I mentioned last week how my Ryan Air flight from Genoa to London was as organized and as luxurious as Phil Spector’s hair. It was horrid and this morning my spirits sank as my economy class ticket from London to Miami arrived via e-mail from Carnival’s travel office.
I sat in my chair staring at the word “Economy” wishing I’d gone into organized crime when I left school. It never occurred to me as a good career option – making people sleep with the fishes and making them offers they couldn’t refuse – but now it does. Because I’d have loads of (laundered) cash and I would be able to fly first class all the time.
Having loads of (laundered) cash hadn’t been an issue before. I had accepted life down the back, with the occasional upgrade to business. I have only once experienced a first-class epiphany on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Barbados to London. I got upgraded due to an over booking in Premium economy and I am sure when deciding who would get the Upper (First) Class seat they looked at me and thought. Right……that fat bastard won’t fit in an economy seat so we had better give him a bigger one…and that was me in first class.
They don’t actually have chairs more like semi-private cabins with flat beds and a flight attendant who doesn’t look like a she has run a 100-yard sprint in a 90-yard gym.
You get foie-gras canapés with your drink, not stale pretzels. Your chair has a custom eight-point massage system and the movies start when you want them to. Lunch was amazing. Everything is served on full-size crockery, with full-size cutlery, in full-size portions on a full-size table that unlike on other flights was impaled into my belly. It’s like having a meal in your own private restaurant. I remember I had rosemary-pesto rack of lamb. It arrived warm rather than hot, which was annoying. If I’d been an organized criminal, I would have complained. Although the bed is big enough for rumpy pumpy a hostess could peek over at any time – which would be off-putting, unless you’re into exhibitionism. I’m not, so it’s still the toilet or a private jet for me then.
Instead, I put on my beautifully tailored complimentary pajamas, asked my waitress – sorry, stewardess – to convert my presidential seat into a bed (complete with above-and-below quilts and not one but two man-size pillows) and went to sleep. It was the sleep of babies. Rich babies with enormous silver bloody spoons in their mouths. My only complaint ………………….. They didn’t let me steal the Bose headphones.
Thank God I am on a diet. United Airlines announced that extra-large passengers will have to purchase the seat next to them if they do not fit in the seat or can’t lower the armrest. This can lead to nothing but trouble. To begin with, what if you don’t think you’re that fat? You’re feeling good, turn up at the airport for your flight and suddenly the agent (who is probably three times heavier than you) informs you that you have to pay double? That’s 10 years of therapy right there.
There is just no practical way to execute this policy. What are they going to do, ask people to step on the scale where we put our luggage? Good luck getting any woman to do that.
And with this power in the hands of the airline staff, anything can happen.
Let’s say they’re having a bad day and feeling vengeful. Where you sit and whether or not you get on the flight often comes down to their mood. Or in my case, personality. I’ve been in situations where I suspect they tell me there are no aisle seats left just because I got on their nerves. What happens if I ask one question too many?
I can hear it now. “Sorry, looks like you’re too fat to fly.” …….and the passenger replies, “But’ I’m Kate Moss!”
Also, I’m wondering if they are given instructions on what to say? Because there really is no good way to deliver this news. In the south I bet they’re very polite about it. “May I suggest y’all purchase another seat because your girth exceeds the limit darlin’.” Whereas in New York, it’s well….a lawsuit waiting to happen.
There’s so much anxiety about travelling as it is, do we really need one more thing to worry about? At what point does a heavy passenger like me have to begin to consider they might not make it to their destination? Even if the airline staff lets them through, they can still be kicked off the flight if a passenger complains and there are no available extra seats for them to move to.
Why not make someone with poor parenting skills purchase another seat? Or someone who hasn’t bathed recently……. Maybe United should have sniffer dogs at the ticketing counter for that!
Enough of my flying woes………time for today’s questions……..here we go…….oh just before I do a certain cruise line has been bombarding the Sky News channel with a commercial that’s on 30 times a day and its getting on my bloody nerves. So ……….. I just have to say………………nation of why not my arse.
That’s better…………….here we go.
pmcasey68 Asked:
John,
I was wondering if you were going to be staying aboard the Dream for her first cruise? While I am sure that you will be busy if you are staying aboard, I was hoping to shake your hand and say thank you personally for the help you provide my family and I.John Says:
Hello pmcasey
My plans for the Carnival Dream were originally to sail on the first European cruise. I then changed my mind as I felt it may be unfair to Todd who will be the ship’s CD and I didn’t want to get under his feet or interfere. However, it seems that this decision has disappointed many so I am reevaluating now and maybe I can stay until Venice. I will confirm this next week once I have spoken to Roger and Chris and others. It would be an honour to shake your hand mate and if there is anything you need please let me know
Best wishes
JohnBill Copper Asked:
hello
John,
Please Respond
We’re sailing on the Freedom this Sunday (June 14) and I was wondering if you know whether Lewis Nixon is going to be on board? It would be great to see him again. We’re of course disappointed that you won’t be our CD, but we’re sure we’ll have a great time in any case. We would LOVE to get an autographed picture (or any other reminder of you).
If it’s possible, we’re in cabins — and –.
Thanks so much,
The CoppersJohn Says:
Hello Bill
I just checked with our office on this and unfortunately Lewis will be on the Carnival Glory next week. He and I are great friends and I know those who attended the Bloggers Cruise on the Carnival Fantasy this year loved his humour and the stories from my past which made me turn a few shades of red. You do have some funny guys during your voyage and I would appreciate it so much if you could take the time to tell me what you thought of the entertainment when you return home. You will have a wonderful time with Todd and James who are the very best and will be together on the Carnival Dream
Look out for a little something from me and have a great time mate
Best wishes
JohnSusie Asked:
John, what we will be expecting on the Inaugural Cruise? Champagne, free drinks??John Says:
Hello Susie
We typically don’t provide free drinks on an inaugural cruise however you will get a very special memento book in your cabin to take home with you which I hope you enjoy. You will also be the first group of guests ever to use the new Ocean Plaza, the Carnival WaterWorks aqua park, including the Twister water slides, as well as the first to sleep in your stateroom. This is a true inaugural cruise; there are no “mini” cruises before hand so that must make you feel very proud when you say you were the first to sail on the new Carnival Dream. Let me know if you have a follow up question and if not I wish you a brilliant time
Best wishes
JohnWench Cindi Asked:
John (please reply)
Ok I have something on my chest and I need to get it off.
I was just reading the dream 1 blog where you had an interview with that second rate CD.
I am sorry to all the Todd fans out there but I have cruised with him on 2 occasions the most recent was on the Carnival Freedom back in march. We were on and 8 day cruise and during the entire 8 days we saw him twice, once at the Past cruisers party, and a second time in the international lounge where he was giving one of the entertainment staff a good butt chewing (in public)about not having enough folks for the legends show.
During the cruise the ACD James did just about all the normal CD duties, now i certainly understand that Todd may have been busy, but for all 8 days???
I am sorry but John, I have to say that from the outside and not being privy to all the behind the scenes conversations, it would be my belief and if i may add the belief of many other bloggers that your beloved Carnival corp. has slapped you in the face..
You my friend are the top CD and having anyone other than John Heald bring out a new ship is well an embarrassment.
We realize that you have had this exclusive duty for many years but it is a ditty that you have earned.
We have sailed with 12 different CD’s over the past 15 years and all of them, in our opinion are more personable and exciting than Todd.
Now understand that we are not Todd bashing in any way, we are merely expressing our opinion about the new CD of the dream.
We feel that Carnival has made a decision that, while some will agree with and some who won’t, that is not in the best interest of the company.
To hand over the new Flag ship of the fleet and 600 million dollar investment to a CD that is not the TOP CD of the line is just plain wrong.
We understand that at sometime you will have to turn over the reigns to someone else and we understand that you are very busy with KYE and may not have the time that bringing a new ship out takes but we can name at least 3 other CD’s who again in our opinion would do a much better job.
In any case as i said above this is not a Todd bashing rather one platinum members opinion for what it is worth.
I realize that the decision has been made and right or wrong Carnival has to stick by it all I can say is that I don’t agree with it.
I will be on both of the bloggers cruises and maybe during one of them you and I can have a private chat over tea one morning as i am sure that there were behind the scenes politics that went into this decision.
OK i feel better now,
Please keep being yourself and I cant wait to have you back on the ships as I will be the first to book on any cruise that you are the CD of (already booked 2 cruises on freedom with you in July.
Looking forward to seeing you then.
CindiJohn Says:
Hello Cindi
First of all I am glad you got that off your chest. There is no worse feeling in the world than having to keep things bottled up and while some may think that Stephanie and I only post the positive suggestions and comments on the blog thingy we truly don’t and if at anytime anyone has an issue they want to discuss. I will always do my best to listen and respond accordingly.I think in this case its best that I say sorry to you first of all. As I have mentioned many times here the cruise director’s role is a busy one and has changed so very much over the years but…..and like Rosanne Barr…..it’s a very big but….a CD must regardless of how busy he or she is be visible on stage and off …….every day of the cruise. Now, there are times when we must give our Assistant Cruise Directors a chance to learn and the best way for that to happen is to allow them a chance to host various shows and events however ………if you only saw the CD twice during a cruise then that is not good enough.
I know that when I show this to Todd he will be distraught because he is a true professional and always takes to heart what people say. I also know he will say thank you to you for letting him know your true thoughts and this will motivate him to do better.
Now, with regards to the Carnival Dream. Well, when Roger and Chris and I spoke about whether or not I should be the cruise director I took two things into consideration. Firstly, I had decided that I would stay on the Carnival Liberty which as you may remember had been scheduled to stay in Europe from April to October. Europe is my first love when it comes to itineraries, not just for its beauty and history but of course I am so close to home.
Although it was the right decision to remove her from Europe this year and in 2010 nobody was more upset than me. Honestly, I even thought about going to work for Princess or P&O so that I could be near Heidi and Kye and still do the job I love. But I am a Carnival guy and I know that had I moved to one of our sister companies that I would have upset so many people. Secondly, it was thought by Roger, Chris and myself that having been the CD on the past three new ships and having been the CD on a total of nine new ships that quite frankly……..people were going to get tired of me and my jokes and my bedtime story, etc. and that change was needed. So, Todd was given the job and this was based on his results, his energy and his bottomless pit of new ideas … his fun hop and deck party are legendary.
