Monday, 14 October 2024
by BD Banks
Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald has a job that’s sometimes dark. He often begs angry passengers to turn their vitriol to him rather than directing it at the onboard crew.
If you read his Facebook page, you see that Heald takes a lot of abuse. He’s often accused of fairly horrible things and he never appears to get angry.
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Imagine coming to work and spending part of every day having your appearance picked apart by strangers. People cross lines with Heald all the time yet he seems to understand that their rage is often not actually directed at him.
Last week, Hurricane Milton disrupted multiple ports forcing ships to skip stops, come home early, stay at sea longer, and in rare cases saw cruises canceled. Heald often had to be the bearer of bad news and the receiver of passenger anger.
Despite the challenges, Heald seemed to give up sleep. He would be posting early in the morning New York time and late at night. Given that he lives in London, some of those posts came in the middle of the night.
As he takes a much-needed day off, Heald shared a message that shares a lot of how he sees the world.
Image source: Matthew Frankel/Come Cruise With Me
When he takes a day off, something he only does one day a week in most cases, Heald usually shares a message that he will be out for the day. It often has a bit of a joke. This week, the Brand Ambassador offered something more hopeful.
“Well, it has been a busy week. I have done my best to keep you all informed, listened to, and answered 2,700 questions and comments, many of which have tugged on my heartstrings,” he wrote. “There were demands from a few for compensation because of missed ports. One or two people saying the Captain sailed them into the storm which of course is not true but I do still feel bad if they felt seasick, that is not a nice feeling.”
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After that, Heald shared something inspirational.
“However, out of the 607,000 posts these past 7 days it has been evident that there was so much understanding for what was happening And just as with Hurricane Helene so too with Hurricane Milton many of you wrote with sadness and support, horror, and yet hope for those in the path of the hurricane and the devastation and loss that it caused. Thank you for all your support and kindness,” he added.
Many of Heald’s followers shared their support for his message.
“My wish is that one day I will meet you. To give you a hug and cry on your shoulder. You’ve been there for so many of us! Enjoy your family time John,” posted Maria Hall.
“Thank you John for your insights and answers. Even though some passengers just don’t seem to understand you really do a wonderful service and are quite good at it. Many thanks,” wrote Larry and Linda Geisler.
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Catherine Black also had a kind message for Heald.
“Thank you, Sir John. Thank you for your kindness, thoughts, and support. As a native Floridian who lives 30 minutes from the port, it means quite a bit,” she posted.
Some passengers pushed back on the people who were angry at their ship’s captain.
“You have a choice when you cruise. If the people who blamed the captain for going into the storm had paid attention just a little bit they would have understood the storm was so big there was no way of getting completely away from it. Don’t cruise during hurricane season if you don’t want possible problems with storms,” shared Debbie Bourgeois Moran.
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Others were much more appreciative of the captain.
“FYI the captain on the Elation was amazing! As were all the staff during the two extra days we were stuck! I felt extremely safe and would do a hurricane on a ship over land anytime,” added Jodi Nyahay.
Regina Puckett Rose echoed those thoughts.
“We have sailed in some rough weather and the captain did his best to go around it and minimize the effects. Weather happens — it’s nothing that anyone can control just make the best of it,” she wrote.
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