Meet Annie one of the new Entertainment Staff here on your Carnival Dream.
Except Annie is not her name………..it’s a nickname………..for obvious reasons and it’s one she seems to love and she certainly has been blessed with a sunshiney personality that makes her perfect for the job of Entertainment Staff.
This is a rare thing because it seems to me that very few people have a nickname any more. Kids these days talk to each other using their Christian names…….even if they are tall and skinny and have a wonky eye.
It was a different story when I was at school. We had a teacher who stuttered who we called “Stuttering Sam”………..we had a teacher called The Mole because she had……..ummmm…………a mole on her face from which grew 7 long hairs……… the drama and music teacher was called Gaylord……….even though he was neither gay or a Lord……….there was a girl we called Easy Elsie……….because she her name was Elsie and she was……….ummmm……………..very friendly………..my best friend was Ugly Alan and I was affectionately known as “the tooth” because of my bent front molar.
There was one girl we called Crater Face. This is because she was ravishingly beautiful in every single respect … but her face, which was full of potholes, caused by her zits which she spent all day picking and squeezing. Then there was a boy who had not been blessed in the trouser department……..and who became known in the changing rooms as “Inch High Private Eye.”
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this simply wouldn’t be allowed any more. Calling a boy “Inch High” or a girl “Crater Face” would be an infringement of their human rights and the school would be closed down and the high school principle fired and be forced to attend therapy.
However, as you will have seen the nickname thingy is alive and well here on the fun for all ships of Carnival. On the Carnival Splendor we had two musicians called Steve……..and so they were named as Canadian Steve and German Steve – which was a bit annoying for the poor sod because he was Portuguese American. But his last name was Schmidt and therefore he sounded German to us and so he was called German Steve by the entire department. Then there is Butch …………. the Cruise Director and future hall of famer in the industry…………….whose real name is not Butch……yep…………that’s a nickname and one he gained on the ships and a name that even his beloved parents now call him.
The best nicknames are born in a moment of excruciating embarrassment. That’s why one shipboard person I sometimes work with is called Adam …………after the apple he found on the neck of the………ummmmmm……..girl he tried to have rumpy pumpy with one night in Bangkok.
I realize, of course, that nicknames are exclusively a male thing. This is because boys rejoice in the downfall of others. We like to watch our friends fall over and say the wrong thing at the wrong time. We love it when they come out of the toilet having not shaken their thingy properly.
The boy on boy bond is glued together with teasing, and nicknames are part of that. As a general rule, girls console one another when they fall over. They ring one another for uplifting chats. The girl-girl bond is glued together with something fluffy and pink and nice. That’s why a dancer who accidentally farted while doing a lift on stage during the Ticket to Ride Show is not known by her mates for the rest of time as………….. Windy Wendy.
We have nicknames for some of the Captains as well. There is “Napoleon”…..”Moaning Minnie” ………..”Captain Caveman”…………..”You Zee”………..and my personal favorite “The Package” ………because unlike my old mate at school “Inch High” …………….Captain Package is one very lucky man. And no ladies…………..I am not going to tell you who he is.
Time for today’s questions…………..here we go.
Dave Asked:
“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 – We are staying in cabin 9265
Thanks John and look forward to cruising with you 1 day…
John Says:
Hello DaveI am sure your wife would be so thankful for those lovely words you wrote about her and that is something that I suggest you actually do. Book the Steakhouse and then during dinner present her with a card. Now, I don’t mean a card that just says Happy Valentines etc but one that contains your thanks, appreciation and love for your special lady. Then, after dinner take her for a walk around the open decks under the stars. I am sure this will make for a very special night. I will also send her a little gift as well. Don’t forget that you can pre-order flowers through our Bon Voyage department at carnival.com.
Have a romantic and fun cruise.
Best wishes
JohnDon Asked:
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, due 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 Norwegian, 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 (grandmothers, aunts, cousins etc.). It was a very expensive venture for us factory workers (we retired from the Jeep Plant) because 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 accommodate 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 they 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 was to be together. All four of our reservations are cross referenced but still not together for dinner. 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, OhioJohn Says:
Hello Don from Toledo OhioThank you for taking the time to write and certainly being an extension of the customer service department is very much an important part of my daily blog thingy. I can understand why you would all like to eat together and I will certainly send your details to the Maitre D on the Carnival Conquest and I know he will do all he can to see if this can be done.
I hope you all have a fantastic time together and please let me know what happens.
Best wishes to you and all the family.
JohnWalter Asked:
Mr. HealdI 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 the 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.
John Says:
Hello WalterI love the idea of the roof top bar and that is something that we could definitely consider ………… thanks for the great idea.
I guess you could say why are the Epic and the Oasis doing the same itinerary as your Carnival Dream? I can’t speak for Norwegian or for RCI but I can say that we certainly don’t base where our ships go on what other lines are doing. The Eastern Caribbean cruise that includes St. Thomas and St. Martin has always been one of our most popular itineraries and that’s why we continued what the Carnival Glory was doing when she sailed from Port Canaveral here on your Carnival Dream.
Remember that you can visit St. Kitts, Tortola and Grand Turk on other ships within the Carnival fleet.
We dock with the Oasis in St Martin and it will be interesting for sure to see the monster close up. As for the Norwegian Epic…………..I am not sure if we will be docking with her but just in case we do………we have ordered lots more sick bags.
Best wishes
JohnMary Asked:
We’re doing the Western Caribbean 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 Says:
Hello MaryI take it that you are going to be sailing here on your Carnival Dream. If that’s the case then I certainly recommend the Mayan ruins excursion to Tulum. Their location with the ancient temples almost overhanging the cliff makes them aesthetically unbeatable. I highly recommend this excursion.
