Being a cruise line brand ambassador isn’t always the easy-breezy, fun job that some people would expect.
Just ask Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador, John Heald, who answers hundreds of questions from passengers every day on his popular Facebook page.
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Sometimes, the work of combating the ever-churning cruise rumor mill is overwhelming.
Apparently, the latest social media rumor about a green card that Heald was tasked to dispel brought so many questions to his page (on the day after April Fool’s Day no less) that his day got really hairy.
“Sometimes answering questions can be so easy and then there are other days where I feel like I am a spa therapist who has just had Chewbacca come in for a Brazilian,” Heald joked.
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Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald regularly refutes rumors about the cruise line.
Image source: John Heald/Facebook
Carnival’s brand ambassador tackles green card rumor
The cause for the hairy day was a social media rumor that suggested that the cruise line was introducing a new tier of its VIFP (Very Important Fun Person) Club loyalty program. A false claim had some passengers fooled into thinking that the cruise line was issuing green-colored Sail & Sign onboard account cards to passengers who reach a new “Emerald” loyalty level.
Although the brand ambassador recently shared that a loyalty program revamp is in the works, which probably helped to fuel the rumor, the changes have not yet been revealed. Sail & Sign card colors do denote loyalty levels but an Emerald level does not exist.
“The green card. Somebody apparently on a YouTube channel said that there was a sail and sign card that was green. It wasn’t an April Fool’s joke. I think this lovely person was being serious,” Heald wrote in a post on his Facebook page.
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Heald explained that the cruise line does have a green card, but it’s not a Sail & Sign card or related to the loyalty program in any way.
“There is a green card. It is not an emerald card or a new loyalty level as this person is saying and that is causing so many of you to ask me today,” Heald clarified.
“It is a card that we give our crew members. They use this as a crew card to purchase things on board.” Heald explained. “It is not for guests. Sigh.”
Carnival passengers value the cruise line’s brand ambassador
The overwhelming number of questions Heald received about the green card rumor is a testament to how much trust passengers place in the beloved brand ambassador. They can always count on him to respond to their messages, provide a straight answer, and clear up confusion around the cruise line’s policies and offerings, all while keeping them laughing with his witty remarks.
Some passengers wish cruise vloggers and influencers would be more diligent about consulting the brand ambassador and official cruise line sources before sharing information on their channels.
“I wish people would learn to stop relying on unofficial online resources,” Janice Barber Shaughnessy wrote in the comments on Heald’s post about the rumor. “Get information from an official Carnival resource only.”
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Other passengers noted that they knew better than to believe anything posted on April Fool’s Day.
“We knew it was for the crew so we just thought it was part of the April Fool’s jokes going around,” Missi Brown commented. “It’s amazing how much people really believe just because it’s on the internet.”
Some also suggested that knowing what a green card is on a Carnival ship can prove just how loyal you are to the cruise line.
“No fooling us hardcore Carnival cruisers; we knew it was a crew card,” Angie Harris Bourbeau pointed out.
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