Finally……….some sun. Good Afternoon from a now sunny Baltic and the sight of the sun has had meant that the sun cream has been applied and the Speedos are on, the roof is open and the sun worshippers are laying before the golden ball in the sky. The Lido deck is being entertained by Steve our great guitarist and vocalist and meanwhile on the big screen the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics is being shown.
We actually have this with no volume so people can watch the ceremony and enjoy the live music………….and because we can only get the feed from German television and the commentary is in German. …………nobody seems to mind though and it does seem very popular not just on the big screen but in the sports bar and on the dance club screens as well.
It’s Stephanie again. We just got off the phone with the New Orleans charity and are beyond excited to announce that we’ll be working with Beacon of Hope Resource Center. You can find out more about them by visiting their website: www.lakewoodbeacon.org.
What a beautiful day. The Baltic early morning haze gave way to a fresh and breezy day with temperatures just reaching 70 degrees. The ship kicked off its shoes, sat back and smiled a giant smile at thoughts of those friends and family back home around the world at work, school and not on a cruise.
There was, however, a fly in the blueness of it all. Normally when the sun puts his hat on, someone on the weather forecast will tell us precisely how long we can spend outside without catching cancer. …………….which is understandable.
Good Morning………from Dover………….its 5:50 am and its debarkation morning. I just looked at myself in the mirror and god am I ugly in the mornings. I have seen better looking boils on a baboon’s bottom than my face at 5:50 am.
Anyway, we are about to start debarkation so I thought I would say a quick good morning and while I help disembark 3,300 people let me leave you with these two press releases to look at.
CARNIVAL SENSATION TO RECEIVE FULL ‘EVOLUTIONS OF FUN’ UPGRADES DURING JANUARY 2009 DRY DOCK
New Features Include Expansive Aqua Park, Adults-Only Retreat, Resort-Style Main Pool Area, Nearly 1,000 Refurbished Staterooms
MIAMI (August 6, 2008 ) – Carnival Sensation will undergo a multi-million-dollar refurbishment that will include the installation of an expansive water park, an exclusive adults-only retreat and tropical-themed mid-ship pool area, as well as renovations to nearly 1,000 staterooms and cosmetic enhancements to a wide range of public rooms and areas.
The “extreme makeover,” which represents the next phase of the line’s “Evolutions of Fun” product enhancement initiative for the line’s eight Fantasy-class vessels, will take place during a scheduled 35-day dry dock in January 2009.
Carnival Sensation – which operates the line’s popular three- and four-day Bahamas cruise program from Port Canaveral, Fla. – will be the fourth Fantasy-class ship to receive the full “Evolutions of Fun” makeovers. Carnival Inspiration and Carnival Imagination were completed late last year and Carnival Fantasy is scheduled to receive the upgrades during a scheduled dry dock this fall.
“With its attractive short cruise program and proximity to Central Florida attractions, the Carnival Sensation is already a popular vacation option and the ‘Evolutions of Fun’ upgrades will offer even more fun and exciting experiences for our guests,” said Ruben Rodriguez, Carnival’s executive vice president of marketing and guest experience.
New Water Park, Adults-Only Area, Tropical-Style Main Pool
Highlighting Carnival Sensation’s new “Evolutions of Fun” upgrades will be an expansive Carnival WaterWorks aqua park that is sure to appeal to guests of all ages. Located on Verandah Deck, the open-air facility includes a 300-foot-long spiral water slide – the longest at sea – along with twin 82-foot-long racing slides and various water spray apparatus.
The dry dock will also include an exclusive new adults-only retreat called “Serenity,” located aft on Promenade Deck. Designed as an oasis for relaxation and comfort, Serenity will offer magnificent ocean views along with plush chaise lounges and chairs with shade provided by colorful oversized umbrellas. Serenity guests can relax in two large whirlpools and enjoy a variety of icy cocktails and frozen drinks.
Another component of the “Evolutions of Fun” upgrades is a new resort-style pool located mid-ship on Lido Deck that will feature a tropical theme with thatched roofing, faux palm trees and striking umbrellas surrounding the facility. Comfortable deck chairs and a colorful tiled “beach” encircling the pool’s edge add to the ambiance.
