THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY…AND WAYS TO MAKE OUR TRANS-ATLANTIC CRUISES THE BEST THEY CAN BE.
December 12, 2011 -
John Heald
So our Christmas tree is up and Kye’s eyes are shinning brighter than the tinsel that decorates it. This could be because of the cold that she and every other Heald has at the moment although I think it’s more likely because Kye now relates the word Christmas tree to presents and her excitement is obvious and I can’t help but think back to when I was her age or maybe a couple of years older. As a young non-fat boy, I could never sleep on Christmas Eve out of sheer, bed-wetting anticipation and I am sure come the 24th, Kye will refuse to go to bed, and then wake me and Heidi up before dawn, out of sheer, bed-wetting anticipation. My sister Suedrip and I always did the same thing. We would wake my Mum and Dad up at 5 am to open our presents and the consequence is that my Mum and Dad always spent Christmas Day half asleep. Once my Dad, out of sheer exhaustion, nearly cut off his own hand with the electric turkey carver.
There are indeed challenges at Christmas time and when you celebrate Christmas on board the ships, there are certainly challenges as well. Ask any crew member which are the most challenging cruises and it doesn’t matter which ship, the crew will most often cite a holiday cruise. Along with trans-Atlantic voyages where despite our best intentions some guests can get ……ummmm……….shall we say a bit grumpy……….Christmas is a difficult time and even with 25 years at sea under my belt, I have bugger all understanding of why. Don’t get me wrong, most of the guests will have a great time and the atmosphere on board is fantastic but there has been and will be again this year guests on every ship on every cruise line who if you allow me to be candid……….. are just not happy people. Yep, Christmas seems to bring out bad moods in many whether they be on land or at sea and our incident reports that log complaints on board always seem to take an upswing at Christmas time. But regardless the crew will all make sure that they do their best to provider every guest with some Christmas cheer and some Carnival fun.
I have to admit that for me working during Christmas was always challenging and certainly not just for the reason above. As I think many of you will realise family is more important to me than anything and I always feel for the crew who are away from theirs for the holiday season. I also had another fear at Christmas time. It’s a fear that is far worse than any guest complaining that the Christmas decorations offend her off that the turkey was as dry as a camel’s scrotum. And that’s the dreaded Christmas kiss, a show of affection which some guests, crew and, bizarrely, all Italian men think is mandatory at this time of year. As a fat bloke from Essex who never quite mastered the “Mwah, mwah” of the social greeting despite having worked among so many different nationalities and who believes that you should kiss only a) your children and b) the person you are having or want to have rumpy pumpy with, I always dreaded the sheer bloody awkwardness that comes before the kiss.
Christmas morning and New Year’s Eve, guests would come up to me and the whole ritual would start. The clashing heads, should I or shouldn’t I go for the other cheek too, the whiff of halitosis caused by the Mongolian Wok and a distant relationship with the toothbrush.
Now you may think I am making this up but I swear on all that I love that this is true. One Christmas cruise on the Carnival Triumph a guest gave me a Christmas kiss. It was a stealth attack, I never saw him coming. And obviously he was full of Christmas cheers because he kissed me full on the lips and tried to put his tongue in my mouth. I don’t know whether he was completely drunk but as his tongue tried to pierce my lips that were closed tighter than a camels arse in a sandstorm, I vowed then never to work another Christmas cruise ever again.
Time for today’s Q and A. Here we go.
Jennifer Reinhart asked:
Hey John,I love your blog thingy first of all, and all of your Facebook updates! I have a question about our upcoming cruise. We are sailing February 4th out of Jacksonville on the Carnival Fascination. Sunday the 5th is Super Bowl Sunday! I have read that some ships will play the game on the big screen and have a special buffet…etc. The Carnival Fascination does not have the big screen- will it be played anywhere? And I think that this night would also be elegant night. If they did have something special would that interfere or would it be rescheduled?
Thanks John!
John says:
Hello Jennifer Reinhart,Thanks so much for saying how much you enjoy the blog and I hope you will continue to do so. The Carnival Fascination doesn’t have the Seaside Theatre big screen and so the Super Bowl game will be shown on the main theatre big screen instead. There will be food served, bar specials and much more as the crowd cheers the San Diego Dolphins to victory over the Detroit 49ers. As for elegant night this will be rescheduled to the day before or after and if you remind me a few weeks before you sail I will confirm which night for you. Have a brilliant time.
Best wishes.
John
Linda Alled asked:
Hello John,Husband and I are sailing on our 13th Carnival cruise aboard the Carnival Dream on January 14th. Can you tell me who the cruise director will be for our cruise? Looking forward to another wonderful experience.
Thanks.
Linda
John says:
Hello Linda Alled,Thanks so much for your loyalty to Carnival and congratulations on booking your next cruise which is now just two months away. The CD for your cruise will be Gary Brierly who is a young man from the UK and definitely someone who will really do his best to make sure you have the best of times. If there is anything else I can do for you please let me know. Have a brilliant cruise.
Best wishes.
John
David Straub asked:
During a recent cruise on the Carnival Freedom myself and the rest of the passengers were awoken at 5:20am by an announcement made over the public address system. It was a coded alert that I guess the workers understood but it left me and my wife and no doubt the other passengers in fear. No explanation was made until the following day when our cabin steward told us that there had been a medical emergency on board and that the announcement was for the medical staff. Why was this not explained at the time? Why did the captain not tell his passengers that there was nothing to worry about and why did we the passengers have to be woken up?
John says:
Hello David Straub,Thanks for taking the time to write and let me first of all apologise for what happened although obviously the “bright star” announcement was needed as a guest was in trouble and needed immediate help. The quickest way to get the doctors, nurses and stretchers bearers there is to make an announcement. I can understand that an announcement made that early and with no warning can be disturbing and I understand that some guests may be concerned. However I assure you that had there been any situation that the guests needed to know about, a situation that affected everyone, then that information would have been relayed to you immediately. So I apologise that you were disturbed and I am sure that like me your primary concern is for the patient and like me you hope he or she made a speedy recovery thanks to the instant action of our on board medical team. I do hope you had a brilliant cruise.
