The Plane, Boss…..The Plane

Sodding cold!

I sit here, shivering and sweaty with this tickly cough and a head that feels like there is one of those rave parties going on in there. And I can’t help wondering why there is still no cure for the common cold. For hundreds of years people thought the cold was caused by being cold. “You’ll catch your death out there,” people in 18th-century blizzards would say.

Now of course men and women scientists with beards have told us that in fact it’s because nasty little bugger germs invades our body, has rumpy pumpy with other germs and then causes you to sneeze so that millions of its relatives can shoot up the noses of everyone within 5 feet.

How come we’ve been to the moon, invented the Eye Pad, cloned sheep and pigs and created the wife beater. But still no one knows how to cure the common cold.

Mine though is the worst recorded cold in the whole of human history and I am defying medical science by being here, at my computer, writing this blog. Technically I am dead.

Anyway, back here on the Carnival Fantasy our first seven day cruise from Charleston is a huge success and as happened last week on the 5 day I am getting so many comments from people saying how thankful they are that we have included Charleston in our list of Carnival homeports.

I have described the difficulties of embarkation and debarkation due to the small terminal and yet out of 2,300 guests we have had just 2 negative comments recorded about this and one of those was about the parking facilities. It seems therefore that the guests are going to be forgiving and are quite prepared to put up with a slower embarkation process just to have the ability to drive to the ship.

This seven day cruise has been one full of beautiful weather and it seems that the tropical depression I mentioned yesterday has disapissatated (spelt correctly) and just like yesterday in Half Moon Cay our lunchtime arrival into Grand Turk was blessed by clear blue skies. Let’s not forget that it is once again thanks to a huge investment from Carnival Corporation that we have this beautiful place to visit.

The ships dock, no tendering here and as you walk of the vessel the British Union Jack and the Grand Turk flag flutter in the wind standing guard over the flag in the middle spot ………….the Carnival flag.

Walking through a shopping area you immediately notice something that reminded me of how places like St. Thomas and Cozumel used to be. Yes, there were modern shops selling jewelry and duty free everything but there were no young men outside telling you aggressively to come inside and that everything is nearly free. These people are called “barkers” and are now a part of life in Cozumel, St. Maarten and many other places. If one more “barker” in Cozumel tells me “We have T-shirts your size big man” I will introduce Jose to my big shoe……. which he will find disappearing into his El Buttockso.

Here in Grand Turk there were none of these……no barkers …………..just a dozen or so shops quietly selling their products just as it should be.

Right next to the ship is a beautiful stunning beach. It has gorgeous clear water and there must have been 1,000 sun beds ready for the Carnival Fantasy guests to turn into George Hamilton. There is nobody asking to braid your hair….…nobody selling you anything ………just peace and quiet.

Many guests had taken the chance to go snorkeling, swim with stingrays and enjoy an excursion around the island. Carnival has an extensive shore excursion program here and more information on that can be found at carnival.com.

Downtown is about 10 minutes from where the ship docks and most guests take the island hopper bus tour. The locals have that wonderful charm and island easiness about them. This charm has somewhat disappeared from a few ports of call, a cruise ship calling is a regular occurrence and somewhat taken for granted …not here in Grand Turk …………..it’s a big thing and the people are making sure that their happy and easygoing hospitality is something that will have the guests wanting to return again and again.

Now, there is one small interruption to this peace and tranquility and it comes in the shape of something called Margaritaville. For those who have seen the ones that are dotted all over the Caribbean you will know that they provide lots of music, good food and this one has a huge pool which is also complimentary to use.

Their drinks are famous as well for being the size of gold fish tanks. Don’t worry about mosquitoes either; order something called a Bushwhacker and if Morris the Mosquito flies over the drink towards you he will die instantly from alcohol poisoning. There were a few people who had obviously enjoyed a few of these and were now explaining to their partners how much they loved them and that they were going to swim back to the ship. Hopefully Patricia hasn’t been drinking!

The highlight at Margaritaville is of course the Flow Rider which gives everyone the chance to have a go at being a surfer dude against the stunning backdrop of the Carnival Fantasy. This of course is the place made famous by the world’s most prestigious surfer. He is the “Dwyane Wade “of surfers. They call him King Dude…..his real name is Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO, and for those of you who missed his performance ………here are a few highlights.

Yep, Grand Turk is another port that should be on your list of places to see and maybe one day you too can be as cool as King Dude………..just not in those shorts.

Time for today’s questions………………….away we go.