Extensive Stateroom Upgrades, Other Enhancements
Carnival Sensation’s “Evolutions of Fun” upgrades also include extensive renovations to nearly 1,000 staterooms which will feature flat-screen televisions with an updated décor with new carpeting, wall coverings and light fixtures, as well as renovated bathrooms.
Carnival Sensation’s 35-day dry dock will also include cosmetic enhancements to virtually all public rooms and areas, including the Fantasy and Ecstasy main dining rooms, the poolside Seaview Bar & Grille, Touch of Class piano bar, Oak Room library, and Kaleidoscope dance club. Many of Carnival Sensation’s live music and dancing venues have already received new high-tech sound and lighting systems during a previous dry dock.
Other ‘Evolutions of Fun’ Enhancements
The new upgrades will complement the Carnival Sensation’s wide range of previously introduced enhancements that are part of the “Evolutions of Fun” program, including a nine-hole miniature golf course, renovated 12,000-square-foot Spa Carnival facility, new art and photo galleries, an atrium lobby bar, and a 1,200-square-foot conference center.
A number of family friendly amenities – including expansive new facilities for children, tweens and teens, part of the line’s “Camp Carnival,” “Circle C” and “Club O2” programs, respectively – along with more than 50 interconnecting staterooms — have been added, as well.
For additional information and reservations on Carnival Sensation, contact any travel agent, call 1-800-CARNIVAL or visit carnival.com. ### Carnival Cruise Lines, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is a proud member of the exclusive World’s Leading Cruise Lines. Our exclusive alliance also includes Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises, and The Yachts of Seabourn. Sharing a passion to please each guest, and a commitment to quality and value, our member lines appeal to a wide range of lifestyles and budgets. Together, we offer exciting and enriching cruise vacations to the world’s most desirable destinations.
And this one
NEW 3,006-PASSENGER CARNIVAL SPLENDOR SHOWCASED IN ‘ON BOARD WITH CARNIVAL’ WEBISODE
MIAMI (August 6, 2008 ) – Carnival Cruise Lines’ newest “Fun Ship,” the 113,300-ton Carnival Splendor which debuted in Europe last month, is showcased in a new webisode airing on www.carnival.com/splendor (click on “blog”).
The 3,006-passenger SuperLiner – the largest “Fun Ship” ever constructed – debuted July 2 and is currently operating the line’s first-ever Northern Europe cruise program.
Hosted by Carnival’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Guest Services Lynn Torrent, the new webisodes feature entertaining interviews with three longtime Carnival employees: Carnival Splendor Senior Cruise Director John Heald, who highlights the ship’s iconic elements such as the 21,000-square-foot “Cloud 9 Spa” and Seaside Theatre poolside LED screen; Senior Maitre d’ Ken Byrne, who details Carnival Splendor’s wide-ranging formal and casual dining options; and Vice President of Cruise Programming Roger Blum, who, as the producer of the ship’s production shows, offers unique insight into the lavish revues and numerous other entertainment choices.
The interviews, which were taped on board during the Carnival Splendor’s three-day preview cruise from Dover last month, are the newest additions to the “On Board with Carnival” series during which Torrent interviews members of Carnival’s management team in a relaxed talk show-like setting. Representing a new class of ship for the line, Carnival Splendor offers a wide range of entertainment choices, from three high-energy revues – The Beat,” “Vroom,” and “Fiesta Latina” – presented in the 1,500-seat Spectacular Spectacular show lounge to the line’s legendary “Midnight Special” comedy show. A delicious array of culinary options, including full-service meals in the Gold Pearl and Black Pearl dining rooms, casual choices in The Lido poolside restaurant and gourmet cuisine in The Pinnacle supper club, are offered, as well. ### Carnival Cruise Lines, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), is a proud member of the exclusive World’s Leading Cruise Lines. Our exclusive alliance also includes Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises, and The Yachts of Seabourn. Sharing a passion to please each guest, and a commitment to quality and value, our member lines appeal to a wide range of lifestyles and budgets. Together, we offer exciting and enriching cruise vacations to the world’s most desirable destinations.