As for the deep sea fishing………I have to say I have never done this but I know many who have and it is a tour that they all seem to enjoy. Obviously there is never a guarantee that you are going to catch something and unfortunately you can’t bring Nemo back onboard the ship and cook him for dinner. Full descriptions can be found for all our shore excursions at www.carnival.com and of course we have a dedicated staff onboard to help you decide.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Hope to see you soon
Best wishes
JohnJohn & Patty Asked:
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 Caribbean 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 & JohnJohn Says:
Hello Patty and JohnThanks for taking the time to write and congratulations on booking your Carnival Spirit Alaskan adventure. Let me see if I can answer your questions starting with the information you require on the cruise terminal we use in Seattle. It is;
Smith Cove Cruise Terminal 91
2001 West Garfield St.
Seattle, WA 98119Now as for questions 2 and 3 I need a bit of help here. You see I have never cruised to Alaska although one day I really must. Therefore I am not the right chap to give you advice on what are the best tours? But I know that our Director of Shore Excursions Robert ……or Bilious Bobby as he is affectionately known…….will be able to provide me with his top recommendations. So, please allow me a few days and I will make sure I post his top tips here on the blog thingy.
The ship will have one main elegant night with a second one later in the cruise with all the other evenings having a cruise casual dress code as in the Caribbean. I hope this helps and thanks so much for all the kind words and hope you have a brilliant time. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Best wishes to all
JohnJuan & Maria Santana Asked:
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” cruise ships….(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 BeachJohn Says:
Hello Juan and MariaI did indeed see your great review and I think our postings have crossed over so I hope you did in fact get to see my reply to you. In 2008 Heidi and I sailed on the Emerald Princess which is part of the Grand class of ships and we had an absolutely super time as I know will you when you sail on the Grand Princess. I hope you will be able to take the time to write your review and post it here on the blog thingy.
I also hope that it is not too long before we see you again here on one of our fun for all ships.
Best wishes to you both
JohnJim Zim Asked:
JOHN, PLEASE REPLYMy 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.
John Says:
Hello Jim ZimIt won’t be long until you are experiencing the suite life onboard the Carnival Splendor. I have written to the Maitre D to ask for his help with the table request. Have a brilliant time and please send me your review if you can.
Best wishes to all
JohnDavid B. Smale Asked:
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 Says:
Hello DavidI wonder if you had chance to read yesterday’s blog. If not I would ask that you do as while I admitted again that during the start up of the vessel we did indeed face some challenges that they have been met head on and many improvements have been made. I am so sorry that you were disappointed when you sailed on the trans-Atlantic crossing, hopefully you can return here to your Carnival Dream and enjoy your time onboard more this time.
I would say again that for every one negative comment on Cruise Critic there are hundreds of guests who do not post anything and who have had the most fantastic experience here. Yesterday in fact I posted a review from a previously loyal RCI cruiser; in case you missed it…………here it is again.
Just got home from our vacation on the Dream. I’ll try to write a full review later, but just wanted to let everyone know it is FANTASTIC! We were really nervous after reading all the reviews, but to our relief everything was perfect. I should also mention, we have been loyal royals for a few years, this was our first Carnival and I think our best cruise to date! So, don’t let the complainers get to you if you have this ship booked, you will love it!
Please let me know if you have any follow up questions David and again I am sorry that we did not exceed your expectations and truly hope you will give us an opportunity to do so.
best wishes
JohnGloria Asked:
(Please Reply)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 Says:
Hello GloriaI have asked the Maitre D of the Carnival Valor to see if he makes this an extra special birthday cruise by helping you with your table request.
Have a brilliant time.
Best wishes to all.
John
That’s all for today and there will be more tomorrow. My thanks to you all for all the comments.
As you may be aware we have had some technical concerns with the Carnival Destiny and so we have regrettably had to send her to dry dock Here is the official release.
Carnival Destiny to Undergo Dry Dock to Fix Propulsion Problem
I know those of you who have booked one of the canceled cruises will be disappointed so please accept my sincere apologies.
As you know, I will be sailing and reporting from the Queen Victoria on her British Isles cruise in July this year and I know a few of you have booked to join me. I also know that many of you love a good web cam and over on the www.wearecunard.com page there is a live link to the bridge cam on the Queen Victoria which I encourage you to have a look at.
Then, on the same site there is a brilliant video of this majestic vessel navigating through the Panama Canal which is a must see.
And some of you are going to experience this when you sail on the Carnival Elation’s repositioning cruise later this year. And to whet your appetite even more please pop over to James Cusick’s blog. James is of course the Executive Chief Purser on P & O’s Arcadia and on his site today there are some wonderful photos of the Arcadia’s journey through the canal.
The link thingy is http://www.jamescusick.co.uk/
Saying goodbye to people who have given their lives to one company is something that is never easy and that is what we are going to do today………as we say goodbye to a true man of the sea ………… Captain Casula who retired last week. Here to tell us all about it is that man Butch.
Hello bloggers! Today it is with great honor and a bit of a heavy heart that I get to tell you about all of the festivities that occurred this week here on board the Liberty to say farewell to Captain Gianopaolo Casula as he officially says goodbye to Carnival Cruise Lines and takes retirement after 50 years of navigating experience and 34 years with Carnival.Recently for our new interactive Funville website I was privileged to write about the Captain’s time with Carnival here is the link in case you missed it:
http://www.carnival.com/Funville/blogs/carnivaltheblog/archive/2010/01/15/carnival-liberty-s-captain-gianpaolo-casula-retires.aspx
So today I would like to tell you how a ship’s crew said farewell to a man that his devoted his life to this business.
For the past few weeks as Captain Casula has set sail from our ports of call he has been showered by gifts from our port agents, pilots, and government officials. One of the best spectacles was the U.S. Coast Guard fire boats that displayed a water show as the Captain navigated us out of the port of San Juan last cruise.
As the Captain embarked on his final voyage from the port of Miami he was greeted on the bridge by his entire navigational crew who stood and applauded him as he arrived to his post to set sail after our safety briefing.
