lookingforwardtothenearlysmokefreecarnivalfreedom asked:
John -
I am most concerned that my question was not replied to:
To restate, please explain when you saw the boil on the butt of a baboon.
He who is known as Troublemaker
John Says:
Hello Mate, its been a long time since i wrote MISSINGTHESMOKEFREEPARADISEBUTLOOKINGFORWARDTOTHENEARLEYSMOKEEFREECARNIVALFREEDOMORMYMATJUSTJONASHEISNOWKNOWN
Where did I see a boil on a baboon’s bottom. Well, if I am honest……never. It’s just that I have a natural hatred for baboons. I once went to a place called Windsor Safari park in the UK. the idea is you drive your car around the park and lions and things come up to your car. Well, one of those baboons with the red bottom took a huge poo on the roof of my shiny new Audi and I drove around with it for hours before I realized……….don’t like baboons…….or boils.
Hope you and your lovely lady are well and hope we see you both soon. Thanks for all the support mate
John
————————————————–
Robin in New York Asked:
John–I’m using your please reply answer blog for PLEASE REPLY questions:
1) Did you ever receive (after my multiple messed-up attempts) the photo I sent you of you, me and Heidi when you were on Imagination in January? I do hope so…..the nice, soft American toilet paper gift I bought for you is still in my possession, leading to possibly–
2) I noted from your schedule a few blogs back that you will be arriving via ship in NYC on April 14 and leaving via airplane on April 15. May I be the first New Yorker to welcome you here then, and possibly meet you for a chat, a drink or a bite to eat? If you are flying out of JFK airport, I only live 15 minutes away, and it is very easy for me to take the train into NYC.
Also, thank you for the pictures from the concentration camp. As chilling as they are, we must NEVER FORGET what happened there. As a woman of the Jewish faith, especially emotional were the pictures of all the stones on the grave and the yahrtzeit candles all spread out in the shape of a star. I appreciate your sharing all of your world travels with us–you are truly appreciated and a gem of a man–or, as we would say in Yiddish, a real mensch.
John Says:
Robin, I did not get the photo. Is there any chance I can ask you to send it again please. I remember talking about it when we met while you were in the dining room. i would love to see it.
This would be fabulous. There actually a few other NY bloggers so I was thinking we should have a little get together – what do you think
Thanks for those words. I was a little nervous that putting these photos on the blog may be disturbing to many people. Visiting Sacsenhausen was something that will live with me forever…….thanks for the support Robin and I hope we meet again soon
Cheers
John
—————————————————
Marsha Asked:
John – please reply:
I know you won’t be the cruise director on the blogger’s cruise in February, but are you considering doing your bedtime story that cruise? I’ve been on 13 cruises with Carnival and have yet to have the priviledge to see this. Please…please…..pretty please……..????
John Says:
Marsha
I will indeed have a special bloggers version of this ready for you all to enjoy.
Hope you are well and see you in February
cheers
John
————————————————-
Jeff Asked:
John, urgent, please respond!
Hey John, it’s me, you’re longtime blogging pal Jeff. So I want to join you on the Liberty next May 9th for the Baltic cruise, but the problem is I’m now single, and I’m sure that single occupancy costs twice as much. Do you know of any solutions?
Thanks,
Jeff
John Says:
Hello Jeff
I am so sorry to hear about your new ” single ” life. I hope you are happy though and enjoying life. The single supplement is a tough one and unfortunately there really is no way round it. However, I do suggest you call a Carnival Vacation Planner who will give you the best possible assistance. Please let me know how you get on by reply.
My best regards to you and hope we can find a solution
cheers
John
————————————————-
Joe Kyle husband to Polecat Asked:
Please respond
Three (3) things -
1. Is there an official hotel in New Orleans prior to the bloggers Cruise? This is only a couple of weekends prior to Mardi Gras and hotels are filling up on weekends already and I need to make plans.
2. Who will be the Cruise Director on Carnival Ecstasy leaving Galveston this Nov 1st.?
3. Any other Bloggers going to be on this ship at the Ecstasy Nov 1st. besides me?
John Says:
Hello Joe,
Please see my answers below and my best to you and the Polecat.
We have contracted a hotel for the pre-cruise celebrations and Stephanie will be releasing information on this in the days ahead.
The Cruise Director will be a young man named Steve Cassle. He is our longest serving Cruise Director, a brilliant juggler and violinist.
You will love him.
No idea, Bloggers? Anyone sailing with Joe and the Polecat?
Best Regards,
John
—————————————————
Rupak Asked:
Hi,
I am booked to sail on August 30th from Mobile, Alabama on your Holiday cruiseline. My question relates to the hurricane circumstance that we are in now. When I called the cruiseline, they are saying that everything is OK for travel. By the way, I am driving with my wife and two small kids from Atlanta to Mobile and am parking my car at the port.
My questions:
1. What happens if the Mobile port is hit by the hurricane before/after the ship sails?
2. Why don’t you have a policy for cancellation based on such severe weather conditions?
3. It is easy for you to say that we will steer clear of bad weather, change the itenirary, take you somewhere, maybe you have to sit indoors (while it rains on the deck), enjoy the food – but don’t you think it is fair to let the customer decide that?
