Maybe you’re wondering what the heck is an FFS Cruise and who is John Heald? I know I was. I’ll let you in on the secret of exactly what are FFS Cruise aka For Fun’s Sake Cruise, who is John Heald, and our experience or everything you need to know on Carnival Freedom FFS4 and bonus trip report of Carnival Freedom.
If you are considering going on a Carnival Fun’s Sake Cruise, you might just be a fan of John Heald.
We’ve been Fans and following John Heald, the Face of Carnival on Facebook, so after cruising finally started back up and John had some firm dates on the calendar, we went ahead and pulled the trigger and booked FFS cruise #4 on Carnival Freedom. So together, we will find out what is an FFS Cruise and what a cruise is like sailing with John Heald. First, more on John Heald,
Who is John Heald?
For those of you who are new to cruising you might be wondering, who is John Heald? John is the “Senior Cruise Director” and “Brand Ambassador” to Carnival Cruise lines with close to 400,000 followers on Facebook.
You could call John the Face of Carnival Cruise Lines, or the Carnival Cheerleader. If he is being mentioned on Cruise Critic, one mention he might be referred to as the Carnival Scapegoat with complaints being his burden or fault. The next day the very same poster might be singing his praises and asking for help or special requests in their stateroom.
Tip: requests are fine. He loves making great memories for your cruise. If you have a special request such as helping spread grandma’s ashes, he’s your guy. Just be sure to request his Facebook page, and please don’t refer to him as, “Heald”.
In my opinion, Mr. John Heald is the consummate host. He goes out of his way to help you have an outstanding and memorable cruise.
He has a sharp sense of humor that the Gallivanting Souls have grown to enjoy. He takes daily gripes and put-downs with a grain pound of salt and a sense of humor. I’m not sure how he does it, but I can say that I do love it when he ends his post for the day with, “Oh, FFS!”
History of FFS Cruises
For Fun’s Sake Cruises were not always called this. Originally, in 2007 FFS Cruises were called “Bloggers Cruises”. This name was confusing and cruisers including myself thought it was required to be a blogger to attend.
The idea behind these cruisers was that followers of John’s blog could get together for a week of cruising and fun with their favorite cruise director, John Heald.
In 2018 these cruises were renamed “For Fun’s Sake Cruises’. The very first FFS Cruise was on the Carnival Magic.
So now that we know what these special Cruises with John Heald are, let’s find out more about them. Here’s how Carnival Cruise Lines explains these cruises:
John Heald’s, “Cruise with John – For Fun’s Sake #4” cruise on the Carnival Freedom, April 3, 2022, is a unique, one time a year event, sailing with one of the most popular cruise directors in the business.
CCL
How to book an FFS cruise
If you are following @johnHeald and want to cruise with John, head over to Carnival.com. Click the search bar or magnifying glass icon. Search for John Heald. This search should bring up all upcoming cruises or when new ones can be booked.
To become part of the group and join in the activities, first book your cruise as normal either on Carnival.com, with a Carnival PVP, or with a travel agent like me. Then you watch John’s Facebook for info on when you sign up.
For example, on this FFS Cruise that we were a part of, he instructed that on September 8, 2021, at 9 AM to go into your cruise manager and prepurchase this excursion which was found in the area for Half Moon Cay. Instructions stayed “registration ends as soon as 500 guests have registered.”
COVID put a stop to travel for most and we had to find other things to do since we couldn’t travel. Now that cruising and travel have returned, we are finally able to look forward to this special cruise and meeting Mr. Heald.
Follow along, and I will do my best to give a day-by-day account.
Daily activities
On a Cruise for Fun’s Sake, there are many opportunities for cruisers to get together to have fun and interact with our host. The activities are listed below. We did not attend all scheduled events but made it to several.
- Day one
Upon embarking on Carnival Freedom and going to our room, we found our daily schedule of events in our stateroom. From noon until 2 PM, there was a hospitality desk at the International Lounge where you could submit any room changes for the record or get help.
A welcome party was held from 5 PM to 6 PM on deck 3 forward, Victoria Show Lounge. When we arrived at around 430 PM the line was already long.
