I have complained many times before here on the blog thingy about my conversations with people from our marketing department and the fact that when they talk to me I have no bloody clue what they are saying. But its not just those blue sky thinking, tofu eating beardies who speak a language that makes my hemorrhoids flair up………it’s………..well…………..loads of people. It seems to be common place for people to have a conversation with me and in it use weird meaninglessness jargon.
For example, today I was talking to one of our vice presidents about ways of improving our Carnival Capers (and look out for news on this early next year) and during our five-minute conversation she must have said “At the end of the day” at least half a dozen times. Whenever she said this, I wanted to respond: “At the end of the day, it’s night so do you want me to call you back at midnight?”
This got me thinking about other sayings that are teeth-grindingly irritating. During the cruise director’s conference one CD (who will remain nameless…for now) kept saying “To be honest with you…” Why do you feel the need to tell me you are being honest with me? Is it because everything else you say is a load of bollocks? Bugger off.
As for my most annoying marketing term…….well, that was difficult to choose. In third place was “swankify”……….I have no idea what it means but the next Carnival executive to say it to me may find out what its like to hold a meeting with their mouth duct-taped shut and their arse being used as a vase.
In second place is “I will give 110%”………I wrote about this a few months ago saying that 100% is no longer enough. Well, I promise the next person who tells me that I need to give 110% that I will actually give 147%…….in making sure they get the good news with a cattle prod.
However, it’s not a marketing phrase that comes into the charts at number one. Nope. This is a saying that I think started on the ships and has migrated to the Miami office where it has spread quicker than Paris Hilton after drinking a bottle of vodka. The entire entertainment department says it. The entire Hotel Ops department says it and it is………“Do you know what I mean?”
The problem is that today, while talking to Heidi…I said, “Do you know what I mean?”…I have caught the disease……..and I will give 110% to try and make sure I stop saying it but to be honest with you, if I can’t think of words to use instead to swankify my sentences, at the end of the day…………….I think I am buggered.
Time for today’s questions………………away we go.
Charles Asked:
John, (Please Reply if you can)First off I would like to wish you, Heidi and Kye a wonderful Holiday season and a Happy New Year. I also wanted to thank you for the entertainment that you provide through your daily blog. What a great way to start out the day. I love your humor.
I wanted to say thank you to Carnival for all of the great times I have had when cruising with you. I have been on 6 cruises previously and all have been with Carnival. It is fantastic. We will be sailing on the Carnival Spirit January 6, 2010 along with some family and friends. It started out with a group of 7 of us going (3 Cabins), and we ended up with a total of 16 Cabins booked and 34 people going. I have been working with Carnival’s Group Planning Department to set this all up, and believe me I have called them many, many, many times. Everyone one on that team needs to be commended, as every time I did call, regardless of the reason, they were very professional and were always able to help. It didn’t matter if it pertained to booking a new cabin, getting price reductions, or answering simple questions. I talked to so many people; I couldn’t possibly list them all here. I wanted to just say “Thank You” to them.
I would also like to thank a PVP that helped me in booking 4 of my previous cruises. Her name is Jacquie Vasquez. Jacquie was the first PVP I contacted several years ago and was fantastic in the performance of her job. She was very knowledgeable and took care of everything for me. I was really impressed with her. Jacquie would go above and beyond what she was required to do (I am sure), as she would call me from her home (after normal work hours) with answers to my questions due to the time zone differences between the East Coast and the West Coast. The first cruise she booked for me was with a wonderful lady I had met. The second cruise she booked for me was with the same wonderful lady, but also with 4 additional cabins for the wonderful ladies 5 sons, wives & fiancés, as I told Jacquie I was going to propose to this wonderful lady. Jacquie made sure everything was taken care of and I had no worries. The last two cruises Jacquie booked for me were back to back cruises aboard the Carnival Pride. The first week was with my fiancé and the second week was when we got married aboard the Carnival Pride and then sailed with Family and Friends. Jacquie took care of booking all 10 cabins. We never had to worry about anything during this wonderful cruise.
We will be celebrating our 2nd Anniversary the day we go aboard the Carnival Spirit on January 6th, 2010 and are so looking forward to another fantastic time aboard with Carnival.
The only time I have ever had an issue on a cruise, was when I had ordered some flowers for our room on one cruise (when we did the back to back cruises). I had requested the flowers for the first day of our cruise, but there was a mistake and they did not get delivered until the first day of the second week of cruising. I have again ordered some flowers to be in our room when we go on board (along with a couple of other items), and hate to ask, but could you be of any help in making sure these things are delivered when they are supposed to be? I hate to ask, but the flowers wouldn’t mean as much if they are not on board when we arrive, as it is our anniversary.
John, again I want to thank you for all you do, and also all of the other wonderful employees at Carnival. Each time we sail, we start talking about booking our next cruise. Of course it will be with Carnival.
Thank you for your time.
Best Regards,
CharlesJohn Says:
Hello CharlesWhat a great way to start today’s Q&A session and it is truly kind of you to take the time to write to me about your experiences and the incredible levels of service you have found during your Carnival voyages.
I was particularly glad to read your words of praise for the group department and your PVP Jacquie and I shall make sure that her supervisor gets to read them. My apologies about the flower delivery on your last cruise and I have sent your request to the ship to ask them to do as you requested and have the flowers delivered on the first day.
I wish you a fantastic cruise and please let us know all about your experiences when you get home.
Best wishes to all
JohnSlickabrina Asked:
John, please reply….Hello John!
By the time you read this, I hope you are making the most of your time with your 2 favorite ladies! While home, I am almost hoping you might not blog quite as much so you can spend as much quality time with them as you can.With that being said, this may have been asked before but, has any consideration ever been given to creating a book with the photos you have shared with us on the blog through the years? They really are stunning. Maybe a limited amount of books and available only through the blog. And perhaps a portion of the proceeds going to charity?
(Don’t mind me thinking out loud here…!)
I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your girls!!
ColleenJohn Says:
Hello ColleenI love it when bloggers think aloud and express an idea and an opinion here on the blog thingy. Your idea is indeed an excellent one and I will be passing this up the line. As you know, we are working now with the St. Jude Children’s Hospital and you can expect a lot of ways for our guests to help if they wish to.
I have it in mind this year to work on a book and photos and tying it in with the charity is a wonderful one.
Thanks for sharing it and I will keep you informed on the progress.
Best wishes
JohnBrian Selleck Asked:
Hi John, John please reply.I email a letter to upper management and I’m trying to get something resolved. I didn’t want bother you but I sail in less then 3 weeks and its not resolved yet. There was a big mess with my group booking; I have a copy of the email I can send you. I would rather not post it on here as its error that carnival has caused me and I know that’s not a normal thing with carnival.
Thank youJohn Says:
Hello Brian
I am glad you were able to contact me and I have sent this information to the Vice President of our Care Team. Please let me know if you need any further assistance
Best wishes
JohnMichael Hester Asked:
Hey John,This is one of your Tennessee guys from the Conquest and the Fantasy. I keep up with your blog every day and miss all the good times that we had back then. In today’s blog you told about the age difference in you and Heidi when you met. Let me tell you about my mother and father. They met when he was 23 and my mother was 15. It was love at first sight and they were married not much longer after that. They were married for almost 50 years when my mother passed away back in 2003. Everyone told them it would not last a week, everyone was wrong. So to the ladies that give you that dirty look. Guess who was wrong then and now, I hope that you, Heidi and Kye have as many happy years together as my mother and father.
Oh and I forgot would please reply to this as I and my brothers Larry and Thomas would love to hear from you.
Your Friends forever
Michael, Larry and Thomas HesterJohn Says:
Hello Michael, Larry and ThomasThank you all for your wonderful support of the blog thingy and of Carnival Cruise Lines. I must say that say that despite being 44…..nearly 45……bugger…….that Kye has made me feel young again.
I thank you for your kind words and I hope that we will have a chance to all sail together again very soon and create wonderful and fun memories together.
Best wishes
Johnflipflopcruisequeen Asked:
John, PLEASE RESPOND.Have you started to pack for your trip home to see your girls? Remember, Heidi isn’t there to do it for you! I am sure you have had a blast with all the bloggers, and hopefully next year I will be able to join you. But, thanks for all the updates. Did you do the Bedtime Story for them??? That is my favourite part of the cruise with you. Well, let me be one of the first to wish you, Heidi and Kye a most wonderful Christmas and the happiest, healthiest New Years ever. We will miss your daily blogs, but totally understand. You need plenty of quality time with your girls! Have a safe trip across the pond, hopefully on anything but “Easy Jet”!
SherylJohn Says:
Hello SherylThank you for the kind words and I am sorry that you could not join us for the Bloggers Cruise. It was a lot of fun and I hope you can join us on the next one.
I didn’t perform the bedtime story but I do promise to film it and put it on the blog as soon as I get back on board.
Thanks again and my best wishes to you and all the family.
JohnBearded Bill from Boulder Asked:
John – (The favour of a reply is requested)I’m new to your blog and still can’t believe you actually respond to people… quite exceptional in an era of indifference to others. Good show.
We’ll be on Dream March 20 w/our 3 kids in tow. I just noticed on the photos above that it appears the toddler-sized splash area we saw in the computer renderings did not make the final design. Am I seeing correctly? It looks like a basketball court is there now. I’ve searched 100s of photos and scores of videos and have been unable to see it in real life. It had a few tube slides no more than a few metres in length… it was clearly a kiddie thing.
I would very much appreciate an answer – and could you perhaps advise what “splash park” type areas there might be which a 21 month old could enjoy? We were very excited to see that in the design, and are hopeful her mum and I can recline in a sun-lounger whilst nursing pina coladas as she frolics about.
I truly appreciate your dedication to your guests.
- Bearded BillP.S. – note the attempts to employ your native tongue despite my pure Yank ancestry. Please do humour my request for a reply.
God Save the Queen! ;o)John Says:
Hello Bearded Bill (great blog name)It is an honour (spelt correctly) to welcome you to our humble blog thingy and I hope it brings you minutes of fun and information. You are correct that we did take out the kiddies splash pool which is as you said a basketball court. It was decided that due to the number of guests who were actually taking their kids to the one on the Carnival Splendor that a basketball court would be utilized more by our guests. Your children can enjoy splashing around at the area at the bottom of the slides and of course the main pool if you wish. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a splash park because Kye is sailing next year and she loves the water. I will be your Cruise Director when you sail and I will do all I can to make sure that you and the family have the best cruise ever.
Thanks for the British tone to the blog and for the volley of “God Save The Queen” to which I say “God Bless America.”
Best wishes to all
JohnWanda Asked:
Hello JohnHope all is well, I wanted to let you know that my family and I will be sailing on the Pride this coming DEC 20 out of Baltimore to celebrate my daughter’s 18th birthday.
I will like to ask you if is possible to do something special for her while on the ship. I really don’t know who’s the CD on that ship that’s the reason I write you. Can you pass my info to them? My cabin number is 4130. I hope you get this letter on time and thank you so
Much for all the hard work.
Best wishes’
Wanda.John Says:
Hello WandaI hope you had a brilliant cruise on the Carnival Pride. I did write to the ship asking them to do something for your daughter’s birthday. I hope they were able to do so.