Hello everyone, it’s now 5:15 pm. Sorry I was away so long but it’s been a busy day. Debarkation was ultra smooth and we were finished by 9:20 am. There have been though a few raised eyebrows and a few lost tempers by guests who did not want to part with their passports. Remember this voyage we have to collect all the non-E.U. ones before arrival in Tallinn. Anyway, a few people refused to give them up and that led to some banging of fists on counters and some naughty rude words being shouted at the embarkation staff but this was minimal………in fact the shouting and abuse came from one man…………he absolutely refused to give his American passport to us. We allowed him onboard and he will have to present himself to the officials when we arrive …………..how do you say “latex glove” in Estonian?
My welcome aboard talk went well though and once I explained the reason we collected the passports and how and when they would be returned everyone seems fine. Tomorrow we photo copy everyone’s and deliver the copy to the guests cabin ………..I will tell you about the return process tomorrow.
This cruise we have: 3,345 GUESTS 331 GUESTS UNDER 18 1,138 NON US / CANADIAN CITIZENS 709 BRITISH 106 MEXICAN 55 ISRAEL
I hope you don’t mind but I am running really late and therefore this blog will be a little shorter than usual………………although just before I vent about something I thought you might like a little video to be going on with. This is from today’s welcome aboard talk at 3:15 pm. Before I bore everyone with details on gangways and arrival and departure times etc I randomly chat with a few people from the audience.
Here is the video…………..in which, I speak French.
Here is the Environmental Officers bio……..you will see why I am featuring this so important young man in a moment ……………..and he is an Al Gore fan!
NAME: Gianni De Rubertis
DEPARTMENT AND POSITION Environmental Officer, Deck
HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED FOR CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES Since 1995 (13 years in September)
WHAT DOES YOUR JOB INVOLVE: Knowing all the aspects (technical and otherwise) of the cruise ship’s operation; applicable international laws and local regulation; capability to work across different departments.
WHERE ARE YOU FROM Procida Island, the smallest island in the Gulf of Naples. It’s a tourist destination located near by the most famous Capri island.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB Implementing procedures that help the Company and the environment at the same times.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAMILY BACK HOME My brother is lawyer, my sister is a housewife and my father is a retired chef. I also have a nine year old niece and a 1 year old nephew.
WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT BEING IN YOUR HOME COUNTRY APART FROM FAMILY The long and relaxing dining with my family, talking for hours, all gathered around a table.
FAVORITE THINGS Football (soccer): Inter_Milan team
MOVIE Gladiator
MUSIC 80’s
FOOD Eggplant parmigiana and ricotta cheese-spinach pie.
IF YOU COULD MEET ANY FAMOUS PERSON IN THE WORLD WHO WOULD IT BE Al Gore and the Pope.
IF YOU HAD TO DO ANOTHER JOB ON THE SHIP WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO AND WHY Whilst I was at College, I’ve been managing a restaurant with my cousin. My brother and I are trying to open a “bed & breakfast” back home, as we like the hospitality. Then, my dream when I was younger was to run a nice 5 star hotel, so I would say Hotel Director.
Its 6:22 pm and as I look out of my window I can see the White Cliffs of Dover gleaming in the early evening sunshine, the English Channel has a pond like calmness and …ohh yes ……..there is a whole heap of garbage floating by…………and I am not surprised. I am sorry to say but much of the coastline in the UK is completely spoiled by people who feel that the beach and the sea should be a dumping ground for their garbage. I know this, I was born by the sea and until recently lived my entire life just a few hundred feet from it.
I have always had a passionate loathing for people who drop litter. Once, at a level crossing, the driver of the car in front emptied his ashtray out of the window and I became consumed with a sudden need to attach Ben Hur style spikes to my wheels and cut his car in half and then his legs.
Sadly, I didn’t have spikes sticking out of my wheels, so instead I scooped up all his cigarette butts and sweet papers and at the next set of red lights lobbed it all through his open window saying: “I think you dropped something.” ……………..I really did.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to find the people whose rubbish smothers the coastline, which is a pity because I have some questions. Like, for instance, how in the name of all that’s holy do you cretinous imbeciles manage to lose your bloody shoes when you’re out for a walk?
Then there’s all the discarded wiring; miles of it. This really is weird because if you’ve got to do some electrical work on a broken DVD player, what kind of idiot at the bottom of the evolutionary scale thinks “I know, I’ll stand in the sea to do that.” In the absence of culprits to question and then kill, I did a survey of which products are most favored by litterists.
