“Oh Bugger,” I said this morning as I was finalizing the schedule of events for my first day back in the CD saddle…………….”It’s the Oscars.” knowing I would have to show them on the Seaside Theatre big screen.
I hate the Oscars. Every year, I stay up to watch it, and every year, the same warm, sticky magic descends on me. I’m swept up in the glamour, the glitter, the gorgeous-ness, and ten hours later I’m wrung out and gasping the annual question: how in God’s name is it possible for the largest, richest entertainment industry ever conceived, with access to every big star in the world, every technician and special-effects wizard and hairdresser, and an international audience of billions make a show that looks like something we were producing on the Mardi Gras in 1989?
At least last year we had the substitute teacher look-a-like Ellen De Generate as host and she was OK. This year we have top comedian………ummm……..Hugh Jackman who is Australian and therefore as funny as finding out you have hemorrhoids………on your feet.
The only redeeming feature of the Oscar epic is the back-stage “thank-you cam,” where winners on an adrenaline high who felt they hadn’t spread their good fortune thinly enough got another go at the list without time pressure or an audience. It’s always fun to see was Halle Winslet and Kate Berry say. “Did I thank God already?” “Well, thank you, God,” they cry before buggering off to Elton John’s party to get drunk and have rumpy pumpy with Justin Trousersnake.
I know that many of the blog thingies lady readers will disagree (including Heidi) and will tell me that they love looking at the dresses and the beautiful jewelry and of course Hugh Jackman’s arse. Look at the film stars who melt the hearts of womankind these days: Johnny Depp, Judy Law, and Orlando Bloom. Oh how we miss Paul Newman and Robert Redford who were much loved as they trotted around Wyoming on their horses shooting people.
How about Steve McQueen with his smoldering sexuality, the sort of man who could punch a horse to the ground while driving a Mustang sideways through the streets of San Francisco. He even managed to get Faye Dunaway’s knickers off just by playing chess ………he sort of reminds me of………well……….me. I am sure Heidi will say my attitude is macho and she’s right. It is. It might not be very attractive in this day and age. But that’s because I’m a man. I know this because I much prefer Jessica Simpson, who’s all woman, to Kate Moss, who, from behind, could well be a boy.
Yep, the guests will have a choice this Sunday night. Watch my welcome aboard show or watch a bunch of beautiful people cry like babies………oh by the way…….I hope Slumdog Millionaire wins everything.
Well, it’s nearly time to be a CD again and honestly………..I can’t wait. Being honest, I have really missed being on stage and tomorrow for the first time since the end of October 2008 I get to go on stage and attempt to be funny. Joining me tomorrow will be Tim Cabral from the office and a special team who will be implementing a new activity onboard called laser tag. Now, I don’t know much about this yet but I do know it involves shooting your fellow guests with a laser for just $5. For an extra $10 you can dismember them with a chainsaw…………..kidding. Seriously, this sounds like a brilliant addition to our activity lineup and I will be posting photos of the inflatable arena and the game in action during the next few days.
If it is OK with you I will be taking tomorrow off from blogging. I have to move cabin and prepare for the day ahead. I will be back on Monday.
I have to say that the Carnival Valor is a brilliant ship with an outstanding crew. Next week (my first cruise as CD) will be her last trip to the Eastern Caribbean and the ports of Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. She will then continue her exotic Western Caribbean on a weekly basis calling at Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize and Cozumel. Those four ports back to back are quiet intensive but talking to many guests this week who read the blog they are ports that everyone loves with Roatan being very popular. I can’t wait to explore it next time.
Yep, I am privileged to be here for a few short weeks and I look forward to inviting you along for the journey. The blog will have close to 200,000 readers in February and I hope that being CD again will encourage more people to join our family community. Got your passport? Good………….because we are about to go on a journey
Let’s go Down Under to Australia where the people go to work in shorts and that’s a good enough reason to be jealous of them. Also, they have cookers in their kitchens but choose to cook their prawns in the garden. And the only invention to have come out of Australia, ever, is the rotary washing line. However, these blokes and sheilas all love a good cruise ship arrival and have a look at this fabulous photo of P&O’s Arcadia arriving in Sydney.