Best wishes.
John
C. Goodling asked:
If you continue to relax your dress codes then I fear your ships will become a setting of common squalor where the waiters are better dressed than the passengers and you will lose many more passengers like you have lost me. It is to the gold standard of Celebrity and RCCL that this seven-time Carnival cruiser will head if you allow jeans and other blue collar clothing on formal nights. Where are your standards Mr. Heald and Mr. Cahill?
John says:
Hello C. Gooding,Thank you for your loyalty thus far and I sincerely hope that there will be an eighth Carnival cruise despite your reservations on dress codes. Things these days are more relaxed and not just at Carnival but on other lines and on land based vacation centers as well. We still have dress codes on elegant night. However, in my honest opinion while we need standards of no ripped jeans and no shorts for dinner on any night I don’t think it is for us or for anyone to state what someone has to wear while they are on vacation. Is it a “setting of common squalor” no, of course it isn’t. Is it a relaxed atmosphere where thousands of guests each and every week enjoy exceptional value and a fun and relaxing vacation? Yes it is and I hope that you will consider these things and come and have fun with us again. If there is anything I can do to help you decide to do this, please let me know.
Best wishes.
John
Daryl Wright asked:
I have had five cruises with Carnival…all great. With that said, have you considered the fact that not everyone uses Facebook and we are not interested in using it? I feel your leaving so many people out. Seems most of your videos, questions, etc. are all aimed at the Facebook crowd. The rest of us never see the answers. All we get to see is the people crying about which table they can get at dinner, or what you can give them for free. It’s a shame the rest of us are left out…like the red headed stepchild. Think about it, and thank you for all the great work you do.
John says:
Hello Daryl Wright,I realise that since I have started my Facebook page that I have tried to balance the breaking news, videos and interviews between Facebook and this blog. For the most part I think I have but I realise that there are times when I do include more news on Facebook than here on the blog. I guess that’s because Facebook is instant. News comes in and I can post it straight away and answer questions straight away as well. But I have to remember that not everyone has a Facebook account and I will try to do that Daryl. Thanks so much for your understanding and for your kind words.
Best wishes.
John
Nancy asked:
While I am sure it’s not a big thing to most Carnival customers it is to me. John, like you I am obese and as you know I am sure obese people sweat and need cold conditions. I was on the Carnival Fascination in cabin R127 and the air conditioning was terrible. I called and complained every day and the crew people said that it was 69 degrees which was acceptable levels. At home my AC is set for a constant 62 degrees and yet when I asked for this temperature I was told it was impossible. This is not good customer service and I am sure you John can understand how this ruined my cruise.
John says:
Hello Nancy,Yes indeed, I can understand Nancy as I love a cold room myself. However I do have to say that the ship runs an air conditioning system that is controlled by central generators and certainly 69 degrees is a normal temperature for the staterooms and turning it down further is not always possible. I am sure the crew did everything they could and I am very sorry that they were unable to do so. I do hope that you had fun though and enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for writing and I will pass your comments to the ship.
Best wishes.
John
Eddie Fisher asked:
Dear John,What a fantastic cruise and thank you so much for helping our family with a table reservation and the kids loved their trophies. You are now a star in their eyes and I thank you for being such a giving person. The other stars of the cruise were Ivana our waitress and her assistant Putu and our now friend and cabin stewardess Anna who made us feel so special each time we would come back to our cabin. The only downside was the rough seas on the first two days but the crew of the Carnival Dream made sure we all had a wonderful time. This was our second Carnival cruise and we will all be back in July on Valor. Thank you John from Eddie, Grace, Brandon and summer.
John says:
Hello Eddie Fisher,Thank you for that fantastic post and the crew you mentioned are going to be thrilled when they see this. I am glad the kids liked their trophies and I am so happy that you are coming back to us again and sailing on the Carnival Valor. If there is anything I can do for you before you cruise again please let me know.
Best wishes to you all.
John
Debbie Sturgeon asked:
Hi John!I am new to your blogging site so I hope I am not repeating any questions. I actually have three unrelated questions (sorry). First of all, I am booking cruise #’s 10 and 11 this week for next spring and summer. Cruise #10 will be in May. Will we still be able to get Platinum status or will that change before then? Question 2 is about the comedy club. We are sailing on the Carnival Liberty in July and wondered if the times are changing with the club since the whole George Lopez taking over thing? I can’t wait! Question 3, my in-laws are taking this cruise with us and I wondered if it’s an appropriate cruise for elderly people. We are going to Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, San Juan and St. Thomas. I am hoping there is something for them to do in the first two ports! Thanks for your blog and all you do. I LOVE it!!
John says:
Hello Debbie Sturgeon,Welcome to the blog and thanks for writing to me. I am here to answer questions and please never worry if they have been asked before. The new loyalty program will be starting sometime next year and regardless of when it does your status will not be affected and you being this close to being Platinum based on the current levels means you will be Platinum regardless of the new formula. So nothing to worry about there in fact there is plenty to be excited about. The Punchliner comedy club format is not changing and show times are the same. George Lopez is going to help us with some new aspects of the comedy club including finding new and exciting talent but the basics will remain the same. Your parents in law are going to have a brilliant time and enjoy the ship and the ports of call. Have a look at the excursions we offer and if you have any questions as to which are appropriate for them please let me know. Have a wonderful cruise and please remember to ask me if you need anything.
Best wishes.