Mike Asked:
John, (Please reply as time allows)

Our family of 5 (myself, my wife, daughter and in-laws) recently returned from our annual cruise. This year it was the 4/10 Carnival Dream sailing.

What a beautiful ship! I’ll admit, based on some of the less than positive reviews I have read, I was somewhat apprehensive. I hope to do a detailed review on CC soon, but I thought I’d summarize our experience for you.

Port: Without a doubt the best experience ever. I didn’t think anyone could top the Port of Tampa for efficiency, but Port Canaveral did. VIP boarding was effortless. We arrived at ~10:30 and were onboard at 11:00. Debarkation was equally well done. It was particularly nice to be able to clear customs before claiming our luggage.

Cabin: OS on deck 6. Perfect in every way. Our cabin steward “George” was quick, friendly and efficient. Not as personable and outgoing as some we have had in the past, but he and his assistant took very good care of us. No complaints.

Main Dining: A bit of an adventure the first night. The 5 of us had early seating in the aft dining room. We were seated at a long table for 10 with another group. We usually enjoy interacting with tablemates but…….this was awful. It was like eating dinner in the green room at the Jerry Springer Show. After that we asked (OK…..we begged) to switch to Your Time Dining. Once switched, everything was great. The next night, we were seated at a table for 5, our Waiter was “Ikki” (not his actual name obviously but that’s how he asked us to call him). Ikki and his team were truly wonderful. The best wait staff we have ever had. Please make sure the Food and Beverage Manager on the CCL Dream knows what a wonderful job Ikki and his team are doing.

Steakhouse: Incredible. Enough said.

Buffet dining: Yes, at times the lines were long, but they moved quickly, and if you chose to eat at off-peak times (as I always do) they were never a problem. Great variety of food, and the quality was good as always.

Entertainment: The Laser shows were fun, we enjoyed them. The shows in the Encore Lounge were well done. Dancing in the Streets was really great!! I do think that perhaps the Encore lounge is a bit undersized for the passenger capacity of the ship. Getting a good seat for the shows required being there earlier than we have been accustomed to. The Comedy Club was a big hit for us. They had great talent and we enjoyed it very much.

I do think that some thought should be given to the scheduling of the late night deck parties and similar activities. It’s hard to justify staying up until 3:00am partying the night before an 8:00am port arrival!!! Perhaps these should be scheduled before “fun days at sea”??? Just a thought.

Overall we enjoyed the ship, ports, food, entertainment and service. Carnival Dream has a wonderful happy, friendly crew. They made our cruise very enjoyable indeed. The only thing that was missing was you as CD!!!

That said, I think we will probably choose Carnival Legend for our 20011 annual cruise. For us at least, I think the smaller more intimate ship suits us better.

Mike

John Says:
Hello Mike

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this great review about your Carnival Dream. It is a natural reaction to read other people’s opinions and then worry whether everything they wrote is true and therefore have a pre-conceived idea that you will have an awful time even before you step up the gangway. I read all or your review and I agree with everything you said. Having been the Cruise Director there I for one know that the main show room could indeed do with a few hundred more seats and there are nights when it does get difficult to seat everyone. This is also a testament to Carnival’s high standard of entertainment but never the less; on nights like Dancin’ in the Street (still the best show at sea in my opinion) we should consider three performances so everyone gets a chance to get the best seats in the house. I have proposed this to Miami HQ and we shall see what they do.

I have passed on all your comments to Donato the Hotel Director of your Carnival Dream and I know he will be thrilled to read them.

Bigger is better for many but for some the Spirit class remains their favourite and in many ways …………..I can see why.

Thanks again for taking the time to write and I am glad you had such a great time.

Best wishes
John

Mike Asked:
John, Please reply

Who will be the CD on the Destiny 11/25/10?

Thanks and keep up the good work!

John Says:
Hello……..Mike

The Cruise Director on your Carnival Destiny cruise will be Canada’s own boy band Cruise Director Brent Mitchell (Loyer)………..here he is.

I have known him for some time and I am sure that you will enjoy his antics on stage.

Have a great cruise

Best wishes
John

Carol V Asked:
Hi John.

I am thinking about putting a Cruise Critic group together for a cruise on Miracle in September and need some questions answered.

Can you book us a room for the meet and greet.

I want this advertised in your daily program can this be done

As Cruise Critic members what do we get? I mean free food and cocktails.