Ton find out more about this and the continuing adventures of the ship’s Executive Chief Purser James Cusick, I invite you to pop on over to www.bestblogsatsea.com to enjoy more great photos and commentary.
And:
“Way up north behind the dikes something spectacular is going on this weekend: the Ems passage of our new AIDAluna! I will keep my fingers crossed for my AIDA workmates and the colleagues at the shipyard Meyer Werft in Papenburg. Hopefully, weather god St. Peter plays along on Saturday. It is up to him whether or not the spectacle goes according to plan.”
That was an extract from the master of the newest addition to the spectacular fleet of AIDA ships Captain Nico Berg of the AIDAAluna. …………..here she is.
Du mussen go zwei www.bestblogsatsea.com und looken um das grossen blog von Herr Kapitan Berg………………..das est wunderbar.
And from Australia to Germany to South America we go. I thought you might like to see these photos from the dance captain of the Carnival Splendor Claire Northern who shot these amazing photos of ……….well………have a look for yourself.
Thanks Claire…………..Heidi and I miss you lots and my best to the brilliant cast.
Here’s Jaime’s Dear John letter for the day from Uruguay. Take it away Jaime.
February 21, 2009
Dear John,
Today we visit our only port of call that is located in Uruguay; it is none other than the lovely downtown area of Montevideo. I was only vaguely familiar with this location before visiting this port of call, and after researching the city and actually walking its grounds, I still know little about it. I can tell you that the pier is only about a mile from the center of town and Uruguay is the second smallest country in South America. Also, the majority of people I have spoken to misspell U-R-U-G-U-A-Y by adding additional A’s; they must be Canadian! Perhaps the map officials should make this location a bigger dot so more people know about its existence, because it is quite a nice area.
This day was another time that it was my turn to stay on board, and entertain those guests who chose not to get off the ship. Later in the afternoon, I was quite fortunate because other staff members returned to the ship early so that I still had the opportunity to go out and explore. Until I was able to survey the city, I just looked over the edge of the ship like a puppy or small child longing to go play outside. When I finally got word I would have the opportunity to explore myself my heart leapt with delight (if the pursuit of a man can’t make me happy at this time, I must appreciate small pleasures, like getting to set foot on solid ground.) I ran into Emma, from our shore excursion staff and we went for our walk around the town. Thankfully, Emma is from Brazil, but she also speaks Spanish, so she was able to communicate with people that could point us in the right direction. Although she may have been able to talk to the officials (well, she claimed to, I really had no idea what they were saying), we still ended up lost!
When Emma and I got outside we realized it was hot. Well, hot does not exactly describe this feeling, all I can tell you is it was a sweaty morning on board in the open decks, a perspiring afternoon walk, and a slightly moist evening too. Many crewmembers and guests alike were unfamiliar of this feeling of intense heat and humidity that is exceptionally apparent when you are visiting places that are within such close proximity to the equator.
We found the downtown marketplace, which is really the highlight of this location. Most vendors were selling jewelry, local crafts and leather goods. We must have seen 30 different stores selling leather coats, which in the intense 100+ degree heat, did not exactly sound like my idea of a necessary accessory! On our walk we passed many 18th century buildings one of which The Musea Historico Nacional that is located within the Old Town, also several churches and Government structures were picture-worthy along our self guided tour. The two of us managed to stray away from the parameters of our map, BUT we did make it back to el barco eventually!
Up next we are visiting Puerto Madryn – the home of over 500,000 penguins. It will be well worth the two hour visit to see their home. I wonder what sound a penguin makes. We can find out together in our next port of call.
The Streets of Montevideo
The Uruguay flag, and the Carnival Splendor docked in Montevideo
View from the ship
In the center of townThanks for listening… er reading rather!
=) Jaime
Thanks, Jaime, you really have traveled the world sine you came to Carnival. All those amazing countries and all those men…..who said no? Aaaaahhh. See you on Monday and many thanks.