In honor of the Captain’s Italian roots the 1,200 Liberty team members held a special Italian Masquerade Ball in his honor in the Cigar Bar after hours where a visibly emotional Captain said his final parting thank you to his team. At the Captain’s final introduction to our guests during the first elegant evening tears streamed down his face as he introduced his senior officers and managers for the final time, quite an emotional evening for all of us as one by one the Captain said some extra special remarks about each of his officers as they were presented to our guests …….and more than one, me included, shed a couple of tears as we stood proudly next to a man who we have called Master for so long.
And then we surprised the Captain with a farewell party hosted by the bridge team and all of the Senior Management where we presented the Captain with two identical plaques both displaying his original stripes (a few weeks ago as he was cleaning out his office he gave these to me as a gift, but I did not feel right keeping them). One of the plaques will go home with the Master and the other will be proudly displayed in the Liberty Trophy case for as long as the ship is in service.
At the party the Captain again took the Microphone and as he wept shared with us some of his favorite memories working on the seas and thanked everyone for their hard work. He also mentioned to all of us that in all of his years that he has never been so proud to be a part of a team than here on the Liberty……there wasn’t a dry eye in the room!
We have one more surprise for Captain Casula………as he walks off the Gangway when we port in Miami, he will be flanked by his entire team as we salute him as steps foot onto dry land, his new permanent home.
In closing I would like to share with you the Captain’s parting words to the Liberty Team that he posted on all of the Crew Notice Boards:
Dear Liberty Family,The time is arrived for a long vacation, but before leaving, I want to express my gratitude to all of you for all the efforts done to operating always very smoothly and receiving remarkable compliments from our Guests as well as from ashore Managements and Auditors. I consider myself lucky to have had such a great Team of people to work every day, and I will surely miss all of you.
After 34 years working with Carnival I am ending my career. My working relationship with many of you turned into a bond of friendship which I will cherish for years to come and while I am sad to leave ships, colleagues and friendship behind, I am excited and looking forward to opening a new chapter in my life.
Life is a journey, not a destination, in all of our days, our lives are always changing. There are at times tears as well as smiles that we must endure in life, but without all these elements, one would become dwarfed and not grow to his full potential.
If by chance our paths do not cross in the near future, wishing you, good luck with whatever path life takes you down.
Along the road you travel, may the miles be a thousand time more lovely than lonely and may you have rainbows after every storm.
Always smooth sailing and God bless you!!!
Capt. Gianpaolo Casula
Captain…..on behalf of all of us here on the blog and from the entire Carnival family I wish you a wonderful and happy retirement and thank you for the devotion and the passion that you shared with many thousands of guests and crew. We will all miss you very much.
And once again my sincere thanks to Butch for sharing this story with us.
Well, the ship is in Roatan today and the next time I am here I will take a walk around the new Mahogany Bay facilities. I wish I had time to do so today but apart from blogging to all of you I have to do the schedules, etc for my first cruise as CD. Craig is here with me though and as always will be a great help despite being as ugly as a duck billed platypus.
The new beach chair lift seems very popular and many guests are using them today. Also very popular is the tour to Gumbalinda Park to see the monkeys and parrots. I don’t have access to the guest report until next week although I can say that the many guests who have sailed with me before who are here this week have told me they love the ship. The Lanai is hugely popular as is the Lido Deck and the children’s facilities. The fact that we have both Circle C and Club O2 on deck 4 aft is something that the teens, their parents and all the other guests appreciate. I had a visit last night to both facilities and could not help but think just how lucky these kids are to have these extraordinary facilities on their vacation. This ship is then a dream come true for families and for those who feel children should be neither seen nor heard.
I have some work to do with the lobby, though. From the very first time I visited your Carnival Dream I have said that I thought the atrium was the best in the fleet both in decor and for the space provided. At the moment we have a nice duo playing there but it’s too…… ummmm …….. what’s the word I am looking for…………………..reserved………..yep………….reserved. It should have more energy and I will try and make this happen by scheduling more fun stuff there. The one problem for the lobby is that it is up against the Ocean Plaza which is without doubt the center of attraction. We have a superb band there called Voodoo who plays a mix of rock ’n roll and party music and of course you have the coffee shop, bars, and the Lanai as well. This, along with the activities that are scheduled there make the Ocean Plaza the place to be.
One thing that has to change is that damn Peruvian pipe music that plays in the lido deck restaurant. I was up there at breakfast this morning and it ruined my grits! I know I mentioned this a few weeks ago and it looks like I have a battle on my hands to get Pedro and his pipe band and replace him with some fun, vacation type music. I will get this done, I promise.
One of my favorite crew members and a favorite of many is this young lady.
This is the wonderful Ling Ling who is from a small province in eastern China. She makes wonderful coffee and always…………always has a smile on her face. Guests love to talk to her and she loves to talk to them even when like this morning………..they are downright rude.
I was standing talking to her, dunking my tea bag (PG Tips brought from home) when a lady interrupted our conversation by just saying “bathroom” ………..not, excuse me, or sorry to interrupt you, or please could you……………nope……………..just…………”bathroom.”
Ling Ling as always smiled and showed her the way and of course received no thank you or acknowledgment of her help. Hopefully this lady will not stand up before she flushes and her arse cheeks get sucked down into the toilet…………..and she is still there now.
Honestly, things like that make me so upset. How hard is it…..just to say please, or thank you.
Ling Ling by the way speaks fluent English, five dialects of the Chinese language and also speaks perfect French..….still…..nobody’s perfect. Seriously though, here is a very talented and intelligent young lady who has a university degree and speaks more languages than many of us. Yet, this 25 year old from China is working here on your Carnival Dream because she needs to support her family. I have always said that even with all the facilities and new innovations that we put on our fun for all ships these days; nothing is more important or more iconic than our crew.