I have seen cabin signs do you provide these

We are excited for this to happen

Thank you
Carol

John Says:
Hello Carol V

I can indeed help you reserve a lounge on board for your Cruise Critic meeting. All I will need is the date you are sailing sent to me here on the blog thingy one month before you sail please. I will also ask the Cruise Director to place a small advert for this in the Fun times thus instructing your CC friends when and where to meet.

I am sorry but if you need drinks and food you will have to pay for that among yourselves as we unfortunately do not provide complimentary drinks and hors’ doeuvres. What I can do is arrange a bar waiter to be there and have everyone use their own Sail and Sign cards to buy drinks.

I am not sure what signs you refer to. I have seen some of my Cruise Critic friends place a sign on their cabin door saying they are with a group like the “Crazies” etc but I am guessing that these are made by the group themselves. Perhaps they are available through CC and I refer to my good mate Host Mach on this one. If you are referring to another kind of sign, please let me know and I will try and answer you.

I hope you manage to get your group together and if so please post again here so I can help you accordingly.

Best wishes
John

Tim Asked:
John, Please reply.

Most other cruise lines have posted their 2011 itineraries out of New York. Carnival has not. No one at Carnival has an answer for us. Do you know when this will happen? We were hoping to book another cruise when we return from the one we are going on May 7, on the Carnival Miracle.

John Says:
Hello Tim

I know that you and many, many others are anxiously waiting for more news on next year. I am sure you will have seen though that since you posted your question that we announced an expansion to our Bermuda program including sailings from New York (seven- and eight-day departures on Carnival Miracle) on April 14 and 21, and Sept. 11 and 27. As for the rest of the news on next year I know it is just around the corner so please hang in there and I will let you all know any breaking news as soon as I can.

I hope you had a great time on the Carnival Miracle.

Best wishes to all
John

Lourdes the Cruiser Asked:
Dear John, (Please Reply)

I will be on the Carnival Legend in June and just read that the maitre d will be the famous Ken who sings. Is this true? I have read so much about him so I hope it is.

I love your blog and please do not change a thing
Lourdes

John Says:
Hello Lourdes

Yes indeed. The Maitre D on the Carnival Legend is Mr. Ken Byrne the famous all singing all joking all round brilliant host. I have no doubts that he will make your time in the dining room very special indeed. When you see him I would be grateful if you would give him my very kind regards.

Have a great cruise

Best wishes
John

Angela J. Asked:
Hi John (please reply).

My sister and I are just back from our back-to-back cruises on our Carnival Dream. What a wonderful two weeks it was! The ship was brilliant and we had such an excellent time!

I want to thank you for getting us a table for two. We really enjoyed it. MaRichel was our server, and she was awesome! My sister loves the chocolate chip cookies on the ship, and every time MaRichel saw us up on Lido at lunchtime, she would bring my sister a whole bowl of cookies. On the last night, MaRichel said “I’m going to miss my cookie girl.” =) One day I mentioned that I was missing my dog Sophie’s 8th birthday, and she brought dessert with a candle in it and we sang happy birthday to Sophie. A birthday party for a dog! MaRichel was very attentive and very sweet and deserves to be promoted!

We did Your Time Dining the first week, and a couple of nights we had Iki as our server. He was a lot of fun and did magic tricks for us. He deserves to be promoted too!

I also want to thank you for the very unexpected gifts in our cabin. What a nice surprise! We really appreciated them. That was very thoughtful.

Well, I need to go back and read two weeks’ worth of your blogs. I need my John fix!

Thanks again for everything!
Angela

John Says:
Hello Angela J

Thank you for that great review of your Carnival Dream back to back cruises. I think that is the first ever doggy birthday cake I have heard of served in one of our restaurants and congratulations to MaRichel for going above and beyond. I will make sure that the Hotel Director sees what you have written and I know he will make sure that everyone mentioned also sees your words of praise. They will be so proud.

I hope you got caught up on the blog thingy.

Best wishes to all
John

KERENSA Asked:
Dear John (Please reply)

I am SO bummed! We just booked our cruise in March out of LA and then you have to go and tempt me with the fact that you’ll be sailing out of the same port on a different ship during the same time that we’ll be sailing. I checked to see if we’d be able to switch our cruise but we’d have to come up with the deposits first and then the $$ would be switched over and at $250 a pop for 8 of us we just don’t think we’ll be able to swing it.