Once the doors opened up, the lines moved quickly. Many waiters were at the lounge and hand out colorful tropical drinks. No coupon was needed to get a drink. Many people were grabbing multiple beverages.
You could feel the excitement in the air. Our host gave a brief speech thanking us all for coming and telling us of the fun we would look forward to. Guests then were free to drink and mingle with provided cocktails.
- Day two
Day two fell on our port day at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. The Breakfast Questions and answers session was scheduled from 8:00 to 9:30 AM in the International Lounge.
A nice variety of pastries, lunch meats and cheeses, fruits, and yogurt parfaits were available. Tip: Be sure to arrive early if you want a decent seat. Any guest who had a question could stand up and use the microphone to address John with their questions.
- Day three
For our first Day at sea FFS cruisers had another opportunity to ask John questions at Continental Breakfast number two from 8:30 to 10;00 AM.
- Day 4
On Day 4 we ported in Amber Cove. Casual Conversations with John were held in the International Lounge from 8 to 9 AM. We skipped this event as we had an early ship tour to get to.
- Day 5
Grand Turk was where we the ship called to on day five. No activities were planed during the day. At 10 PM in the Serenity Deck, John hosted Cigars Under the Stars. Another no-show activity for us since we don’t smoke and are early risers.
- Day 6
Final sea day and last full day of the cruising with John. The morning schedule called for picking up your FFS gifts at the International Lounge. You could drop in any time between 8 and 10 AM.
What gifts were included in our FFS cruise?
Each registered participant received a collector box with several FFS items. The gifts included a nice collector box with a lanyard, a luggage tag, and an insulated cup.
To see the gifts, check out the Facebook video below or look on eBay. I am sure you too can get your hands on some nice FFS bling, even if you were not able to make the cruise. During prior group cruises, guests got group t-shirts and lanyards.
Later in the afternoon John, along with Cruise Director, James Love, hosted the Afternoon Show from 2 to 245 PM. Later, from 4-5 PM the Farewell Show was held in the Victoria Show Lounge.
At this final event, you had the opportunity to have your picture taken with John on your smartphone or camera.
Drinks were served at this party again and laughter and conversation were plenty. We didn’t stay very long. A group photo was also taken, but this venue did not make for great pictures. Too many people.
Meeting John Heald
I am happy to say that my husband and I both got to meet John Heald. The first morning, early as we were heading for the buffet, we stopped by the Coffee stand, and who else was waiting for their early morning shot of caffeine, but Mr. Heald.
Not wanting to be a pest, I just happened to have a handwritten note for him. I simply said hello John, how are you?
I handed him the note and proceeded to begin to walk away. He stopped me in my tracks and we had a quick conversation. He even invited me to take a selfie with him. Just as I had envisioned, Mr. John was a very kind and funny chap. He made a quick joke and we left Mr Heald to finish ordering his coffee, happy to have met the Face of Carnival.
Expectations vs reality
My husband and I were very excited when we signed up for this cruise. We weren’t exactly sure what went on during these cruises since there was little to be found on the subject. The information I found, I learned that many attendees are repeat guests.
Some have formed bonds and friendships and even travel together on non-John Heald Cruises. Many in attendance were Platinum and Diamond level, sailors.
I’m not exactly sure what picture was in my head about how this cruise was to play out. I know that we wouldn’t be having any dinners or be seated at the same table like on an old episode of Love Boat, but I did think and hope that we could meet Mr. Heald and enjoy his company as adults.
The reality of cruising with John Heald is that there simply were too many guests.
Six hundred confirmed guests and over five hundred who made the cruise due to many flights being canceled. Many of the followers were plain rude.
An example of this, John mentioned on his Facebook page a man who bumped into him and wanted to take a photo with him. No problem. John happily posed for an obscene number of photos throughout the week, but one was just an idiot.
As John was posing for the picture, the guy reaches over and rips the mask from Mr. Heald s face.
Unbelievable! This is just absurd.
As cruise employees, according to Carnival, they must still wear face masks and do weekly COVID tests.
If any staff test positive, they are moved to an isolation room and must stay until they no longer test positive. Crew members do this without pay.