So, that’s what happened. In my heart of hearts I wish I had said yes. Carnival Dream is going to be an incomparable ship…….well until the Carnival Magic arrives and there is no way anyone is going to be the CD of that ship except me! I wish Todd all the best and we are all positive he is going to be brilliant. I look forward to sharing that cup of tea with you. If anyone else ever wants to get something of their chest ………or wants to respond on this topic………..please do anytime you want to.
Kathy M. Asked:
Hi John,
Please Respond.
Kye is a beautiful baby and should be a baby model (if you put her to work now you will get the car you want. Just kidding).
As a person who has suffered from Depression most of my life. I think you were a little harsh in your remark about Susan Boyle. It is very hard to go from a person who has a quite life to an overnight sensation and then on top of that, having everyone tell her that she was going to win that competition, only to lose because so many thought she was going to win they did not vote. She had people heckling her, put her down for her looks and other things. I applaud Susan for even completing the competition, none of the other contestants were harassed like she was, so it finally got to her and for a week she did not eat or even sleep and that right there will play a toll on the human mind. So give her a break, enough people have put her through the wringer.
I love the pictures of the Dream, it amazes me how ships are built today. I know that they don’t do the beautiful and expensive wood like they use to, it is more fiberglass and plastic, but even so, it is still beautiful and I am excited to see the final pictures. On a website called Webshots, they had over 500 pictures of the Eurodam being built, even to the pictures of showing the crew passing furniture up the stairs for the cabins, it was amazing. I wish something like that could be put together for the Dream.John Says:
Hello Kathy
If I thought Kye was my ticket to an Aston Martin I would have her modeling baby clothes, diapers and Carnival Cruise Lines today. Thanks for saying how beautiful she is, Heidi loves reading comments like that as do I.Please forgive me if I wrote something that may have upset you. I certainly was not trying to attack Susan Boyle but in fact defend her. I agree with everything you said but I obviously didn’t get my point of view across……let me try again.
You see, one moment Susan was a lonely, homely spinster from a Scottish village, who never had a job and spent years looking after her elderly mother. Then suddenly she is a massive global hit with millions of views on YouTube, championed by Oprah Winfrey and Demi Moore, stalked by the world’s media. There has never been a plainer example of “ordinary” people projecting their “ordinary” life onto someone who is perhaps even more “ordinary” than they are …….. the kind of people whom no one looks at twice in the street.
And then, inevitably, it all went wrong. Someone decided that a good nickname for Susan was “the hairy angel,” as though she were a freak show exhibit instead of a woman who, like millions of others in this country, doesn’t much bother with tweezers. Over a few short weeks the media decided they had had their fun with her and it was now time to give her a good kicking. And nobody had prepared her for that. Nobody had told her what the price of fame was and that is what upset me. I wish her nothing but happiness ….. which if you look at it was probably to an extent what she had before she sang on live TV.
The Eurodam blog was exceptionally done and to me it deserved to win the blog of the year award. Between now and her first sailing I will do my very best to post as many photos of her as I can accompanied by details of her public areas and entertainment spaces. I am so glad you are enjoying these photos and thank you again for taking the time to write.
I wish you much happiness
JohnSenda Asked:
Please reply
John,
Can you tell me who the CD will be on the Valor on August 23-30. That’s our next cruise (75 days away-but who’s counting?).
Love reading your blog…you’re so funny! )
Senda ShultzJohn Says:
Hello Senda.
The CD for your Carnival Valor cruise will be Big Tex from Michigan …. sorry …. Texas. What a guy he is and his larger than life personality will be one of the highlights of the cruise. Look out also for Assistant Cruise Director Gary Brierly who I am sure will soon be given a chance of being a cruise director.Have fun and please let me know if you need anything. I hope you continue to find the blog funny and hope you keep reading for some time to come.
Best wishes
JohnLilmatcat Asked:
Hi John,
Has Carnival announced who the Piano Player will be when the Dream comes out? And do you know who will be in the piano bar on the 12/3 sailing? Would love for Damian Brell to be on board! That would top off an already amazing cruise.John Says:
Hello Lilmatcat
I know you and others are waiting for this announcement. I spoke yesterday to Rob King in the Miami office who ultimately will make this decision. I know Damian is a possibility as are about three others and I will certainly forward on your recommendation. I will let you know as soon as I can so watch this space.
Thanks for taking the time to write
Cheers
JohnJohn Says:
Diana Vuong
Hey John (please reply)
How are you doing? I totally believed in yahoo until last month. I had an email for TEN years and one day, out of the blue, i couldn’t log in. I contacted them 15 times for an answer with no luck. So i would suggest you back up all your addresses and print all your important emails… because i lost all that!
Anyway, i know you are a CD, but as a guest, why is it important that i know who the cruise director is for my ship? I’m sailing this weekend out of LA on the 14th on the splendor. It seems that many people are eager to know who their CD is and i want to know the benefits of that.
Also, reading the tickets and website ” cafes: coffees and pastries are fee based…” so does that mean drinks ( coffee, sodas) & pastries and such are not included in our dining and room service? Those items seem pretty standard in meal services.
We are celebrating two graduations on the ship and are there any complimentary services that i can arrange to have a cake for the two girls at dinner or something? It would be so special. Also, Can you please hook me up on an internet pkg so i read your blog while sailing?
Hope all is well John & I love reading your blog. You are so open, so real, and so inspirational!!
DianaJohn Says:
Hello Diana
In the end I caved in. I know I said I hate change but Yahoo lost all my e-mails, my inbox, outbox and everything I had saved………they just vanished. I called Yahoo here in the UK and spoke to a chap in India who was about as helpful as fart in a space suit and so I over the next few days I will be telling Yahoo to bugger off and will look at G-string mail or whatever it’s called.You ask a very good question……..why so many people care who the CD is. Now, I have an answer for that but with your kind permission I am not going to tell you what it is. I will eventually but I think it is such an important question that it needs answering first by as many people as possible. So Diana, lets have one of our now and then surveys.
BLOGGERS – PLEASE MAY I ASK AS MANY OF YOU TO RESPOND TO THIS AS POSSIBLE
1. DOES WHO THE CRUISE DIRECTOR IS GOING TO BE ON A SHIP INFLUENCE YOUR BOOKING THAT CRUISE
2. DO YOU THINK A CRUISE DIRECTOR CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO YOUR OVERALL CRUISE ENJOYMENT? IF YOU ANSWER YES…………..PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY
It will be very interesting to see what people say here Diane and once we have all read the replies to the above questions I will let you know what I think. Hope that’s OK.
I mentioned the other day that your Carnival Dream will have the first piazza ever featured on one of our ships. It will be called Ocean Plaza and will feature a grand coffee shop and Italian gelato ice cream stand. As on all the Carnival ships the specialty coffees and pastries served here come with nominal charges as will the gelato shop as well. However, the ice cream on Lido deck remains complimentary as will the pastries, Danish, sandwiches, etc. from room service. Also being served at no charge from the Ocean Plaza will be the mezza, tapas and other specialty treats. We will also serve complimentary sushi on your Carnival Dream, as well.
We do have a bon voyage department who can arrange for a nominal fee a special cake for your family and that’s available through carnival.com. If you remind me a week or so before you sail I will send them a little graduation gift as well.
I hope this answers your questions and my best wishes to you all
JohnSusan V Asked:
Hi John, Heidi & Kye:
I want to thank you for the wonderful pictures of the Dream. We are all excited about it and can’t wait to actually sail on her next year! I told my husband Scott that they were having a Gelato ice cream bar on it, he was excited after having the real thing in Italy last year, he loves it! Can’t wait!
John, Please Reply:
Thank you Chris for putting up the Cruise Director’s schedule for the rest of the year!
John, when I asked you earlier who the CD would be on the Glory in September, you told me Ryan Fitzgerald. I guess some changes were made because now the new schedule has James Charlton as the Cruise Director. I have never heard of him. I did a search for a picture, none. Could you give us a little background about him and if possible put a picture up also. It’s nice to know a little about our CD before cruising. We
enjoy getting to know our CD’s on board and look forward to meeting James.
Thanks again!
Susan & ScottJohn Says:
Hello Susan V
Your husband should be excited as the gelato ice cream we will serve will be the very finest ……..let me know what he thinks. Yes, there have been one or two changes since you asked who your CD was because as you can see the irrepressible James Charlton will be the CD. James is…….well………James……and is a wild and crazy guy who has an infectious laugh and who everyone instantly loves. He has only been with us a short time but I think he will be a star of the future for sure.I will be doing a round of interviews with the new CD’s very soon and will make sure I include James so you can find out a lot more about him.
My best to you both and look forward to that gelato
JohnDana Asked:
Hi John…
Please reply.
I love reading your blogs every day. Your information about Carnival and your family is delightful. I actually do have two questions.
1. My family (3 cabins worth on the Panorama deck in the Spa section) will be on the Dream for Christmas this year and I’ve been reading that some ships don’t decorate or play Christmas music. Is this true? We were looking forward to all the Christmas hoopla. 2. I looked at the advance reservation for the Supper Club you have posted and the Dream isn’t listed. Will it be once it sails?
Thank you and keep up the fantastic job…oh and keep the pictures coming.
DanaJohn Says:
Hello Dana
It’s great to hear that you enjoy the blog so much and I hope that continues for a long time. We do absolutely make sure that the ship is decorated with all the trimmings including a big Christmas tree. We also feature a Christmas show that features traditional music such as Silent Night and even Santa makes an appearance. It will be a very special Christmas holiday for sure.My guess is that we will have the Carnival Dream supper club reservations will be available from mid-August once the crew gets onboard. I will keep an eye on this and let you know as and when you can make your reservation.
She is going to be sensational and I know for you and your family Christmas 2009 will be the best ever.