So I wanted to see if you would be interested in meeting up for lunch or something at the Los Angeles pier (or Long Beach for CCL) on October 17th? Our cruise departs the 18th and we’re driving down so we’ll be coming in the day before. It will be the embarkation day of a new cruise for you which I imagine must be all kinds of busy but if you want to get off the ship that day you surely don’t have to eat alone… on the contrary there’d be 8 of us to distract you! If not I totally understand and I’ll just have to start saving up for the Blogger’s Cruise or wherever you’ll be next fall. Anyhow, just let me know yay or nay and maybe I’ll be able to at least send you something.

Oh and those comments about you being ‘a heart attack away’ and your ‘pornographic’ humour (spelt correctly)… You have to let those ones roll of your enormous shoulders as your mind is far too busy being in the gutter to really appreciate where these wonderful people are coming from. Seriously though these people (including the person who brought that ‘heart attack’ comment to your attention; did you notice how they signed off on the posting?) fall into the same category as Mr. Celebrity; they believe that their opinions are worth more than gold and that everyone is going to see the ‘wisdom’ or ‘truth’ in their opinions.

Just remember that the people you read your blog because of who you are as a person, and not ‘what-can-I-get-outta-Senior Cruise Director John Heald’ or because they can use you as a punching bag for their own frustrations in life or the cruising world, we bloggers (even one’s from sister companies!) back you 110% (haha I swear I don’t have a beard!). Oh and don’t beat yourself up too much about missing Kye’s birthday. I’m sure someone is going to comment and it’ll get you down but this blog will be something that Kye can read later on in life and see that her Daddy was always thinking of her and I’m sure she will be proud of her father and all the good he did and the lives he has touched. Much love to you and you’re family.

Kerensa

John Says:
Hello Kerensa.

I am not sure if the word thank you is good enough to acknowledge that posting which was full of support, kindness and fun but it is a thank you from the heart…….the one that hopefully will despite what someone said on the cruise boards……keep beating for some time to come. My shoulders have had to carry a lot these past few months and I make no apologies for saying that it wasn’t the comments or the work load as CD that was weighing me down the most, it was missing my family…..well that and not having an Aston Martin.

The attack comments on me are becoming more and more and I am learning to deal with them as best I can. You should see some of the things I write and then delete!

Anyway, on a happier note I would like to say that I hope that you can cruise on BC4 and that if you can remind me a few weeks before you sail on the 18th maybe we can indeed meet for a cup of tea near the ship. I have not been to the west coast before as CD and it is my intention to meet as many of my friends over there as I can.

Thanks again for those very, very kind words

Best wishes to all
John

Terry & Peggy Rummler Asked:
Hello John (please Reply)

We have a couple of questions for you, first off what is the future cruise certificates? Is this something new carnival is doing for their guest?

We will be cruising on the freedom in Feb. 2011 this will be our 5th cruise on carnival; we have never had any bad experience’s on any of our cruises. We have had the pleasure of having you as our CD on two of our cruises our first one on the Liberty, and then again on the Dream this past Feb.2010,

the cruise coming up this coming Feb.2011 we will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary, we are looking forward to this cruise this brings me to our next question we want to take the tour thru the canal is there a way we can find out if this excursion will still be operating at the time we dock the last time we took this cruise the canal tour did not operate we are so looking forward to doing this. We truly enjoyed having you as the CD on our past cruises. I am wondering if there is anything special you can do to help make this next cruise more special? Anything you could do will be greatly appreciated. Our cabin number on this cruise is 6205 booking number *** on the Freedom 2/12/2011

Your friends
Terry and Peggy rummler

John Says:
Hello Terry & Peggy Rummler

Thank you for booking a cruise on the Carnival Freedom. You will love that ship and her crew and please stop by and speak to the Future Cruise Loyalty person while you are there. He or she will have a desk on Promenade Deck 5 and the certificates you mentioned will be there. These are given out in return for a $100 deposit on a future cruise and depending on what ship, voyage length and sailing date you book, you will receive a certificate for up to $200 onboard credit the next time you sail. I will be posting more details about this and other new programs in the near future. The Panama Canal excursion will indeed be offered and a few months before your cruise it will be available online via carnival.com or onboard from the Shore Excursion Desk on deck 3. I would though book it online as this is the only excursion that actually takes you through the canal by boat and is therefore our most popular. I would suggest you check around early December and it will be available to book.

Please can you also write to me again with your cabin number and sailing date in early January and I will see what I can do to send you a little something to wish you a very happy 35th wedding anniversary cruise.

