: WITH VENOM.
I don’t think you update the rest of the bloggers with these 2 words but since i was on the first baltic cruise i inmediately rememberd the bedtime story, the japanese guy and give it to me baby’s who’s my dady ….
Thank you, John, for recognizing one of our finest. I hope and pray that the people of this country will remember to fully support these brave men and women. Remember always that they are SENT into a difficult situation–difficult both for themselves and their families. They deserve our respect and our prayers. No person should ever have to come back to their home country with their tail tucked between their legs for fear of being harrassed by their own countrymen like those of us fortunate to return from the Vietnam campaign.
John, I have sailed with you 3 times, and hope to again in the future. While I have memorized some of your stuff and use it occasionally (after the 3rd time, it’s officially mine), nothing can compare to the joy I get watching a first time cruiser bring old jokes back to life with their honest laughter. Keep doing what you are doing. If someone complains, send them to me–I use the same jokes, but I “don’t take no crap!”
Rus Franklin
John – still hoping you’ll show a video of your bedtime story for those of us who haven’t had the priviledge of sailing with you…..(hint…hint…)
Hi John & Heidi,
Just one comment – thanks Pete.
And – a Chocolate Truck???? Definitely need that here.
Hugs,
Carol
Thank you, Sgt. Pete. Many, many people realize what a valuable job you do. Hopefully you can get home full time before too long. Thanks again. Jeri and Larry
Pete, thank you for the sacrifice you and your family are making. It takes all of our service men and women to protect our freedom. May God bless and protect you!
Regarding the comment cards. Knowing how much you care about how well you are doing your job, it must be difficult to blow off the rude comments made by a few people. I can only apologize for these inconsiderate blokes! Who obviously have the manners of a …… well, you can fill in the blank.
And the lady who thinks all ships are the same. Don’t be too hard on her. I love cruising and ships. The ship is usually my vacation destination, the itinerary secondary. However, I have an AWFUL memory, so I can never remember many specifics about the different ships. Wish I could because I love them so. Maybe that is why she thinks they are “all the same.”
Hi John
Thank you for the tribute to Sgt. Pete. In our day to day normal lives, we tend to forget those serving us and keeping us free. As an Army Veteran myself and wife of a 21 yr Army retiree, I know the trials our Military faces. My nephew is on his third tour of duty and my prayers are with him every day. He is Special Forces and has been on the battle field in live fire many times. Thank God, he has been sent home safe twice…now we are praying for the third. I am sure he misses his 5 month old daughter, Addison. I salute all the men and women serving us. They serve proudly.
Keep up the great blog and I will see you on the BC v.2 in Feb!!
Thank you Sgt. Pete!!
Gloria aka Sue
What a wonderful post, John! I think Sgt. Pete is right that we do not think about them as much as we do about the soldiers on front lines.
Thank you, lads & lassies behind the scenes, for all you do for our freedom. Hang in there this all should be over soon
)
John – we are scheduled to be on the Splendor on the Aug. 30th cruise – is the Grand Tour still being held for St. Petersburg?
Thanks
Ed & Bab
John, Right now 4 of us in the Evil Krewe have filled out the application to adopt a soldier. I hope more of the bloggers will find it in their hearts to join us. Thanks to CruisingGrandma and your blog for bringing this to our attention.
Countess Carolyn of the Evil Krewe
John
Pete is indeed a frontline soldier as are all of the wonderful young men and women who have volunteered to put themselves in harms way so we can be free. It’s Pete and folks like him that make the Air Force work. He is the guy that gives the pilot the aircraft so he can go kill bad guys– it isn’t glamorous but it is critically important!
I love seeing the youngsters in their dress uniforms on the night of the Captain’s Dinner–they represent us so very well.
Roger T
USAF Retired
Hi John/Heidi:
All I’m saying today is thank you to Pete and everyone else.
We truly appreciate everything you do.
Thanks for such a poignant blog today and looking forward to hearing more.
Take care!
David
Hi John,
my family and I are in London waiting anxiously for this Wednesday 6th August to get on board the Splendor and to your bag of laughs.
Looking forward to spending 12 great memorable days on the Splendor …..our third carnival cruise.