John
Andrew & Laura asked:
Hi John,We’ve just returned from a fantastic cruise on the Carnival Magic, and since we didn’t receive a comment card I wondered if you could pass some feedback to the ship and some more to the beards for us. This was our fourth cruise on Carnival and we absolutely loved the Magic. We wanted to pass some thanks back to Wayan, our waiter in the dining room, who was always so friendly and made us feel so welcome. Also to Mel who led the Behind the Fun tour and did a brilliant job. This was one of the best tours we’ve ever taken and it was so interesting to meet the people who work behind the scenes to make our cruise so enjoyable and see the way that they took so much pride in their work even though they aren’t in the public eye. We also really enjoyed the production shows on this cruise. Although Carnival is our favourite cruise line, we have been a little disappointed by some of the shows in the past. Not so on the Carnival Magic, where the shows are some of the most amazing we’ve ever seen – on or off a cruise ship.
Finally, for our feedback for the beards. We have sailed with several other cruise lines and have noticed that over the last few years, they’ve been gradually removing some of the things that make the cruise so special. We didn’t notice any of this on Carnival – the food in the dining room was still fantastic, we still got towel animals every day and still got chocolates on our pillow every night. Although these seem like minor things that could easily be cut to save some money, they really make a difference to how special the cruise feels and will keep us coming back to Carnival, so we just wanted to say please don’t change anything going forward! Secondly, we wanted to ask if a survey could be sent to every guest in the future. We know that an email survey is sent to a random sample of guests after the cruise, but when you’ve had a great time on a cruise (or I guess if you’ve had a bad time), you want to feel that you can give your feedback and make your voice heard. It’s therefore disappointing not to be able to comment. In 2011, I’m sure that the overhead of processing electronic surveys for the entire ship rather than a sample must be fairly insignificant, so it would be great if these could be brought back for everyone who wants to fill them in.
Thanks John, and thanks for the blog which we love reading.
John says:
Hello Andrew and Laura,Let’s start with a huge thank you for taking the time to post this. I know that some guests that don’t receive a guest review card are frustrated and I wish I could say that this was going to change but it isn’t. I have asked the beards and will certainly ask again but the current system of sending reviews to only 40% of the guests and sending them online is not going to change anytime soon. That’s why I am glad that you have taken the time to write about these great people and they will love seeing their names in print. We realise the little things like you mentioned do make a big difference and I promise we are not going to take any of them away. In fact, there will be more coming your way as I will tell you about next year. Thanks again for writing and I am so glad you had a great time and the staff and crew of the Carnival Magic will be thrilled as well.
Best wishes.
John
Jeff asked:
Hello John,How are you today? I would like to know if Carnival offers a military discount program for current or prior military personnel. If not are they going to look into starting one? If they have one in place how do you use it and why it isn’t an option when booking a cruise on line. I am asking this because I am service connected disabled veteran and have been on a few cruises and am currently booked on the Carnival Conquest for January 8, booking ****** and would like to have this information for future cruises. Thank you for all you do to help make our cruises more enjoyable.
Thank you again.
Jeff Rees
John says:
Hello Jeff Rees,Yes indeed we proudly do have a military discount and may I please suggest that you contact a travel agent or one our personal vacation planners at Carnival so that we can explain all about this and what we offer. Thank you so much for your service and I wish you the most fantastic cruise. If there is anything I can do for you please make sure you let me know.
Best wishes.
John
That’s all for today and I look forward to another week of comments and opinions…
I want to talk about the trans-Atlantic crossing of the Carnival Magic in a moment but first let’s talk about a ship that has completed that journey many, many times. I am of course talking about the Queen Mary 2.
She is surely one of the greatest ships ever built and certainly she is the ship that saved Cunard. Indeed, people with much greater understanding of this industry have said that without Carnival’s purchase of Cunard and the courage to build the brand a new ship then Cunard would become like Concorde and spoken only of in the history books. You know, I wish I could have seen Concorde take off and land and of course like many I wish I could have flown on her although maybe not considering I would have had to have asked for a seat belt extension. But whenever the hook nosed, sleek machine took off and landed from you knew there would be crowds of admirers and people who would be standing on the observation deck dreaming that they were one of the pop stars or business beards who would experience the thrill of traveling faster than the speed of…well…….everything.
But now………it’s gone.
I don’t feel sorry for the people with beards who now need eight hours to get across the Atlantic. I do, however, feel sorry for the plane itself. It’s sitting in some shed now, wondering what it has done wrong and why it has been put on the naughty step……Why did it not fly yesterday and why is there no sense that it will fly today? Why is nobody tinkering with its engines, filling its refrigerators with Dom Perignon and vacuuming its bespoke leather seats in case Megan Fox puts her gorgeous bottom on one?
There hasn’t been anything to replace Concorde in the sky although I hear the new Airbus380 is pretty impressive. But there is one mode of transport that has the same affect on people as Concorde once had and that is indeed The Queen Mary 2. She has taken on the role of the most iconic mode of luxurious transportation .Yes there are bigger ships but bugger all can compare to the Queen Mary 2. Like her sister the Queen Elizabeth 2 and Concorde before her, wherever she goes she is joined by a new breed of dreamers and well wishers who stand on piers in Australia and Southampton, New York and Newfoundland all wanting to catch a glimpse of the Queen. She is eight years old now and has just returned from her refit in Germany and I would like you to see two superb behind the scenes videos made by the Cunard team and hosted by the ship’s sauvé and perfectly manicured Entertainment Director Paul O’ Loughlin.
It’s fascinating to see and also get ready for a glimpse of one of the most amazing suites at sea and the star of the show the ship herself which in the second video the master of the Queen Mary 2 will show you ……… out of the water and that is something quite extraordinary. So enjoy these and we will talk about Trans Atlantic voyages afterwards.
It seems that Cunard has mastered the art of trans-Atlantic crossings and given that we typically only host these voyages whenever we have a new ship, our experience is somewhat limited. That said, I’ve seen a few less-than-stellar comments on the blog and on Facebook, mostly about of our entertainment and activity offerings. I have been a CD on three crossings and as I said at the start of the blog today, it seems that on some of these trans-Atlantic cruises some guests for whatever reason are pretty miserable before they walked up the gangway and wouldn’t have been happy if we had upgraded them to a penthouse, resurrected Frank Sinatra to perform the shows and allowed them to eat dinner out of George Clooney’s belly button.