4. I do not want my money back in this case of cancellation but a chance to just enjoy my cruise at a later time when the weather is back to normal. I am ok if you give me a 6-month period within which I have to honor the trip. Do you think that this is an unfair demand?
John Says:
Hi Rupak,
Carnival cruise Lines has a special command center that monitors all the latest satellite center from the National Hurricane center as well as information from other respected sources. If there was a chance that the home port would be effected then alternative plans will be put into effect. You will be notified of this by your travel agent plus I highly recommend you monitor the carnival website for the latest news. rest assured that we would never put our guests or the ship in danger.
2-Your own personal insurance may cover this and if in the unlikely event that a cruise was canceled because no alternative and safe itinerary could be found then a full refund would of course be given.
3-Hurricane season is a difficult time for everyone in the tourist industry and obviously it would be detrimental to offer guests a chance to cancel because of inclement weather…………it often rains out of hurricane season in the Caribbean. It is easy to say that the ship will steer clear of the hurricane because that is exactly what will happen. I have been through 18 years of hurricane seasons and I can assure you that at no time have I ever felt in danger.
4-No, I don’t think it’s unfair at all however at this time it is not one that any cruise line to my knowledge offers. My advice is this………lets see what happens and you have I am sure waited a long time for your cruise vacation and I hope you will stay positive and let Carnival and the crew of the Holiday give you the fun vacation you so deserve.
My best regards to you and the family
John
Look, friends — there are a few things you should remember before you comment. The space below is for you to post your comments about the post I've just written above. If it is something that's unrelated, please use the Ask John tab above. Now, while I may not be able to reply to your comment below, I do sit in my underpants almost every morning and read everything that is here. So feel free to comment on the comments and then if someone wants to comment on the comment to the comment then go ahead as well. Please be courteous unless the poster is French...........then you can say whatever you want.
I really do like this, John. Well done!!!
Host Mach
Great to hear that you are doing the “Bedtime Story”. Really looking forward to seeing it.
We would like to wish Ed & Kay McDonough a Happy Anniversary!! Fifty Year celebration aboard the Carnival Freedom. This is their second cruise on the Freedom. Their Anniversary is Sept. 1, 20008
Thank you,
Bernice & Bob White.
Are there any other bloggers cruising on the Glory 10/18 western route???
Great to see some of the questions that others are asking and your replys to them.
Thank you
Grandma
John -
Thanks for replying in public. Now I understand the reference.
Now another question – how about an interview with someone in that Carnival Command Center (aka CarnComCen) regarding the current situation and how they address the multitudes of problems that these two storms, one on top of another, must be having with itineraries, etc.
Jon
John – Please reply- regarding upcoming 11 Sept sailing – this for Kat’s expertise -
DH asks if he will be able to connect to his corporate network via their VPN on the Splendor wireless system? If so, will Kat be able to assist him in configuring his laptop to do so?
Thank you.
Karen
Rupak,
I am also on this same sailing with my daughters. I would not be going if I thought they would be in danger. Right now with the current track, the port of Mobile is safe for us to leave. Carnival will then send the ship to what it considers to be the safest route to avoid the storm.
Will the seas get a bit choppy and will we get a bit of rain, the answer is yes. But that could happen on any cruise without there being a hurricane in the area.
The port of Mobile was hit by a storm surge after Katrina. The terminal is well designed with all the parking above the surge level. Also the check-in area is on the second floor so it was not damaged.
We have a meet and greet right after muster drill at the aft outside bar on the Lido Deck. Come by and say hello. I will have on a red polo shirt with USMC on the front.
Dave
John – Thanks for the updates
Joe Kyle – I am a Blogger (& proud of it!) that will be on the 11-1 Ecstasy cruise. Roll call is on cruise critic…
John, regarding Jeff’s question about SINGLE occupancy – there is an option that he might be able to use. On the Freedom and the Liberty (not sure how many others in the fleet), there is the little known 1A category cabin. I’ve used it for clients in the past if they needed to head on their own. A 1A cabin is an inside stateroom that is dubbed as a single occupancy stateroom. It is slightly more than the per person rate of a double occpancy but considerably less than if he had to pay for both berths in the cabin. As an example, one that I booked, the 1A cabin (for the WHOLE cabin) was $650. For the 4A which is a normal double occupancy cabin, the per person was $420 which made the whole cabin $840! I called in and confirmed that the square footage is the same for a 1A and a 4A. Not sure if there will be a new name for this option with the cabin recatagorization that Carnival is doing on some of its ships but Jeff’s travel agent (never leave home without one!!) will be able to confirm this for him. Not sure if Jeff will see this note so could you point this option out to him for me John?
Have a great day! Cheers!
hey John,
i just for the heck of it, put your name into youtube and saw some of your funny videos, keep up the great work and thanks for the raspberry blog, it was a funny read
Bobbyfk
John;
Great to here we will be able to see the bedtime story again on the bloggers cruse. This time I intend to watch it from the audience.
Bob