I am not going to go on about how much I miss my girls but there is one side affect of not having them here that I want to mention. I noticed this last year when I was on the Carnival Legend without them…….you see……….I talk to myself out loud all the time. Well, not all the time. I don’t sit at home on my own like a character in a sitcom. I’m also not having a chat with myself that involves question and answer. For instance……. looking in the mirror and asking myself how I’m doing, responding with “not good mate” then asking, “why?” and so on ……………….. I’m not that kind of crazy.
But there have been a few times where I have caught myself talking out loud, as though I’m participating in a conversation…………….and that’s bothering me. Last night, I went to check on the nightlife on Promenade and to see the show. While I was getting ready I found myself discussing with myself what I should wear.
“A suit…nope….too formal………..has my blazer been pressed …..Oh yes…I will wear that then.”
I could hear myself talking and then to make matters worse…….I told myself to “shut up.”
Then this morning I found myself walking around Lido Deck asking myself what I should have for breakfast!
This doesn’t bother me too much though because thanks to the world of technology all the guests eating breakfast probably assumed I was on my Bluetooth. Everyone looks like they’re crazy and talking to themselves, who’s going to notice you don’t have a phone?
One thing I do tell myself is that I am very lucky to be here on your Carnival Dream and each day I realize how fortunate I am to be a Cruise Director. Considering I was called Bent Tooth at school and was as thick as Rosie O Donnell’s thighs, I feel blessed to be where I am. I can’t wait for Heidi and Kye to get here and there isn’t much else I could possibly ask for…………except maybe to go back to my cabin tonight to find Megan Fox in there……..naked………….and bored.
Goodnight
Your friend
John
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
Just to let you know, I did my part and wrote an excellent review of our Dream on the Cruise Critic site. We’ll write another one after on 20 Feb 10 cruise because I’m dreaming about it already.
Blessings
Rev Barb
Hello, Annie!!! Congratulations on moving to our Carnival Dream!
You see, John, Annie was a member of the entertainment staff on the Carnival Conquest when my group, Cruisin’ With the Crazies, sailed last September. She was FANTASTIC! Everyone fell in love with her! She’s outstanding! Promote IMMEDIATELY!!!
I’m thrilled that you put Ling Ling in the spotlight. I am constantly amazed by the talent and abilities of the folks who work on Carnival ships regardless of position. They’re brilliant. I think you should do more of this, John.
All the best to the hard working blog staff!!!
Ciao
Host Mach
Hi John,
Did I tell you the New Orleans Saints are going to the Superbowl. No, not as spectators. They are going to be playing in it!
WooHoo!
The Who Dat Nation rules!
bill
John, I just saw Megen Fox leaving your cabin still bored. Those Royal Writing Underwear the Evil Crew gave you on BC3 are for when your doing the blog not a Fox. I told Penny that the measuring tape and magnifying glass would not help you find your…… um……..thingy.
BIG Ed
I will have to stop by and have a chat with Ling Ling when we’re on the Carnival Dream in April. She seems like a sweet girl and very intelligent. Rude people suck!
John – please reply. I am a travel agent and have just taken out group space on the new Carnival Magic for next September!! Woo Hoo!! Can you say – EXCITED!!
We loved our Mediterranean cruise, and are so looking forward to seeing Barcelona and spending more time in wonderful Venice!! Will you be the Cruise Director for all the Magic sailings??
Hope so, love your blog, and would love to meet you one day!!
Bye for now, Terry (a devoted Canadian fan!)
John, dear…
If Megan Fox were to be found naked in your cabin, Heidi would, um, make sure you joined the no-inch club!
Duchess Sandy in FL
Stephanie,
Please bring this to John’s attention in case no one else has seen this error and has already advised him.
In his first reply today, he told Don from Toledoe would forward his dining request to the maitre’d of the Conquest BUT Don and his family are going to be on the Dream this Feb. 20.
Thanks,
Mary
Dear Johnny Sparkles,
I love nicknames and have several myself. I call my beautiful wife Snookie and my oldest daughter Lesley is Peanut because that was the size of her bladder when she was little. My son Jeremy is Mejo and my daughter Jessica is Messy Jessi for obvious reasons.
I hate rude people too, and have no use for them. There is always time to be polite. My wife works in a doctors office and there are patients with terminal cancer that come into her office and bring her gifts because she goes out of her way to help them. These people are really hurting and still they think of others first. It seems today that the young do not get trained in how to be curtious.
Carnival has the nicest people working on the Funships. From the master of the ship on down to the folks who clean up after us. Our last room steward actually told Nancy to please quit making the bed that it was her job and she was on vacation.
Too funny!
Best wishes for a great handover.
The Cruzin2some
James (Sticker) and Nancy Enslow
John – I certainly enjoy reading your posts; you are definitely a “people” person. Sorry my wife and I won’t have you as CD on our March 7 GLORY cruise, but I’m sure whoever is CD will do a great job.
I’d like to suggest an event for all CARNIVAL ships that I’m not sure they currently do; stargazing (no, not at a star like you, but at the stars in the sky).
I’ve seen this done on other cruise lines. Let me relate two ways to do it; first the wrong way, then the right way. The wrong way was when an amateur astronomer convinced a CD to allow him to do a stargazing event. We met on an outside deck and the astronomer was peeved that the ships’ lights were on (he claimed he had been assured the lights would be turned off to facilitate viewing). Perhaps a good idea if we had been sailing in the North Atlantic during WWII, to evade the enemy, but not very safe otherwise. Then, because we were so close to the Equator, those stars had the pesky habit of not being where they were supposed to be. This elicited comments from the astronomer, like “If we were in the United States, directly overhead would be the Ursa Major constellation, but I don’t know exactly what’s overhead down here”.