But this is of course only a small percentage of the problem. The main reason we got complaints is because simply, there were some areas that weren’t up to par. It would be easy to say that we are not the Queen Mary 2 and that we don’t have a library with 6,000 books in it and guest lecturers as they do.
What we need to do though is work out what we can do better with the facilities we have and provide a better experience for those who sail on these voyages.
I’m not going to get into specific complaints but reports from the ship indicate that everyone was pretty happy in Europe and visiting the ports but it’s when we began the days at sea that many guests seemed to get a bit grumpy as to be honest, we didn’t have as many activities planned as we should have. Now I blame myself for this, really I do. Now don’t get me wrong, James Charlton did an outstanding job as cruise director and I received many glowing reports about him. However, it was me that was supposed to be there for the crossing and I know I let many down by not being there. I don’t mean to sound big-headed, it’s just that the crossing was my responsibility and I should really have been there to host what I already knew was going to be a challenging cruise which was only compounded by weather issues and a technical problem.
So where do we go from here? We can’t add another 1,000 books to the library and we can’t control the weather but we can expand the entertainment and activity options going forward to make our guests happy. We certainly have room for improvement so and would love to hear from you and so would the beards. What you would like to see different and what activities would you like to see added to the trans-Atlantic crossing of the Carnival Breeze (a voyage that I will certainly be on). I have already heard from some of you and many of your suggestions have been well noted. If you have anything you wish to say then this is your forum and myself and the beards want to hear from you. Please help us if you can.
So just to poop (spelt correctly) back to the Christmas theme one more time because there is something else that I need to get off my man boobs. This is Kye’s first proper Christmas. At the age of 2½, she has thanks to her forthcoming kindergarten Nativity play, a vague understanding of the baby Jesus, appreciates the Christmas tree (unlike last year when she kept trying to eat pine needles) and understands that, provided she finishes all her vegetables, she will be receiving some “prethenths.”
But faithful blog reader, I have a question. Just how many presents is enough? The dilemma is this — do I give in to excess, spoil her rotten and risk corrupting her? Or do I agree with my wife Heidi and take a firm stance and just get her one present? After much decision and because Heidi is the boss and I am scared of her and the pointed tip of her shoe I’ve gone for the latter. My daughter may already be famous in the cruise industry and spoiled by so many wonderful people who read my musings but it’s one present and that’s that. I shall spare her a Christmas lecture about world hunger; but otherwise it’ll be one big present, a Christmas stocking and that’s it. Oh all right, perhaps just one more Peppa Pig toy……….and it would be heartless of me not to let her watch her favorite TV program on the new Sony 60 inch High Definition TV………..wouldn’t it?
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.
a true sign that a CCritc tro;; has struck is when it says Mr Heald and is negative. It is nice to se thought that a few of the nice people, without the support of CC itself, are trying to make it Carnival friendly
With all the complaints about both side of the dress codes, would it be possible to have 1 dining room for people who want to dress up and the other dining room for people who don’t? I hate to dress up, I never do at home, why would I want to on vacation to satisfy some people who think that I should dress up or it will ruin their vacation? In order to enjoy the MDR on my cruises I had to go buy a pair of khaki pants and a button up shirt. I wore them for dinner and as soon as dinner was over, I went back to my room and changed back into shorts and a T-shirt. I know this is like the smoking issue and Carnival will never satisfy anyone, but is it worth a shot? Thanks for all the entertaining blogs, I read them all and look forward to the next one.
One point that is always missed with formal wear is that it weighs a lot, consuming airline baggage allowance, and yet is worn, what, twice?
What’s wrong with just suggesting very smart casual wear, which you’d also wear on non Formal nights or going ashore?
No offense Travis, but I am pretty sure anyone’s wardrobe should already contain a button shirt and khakis… That being said I agree with you that while on vacation anyone should be free to dress how THEY like, not how the person with the monocle would like you to. Dress code should be just like it is in most resorts and be resort casual.
One present?!?! Poor Kye… growing up we would come out in the morning and see dozens of gifts all around the tree for us. Maybe you guys could come to a compromise. One big present and 6 or 7 smaller ones AND a stocking…One present is not enough from Santa.
oh, and about the question regarding temperature… 62 degrees is LUDICRIOUS. How do you afford your electric bill each month?! I’m overweight (technically obese by definition) and our house is at 76… I’m quite comfortable right now. I would be a Popsicle at 62!
re Kye: There will be plenty of time for hardship, let-downs, frugalism and the realization that life is not handed to you on a silver platter when she becomes an adult. For now, Christmas is that child’s wonder of wonders when bounty and excess exist one day a year. In other words, get the kid some damn presents John.
Kye will be a young lady sooner than you think. Spoil her now.
You can call it “Blue collar” or the “Walmart CL” but I call it Value for the money. The blue collar made this country what it is. The blue collar made Walmart what it is. And it’s blue collars like me that make CARNIVAL the BIGest and BEST cruise line. Either way I love it. So if you want snob cruises you can go and pay “gold standard” prices, BYE BYE.
Big Ed – you forgot the World’s Most POPULAR Cruise Line. And hear, hear! The blue collars of the world DESERVE the BEST! There are those who would have little, if anything, good to eat, clean to wear, walk on, or sit on(ie commode) if it weren’t for the blue collars out there, much less ships to sail on. Thank you!
Ed, I agree with everything you say & hope to see you on BC5.
If Carnival is Wallmart, why is my BtoB trip on C Magic in March 2012 in a standard balcony stateroom, 1st week BC5, costing me $5263 in comparison with a similar trip BtoB starting with BC4 in 2011 that cost me $3020? By the way, that excludes airfares & overnight hotel accommodation which adds another $900-$1200 to the overall costs.