Amazing isn’t it. Carnival Corporation ships spread all over the world from Australia to Aruba and from Brazil to the Baltic each and every passenger is enjoying the wonders of cruising………..why would anyone vacation any other way?
I just want to go back to Australia for a moment and how I wish that one day a Carnival ship would sail past Sydney Opera House. I have been trying fact to get Heidi to visit Aussie with me for years but she just won’t go…………not because of the annoying way people say G’day or the fact that in the fashion world they have the color coordination of Stevie Wonder……….nope the reason she won’t visit one of the most amazingly diverse and stunningly beautiful places on God’s earth is they have too many animals that can kill you. Spiders, snakes, crocodiles — they have them all and although the chances of being killed by such an animal are about the same as seeing someone actually using the damn climbing wall………….she still won’t go.
And the chances haven’t gotten any better this week when a 19-year-old Australian surfer dude was eaten by two bloody massive huge gigantic great white sharks which, according to onlookers, tore his body in half and then spent a few minutes arguing over who’d get which bit. ………..a bit like my family at Christmas arguing over who gets the turkey legs.
I watched this coverage on the news and it was no surprise when various wildlife experts with beards were interviewed and they all said the sharks in question should be let off with a written warning, partly because they’re protected and partly because such attacks are extremely rare.
But to me, they’re not. In fact, not even a week had passed since another surfer had been eaten on exactly the same piece of coastline. Meanwhile, in California the surfing community has reported that shark attacks have tripled in recent years and it’s a similar story in South Africa.
So what’s going on? Well, some say the great white has developed a taste for humans because we’ve eaten all their usual prey — tuna, grouper, Pop Tarts and Taco Bell. Others argue that it’s because boards look like seals from underneath. Or it could be these shark attacks are simply God’s way of telling surfers to get a job.
But I think I’ve worked out exactly who’s to blame . . . and it’s the soppy sentimentality of the National Geographic channel with its Disney-style bollocks of “no animals were harmed in the making of this program.”
When David Attenborough of the BBC hosts the Living BlueLifeOnEarth Planet thingies, we see nature naked and unplugged. We see the little thing’s big dewy eyes and its wobbly legs when it’s born. We see it finding a mate, and relaxing in the sun after a hearty meal. And then we see it being eaten by a lion.
Who can forget the horror of that poor little penguin similar to the ones in Claire’s photos above in The Blue Planet? He’d gone off to find food for his girlfriend Patti and been attacked, in gory, close-up detail, by a leopard seal. Terribly wounded, he tried his hardest to make it home but the journey was too long, and the slope too steep. So he died, pitching beak first into the ice.
Now, had this been made by the NationalPlanetDisneyHallmark Channel, Mr Penguin would have found lots of food, all of it organic, successfully swum past the waiting leopard seals and made it back to the cliff where he and Patti would have had rumpy pumpy to a Phil Collins track and then waddled off to crap on a Range Rover.
I watched a wildlife show the other night which had been infected completely with the NationalPlanetDisneyHallmark Channel. None of the animals had any rumpy pumpy and none of them ever died. Not even the fish. The gannets dived into the water and came out again with bugger all in their mouths. Tigers chased deer just to see who was the quickest. And Freddie the Foxe just hung around looking cute.
Today, great white sharks are always called “magnificent” and now we have Peter Benchley, author of Jaws, saying he wished he’d never written the book because it gave everyone a sense that the great white was “a bad guy” when really it was “fragile.” One can only guess, of course, but I bet anyone who has been attacked by a shark didn’t think as those teeth sank into their bottoms that the shark was magnificent or fragile.
It’s the same story with the mosquito. But because it’s never been the subject of a soppy tree-hugging natural history show, even the biggest veg-head is at liberty to run around his bedroom at night with a rolled-up newspaper and a can of bug zap, shouting: “I’ll get you, you little bastard.”
A great white is no different. It’s a dangerous, ugly, killing machine that takes a chunk out of you and lets you bleed to death before coming back and deciding that actually it doesn’t like humans very much. It’s a 23foot aquatic mozzie, an underwater monster with razor wire teeth, and it should be treated as such.
