Dear John and Family,

Well, do I mean Carnival family, or do I mean ‘family family’… ah heck, I guess I mean your whole family! Now that I’ve got that out of the way..on to some more fun…

Hubby and I sailed the Freedom on 10/24. We were fortunate to have met up with a rather large group of Cruise critics online prior to sail, and I’ll tell you, they are the greatest people I had ever met.. Until I met Wee Jimmy! Well, actually I’d cruise with all of them in a New York Minute, given the opportunity.

Host Mach had managed to organize an at sea meet and greet in the Piano bar on Tuesday afternoon..about 40 of us crowded into the bar and spent an hour or so playing trivia games ( How many passengers fit on the Triumph? ( my answer.. ALL OF THEM), getting some info on the workings of the shows, crew rotation, etc. We were fortunate to win the coveted ‘Caribbean snowglobe’.. Now I know that you’re wondering what the heck that is. Caitlyn, our 12yr old, loves snowglobes…which are not exactly Caribbean themed gifts…SO, when we won our ’ship on a stick’, we instantly dubbed it her ‘Caribbean snowglobe’..anything to keep kids happy, right? She is tickled to have such a rare commodity nestled among glass and artificial snow! Stephanie, our 15yr old is now wanting one of her own…

We had a few laughs with Jimmy, including at the 3:45 Past Guest reception, where the refused to be my partner in a dance contest! I think I caught him off guard..well, I know I did, but we certainly had a good laugh over it. I think maybe he thought I was trying to pick him up. Hey, if he’s gonna announce to everyone that he doesn’t have a dance partner, he’s gotta be prepared for whatever comes up the stairs! ( And yes, I had the blessing of my husband…after being together since 1982, he certainly knows I’m not going anywhere!) I suppose its probably a good thing I can’t dance.. Jimmy would have been sorely disappointed!

We came off the Freedom on 11/1, full of sadness that it was over, but also full of joy and anticipation. Yes, in fact we are planning on taking our girls on their first cruise in June.. aboard the Destiny. Naturally of course, I never thought about purchasing the future cruise certificates..that would have made too much sense! From what I hear lately, tho.. I’m a bit nervous about booking! Would love to hear something concrete about the status of her propulsion system.

My one disappointment aboard the Freedom? The Sun King. There were six of us that evening. From women being called ‘Sir’ twice, to Porterhouse steaks that were supposed to be cooked to medium that were served moo-ing, to giggling waitstaff, to ‘warm water canadian lobster’..it was undoubtedly the most disappointing experience while on board. My response from Carnival’s Guest services was obviously a canned response. “Sorry you were disappointed, but hope you will cruise with us again”.

Well, I guess that’s about all I’ve got to say and comment on, other than to say Thanks to Host Mach for organizing the Meet and Greet with Jimmy, Thanks to Jimmy for taking it all in stride, To Gayve for taking the teasing about who he looks like as all in fun, for the Cast and crew of the many shows we enjoyed while we were aboard, The staff for making sure that if we had a need, it was met,

and to YOU, for making it possible to get my Thanks out there!

Happy holidays to You, Heidi, and the little ones! ( Yes.. Thingy counts!)

I might have agreed with you about life jackets until Sully put his A320 down on the Hudson a while back. Now they look like a rather good idea again.

As for the bit about the mountainside, that is a common belief that is totally untrue. People survive airline crashes. Commonly. Routinely. (To the extent that an air crash is routine.) Look it up. Check the stats.

First off let me tell you I enjoy your blog. You do not sugar coat things because they are what they are. Maria and I recently returned from the very same two day Splendor to Bahamas and had I been anywhere near when Ken was threatened I would have warned the gentlemen that he was threatening me as well. Better yet my cop instincts might have kicked in. That individuals attitude is totally unacceptable. As you state had that happened in our post 9-11 era this individual would have been brought up on charges by the FAA and U.S. Marshalls. I agree with you that the same should be on cruise lines many folks come on board and do nothing but get intoxicated and get violent if you let them. I would not even wait for the next port, I would steer the cruise ship to the next civilized port regardless of country of origin and drop the folks that act like wild animals. On a different note we had a great time even though it was very short trip (looking forward to the Freedom in February). Ken even took care of my spouse and I on a table for two and our hostess (Bianca) was great as well. We have not had one bad cruise yet. The embarkation could have been smoother but it all was a wash once we got on the ship. So let Ken know we appreciated his hospitality and his entire staff. Had a chance to see one of the crew members that was on the Freedom in December 2007. Anyway, take care and a Happy Thanksgiving to you and Heidi.

Luis & Maria Torres

P.S. John if you go to my facebook I have a video of Ken singing on the Splendor trip.

John,

Glad to hear Ken will be on Splendor for the South America sailings. I’ll only be able to make the 2nd leg for the Around the Horn bit, since I can’t miss the Carnival Fantasy Bloggers Cruise out of New Orleans.

Accurate information about what visas/payments are necessary for US citizens on the South America cruises seems to be lacking. I do understand there are some reciprocity fees that US citizens are charged, since that is what the US charges for their visas.

For example, Chile has a reciprocity fee and it seems Argentina is going to implement one before the Splendor South America cruise.

One question I have is: Are these/will these be applicable to cruise ship passengers, and if so, is there a way to avoid a log jam of passengers trying to disembark in a port having to stop to pay a fee?

The next questions are obviously How Much and What Forms of Payment, When and Where?

I’m sure others on the 1st and 3rd legs will have the same or similar questions.

If you can find out and answer on the blog, that would be great! Also, if the information could be made available on Carnival.Com and kept up to date?

Thanks John!

Regards to Heidi, and Little John Thingy. See you in February!

bill

***** John, Please Respond *****