Best wishes to you and the family
JohnKathy M. Asked:
Dear John, Please Reply.I guess today, was not a good day for me to read your blog. I was under the impression (as was some others) that you were going to do your next bloggers cruise on the West Coast, but I see once again, we are as what some would call, we have been pushed to the back to the bottom of the list. You have done 3 bloggers cruises to date to the Caribbean, don’t you feel it is time for you to finally do, at least one bloggers cruise, on the WEST COAST before you are transferred back to Europe. John, you know I am one of your biggest fans, but I just can’t travel to the East Coast, so I beg you to please reconsider this and maybe try and do it when you are on the Carnival Spirit. I know that all of your West Coast fans will be eternally grateful and will fill that ship. Just in the town where I live I did a poll in our local forum of how many people would go on a John Heald’s bloggers cruise and I got 76 people that said they would go and only 4 that said that the would not, 10 said maybe, so I know that your West Coast fans would fill that ship and you would probably have to have a waiting list for people to book the cruise.
Please give my love to Heidi and Kye.
From your #1 Bloggy Thingy Fan
Kathy M.John Says:
Hello Kathy MI am not sure still where the next Bloggers Cruise will be and when and nothing has been finalized. I did think about a West Coast ship but it seems that the vast majority of bloggers did not think this was a good idea. I am still trying to decide what to do to try and appease everyone. Please don’t me upset and remember that I will be the CD of the Carnival Spirit sailing out of California late next year and I do hope that you will be able to join me.
Maybe, if you have 76 people who said they would cruise with me we could organize a mini bloggers cruise on the Carnival Splendor next year. Please allow some time to work on this.
Regardless I truly hope that we get to sail with each other very, very soon as I realize that I have neglected you and many others who live out West.
Best wishes
JohnLynda Ulrich Asked:
John (please reply).Hi John, we just got off the Fantasy this morning and couldn’t wait to tell you how great the cruise was. I would like it if you could pass this on to the people who should know about it.
1) First time on your time dinning. It was wonderful. We never had to wait. The second night we got “Made,” yes that’s his name, as our head waiter and his team. We asked for him all the other nights. When he saw us he’d call us by name. He would stand next to the table and talk to us. And the food was great. Our last two cruises were on the Holiday in Sept. and Nov. and they didn’t offer your time dinning.
2) The social hosts, Dave, Lewis and Brandon, were some of the best we’ve ever had. We told them our names the first time we saw them and they called us by name at all activities. We will be back on The Fantasy in Jan. and are happy that Lewis and Brandon will still be there. But sad that Dave will be on vacation. We were happy to see that Brandon will be on our Panama Canal cruise on the Elation in May. I know it will be great.
So please John, make sure these wonderful people get the recognition they deserve.
Have a great time home with the family.
LyndaJohn Says:
Hello LyndaMy goodness it sounds like you had a brilliant time on the Carnival Fantasy and thank you so much for telling us all about it. I was very glad to read about your anytime dining experiences and I know that the people in the office will be very glad to know that it’s working and being enjoyed by our guests.
The entertainment staff sound excellent and I will be letting their supervisor know all about their brilliant work.
I hope on your next Carnival Fantasy cruise you have even more fun and take the time to tell us all about your wonderful experiences.
Thanks again and best wishes
John
That’s all for today and my thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post a comment.
Let me just refer back to yesterdays blog thingy where I was asked to post some photos of the Camp Carnival, Circle C and Club O2 facilities on your Carnival Dream…………..here they are.
I hope you enjoyed the photos of the Carnival Paradise yesterday. You know, I have never served on that ship in any capacity, either in the bar or entertainment departments. But judging from yesterday’s photos and the ones I am going to share with you now, it looks like the Carnival Paradise should be on my list of ships that are a must visit.
I hope you enjoy these that the 343 Stephanies have once again placed into one of those brilliant slide show thingies.
Do you remember that last week I wrote about the record that Carnival Corporation set a record of the number of guests visiting the ports that we have developed? I am of course talking about Puerto Maya/Cozumel, Grand Turk, Mahogany Bay/Isla Roatan and Half Moon Cay.
Well, that record did not last long as you will see from the email I received today from our Super Spy PA 007.
Hello John and hello bloggers
I thought you might like to read about a new record that was just set. During the week ending December 27th, we had a record number of ships and passengers in our 4 corporate ports. If you added them altogether Carnival Corporation had over 86,000 passengers and 33 calls in those ports.In Grand Turk we had two 3 ship days. In the case of Carnival ships, we served 48,800 guests in all 4 ports. Both Crown Princes and your Carnival Dream John are in for the first time in Mahogany Bay. This means between them we have 7,844 pax and 2,544 crew visiting this awesome new port of call.
Happy New Year
PA 007
Thanks PA and a very happy new year to you and I hope that you will have more breaking news for us this coming year.
Well, talking of the New Year its now time for me to announce the first ever Blog Thingy awards for 2009. So, as I sit here…………in my underpants…………let’s get started.
1. THE AWARD FOR PORT OF CALL OF THE YEAR.
Now, this was actually an easy one for me as there is one clear winner. It is of course ……………. MAHOGANY BAY, ISLA ROATAN.
Carnival Corporation has designed a stunning new pier and facilities including the superb ski lift to the beach. It is however not just the new facility that wins the award but the people, the scenery and the shore excursions that made this the hands down winner. During my month on the Carnival Legend I had so many, many people tell me that they wanted to spend more time there and that it was their new favourite port. So, congratulations to the people of Isla Roatan and congratulations to Giora Israel and his team at Carnival Corporation & plc for making this a must visit destination.
2. THE AWARD FOR SHIP OF THE YEAR
Now, you probably already know which ship I am going to give the award to don’t you? Well, before you see if you are correct let me give some honourable mentions. I want to start with the Holiday. Yes, I know she is part of our past but it would just not be right not to mention her. She gave you and I and hundreds of thousands of Carnival guests so many amazing memories and in many ways we will miss her.However, there can be only one winner………and that of course…….is the Carnival Legend for hitting the ………..kidding……..the winner is…….your Carnival Dream. She is quite simply, jaw droppingly beautiful. She retains all of the Carnival features that have served us and you so well and of course with her new entertainment areas, new stateroom designs and guest spaces has enabled us to offer new and brilliantly exciting features to your cruise vacation. Plus…….. your Carnival Dream wins this award because due to her immediate success……..Carnival and you were awarded a new ship following on from the Carnival Magic…..the ummmmm……. Carnival Thingy. Let’s have a look at your Carnival Dream and appropriately she is photographed in our port of the year award winner…………Mahogany Bay.
3. THE CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Well, this was a tough one. I am sure that you will all have a favourite waiter, stateroom steward or a crew member who made your cruise so very special. For me though I had to think of a crew member who went out of their way to do something extra or who has been a bright and shining star. I would like though to announce my winner and it is…………Radu Ursu. Now, you now Radu of course by the stunning photos he has provided this blog over the last two years. What you might not know is that he is one of the most genuine people you will ever wish to meet. He never stops smiling and will always take the time to sit with guests and talk to them about how to take better photos. He is a family man with a lovely wife and two beautiful children whom he adores. But it is his obvious talent as a photographer and the fact that on his precious time off he always went ashore or around the ship to take photos……just for you and me. So, the winner of this year’s Crew Member of the Year Award………is Radu Ursu.
Let’s remind ourselves just how talented he is.
Oh, I should also give an honourable mention to the various crew who man the ship’s laundries and therefore have had to wash my underpants. You are true heroes.
4. THE BEST CRUISE SHIP BLOG OF THE YEAR AWARD
Obviously I cannot choose our blog as the winner even though the fact that we have 5,700,000 hit thingies. Before I announce the winner I want to congratulate all the Carnival Corporation & plc blogs for a brilliant year. We have Holland America who can always be counted upon to provide people with a comprehensive look behind the scenes ……..not just on one ship……but on every single one of their vessels. And I must say that their new panoramic videos are excellent.Congratulations also to James Cusick at P&O, Alistair Greener at Cunard and my friends at Costa, Seabourn and AIDA. But it’s time to announce the winner and it is……….P&O Australia.
They may only have two ships but their interactive blogs full of videos, contests and fun, sum up what the company is all about. The company is led by their CEO Anne Sherry whose dynamic and positive outlook on life has been the driving force behind their blog. The proof that this blog works is seen in the thousands of people who read it and that in turn shows that the Australian people love P&O as much as they love beer, shrimp, barbecues, cricket and roast kangaroo.
So congratulations to them and remember that all the corporation’s blogs can be found in one place at www.bestblogsatsea.com.
5. THE REAR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Megan Fox.6. THE INTERNATIONAL MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Silvio Berlusconi wins this by the longest piece of spaghetti in the world. He is 73 and still having rumpy pumpy with 20 something models, still bending the rules and telling the courts to “rumpa rumpa orgatz”………Italian for…..ummm………go away. The fact that he is now courting a broken nose after being hit in the face with a model of the Milan cathedral makes him even more appealing. He has tailored himself to suit Italy and just as brilliantly he has tailored Italians to suit him.He is 73 years old and instead of sitting in a chair watching the weather channel he is sitting on Latvian Hookers watching his approval ratings get higher and higher. His politics may not be your cup of cappuccino……..but there is no doubt compared to our Prime Minister Gordon Boyle………….he is absolutely brilliant.
I should also give an honourable mention to Micky Arison here as well. During the most difficult of economic times he, the board of directors and of course the presidents and executives of the individual cruise lines made $1.8 billion in profit during the year, making Carnival Corporation & plc the world’s most profitable leisure travel company in 2009 even though we kept our ticket prices at affordable levels. How about that then!
Well, those are my award winners and I wondered……..who are yours? Now I know the cruise sites and cruise magazines hold their awards each year but I thought I would give you all a chance to send us your votes. So, if you have the time…….why not fill in the blanks and let’s see who gets your vote. Here are the categories.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
So, there you go and we all look forward to reading who you voted for.
Well, for me it has of course been an unbelievable year. There have been massive high points of course including the birth of my reason for living…….my daughter Kye. I had the honour of visiting your Carnival Dream during construction as well as hosting the naming ceremony and the Bloggers Cruise aboard our beautiful new ship. I got to meet many of you in person and of course daily through this blog thingy of ours and it still humbles me that 50,000 of you read it each and every week.
The low point was losing my friend Robert Schneider. I spoke to him while he was in intensive care and we joked together about how we would be together for the next Bloggers Cruise. I promised him a fruit basket if he did. But sadly, a few hours later Robert had been promoted to glory and his smile is now being shared with others in heaven. He was a Milestone member and someone who had cruised with me 50 times. He leaves behind his wife Suzann who I know misses him so very much. Robert is who the people with beards at Carnival want to cruise with us. A normal man with a normal job who worked hard but was spirited and fun loving. I miss you Robert.
It’s been a great year for the blog and of course I must thank Stephanie Leavitt, Stephanie Herrera, Stephanie Corredera, Stephanie the Hair, Stephanie Gulliksen and all the other 338 Stephanies for their incomparable help. Without them there would be no blog.
I had a wonderful time as Cruise Director on the Carnival Valor, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Legend and next year I get to be a CD much more and I am really looking forward to that. And of course I shall be writing about my experiences along the way.
Well as most of the Stephanies are taking tomorrow off as they will be on New Years Day this is the last blog until Monday where I will resume with my five blogs a week. There will be more photos and videos and when I return a look at the New Years Eve party on the Carnival Glory.