We should therefore turn the tables round. Instead of letting the damn things cruise around eating us, we should start eating them. Of course, this would mean hunting them, which would cause all sorts of people to wave their arms around saying that we were changing the world. To which we could reply: “Absolutely. We’re making it better. And then we shall start on the French.”
Sorry the blog is a bit shorter than usual but I have a busy day ahead including trying to find someone to wash a weeks worth of my dirty underwear ……………… Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiddddddddddddiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
See you on Monday for reports on my first show and we shall return to your favorite ………… guest comments from the incident report!
Let the fun begin
Goodnight
Your friends
John, Heidi and the Thingy
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.
HURRAY JOHN. I hope that you enjoy being back a CD on the Valor. Have fun and let er rip my friend even though I’m not there.
Paul F. Pietrangelo
Hi John,
I think for now I’m going to abandon attempts to get Jaime to pose with the Bobble Head thingy. The cruise is flying by (unlike the penguins).
I should have brought the thingy to the penguins and taking pictures of both.
Anyway, I took way too many pictures of the penguins today and posted too many of those here:
http://www.zydecocruiser.com/splendor_09/pm/pmindex.htm
and here:
http://www.zydecocruiser.com/splendor_09/pm/pmindex1.htm
We have a wonderful sea day tomorrow! I get to sleep in!
mr bill
John, get a good nights rest for tomorrow you will be getting back to what you want to do being the worlds greatest CD The Valor will not be the same. Warn the infirmary that people will be now coming down JHLS (John Heald Laughing Sickness). Warn the laundry underwear will be coming with brown and yellow stains.
Will be waiting for those real good blogs you write when your doing what you want as CD. I will have to remember to stop drinking anything while reading your blogs again.
Knock their socks off and soon all the crew on the VALOR will know who John Heald is.
BIG ED
Have a great time back in the CD chair. Can’t wait to hear all about the wonderful guests you are sure to encounter!!
All my best to you Heidi and the Thingy
Debs
John,
enjoy being back in the driver’s seat and back on stage. the Eastern Carib will never be the same. I am off to the Legend tomorrow, I will listen for the laughter to carry across the seas.
Ron(cruisin’ baby)RN
John:
Hope the move goes smoothly (since Heidi won’t be there to do all the work).
One day I do hope to get to see you “in action” as a CD. Perhaps when Carnival does those British Isles cruises that we want to go on so badly. (Yes, I know Princess does the exact route that we want…but that isn’t Carnival!)
I, for one, could care less about the Oscars or any of the 5,000 different Awards the pampered Hollywood set bestow upon themselves. I have never been one to be “star struck”…. especially since I see little evidence of true “star” material these days. I figure they all pretty much put their pants on one leg at a time …. just like I do!!
The dresses and jewelry are all borrowed, since Bernie Madoff ran off with all their money. So it is just a bunch of fake people wearing fake glamour “acting” like they are more important than they really are.
When they can look as good as our Princesses did last week with plastic tiaras on our heads….THEN “maybe” they will be interesting enough to watch!!!
Linda (Mom of your friend DJ)
John, your remarks on the Valor are greatly appreciated. We’ll be on the ship in March and I’m reading everything I can to get the most out of each port.
The fact that I laugh out loud reading your blog makes me think that the cruise date can’t come soon enough.
I’d also like to see someone climbing on the “rock-climbing-of-the-seas”. Maybe we can start a ‘pool’ to guess the first time it’s spotted.
It’s like Captain Kirk is back in his chair.
Returning to the duties for which you have demonstrated unswerving ability, the command of a starship….errrr…..being a cruise director extraordinaire of a Carnival Fun Ship.
The Flying Dutchman
Hi John,
Great blog again today. Enjoy your day off tomorrow and take the time to get back in the swing of things. And for you, I’m sure once you step out on that stage, you will be right at home again. I just hope you have found someone to wash your dirty underwear before then.
Enjoyed the photos. The little penguins are adorable! And Jamie’s letter and photos are great!