I am not complaining, I just want to point out that some people should be thankful for what they have – good weather in spring, summer & fall – & think themselves blessed they live close to ports where they have a multitude of choices of itineraries with short drives or flights.
As for me, I am a dedicated Carnival cruiser & will continue to be one. I am booked Transpacific for the repositioning of C Spirit to Oz in September 2012 to celebrate my Milestone journey & achieve my long time Dream of visiting close relatives without the prospect of 24 hour flights each way.
Carnival has provided me with the chance to meet so many fellow cruisers, fantastic on-board staff from many nationalities & ethnic backgrounds that I have become more understanding of the diversity that exists.
I am sorry that this message is so long but I am sitting here whilst a hurricane force wind, sleet & snow hit my windows & make me crave for the warm Caribbean climate where the company of people like you, your wife, Laura (Divetrash), & many other like-minded people will enhance my Christmas celebrations.
Wishing you both an enjoyable festive season.
Grizel,
If you’re on the Spirit Transpacific, come and join us on the CC roll call. We have a fun group going. You met my husband, Serge while smoking in the sports bar on the Glory on John’s BC4. You later met me too. We are doing the Van to Honolulu and then the one to OZ.
You already know the answer, so why ask everyone. You will, and always will spoil her at Christmas and her Birthday. That’s who you are……….Heidi will never stop that from happening…..even by eliminating rumpy bumpy, for awhile
short while, I hope.
Merry Christmas
I agree with the majority – Change the way you gather comments from the cruises. Make it so EVERYONE PERSON WHO DESIRES CAN GO ONLINE AND FILL OUT A COMMENT CARD. Unless we are made to feel like someone in charge at Carnival is listening to our comments we feel left out and taken advantage of.
Listen eveyone put in your own feelings HERE about this issue.
Dave
John, I was on the Dream TA, as well as the Magic TA. I have a few suggestions, the first, Transverse the Straits of Gilbralter during daylight hours and make it an event (such as crossing the eqauter) the 2nd, one night during the crossing have the Captin give a live “astro navigation talk” I think Cunard already does something simular. I was on a trans Canal with staurt Dunn and he made horse racing an event almost every afternoon on sea days (The whole ship came it seems)On this last cruise we missed not having the sail away parties. I’m sure if I thought about it I could think of a few more suggestions, but I’m getting old and I can’t remember them just now. This last TA was still a good cruise, just different, James was in a no win situation, and no one could of handeled it any better.
Excellent suggestions. The itinerary could be tweaked to have Gibraltar during a sea day, the beards can be tasked to figure out the best ports to visit to do this.
Ask the navigator to make a talk about how the ship finds its way, and any interesting port facts, like how tight Mahogany Bay is. Ask the Chief Engineer to talk about the power, etc. And the CD could explain the various entertainment jobs. So, I guess more lectures.
I don’t believe you will be on the Breeze Transatlantic in what year was it John? 2013? 2012?
What for the TA. Well all ships We are getting older John and a better understanding and offering of special needs onboard and ashore is needed. Only 4 handicap access spots in the Magic Theater and none in the Show lounge. No way to get to the sports deck ( 4 steps) and the lift was wrapped in canvas most of the way and when unwrapped was not user usable. Call 7777 and they knew nothing would send someone who never showed.
Move some of the trivia and other activites out of the Ocean Plaza. Too many conflicting activities ruined them all .
Nothing major but add them all together day after day and they are an issue that weeks after are what we remember.
I think that there are only two handicap balconies. I don’t want to go in the dark middle of the ship! A wider door would make it easy to get a scooter into a cabin.
In general, I was very happy with the cruise. The one thing that can easily be corrected in the future would be better preparation; activities and adequate supplies for the bad weather seadays when cruisers are quite limited in options. Thank you again for a wonderful time on the TA.
Hello John -
My wife and I have the same discussion about gifts. My son is 3 1/2 and he is really looking forward to Christmas. He wants a trombone for Christmas. Really – I know it is wierd but he has been asking for months. So I bought him a slide trumpet — it looks like a mini trombone. My wife wanted to get him a “big boy” bike, so I found a nice, fairly inexpensive 16 inch bike at Walmart. She says we should hold the bike until his birthday in May. I say never – he gets it for Christmas. Then my son says he wants a guitar that is electric like mine. I do not want my three year old playing my guitars, so I found him a Fender Squire combo set onsale at Costco — electric guitar,little amp etc. So I bought it for him — you would have thought my wife was jealous she was so against another present!
I kept telling her — there is a very small window when a child has no worries, things are exciting and fun and it is a time to let them have anything they want because soon enough school, peer pressure, and all the other realities of life will start weighing them down. For that magical window of two to five, let them feel life is perfect.
Oh, my, I hate to disagree with Heidi, as she seems like such a lovely, sensible woman, but I say go for lots of presents. They don’t have to be big, expensive presents but, in my opinion, lots of presents is the order of the day. My son has always had big Christmases. Some things he wants, some things he needs, NEVER everything on his list but enough to make him happy. I don’t buy him loads of stuff he doesn’t need for the rest of the year but at Christmas, I spoil him rotten. Trust me, they’ll survive being spoiled for one day out of the year
Merry ChrismaKwanzaKahYule!
I am proud of my daughter & son-in-law this year for having Santa deliver only 3 presents and they are giving 3. Too often the little ones are overwhelmed with so many presents. With 3 sets of grandparents, there are lots of other presents.
I haven’t sailed a TA on Carnival but have been on one which, even with rough seas, we were kept busy with horse races, trivia, hula hoop and dance contests plus we enjoy meeting others and talking with them.
Merry Christmas to you and yours. Hope to see you in a year!
Hi John
My husband and I will be joining you on the Breeze for the TA as well as the first cruise out of Miami. He made a very good suggestion about activities, how about during the 6 days at sea Carnival offers a behind the complimentary scene tours . You could offer 4 tours a day ,15 people each tour and only on sea days. This way guests can see really how hard Carnival employees work and then they can tell friends the next time you sail with Carnival take the behind the scenes tours. Great PR for Carnival. Something for us to look forward to on the TA.