So until then may I wish you and your families a very happy new year full of health, cruising …………………..and fun.
Happy New Year
Your friends
John, Heidi, Kye and everyone at Carnival Cruise Lines
Look, friends — there are a few things you should remember before you comment. The space below is for you to post your comments about the post I've just written above. If it is something that's unrelated, please use the Ask John tab above. Now, while I may not be able to reply to your comment below, I do sit in my underpants almost every morning and read everything that is here. So feel free to comment on the comments and then if someone wants to comment on the comment to the comment then go ahead as well. Please be courteous unless the poster is French...........then you can say whatever you want.
John, Happy New Year to you and your family. The only thing I would say different is on your award for the rear of the year…. you should be able to present it to her in person!
Big Fans as Allways,
Frank and Bridie
John,
My votes are below!
Happy New Year to you, Heidi and Kye. Can’t wait to sail on the Dream again on Saturday!
Melissa
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
Carnival Dream
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Half Moon Cay
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Venice, Italy
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
Genoa, Italy
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Capt. Carlo Queirolo
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
Sailing the Mediterranean on the Carnival Dream
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
Carnival announcing it will return to Europe in 2011
A Happy & Healthy New Years to you and all the Stephanies and everyone else.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP so far was the CARNIVAL LIBERTY
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL…..COZUMEL (beach and shopping!!)
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL…….DAY AT SEA!!!
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO……… CUBA
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD……… BUTCH
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009…….. Having the entire family all together on a cruise to celebrate Poppy’s 80th birthday
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010……. For everyone to be happy & healthy and get in at least 2 cruises in 2010!!
I can beat your most hated marketing speak phrases by a long shot. I’ve been having problems with one of the data bases that we use extensively in the office. Talking to our representative at the firm that supplies the software I was stunned to hear ‘I’ll have Mike reach out to you on that.’ What? REACH OUT TO ME? I’d far rather have a phone call. When he said ‘reach out to you’ six times in six sentences I had enough. I told him ‘Please, y’all are in Illinois. I’m in Texas. No amount of reaching is going to get Mike here. Just have him call.’
Mr. Marketingspeak was aghast. He couldn’t believe how rude I was to commenting on his idiotic phrasing. I felt like reaching out to him and strangling him with the phone line. Twit.
Why is there music coming out of your blog? Please make it stop…
All the best for a wonderful New Year to you, Heidi, Kye, Heidi’s mum and your entire family!!!
Ciao!
Host Mach
Happy New Year John, Heidi and Kye!! !
Hope the next year is even better!
Muchos huggos
Nanni
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP Carnival Valor (but I haven’t been on the Carnival Dream yet)
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL Grand Turk
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL Venice for sure
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO New York and Baltimore
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD J Heald of course!
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 Family Christmas cruise
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 Longer hours for the burrito bar!!
smiles, Bonnie and Prince Charlie
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP: Carnival Glory
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL: St. Martin
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO: All of them
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD: Komang, head waiter, Platinum Dining Room, Carnival Glory
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009: Seeing cruising through my children’s eye for the first time
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010: That 2010 is full of fun and more land-based family memories, so that we can board the Carnival Liberty and make more family cruising memories.
John (**PLEASE REPLY**),
Quick question. Can you tell me which nationality each of the Carnival vessels is designated to host? I was speaking with Ryan on the Glory regarding the 550 Germans that were onboard, and he said that the Glory is the “German” ship that all the travel agents and such try to steer German passengers to (because it always has German speaking staff onboard, etc.).
I find this quite fascinating. Can you expand on it for me?
I know that I left a message on yesterday’s blog but I also wanted to post it once again (especially since you might see this comment earlier than yesterday’s). Thanks again for highlighting the Carnival Paradise. As I sit here at my computer looking out the window at the snow, I turn my thoughts to my two upcoming cruises on the Paradise in 2010. It is nice to see ships on the West Coast be given a shout out since I sometimes think we get forgotten!!
First I would like to wish ALL a Happy New Year. May all your cruises be FUN FOR ALL.
Now for John’s poll
FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
The next one I go on.
FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
The Lido Deck with Island music
NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
The Casino
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BUT WANT TO
The Spa, never mind forget that.
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Ken Bryne for all he does for the
Evil Crew and the bloggers.
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
Bloggers cruise 2 and 3
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
One with Heidi and Kye. A 7 day
cruise to no-where.
You might guess by my answers I don’t care where the ship goes. I’d be happy with a 7 day Carnival cruise with just “sea days”. I was on the Carnival Dream for 9 days and didn’t see all of her.
BIG Ed
John, your questions have had us sitting here reliving 6 years of Carnival cruises.
Our first cruise was in 2003. Since then we have been on a total of 14 cruises , but the most memorial cruise was made in Oct 2004 when we cruised on the Carnival Glory with one Sr. CD named John Heald. It was our 2nd cruise and the one that made us avid Carnival cruisers. We enjoyed your humor (spelt correctly) and especially the Bedtime Story. We have seen it numerous times since then, including the many, many times we watch the CD that we were wise in buying.
It is so hard to pick the best in each question. But after discussing it for quite awhile this is our favorites.
Favorite Cruise Ship……………
(unfortunately retired) Carnival Holiday
In service Carnival Freedom
Favorite Port of call……
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Non Caribbean port of call
I guess it would have to be Key West since we are always in the Caribbean
Port of Call we want to visit
Any port in Hawaii , but Carnival is going to have to do a round trip from the states to Hawaii for me to go (Don’t fly as you know)
Favorite Crew Member
That is such a hard thing to choose one crew member of all of the ones we have met in 6 years Some I might pick I do not remember their name. So here goes
Cruise director that goes without saying. John Heald
Maitre’D……… Ken
But the one crew member that stays in my mind that isn’t a senior anything was the hostess on the Holiday when we cruised in Oct. She is on vacation and if I remember right after she gets married in Jan., she will return to the Carnival Miracle. (I think) Her name is Trisna. She is a great assest to Carnival. Such a friendly and helpful person.
2009 Cruise memory How do you pick one single thing in 5 cruises of memories.
Anytime we see you do the Bedtime story always stays in our memory.
But I guess it would have to be on the Blogger’s cruise when Al Ernst and Lewis Nixon told tales about You
Cruise wish for 2010
To have good health so we can do 5 more cruises again.
If you were taking votes of Non crew member it would go to our PVP. Kanecia Allen also the many Stephanies who take care of the blog, and also Stephanie Leavitt.
Guess that does it for us
Happy New Year to you, Heidi and Kye,
all of the bloggers and Big Ed’s Evil Crew
Carolyn and Don
OK, John, here are my votes
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP – The Spendour, but I LOVED the Cove Balcony on the Dream
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – St. Thomas
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL- This one is really hard, but if I had to choose, I think it would be Tallin, Estonia
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO There are too many to mention
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD – Ken Byrne is my choice. Not only is he a wonderful Maitre’d, he is a great performer.
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 – It’s all of the fun with the Bloggers, particularly Ed’s Crew. What a wonderful group of people. I also thoroughly enjoyed the work we did in New Orleans in the park with Beacon of Hope.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 – I’d really like to take an Alaskan cruise.
Have a great New Year!
Ann
Happy New Year John, Heidi & Kye. Thanks for a year full of information & laughs.
Jan
John, Is this music going to be an additive to all of the blogs? I turned it off once thinking that I had another website open, re-opened the blog, and the music was back.
I agree with you 100% on the crew member of the year! Radu has done a FANTASTIC JOB of capturing so many WONDERFUL PICTURES! Thanks to him we have virtually visited so many places!
Happy New Year to you and your family!
Sheryl
John:
HAPPY NEW YEAR…..
and a huge thanks to the Carnival upgrade fairy for our move from a 6B to an 8F. The upgrade fairy said it was because we were Milestone.
Woo hoo….good job Carnival!!!
No thanks to Mr Tightwad (hubby) …. I have a BALCONY for our cruise that leaves on the Triumph on Monday!!
We will have a blast!!!
I will have to catch up on the Blogs when I get back…
Linda (Mom of your friend DJ)
Hey John!
Wow, never typed to a ‘blog’ before…what a first!
Spent a great week with you on freedom a couple years ago, there are none better than you…(You gave us a photo and signed “FIRE A VOLLEY!” because of our S.A. background.)
HELP- We are thrilled to be sailing on Carnival Dream on January 16th. We should have figured this out before now but, we (my wife and I) our daughter and her husband, AND THEIR 13 MONTH OLD DAUGHTER are hoping (PRAYING) that there is some sort of child care available at dinner time. We so much were looking forward to the wonderful dinners as well as a night or two at the supper club. Our travel agent had told us when booking that he ‘thought’ there was baby sitting service available from 10 AM to 3 AM. I now find on the web sites that it is only 10 PM to 3 AM. ( who with a 13 month old has the energy to hit the clubs at 1 -3 AM?) I guess the all day care starts at 2 years old.
We plan on spending a lot of time with ‘Gracie’; thats one reason for the cruise, but if you have any suggestions for the dinner times, we would so love to hear about it. I know she can be great, but sometimes…I’m sure other passengers just didn’t come on a cruise to ‘experience Gracie’!
Any extra help you can send our way will be appreciated so far beyond words could express.
Sorry we are missing you by a week or two.
Pete Turner
Here are my votes:
Favorite ship: Carnival Glory
Favorite Caribbean port of call: Half Moon Cay
Favorite non-Caribbean port of call: Halifax
Port I’ve never visited but want to: Skagway (I want to do the railway excursion!)
Crew member of the year award: Katalin, our dining room server on Carnival Miracle
Favorite cruise memory of 2009: Our catamaran excursion on “Castaway Girl” in St. Thomas in February when we were aboard Carnival Glory (last cruise with all three of our kids)
Cruise wish for 2010: That our oldest son at the US Merchant Marine Academy has a great four months at sea on merchant ships starting in June (and that his sailings don’t involve ships sailing off the coast of Somalia). And for the rest of our family, fair weather and following seas for our cruises on Conquest and Pride in February and July!
John, a Very Happy New Year to you, Heidi and Kye, as well as to everyone in the Carnival family!
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP – The Carnival Glory!
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL- St. Maarten
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Haven’t cruised except in Caribbean!
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO – Roatan
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD – Ryan Fitzgerald
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 – Costa Maya and the port area!
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 – Go to places (in the Caribbean) we haven’t seen
John,
Here are my answers for the poll.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP- Carnival Spirit (but it will probably be the Carnival Dream after I cruise on her in November)
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL- Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL- Sitka, Alaska
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO- Costa Maya, Mexico
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD-
Ferdinand, Headwaiter
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009-
My Alaska cruise on the Carnival Spirit
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010- Going on the Carnival Dream (well I already know I am going becuase I am booked)
Spencer
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP–Spirit or Miracle
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL–St. Thomas
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL–Lahaina, Maui
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO–Anchorage, Alaska
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD–Ken Byrne
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009–sharing dinner with a great group of dining companions on the Dream Blogger’s Cruise
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010–Pride cruise out of Baltimore with John as CD
John have a Happy New Year with you family. This will be a special one.