Best wishes
John

Bob Asked:
Please Reply:

My wife and I just booked our 4th Carnival Cruise on the Carnival Valor (62SJ24) for 8/29/2010 and needless to say we can hardly wait to get back on a Carnival ship. We had heard so many good things about Princess that we did our last cruise on the Crown Princess on 4/3/2010. Although it is a beautiful ship with great service we just missed the “Carnival Fun”. My question is: We have never been to Belize and we are having a hard time finding a beach to spend the day. We are looking for something such as Magens Bay on St. Thomas and were wondering if you can recommend anything. Thanks in advance for your help. Love your Blog thingy….read it every day.

John Says:
Hello Bob

I had a brilliant time on my Princess cruise and the service and quality was exceptional. I am though very glad to hear that you are joining us again for another Carnival fun for all experience. Belize is an island that is surrounded by a barrier reef and is famous for its snorkeling. In land the rain forests and jungle make for extraordinary excursions by land and by boat. However, I don’t think you are going to find any beach like Megan’s Bay. I may be wrong and maybe other bloggers are aware of one and can help. However, this is also a port where I always recommend guests take an organized excursion and I would like to recommend one excursion in particular. It’s called the Barrier Reef Snorkel at Turneffe …………here is the description.

Cut right through the turquoise blue waters of Belize aboard a 65-foot high-speed custom-built catamaran en route to your snorkeling excursion.

On this excursion you will:

• Receive professional instruction on how to snorkel.
• Be accompanied by your crew into water for snorkeling.
• Have access to snorkel areas designed for beginners and experts.
• Swim among extraordinary coral formations and colorful tropical fish.
• Relax on the beach, kayak or float on a comfortable beach float.
• Receive complimentary rum punch, sodas and bottled water.

I had many guests on the Carnival Legend when I was there as CD who told me how brilliant this excursion was. Please have a think and let me know if you have a follow up question.

Thanks for the kind words and my best wishes to you and the family
John

And that’s all for today. Please can I remind everyone that I am 3 weeks behind still and probably will be forever. Please therefore if you have something that is time sensitive make sure you post it one month before you sail. My apologies to anyone whose comment I did not answer before their sailing date.

I just received a Raspberry blog from our man in London Mr. Peter Shanks…………….have a read of this.

John

Blog of my crossing to follow – I am on day 4. Had to share with you what happened this evening mid-Atlantic – in a packed Queens Ballroom in front of 1,000 guests – I welcomed up to the stage and introduced a most marvelous young Gentleman, he came strolling up to the stage to meet myself and Commodore – he is travelling alone en route to visit his younger brother in England, he has sailed with us many times on the original Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and who – God Bless Him – is in his 101st year. I said ‘You are indeed a special friend to Cunard, thank you so much and we look forward to you sailing with us for many years to come…..’

Unbelievably Proud – More to Follow

Peter

How about that….101 years old and sailing as a single passenger to meet his younger brother in the UK. What he must have seen and experienced in his life is extraordinary and through it all…………..he has remained loyal to Cunard………………..brilliant.

We look forward to hearing more from Peter soon.

Now I love my wife but because she is a woman (I know I am letting myself in for a barrage of abuse here) parking the Polar Bear killing Range Rover is not her strongest forte. In fact she would have problems parking it in the sodding Grand Canyon.

Good job then that she is not the captain of the Seabourn Spirit Captain Emil Holthe who as you will see from these amazing photos has to maneuver his ship in something tighter than Megan Fox’s bottom looks in a pair of jeans.

Have a look at this.

This is the Corinth Canal in Greece and what a stunning experience that must have been. Of course the Seabourn Spirit will be joined in a few days time by the brand new and simply gorgeous looking Seabourn Sojourn. My friend and blog readers Mr. and Mrs. Bentley have booked a cabin on the inaugural cruise and hopefully I can get them to send me some photos to share on the blog thingy.

On Tuesday we had a 72 year old lady miss the ship. Her name is Patricia and I didn’t want to write about this until I knew that all was well and that she had been reunited with her husband Herman.

Carnival Fantasy was in Nassau on Tuesday and all guests were supposed to be back on board at 4:30pm. Well, at 4:45pm we were missing one guest and it was Nancy. This was unusual because when we do have guests who are late back to the ship they are usually younger people or families………but when a 72 year old lady is missing…..well the alarm bells start to ring.

And so I paged Patricia over the PA system just to make sure that she wasn’t onboard. You see, occasionally the “A Pass” security machine does not register a card when it is placed in the slot at the gangway and as I paged Patricia I truly hoped that this would be the case. It wasn’t.

