Hi Everyone,
Today’s the big day! We’re ready to break the world record for the world’s largest pinata. Watch John live starting at Noon (EST).
www.carnival.com/funcrowd
“See” you soon!
Filed under: Tales from the Ship, Travel | Tagged: Fun Crowd, Philadelphia, World's Largest Pinata
I’m ready and waiting!
I’ve got my own hot dogs to cook up and some kettle corn ready to go!
The only thing I couldn’t find were stilts so I just stand on a chair and pretend!!
See you there!!
Host Mach
Hey Don and Carolyn, Big Ed and Adam!!!!
Looking good!!!!!! (you to John)
A BIG shout out to Malcolm….one of DJ’s heros for banning Funship Freddie from DJ’s presense on the Victory last year!
woo hoo!!!!!
Linda (Mom of your friend DJ)
John:
On the first video, a lady (I believe her name was Jo) and her husband were talking to you from New Jersey and said they were on our 4 day Splendor sailing.
I wanted to let them know that we are having a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet on that sailing and we wanted to make sure they came, if they did not already know about it.
Thursday November 20th at 5:00 PM
we are having our
CRUISE CRITIC GET TOGETHER IN
THE COOL (jazz bar)(Promenade deck)
They will provide a bartender for a cash bar.
Don’t forget your leis.
So if there are any other Bloggers on this cruise and not on Cruise Critic…please join us!!!
Linda (Mom of your friend ~ excited about this cruise~ DJ)
Last week…beach balls
Today…pinatas and Conquest going back to Galveston. I don’t know that I can keep up with all the video and webcams!
Good luck Carnival and thank you to everyone working today so we can see the festivities.
John
Had a fabulous time watching the live feed from Philly & posting messages.
Got to tell you though I fell off my chair laughing cause I’d opened another window to check my facebook messages & my ex-cruiseship-mate had sent me a daft video of a very fat women doing a work out routine. At the same time on my other window you announced loudly “welcome to the lastest Carnival Cruise Line Commercial”.
If only Id been able to film that moment…….it was priceless.
Thanks for the laughs, keep them coming….xx
Linda, Larry and I will be on that cruise and hope to see you there. (The 20th is also my birthday.)
Jeri
we are watching, this is so much fun!!
great picture too
WoW!
What a nice bunch of people wish I could have gone to Philly.
Ray Czenszak
Wow guys, what can I say? All your hard work for such an unceremonious end! I know it must have been a madhouse there for the police to put a halt to it. Thanks for all you do though!
BOOO!!! What a disappointment!! No pinata breaking or candy. Could have still broken the pinata and controlled the crowd with the proper planning. BOOOO!!!!!
I wanted to leave a comment about today’s event in Philadelphia. It was advertised that they were going for the record to break the world’s largest pinata. There would also be cruise representatives taking info to register for free cruise giveaways. Luckily I didn’t show up until after 2pm but by the time I found parking & passed through the fenced-in lot, there were announcements being made that they were not going to break the pinata & everyone should leave !! I couldn’t find any representative from Carnival (even the few police officers I spoke to didn’t know where they were set up). There weren’t any banners or marked tents indicating where I could find someone to speak to from Carnival. I find it ironic that Carnival would sponsor & advertise this event to draw a crowd & then cancel because they were concerned about the crowd that took the time to show up. If they were concerned about the volume of people, why didn’t they just allow a certain amount of people through the gated entrance? I passed a parking lot with a sign saying “film crews” so many of Philadelphia news stations were there. (I saw ABC & Fox right away) This looks incredibly bad for you. I’m sure it’s something you wanted publicity for but not this type. I just wanted to express my disappointment in today’s event. I’m not someone who can afford to cruise & I know the chances of winning are just the luck of the draw but at least I would have had a chance. I guess it’s not meant to be.
Yours, truly disappointed,
Meg
I want to thank carnival for having bad planning, inadequate security and putting my two little girls in danger. all they wanted to do was see the pinata, and instead we were harassed, threatened by angry people in lines for their lousy free hot dog and almost crushed by throngs of people that will never be able to afford a cruise anyway. A special shoutout to Police Officer Fiedmont who did nothing as the crowd almost trampled my kids because Carnival couldn’t get a van through a gate.
Another special shoutout to the jerkoff that told my girls that mommy wanted them, so that they would move out of their spots from the fence, so that THEY could move up…Way to go my fellow philadelphians…hope you’re happy with yourselves.
I returned my wristband and complained, not because I give a flying crap about my free ice cream and smoothie, but because the whole situation set up as a possible riot. Stood in line for 4 hours with people that didn’t give a carnicalcrap about any body but themselves. I don’t care if this sees the light of day, but I’m angry. this was to be something nice for the family, instead it was lesson in corporate greed, bad planning and horrible human behavior.
Funny, but I CAN afford to take a cruise.
but after todays “festivities” I’m glad the stupid thing didn’t work, and I will NEVER EVER EVER consider taking a cruise with Carnival.