Some employees of Carnival, including John Heald, are either in the category with preexisting conditions that could make getting the virus extra worrisome or have family members that are extra fragile.
Needless to say, the person in question did not get the photo he intended. He’s s lucky that John can hold his tongue as well as he does and is lucky he didn’t get a foot up his backside and an escort off the ship.
Oh FFS!
Gallivanting Souls, for John Heald
This wasn’t the only poorly behaved guest. There were always people following the Brand Ambassador around, not giving him a moment’s peace, always in his face, trying to get his attention or freebies. Instead of following, I would say “stalking.”
We were looking forward to seeing the famous Love and Marriage Show but never saw it listed.
I asked John, What is your favorite part of a For Fun’s Sake Cruise? Ours was meeting you finally!
Thank you so much, and thank you for sharing this great photo. I honestly think the best part of this cruise was simply seeing you and so many others enjoying the fun. I know that’s very simplistic but after everything everybody has been through to see people having virtually a normal Cruise after such uncertainty was truly uplifting.
John Heald, Carnival Brand Ambassador, via his Facebook page.
Carnival Freedom Review
Boarding was quick and painless. We got an email encouraging us to use the new app Verify. I successfully got all the information into the app, but still brought all our hardcopies.
I have trust issues and it’s a good thing that I brought the paperwork as our check in agent did not know anything about the app.
From speaking to others, it was hot or miss if the app was used.I am sure that when it becomes normal to use the app, things will be more streamlined and a nice feature to save some trees.
Since our check in time was later, we were able to go right to our rooms and drop off our belongings. We met our room steward and decided on evening service. He was friendly enough, but any time we needed something, we had to hunt for him. We also had to ask for things several times.
We were able to put up our door decorations even known we weren’t participating in a cruise door decorating contest. I always enjoy getting creative making crafts that remind me of home or my favorite travel memories.
Our dining team was also nice, but they never quite got their act together. Hubby and I had the drink package. They never even asked if we wanted drinks, even after I ordered a cocktail most nights and hubby ordering wine the first two nights.
Maybe the ship being close to capacity was just too much for both our room steward and dining teams. Needless to say, neither team got any extra tips.
Bar staff around the ship were great. They got some extra love from us.
I’m in always amazed at how well Carnival assigns us with dining companions! I was hesitant to dine with others at first so son after COVID, but we decided to give it a try and were seated at a long table with three other couples around our dames ages.
The 3rd couple showed up more than thirty minutes late doing a drive-by muttering something like oh hell no.
We never saw them again. The remaining two couples had so much in common with us that it was crazy! The couple from Florida were both worked in the grocery sector. The other was recently retired an in IT. We had some good conversations.
The ship
Even know Carnival Freedom is an older ship (2006), it’s in good condition. Carnival Freedom is a Conquest Class Ship. Since we’ve been on Carnival Conquest twice, the layout was easy for us to navigate.
Do older Carnival ships haver lager staterooms?
One plus that I noticed after the fact, older ships seem to have larger rooms more square footage compared to the new ships. This wasn’t apparent until we had gone from Carnival Freedom to Carnival Panorama the 2nd time and sailed in an inside room.
What is the size of staterooms on Carnival Freedom?
Interior rooms are 185 feet total. Interior with porthole windows are slightly larger at 220 square feet.
You might be thinking you get lots more room in a balcony. You get a bit more depending on category. Ocean view with standard balcony, categories 8A – 8F 185 square foot room and 35 foot balcony.
Mike’s favorite, the Mongolian Wok is found on the buffet in the same spot as you find the Omelet Station at breakfast.
Many ships have got rid of the Wok. When we come across one that has it, Mike visits almost daily. Price: Included in your cruise fare.
My go-to for lunch is the Carnival Deli.
Price: Included in your cruise fare. Look for daily specials. Some of them are really good. If you have picky eaters, or just looking for simple comfort food, order the grilled cheese. Want to jazz it up? Add bacon, other meats, or even hot peppers.
Guy’s Burger Joint and Blueiguana are also on this ship. Wait is minimal, and service is fast.Both are included in cruise fare.