Best wishes to you all
John
That’s all for today. I will answer the next group of questions on Monday.
And that leads me cap in hand to ask you for a favor. This weekend will be my last with my family for two months as next Friday I fly back to Miami and the Carnival Freedom. So, I am going to take the weekend off and will be back all guns blazing with a full blog on Monday …… I hope none of you are too upset about that. Next week I have an interview with the hotel director of the Carnival Dream and other department heads who will be lucky enough to be part of the start up team of your fabulous new Carnival fun ship.
You may have noticed that I have cut down the number of blogs about Kye. I did this only because the other blogs have been so busy and full already.
So, from now on I will give you a full Kye update on Fridays only. This will help me out because at the moment all she really does is sleep, eat, pee and poo……..rather like her Daddy. So from now on Fridays will be “Kye Day.”
You won’t believe what happened last night……you had all better sit down for this because its shocking …..totally shocking……Heidi wanted a night out with the girls, and she said I was left holding the baby. OK, she wasn’t drinking – the “girls” were a group of other mothers she had met at her pregnant Mummies class thingies. They were going for a Chinese meal and her “night” out would last approximately two hours. Nevertheless, this was clearly the selfish behaviour of a woman for whom the responsibilities of motherhood mean absolutely bugger all. I mean come on; it’s only been a month!
But I’m a good man and a loving father so I only tutted and sulked for an hour or so before Heidi left for her night of wanton debauchery and Kung Po chicken. Frankly, I was terrified. I was convinced that as soon as the door closed behind her Kye would start up an unholy din that wouldn’t end until she opened it again on her way in.
I’m not paranoid. I truly believe that Kye likes me quite a lot. But that doesn’t mean she wants to spend two hours alone with me. I figured my repertoire of funny faces and silly songs would keep her amused for about half an hour, after which the absence of Mummy would be noted, analyzed and acted upon – with a level four (on a scale of one to four) paddy.
In fact, I needn’t have worried. Kye was as good as gold. OK, let’s not over-do it. Kye was as good as, say, rusty iron. But that means she wasn’t really any worse than she is any other evening. Even though I have man breasts, I couldn’t feed her so Heidi had taken care of that before she left, but then she demanded constant entertainment for about 45 minutes, and then she got tired. When Kye gets tired, she doesn’t shut her eyes and go to sleep………….oh no…….. she keeps them open and howls. But eventually the effort of protesting about being tired gets too much……. and she nods off.
And this was the happy situation when his mother crept quietly through the door at the ungodly hour of 9:30 pm. Kye was snoring gently on my lap, and I was sitting there looking smug. And I kept that look up right until the point when Heidi said, “Well, if it went so well, I’ll be out again next week.” She only quieted my hysterical sobs and my dribbling by arranging to make her next night out sometime in 2014.
Here is a photo taken today just after I had been to collect three days worth of mail from our PO Box. Kye thanks you all so very much for the wondrous acts of kindness and the cards and gifts are appreciated more than my words can ever express……thank you cards are on their way.
Here are two more photos I want to share with you and they are the first photos I think of a special ship. This liner will have a name painted on her hull and not just any name …… for her name will be Queen Elizabeth.
She may not look like more than a lump of steel right now but over the next few months she will start to take shape and the world will no doubt start to talk about her. I will keep you updated as to her progress as often as I can.
I was reminded last night about something I forgot to tell you about that I saw on the Costa Pacifica ….and I was reminded by a group called ……the Chippendales. Yep….those oiled hunks who gyrated and stripped their way into the hearts and minds of housewives across the globe during the 80s and 90s, are back and currently on a world tour.
Now, before I get loads of questions about how I know this let me state here and now that I was not trawling Mr. Google looking for photos of naked men…….nope……I only do that on Mondays. The reason I know about the Chippendales is because they had a full-page advert in my newspaper. It showed “the guys” who are a new breed of Dales and are from the States, Kenya, Sweden, Italy, Australia and Malaysia…..truly an international group of Chips then…….but no French……..they have their own group…..La Stinkendales.
Anyway, I digress. One of the things I loved about Costa was entertainment had been scheduled in every lounge, all the time and that included late night in the disco. Now, the fact that I was in the disco will come as a shock to many of you who know my hatred of the places and realize the chances of me dancing are about the same as finding Judge Judy shopping at Victoria’s Secret’s.
However a friend of mine Mr. Hamilton changed all that. I had just gotten to my cabin and was sitting in my underpants e-mailing Heidi and Kye when he called my stateroom saying I had to come to the disco……..so I did……..and I was glad.
Costa had two dancers there…….a male and a female……while the female was on her podium dancing in a sexy short skirt and blouse thingy the male dancer was without doubt the center of attention. He was tall and full of those things some men have call muscles and he was naked from the waist up. There was a lot of fuss going on around him and as I went to get a closer look I fell arse over tit……getting up from the disco floor I tried to discover what I had tripped over…….then realized I had tripped over Mrs. Hamilton’s tongue!
The two dancers then did a wonderful and quite seductive dance to a James Bond Medley and it was quite brilliant. I seemed to be the only one looking at the girl though because everyone else was looking at the male dancer…….even the Italian men who are apparently something called metrosexual were fascinated by him. Now for those of you who like me have no bloody clue what metreosexual means it apparently involves dressing and acting in such a way as not to be afraid of being in touch with your girly side.
You still love women but dress like Elton John. You are supposed to use moisturizer and trim nasal and ear hair daily. And the trimming of your ears and nose is not exclusive because apparently the metrosexual man is also supposed to head down to the pubic region and for a regime of trimming and moisturizing…….whatever happened to soap on a rope?
I’m told that the other area that makes a man metrosexual is that he is totally comfortable kissing other men………..especially in Italy. For most blokes this is a no-brainer — we don’t kiss other blokes. We kiss girls, our mums, some dogs and occasionally double-page spreads in rumpy pumpy magazines. The last bloke most men kissed was their father and that stopped when they went to big school. But now the world seems to be full of men kissing.
Before I started to work with Italian captains and officers if I had told any of my mates that I had kissed a man they would have immediately thought I was ……well……you know. When I was growing up the only time it was OK to kiss another man was if you were drunk. You see……..drunken men kiss because they really, really, really love you. You’re their best mate in the whole world including the universe. But in Italy ………. kissing another man is as natural as eating pasta and wearing brown shoes with a dark blue suit.
Anyway……….as I said the male dancer on the Costa Pacifica was getting all the attention and after the James Bond show he stood gyrating on a chair in a corner, waiting for the right time to unleash their magnificent biceps and pectorals on to the Italian passengers.
And then to the sound of pumping Euro beat music of he went. He spent a lot of time that night thrusting his hips into their air with his hands behind his head, which is how porn stars have rumpy pumpy, but not real people – if real people had rumpy pumpy like this, everyone would be laughing too much, the job would never get done and the human race would cease to exist. I must say their act was a little erotic but tastefully done and a hugely popular with the crowd which wasn’t just made up of Italians. But as I said …. it was Diego the Dancer who stole the show. He had a quiet confidence, a self-assured grin… that said you want me and I know it.
I am not sure any lady in the Costa nightclub would have truly wanted him though because they were probably thinking “He has better skin than me, and prettier eyes. If we ever met, he would probably just look at me and think: ‘She really needs to get her roots done, and spend some time in the gym.’”
The truth is that the women in the Costa Pacifica’s disco were far more likely to be aroused by a man with a sense of humour, a large belly, an English accent and reasonably clean underpants.
See you on Monday
Goodnight
Your friends
John, Heidi and Kye
Filed under: Caribbean, Destinations, Europe, Tales from the Ship, Travel | Tagged: Carnival Dream, Europe, John's Replies, Kye
Hello, John, from a decidedly NON metrosexual Host Mach!! PLEASE RESPOND!! Now, that’s an odd way for me to start a blog entry!!!
One of my Cruise Critic friends, Rick Gaskill, got off the Conquest just recently and posted this review on my Crazies thread. With his permission, I’m adding it here:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
5/31/2009 sailing Conquest
Up at 6am (Sunday) checked the web cam there she is the Conquest, the excite level goes up.
South 23 miles across the bridge on to Harbor drive we see the Whale Tail WOO HOO excite level up more!
Second cruise for wife and I but first for daughter and grandsons. Parked at Harbor House checked out the patio, gassed up the car and off the EZ cruise at 930 am. We were in the terminal about 10am through scanners to check in no stopping. Seated in zone 1 by 1030am. Very smooth embark; fun watching the newbie’s step on board.
I park at the atrium bar while wife and daughter see the pursers desk. On the lido eating before noon. Rooms were ready on the nose at 130pm. By the way, I got an upgrade/upsell from inside cabins to balconies for very little money! Wife and I in 6229, daughter in 6223, had all the checked bags before mustard (lol) drill. Muster drill was before sail away.
The ship
The Conquest is in great shape
The cabins 6223-6229 Upper deck
Cabins were great, we are now spoiled to a balcony. Never knew what we were missing not having one. Great to have the couch and balcony.
The crew
All outstanding.
Special people our stewards, waiters and their assistants.
Impossible to say too much about Chris the CD! He was out and about the entire cruise came to our meet and mingle. Special thanks to host MACH . Chris sends hello to Mach and Lambie.
The food
Very good
Dining rooms, room service, specialty grills, deli all outstanding.
We did late seating this time, so we were not rushed at ports, got early shows and were not rushed dining, Great service, grandson had 3 lobster tails elegant night. Not on the menu ask for it, our boys had banana splits
The ports
Well we know Cozumel was dearly missed.
Jamaica, we did Sunset beach resort again this year. The food there was outstanding this year. MoBay No problem mon.
Cayman
Done the shopping thing with the gang, they caught a cab and enjoyed seven mile beach, I went back to the
ship to chill.
The activities
Wife and daughter tried to do every thing in the capers. Me I concentrated on buckets of beer and the casino. Tried the poker pro Texas holdem.
Disembark
Thought we might try self assist decided not. Had number 17 out of 30, very few people, found our bags walked straight to customs (no line I am dreaming) on the curb at 930, EZ cruise by 1000
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Just like everyone else I know, Rick and his family had a wonderful time on board the Conquest. There’s a darn good reason that the Conquest remains my favorite ship in the fleet… she’s full of magic, my friend… full of magic!!