Favorite Cruise Ship – Carnival Legend – or any Spirit Class – Pride, Miracle – The Spirit rocks on
Favorite Carribbean port of call – San Juan, PR- shopping continues to impress, love the rain forest, night time horseback riding and lots of other activities
Non Carribbean port of call – Orlando – lots to do
Port of Call never been – but want to go – Besides any European port – any Hawaiian port of call
Crew member of the year award – Marketa (sp?)- hostess on the Carnival Pride – 11/08/09 – provided amazing service – took care of our special menu needs
Favorite cruise memory of ’09 – T0ok 3 cruises in 2009 – favorite and most discussed family memory – was our trip to Cozumel in 1/09. We booked the cooking excursion in Cozumel and had a BLAST cooking our own lunch, creating the presentation, and eating our creations – It was truly a day we will never forget and could never repeat.
Cruise wish – We will be cruising on the Carnival Dream on 1/09 – while we could wish for smooth sailing and safe travel, I actually wish I win a cruise while on the cruise
)
Happy New Year!!
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
” Carnival Freedom ”
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
” St. Thomas ”
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
” Hawaii “, ” Aruba ” ” Panama ”
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
” George ” that was what he told me his name was.
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
” Meeting Empress Bee, Sarge, Linda, Mike and especially you, John Heald
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
” I wish to enjoy the Carnival Dream which will in three weeks and going on many more Carnival Cruises.
John, it has been my opportunity to open your blog each evening to enjoy everything about Carnival, Cruising, photos, your family and of course you which just seems to bring everything to me with a smile. You have used your love for people, love for cruising and the love for your wife and child which make my day, everyday. Thank you again for allowing me to be part of this blog thingy right from the start where my love for cruising began. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
For you, your beautiful family, the Carnival family
” HAPPY NEW YEAR ”
Paul and MaryLou Pietrangelo
Amherstburg, Ontario
Canada
YOUR FAVORITE CARNIVAL SHIP
The Dream
YOUR FAVORITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Tie between San Juan and Costa Maya
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Acapulco
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
Venice
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Ken Bryne
YOUR FAVORITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
Doing the bloggers community service project in New Orleans
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
That Big Ed’s Evil Crew will be able to cruise together as a group.
Hi John, (Please Reply)
I hope you and your family have a very Happy New Year!
This is the first time I have written you but I’ve always enjoyed reading your blogs. My family and I recently returned from the Christmas cruise aboard the Carnival Dream and I wanted to tell you about the fun time we had…although, I don’t think I can sum up everything.
As always, the crew and staff were wonderful.
The ship is absolutely beautiful and the holiday decorations and music put everyone in the Christmas spirit. This was our first holiday cruise and we plan on doing it again next year.
I have been on 4 cruises, all with Carnival, and there was 30 people in our group, including a few children. We all enjoyed the different activities aboard the ship such as the cooking demonstrations, shopping, holiday show, and miniature golf. Camp Carnival offered plenty of activities for the kids in our group.
I can’t name 1 favorite part of the cruise because it was ALL fantastic. Exploring the ship was a lot of fun and the promenade deck was one of my favorite locations on the ship. The Serenity deck was a great retreat to relax and enjoy some quiet time. It was a great time had by all.
At the end of the week, I completed my comment card and gave recognition to pretty much everyone, whose name I could recall, but I forgot one individual who was extremely helpful one day. I would LOVE to give praise to this particular individual. I would like to inform his supervisor of his hardwork but I do not know his name. Could you PLEASE email me and let me know how I can identify this crew member? If need be, I can let you know what particular area he works and what country he is from…I remember that much.
Thanks Again and Best Wishes to You and Your Family!!!
John,
Let me second your honorable (spelled correctly) mention of Micky Arison. Keeping Carnival profitable in this challenging economic environment makes it more likely that quality cruising will remain within reach of us middle incomes. To paraphrase Henry Ford: “If you want to live with the classes, serve the masses.” Carnival does that brilliantly.
Have to chime in:
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
Victory – really love the layout…
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Tough – St Thomas, St Martin, Grand Turk
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Even tougher – Rhodes, Greece – anywhere in Greece – such diversity and history… Turkey was pretty wonderful too
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
SAN JUAN – need to visit Nanni of the Mucho Huggos!!!
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Ken Byrne – he has done so much for us all…
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
Sitting down the first night on BC3 with our extended family – the “Evil Krewe” is a truly wonderful bunch of folks…
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
To sail again with as many of “The Krewe” as we can pull together!
Hi John,
Please reply,
Well I guess I am not the only one that feels like you have abandoned the West Coast. Someone on cruise critic started a poll to find out how many people would go with you on a West Coast Cruise and the majority that have answered have said “YES, in a heart beat”. Only one said that they could not afford the airfare to the West Coast. See that is what I don’t understand, you have such a following on the West Coast and yet in all the time you have been a CD you have never cruised here, maybe you could say you are going to do it just one time, at least give us fans who do live on the West Coast the same opportunity that you give the fans of yours on the East Coast. Think of it this way to, why do you always put the extra expense of your fans on the West Coast to have to travel to see you, when you don’t require the same requirement of your East Coast fans. Face it John, you are not being fair one bit. I know you mean well, and I love you for that, but we would like to finally see you do a bloggers cruise on the West Coast and by what the people on cruise critic are saying, I am not the only one that feels this way.
Give my love to Heidi and Kye
Happy New Year John!!
Kathy M.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP Dream
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL St. Thomas
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD Ken Byrne
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 Blogger’s Cruise with John Heald and the toilet cake.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP – Carnival Spirit
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Ocho Rios
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Funchal, Portugal
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO – Venice, Italy
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD – Ken Byrne
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 – Standing next to John Heald when he recieved his quilt from the Evil Crew.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 – To Cruise with John and the Evil Crew…. anywhere!
John, here is my reply to your questions
Fave Ship–Carnival Liberty
Caribbean port of call–Half Moon Cay
Non-Caribbean port of call–Cabo San Lucas
Port I REALLY want to visit–St. Martin or Aruba
Crew Member–Miguel Rodriges and ALex Kazakov (Miguel cuz he knows how to treat a lady, especially on a birthday, uhm like 40th, and Alex, well, Alex is just amazingly hot and wants to please!
Cruise memory–Seven day long 40th birthday party on the Splendor (and the bottle of champagne all to myself!)
Wish for 2010–The winning numbers in the lottery so I can go on EVERY Carnival ship in the span of a year.
HUGZ to Heidi n Kye!
Hi, John!
Here are my votes:
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
The Carnival Freedom.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Cozumel.
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Naples.
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BUT WANT TO
Alexandria.
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Vinz Brown.
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
Celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary on the first formal night of our cruise to the Mexican Riviera.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
A European itinerary. Or the Panama Canal.
And a Happy New Year to you, Heidi and Kye! Here’s to all your health, happiness and prosperity!
So, I have only been on one cruise but I’ll still take the poll, lol.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP: We sailed on the Destiny, and I have nothing to compare it to, but the Dream looks awesome. I hope I get to sail on it someday but probably not in 2010.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL: My favorite was Half Moon Cay. It had the best beaches
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL: Haven’t cruised to anywhere Non-Caribbean, but I would like to go on a West Coast Mexico cruise one day. Come to think of it there are not many ports where I wouldn’t want to go…
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO: I want to go to Key West. I also want to visit Cozumel and I want to go to Isla Roatan.
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD: Our server on the Destiny, Lilies of the Universe Dining Room, was really awesome. I hope this message gets back to her somehow.
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009: Going on my first cruise in October and I celebrated my birthday on it.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010: I hope to go on another cruise with my boyfriend and a mother-daughter cruise… which will probably be on the Fantasy since it’s coming to Charleston in May.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP: The Carnival Freedom
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL: Grand Cayman
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL: Tampa
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO: Ft. Lauderdale
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD:Ken Byrne
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009: BC2!!!! I didn’t get to go on BC3
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010: BC4!!!!!
Happy New Year Everybody!
Favorite ship: Carnival Liberty
Port of Call: Private Island & if not, San Juan
Non Caribbean: Alaska
Never visited but want to: Northern Europe
Crew Member of the Year: Ken Byrne
Cruise Wish 2010: be on the blogger’s cruise
Happy New Year to John, Heidi, Kye, all our blogger friends and the wonderful people at Carnival Cruiselines…..the greatest cruiseline in the world!!!!
Cindy
Have a blessed new year, John!
How I still treasure the memories on the Carnival Splendor on her inaugural cruises.
Sincerely,
Tai-Chi Lady
Hi John — Here’s my 2 cents worth:
a). Favorite Carnival ship = Carnival Splendor
b). Favorite Caribbean port of call = St. John
c). Favorite non-Caribbean port = Juneau
d). Ports never visited/but want to = Monte Carlo
e). Employee of the year = Ken Byrne
f). Favorite 2009 cruise memory = getting my husband to try a Carnival cruise & he loved it! Now we have 3 booked in the next 18 months.
g). Cruise wish for 2010 = fun and good times!
Happy New Year to you, Heidi, Kye, and everyone who helps us with the blog thingy.
Clair
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP- Carnival Miracle
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL- Half Moon Key
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL- Cabo San Lucas
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO- Any place in Europe!!!
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD- Karuna (who was a hostess on the Miracle in May of this year, by the time we got off of the ship she felt like a part of the family)
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009- All the sea days laying by the pool with a DOD in my hand
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010-
I have more than one…
1) Sail on the Carnival Dream (hopefully in May!), 2) For Carnival to design a stretched out/larger version of the Spirit class ships, which are the absolute best in my opinion!,
3) Carnival starts a Great Lakes route with homeport in Chicago!!! One can only wish LOL
John,
Do you know if Radu will still be on the Dream on Jan 9. I do hope so. I would like to thank him for all the lovely pictures he takes and posts here. I hope to get on the behind the fun tour.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
Destiny
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Cozumel
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
San Diego
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
Alaska
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Ken Byrne
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
BC 2 and BC 3
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
BC4
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP – Freedom Biggest and newest I have been on (cant wait to go on the dream)
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Cozumel
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Never been out of Carribean
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO – any where in Alaska
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD – All the room stewards and housekeeping that keep the ships so clean and beautiful
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 – Being called out by Happy Cole
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 – first year to try and get 2 cruises, I know I am so greedy.
John Enjoy your time with your Ladies, Take as much time off as you need. We will be here for you when you get back
Happy New Year
Fraser
Hi John,
Here are my votes:
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP – Carnival Dream – this was the BEST CRUISE EVER
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Costa Rica
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Venice
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO – Anywhere in Alaska
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD – Martina from the Czech Republic in the dining room of the Carnival Dream
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 – sailing on the Carnival Dream in Europe
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 – that Carnival puts a ship back in Europe and/or goes to South America
Happy New Year!
Ange
Hi John!
I hope you and the family have a wonderful, safe, healthy, and Happy New Year!
My only hope is to be able to take a wonderful voyage in the upcoming year. Doesn’t matter where or on what ship. Any cruise is better than no cruise at all.
Take care and have fun!
Looking forward to a wonderful 2010.
David
John, (please respond) been off the blog thingy for awhile and it has taken me forever to catch up on all I have missed. First and foremost, Happy New Year to you and your beautiful family.
We are on the Carnival Conquest for its March 21st sailing, and I think I saw where you will not be our cruise director. Please tell me this is not true. Their are 12 of us going and 10 are first time Carnival cruisers. I have done nothing but tell all of them what an honor they are going to have with you as CD. Son even went and bought Cigars so that he could enjoy them with you and his dad. If it is true, maybe I will have to put an 8×10 picture of you on our Cabin door, and at least we can pretend you are with us.