It was now 5 pm, the time the ship was due to depart and obviously we were worried. But our worry and concern was nothing compared to that of Herman, her husband of 49 years.

He was now sitting with our Guest Services Manager Avi and Guest Services Supervisor Tina in the lobby and when I went down there Herman had his head in his hands and looked like his world had come to an end.

Meanwhile, down on the pier our ship’s agent……….we have an agency in every port who takes care of our needs…….was searching the shops close by the ship……..nothing……..she was nowhere to be found.

It was now 5:15pm and I called the Captain to tell him the situation. Normally this is the hotel director’s job but he wasn’t available so it was my job therefore to talk with the captain and discuss the situation. We waited a few more minutes but with no news and no sign of her………….the captain decided to sail.

Before we did, we gave Hermann the chance to disembark the ship and wait with the Agent but he couldn’t bring himself to even lift his head out of his hands, let alone think about packing and leaving the ship. And so, with my arm around a 75 year old man sobbing his heart out………we sailed ………without Nancy.

Eventually I managed to console him enough to get him to talk to me about her. Avi and I needed to know if she was on any medication and to try and discover what may have happened to her. Herman told me that she was fit and well except that she gets confused easily and he has to be with her otherwise she gets lost. When he said this I actually felt a bit better because my concern was that she may have had a medical condition and…. well …..you know.

Hermann was not feeling better though and started to blame himself. He said that he had felt tired after their excursion and had gone back to the stateroom to take a nap. He had no idea that Patricia had left the ship……which our A Pass machine told us she had done at 3:10pm.

When 6 pm came around and there was no news my worries returned. I had left Herman with the Guest Services Supervisor Tina while I went and did my announcements and got ready for the show. It was while I was cleaning my teeth that the phone rang. It was Avi the GSM……….they had found Patricia. She was fine and well and had turned up at the pier at 6:20pm………laden down with shopping bags………..with no clue that most of Nassau had been looking for her.

The first thing of course was to tell Herman who was still in the lobby and when Tina told him he cried again……..this time tears of joy I am sure.

Meanwhile, Patricia was telling our agent that she thought the Carnival Fantasy was sailing at 7 pm for whatever reason. Avi and I and Herman spoke to her on the phone and breathe a huge sigh of relief since she was OK……and that was all the 3 of us cared about and eventually their love for each other became truly obvious when Patricia started to worry about Herman and how he would manage on the ship without her. It was actually quite moving.

Then once the tears and feeling of relief were over it was time to discuss the next problem. You see normally we arrange for the guest to fly to the next port this wasn’t going to be easy for Patricia to do……….because that next port…………was Half Moon Cay. There is no airport and it is only accessible by boat. And so the rollercoaster ride that both Patricia and Herman had faced those past few hours continued as the realization hit both of them that they may have to wait until Thursday and our call at Grand Turk.

The Nassau agent told us of one possibility and he would check on something once he got Patricia settled into her hotel. While that was happening I encouraged Herman to go to dinner. He told me he would because he wanted to tell the new friends he had met at his table what was happening because they would have been worried. When he said this I asked for his permission to tell the rest of the ship that Patricia was OK. I had announced her name and that she was missing and obviously the other guests would be worried to but I needed Herman’s permission. He readily agreed and so I made a quick PA update announcement and without giving away any details told the guests that Patricia was OK.

Then it was show time and I went off to host Marcus Anthony our brilliant Motown singer and it wasn’t until 9:45pm that I heard from our GSM Ravi again. He told me that the agent had offered one option………an expensive one………..but an option nonetheless. When this option was offered to Herman and Patricia there was an immediate “yes “from them both. Once it was arranged I mentioned to Herman that it seemed a lot of money and joked that he must be a millionaire. He told me that he certainly was not and that they had some money saved up and that he would gladly spend every penny of it not to have to spend another minute than necessary to be without his beautiful Patricia.

And so yesterday, like a scene from Fantasy Island the guests who were soaking up the sun on Half Moon Cay’s stunning beach saw a Seaplane land on the tanzanite blue waters and that Seaplane was carrying Patricia back into the arms of Herman…….who I am sure will never ever let her out of his sight again.

Here is the moment when they were reunited.

Having seen those photos and the look of love and happiness we see on their faces it shows that this is a story with a very happy ending. It cost them quite a bit of money but that hug was worth millions.

Goodnight
Your friend
John