Ciao!!!
Host Mach
Okay you can take the weekend off, now. . You gave us an update on Kye. We will welcome our updates every Friday.
But PLEASE Daddy quit refering to her as HIM
Thanks we appreciated the picture. She is really growing.
Hugs from
Aunty Carolyn
PS enjoy your few days you have left at home for awhile.
John:
I will start with the CD question.
The CD on a ship is VERY important to us for one reason….the CD sets the tone for how comfortable DJ is on a cruise. For those who may not know, our son DJ has a form of Autism. He is 17 years old and just completed his 31st Carnival cruise.
This is only possible because of the hard work of the Cruise Directors and Entertainment Host on the ships.
Let me say that the efforts of 99% of the CDs (Carnival does have one that I would not spit on if he were on fire) have been nothing short of heroic where DJ is concerned.
Because of his Autism, mascots cause severe panic attacks. (when he was younger, it was so severe that he would injure himself if necessary to get away).
So when Funship Freddie was introduced in 2002, we thought that we would have to stop cruising. It is the wonderful Cruise Directors who have worked with us on every cruise since then (except one) to make sure we have Freddie’s schedule. It is simply a matter of DJ knowing where Freddie is.
CDs have made sure that the entire Camp Carnival staff and Entertainment Staff know DJ is onboard. They have done everything from small concessions (like having Funship Freddie stay on one side of the theater during the Past Guest Party so DJ can go clap for all his ships) …. to all out shipwide alerts like Malcolm did on the Victory.
CDs like Malcolm and Big Tex have done whatever was necessary to make sure Funship Freddie and DJ did not meet.
On more cruises than I can remember, DJ has felt so comfortable….it was like he got to be a normal kid for an entire week. This level of comfort was set by the Cruise Director.
And after years of cruising, DJ learned to use the “compensating skills” he developed on cruise ships…in real life back home. Now, when faced with a mascot (and you would not believe how many you run into in every day life)….DJ has learned to extract himself SAFELY.
We have many CDs that we now call friends like Malcolm and Tex. We have those who were or are ACDs and are working themselves up through the ranks like Noonan, Jaime, Hennie and Gary who we are blessed to call friends.
But whether it is a dear friend or an close cruise acquaintance…. the CD is very important to us.
In all of DJ 31 cruises, we have only had 1 CD who could have cared less. And DJ was on edge the entire cruise.
But that’s life. Nothing is going to be 100% and I have never gone on any board or written to anyone to complain about him specifically. No CD is going to please every cruiser.
As far as Todd W. is concerned, we have sailed with him many times and have always been very pleased. We sailed with him in 2002 when he was an ACD and got stuck doing karaoke every night.
When we met again on the Freedom, Todd came to karaoke the first night to find me.
And as luck would have it, I was on stage singing when he walked in and waved. It had been 6 years since I had seen him…and he remembered the song I was singing was “my signature song” on the Conquest all those years ago. (all karaoke people have their signature song) That was impressive.
I will also say that sadly, additional “paperwork” has restricted the “visibility” of the CDs. Years ago, you saw the CDs everywhere. Today…not so much. BUT some time it is simply because cruisers do not go where the CD’s are. These are huge ships and one person can’t be everywhere. For example, I saw Todd out on the Freedom every night on Lido around 10pm (or after the show).
So, yes, who the CD is very important to us when we cruise….and we are pleased that Todd will be our CD on the Dream come December.
I have to run now…we have storms approaching and the only thing that will set DJ off quicker than a mascot…is bad weather.
Linda (Mom of your friend ~ who will never take a picture with Funship Freddie~ DJ)
Hi John,Heidi,Kye.
Great picture again! Missing Kye sitting on your lap,John.
Question N0 1:
I try always booking as early as I can not knowing the cruise director at all getting a decent price for airfare and cruise doing more than one cruise at one time.You know I am living on the same side of the pond. Both Carnival and Itinerary are my most important reasons for booking. After TA Dream and one week rest doing Ta on asomethingtoclimbon..out of Southampton (sorry could not resist).
I booked a back to back on Triumph Feb 10 out of NOLA and 4 more cruises on Imagination (3) and Miracle Oct 10 not knowing the cruise director.
Question N0 2:
I did never have to complain about one of Carnivals cruise directors. They always did a great job on all of my cruises. Dream will be my No 6 sailing with Todd! Just by chance and he is absolutely great.
John, I did sail on Victory after TA on Freedom in 2007 and I do remember them having an Italian Gelatoria (???)on board.
Do tell Mr Cahill him beeing wrong not send Carnival ships to Europe.
John,
Well sir, 2 very interesting questions in the blog today.
Question 1 about does the CD determine if we will book a specific cruise.
answer. For cindy and I the answer would be YES.
(we have sailed with 6 different cd’s and we definatley have a preferance for some more than others) nothing really good or bad just a personal preferance)
Question 2 does the cruise director make differance in our over all cruise enjoyment.
a big YES to that one…… The way we see it the CD is the VISABLE represenative of the ship. He or She sets the TONE of the entire ship.
As i said above cindy and i have cruised 6 times we have never had a bad room steward or waiter or any staff experience, however we cant remember their names a few weeks after the cruise either.
The CD on the other hand, we can name all 5 CD’s and what we liked and did not like about the cruise.
Bottom line for us is that before we book a cruise i usually bother you to find out who the CD will be as that is as we say in the US ” A DEAL BREAKER”
See you on the Carnival Freedom in 3 weeks
Semper Fi
ps. yes we did book both Carnival Freedom cruises because YOU are the CD.
John, Please Respond
As the wife of a diabetic who will be celebrating his birthday on our upcoming Carnival Pride cruise, I was wondering why there is no Sugar Free Special Occasion cake offered to be purchased from either the Bon Voyage department or onboard at the Formalities shop. There are always so many wonderful s/f choices for dessert at other times. I would love to have surprised him with a cake but cannot since he won’t be able to eat it.
1. DOES WHO THE CRUISE DIRECTOR IS GOING TO BE ON A SHIP INFLUENCE YOUR BOOKING THAT CRUISE
Other than the NOLA Bloggers cruise, who the CD will be has not had any impact on the the ship. More important to me is the ports of call, the price of the cruise and sometimes even the ship. I work a strange schedule so sometimes even sail dates impact my decision. I have became more aware of some of the better CD’s and if the chance and timing align then I will jump at the chance to sail with any of the top 5.
2. DO YOU THINK A CRUISE DIRECTOR CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO YOUR OVERALL CRUISE ENJOYMENT? IF YOU ANSWER YES…………..PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY
Yes, the CD or any other staff member can and do impact overall cruise enjoyment. The ones that come to mind in my cruises are Goose and Steve Castle. Both are over the top and will go out of their way to please a guest. On our last cruise on the Holiday Tory the CD was funny and seen around the ship every day along with her staff but the person who impacted our overall cruise enjoyment the most was our head waiter Tina.
John, other then the NOLA bloggers cruise we have never sailed with you as the acting CD. Of course if you ever decide to sail out of one of the gulf ports than we will be on the first ship. I am sure many of the bloggers, Platinum and Milestone cruises have established great friendships with many of the CD’s along with staff.
Please reply John.. The CD has not influenced my choice of cruises but I would lean toward a cruise with Ken B. as the Maitre d’. John do you know of Ken’s schedule after the Dream.
Thanks
Beautiful picture of your 2 girls, John!!! Please, please, please, put a wee note about Heidi and Kye in every blog. Don’t make us wait for a whole week for Kyeisms! You will forget some of the fun things to tell us if you wait a whole week between Kye blogs. Trust me, none of us, your faithful followers, are tired of hearing about her!
Thanks,
Sheryl
Dear John,
1. I do not book a cruise based on who the CD is.
2. We do not care who the CD is as we have only been on two cruises and both were great. I think this only matters to people who have been on alot of cruises and find that they like to have a familar face as their CD as it makes them feel at home. But we don’t want to be at home we want to be in the Caribbean. 3. We only care about the location and if the ship has Carnival on the side.
James & Nancy
The Cruzin2some
Hi John,
Please Respond,
I just got word from my SIL that she wants to take my brother for a short cruise to Mexico on Sept. 18, 2009. She has invited me to go with them on the Carnival Paradise, so I have two requests, first, who is the CD of that ship and second question is that ship going to have the audience play the newlywed game. My brother and his wife have been married or over 35 years and they only knew each other 5 days when they got married and everyone told them it would not work out. They sure made liars out of so many people. What I was wondering is how you and get someone on that game, I would love to have these 2 answer these kinds of questions.
I would also like to thank you for the idea of the cake, I am going to order one for them for in their room with some wine for something.
I would like to thank you for all the pictures of the Dream, I can understand why they are naming her that now, because that is what she truly is, A DREAM COME TRUE.
John – PLEASE REPLY
First of all, let me suggest that you need to do a better job negotiating your perks when you discuss your contract with Carnival. As Brand Ambassador, your position demands first class tickets each and every time, regardless of destination. In fact, I believe that a private jet is appropriate for those excursions wherein you ramble around Europe.
I also feel the need to respond to Wench Cindy. For someone who is “not bashing Todd”, she seems to be doing a darn proper job of the task.
As someone who has also sailed with Todd twice, for a total of 21 days, I can honestly say he is one of the most affable and visible CDs I have ever come across. It would be my pleasure to sail with him anytime on any ship.
Now, as to the Kye question – a day without Kye is like a day without sunshine. Shall I suggest that you at least post the picture of the week on the side of the blog so that we can have our regular fix of the beauty.
Best to Heidi
Jon
JOHN, PLEASE RESPOND
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS:
1) Does the cruise director who is going to be on a ship influence the booking of a cruise? ABSOLUTELY!!! We booked the 10/27/09 trans-Atlantic sailing of the Dream because you were going to be on board, not as the cruise director, but we were looking forward to “hanging out” with you. We have bragged about you so much to the other fire, police, teachers and medical personel that are going. We understand now that you will be joining us for the last 2 days, and are hoping that we can at least touch bases with you.