What a shame…. but saftey has to come first.
it was a great day and was super to see John. a lot of FUN was had by all …
Hi John,
I just like to say SORRY. I was just at your pinata party, and after waiting in line for 2 1/2 hours we finally got in the tent only to get nothing, which is no big deal, but i do feel badly for you and your company about everything that happened. So to you and your company we would like to still thank you for your efforts.
Sorry again
What a shame the pinata couldn’t be broken today. Was it because of the crowds, or that they couldn’t get it to break? When will it be broadcast tomorrow? Such a shame! Hope Big Ed and Pat get to stay in Philly for tomorrow’s festivities! What happened with all the crew members that had to catch a flight back to Miami? Did they have to leave or did they stay behind? Hope to see you tomorrow John! Where are you off to from here? Do you or Stephanie know when this commercial will air? Linda & Mike
John,
I have just spent the last 5 hours in Philadelphia at Carnival’s Pinata Fiasco. What a disappointment! Let me give you some background. The only cruises I have been on have been Carnival. I have always been a big Carnival fan. For my third and last Carnival cruise I organized a 50th Anniversary cruise for my in-laws in which 23 family members attended. My 10-year-old son, also a Carnival cruiser, is a huge Guinness Book of World Records fan and has always dreamed of being part of a world record. Since I am such a Carninal Cruise lover I thought this would be a great day. My son and I took the train from NJ and then transferred to the Philadelphia subway (no small feat for a woman who has never taken the train by herself before) to wait in line for a wrist band. This wrist band, we were told, would allow us to get in and be part of the world record pinata. Unfortunately, all it did was allow us to wait outside the fence and be told there was no guarantee we would be allowed in to partake in the world record pinata! So after waiting in line for wrist bands, we waited in line to get in the parking lot that held the pinata for 2 hours after being told the gate would be opened in 10 mins. It was not an easy wait. We were pushed when we had to move back to let an ambulance in (nobody was hurt-it was just in case it was needed). Then we were told the gate we were at was not going to open and we needed to go to the other side of the parking lot where a gate was open. My son and I ran to the gate that was supposedly open and of course it wasn’t. The same person who directed us to that gate shows up and says, “sorry, things change”. They then open the gates at least 8 times to allow “the actors” to get out, police motorcycles to get in and other people who were just tired of waiting around to get out. At least 100 people had left. And they still wouldn’t let us in! The production company organizing this event was extremely rude. I got so tired of them pushing my son and I back to allow people to leave (trust me, when there is a crowd you can only go back so far!). Any time my son touched the combination lock on the gate the production company yelled at him and said because of him they weren’t ever going to open the gate. He’s 10 years old! I asked the name of one of the production workers and he refused to give it to me. Then I asked the name of the production firm he worked for and he said he couldn’t remember. The entire crowd waiting in line the lack of professionalism displayed by the people representing Carnival Cruise Lines. As you know, they made an announcement that they were not going to break the pinata. So I asked if we could at least go in and see the pinata up close. I was told no. I went over to the Carnival tent because I was extremely disappointed and so was my son. I asked to speak to someone because I felt that the day had been handled badly. I spoke with a carnival representative and of course he apologized, “Carnival had no control over who was let in, etc.” I asked if my son could go back in and get an ice cream. He said if you can wait a few minutes, he would go in the back and get him one personally. This was very nice of him. Unfortunately, he came back about 15 mins. later. Said he was too busy but that we could go in and get an ice cream ourselves. The line was over 60 people long! We waited 15 minutes and then just left. As we sat on the train going home my 10 year old son said. I just wasted 5 hours of my life for nothing. I couldn’t agree with him more.
In my kudos I failed to mention the caribbean king, queen and macaw on stilts – awesome!!!
Hi Linda, Thanks for the note. I am a member of Cruise Critic (msqpon) too. Don’t post much but I read every day. I look forward to meeting you. We left before the police arrived. What a surprise.
Jo Myerly
hey, i see big ed! woo hoo ed!
smiles, bonnie and prince charlie
Hey, I recognize several of our ‘08 Evil Crew members in that picture!!! Woohooo….
Duchess Sandy in GA
John
We were just on the Italy-Turkey-Greece Cruise on Splendor (cabin 7249) Oct 5 to Oct 17 and had an awesome time.
We are from Lancaster PA and wish we knew you’d be in Philly, we could have came into town and joined you all. We have been on many Carnival cruises (we’re both plat) and must say you had to be one of if not the best directors we ever had.
Just had to say thanks and hope to see you again soon.
Eric and Jane
Jeri:
Hi… everyone is welcome to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. Look forward to meeting you!!
You can always find me at karaoke or the piano bar after karaoke finishes!!!
Linda
Jo:
That is great!! When I heard you on the video say 4 days on the Splendor …. I went…oh, they must come to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet!!!
See you then!!!
Linda
I see a few familiar faces in that photo…