The right way to do this event took place on another cruise, where the staff captain ran the event. He seemed pleased to do so, as it gave him a chance to shine, rather than the ship captain getting all the attention. Anyway, his presentation began with a 15-minute presentation of Navigation 101, that included demonstration of use of the sextant and a discussion of the Chinese sailing the world centuries before Columbus, Magellan, etc. Then he used a laser pointer to identify the various constellations and planets. Even the children present (who usually can’t be torn from their GAME BOY or similar games) were thrilled with the presentation.
Just an idea for you and CARNIVAL to consider.
Best to you and your family!
Steve
I am pretty sure I can bet good money that your Megan Fox’s bottom is not in your bed tonight. Have you ever thought what you would do with her if she was there LOL? Better yet, what would Heidi do to you?
I can only imagine how much you miss your girls. I think I remember you telling us that they will be joining you on the Dream. I hope the time goes fast and they are with you once again.
I will never understand why people have to be rude. It is bad enough they are rude on message boards like Cruise Critic but when they are in public, it is just not something that I understand.
I am so glad you are once again on a ship John. I can not wait to read one of the “complaints”, they are always a good source of fun to read. The pax on the Dream are so lucky to have you as their CD. I know I look forward to sailing with you once again on the Magic. Just saying that makes me smile. I can not wait for you to tell us all the information about her.
Keep smiling John, you truly are one of the good guys.
My best to Heidi and Kye.
PLEASE RESPOND!!
i love the blog-thing!! i read it every day!
how can i get a job as one of your stephanies??? or maybe a stephanie to someone else?
Hi John, Please Reply,
First, I would like to say that you do an amazing job and I can’t imagine your busy schedule. Your blog is a joy to read every day.
Second, I would like to ask for a favor. My wife and I will be sailing on the Carnival Fascination on February 20 of this year in stateroom E7. We have a baby boy who will be 6 months old when we sail, and he will be staying with grandma and grandpa. I know this will be hard on my wife to be away for 5 days, but what better place to be than on a Carnival Cruise! This cruise will also be taking place over my wife’s birthday and I could think of no better gift then if you could possibly send her a signed photo or some other personal message. Her and I both think the world of you, even though we have never had the chance to meet, and I know that this would make her cruise. Thank you!
Thomas M.
John,
I could not agree more about manners and common courtesy. I had the distinct advantage of being raised by parents who taught me the importance and value of simple things like manners, common courtesy and respect for others. It has served me well in my life.
As parents my wife and I have worked very hard to teach our son and daughter the same lessons. We constantly receive compliments from others regarding how well-mannered and polite both of them are. It’s a real source of pride for us, and I know that is will serve them well as they go through their lives.
I’ll be sure to take special care to meet Ling Ling when we sail on Carnival Dream in April. One of my favorite things about cruising is meeting the crew. The chance for my family and I to meet crew members like her, and all the others is one of my favorite things about cruising CCL.
Really great blog John. Enjoyed it from “Annie” and nicknames to Captain Casula’s retirement, Ling Ling, talking to yourself (isn’t that okay?), and finally the naked/bored star in your cabin! You’re the BEST!
Steve O
John,
Thanks for posting the lovely pictures of Annie. We enjoyed her this past September on the Carnival Conquest. Looking forward to enjoying more fun with her on our upcoming Carnival Dream cruise. She is a true jewel of Carnival.
See you soon,
Bobbi
Please reply if you have the time.
My Family is set for our cruise on Carnival Triumph April 10, 2010. This will be, for all of us, our 5th Carnival Cruise, (have done other lines, but Carnival fits for a whole family). My dear daughter will be 8. Since she has been to Cozumel 4 times before, I asked her what she would like to do when we go back. She wanted to ride on a dolphin and/or go horseback riding. So I go check the excursions on Carnival.com. Guess what, she can’t to either do to age restrictions. Even checked the Bacab Eco Park Horseback ride in Belize.
I checked to book it independently, and for a Dolphin swim and ride, (please note not the encounter), she was old enough and tall enough according to Dolphinaris, (who won’t let Cruise ship passengers booked on their own), and Chankanaab Dolphin Discovery, (who will). In addition, I can take her horseback riding in Cozumel through a trusted independent as well.
I can provide proof including her climbing the Water Iceburg at Paradise Beach, (and jumping off), which is in 12 feet of water. She’s been parasailing since she was 4, swam with the sting rays on Grand Caymen, gone down both slides several times, (Evolutions of fun on 2 different cruises), on Carnival Fantasy, (she wants to do her Carnival Dream slides), and even, oh dear, climbed a rock wall, at sea, (sorry).
Please do not give me a company answer. I understand about insurance and how Carnival has researched each company they work with for shore excursions. I also understand booking through Carnival I won’t miss the Ship, but I won’t either by getting a taxi on my own. I just need to know who to contact at Carnival to get an override on the “age” restrictions? I do not want them to change the age restrictions, but make an exception.
Hope Kye does not cause you to invest in AFLAC, (Supplemental accident health insurance), like my daughter as done. But I enjoy my little dare devil. Take Kye parasailing by age 4. She’ll love it.
John,
My family and I will be boarding the Dream Christmas day 2010. There will be a total of 13 of us and we are so stoked! This will be my 4th cruise (all on Carnival, thank you
) and Todd Whitmer has been the CD on my past 2 cruises. I must say he is wonderful, and from what I can tell, he will be our CD for this cruise.
Although I am a past guest I have really just been introduced to your blog. I must say, I am in love with your wit and humour!! I have some of my co-workers reading this only because I was cracking up reading your posts (of course, during my lunch hour).
I have really enjoyed reading about the Dream. I find a lot of your information very useful! I do have a couple of questions, if you could find the time to answer that would be great! If not, that is ok too…seems (from other posts I have read) you are very busy trying to be Carnival’s Maitre’D, giftshop and customer service rep
. Anyway, I would like to know:
1 – who is scheduled to be the CD on the Dec 25 2010 – Jan 1 2011 sailing on the Dream?
2 – how many formal nights are on this 7 day sailing and will there be special happenings that we should pack for?