Oh and I am with you completely on the “to be honest with you” drives me nuts.
Enjoy your time with the family.
Hi John,
Here are a list of my favourite Carnival thingys.
1. Ship-Holiday(sorry to see her go)
2. Port-Roatan
3. Port non carib. – anyone in Spain
4. Port never been-Aruba
5. Crew member-social host Rick Barnes
6. Cruise memory-Liberty TA with you
7. Cruise wish-Carnival in Europe
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
Carnival Splendor – Spa Balcony woo hoo!!!
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
St Maarten
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Any Alaskan port
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
Any port in the British Isles
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Hardest question of all…but what a testament to the quality of the Carnival crew members when you have so many that deserve this award.
Three way tie…..Gary Brierly (for taking such great care of DJ) and Risa Barnes and Hennie Van Heerden (for taking such great care of a dear friend of ours last week)
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
The way the Bloggers, Cruise Critic Roll call and Dream staff and crew went out of their way to make DJ feel special on our Dream cruise.
Thank you just doesn’t say it enough!!!!
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
That my daily interaction on any Carnival Cruise Ship will cause the staff and crew around me to have the best day at work they have ever had!
Linda (Mom of DJ)
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP – Carnival Dream (just got off her on 12/26 – update coming to you for that once i get re-settled).
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Without a Doubt – St. Maarten
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Will tell you once i cruise in the non-caribbean
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO – St Lucia
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD – This is a Tie – Todd Witmer – by far, the 2nd best CD i have ever had (hard to beat having JH for a CD for 4 times), and Karel Pancochar – Man, can this guy capture you on film like no one else i have ever seen.
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 – Carnival Dream Christmas 2009 – watching my daugthers eyes just open up wide was the best memory i could have of the week.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 – more Vacation time!!
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL: Messina Sicily, Italy
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY BUT WANT TO:Curacuo
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Ken Byrne
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
Dreaming about the Dream Blogger’s Cruise YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
Safe Sailing and calm seas for all!
Kap
I know everyone wants either the west coast or the east coast for the next bloggers cruise. The answer is quite simple. (Texas is in the middle!!!!)
Happy New Year and may everyone be blessed!
John – Please Reply
First, let me wish you, Heidi and Kye a very Happy New Year. We love reading your Blog Thingy and are Platinum cruisers on Carnival – because we Love Fun!
My question to you is does Carnival and the other cruise lines have extra security that is continuing on going being taken. I don’t need to know how our safety is being protected. My sister will not take a cruise because she thinks terrorists will get on board with other passengers.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP – Carnival Dream
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Grand Turk
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – St Petersburg, Russia
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO – Panama Canal
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD -Hands down ” KEN BYRNE”
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 – Being on the bloggers cruise with John and the Evil Crewe
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 -Many more Carnival cruises and hopefully another ship back to Europe soon
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
Carnival Dream
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Sint Maarten
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Venice, Italy
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
Sydney, Australia
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Ken Byrne
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
dancin in the street
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
British Isles cruise
John,
Please respond.
I am new to your blog thingy and find it brilliant. Seems there should be other ways of obtaining this information or asking questions rather than absorbing your valuable time but it is certainly appreciated. I am bringing my in-laws into the world of cruising on Feb 1 on the Imagination. I am so looking forward to it but hoping they enjoy it as much as I do. Is there any way to request a table for our party of four? We do not get to spend much time together and would really appreciate to have our dinners in privacy if possible. We are very friendly and if we end up with tablemates will make the very best of it.
Best to your family,
Andrea
Hey John!
I hope that you, Heidi, and Kye are having a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! I’m so glad you are getting some time off to spend with your girls!
Now to answer your questions:
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP: Carnival Legend or Carnival Splendor
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL: Belize and Isla Roatan. They are both amazing!
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL: I’ve only sailed in the Caribbean, but since I saw the Dream in NYC, I’ll say NYC.
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO: ANYTHING in Europe, but I’d love to see Carnival in Israel or Egypt!
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD: I don’t think I can pick just one. Nicoletta from the Legend, the Captain of the Legend who rammed RCL
, You, Big Sexy, Jamie, The entertainment staff on the Legend, the people I met in NYC, I could keep going! Carnival has the best people and its one of the reasons I keep coming back!
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009: The overall AMAZING vacation on the Carnival Legend, but especially the Cruise Crash in Cozumel-that’s a story that will be re-told many many times!
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010: A miraculous vacation on the Carnival Miracle, more money to cruise with, another fun Carnvial outing like NYC and Philly, and please please please annouce Europe in 2011!
John
Happy New Year to you and your family. Enjoy your precious time with them.
Now onto your survey….
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP Carnival Dream
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL St. Thomas ( I get to revisit my wedding site)
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL Key West
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO Any of the Mediterranean ports
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD After John Heald…Ken Byrne. I have NEVER had a Maitre D quite like him! All the others should take lessons from him!
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 Spending quality time with my Mom on the Serenity deck talking about her years growing up.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 Finally getting to Hawaii
Happy New Year all!!!
Kerry
Great stuff, as always. Have another comment that seems to be creeping into too many conversations–”it is what it is.” This phrase is used all the time to indicate that we should stop discussing how to make things better. If Thomas Edison had accepted “it is what it is” we might still be operating by candlelight. Or if the Wright Brothers accepted there was no way to get off the ground, we would only travel by ground transportation. I vow during the new year to reply, “No, the only way to get better is to make it that way…find a better way…” Otherwise, we are stuck with less than good in a lockstep mediocre. Who wants that? Thanks for the chance to chat and keep up the great work…we are planning our 10th voyage on Carnival for 2010…hope to see you again at some point!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO THE WHOLE GANG AT CARNIVAL, HERE’S TO A GREAT 2010.
FAVORITE SHIP: Miracle
FAVORITE CARIBBEAN PORT: Bermuda
FAVORITE NON CARIBBEAN PORT: Halifax
FAVORITE CREW MEMBER: Iputo(Victory) and BIG SEXY(Miracle)
NEVER BEEN TO BUT WANT TO: Ireland
FAVORITE CRUISE MEMORY: Being on one with the woman I love, my wife!
Hi John!
I do hope a photo book comes to fruition. As I said in my original post, Radu’s photos truly are stunning and would make the perfect “coffee table book”.
Here are my votes:
Favorite Carnival Ship: Carnival Elation ~ my first cruise and I’m sad she’s leaving the West Coast
Favorite Caribbean Port of Call: Grand Turk
Number One Non-Caribbean Port of Call: Cabo San Lucas
Port of call I want to visit: Curacao
Crew Member of the Year: Ernesto (Think last name is Ubaldosomething?), our head waiter from my Splendor cruise. So much fun!
Favorite Cruise Memory of 2009: My Splendor Mexican Riviera cruise to San Francisco
Cruise Wish for 2010: A ship in San Diego to replace the departing Elation for 3-4 day cruises
Happy New Year to you and the girls!
Colleen
Hello, John!
Here are our votes:
1. Favorite Carnival Ship: Dream
2. Favorite Caribbean Port of Call: Half Moon Cay
3. Favorite Non-caribbean Port of call: Barcelona
4. Port of Call we never visited but want to:
Bermuda
5. Crew Member of the year award: Ken Byrne
6. Favorite Cruise Memory of 2009: Roatan Island, 12/12/09 we met Honduras President Micheletti right on the pier…. that was Mahogany Bay’s cruise terminal official inauguration day & the Dream’s 1st visit!
7. Cruise Wish for 2010: Sail again on the Dream!
8. Best CD: John Heald!!!!
The Santanas of Miami Bach
Happy New Year to us all,here are my answers
1)Favorite Ship..Loved the Dream, but my favorite remains the Fantasy,cant wai till she gets here to S.C.!
2)Favorite Caribean port of call..Tie..Grand Turk(love Jacks Shack) and St Maarten..3rd best day ever
3)Port of call I want to see that I havnt.Believe it or not Cozumel,have tried 5 times and never made it due to propulsion,hurricanes and the pig flu,will Remedy that on the Legend in April
4)Crew member of the year ..Hard decision, Ken Byrne is obvious because he is out in public,and very deserving, but i think my room steward on the Fascination is my pick.Eduardo..a true gem
5) Best cruise memory of 2009, again its a tie, both from the Dream.Our day sail on the Kuralu in Tortola and being with my friends the day we missed San Juan,what a great day
6)Cruise wish for 2010 Tortola again,with a longer day in port than is offered at this time.
John,thanks for this forum and all you do.Happy New Year to you and yours
Very happy and healthy new year to you, Heidi, Kye, the 343 Stephanies and everyone else who works on and reads this blog!
Hello John,
Please reply if you have time,
At last Jan.31st! The last day of a somewhat difficult year. There were few bright spots in this a year that has rocked my faith in my country. I will turn 72 in April and other than making it to that age which makes it a good year by default; I hope the people that are running the show will get their heads out of their arse.. Since I cannot change what has happened or what will happen I am enclosing my list of the good things in 2008.
1. Susan and I are healthy.
2. My daughter has finally ended a long fight with her health and is feeling better then she has in 15 years. I pray to G-d that this is permanent.
3. We managed to pay all our bills and have had enough for a several vacations:
3a. Jan.2009 Bloggers cruise. We laughed more and had as much fun in 5 days then we did on our 30 day adventure with you in the Med. Freedom 2008. (you got off in Rome and although Todd was good the second 14 days on the transatlantic was not quite the same)
3b. I n October we came across a deal so good we could not refuse Half the price of a hotel without food or entertainment, so we celebrated Susan’s B day on the ghtakfigxyz???? Of the seas. (5 day Mexican Rivera). Nice ship have no fear we have not sold out
3c. Bloggers cruise Dec 2009 Carnival Dream. We where able to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary with you, Ken and the rest of the superb crew on the Dream.
I have been reading a lot of dismal comments about that ship and that particular cruise. Bullocks! We are not in the top rank of cruises taken but we have over 100 days in 10 or so cruises ( 30, 3 day cruises) platinum my arse) I guess it all depends on your point of view. In our opinion The Dream is the best riding ship we have been on (including The Oosterdam through the Panama canal and the ever rough straights of Cuba) In addition the new venues, promenade on deck 5 (with hot tubs and chaises that remind us of ships of yesterday), The serenity deck, Ocean Plaza, pasta Bar and Mongolian wok. To mention a few were great, the complaint about missing Puerto Rico (stuff happens). We missed Livorno (this was one of the main reasons we took the cruise) on the Liberty 2007. We where fortunate to be able to return the following year on the Freedom and got to see it.
Life is too short to mess with the small stuff. There were things that we feel could have been better; all things considered we absolutely loved The Dream. If they would make flying easier (17 hours Orlando –Tucson) we would take The Dream again. I know that it might appear that we have a lot of money and can do as we wish. No so. When we are able to go on vacation it is ALWAYS a well thought out decision.
I would like to make a comment on the thorny Platinum question. A number of years ago I instituted (in my business) a system of evaluation that while simple was extremely effective. With a little modification I think that this might be a solution. Change Platinum qualification to a point system; IE: “x” amount of points per day at sea. This will allow a universal way to track trips; it may also encourage people to take longer trip making it commercially viable for Carnival as well. Personally I would like a 12-14 day trip in the Caribbean not returning to home port two times in the same trip. This will also better amortize the cost of plane fare.