Cheers mate
Norman from Malta
Sgt Pete…our hearts are with you, and may God Bless you and your family for the enormous sacrifices you all make, so all of us have the blessings we have here.
Eva
John, PLEASE REPLY:
Is there anything we can send to Pete’s unit to help make life a little easier? Please ask him and let us blogger’s know.
I am a Democrat and a proud Liberal who is totally disgusted with “dubya” and all his cronies. But I have nothing but respect, admiration, and sympathy for our men and women in the military. Especially for Pete, since he is working in such miserable conditions. And extra especially since he is doing his job in Afghanistan with a pittance of the support and attention that those in Iraq are getting. Afghanistan is the war that should have had 100% of our attention, investment, and concern for the last seven years.
I hope that Pete is not really as conflicted about the war as you seem to indicate. It is true that the CIA gave a small bit of support to the Mujahedeen during the Soviet invasion, on the theory that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, a very risky foreign policy. (We also did the same with Saddam Hussein, and look how well THAT worked out). But we were NOT fighting against the Afghan people back then, and we are NOT fighting against them now.
Imagine you lived in England back during the Blitz. If the USA had said, “well, we can’t afford to give you more than a little bit of money. Good luck!”, you’d be pretty desperate for help. Now, if Tom Cruise and a bunch of other Scientologists came and said, “We have always admired the English people and we want to help. Here’s 10 Billion dollars and enough arms for every soldier you have!”, you’d welcome them with open arms. Unfortunately, once the Germans had been defeated Tom then says, “We’re all staying in England permanently. Plus, every person is now a Scientologist. The queue for your e-meter audits forms over here.” That’s what the Afghan people have been through in the past 25 years.
So, I hope Pete understands that he is not fighting the ordinary people of Afghanistan. He is fighting religious nutjobs, many of whom aren’t even Afghani.
hey John Its nice to hear about support for troops nomatter what they do.
but I have a Question?
how often do you see Men and Women whering the Dress uniform for the Dinner?
I have bin crusing a few times and was wondering if I shuld bring mine along next trip?
and yes book on tape/CD not a bad Idea but I alwes bring my own book to read on Vacation. a book swap for papperbakes thets a good Idea.
Oh no!!!!!! An insane stage viper from Michigan. That type of person belongs to a wretched lot of scum and villany…….How sad….for the young girl ( likely very unhappy ) …. perhaps I should go on a road trip to the Flint area to inform rude mom of wanna-be superstar that perhaps she is a borderline nutcase. I need some paintball practice anyway …..
The Flying Dutchman
Hi John,
Audio books are a grand idea. I use them all the time and loaded my MP4 with many before we boarded the Freedom last summer. A really neat idea would be to have “eye pod thingy” downloads available-for a fee, of course. Not only could you have books, but also some of your port talks and ship information-maybe even a self guided tour of the ship. Better yet, you could rent the devices like many museums…
Also, as far as your family-friendly debate, I think you are fine. My youngest did not get any of the adult humor, but loved the rest of it, and did not even notice the few adult things. He was more cued in on your facial expressions and body language. My oldest (14) was able to figure out most of the humor. We loved it all and did not find anything inappropriate. Seeing my very serious teenager laugh out loud at your show was the best.
Don’t change a thing!
Tell Pete thanks for his service. There have been many behind the front line personnel KIA during the past 7 years. They serve with the same dedication and risks as all other troupes.
My nephew Corporal Joe K. USMC whom I take the honored name of Uncle Doug from, is an active duty Helicopter mechanic stationed in NOLA. His unit just returned from Iraq earlier this year. I don’t know if Joe has experienced the same things as Pete as far as “Support Personnel”. If so as a Marine he would never say anything about it other than kick as to the trash talker. He knows first hand the long hours put in under conditions most of us here in the USA would refuse to report to work under. Pulling long shifts only to be too tired to take the long hike to the chow hall. Instead returning to their “Can” to eat MRE’s or something sent from home. This is repeated every day, 7 days a week for months on end. We encouraged Joe to select a career that would give him a job skill he could use when he returns to the civilian world. There is not much of a job market for well trained combat assault personnel unless you stay in that line of work with the CIA.
WE give thanks to all our Military personnel regardless of their rank or position that they proudly serve.