2) Do you think a cruise director can make a big difference to your overall cruise enjoyment?
ABSOLUTELY YES!!! John, you are one of the funniest people I have ever seen, and I personally would listen to your Bedtime Story 100 times and never get tired of it. Besides that, whenever you have guests on stage with you, there is always something different and unique that you are able to find out about the guests and you capitalize on that and make it fun. YOU HAVE ONE OF THE MOST INFECTIOUS LAUGHS I HAVE EVER HEARD! By that I mean that whenever you get to laughing, I can’t help but laugh! Things are way to serious in this world, and to go on a cruise and have the experience of a seasoned cruise director such as yourself, (THE BEST OF THE BEST), make you laugh and forget about everything else, is PRICELESS!!! So, when we pick a cruise with you as the cruise director, we do it knowing that we are going to have a fabulous time, no matter what! I recently was on a 15 night trans-Atlantic cruise on a different line, and only saw the actual cruise director one time. The rest of the time we saw the assistant cruise director. We had originally signed up to sail the trans-Atlantic with Carnival, but when Carnival bowed out of the European market for this season, we switched lines, and it just wasn’t the same!
Thanks for giving all of us a chance to spout off on these questions.
Sheryl
Hooray! Your first night alone with Kye, and a great job you did–nothing burned down or exploded.
Heidi and Kye look just beautiful in that picture and I’m looking forward to Kye Fridays, have a great weekend John!
I have never checked to see who the CD will be on a cruise. We are itinerary cruisers and that is what attracts us to a particulary cruise. Next is the size of the ship. We particularly like the small or medium sized ships. However once on board the CD can make a big difference in the cruise. We like it when the activities are run on time and if the morning show is humorous. We like to laugh and prefer the “comic” CD to the ones who have a talent for singing or dancing. Now if the CD is not to our liking we just happily continue along with our chosen itinerary and still end up being happy cruisers.
My answers to the Cruise Director questions
Yes it matters to me who the CD is going to be. It goes without saying I would book a cruise on any ship that John is CD even on one of those “other” ships……. kidding he would not step foot on one of those ships, so not to worry. I would like to cruise with Big Tex and will book a cruise next year on a ship that he is CD on if at all possible. There are a few CD’s that I would not book the cruise if I knew they were going to be the CD UNLESS it happened to be a cruise that was on a ship I definitely wanted to cruise on or it was going to some place we really really wanted to go.
The first time we cruised with John on the Glory was more fun than any cruise we had been on up to that time. He was the first CD that we could remember his name and everything he did on every show. He can make my hubby laugh out loud, something very few can do.
So yes your CD can definitely make a cruise a lot more fun. We enjoy the shows with the entertainers, singers, and dancers but we find the shows with the CD……….if he is funny…. a lot more entertaining than the shows.
John and Al Ernst together are so funny. John makes a very good straight man. Their humour remind you of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
From what little I saw of Big Tex during the bloggers cruise, I would say he is a CD with a lot of humour. I hope to find out.
We enjoyed David Tancock……… &% I forgot his stage name. recently on the Valor.
We booked the Valor just to cruise with John. Carnival took him off and sent him to Calif. We are cruising on the Freedom July 4th only to cruise with John. We don’t normally cruise in July.
Hope this answers your questions a little.
Countess Carolyn
Thanks for the Kye and Heidi fix. The picture is great.
John answers to your questions.
1. Only if John Heald is the CD on a ship at that time. If not it don’t make a difference.
2. Yes. The CD makes a big difference. I did a BTB for BC1 on the Freedom. The first week John Heald was CD and my sides were killing me from laughing so hard all week. The second week they got a good rest since there was no laughing with Todd W. as CD.
BIG ED
Hi John,
1. Who the CD is in no way influences which cruise we pick to take.
2. The public persona of the CD doesn’t influence our enjoyment of a cruise. The behind the scenes CD responsible for all the entertainment on board, I know can influence or enjoyment.
John,
A good CD energizes his whole staff. I find that if the CD is full of energy, so is his staff, if he is visible, so is his staff. The CD has to be organized. Otherwise, his staff will not be assigned to activities which need to be organized and well planned out. The social hosts/hostesses take their cue from the CD. At least that has been my experience. I remember you as the CD on the Triumph in its inauagural year and you made the cruise so much fun. In those days, the social hosts/hostesses were not so important or was ther such an animal? I think you had the entertainment dancers etc helping out with bingo etc.
You mentioned the Magic? When will it go into service and do you know from which port?
Hi John, Heidi & Kye
Who is going to be the CD is on which ship has no bearing on how I choise my next cruise. I have my favorites and you are on the top of the list with Butch a close 2nd, but all of the Carnival CD’s have their own personalities to contribute to the fun of my trip.
Love Grandma
CarolAnn
John: Have a wonderful family week-end. Thank you for the lovely picture of Heidi and Kye.
Marie
Hi John,
I haven’t written since Kye was born, so first…Congrats to you and Heidi, and welcome to Kye.
It is my belief a CD can enhance a cruise, but I refuse to let any one person make or break my vacation. The only time I looked for a cruise based on the CD has been trying to find one of your cruises this year. I missed cruising with you on the Freedom by just over a month.
Speaking of the Freedom, I had Todd as CD on the Freedom last year. I didn’t see him much, but I tend to avoid the loud and crowded venues. My personal perception was he didn’t seem very approachable after the shows, again my own perception. He was very good on stage and his Morning shows were funny and he is quick and witty. I did hear his Deck Party is something else.
Of all my cruises I think Risa was my favorite, she was personable, entertaining and very approachable.
I believe it was my cruise on the Spirit in ‘03 that Skippy was the ACD, saw him alot and he was like the Energizer Bunny, always going and high energy. And I see he is the CD on the Inspiration now, I may have to go visit him soon.
Anyways, Thanks for all you do. And thanks to Stephanie and her crew. All my best Heidi and Kye.
Cheers,
Ron(real life should be like a cruise)RN
We don’t book cruises based on the CD. Since we have kids in school, our cruises are based more on what cruises are sailing in a given week. I’d love to sail with you, John, but the schedule just doesn’t seem to work.
Does the CD make a difference? You bet. The three that have really stuck in my mind are Todd, Malcolm, and Chris Jefferson. To my mind, Todd is completely deserving of bringing our Dream. Maybe the Freedom cruise referenced in your Q&A section was out of the ordinary – on the two cruises we sailed with Todd, he was very visible and a great personality.
Good evening John. As far as your questions :
1. DOES WHO THE CRUISE DIRECTOR IS GOING TO BE ON A SHIP INFLUENCE YOUR BOOKING THAT CRUISE
My real influence is first the ship and where we are going
2. DO YOU THINK A CRUISE DIRECTOR CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO YOUR OVERALL CRUISE ENJOYMENT? IF YOU ANSWER YES…………..PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY
Yes, I think he/she sets the tone for the entire cruise. Unfortunately in my last three cruises, I rarely had any opportunity to even see the CD even though I would have enjoyed at least a chance to say hello.
That photo of Heidi was precious. How about having some family photos of all three of you. That would be great. Have a great weekend, rest and enjoy the time with your family. Ciao.
Paul F. Pietrangelo
John, PLEASE respond! I am sorry to say I agree with Big Ed, YES I would definitely book a cruise if I KNEW you were going to be the CD, in fact that was why we had booked the Freedom and Splendor, then last minute you were replaced. On the Freedom you were replaced with Todd, and I am sorry to say but he was very arrogant about everyone being upset that he took your place, in fact he read my letter on the morning show and said he was sick of hearing over and over again that he was not JOHN! That man needs an attitude check. He just does not have your personality or humor! Sorry if this upsets him!
Linda
John:
Storm is over…..had a few tornados. Everyone is ok.
To finish my post, of course you need to take as much time off as you need before you are away from your two special ladies.
Great picture!!
My good friend Rozwin will be waiting for you when you get on the Freedom.
Safe travels….
Linda (Mom of your friend ~ glad the storm is over~ DJ)
1. Who the CD is on the ship has no bearing on us booking the ship. You were the exception but then again it was because it was on a ship in our homeport.
2. Does the CD have a bearing on the outcome of our cruise……to this I would have to say yes. We have gotten to know a couple from repeatedly sailing on the same ship. Big Tex, Tori Secoy, Steve Cassel, Pappa Smurf (Lyons Skip) have all been great through the years. Like others have said, the common theme is that we are seeing less of them in the public areas.
Dave (looks like Kye is leaving you a present as well)
Hi John,
Have a terrific weekend and enjoy the time with your family.
Who the CD is going to be does not influence me in selecting which cruise we will do that year. I have never selected a cruise based on which CD was on-board, nor have I rescheduled a cruise based on the CD.
Since on sea days I like to join all of the scheduled activities (trivia, etc.), I guess I would have to answer yes, that the CD could make a difference in the overall enjoyment of my cruise since that is the person responsible for the scheduling of such activities. However, I would never let the lack of activities affect my overall enjoyment of my cruise/vacation.
Clair
No a CD does not matter when I book a cruise, we try to see different boats. We usually book at least 9 months or longer out. A CD does help make a cruise more of a memory. We had a great time with you on Glory, fantastic time with Big Tex on Fantasy, And Noonan on Imaganation and Destiny.
John please reply–
Sandra and I loved sailing with you on the Freedom and Splendor and wish you were joining us next month on the Spirit, but we look forward to meeting Bubba before he leaves and gets married. Didn’t he have a posting where he talked about his upcoming wedding to Julie in Vegas and where there was a link to the wedding webpage? I can’t seem to find it on the search. Could you give us the link information again?
PS: We also love the BEAUTIFUL pictures of Kye and Heidi and know that each day you’re not at home must be really hard for you!
Dear John, please reply,
Stu and I had the pleasure of sailing with you on the Freedom in 2007. We never laughed so much. (Bedtime story& Mount Holly). We booked the next year thinking you would be the cd again and was very disappointed to have someone else. That being said we now book our cruises based on two things. 1- YOU and 2-ports
I book a cruise based on where we want to go. I don’t book one just because of the CD.
