In the cruise world, Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald is about as close to being an A-list celebrity as you can come.
Heald has worked for Carnival since 1989 – rising up the ranks to become a senior cruise director in the early 2000s.
He then shot to sea-side stardome with the creation of his Carnival blog in 2007 and through his busy Facebook page – which has 595K followers as of the time of this publication.
Heald and his colleague, Jacinta, answer hundreds of questions for cruisers daily and spend hours virtually interacting with his followers – usually addressing inquiries regarding future sailings or complaints from past cruises.
But this week, one of Heald’s fans had a unique request concerning the cruise personality himself.
This cruiser, named Brian, echoed the desire of many in his dream of meeting Heald in person one day – but was willing to settle for a different type of photo opportunity if his hope never came to pass.
“Can we ask Carnival to put life size cutouts of you on the ships for those passengers that never get the chance to sail with you and want that photo op?”, Brian asked.
While Heald was flattered, he didn’t seem to think that these photo opportunities were in the cards.
“Thank you, Brian, that’s very very humbling. I do have a feeling if we were to do this that people would ask who is that fat sod,” Heald replied, poking fun at himself.
He then went on to joke that if they made the cutouts, they could be hidden around the ship in unexpected places for passengers to find – sort of like the popular cruising ducks game.
“Perhaps we should put it in places that people would never expect to find me, like the gym or by the salad or at a Cruise Critic meet and greet,” Heald quipped.
But for now, cruise guests will have to settle for hoping they get lucky enough to meet Heald and for photo opportunities with Carnival’s mascots, such as the recently introduced Ducky the Duck and Ellie the (Towel Animal) Elephant.
Heald’s Fans Show Their Love
Among those who likely will not get the chance to meet Heald in the flesh, the cardboard cutout photo opportunity was actually a popular idea – resulting in a happy mixture of joy and laughter in the comments section of the post.
“I would love this and need a picture for sure. Plus, they could move it around the ship for John’s special events or John’s food recommendations. Either way, would definitely be fun,” one person wrote.
“That would be hilarious! Make it a scavenger hunt. One life-size version but fifty John heads around the ship spying on us. Make it a game to find them all,” another follower suggested.
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That said, Carnival’s brand ambassador does embark on multiple sailings per year, where he welcomes the interactions with the other guests. He typically announces his upcoming cruises on Facebook and then updates his followers on his sailing once onboard.
He also hosts an annual “Cruise with John – For Fun’s Sake” sailing each year on a Carnival cruise ship – with the seventh sailing coming up soon on February 16, 2025, onboard Carnival Magic.
The 6-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary, which will be based out of Miami, Florida, will feature calls on RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, Carnival’s private island destination in the Bahamas; Amber Cove, Dominican Republic; and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos.
These special sailings often sell out quickly. For example, Carnival Magic has a capacity for 3,690 guests at double occupancy, while Heald has hundreds of thousands of fans.
Some even dress for the occasion! Most famously, Neil Russo earned his own 15 minutes of fame for wearing a custom shirt covered in multiple pictures of Heald’s face to embark on the 2022 “For Fun’s Sake” cruise hosted onboard Mardi Gras.