Hello to Heidi and the little Thingy!
Hugs!
Princess Barb …the quiet and shy!
I think the laser tag will be a big hit. Can we use the lasers on the chair hogs or the rude people who cut in line at the buffet?
Great photos again from Jamie, she must have the best job in the world. I can see why she has no time for a man in her life.
John,we will see you soon,
we will have our” Grand kids”with us
and they are ready to go.
Its Spring Break
Hell old people need a break too !!!!!
and what better way than a Fun Ship.
soooooooo Let The Fun Begin
tom & jane
Hi John
Welcome home
They will be showing the Oscars on Splendor tonight. I think it starts about 11pm. I won’t be watching.
Hey Buddy!
Good luck with the move and getting situated today.
Loved Jaime’s letter and the pictures from the blog. The Luna looks really pretty.
Beware of killer koalas and kangaroos in Aussieland!
Have a nice day and welcome back to being a CD.
Take care!
David
Linda, I hope all those red carpet people were paying taxes on all that interest they made before Bernie Madeoff with all their principle. They are the same people that want all our taxes to go to the non-working people that can sit at home and watch all their movies. I also hope they pay taxes for that gift bag they get as a presenter tonight.
BIG ED
John:
Enjoy your return to CD world. Lucky are the guest who will greet you today.
I am one of the ladies who agree with you 100%
on the Academy Awards show. I will read all about it in the paper tomorrow.
Marie
Good luck tomorrow when you assume your CD duties. I’m sure you will have a great time and the guests will enjoy having you as their CD. Jeri
John,
I am one of those sick bloggers who gets my kicks from reading the complaints and incidents of others on your cruises!
Looking forward to your stories onboard… and your adventures as the Valor’s CD. I think it is terrific you are so excited to be the Cruise Director again!
Catrin
I’m not working. I hope some of the redistribution of wealth comes my way.
President Obama is doing a wonderful job. Already 30 days on the job and taxes have not gone up a penny. So much for the right wing crack pot theory of doom and gloom.
Looks like my taxes may go down in the future! I didn’t see a dime from the last fraudulent economic stimulus package but am more optimistic about the next one.
Hi John,
We are looking forward to your return to CD blogs.
My opinion on the Oscars- ick! I watched once in the mid 90′s and was so disgusted, I have never turned them on again. Way too much self importance! Sully Sullenberger deserves an award, but making such a fuss about someone who was just making entertainment does not make sense to me. When they give awards for important stuff, like the cure for cancer or saving people from certain death, let me know. That I would watch!
I know I have an unpopular opinion.
I am with Heidi on the Australia boycott. I would love to go and see the Great Barrier Reef, mingle with the koalas and choke down vegemite, but I just can’t get past the snakes and spiders. It must be a girl thing.
Welcome Home John, You are back where you belong! You are going to make a lot of people happy with your humor, enjoy it while you can! Can’t wait till tomorrow’s blog as it will definitely be filled with laughter, and as Big Ed said, no drinking in front of the computer! HA! Have fun my friend, good to have the BEST CD in the World back! Linda & Mike
John,
Best wishes on return to the saddle. Having the pleasure of many cruises with you, I’m glad to see you are right back to where you are at home!
Good luck!
Craig
WOOOOOO Hooooooooooooo!!! JOHN!!!!
YAY!! JOHN!! What do you thinK ?? It’s great!! Another convert!!!
I have to write to tell you!! YAY!!
Remember my 32 year old cousin going solo and for the first time on a cruise?? The one that I recommended the Victory??
Well he came back today and wrote this to me(translation from Spanish):
HI ! I suppose you already know…..I don’t even know what to say….not were to begin….but the most important thing that I have to tell you is….that I have never laugh so much in a week…..HA HA..You hit it right on the nail…I’m already planning one in May….If I have the money by then,.. because…. it is addictive!! …like you told me..I don’t think there is any other vacation like this anywhere else..WOW!! and what I didn’t do because I didn’t have enough money… that’s why I want to go again…before the hurricane season starts (He is a metereologist) and I screw without vacations.. and I think I would go on the Carnival Victory again. Do you think I could take the Carnival Victory again?
love;
Nanni
Have fun tomorow!