Our best to you, Heidi, and Kai. May you have a happy and healthy New Year.
Warmest Regards
Susan & Larry Orenstein.
Hi John, Heidi & Kye:
Hope you are having a happy new year!
Favorite Carnival Ship: Liberty
Favorite Port in Caribbean: St. Thomas
” non-Caribbean Port: Naples, Italy
Port never visited by want to: Cozumel
Crew Member of the year award: John Heald
Favorite cruise of 2009: None due to illness
My cruise wish for 2010: To sail on the Carnival Dream or really, any Carnival cruise going anywhere.
John,
As you requested here are my choices based on my limited ports of call:
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP – Carnival Glory
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Cozemel on the Western
- St. Maartens on the Eastern.
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Half Moon Cay
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO – San Juan
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD – I know this is a cop out, but I cannot chose just one as everyone I have been in contact with has been so very helpful and friendly.
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 – Just me and my wife relaxing on the Carnival Fascination in April.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 – Taking that Thanksgiving Cruise that my family wants.
Happy New Year to all!
Gary and Family
John
Favorite Ship: Carnival Spirit
Favorite Caribbean Port: Ocho Rios
Non Carribbean port: Mazatlan
Port not visited but want to: St Petersburg Russia
Crew Member of year: Captain Roberto Volpi
Favorite cruise memory 2009: Behind the Fun Tour on the C. Splendor in August.
Cruise wish for 2010: Good health and lots of cruises for us all!
Thanks and Happy New Year!
Roger T
Favorite Carnival Ship. DREAM
Favorite Caribbean Port of Call, ST MARTEEN
No 1 Non Caribbean Port, Portland ME
Port I want To Visit Anchorage AK
Crew Member Of The Year, Katerina, Head Waiter Scarlet Dining Room, DREAM
Cruise Memory Of 2009, Of Course Blooger’s Cruise Carnival DREAM.
Cruise Wish for 2010, New England Cruise.
Happy New Year To All Big Mike,
John:
Another phrase/word that has popped up since the “skivvy bomber” messed up on the airline, is the word “RADICALIZED”.
Does this mean more radical, see, even that makes no sense, if you are a radical, how in heavens name can you be more radical?
Anyway John, Happy New Years and may all of your seas be smooth, skies bright and the smiles of your “girls” be in you heart fore ever.
Your friend,
ERNIE
John -
(The favour of a reply is requested)
Thanks very much for your response to my inquiry about the kiddie splash park. No worries, I’m sure we won’t think twice about it once onboard. After reviewing the photos you posted on today’s blog (30 Dec), I can scarcely contain my excitement – how blessed we are to be sailing on the Dream!
My sons, Ryker (8) and Truce (6), are equally thrilled. They both confessed they looked right past Christmas with anticipation of our cruise. Now that’s saying something! Here’s the part I’m requesting a reply to: I’ve read about the “behind the fun tour” a few times here on your thingy (your blog thingy, that is). My boys would very much like to take that tour. In addition to close-toed shoes I thought I saw a reference to an age requirement. Could you please clarify that for me? Any guidance you can provide to help me secure the tour for my family of 5 would be greatly appreciated. My beautiful wife and our little princess, Glelia (21 months in March when we sail), would also like to attend the tour… but it’s the boys whose hearts are set on it.
Thank you for the laughter and insights you offer so freely in this forum. I’m not the least bit surprised it is the smash hit that it is!
A new and obsessively committed reader of your blog,
Bearded Bill
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP==Pride
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL-Ocho Rios
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL=Cabo San Lucas
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO=San Juan
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD=Ken (maitre De)
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009=Enjoying the new slides with my granddaughter on the Fantasy!
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010-that I get to enjoy an Alaska cruise!
Happiest of New Years to the Heald Family!
YOUR FAVOURITE (spelt correctly) CARNIVAL SHIP = Carnival Glory
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL = Tortola
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL = Venice
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BUT WANT TO = St. Petersburg, Russia
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD = Maitre D’ Claudio / Croatia
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 = meeting the infamous John Heald on BC3!!
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 = MANY more cruises AND BC4!
Happy New Year to all
Favorite Cruise Ship – Carnival Dream
Favorite Carribean Port – Antigua
Number one NonCarribean Port of call- Key West
Port of call never visited but want to- Alaska
Crew member of the year- Todd Wittmer
Favorite cruise memory of 2009- Inaugral Cruise in Europe on Carnival Dream
Cruise wish for 2010- to enjoy the upcoming 3 cruises in 2010 and Please cruise in Eurpe again in 2011
Happy New Year to you John, Heidi & Kye
Cheri & Michael (Mr. Carnival)
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
Our Carnival Dream
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Paradise Harbour, Antarctica/Lofoten Islands, Norway
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
San Juan, Puerto Rico
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
Dancing around with two of my friends out on deck on the MV Discovery as we left the stunning Honnigsvag fjord.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
That my dream cruise on the Carnival Dream I just booked is the best cruise yet ! !!
FAVORITE SHIP: Carnival Legend
FAVORITE CARIBBEAN PORT: Tortola (Virgin Gorda)
FAVORITE NON CARIBBEAN PORT: Cabo San Lucas and the Panama Canal
FAVORITE CREW MEMBER: Captain Carlo Queirolo (absolutely the most friendly and funny Captain I’ve had the pleasure of meeting) and John Heald (for the blog)
NEVER BEEN TO BUT WANT TO: Cairo, Egypt FAVORITE CRUISE MEMORY: Way too many to choose from, just being with my family and meeting so many incredible people
CRUISE WISH FOR 2010: BG4 with Heidi and Kye
Please reply (John/Stephanie etc.) want to book our thalassotherapy pool at the spa on The Dream for the Feb. 13th cruise but unable to see it on the spa menue. Would like to know if we can do this,
Thanks so much for all your hard/dedicated/appreciated work,
Angela Guptill
John,
I sent you a letter a couple weeks back, i just want to thank you for getting my issue taking care. I got a email from Noel H. today and she have taking care of me. I understand mistakes happen, I know that carnival goal is make make my vacation.
I want to make sure i thank you for your help
happy new year to you and your family
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP Toss up between the Carnival Glory and the Carnival Dream
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL Cozumel
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL never been out of Caribbean
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO Alaska
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD Three way tie between Ken Byrne, Delia (head waiter on the Dream, Scarlett Dining room main floor all the way in the back), and John Heald
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 Being on the Carnival Dream for the Bloggers Cruise. It did not get off to a real good start for me but with the help of Mr Heald and meeting such wonderful people (most of whom are in the Evil Krewe) it got alot better
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 another bloggers cruise
What is up with all the poor reviews for our Carnival Dream on CC. There seems to be a conspiracy of sorts and lots are recommending that other line at the ends of their reviews. We have been on Norwegian, Princess and Carnival and have always had the best cruises on Carnival.I will find out soon since its 13 days to our Carnival Dream. Thanks for making me laugh all year and the best to you and yours.
HAPPY NEW YEAR….to everyone….
Stephanies and Tonys and Vances and …. well…you get the picture!!!
I will miss reading the Blog next week….(since we will be on the Triumph …in our UPGRADE BALCONY…woo hoo)
but I promise to catch up when we return….
I will be having surgery the week after we return..so I will have LOTS of time to read while I spend 6 weeks recovering!!!!
Thanks again guys for everything YOU ROCK!!!
Linda (Mom of DJ)
Gelukkig Nieuwjaar John, Heidi en Kye!
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
Carnival Dream
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Half Moon Cay
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
NYC
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
Grand Turk – almost got there, but the Carnival Splendor couldn’t dock due to strong wind
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Stateroom steward Dina from Bulgaria, Spa cabins, Panorama Deck, Carnival Dream
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
overnight call in Bermuda – Carnival Dream
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
another transatlantic crossing on a Carnival ship. Not going to happen this year, but I’m ready for some Magic next year.
a loyal blogger from Belgium
John, PLEASE REPLY
Long time no talk. Iv been just loving the Dream. Iv read thoe ofcourse daily and can just smile at the blog. I hope you and h=Heidi are well. I actually had an accident yesterday. As you probably know cruise ships, cycling and hockey and music are my main passions. I bike with Florida’s fastest group that once a month goes past port of Mami, and part of Port Everglades on 17th street, but what happened yeseerday is I was hit hard by a car. As you know I’m 13, and am lucky to survive. I know youv drove arund Florida, and partically South Florida tdrivers are crazy. I was struck to the left aprt of my body with only minor injury’s thankfully, but was very shoken up. Eyes were diolated from inpact, and I whipped out on the hood of the car over the windshield hard. My Specialized road bike that is top of the line with my pocket bar-mitzvah money had damage , and in this case it was completly the drivers fualt with no question. A driver who completly was over the speed limit, and failed to stop at a stop sign hitting me hard as i rolled over the hood. I wanted to inform you that I am indeed okay and recovering. I spke to Elaine yesterday, and wanted to say hello to everyone. My blog has been slow, bu i can assure you a full inside exclusivley for the carnival dream and here great progress, and i wanted to know if “you” yourself the great john was intrested in being interview for the site as your an icon to millions of people. PLEAS REPLY WHEN YOU HAVE THE TIME,
from, Jake
Hi John,
My parents are huge fans of your blog, they cruised w/you on the Carnival Dream for BC3 (Brian and Zannett).
We will all be sailing on the Carnival Triumph on 2/13-2/20 and I was hoping that you would send a request to our CD to broadcast the NASCAR Daytona 500 on the Lido deck on 2/14. I am a huge NASCAR fan and would love to watch a race on the big screen. My parents loved watching the SEC Championship game during the BC3 sailing.
Thank you so much,
Chase
Hi John!
My wife and I are cruising the Dream in February on the Super Bowl sailing… This will be only our 2nd cruise (both with Carnival) and we are so excited! Her family lives out of state so we do not get to see them often but the good news is that they are sailing with us!
We got married this past April and cruised Carnival for our honeymoon. The best part of our cruise was renting a cabana in Half Moon Cay! We saw that the new cruise dock in Roatan now has private cabana’s for rent but when I called Carnival they said they had no idea about them (even though it is listed on the website under excursions but has no information listed about the cabana) I called my PVP but she said due to their high call volume they could not help me which kind of bummed me out. If you could offer ANY help and/or advice that would be greatly appreciated! I’m really excited to be on board with you! Thanks so much…
John, I am disappointed to learn that you will not be with us on the Splendor next week, Jan 10, 2010. I have a question for you. Do they serve Tabasco sauce in the dining room? I have started a new habit and use tabasco on a lot of the food I eat. No big deal, and I can always bring my own bottle. Good Luck to you as your start your new adventure. Sincerely, renaye
Wishing you, Heidi, Kye, all the Stephanies, and “y’all” the very best and very blessed new year!
Here are my votes:
Favorite ship: the Freedom (it was not our first cruise, but it was our honeymoon cruise… the 5th for the ship, I believe)
Favorite Caribbean port: St Maarten
Favorite Non-Caribbean port: Istambul or Izmir, Turkey
Port of Call I want to visit: Tortola
Crew Member of the year: Well, YOU John! Okay… if you really need another… Riccardo (our waiter) on the Liberty
Favorite Cruise Memory of 2009: Blackbeard’s Beach Break in Nassau (on the Glory)
Cruise Wish for 2010: A “permanent” (more than repositioning) cruise around the Hawaiian islands! We’re already booked on the Dream for my husband’s 50th birthday… just for another amazing, wonderful cruise with Carnival!