In first place its full-fat Coca-Cola. And then we have disposable lighters and pieces of carpet……. which begs another question. I can understand that you might take a refreshing beverage and a lighter with you on a seaside walk, but why would anyone take a piece of carpet with them?
“Right kids. Have we got everything we need for our trip to the beach? Some shoes to lose. Dad’s Cigarettes. Drinks. Something electrical to mend. And oops, nearly forgot, a piece of carpet in case we turn into Muslims and need to pray.”
So what’s to be done? Well you can forget the notion of asking the government to clear up because it would just wrap everything in red tape and make it worse, and you can’t rely on environmentalists because they’re too busy throwing eggs at my Range Rover.
We at Carnival have done our bit. The Environmental Officer and I are very careful in educating guests and crew never to throw anything overboard. This is strictly adhered to by all cruise lines I am sure especially as the fines for doing so are massive and the president of the cruise line involved will be publicly flogged and given the good news with a cattle prod.
Seriously, we have a brilliant record now in the industry so why is it then that Carnival constantly provides crew members to help with “Beach Clean Up” sessions sponsored by our friends from the FCCA. I have been on these in the Bahamas, The Virgin Islands and Antigua and you would not believe the amount of garbage which the crew cleared.
So how’s this for an idea? Carmakers were told recently that when one of their products reaches the end of its life they are responsible for disposing of it properly. So why can’t that idea be widened? If you find a discarded Coke can, you take it back to Coke, which is then forced to pay you, I’d like to say $500, but 50 cents would probably do the trick. Well what’s wrong with glass? It’s made from sand, soda ash and limestone, which means it’s all completely natural. This means there’s no taste transition from the packaging to the product and that’s why Coke tastes better from a glass bottle than it does from a plastic one.
It turns out, however, the biggest problem with glass is that it can be used as a weapon when the pubs shut. Already, many pubs in England, Scotland, Germany and Holland have banned all glass bottles and now the European Union is thinking of making it law.
This is idiotic because those who go around at night smashing each other over the head with Heineken bottles and stabbing their enemies with bits of a Guinness bottle are the sort of idiots who are doing the littering. If therefore we switch to glass, they end up dead, and there is less litter on the beach. Everyone wins.
THE END
Goodnight Your Friends John and Heidi ps – bloggers cruise news tomorrow
The Baltic Sea has been in a great mood for the last 21 days. The sea has been flatter than a three week old Diet Coke (I was going to say flatter than Kate Moss’s chest but Heidi said I couldn’t) until last night when it got all moody. The wind picked up and the skies darkened and by 5 pm the ship started to pitch and roll. It felt strange to feel this motion because honestly it’s been so long and you can forget you are on a ship. By 8 pm the Baltic’s bad mood had changed and we were back again sailing on Kate.
The mood of the guests though is mostly sunny with the odd cloud here and there. I had a conversation with a guest last night who was commenting that the entertainment should not have included a Talent Show and the Carnival Legends show. He felt that Carnival was being “cheap” in asking guests to provide the entertainment……..I explained that the audience reaction to both shows showed through their ovations that the shows were brilliantly received………but, maybe again , its something we need to consider. I am certainly going to press on with trying to get more lecturers. David Bright’s was so well received that I really want this to be part of our program on longer cruises.
In 1994 I was a Cruise Director aboard the Carnival Sensation. That year was memorable for two reasons………….I was dumped by my fiancé at the time who left me for a long-haired drummer……………….and………….I met David Bright.
We became great friends…………….I mean David and I became great friends not me and the home-breaking ugly sod of a drummer who looked like he had a small family of mice living in his hair.
Let me tell you about David Bright. I met David as I said on the Sensation. He was a guest speaker for a large group of 1,000-plus people who were sailing from all over the world as part of the Crime Stoppers group. This dedicated group of people had gathered to share ways of bringing crime down around the world. One guest speaker was David. He was a senior detective from the UK and someone whose captivating stories from the podium were totally engaging. So, afterwards we had a chat and if you need evidence that it is indeed a small world, listen to this.
David was from my hometown. He knew my father …….not because he had been arrested by David I might add but because he was a teacher at his son’s school and there we were cruising round the Caribbean together.
So, of course we became friends and kept in contact through the years. David is a very humble man and will never tell you that he is one of the U.K’s most senior and most decorated police officers. He has solved many of the highest profile murder cases and solved many of the UK’s most serious crime.