Kap
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Did anyone see John presenting the special Oscar last night?
http://www.zydecocruiser.com/splendor_09/s2/sea2/IMG_8702.JPG
And a very scary towel animal!
http://www.zydecocruiser.com/splendor_09/s2/sea2/IMG_8721.JPG
John:
Since you are worried about the financial future of the US….might want to make sure you are not getting paid in US currency!!!
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=3479955&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/glennbeck/
Princess Linda (Mom of your friend DJ)
Toss your whitey tighties overboard. That’ll keep the sharks away or at least stunned for a few days!
I can tell by the “sound” of your writing that you truly are excited to be back as Cruise Director. You have a spring in your step and a certain smile in your blog today…Enjoy, you are awesome on stage because you enjoy your job! Your attitude is contagious.
Tina
Welcome back John! Missed you yesterday but fully understand. Get that much needed rest as you will be busy for a while. Congrats on being CD again. We know you love the job. Our best to Heidi and Thingy. Wish we were there with you.
The penguins were so cute! Thanks Jamie for the pics.
Mike & Lori
We have had another snow storm and we are sure we will never ahve to mow our lawn again. Our friends returned from their cruise of the Western Carribean and had so much fun , they loved it , they had a wonderful experience and Steve kept them entertained . He is a very entertaining (Canadian )cruise director . They got some wonderful pics and I must say Carnival has them hooked . We are so very hooked on the Carnival vaction. I am so pleased that we had a chance to go when the economy was good . With the way things are looking we are going to be lucky to have our homes and our families fed . Many people who traveled this year are telling us they will not be going next year. we are living in a world that really has to think twice about how they spend . We are tellling anyone who is looking to plan a trip to really look into the Carnival cruise , its one place where you get your moneys worth , its a vacation that provides world class entertainment , the best of food , the best service and you can see so many places and really relax and unwind.
We think that Carnival is #1 .
John relax and get settled we will enjoy hearing of your next cruise and all the interesting things you are up to .
Keep it up and just do what we do turn off the evening news , and ignore the doom and gloom , We stopped watching the news a month ago and we are much better off with out it . People tell us about the big stories with anything meaningful and we ignore the reat of the negative news . Its been a long time since we heard anything good in the news. So now we look for the good and your blog has the good , keep it up .
Hey John!
How did it feel to greet your latest passengers last night? I know they were thrilled to see you on that stage! Be sure to say hi to my friends Carolin and Martha. You will find them near the bar, poolside!
By the way…. I love that you are the voice of Carnival! I had to call Guest Services, regarding the suitcase I lost (yep, I lost it, not the baggage handlers, not the airline, I did it) when we got off the Fantasy last Monday. They put me on hold and there you were, telling how wonderful the Serenity Deck is. Made me wish I were there, now. The good news about my bag is that it is en-route, even as I type! UPS should be bringing all my dirty laundry to my doorstep today. Do you guess they took the time to wash and fold it?
Looking forward to all that your day as CD holds in store for you! Have fun!
John if anyone missed your show to watch the gayest Academy Award show yet they really blew it.
After watching that show even a straight male wants to run out and find a great big old hairy male butt. YUCK.
It seems if GD is not used over and over in a movie or the gay subject is not mentioned or is the subject of the movie Hollywood does not make it.
Hard to keep kids away from this trash.
I guess we all need to stay on a Carnival Cruise ship and live in better world.
Enjoy your blog very much and also cruising with Carnival. Keep up the good work.
Hello again John, Heidi, and Thingy,
I watched the Oscars last night, and I have the same complaint that I always do. It’s boring because they don’t give out the awards everyone cares about until 11-12 PM. Hugh Jackman is handsome, talented, and charming, but he wasn’t always on stage. If they just showed his two musical numbers, the montage of who died during the past year, and the best actor, actress, supporting actor & actress, director, and picture, it would have been a great 1 hour show. I would much rather see your “welcome aboard” show.
