Occasionally, I get to use this blog to write my own personal opinions, not just about cruising but about what’s happening in the world. Last night I had quite a heated discussion with some guests who are bloggers and have booked a back-to-back cruise here. It wasn’t about food or Faster to the Fun or the Cheers bar program or my underpants, but rather about Lance Armstrong who, as you know, will appear on Her Royal Highness Oprah Winfrey’s show. (more…)

Social media can be a minefield that, if you are not careful, will blow your bollocks off. For many people, sites like Facebook are all about simply finding someone you had rumpy pumpy with 10 years ago and contacting her asking if there is a chance that you do so again. (more…)

It’s strange to think that I won’t be a cruise director for a few months after spending seven months in the chair on the Carnival Breeze. I won’t be the CD for BC6, although I will be hosting a Marriage Show and Calvyn and I will host live morning shows for the audience to enjoy. It never gets easier being an older cruise director and especially during the conference last week when I was surrounded by youth and vitality and more hair product than a sodding beauty salon …………..and that’s just the male CDs. (more…)

Hello Bloggy People,

Eric the Beard here with some fun and exciting news. If you were on Facebook yesterday, you may have heard that John crossed the 15 million view mark right here on his blog thingy! This is an exciting milestone for him — as well as for us tofu-loving beards — and it’s a testament to how amazing this wonderful community of bloggers and cruise lovers really is.

So… it would be un-beardly of us if we didn’t do something to celebrate, right? That’s why I’m excited to announce the official Bloggers Cruise 6 Slogan Contest!

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So during the show last night, I took some people from the audience for some pre-show fun before the Divas revue. It included a young couple who, when I asked for their names and where they were from, they replied they were from Denver, Colorado. I then shocked myself by instead of saying, “Are you having fun?” or “What’s your favourite port so far?” or “Bugger me your wife is gorgeous, are they real?” I went straight into the, “I am so sorry, how dreadful, it’s awful, I hope they cut his bollocks off and shove 50,000 volts through his arse.”
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Last week, someone posted a photo on my Facebook page. It showed a Carnival ship in space, taking a cruise around the moon. It was a great photo and I have been thinking about this the past few days and have been asking myself if indeed this is the future of cruising?

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So, Wimbledon is over for another year and no, we have three weeks of rest before London hosts the Olympic Games where our opening ceremony will consist of a double decker bus, David Beckham in a pair of Speedos and that other British institution Simon Cowell introducing some Bollywood dancers. Yep, compared to the opening ceremony China gave us four years ago, this will look like it has been produced by the London Retired Ladies Knitting Association. (more…)

I miss the cigar bars. There, I said it. Yes, it was an uncomfortable experience for those who didn’t appreciate the armor of cigar smoke who had to pass through a rich, thick cloud of the remnants of the finest cigars to get to the internet cafe and I understand why the beards decided the cigar bar’s time was up. But I still miss it. I was thinking that last night as I hosted a “Cigar Under The Stars” gathering here on Carnival Breeze. With the mad dash to get the ship ready and what with all the inaugural stuff and the gaggle of beards who here for the first 489 days, there had not been time for me to do this so far. But last night I had placed a small line in the Fun Times that simply said, “Cigars Under The Stars. Join John for a good smoke and good conversation. Lanai Deck 5.”

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I have worked hard these past few weeks and, of course, was looking forward to coming home and spending time with the family. When I say spending time with the family I meant taking Monday and Tuesday off and lying on the sofa watching TV having Heidi bring me food and drinks in between naps. But this was not to be and instead of me lying on the sofa watching the entire West Wing box set while dipping into a huge bucket of KFC, I was told that we were going to spend yesterday at the Bluewater Shopping Mall – or hell, as us men call it.

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