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

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

Duchess Sandy in GA

smiles, bonnie and prince charlie

Jo Myerly

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.