I do however think the CD makes the cruise fun. Would I have fun without a cruise director? Maybe, I know we did not really care for our first CD, but have loved everyother one since. Our first one just had a weird personality, but I think that was just how she operated. I would love to sail with John Heald as my CD, but time will tell if that will happen.
John,
The most important factor in booking cruises for me is itinerary. Hope by the summer of 2010 a ship from Carnival, maybe the new Magic, will do a Med. run. This would make a great graduation trip for my granddaughter & me.
Even though CD does not influence my booking, he or she sets the tone of the cruise. When Gig & I did the Med. on Liberty we had no idea who the CD would be. Then you made your first announcement. We looked at each other & said together “That’s John”! And we were thrilled!
So you are truly the gold standard.
Thanks for the Kye picture & update.
Joyce
Hi John
Let me start by saying this latest picture you posted on Heidi and Kye is just beautiful…..You should have it enlarged….Heidi captures the true meaning of a brand new momma….
OK..question…I am going to be on the Sept 16 Vancouver, B.C.-Hawaii 12 day cruise and was wondering:
1. Who will be our cruise director and is he as awesome as you?
2. How do they determine who gets room upgrades among the people that book guarantee? I am hoping the upgrade fairy is good to us since this will be our 7th journey with Carnival…
God Bless to you and yours and know they are in my prayers daily….
~millie
Hi John -
OUR ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS:
1. We choose our cruises based on price and dates we can travel, not who the CD will be. I think unfortunately for us, you were our first on the Sensation, and once you’ve had the best – you know how the saying goes! We remain optimistic each time that the CD will entertain us – but it hasn’t happened since you.
2. In our 7 cruises with Carnival we only really enjoyed you as our cruise director. The rest have not had an impact on us. We still LOVE to cruise – and so far only on Carnival – the quality of the CD doesn’t spoil our fun – but as we know from having you – a great CD can triple the fun!
We really hope some day fate will put us on your ship again!
Get this GREAT rate. On June 17 we are sailing for 8 days – Eastern Caribbean on the Miracle out of NYC – for $550 each – prior military fare!! The food will be sweeter – the bed will sleep better – and the fun will be funner at that sweet price – ONLY CARNIVAL FOR US!
Beth & John Rivers
Canton, Ohio
About the cruise director thing… you KNOW how much I appreciate the roll that cruise directors play on board and my opinion about Carnival’s CDs…
Now, we have many folks on Cruise Critic who have debated this in the past. The majority of folks really enjoy the cruise directors and feel that who the cruise director is plays a part in what ship they book and when. Others, a very vocal minority, say that the cruise director is more of a distraction than anything else.
Now, for me, the cruise director is like an orchestra’s conductor… Without the conductor every member of the band starts and stops a different time and plays at a different tempo. Put the conductor back in the mix and synchronicity returns!!
Also, for good or bad, the cruise director is the necessary focal point of the voyage. He or she is the face of the cruise line, the point of contact. People who would have no clue about going to the Purser’s Desk would know to ferret out the cruise director.
Carnival has the best in the industry, no doubt, and they do FAR more than the job description requires. So many of these folks go overboard (no pun intended…
) to make vacations special for so many people that I can’t imagine how they find ANY time for themselves. No wonder they burn out and retire.
So, there you have it. One person’s view of cruise directors!!
Ciao!!!
Host Mach
Hi John
Thanks for the great pic of Mom and Baby Girl. I think we all look forward to those. I love the idea of the Friday update.
I read the comment from Wench Cindi about Todd as CD. I feel I must add my two cents worth about Todd. I have cruise with Todd 3 times in the past and have just the opposite opinion of him. He is by far the most energetic CD I have encountered in the 44 Carnival cruises I have been on. I always wondered how he kept up at the pace he did. He never seemed unapproachable at any time. In fact, he was everywhere!! He was at the casino bar on formal night, dancing at the deck party and oh my God, what a voice when he sang Satisfaction at the deck party. He did the fun hop for the color;s contest and threw beads at the Mardi Gras party. He always had a kind word and took time to chat when he could. I, personally think he is the best choice for bringing out the Dream, since you could not. He is such a high energy and entertaining person. As I said, he is the most energetic of any CD I have ever cruised with, Carnival or otherwise. I hope to get to cruise with him again sometime soon. Okay, that’s just an opinion from a Milestone’s Rewards Member of CCL. I just had to give my opinion.
My best to Heidi and Kye!!
Gloria aka Sue
John…
PLEASE REPLY…..
Why do so many of the ships these days have muster drill at sailaway? Does Carnival REALLY want to piss you off at the beginning of a vacation?
John
We do not book based on who the CD will be.
Over time we have sailed with some great ones including Brrrronson, Shawn Busey, Wee Jimmy and Chris Roberts to name a few. There was also a CD on the Jubilee who was a great juggler, unfortunately that is so long ago I can’t remember his name. We feel that the tone is really set by the folks we see all the time. Cabin Stewards, waiters, bartenders and others who clean the ship. We have made some very good friends from among these young people and they represent you very well.
Roger T
Does the CD make a difference on which cruise I book? At this point…not really. So far, I haven’t ran into any that I’ve disliked or thought did a bad job and, for the most part, I choose cruises on affordability which is why I usually cruise from Galveston as it’s a short drive away. The only exception to this so far has been my honeymoon first cruise and my New Years cruise on the Carnival Splendor. My daughter and I chose that one partly because we wanted to experience the new class of ship and mostly because we wanted to cruise with Greg Gallello in the piano bar again. That brings me to part two…
I hope that Greg Gallello is one of those being considered for the Carnival Dream…that will certainly influence my bloggers cruise decisions!
Sincerely,
Big Ed’s Little Cousin
Hello John! I’ve been a little out of the blog loop as I’ve had quite a bit going on in my neck of the woods. But hopefully, things will start to fall back into place.
I am still a relatively new cruiser (5 sailings) so I can’t say that the CD influences my choice of sailing. I prefer to sail based on itinerary and to experience a new ship. This is partly why our San Francisco swine flu cruise was such a bummer.
Though I don’t think the CD will make or break a cruise, I definitely think they enhance the experience. I can’t imagine a CD completely ruining a cruise but I guess I have been lucky enough to have excellent or at least decent CDs. And in case you are wondering, I have Butch at the top of my list!
With that being said, you are currently scheduled to be our CD for our October Legend sailing and I do hope your schedule doesn’t change! It was great to sail with you on the Blogger’s cruise but I look forward to having an opportunity to experience you as CD and add you to my list.
)
Colleen
Kye is a star!
Questions to CD questions –
1. Certainly is one of the factors for choosing which cruise to sail on. Other key factors are port of embarkation, itinery, price, rooms available, etc.
2. Like with any manager of a business, the cruise director is responsible for your safety, comfort, pleasurable experience, fun, activities, keeping the staff motivated, etc. CD’s have their signature activites (like Bedtime stories) that are another draw. As we are paying a bunch of hard earned money for the vacation, it is critical we have an amazing time – or we don’t come back. The CD makes that happen.
I have sailed with Malcolm, Shawn Bussey, Brent Alans and some others on Carnival – loved every minute. I sailed on the Princess – and while I had a fun time, I cannot remember the CD’s name. That says a lot for Carnival and the ability of a good CD to make that impression – as well as the assistants – (Marky Mark, etc)
One other thing – I also enjoy the Captains. They have a fabulous sense of humor and a ton of responsibility. Always enjoy hearing more about them and their staff – and always want more!!
Looking forward to meeting our CD in July – Josh – Big Sexy – and will miss Malcolm – as I booked that ship to sail with him again. Hope he is on the road to recovery and back cruising soon!!
Cathy
Keep up the great work. Looking forward to having the Carnival Dream based in Port Canaveral.
Generally knowing what CD is going to be on a ship does not make a difference in selecting that particular cruise for us. Dates, rates, cabins and ports usually make more of a difference. Sometimes the expected CD is not on the cruise for one reason or another.
Yes, a CD can have a big impact on the cruise along with the rest of their team, the skill, styles and atmosphere of the cruise. We’ve had a CD that must have loved hearing themselves on the PA and others that seem to know when to be on the PA, when to be in public and best yet actually acknowledge the guests around them as they go from area to area. Some people say they don’t see the CD at all during the cruise and maybe it’s too easy sometimes to travel in non public areas on board as they are going from place to place but the CD is the face of the cruise.
We’ve always have had a good cruise no matter what.
Hi John (please answer!)
Several us on the Cruise Critic board for our Glory October 31st cruise would like to know if we will have Halloween festivities on our cruise? I think I read somewhere (maybe here) that they would go until Oct. 31…but we sail that day. Can you help us out so we know whether to bring costumes? Thanks!!
In answer to your questions of the day. We don’t book a cruise based on the CD as we usually book far in advance and have no idea who will be the CD. Once onboard though, it makes a big difference. Our last cruise was on Glory and we had Butch and loved him. We were hoping that he would be on Dream. He was visible all the time and was friendly to everyone.
I loved the pic of Heidi & Kye. Both are so beautiful. You are one lucky man.
I have a few questions for you. On Cruise Critic people have posted that the Welcome Home credit is going to go the way of the dinosaur. Some have been told it is already gone while others say it is going away Aug. 1. What is the truth? I know trying to get the lower prices when I have the Welcome Home credit and Early Saver presents a problem in that I believe, possibly wrongly so, that not everyone who processes the price reduction knows how to read that the WH credit is something else. I say that because I had to send one form 3 times and for Dream 2 times as well as talk to my PVP several times to get the credit. If the prices go down on my next 2 cruises, is there some way to keep these problems from occurring when I send in the form? Any special wording? I did the form for our friends on Dream, same circumstances, they got the credit immediately, we didn’t. I sent the forms for my other family for Glory, but they didn’t have the WH credit and got their credits within 2 days. We are the only ones who had trouble.
Next question, I have looked at the Dream deck plans and I don’t see any fish n chips on there. I did see the Mongolian, Deli and Tandoor, but no Sur Mer or fish location. Is there one?