The Lido Marketplace, aka the buffet had lots of choices at lunch. Breakfast on sea days goes until noon. I feel like they need to change over to lunch, at least one side. Some people are early risers.
At Market place, there is also an area called the Sweet Spot. Early in the morning you will find pastries and Continental Breakfast.
At lunch time this area switches over to a great variety of cakes and cookies. If you see something you might like for dessert, be sure to grab it and take it to your room for later.
One of my gripes about Carnival in general, is that they don’t have anything besides Swirls, ice cream machine later for dessert.
Sometimes, we don’t have room for dessert in the main dining room. Then, after we get out of the comedy show, or the theater at 9 PM, we go looking to cure your sweet tooth, with no other options accept returning to our room and ordering room service.
If you are sailing on Carnival Freedom, you probably won’t go hungry. There are many choices of food both at the buffet, main dining, and few stand alone food joints.
Some of these stand alone places like the Steak House, Bonsai Sushi, and The Sea food Shack have additional fees, so keep that in mind.
Although I didn’t eat in the Steak House on this ship, Carnival steak houses are a good value for the cost and food you get.
Entertainmet
We went to the comedy show most nights. There was a good variety of comedians and jokes. The early show should be family friendly, but the late show, anything goes!
Here’s a tip if planning on going to the comedy show: Don’t arrive late. Not only will seating be an issue and hard to get, but you will now be part of the show.
Was Carnival Freedom my favorite? Probably not, but it was fine. Would I book Carnival Freedom again?
Sure, if the ship were going to a port that I wanted to visit. The primary reason we choose this sailing was to experience the For Fun’s Sake Cruise with John Heald. We had already been to these particular ports more than once.
Our cruise was the last cruise sailing from Miami and two weeks later Carnival Freedom suffered a fire onboard in the ship’s funnel.
To sum up my review of Carnival Freedom, we had a great time, we were on a cruise. I’d do it again in a heartbeat!
Final thoughts
For some people, meeting a celebrity is a once-in-a-lifetime, experience. This possibly could be why some folks lost their common sense and behaved poorly. A For Fun’s Sake Cruise Cruising Carnival with John Heald is supposed to be just that, fun. If you want to #ChooseFun, and meet the celeb, John Heald, a Cruise For Fun’s Sake might just fit the bill!
So if you are still wondering what is a For Fun’s Sake Cruise, I’ll make it in terms that many might be able to relate to. An FFS cruise reminds me of going to a very large family or high school reunion with thoughtfully planned out activities.
You might remember some folks, others you’ve only heard stories about. There will sure to be a few crazy Aunts and Uncles to stir the pot or create drama, and then there is your favorite Cousin there trying to make sure everyone has fun and keeps things on schedule.
How do I think this event could be improved? Fewer participants. Offer activities repeated at different times.
Most activities in the evening were just before our dinner seating time at the opposite end of the ship. Activities in the morning held on port days were inconvenient, causing you to have to choose between going on an excursion in port or attending the activity.
I would like to see one of the elegant nights where you had the opportunity to pose for a professional photo with John, included in the cost.
In the past, we have had the opportunity to pose with the Captain of the ship in this manner at a cocktail party.
Some people complained about older ships being used for the FFS Cruises. John explained the reason for this was that the way the newer ships are designed, there are no meeting rooms large enough that are not in the middle of the ship.
I don’t mind the older ships or ship size. I would however prefer to sail to different ports of call. I would not even care if the event was held on the same ship if it went to new ports.
Longer cruises like Carnival Journey Cruises are our preference, but I can see that entertaining so many guests for a extended periods would be too much stress.
All and all, we had a good time. We got to cruise and that is always our goal. We experienced sailing on a new ship, met new people, and visited new ports. We had Fun for John’s Sake!
Want to experience a Cruising with John on a For Fun’s Sake Cruise yourself?
Don’t worry, you can book now. The next FFS Cruise will be on Carnival Magic, February 5, 2023.
You still have time to book before it closes to any more fun cruisers. You can even contact me if you need help booking this cruise or any other cruise. Happy Cruising!
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