Thanks! Brandi
annie is a doll and john, craig is pretty cute too. honest. ha ha ha
smiles, bonnie and prince charlie
Hi John,
Please reply,
Don’t worry about talking to yourself, I do it all the time. Do you find you do it more often when you are alone then when someone else is around you. I do. I think it is because you were single for so long and living alone that you just get into that habit and really do not realize that you are doing it. I know as a single person I will catch myself talking to myself, so I really think it has more to do with being single for so long, that it has just become a habit, so I would not worry about it to much.
Give my love to Heidi and Kye.
From your #1 Bloggy Thinggy Fan,
Kathy M.
Dear John (please reply)
My husband and I will be going on the Conquest the week of April 25th to celebrate our 15th anniversary (on the 30th). This will be my third time on this cruise and his 2nd, but our first alone.
We want to do some romantic things as well as enjoy some of the shows. Here is where my question comes in. The last two times I was on the Conquest, they had the same shows. Do you know if the shows have changed ? Our last trip was in Apr 09. If not, I don’t think we will want to watch the shows again. Is there anything else you can recommend for a couple that would be fun during this time?
Thanks for keeping the blog going. I love reading it everyday and look forward to getting to meet you in person and see some of your stories live on this trip. I have watched many on youtube, but I know they will be even better in person.
Thanks again
Christy
My nickname growing up was Cinderella and I made the mistake of telling a new friend several years ago and she never fails to yell that name at me whether we are at the bowling alley (where we met) or in a crowded shopping mall. But I love Rose anyway and she’s a great friend.
Cindy
Hi John (May reply if you wish)
Thank you for posting the article on Captain Casula’s retirement. I was on the final cruise of the Carnival Liberty with him. I experienced firsthand the respect the entire crew has for him. It was announced several times that he was retiring after that cruise and he was greeted by many passengers and crew with a look of awe. I, myself congratulated him and wished him well. What a wonderful man he is.
Just a quick overview of our cruise. First off, I met Butch and introduced myself. He knew immediately who I was…Thank You. I received a nice gift in my cabin…again…Thank You. Butch was a great CD and really funny and personable. We enjoyed him a lot.
The ship was fabulous just a I remember from my last two cruises on her. We had an Ocean Suite, and what a treat that was. Marut, our cabin steward was probably in the top 2 that we have ever had. Awesome steward.
We tried the Your Time dining and found it not to be for us. We had a group of 12 and the wait time was fairly extended. (Which I understand) On the first night, the service was lacking. Things that we ordered were never received. Our waiter would come to our table to take our order and before we were even finished he was grabbing the menu and rushing away. The next night, we split up for dinner, and it was much better with just a couple. Our waiter, Zelli (I think) was awesome. The dining room hostesses and Maitre D were as helpful and possible. They even sent a gift to our cabin in apology for the delay in seating. On our final evening, we wanted to dine together, so my hubby went to the dining room an hour in advance and gave them a heads up that we were coming…they had our table set up and ready when we got there. Overall, hubby and myself have decided that we prefer the assigned dining. It has a more personal feeling and I like to get to know my wait staff. It wasn’t overall a terrible experience, just not for us.
We enjoyed the Burrito Bar and the Fish and Chips. The only problem is that they were open for such limited hours. (3-1/2 hours on port days and 2-1/2 hours on sea days) If you weren’t hungry or were involved in some other activity, then you missed the hours. The food was excellent and usual and my “special” Eggs Benedict order was honored every morning in the Silver Olympian dining room. We met a waitress that we had on the Carnival Legend, named Monica, and she was fabulous as usual.
Overall, it was a wonderful cruise and we can hardly wait until we can cruise again.
Give my best to Heidi and Kye. I hope to see you in Charleston this spring or summer.
Gloria aka Sue
Please Reply. My wife Chris and I, along with 8 more friends will be sailing on the Splendor Feb. 14th. This will be our 11th cruise, all but one with Carnival. We have had the pleasure of cruising with you on 3 occasions. Your answer about showing the Nascar race on the big screen or in the sports lounge, will that be true on the Splendor also? Thank you .
John, Please reply.
Have you ever read the book ‘Cruise Confidential’ Author Brian David Bruns?
I think it is recomanded reading for all people wanting to work a cruise ship.
Oh BTW Megan Fox would have to be really really bored to be waiting for you in your cabin..
I have first time clients sailing with you on the 30th of January. I told them that they are sailing with the best CD in the cruise business.
Tim and Diane
We had Annie on our cruise in May on the Conquest. That whole entertainment staff was the best we ever had on Carnival. We were disappointed with the new staff we had on the Conquest in December. We really missed “Papi” and the “vacatioooooon” guy that did kareoke. I heard through the grapevine that he is now on the Ecstasy. We still find ourselves randomly belting out “vacatiooooooon” so we’ll definately have to sail on the Ecstasy now that we know where he went to
Hello John: My apologies. Thank you so very much for replying. I was so excited that I forgot to provide you with my cabin and booking number.
Gloria Asked:
(Please Reply)
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 Says:
Hello Gloria
I have asked the Maitre D of the Carnival Valor to see if he makes this an extra special birthday cruise by helping you with your table request.
Have a brilliant time.
Best wishes to all.
John
Hi John!
Congrats to Captain Casula on his retirement. What a wonderful way to end a career and its great how the company and crew celebrated his achievements.
I love the nicknames that you have going around the company. That is hilarious. I bet a lot of people are trying to figure out who Captain Package is.
Hope you have a great day today!
David
Hi John!
PLATINUM CRUISE HERE WE COME!!
We are excited to tell you that we chose the C-LIBERTY this weekend Jan. 30 for our FIRST PLATINUM and 52nd anniversary cruise!
We have been on the Dream 2x, the Splendor 3x, the Freedom 3x and the Valor 1x and loved them all.
We were waiting for the C Magic to come to come to the U.S.A. but it was too long to wait.