My last question, at least for today is that when we go on Glory Oct 17 to celebrate my dad’s 96th birthday, ( I know you told me to remind you before then and I shall) I am wondering if it is possible to get a table for 5 that is in a great location but accessible to a scooter. My dad is going to use one on this trip and he is able to walk, so if he couldn’t just “pull up” to the table, could we get a great table where he could park his scooter?
I know I have taken a lot of your time and I appreciate it so much. Thanks again.
Gerri & Frank
Hello John
Please reply
I read your blog every day and really enjoy your stories My wife and I have been on 8 Carnival cruises and have enjoyed them very much. We won a cruise while we were on the Holiday and have booked on the Destiny in July to go to Grand Turk. My question is, we want to upgrade our cabin from an oceanview to a balcony but Canrival say we can’t. were wandering why,we had to pay taxes on the cruise and claim it as income, so why can’t we pay for an upgrade
tns for you help
charles & betty spurlock
Janet and I have done 4 cruises, and we have 5 more booked ( we left word with our PVP to notify us when the Magic is available for B2B booking for our 10 & 11). And no, the CD has never been a factor. We have done different ships and different ports. Itinerary and date were more important to us. Though we are watching your schedule and would book to get a chance to see you, but it looks like it will be 2011 before we sail with you on the Magic. 2) To us the CD does not seem to make or break the cruise. I can only remember the name of one (Butch, and he was awesome). We always have a good time on a cruise. Even the last one, we loved our extra day in Grand Cayman (2nd to swine flu). Janet liked Skip (he was on the Inspiration for our cruise out of Tampa to Grand Cayman and … oh yeah… Grand Cayman… LOL). We find the good ones add to the cruise by being approachable, and personable, but the rest don’t really distract from the cruise, they are just there.
Shane & Janet
hi john heidi kye nice pic. and my son stillhas a fit before bed it only gets worse.
1. DOES WHO THE CRUISE DIRECTOR IS GOING TO BE ON A SHIP INFLUENCE YOUR BOOKING THAT CRUISE
it sure doesthey set the shows the entertaimnet on board they have to be friendly and wnat to be their not have their
so far 1 cd i dont care for.
2. Does the CD have a bearing on the outcome of our cruise yes it sure does if heacts like he dont want to be their then it makes the cruise suck alot. i loved my cruise on the destany butthe
cd wasntthrilled to be their his last week before vacation andhe didnt seem to be thrilledto be their sorry my space bar can be a pain lol.
my first cd cant rember his name retired in 2004 he wasacd on the imganiation then u john and skippy r great so far 4 cruises and 3 gret cds.
john can u get me in touch with Linda (Mom of DJ) he son has autisim my god son was just dianosed with autisum and my best friend was beside her self but shes ok now. ty tracy
John (Please Reply),
Congrats to Heidi and you on Kye! She is very cute! I love hearing the stories, seeing the pictures, and videos.
1. I generally pick my cruise based on the dates I’m available. Before reading the blog I never even considered booking based on CD. In booking this last cruise, my friend and I were waffling about which cruise to take and settled on the Freedom so we could cruise with you as our CD.
2. I think the CD does have an impact on how enjoyable the cruise turns out to be. I had great CDs the last two times I cruised. I like to go to the shows and talks so it helps when the person hosting is funny/entertaining. Also as the CD can’t be in all places at all times, I find the social host staff to be an important part of the cruise. Passengers seem to feed not only off of their own happiness to be on the ship but also off the individual staff members who run the activities.
Now for the question:
I am sailing on the Freedom Aug 1 (for a much needed break after studying for and taking the bar exam…they let me out of law school even though I spent a lot of time reading your blog…hmmm) and was wondering if you could give your input on what the best excursions are or the must see things in Panama and Costa Rica?
Can’t wait to be on board and excited for you to be our CD!
Thanks,
TJ
Trac,………..y click on Big Ed’s name. That will take you to his blog and he can get your email address and forward it on to Linda
Countess Carolyn
Tracy:
Please feel free to give your God Son’s Mom my email address:
musicalcruiser@hotmail.com
Just have her put “Autism” in the subject line and tell her to ask anything she has a question about or if she just needs to talk….that’s ok too!
DJ is currently 17 years old…so he was raised during a time when there wasn’t a lot known about this disorder. We took it one day at a time…in school, his every day life and traveling.
All they knew back then was “Rainman” and (of course as we know now) … the spectrum of Autism is as vast and unique as the individual child.
DJ has the form of Autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. And even AS can have a wide range of function. DJ is high functioning in certain areas, but he will probably never live independently.
We are blessed that he does follow direction well and can maintain a certain amount of “independence” on a cruise ship. This level of independence is directly related to how comfortable he feels. The more comfortable he feels, the more he is willing to do on his own.
Please tell your Mom …. that no subject is off limits and there is no fear of “saying the wrong thing”. We are just Moms doing the best we can for our special children.
Linda (Mom of the greatest kid in the world DJ)
John,
Here are our answers:
1. DOES WHO THE CRUISE DIRECTOR IS GOING TO BE ON A SHIP INFLUENCE YOUR BOOKING THAT CRUISE
Absolutely – we don’t like the “never seen or never heard from” CD’s – and they are out there in Carnival land unfortunately – we wish all CD’s were cloned from you as it makes a big difference to us who will be in hosting us the entire cruise. Some don’t have that “personality factor” that makes a special CD.
2. DO YOU THINK A CRUISE DIRECTOR CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO YOUR OVERALL CRUISE ENJOYMENT? IF YOU ANSWER YES…………..PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY
We have been on 9 cruises with Carnival – 1 with the “Seas” and 1 with Holland America – never saw the cruise director with Holland or “Seas” and that is a big part of why we only sail with Carnival now. Cruises are the time we relax and enjoy time off from hectic jobs and we want to be pampered and entertained. To us that starts from the CD on down. There have only been a couple of Carnival cruises where the CD left a lot to be desired. You by far have been the BEST CD we ever had and “Resa Barnes” is pretty good too. But she has left the Inspiration and gone on to another ship.
Give our best to Heidi and Kye – what a beautiful baby she is!!
See you in 172 days on the Dec. bloggers cruise.
Jet and Mike
1. DOES WHO THE CRUISE DIRECTOR IS GOING TO BE ON A SHIP INFLUENCE YOUR BOOKING THAT CRUISE
No, and not even the ship. I cruise for the ports, the places the ship will take us. I would hope that the CD would be good; as I do believe they make the cruise so much more fun and enjoyable.
2. DO YOU THINK A CRUISE DIRECTOR CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO YOUR OVERALL CRUISE ENJOYMENT? IF YOU ANSWER YES…………..PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY
Yes, and YES YES YES. I can’t tell you how much we loved our last cruise to Europe as yes John, you were our CD. You made is special in more ways that I can count. I had been blogging a couple of months before the Splendor sailed on her first cruise, so I had a general idea just what we would be in for
. I do not think there is anyone on Carnival’s CD “list” that can compare to you. You are not the Senior CD because of your age 
, you are the Senior CD because you are hands down the very very best. And when a cruiser has the very best CD they are in store for a wonderful cruise.
I understand why so many are disappointed that you are not going to be the CD on the Dream. I hope you decide to go on the Dream when she firsts sails, if not for a little bit. I know if I were sailing her I would be very disappointed that you were not the CD. John, you do make it very hard for the rest of the CD’s, you are a hard act to follow.
Keep smiling John, you are truly one of the good guys.
Hope you are enjoying your day off. My best to Heidi and Kye.
Hello. I haven’t commented in a while but wanted to add my opinion on a few of these items.
I no longer focus on who the cruise director will be because I have found that I don’t have the same taste in cruise directors as many others. Many people like the cruise directors and cruise staff who are good performers (ex. Todd sings at the deck party) and showy (ex. James Lay on Princess always saying, “and a very good evening to you . . .” I value the cruise directors who are funny and get the passengers to connect with them and each other since the entertainment staff can sing and dance.
My family loves to attend trivia and games which are usually run by the cruise staff. On the Carnival Freedom last summer, we found some staff that simply waited until the announced time for trivia and then handed out pencils and papers. Others would use the downtime to talk to passengers, encourage people to participate, introduce passengers to each other, etc. What a difference!
Despite the style differences, I always have a good time and remember the cruise will be fun if you yourself plan to have fun.
Lastly, the Great Cruises episode on the Travel Channel hosted by Samantha Brown that featured the Carnival Freedom was a big disappointment. My family sailed on the ship last summer and loved the ship. The show did not do the ship justice. It never showed the buffet, the pizza area, the grill or many of the other food options. The episode also didn’t show any highlights of the entertainment or the shows. The crew were not featured much either. Way too much of Samantha Brown chatting on and on. Oh well. Thought you might want the feedback since Carnival was a sponsor.
Audrey
Hi John,
Love the pics.. what a beautiful baby!!
As far as the CD question…..
The CD does NOT make or break my cruise…. but the Social Staff can!
I, like a previous poster, spend a good amount of my time playing trivia and games. The social hosts can be wonderful…. or they can be just bored kids who want to do anything BUT host a trivia game.
It really makes the difference.
But, I will, however, say that on our last cruise, the CD influenced the behavior of the rest of the staff. Our CD was leaving Carnival within a week, and it was quite evident that both he and his staff was just “going through the motions”. I actually thought the assistant CD was doing all the work, and the stress on her face showed throughout the week.
We have only repeated a CD once in our nine cruises… and well.. that happened to be YOU – but 12 years from the first to the second! And.. it was the only cruise that we can say the CD was an influential part of our enjoyment.
Catrin
Heidi you look beautiful! Almost as pretty as Kye! Motherhood really agrees with you!
John I think you should stay home and be the full time caretaker for Kye…nevermind, I woudn’t want to punish Kye that way.
I do not book a cruise for the CD (unless it is going to be you John).
I book the cruise first for the ship, then the port and last for the price. Being from Illinois there is no really close port.
Take care of that precious little girl!
Please Reply!