As long as you teach Kye the joy of giving, as well as receiving, don’t worry about how much is too much. When my children were little, we always made cookies together & then it was their job to deliver them to our neighbors. They still remember delivering those cookie trays better than the presents they received.
I thoroughly enjoyed our TA cruise on the Magic. James did such a good job, you weren’t missed at all! After all, there aren’t many ports in the middle of the ocean! People need to lighten up & help make their own fun!
JoyceG
John, if you want to spoil Kye, take her on the QE2! One gift is the norm in the Netherlands at Christmas. The big day in Holland is Dec.6 (sinterklaas) Heidi may have mentioned it to you. Did she receive gifts on that day? If not then maybe a few more gifts would be in order. IMHO
My husband and myself sailed the Dream TA and the Magic TA and the previous cruise in the Mediterranean this time. The two TAs were totally differant even though we were in the same cabin. Dream TA was smooth and beautiful and we spent everyday on the balcony. This year it was rough for a few days. This is not Carnivals fault.Having Ken back for the Magic TA was Magical.So was Hostess Alina, our head Waiter Gaspar and cabin stewart Ernesto. Both spoiled us. I think James and his staff did the upmost to make the cruise enjoyable. Some people want everything planned for them. Carnival gives us great value for our Canadian Dollar and this is important for two seniour citizens.
John (Re: Gifts)
I’d like to ask you and Heidi what were your Christmases were like? Did you both get only one gift apiece? I just can’t imagine it! What might need to be considered is how will Kye handle her peers in the future? Will you graduate from Piggy Dada to my Dada the bloke? Everyone I knew usually got one big gift (I would like this more than ANYTHING in the world) and a bundle of lesser stuff I.e., Dolly, coloring and reading books etc.
To all the people who donate to underprivileged kids and families I would like to thank you from my heart for I’ll never forget the presents that we received many, many years ago from many anonymous people. Unless you’ve been there, you’d never understand the happiness they would/could bring to someone. Thanks to all who make a child’s Christmas brighter.
Just wanted to post that my parents were on the first crossing of the Concorde.
I enjoy the blog so much and rarely comment, but having raised 2 daughters I have often thought if I would do anything different. The one thing is the gifts at Christmas. I loved buying them things and each year it seemed to get bigger and bigger. It was hard to then cut back without things feeling less festive. SO- if I could change one thing it would be to always give a child 3 Christmas gifts. There is logic to the number because that is the number the Christ child was given so it keeps gift giving tied back into the meaning of Christmas. Merry Christmas to you,Heidi and Kye and I will look forwrd to meeting you on March on Bloggers cruise. (no kissing, I promise!)
John, you asked for feedback on how Carnival can improve the Breeze transatlantic crossing. We were on the Magic TA (my 12th Carnival cruise) and we were mostly satisfied with the activities and amenities. Here are a few things that need improvement. So many guests used the dining tables in the lido dining room and the dining areas on Deck Five next to the Red Frog for card playing that it was almost always very difficult to find a table. I even resorted to asking complete strangers if they would share their table with me. One really poor timing issue was at noontime on Deck Five there was always a trivia game in the eating area thus making tables extremely scarce.
Another issue (and I don’t really know how Carnival could fix this problem) was that the majority of the Your Time guests chose the first seating time to eat which made huge lines wrapped all the way around the atrium and necessitated people getting beepers more often than not. Perhaps two many YTD dining assignments were issued for this particular cruise?
Related to this issue was the fact that one had to arrive in the theater at least one hour early to find a seat for the early seating show. Many people were standing in the back or sitting on the steps.
We did enjoy the one-person entertainers very much–all that we saw were very entertaining.
I personally had enough entertainment and activities to be happy on the TA. I LOVED the beginning bridge classes everyday. The library had twice a day hours for checking out books and while I really wanted to be able to check out more than one book at a time, I understood why the rule was in place.
James did a fantastic job as CD and we loved his morning show–especially when Calvin was there with him.
We read your blog all the time John and very much enjoy it–keep up the good work!
John, I wasn’t there but saw many reports of inconsiderate people monopolizing tables in the casual dining venues practically all day playing cards/scrabble/dominoes, etc. If true, then I imagine I would be very annoyed indeed and I hope some reasonable solution can be found that opens up those venues for dining and accomodates the game players somewhere else that is also an inviting space.
Also, I heartily agree with the suggestion above to make the traversing of the Straits of Gibralter a daylight event.
And please – get Kye some presents!
John, first of all Happy Christmas to you and your beautiful girls! Regarding Christmas and Kye …let the boss give her one gift and let Dad (aka Santa) leave her many gifts under the tree! Why? Because Christmas morning is for children. Seeing the happiness, wonder, squeals of joy (for Peppa this year) and pure excitement is enjoying Christmas for you and Heidi thru the eyes of your beautiful daughter. Enjoy her! No it isn’t spoiling her. Tell Heidi please to not worry.
Ok I will descend my soapbox but you asked! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year too!
Dear John, I must have a technical problem with my computer because I have been unable to see the last 10 or so videos you have posted, and I am most disappointed about the latest 2 of QM 2, particularly w/her Master. I should like to say, however, if anyone is cheeky enough to try to compare Carnival to the venerable Cunard line, well that’s just a bit unfair, no? I love Carnival with all my heart, but it is my life’s desire to take a World Voyage on an ocean liner with Cunard. There’s just nothing else left to compare it to, as you so correctly pointed out! I hope to figure out the difficulties soon so I can see those videos!
Now as for the grumps on the transatlantic and Christmas voyages, well at Christmas anyway: Could it be that they are grumpy because they spent all their holiday money on themselves and then set up impossible expectations for the staff and crew to meet? AND failed to invite any loved ones to join them? Just a thought.