God bless you, John, and all those at Carnival!
John, Thank you for remembering Robert, he is missed. I and others in our family have appreciated all of the kind comments. It certainly helped! Robert loved cruising! Suzanne, who loves cruising, introduced Robert to the cruising life. Life will go on and Suzanne and our small group will be joining her on the Splendor in late April. We all look forward to getting back on the “ship”.
Have a great new year and be well.
Jim
Hello John: Happy New Year. My husband and I will be celebrating our anniversary and our son’s 21st birthday on the Carnival Valor on March 7-14. We were just on the Valor in November celebrating my 50th birthday. Could you please request from the Maitre-D that we have a table for 4 for more intimacy than a more crowded table would provide? I sincerely appreciate your and the many Stephanie’s assistance.
John,
My number one hated ‘catch phrase’ of all time has to be….’It is what it is’ OMG, I could smack anyone within reaching distance the minute they utter those words. It is like saying..’Where ever you go, there you are’. Irks me beyond reason. LOL
John,
Enjoy your blog and hearing the updates on the Carnival Fleet and it activities. Reading the infamous cruise critic there have been some very hard reviews about the Carnival Dream and its rating is now near the bottom of all cruise ships listed on cruise critic in the overall ship category. Realizing there are growing pains what efforts are being made to fix these constant concerns. We cruised the Transatlantic and were overall not that impressed but realize it is a new ship and there were bugs to be worked out.
JOHN, PLEASE REPLY
My wife and I are very excited because we’ll be cruising on the Carnival Splendor on January 31st. This will be our sixth cruise with Carnival, and the biggest ship we’ve ever been on. The thing we’re really excited about is that it will be the first time that we’ve stayed in a suite! Seeing the VIP thing on our Fun Pass was a major thrill.
John, could you do us a small favor to truly make this cruise perfect for us? Could you arrange with the Maître D’ to put us at a table for two rather than at a large table with strangers? We would be so grateful.
Thanks, John. We really appreciate it. I’m sure there are many more Carnival cruises in our future, and I hope that one of them will be on a ship where you are the Cruise Director.
Here’s my 2 cents -
FAVORITE SHIP – Spirit (and also Pride)
FAVORITE CARIBBEAN PORT – St. Thomas
FAVORITE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT – Ketchican, AK or Puerto Vallarta
PORT NEVER VISITED – Aruba, Halifax
FAVORITE CREW MEMBER – Ishmail (Spirit) or Elder (Ecstacy)
FAVORITE CRUISE MEMORY – experiencing the Panama Canal, or taking the train out of Skagway
CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 – cruise NE/Canada going out of New York
John – Thanks for the many memories and laughs you have given us. Our best to you and the lovely Heidi and beautiful Kye. You are blessed. – Mark
Hey John,
Sorry this is a little late, but Happy New Year! I wish you, Heidi, Kye, and your families a happy and healthy new year. After finishing up the semester, going through the holidays, and mourning the loss of a loved one less than a week ago, I have finally managed to catch up with all your blogs.
As for my votes, here they are as follows:
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP – I have yet to sail on the newer ships so as of now, my favorite ship is the Carnival Triumph. I have sailed on her twice and this was my girlfriend’s first cruise.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – It’s a very tough call between Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk. I have visited both places for the first time back in 2007 and loved them both. But if I had to pick one, I would vote for Half Moon Cay for it’s beautiful beach in a peaceful location.
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Being that I’ve only had one Non-Caribbean cruise, I would go with St. John, Canada. A beautiful town with such friendly people.
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BUT WANT TO – Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I want to experience climbing the Dunn River Falls as I hear so many positive experiences from it.
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD – It’s very hard especially for me to decide who would get this award. I’ve had a great waiter, who I recently mentioned to you, Vanburn from Grenada and I also had a great CD like George Solano this past summer. (I still have yet to sail with you!)
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 – Having the opportunity to cruise out of NYC for the first time and not have to worry about flying before and after the cruise!
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 – Hoping to cruise more than once this year, one of them being on the Carnival Dream!
John, thanks for your recent response regarding Vanburn and bad Christmas gifts. I figure that jewelry always melts a girl’s heart so I went with that……………. Have a great weekend and many thanks to all the 343 Stephanies for doing an excellent job maintaining this blog. Also, a special thank you to Radu for sharing his beautiful photos. His work is truly amazing!
Cheers,
Alex G.
Dear John,
Happy New Year to you and your beautiful family! Sorry I have been MIA recently. December came and went in such a whirlwind, I have a lot of catching up to do here on your blog, starting today.
Anyway, here are my votes:
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP
Right now, it’s the Carnival Glory, because I won’t be able to sail the Carnival Dream until May. However, I’m pretty sure that the Carnival Dream will “exceed” all my high expectations and become my favorite.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
St. Maarten, N.A. It is truly a very friendly island, with absolutely fabulous shopping!
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL
Alaska, although all of my ports of call thus far have been Caribbean ports. Some day, I hope to call on Alaska, though.
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO
Alaska (same as above)
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Tough one! I’d have to say the award would go to our cabin steward, Curtis, aboard the Carnival Glory, or the sales clerk, Milka (also on the Carnival Glory), who was so kind to our 3-year-old daughter.
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
Our Carnival Glory cruise was FANTASTIC! My daughter has a speech impairment called “apraxia,” and I was, and still am, thrilled that by the end of our week-long cruise, her speech showed such marked improvements! (Thanks, Camp Carnival!!)
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
Calm seas, sunny days, and good times on our 2 upcoming 2010 Carnival cruises.
Laura
PS – John, you should have given us a category for your most notable blog in 2009! For that category, I would have to say it’s a toss-up between the video of you dancing, and the story of you going into the wrong bathroom!
Happy New Year! I just wanted to write to tell you how much we enjoyed being a part of the bloggers’group on the Dream. This was our first bloggers’ cruise and it was exceptional. We enjoyed meeting the other bloggers as well as you and your team. You made this a very special memory for us. We are planning to cruise again next December on the Legend. I retired from teaching last year and am enjoying being able to cruise any time during the year. (especially when the cold weather hits in Missouri) I was pleased to read the great things about Mahogany Bay/Isla Roatan. We have never been there and are now looking forward to our visit. We loved our day in Grand Turk and decided it was our new favorite port of call, but who knows, we may change our minds again next December. We get to take our son and his friend on the Legend as they will be on college break. It will be his friend’s first cruise and we are all excited to share our love of Carnival with her.
Enjoy your family, and we look forward to reading more of your blogs. By the way, your bobble head sits by my computer. It is quite the conversation piece for visitors to our home. Thanks for everything. Have a great 2010!
I have been on the Conquest and the Pride…both are equal in my mind.
Favorite Port of Call – Cozumel..love to relax there.
Non Carribean – Anywhere in Alaska
Port of Call to Visit – Sidney
Julio was my waiter on this last cruise – so he is number one for me this year.
Favorite Cruise Memory for 2009 – Staying up for 2010 – doesn’t happen often!
Cruise wish for 2010 – new ports of call for Galveston…we were excited to hear they would be talking about new ports and then it turns out they were talking about the Eastern (Conquest) going to Key West and Nassau…need something better then that for us Texans!
Happy New Year to one and all!
John please reply….
Hello, John!
Hoping you and the whole family had a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year will bring you lots of health, prosperity and happiness…
Just to let you know that we have booked a 2-wk. cruise on the Grand Princess (Feb.12 – 26) and this will be our 1st Princess cruise. We’ll be visiting Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad, Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, Santo Domingo (Dom. Rep.) & Grand Turk Island. We have been in all those places with the exception of the Island of St. Vincent. As usual, we are very excited about this cruise. The last long cruise we took was the 17-day Brazilian Adventure on the Splendor, from Jan. 31 – Feb. 17, 2009.
Also, 2 days ago we booked a 1-wk. cruise on one of the “competition” cruiseships….(it is not one “of the Seas”)… We are leaving this coming Sat., Jan. 9 and as you can see, we decided on this cruise practically at the last minute. We have never cruised with them before so we are sort of “wondering” how it will turn out. As soon as we return we’ll give you a report.
We sent you a long report on our Dec. 12-19 Dream cruise from Pt. Canaveral a few days ago but we are not sure if the system went down or what happened when we submitted it to you…. we haven’t seen it show up on the “Comments” and it is too early to show up in your Questions/Answers section of the blog. But anyway, there is one word to rate it: “Magnificent!”. If our report doesn’t show up in a few days/wks. (we know you are busy and are behind with your answers), we’ll send it again. For sure we want to sail again on the Dream!
Kisses to Kye and warmest regards to you and Heidi.
The Santanas of Miami Beach
John, please reply here or e-mail…
)
I will be sailing with you on the Dream, Feb. 20th and are wondering if the “On Deck for a Cure” is part of the Dream…
I know the SBK contract goes thru March, but with the Dream being new, and with the Announcement of the St Judes, not to mention this is a New Year…
I was just wondering if it was going to be offered.
We have many things planned, even the “Hair Cut” for “Children with Hairloss”
but can always add one more thing if it is a good cause.
Hi John (please reply),
First John & I hope Heidi and you had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed Kye’s first Christmas — a memory that will last forever and one you will wish for when she is 18, 25 or 32!
We are booked on Carnival’s Alaska cruise from Seattle, WA on May 11th on the Spirit. We really want to plan this trip well and make sure we take in as much as possible since it will probably be our only trip to Alaska. So, we have several questions that we hope you can help us with:
1) what port does carnival use in Seattle? We see there are several and we are going to arrive a few days early but want to be centrally located and close to port if possible.
2) while cruising through Alaska in two ports there are excursion for helicopter and dog mushing. Which port do you recommend we do this in?
3) what might be some of your other top excursion recommendations? Dog Mushing is a must, at least once.
4) what is the atmosphere like on the ship during the evening? we are so used to Carribean cruising, the relax atmosphere in dining room, lounges, etc and we really don’t want to do the suit/dress “thing”. Can we do casual? (also want to minimize packing).
John, want to again let you know we had a wonderful time on the Dream during the Bloggers cruise. You were a wonderful host, the captain was a fine gentleman and very down to earth and we are glad we finally got to meet Stephanie. We hope she is doing well as Cruise Director on the Splendor.
We look forward to sailing with you again soon. Hopefully in 2011 on Magic in Europe! (anything finalized yet —- Greek Island a possibility?)
Patty & John
how do you post a question for john to answer?
Favorite Carnival Ship: Valor May 2007
Favorite Caribbean Port: St. Thomas
Non Caribbean Port: Galveston
Port of Call I want to visit: Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Hawaii, Alaska
Crew Member of the year: Marcello Assistant Cruise Director on the Conquest in May 09
Favorite Cruise memory of 09: Taking a cruise with my friend Retha, it was her first one and watching her being amazed like all first timers.
Wish for 2010: To be able to go on the bloggers cruise and meet John and Big Ed and his Evil Crewe.
Happy New Year to all of you! John, Heidi and Kye especially.
Marqueta from Oklahoma
Hello John,
Thank you again for your time into this blog!
I just wanted to point out that the new CD schedule link is broken. My apologies if this has already been addressed.
Thank you !