John,
Well I have a few things for you since it’s been awhile since I posted! First, I’ll start by answering your questions
1) 1. DOES WHO THE CRUISE DIRECTOR IS GOING TO BE ON A SHIP INFLUENCE YOUR BOOKING THAT CRUISE
It doesn’t entirely influence our decision. Most of it depends on destinations, time of year, and of course, price. However, we’ve met some amazing Carnival employees along the way and would go out of our way to cruise with them! Even though we’ve never had the pleasure of crusing with you (and I’ll get to that later), we’d strongly consider a cruise that you were planning to do. We’d also definitely book again specifically because of Goose, Wee Jimmy, Big Sexy, several social hosts, and 1 amazing dance captain (Claire).
2. DO YOU THINK A CRUISE DIRECTOR CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO YOUR OVERALL CRUISE ENJOYMENT? IF YOU ANSWER YES…………..PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY
Yes, I do. I can give you several examples. We loved sailing with Goose, because he went of his way to make our cruise even more memorable. He knew our names and he always seemed happy to see us at all the events. (and we normally particpate in everything!) That cruise on the Splendor is probably my very favorite. We loved Wee Jimmy and thought he was a top notch cruise director, but his entertainment staff was lackluster at best. They didn’t seem into the trivia and fun stuff and we didn’t have quite as much fun on that Glory trip. It also could be because Big Sexy and Stitch were so much fun on the Elation the year before. But an involved CD can definitely have an impact on your cruise.
Ok, so now to my questions!
After a pretty rough week, I thought my eyes were fooling me when I saw John Heald on Carnival Legend on 9/27! My heart jumped!! We are booked on that sailing! I finally convinced my parents to switch to Carnival after their cruises on
“wedon’tevengiveyoubathrobestouse of the seas.” It’s a cruise I’m really looking forward to because not only am I going with my best friend Ashley again, but my parents are coming as well as the friends we made on the Splendor last December! The cruise is special in many ways. My dad will not only be celebrating his birthday during the cruise, but he will also be celebrating his retirment from the US Army after 30 years of service. He is going to be retiring as a LT Colonel.
I had hoped to write you a few weeks before to see if you would be able to welcome them with open arms to Carnival with a special something in their room. However, this is even more exciting news!!
Would it be possible for our group to meet up with you while you are on board? I got to meet you in Philly and now my best friend and parents can meet you too!
Also, would you be able to arrange a special surprise for my parents? I plan on paying to have their room decorated on his birthday, October 1st later in the sailing, but something to greet them to the awesomeness that is Carnival would be so appreciated! I’ve even hooked my mom on reading your blog!
Another request-if you are able, could you do a bedtime stories on that sailing? It’s the one can’t miss John Heald activity I’ve heard so much about! And even though you won’t be CD yet, I’m sure everyone else on the sailing would love Bedtime Stories.
And last request for now (I promise), do you know anything about being able to book the Private Island (Bannister Island) tour in Belize? It’s still not showing up and one that my entire group would like to do. If it doesn’t seem to be available, what else would you recommend in Belize?
And thanks to your recommendations, we are going to try out the Supper Club on this ship! We know it’s going to be amazing and can’t wait!
Thanks John!
Sarah
PS-we have some adorable things for you to pass onto little Kye when we see you!
As platinum cruisers, we don’t book a particular ship just because of the CD, but the CD does have an impact once we are onboard – mostly for announcements and hosting of the shows. We just completed a cruise on the Legend last week and we very disappointed at the CD. Apparently so were many other people but we don’t let that “make or break” our enjoyment of the cruises we take. We sailed with Todd last year and thought he was very good. Josh “Big Sexy” was an assistant CD on a prior ship we sailed and we thought at that time that he would make a great CD. Big Tex from the February bloggers cruise was also very good. We just booked the Dream for late January 2010 because you announced you are going to be the CD while Todd is on vacation so I hope your schedule doesn’t change in the meantime. We never received the cabin gift you were supposed to send to our military son last week, but I know that you are busy and that was okay. He and the other 2 servicemen who were on the cruise were indeed invited to dine with the Captain of the Legend and that was a very enjoyable evening for all of us. I am sending a photo to Stephanie under separate cover as you asked for a photo once we all returned. Keep the photos of Heidi and Kye coming as we all enjoy seeing them! Thanks John.
John,
I just wanted to give you my thoughts on whether a cruise director makes or breaks a cruise.
On my first Carnival cruise in 2001, I took my mom on the Fantasy, and couldn’t tell you a thing about the CD – not even if the CD was male or female. It didn’t matter. My mom and I had a great time and enjoyed each other’s company. It was a short 3-day cruise, but we created a lot of fun, long-lasting memories.
Three years later, my hubby and I cruised on the then-new Carnival Miracle. Todd was the cruise director, and Big Tex was the assistant CD. We had a ball and thoroughly enjoyed Todd’s energy and humor.
One evening, for example, the comedian scheduled for the adult-only show had an emergency and was unable to board the ship. Rather than cancel the show, Todd got some of the staff together for an improv “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” type of show. What a riot! I laughed so hard, my sides ached and my face was streaked with tears.
We had such a good time on the Miracle, we booked yet another cruise for that same year. This time, we sailed the Celebration. Our CD was Risa and we were happy to discover Big Tex was again the assistant CD. We had another great time, although we didn’t see Risa quite as often during our cruise.
Flash forward 5 years, and we FINALLY got to experience a Carnival cruise again. This time, we brought our 3-year-old daughter, as well as my mom and a family friend. We sailed the Glory with Butch (his last cruise as Glory CD), and it was the best cruise EVER! Honestly, I saw Butch on the TV once or twice, and caught 2-3 of the shows he hosted/MC’d. Otherwise, I never saw him, not even at the past-guest party, since the main lounge was overcrowded, and we were directed to one of the two “overflow” lounges. Again though, everyone in our group had the best time ever. We had so much fun, I booked hubby, our daughter, and I a May 2010 cruise on the Dream within a week of debarkation from the Glory!
Anyway, I guess the point of my long rambling is that while a good cruise director can certainly ENHANCE my cruise experience, I don’t rely on the CD to make my cruise fun. (That’s just too much pressure for any one person anyway!)
The purpose of my cruise is to enjoy my family and make special memories we can share for a lifetime. Therefore, I think it’s up to ME to make those memories, since I know my family better than anyone. With the exception of our Carnival Dream cruise next year, we’ve never known who the cruise director was until we boarded the ship. A good CD is certainly a nice “perk,” but an unremarkable CD doesn’t dampen my cruise fun one bit.
Dear John…please reply
I am sad to say that the gift for my grandson’s 18th birthday back in April has still not arrived. I’ve sent the address in twice now, and we are moving soon, so unless it’s already on the way, I just want to thank you for the effort you made to get it to him.
Thanks again…Irene (hooked on cruising)
Hi John,
The October 12th Dream sailing will be our 5th cruise. Despite having had some great adventures, I couldn’t tell you the name of a single CD that we’ve cruised with (although I remember thoroughly enjoying the husband and wife who did the job on the RCL Vision of the Seas when we went to Alaska in 2006). While I know that each CD is responsible for training their staff and implementing great programs, I don’t know enough about any of them to make it important when booking a cruise. So far, our key factors have been itinerary (for instance, Carrie REALLY wanted to see Dubrovnik, so it influenced our choice of European cruises) and schedule so we could cruise with family and friends.
Hi John!
)
It would be wonderful to have you as guest CD for part of our cruise on Carnival Dream Sept 21…
please come armed with many photos of Heidi and Kye.. and join me for a bit of celebrating for my birthday ( I am in one of the 9A’s and will share my secret with you while we sail
Just stopping by to say hi to all three of you and answer your question. I have only been on one cruise so far and to be honest, the only time I saw Chris Jefferson (Valor at the time) was at the Captain’s party & at the night shows announcing next act. I have not seen him anywhere else on the ship in whole 8 days either. I would have liked to, but it’s not end of the world. I am not going on a cruise to spend my precious time with a cruise director ;o) I know the CDs are busy. On the other hand, I was a little bit dissapointed that I will not meet you on Dream in Europe this fall, but it’s okay (I’m sure we’ll meet one day). I have high hopes for Todd being able to deliver her. I’ll give you full report when I get back ;o)
1. DOES WHO THE CRUISE DIRECTOR IS GOING TO BE ON A SHIP INFLUENCE YOUR BOOKING THAT CRUISE
N0 – that is primarily based on the calendar. But if I had a choice of CDs for the dates/port I wanted, then maybe.
2. DO YOU THINK A CRUISE DIRECTOR CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO YOUR OVERALL CRUISE ENJOYMENT? IF YOU ANSWER YES…………..PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY
Absolutely yes. The CD sets the whole tone of the cruise. A good one can help unite the passengers into one big family of fun! A bad one can just give you a bad taste every time you hear or see them. The energy of the entire cruise can be driven by the CD.
Dear Kye, Heidi and John:
Welcome to Kye from Jaime’s parents. I know she will be joining you on the Freedom soon, so I thought it best to email mazel tov (congratulations) to you before Jaime arrives. Sorry we are unable to join you on the Freedom, but we do plan to cruise again sometime in the future. We were very fortunate to sail on the Splendor (again) to Mexico and had simply the best time.
Enjoy your precious family, Fondly, Janet and Bob
Hi John!
Love the Heidi/Kye pic. Thanks for posting.
Can’t believe that its already time for you to come back across the pond. Good luck and i hope your flights go better than last time.
Queen Elizabeth is going to be amazing if she’s anything like her peers.
Chippendale’s on ships…Hmmm…i don’t even know how to comment on this.
Thanks again and take care!
David
I am taking my husband on the Carnival Liberty on November 7 to celebrate his birthday (60 years young) on November 8. Aside from booking the supper club, I would like to make his day really special. It is a day at sea…Will there be any tours of the bridge? I know he would be thrilled with this – I would even pay for it. He is not much of a spa man and I don’t think the Liberty will allow him to fly his model airplane off the deck. Anything else you can suggest would be greatly appreciated.
btw Heidi looks fantastic, looks like she has lost most of the baby weight. Kye is adorable.