Speaking of which: Nancy shame on you! Perhaps you were ignorant of the fact that a ships ventilation system is centrally based, but to expect such personalized tempature control for one guest on a vessel even as large(or small in this case) as a Fantasy class vessel is absurd! Please realize you are not one of 50, 100, or even 500, but one of over 1000 guests and things simply cannot revolve completely around you 100% of the cruise! Thank you, for your attention.
John, surely you understand Heidi’s predicament: if she gives in to the Christmas orgy that so many children experience that morning she contributes to unrealistic expectations of not only her child, but her oh so willing papa, to fill the house with goodies of all discription. OR she maintain her self-discipline and reinforce the cherished ideal that Christmas is a time of celebration and giving, not receiving. Overfill the stocking and never fear, Kye will be a grateful adult and not a spoiled brat. Leave the spoiling to her grandparents and the bloggers!
Have a great one! Your friend, Jodi:)
My comment on Christmas presents. I agree that many, many people buy their kids too many gifts but I also think one is not enough. We buy our grandkids several gifts but some are clothes as they need to know necessities of life are as much a gift (cause not everyone has the necessities) as a toy. Also, a little toy truck for my grandson from the dollar store is still a wrapped gift he gets to anticipate opening. Not all gifts have to be ‘the best new thing’. For a child the anticipation of opening a gift may be as enjoyable as the actual gift. Having said all this though, Heidi has the right to want to limit Kye’s gifts.
Hello John:
Yep, there was a different vibe on the TA as compared to the last European 12 day. Cranky, a little rude, lots of critics. One gentleman said the only reason he took the cruise was to go to Grand Turk, gee wilikers. Thank God there were enough fun people to make up for it. I was thinking the coast guard would reduce the official capacity of each lifeboat if they knew how big the passengers were on the TA. Me included.
I enjoyed visiting with the British bloke onboard in Freeport. Then Calvyn lost his mustache. He is one of the good ones John.
As to balancing the information between the blog and facebook. You hit it on the head, facebook is quicker, more current. The blog is to develop stories, tell jokes. Did you know that you can click on “John Heald” on the right side of the blog home page in the facebook area and it takes you to your page on facebook whether you are a member or not? At least mine does. The gentleman who mentioned he was not on facebook can still read all of the comments on your live facebook page without being a member. Just can’t post.
62 degrees! Can you imagine? Your dangly bits would be blue, and itty bitty.
Your friend
Bill Heck
If you click on the right side Facebook link on Johns blog, it does not openthe complete Facebook entry. It only shows a small part of it. I agree that there needs to be more Q&A on the blog. Of course,I do not FB because of their monthly security issues and their tracking of my internet surfing. More of the blog,please.
Sure wish I could go back and erase my previous reply as I have now discovered the FB link being mentioned. My apologies. But, I still do not like FB.
John,
I would say 3 presents. When me and my brother were older my parents had us write down 10 things on a wish list. My parents would get us 3 things from the list. So Christmas morning we knew we would get 3 things we wanted and a bunch of clothes!! (when we were younger we just told them verbally the 10 things)I think it worked wonders for us as we both are not spoiled at all. We never got EVERYTHING we wanted. As a adult if I want alot of things well, I have to work very hard to get them!! Nothing is ever just given to me. I think it worked for us anyway. Just my 2 cents
To Mr. C. Goodling, I have been on 20 RCI ships and 32 CCl ships in the last 10 years and I know first hand that RCI’s dress code is about the same as CCL. On RCI you can wear jeans in the dining room on formal nights. Shorts on the other hand are a no no. But they don’t seem to enforce this rule much. But has John always says why do we care what other people wear to dinner.
I was just on the Carnival Dream and while at guest services, I heard them tell a guest that now everyone who gave Carnival their e-mail address gets an e-mail to complete the survey on line in lieu of the comment card. Of course, I was hoping that at least that person would get one because I also was under the impression only a certain percentage got them.I was very surprised when I got home and all three of us got the e-mail. I do not know if guest services was correct or not in saying everyone gets one now or if it was just a coincidence that all 3 of us got them. Maybe they have changed their procedure on this.
RE: gifts for Kye
Can’t you split the difference? One “big” gift and maybe a half dozen smaller ones? Actually, I’m the over-the-top grandma gifter, as I wrapped and sent over a dozen gifts per grandchild, so I’m really in your corner on this one, but was trying for compromise!
Spoil her. You are only a kid once. I my self am bad. I try no to go overboard with grandkids but failed every year. It is is Christmas. The look on their faces make it all worth while.
I really enjoyed what you had to say about the QM2. Yes, she is a great ship. I have done a TA on the QM2 but it was in no way as wonderful as the 7 TAs I have done on the QE2. Yes, TAs are great and I have done 2 on Carnival (the Freedom and the Dream).
Hello Everyone on the Blog,
I’m not on Facebook so thought I would ask here. I know a lot of you will know the answer. Did 6’3″ Amy go by the nickname of Big Bird at one time? Had a tall Amy who went by that name on one of our cruises and since I keep hearing about 6’3″, am wondering if she is the same and one.
TIA,
Mary
One present is not enough for Kye to open. Not at her age. The pure enjoyment of watching the magic of Christmas through their eyes opening presents is probably the best gift you can give yourselves for the next couple of years. Don’t rob yourself of these precious moments. Why would you want to see her beautiful smiling face for just a flat second just opening 1 gift? When they get older the amount of gifts get smaller but end up costing you alot more. John, my gut feeling is telling me you cant buy one gift anyways.
THREE presents is what Jesus got. One from each wise man. I think it’s the perfect example!
Hi John,
About the presents thing – my parents gave me brother and I our stockings which we could open as soon as we awoke and then under the tree was 3 gifts from Santa (like the 3 gifts from the Magi). Never clothes, always toys or games. Mom and Dad gave one gift from each (so two gifts) and it was usually clothes or some other necessity and then there was always a package of new socks and new underwear for each member of the family. In total we got 3 Santa presents, 2 parent presents, socks, underwear and our stockings.