It was so nice meeting you on the CTN Dream in November but missed our bloggers cocktail party due to an embarkation delay. Hope to meet you again one day.
Cheers to you and your wonderful sweet family.
Geri & Jack Scott
Cabin 1401 (that’s all they had as we only booked yesterday
Bye for now.
John please reply– My husband Harold and I take our family every other year on a Carnival cruise- so Feb 27th we will all see you on the Carnival Dream. We had the great fortune of meeting with you last May on Carnival Freedom as we celebrated 80 and 85 years Birthdays and 57 years of marriage. Now- please help clear res # for early dining so we can all enjoy fine food together-I have tried since Sept but nothing yet. We will have our 6and a half month great grand daughter with us for her first cruise with the family..please stop by -will Kye be cruising then? We so desire to expose our family to your style of entertainment-don’t want them to miss that. we so enjoy the blog and look forward to being with you on Feb 27th on the beautiful Carnival Dream.
John (please reply or add to the Alaska reply)
Patty and John, we are on the same cruise and having trouble deciding on Shore Excursions too. I know for our cruise we can’t book any of the excursions in advance so it may be busy at the Shore Excursion desk when we get on board. John, can you check if the booking will be available online prior to the cruise?
Karen
John
Please reply when you have the time.
I would love to convey my best wishes to Captain Casula who was captain on my BtoB cruises on Vistory in May/June 2009. One of my passions about cruising is watching the bridge crew safely berth the ships in ports of call & so I have always selected a balcony cabin immediately above & behind the bridge to enable me observe the manouevres required to dock a giant vessel (I used to do the same when on Stenna ferries from Stranraer to Larne but by hanging over the side as there were no staterooms). Throughout the duration of my 14 days on C Victory in 2009, I was on my balcony by sunrise/departure viewing our approach/departure to & from the island ports & watching the pilots approach/depart safely to & from the ship & the hive of activity on the port side of the bridge.
Cpt Casula docked the ship with “the hands of a midwife & the feet of a ballet dancer”, an expression described to me by the Police A1 driving instructor who steered me to the accolade of being named the top Scottish Police Civilian Driver in Roadcraft & equated his quotation to someone who is extremely capable of handling a vehicle or vessel without causing any danger or discomfort to his/her passengers or other users of transport systems that he/she might meet en route.
John, Cpt Casula is a handsome man who deserves a well earned long vacation without the stress of satellite navigation aids, dependence on meteorogical data & men with forked beards that, quite frankly, have never lived in the real world of human interaction or the global cooling that we have experienced in the UK since mid-December 2009.
I still await confirmation that I have secured my selected cruise & stateroom on Magic in August 2011. It was impossible to book on my PC from home in the UK as everything kept freezing on me & I had to resort to contacting my travel consultant in Winnipeg, Canada to do the needful for me.
However, God willing, I will be on Victory on 16 May for 14 days for a fun filled energetic trip that will refresh my body & mind.
In conclusion, I have told you on several occasions directly or via Ralph Valente that I love all the staff on all the ships, in particular the ones who carry out seemingly menial jobs but are more highly qualified, educationally, than the majority of passengers & you or me.
My regards to Heidi, Kye & you & I do hope that your Internet connection with Southend-on-Sea is working well. With any luck, I shall meet you in Europe in 2011.
Grizel
Hello John ( Please reply)
I was on the wonderful Carnival Splendor for New Year’s Eve and had a great time. As usual, Carnival’s people are the best. There is one thing I’d like to comment on and I hope you’ll paass it on. The lounge entertainers, instead of being in one place for the cruise were moved around each night. One night Jeff would be in the casino the next night he’d be back in the Cool lounge and the salsa band would be in the casino. The next night everyone would be moved again to new locations. This was just plain a pain. Even the Capers had it wrong and Goose, the CD had trouble keeping track of it, announcing one thing and having to correct it. It was like your favorite TV show was on a different channel at a different time every night. Plus since these are musical acts, the sound set up for each would have to be re-done every night, so they didn’t sound right to start the night, until the sound tech could make her way to that venue to re-adjust the EQ and levels. Please tell me this is just an experiment (that’s a failure) and when I’m on my cruise in July it will be back to keeping them in one place.
Enjoy
Ron
Hi John,
When I was growing up and I know kids can be rude sometimes, my parents would ask me if I would like someone to be rude to me like I was to them, well of course I said “NO” and that is when my dad told me this, “if you are rude to others then expect them to rude to you, if you are very nice to others then they will be nice to you.” I have never forgot that and to this day, I will treat people like I want them to treat me, it does not always happen because you will always have people who are just down right rude and don’t know how to be any other way.
Kathy M.
John I just wanted to let you know that I have now sailed more than a dozen times with Carnival and you really don’t realize how great they are until you sail with ——————-of the Seas which I did last week and hated! I now can really appreciate how wonderful Carnival and its employees are.
My nickname growing up was “Monkey”. I used to climb on top of everything, I think I was climbing before I could walk. I once decided to see the view that was at the top of the baby gate at the top of the stairs, and decided to sit on top of it while Monkey mom was in the bathroom. Unfortunately, this monkey didn’t have good balance and fell down the stairs, landing on her head. My mom still talks about getting interrogated by Child Protective Services. Although 2 year old with a head injury, you can’t blame them for reporting it.
But to this day, my dad still calls me Monkey. I don’t think he’s ever called me by my real name. Some days I wonder if he even remembers my name after all this time.
Oh, and don’t worry about your Kye pulling something like me and climbing over a baby gate, I hear they make them better now, when I was a kid, they were apparently easy to climb.
Carnival Dream is lowest on CruiseCritic? Greater than 75% of the ship’s reviews on the site are between 3-5 ribbons out of 5+ maximum. If thats a low score than every other cruise ship/line must be giving a little something extra unmentionable to their guests.