About the shark attacks, why can’t we eat them? We eat every other kind of fish. Am I the only one who grew up in a household where we watched “Wild Kingdom” and “American Sportsman” back-to-back every Sunday? One show was about hunting, and the other was (usually) exotic wildlife. We all liked them both equally. Dad was a hunter who loved animals. Am I the only one who was afraid to watch Bambi because I was afraid that if I did, I wouldn’t want to eat venison ever again?
I’m so glad you’re doing what you love.
Your Friend,
Cheryl D.
Three cheers and a huzzah for you, John! Back on stage, in harness in the role you’re most comfortable with… CRUISE DIRECTOR!!!
I’m betting that the folks who sail with you will have the time of their lives!!! I’m GREEN with envy!!
The pictures from both Jaime and Claire are brilliant! I bet that penguins, properly prepared, are quite yummy!!!
Have you heard anything from Ben and Martha regarding Ben, Jr’s condition? They are all still in my prayers.
Please pass along my best to Heidi, the Thingy, the Stephanies and all the Blogger Crew!!!
Ciao!!
Host Mach
Hi John, the once and future C.D.,
Hope you’re all settled in and ready to get up on stage again.
“Far From Over” was one of my favorite production shows. I saw it a few times and sang along every time.
Did you hear again from Ben & Martha? I hope their son is doing well.
Laser tag, huh? Can’t wait. Will it be on every ship?
Thanks for the link to the old Kathie Lee commercials. They were the best, always had me singing along and re-living my last cruise & wishing I was on another one. Here’s a suggestion for your new ad agency. Why not use Kathie Lee again doing similar things but also interspersing some of the old commercials. And using her family. Her kids aren’t little anymore – why not mention the teen clubs? It’s gotta be better than the new, goofy commercials that are so boring. No tunes to make you sing along! My nephew actually asked me what the commercial was supposed to do. And he knew it was a Carnival commercial.
A friend of mine left yesterday from NY (actually NJ) on oneoftheseas for 11-days down to the Carribean. Last week he e-mailed me to tell me that RCI changed their itinerary but never let him know. He found out only by reading CruiseCritic. It seems the ship had mechanical problems a couple of months ago and has been getting into port late, cancelling shore excursions, leaving port early, etc. He was not a happy camper! I haven’t told him about your blog and some of the things mentioned about RCI, but I told him that I heard a rumor that RCI charged “exra” for steak in the dining room, room service and other stuff. He answered me that RCI was nickel & diming them. Late room service has a fee and it’s true about the charge for the steak. When he gets back I’m going to start to do some serious Carnival brain-washing.
Got to go, take care Mr. C.D.
Hugs,
Carol
Good luck with your show! I know you’ll do great
)
BTW: Any news on how Dream is coming along???
Reply only if you have an update ;o)
John,
Hope all is well with you and that you are geared up as the CD on the Valor for the next month or so!
Again, thanks for making the Bloggers Cruise such a memorable event and am looking (hopefully) to seeing you again shortly and definitely on the Bloggers 3 from PC on the Dream ()December 09)!
I know they are a little late, but Ann and I lost a camera bag in NO (left it in a cab during Mardi Gras) and had to purchase new power cords for camera and Mac to transfer photos etc.
After perusing over 750 photos of the pre- cruise (Beacon Hope Day) and the cruise itself, we decided to post 175 photos and if you and any Bloggers want to check them out and download any, then look and enjoy the ‘antics’ we all got up to!
http://gallery.me.com/earthlight920#100326
Again, any comments welcome here!!
Best regards,
Storm’n Norman
Just completed my 38th Carnival Cruise upon Fantasy!
stormincruises@gmail.com
Show a DVD to more than 4 people and the FBI will be at my door? oh, dear, I’m in trouble now!
We’re having ‘zombie’ night Saturday – showing Shaun of the Dead and Fido and I think we’ll go over the FBI limit.
If they show up, we’ll just tell them not only have none of us ever inhaled, we also never opened our eyes! So it won’t count, right?!?