John,
Was the bad holiday cruise experience in 2001. I was with you for that cruise and had a marvelous time. I do remember, however, some unusual characters on that cruise. Perhaps because it was the first holiday season post 9/11, or perhaps it was just the holidays. We will never know.
dctravel
I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog and Facebook articles.
Had to laugh! Can’t say that I blame you on not doing another Christmas Day cruise!
I do have a question: We have a group of 17 (mix of adults and children) sailing on the 5-day pre-Christmas cruise on the Carnival Triumph on December 19th. First cruise for some of us. First Carnival cruise for all of us. We are SO excited!!!!!
I did see on your blog that the ships are decorated for Christmas. What other Holiday sights/activities are generally done on the cruise ships the week before Christmas?
I would also like to receive a comment card. I think Carnival is probably only interested in comments from a certain demographic group. I cruise twice a year and don’t have any complaints, but I feel left out.
John:
It is understandable that cruises which are “one off” (not the standard 3 – 8 days) can be difficult to prepare for.
Obviously Carnival does not want to just fill the time with “stuff” (just to be filling it) but with so many sea days….a different approach is needed.
This isn’t just an issue with the Trans Atlantics.
In Carnival’s near future, there will be many 15 day round trip cruises to Hawaii ( 5 days at sea each way), a Trans Pacific and the Breeze’s TA.
So on these heavy Sea Day schedules, perhaps something as simple as more interaction with the Entertainment Staff.
Perhaps each sea day, one of the Entertainment Staff member could host the tea time. (instead of just the standard tea time)
Little changes like this could add something special without a lot of effort.
As for the Christmas gift issue, we have always been conservative. We have never had a tree with a ton is gifts underneath because we have always gotten what we wanted all during the year.
Merry Christmas to you and your precious family (which is indeed the greatest gift of all).
Linda (Mom of your friend DJ)
John,
I only have one thing to say about dress codes: I went to the steak house the other night on the Spirit. I was wearing blue jeans and a botton down shirt and I must say my Rib-Eye steak with all the other stuff that comes with it was the best I have ever had. Even better than the time on the Conquest when I wore a suit.
cheers from Somewhere in the Pacific.
I have 2 boys right around Kye’s age (2&3) and you should spoil her rotten! Our kids are getting as many gifts as we can afford (3 each) and I’m sure seeing everything under the tree will make her do happy! After all, you only get one shot at that first year magic!!
you need to spoil your daughter for Christmas
she deserves it and so does your lovely wife … spoil, spoil, spoil I say.
Enjoy your time with them, life is too short to waste one minute!
John,
The rule in my house has usually been to set a budget and stick with it when it came to gift-giving for the kids. That is to say, you could get one present worth $100 or five presents worth $20 each, which is where Sale Shopping really helps out.
Somehow, though, I think Kye will be most happy that you’re going to be there on Christmas Morning, albeit very sleepy-eyed with a smile of satisfaction yourself, I think…
…but let’s be honest, she’s you’re little girl and you’re going to put *lots* of presents under that tree no matter what!
i agree that kye NEEDS a 60″ hd tv to watch her pig john… and maybe she’ll let you watch something you like on it occasionally. seriously i think 3-4 presents sound about right. one more expensive and several less so. just my 2 cents.
smiles, bee
xoxoxoxoox
Hi John!
RE entertainment/activities aboard the Breeze and other ships…….
Couple Talk. Couple Cuddle. One of these days I WILL be aboard a Carnival cruise ship providing informational (and hilariously funny) sessions for couples who desire to strengthen their relationships and their intimate lives. #dreamjob
Couples would be like, “Wait. What? We’re there already?! Take us back out to sea, we’re still on page 1 of the manual!”
Kelly
One present is not enough. Santa should leave atleast 3-4 then mum and dad 3-4 more. JMO
I don’t quite understand why everyone wants a comment card. You can ALWAYS contact Carnival directly through their website. There is a “Need Help” tab on the bottom of their home page and an “800″ phone number as well as a link to e-mail them directly on that tab. Or you can post a comment on John’s blog or Facebook page. No need for a comment card at all. I’m sure the Carnival Beards would love to hear non-solicited comments – good or bad- as well.
Dear John,
Just go ahead and buy the presents and label them from Santa so Heidi can’t say anything.
Spoil em while you can!
The Cruzin2some
Hey John, I have been on several crossings to and from Europe (sadly, not all on Carnival Ships!!) and some activities that I enjoyed were: More trivia games (3-4 per day on some cruises), classes in cooking (a chef or two took time from his busy schedule), pottery painting, Wii sports competitions, wine tasting/learning about wines, more movies in the rooms and in the theater, more games based on tv game shows, Zumba classes and ballroom dancing, on-deck yoga, daily suduko/crossword/word game sheets. Generally I find that we see much more of the social hosts aboard a crossing as they keep extra busy hosting events. Still enjoying your blog after all these years (and joined facebook in part to get your fb updates!). Take care and Merry Christmas. GLoria
Thank you for taking the time to update about the Super Bowl! I am a little bit of an over planner, and have been wondering how we would manage an elegant night when in reality, I would rather be watching the game!
John 34 of my family and friends are traveling on the Liberty February 18, 2012 for my birthday on the 19th. We are hoping we will all be seated together, I wrote you earlier and you told me to remind you closer to cruise. Our room # is 1301. This is our 4th cruise on Carnival and many of my family have been on before, we cruised with you on the Freedom in 2008. Your the best. We will be buying certificates while on board to cruise with you on the Breeze. So in a nut shell, I am asking for nothing free….bet you dont see that often? LOL just want to be able to see everyone in the diningroom and hope you cam help us make that happen! Apparently they want to sing Happy Birthday to me. Thanks for your help!!! and again you are the best. Ignore the haters!!!! thanks