Hi John,
The reason I am contacting you is to ask for your help in recognizing some VERY special staffers onboard who helped make my daughter a Princess for a week. They need to named specifically and I’m hoping you can give me a contact or forward this letter on so the management realizes what special people they have onboard this ship. I would also love to contact them myself again, if possible.
))
She was a sweetie!
)
Just back from my daughter’s first cruise! I’m not sure if you remember me but I took you up on the offer to help out those of us with special needs kids and I must thank you! We sailed the Jan. 16 tour to Nassau (aka Western) on the Destiny but had a wonderful time!!!
The staff on this ship are to be commended for grace under fire. All, and I mean all, continually greeted my family and I with a smile and a hello. It had to have been very tough on them as it was apparent that some guests weren’t happy but they were smiling! And so was I.
I am not emailing you to talk all of that though but I had to mention their smiles and graciousness
First and foremost – Guest services supervisor, Aleksandar K. from Croatia deserves a huge commendation! He greeted as we headed up the gangway to embark and was always available for all of my silly questions. Thank you Aleks, you helped make this cruise very special.
Next – Maitre d’ of the Universe dining room, Vinod! Amazing man who called our room daily to check on what my daugher needed. He made special arrangements with room service to have anything she wanted available and I truly thank him for that.
I wish we had been able to use the dining room more but it was just too loud for my child. The waiter for our table was an absolute sweetheart and teddy bear. I, sadly, cannot remember his name (and I greatly apologize to him for that) but we had table 302 and he was from St. Vincent. Big hugs to him
Our room steward Marta who seemed almost upset that she wasn’t able to clean our room as often as she thought she should have!! If anyone knows autism, they will understand how our kids need a safe, quiet ‘home’ and our room became that for my daughter. She did an amazing job of rushing to our room to take care of things when we did get my daughter out and best of all, we always had 3 towel animals, one for each person nightly
Youth Director, Alison and her staff – although we never talked my child into using their facilities, they greeted her by name, came to our room to say hello and gave her a Carnival backpack with some goodies inside.
To end, I must say I love this ship. My daughter enjoyed her time on the ‘big boat’ as did I. We just needed a few more days there to really get her out of the room since she announced she finally needed to go swimming after we packed on our last night … no worries though since we did go up to the kiddie pool that night and she had a blast!!! If they hadn’t made us leave the next morning, we would have been a fixture there that day
Thank you John!
Miriam
John,
Please Reply,
John love the blog, you are hilarious as always. BTW talking to your slef is normal at least thats what I tell myself.
What an honor for Captain Casula, enjoy the next chapter.
Been a while since I posted but I have something I wanted to share.
I just spoke with a friend who just got off of the Dream last week (just before you got on it).
She told me the smoking was terrible, people were smoking everywere on all open decks and hallways.
The smoking in the cabin next door which had adjoing doors was so bad they had to have the door taped and sealed shut. (glad I am not the none smoker who is going into that cabin on the next cruise)
When she asked about allowing all the smoking, she was told it was becasue there was not enough bookings with limiting the smoking so much.
I Love Carnival and the product that is offered but I cannot understand the devotion to smoking. A land based hotel does not allow smoking, yet on a cruise where you cant leave smoking is still allowed. Maybe it is time to make 1 side of the ship smoking and the other not (cabins and balconies included). BTW I belive less than 20% of the population now smokes, and I support their right to do so (I have enjoyed a few cigars from time to time), just not when they are affecting others ability to breath.
They were also very unhappy about the show lounge, only made 1 show, because of how many people vs. how many seats. I hope in the Magic and the “Thingy” this has been corrected and there have been seates added to the show lounge that can accomodate enough people to see the shows.
Now John I consider myself an open minded person and this is one persons opinion, I really want to see the Dream myself, I just think it is now going to be very difficult to get my family to cruise on the Dream.
I look forward to what you have to say about the smoking issue and when Carnival will finally really limit the smoking on the ships.
Thank you for all you do John,
Fraser
John, thanks for sharing the story about Ling Ling. To me the cruise is not only the destinations and the ship, but also the people you meet- guests and crew. Everyone has a story– what a wasted opportunity not to hear some of it.
- My wife and I shared a taxi in St. Thomas with a young lady who was a member of the entertainment staff. She was on her way to do some volunteer work at a local church. This was something she did almost every time she was in port and had some time off.
- Our table mate at open dining one night one of a cruise was cruising alone because her husband of 35 years had recently passed away. He had made her promise she would keep cruising after he was gone.
- Carlos from Brazil, our head waiter sat with us for a few moments after late dining. He told us he was the baby of the family and how much his mom missed him. His favorite meal was pasta with fried eggs on top. We got him a phone card so he could call home.
To me these are the experiences that really stand out. I can’t remember what our destination was on the taxi ride, but I remember the conversation I had getting there. As Capt. Casula stated “Life is a journey, not a destination”.
Dear John,
I am a fan of Carnival and always will be! I am booked on the Dream April 10th for my 50th B-day and I can’t wait.
I have an idea for Carnival and I am not quite sure where to send it. I own a Pet Salon and we donate all of our pet hair to an organization than makes the hair into mats that soak up oil spills in our oceans. They also accept human hair from hair salons. What a perfect public relations for Carnival since you use the oceans every day. Have your salons donate their hair to this cause. Please reply.
Captain Casula : We had the pleasure of sailing with you in 2007 and we hope that “retirement” is an exciting journey for you and your family.
John:
Nicknames are indeed a part of our family. I think it is required if you are ‘Southern’.
We did not have any Bubbas….but a lot of the guys in our family were named Sonny.
I had an Aunt Red, an Aunt Blue and an Aunt Brownie.
In fact, every one of my siblings had a nickname….except me. : (
My brothers are Sonny and Rip. My sisters are Snooks, Dot and Dimples…..I guess they ran out of nicknames by the time they got to me…..
Linda (Mom of your friend DJ)