We’re doing the Western Carribean in Feb. and want do one of the “ruins” excursions. Which one do you suggest? Also, my husband is interesting in some deep sea fishing. Any thoughts on where that would be best? Thanks…..
John:
We LOVE Carnival. Every sailing is special and we are planning our next cruise before we embark the current cruise! We have made lifelong friends, experienced new adventures and become better people in society while cruising.
Favorites: To date Conquest is my favorite ship but every ship is wonderful. Fantasy Promenade is hard to beat!
CD/Entertainment Staff: It’s so hard to put in order because each has qualities that make them who they are and create the experience that we love so much. But for 2009 since we started the year cruising, ended it cruising and even fit in a cruise in the middle of the year! The crew of Fantasy 12/24/09 sailing. Risa, Hennie, Lewis, Dave, Bonnie, Brandon and the dancers. Fantasy 01/01/09 Gary Brierly and Tex were the absolute best! On each of these cruises the staff went above and beyond creating an experience that made my brother (brain injury survivor) feel like he was THE VIP on board. Such a great experience for someone who is not always treated with respect in society and has the biggest heart to make everyone around him feel good.
Crew: Fantasy 12/24/09 NaNa – always remembered the smoothie at dinner for my brother and recognized us on the Promenade, Christopher – best waiter all year! Fantasy 01/01/09 – our room steward was the best! I’m not going to have his name sadly but that might be because we never saw him until we went to the towel folding demonstration and he was the lead. He came and introduced himself (we don’t spend much time in the cabin). Again when we sailed 12/24/09 we went to the demonstration and he was there in lead and remembered us!
I have been extremely impressed with all 3 captains that we have sailed under this year. Fantasy 01/01/09, Conquest 08/30/09 and Fantasy 12/24/09. They have all been personable and available to the passengers.
Behind the Fun tour is an absolutely wonderful experience! We toured the Conquest and it made us appreciate our cruise experience even more. (PS we gave the suggestion that Freddy should show up during the tour.) I would highly recommend it to anyone!
While we have had ripples in our cruises they have been minimal and addressed properly if needed.
Oh yeah – the Christmas Show on Christmas Day was the perfect touch to truly bring the Spirit of the day on board!
We are looking forward to meeting you on the May 8, 2010 cruise!
Mr. Heald
I was wondering why is the Carnival Dream doing the same eastern route as the Oasis and Epic? If you were to change the route I would suggest that you guys change it to St Thomas, St Maarten, Tortola, and St. Kitts or Grand Turk.
Also, have you guys ever thought about a rooftop bar concept on th fantasy class ships? I would put it where the topless area use to be at. Thanks for replying back and I hope your family have a great 2010.
Hi John – Happy New Year to you and yours!!
I wrote a couple of weeks ago about an upcoming cruise on the Sensation, leaving January 10th. I was asking your advice as we were waitlisted for the 6:15 dining and one of the people I am travelling with has problems if he eats late. Just thought I would let you know that we are now confirmed for the 6:15 dining!
Take care,
Annette
Dear John,
Being a seasoned cruiser and reading your blog I fully understand that customer service is not your job but I am beside myself with a situation we are facing on our upcoming February 20th Cruise on the Dream and don’t know what else to try. We are especially excited to hear that you will be on board that week. You were the cruise director on our very first family cruise on the Ecstasy that hooked us and, our then, school age children who are now booking carnival cruises on their own. We had originally booked a back-to-back but, do to an unforeseen circumstance, we started to look at our options and saw that the Freedom is on its Saturday departure schedule so decided to disembark the Dream Saturday morning and drive down to Ft. Lauderdale and board the Freedom. We missed this itinerary several years ago when my wife fell at home just weeks before and ended up with 11 surgeries and months in a nursing home at the age of 50. We organized a group of family and friends of about 30 people, many first timers, who we had to send off on their own so we are really excited to make up this journey.
Anyway, I would first of all like you to know that we have a long history and are good customers. Although we have tried Celebrity, Princess and Norweigan, we have always returned to Carnival because of the service and amenities. Along with the two cruises this February, we have logged 15 cruises (realizing there are people with many many more). Our Family’s history includes many celebrations and holidays where we would have up to 8 balconies side-by-side with open dividers so we could be together. Our son proposed on the Fascination stage during one of the shows. When he went off to med school we celebrated by booking suites on the Pride with all the family (gandmothers, aunts, cousins etc.). It was a very expensive venture for us factory workers (we retired from the Jeep Plant) becasue we needed extra cabins for our kids. When our daughter was married in October she delayed her honeymoon that year until the family cruise on the Conquest out of NOLA the following February so we could all be together. In the past year we have invited three couples to try Carnival for their first time experiences because we knew they would be satisfied. I could continue but am only documenting this to show that we have had many good experiences so can’t understand our current dilemma that would split the family at dinner.
Our son and his family opted this year to use his sea mile rewards from his Carnival Master Card which excluded him from booking with our group and we feel he got penalized for the effort. He has two children (2 years and one year) who would not survive until the late seating that we have always preferred, so we all agreed to request early dining to accomodate them. The seven of us who switched were assigned early and the family that first requested and needed it most ended up on late. I have called everyone we know but keep being told hey are wait-listed and the outlook isn’t good. It is especially important that we dine together because one of the main reasons for this trip is it includes the great grandmothers who, both being in their 80′s, may not cruise again. One of them is platinum but the other will be taking her first cruise. We are only a group of 11 in total so I can’t understand why we can’t get assistance. If you can suggest to us a way to contact the ship’s dining staff or pass this on to anyone who can help I would greatly appreciate it. The whole point of this trip ws to be together. I don’t need this posted on the blog or cause any problems but have to give this last resort a try. BTW, we have never been able to travel with you following the first experience and have never heard the bedtime story and have waited for years and years. You started us on our love of cruising and have been the best CD we have ever had.
Don/Toledo, Ohio
John,
Here are my poll picks:
Favorite ship- Valor I won in the casino!
Favorite Caribbean port- Ocho Rios, mon!
Favorite non-Caribbean port- St.Petersburg, Russia
Port most want to visit- Santorini,Greece
Crew member award- The Captain of the Splendor on the South American long(49 day) cruise. He commanded that ship through all kinds ofweather & seas.
Memories of 2009-Definitely the South American trip of a lifetime
Wish for 2010- Return to Europe
Happy New Year, everyone!
Joyce
To confused,
Just simply start your question marked as “John Please Reply”. Please note that your comment will stay as “Your comment is awaiting moderation” until the question is answered and please allow a couple of weeks for John to answer your question as he gets a lot of questions.
Alex G.
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP – Has to be the Holiday
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – St. Thomas
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – never been to a non-caribbean port
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO – Anywhere in Europe
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD
- Have not cruised in the last year so Jon Heald would have to get my vote.
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010
“John Please reply”,
John, Happy New Year ! I really enjoy the blog and it always puts a smile on my face ! Hope yourself, Heidi and Kye had an amazing Holiday season.
I am writing to ask for your assistance.
My wife Lisa and I will be sailing on our 9th Carnival cruise together (Carnival Valor on 2/14/10) and will also be bringing our 2 children. We will also be celebrating our 13th Wedding anniversary. Lisa is a very special person and does “so much” for myself and our 2 girls. She always puts me and the girls before herself. I would like to do something special for her on this cruise and want to solicit your help !
I was thinking of a night at the Supper Club with Lisa would be a great start. Also, didn’t know if you had any other ideas that would be a romantic way to show my Love for my wife. Thanks for anything you can do.
Thanks John and look forward to cruising with you 1 day..
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO THE WHOLE GANG AT CARNIVAL, HERE’S TO A GREAT 2010.
FAVORITE SHIP: All of them , the CARNIVAL DREAM is next………..tick tock………three weeks to go.
FAVORITE CARIBBEAN PORT: St. Thomas
FAVORITE NON CARIBBEAN PORT: Belize
FAVORITE CREW MEMBER: Our very first waiter on the HOLIDAY in 1989- Abaka, Todd Wittmer,any casino dealers table that I won money at. Our PVP Joanna Piazza……..she ROCKS!!!
NEVER BEEN TO BUT WANT TO: Hawaii
FAVORITE CRUISE MEMORY: Any cruise with family, Participating in the Newlywed game without my wife knowing……( Thanks TODD)
All the best,
B&D from very chilly Canada
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP – Carnival Freedom (although that may change after going on the Dream in five weeks)
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Grand Cayman
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL – Cabo San Lucas
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO – Athens (Mykonos) Greece
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD – Michael – our waiter from Jamaica on the Carnival Pride … very funny guy. Justin deserves an honorable mention (activities director on the Pride)
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009 – winning my first “Ship on a Stick”
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 – making many more wonderful memories with my family aboard the Dream … and please bring back the Mediterranean itineraries!
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP- Carnival Pride
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL,
Can’t say never been there before.
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL. Cabo San Lucas.
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO. Any in Alaska.
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD. Vincent on the Carnival Pride.
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009. None, I can only do a cruise once every other year.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010. That John will do a bloggers cruise on the West Coast. I pray for that every day that God will have John do a West Coast Bloggers cruise for those of us that can not travel to the East Coast.
Kathy M.
Dear John & Bloggers,
Iam back!
My Favorite CCL Ship
The Carnival Freedom
My Favorite Caribbean Port
Cozumel, Mexico
My Favorite Non-Caribbean Port
Ixtapa/Zihuatenejo, Mexico
Port Never Visited but Want To the Most
Venice
Favorite CCL Crewmember
Magalie Carnival Spirit
Favorite Cruise Memory of 2009
The Blog was as close as I got so the Blogger’s Cruise
Cruise Wish for 2010
Book Family Cruise for Nine
The Cruzin2some
James & Nancy Enslow
HERE WE ARE JOHN
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER……….
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP…….
Carnival Legend
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL…
St. Thomas
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL…….Mazatlaan Mexico
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO………Alaska
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD…..
Ken “The Voice” Byrnes Hands Down followed oly behind John Heald. Honorable mention a waiter named Blaze we had 3 times…….
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009..
Bloggers Cruise on Carnival Dream Dec 2009.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010 To become a Platinum member with another cruise or 2 of course!
The Tuckers
Elizabeth & Arnold
YOUR FAVOURITE CARNIVAL SHIP: Carnival Glory
YOUR FAVOURITE CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL: St. Maarten
YOUR NUMBER ONE NON-CARIBBEAN PORT OF CALL: St. John, New Brunswick Canada
THE PORT OF CALL YOU HAVE NEVER VISITED BY WANT TO: Roatan
YOUR CREW MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD: John Heald, Jorge Solano, Butch Begovich
YOUR FAVOURITE CRUISE MEMORY OF 2009: Being blessed with the opportunity for two completely different cruise experiences: a quick relaxing 5 day on the Carnival Inspiration out of Tampa and then a visit to New York followed by a 7-day through New England and Canada for our anniversary.
YOUR CRUISE WISH FOR 2010: Health and happiness for all family members, with an opportunity to see the Dream in September 2010 as planned
Hi John – Happy New Year
My worst expression is “Does that work for you”. It makes me want to throw something.
John,
I am hoping you can help me… I was on the Dream the week of Jan 23, 2010. Karel Pancochar sold me a awesome photo package and upon returning home, we found the CD holding all the images cracked and not readable. Cold you please pass my email along to Karel and ask him about possible replacing the damaged CD.
Thanks,
R. D