There are a lot of bad people who are as we speak spending their lives behind bars because of David. He was recently given the M.B.E. by the Queen. The M.B.E. stands for Member of the British Empire and is a very prestigious and high honor.
David recently retired and now runs a successful private detective agency which has him traveling all over the world. He is a successful author with his book Catching Monsters become an instant best seller. He is also a police advisor on many BBC dramas which I am sure you will have seen on BBC America. He is also a gifted public speaker and a regular on P&O cruises.
This week David is on vacation here on the Carnival Splendor. However, after lots of coaxing and lots of free wine David said he would donate his time and host a lecture this afternoon. …………..and so he did………….and 400 plus people listened spellbound as I had in 1994 to his stories of crime and punishment. He held a Q & A session afterwards and received a standing ovation. Again, he was not paid to do this but it certainly was a huge asset to the sea day program.
And that has taught me that on longer cruises we should be doing things like this. Lectures on a sea day are probably the way to go and I am now convinced we should be doing this on a regular basis. I am going to ask for David again and also ask for others to come and lecture on subjects like, finance, photography and true-life heroism ……………….what do you think?
Anyway, my thanks to David and here are some photos of he and I from this afternoon.
Here are a few letters from today’s “In Their Own Words Section”
Sorry today’s blog will be a little shorter than usual but it’s been beyond hectic with lots of shows and activities and meetings. I just replied to dozens of people asking if the itinerary change I mentioned for this coming cruise will be the same for the remainder of the season. Let me just say that this cruise (August 6) is the only cruise where we change our Baltic run. Please keep the comments coming and I promise to answer each and every one of them.
I made a reference yesterday to some of today’s huge yachts being bigger than the cruise ships that were built in the 1980′s. Well, most of those Uba Yachts are currently moored in the most bonkers town in the world………… St. Tropez.
When I was last there I had never seen so much expensive hair in all my life. The Russians have more oil in their hair than you’d find in a Kazakhstan well. And their wives are as orange as …well………an orange. But mostly, the whole place is crammed with people so bewitchingly beautiful that when I was there people stopped and stared at me……..an ugly person, in St. Tropez…………quick, lock up your daughters…
I remember when the Carnival Splendor called at nearby Monte Carlo for the first time a few weeks ago. The ship was full of dignitaries for the “first call party” ………….and wow………the names………… One chap introduced me to his companion and I’d nearly died of old age by the time he’d finished. “This is Princess di Contessa, de Le Pew, de Baroness de Luxembourg, Principessa de St.Stropez, Baroness of all . . . it went on for about a week. Until he said, “And this is John Heald”…………..it was though he had discovered some dog poo on his shoe.
Heidi loves the French Riviera and particularly St. Tropez because of the shopping. Mind you, if you set foot in any of the St. Tropez shops, you are made to feel smaller still because it is immediately apparent you are not Donald Trump, which means it’s immediately apparent you cannot afford to buy a single thing they have on offer. It’s all Herpès and Goochi and Versacke……….where anyone in St.Tropez buys essentials like toilet paper and hemorrhoid cream, God only knows.
Of course, you can buy a watch. Some even cost as little as $75,000. Mostly, though, they are much more than that because they all have 16 dials, a Swiss midget in the back winding all the cogs, an entire diamond mind in the bezel, a device that summons an Delta Force extraction team if you get kidnapped by pirates and a button that can tell you the phase of the moon and when Jupiter is passing Uranus……….of course wearing a watch like this makes you look like one of the planets I just mentioned ……and its not Jupiter.
We used to call this sort of thing the “millionaire lifestyle” but I suspect that to live a yacht filled life moored off St. Tropez in the summer and St. Kitts in the winter you probably need more than a million in the bank,……………….in fact…………I would suggest that you would need more numbers in your bank balance than you have in your account number. I would imagine though that this sort of lifestyle comes with the baggage of attending dozens of charity auctions where you will be expected to be the first person to stick there hand up to buy the signed pair of Richard Simmons underpants.
The strangest thing happened to me last night…………..a guest kissed me ……….. nothing unusual about that………….except the guests name was Albert.
I was standing at the back of the theatre innocently watching the Vroom Show when Albert came to stand next to me. He wanted a chat so we walked out into the lobby. He introduced himself as someone I had helped earlier in the cruise. Albert’s wife had been upset because their luggage had been lost by the airline and not only did they not have clothes but also some essential creams and shampoos.
She could not use the ones we sold onboard or that were part of the complimentary amenity kits in the cabin as she had sensitive skin etc. Anyway, they had written to me and Heidi and one of the dancers had given her some of their own, plus, I had managed to find another guest who had the same camera as they did and they loaned them their battery charger as well……………….anyway, they were very happy and thankful. So, as Albert finished saying how wonderful we had all been he shook my hand and then leaned forward……………and kissed me on the cheek. I had two choices here………….say thank you for the kiss and walk away……….or invite him back to my cabin…………………I said thank you and walked away.
I didn’t know what to think or how to feel.
Most men have pretty much finished making all the important decisions about the running and management of their lives by the time they’re 25. Women on the other hand are as changeable as the weather. One day their favorite singer’s Harry Connick Jr, the next it’s Pee Diddly.
Men just don’t do that. A chap’s favorite singer is Bruce Springsteen. Drunk and tearfully he told his mates that Bruce would be his man forever and to change his mind would be wrong. His favorite film will always be The Godfather …………where as a lady’s favorite will be the latest chick flick thingy that has hit the screens.
But then, occasionally, something new, something unplanned, comes along and upsets all the pieces on the board. Something like kissing. Men kissing other men. This seems to be something that has become more common all over the world.
For most blokes this is a no-brainer — we don’t kiss other men. We kiss girls, our mums, some dogs and occasionally double-page spreads in magazines. The last bloke most men kissed was their father and that stopped when they went to big school.
However, ever eager to help I have done some research on this today and here then, is my guide to men kissing other men.
The French: Frenchmen kiss. The French kiss (as opposed to “the french kiss”) is where one party, usually known as mon general, grasps the other party, aka mon brave, by the shoulders and kisses him on each cheek, after which you either get a medal or are shot for running away from battle.. Arabs kiss four times on one side, eight on the other. Italians kiss when someone’s about to be whacked
Drunks: drunk men kiss because they really, really, really love you. You’re their best mate in the whole world including the universe.
If you’ve decided you do fancy trying fraternal, same-sex kissing but are nervous, imagine your best male friend who hasn’t had a shave in a few days and then lightly kiss the outside of a coconut……or….do what many men do…. and just shake hands.
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.
I had introduced Jamie Allen the Maverick Magician on stage at the 9:00pm show, the crowd were already applauding and staring wide eyed at the amazing slight of hand magic that he was performing and that was being projected onto the screens…………I am not a big lover of magic shows. I know that it is impossible to make the Statue of Liberty disappear or turn a white tiger into a hamster. However, this slight of hand close up in your face kind of magic has me enthralled. So, when my phone rang I was not happy especially as the people watching close to me gave me dagger looks of death.
So, I went to the back of the lounge and discovered that someone was calling me from the Pursers office which was 8 paces away. So, I hung up, walked 8 paces and said " Hello "………….I was ready to have some fun with the Purser about me being right there but I could see from the look on her face that something was not quite right. ………………and it wasn’t.
Well, apart from a few squabbles about seating on the tour bus it’s been a very successful two days here in St. Petersburg. Apparently there was a bit of handbag slapping between two ladies who both wanted to sit in the same seat…………and the sad thing was they were friends, travelling together and in the end the staff had to put them on seperate buses. That aside all the guests seemed to have a great time ashore and they will, I know, be extremely happy that we get an extra hour tonight with the clocks going back one hour.
Heidi and I spent the day trying to relax a little and even sat outside for 40 minutes before my phone rang and that was the end of that. I had to go and make an announcement because we had a huge barge moored next to us bringing on fuel and we needed to make sure nobody was on that side of the ship smoking. So, I went and made the announcement and then…………well………I sat down to answer one of 76 e mails in my inbox thingy and two hours later I was still there…………….bugger.
Would you join me in wishing Stephanie a very happy birthday. She works morning, noon and night, seven days a week to make sure the blogs are posted, the comments updated and that the ones who need my reply sent immediately.
Today, as normal she will be at her desk so please would you send her birthday wishes.
