Things definitely didn’t go as planned where Sunday mornings scheduled sailing of the Carnival Sunshine was concerned. A power-related issue on the previous sailing’s final morning resulted in delays where both on-board cruisers and waiting-to-sail guests were concerned.

What Caused the Carnival Sunshine Delay?

Social media accounts of those on board the vessel reported that in the early morning hours of March 1, Carnival Sunshine lost power for an as-yet-unexplained reason. The stricken vessel then awaited the arrival of tugboats to assist its return to her current homeport of Norfolk, Virginia. A letter delivered to guests waiting to board offered more details as to what was unfolding.

“Earlier this morning, Carnival Sunshine experienced a brief power outage, which was quickly resolved by the ship’s engineers,” began the alert.

“To comply with U.S. Coast Guard requirements to enter Norfolk, the ship must be assisted by tugboats, and this will result in an unplanned delayed arrival, by early afternoon. Consequently, your embarkation has been revised.”

The missive offered embarking guests a new timetable. Whereas they were originally given terminal arrival appointments ranging from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the new times began at 3 p.m. with boarding expected to conclude around 6:30 Sunday evening.” 

What Happens Next?

Passengers on board were told they could remain in their staterooms until 1:30 p.m. as the ship made its way toward Norfolk.

As of late afternoon, embarkation had indeed begun on Carnival Sunshine. Among those posting to Facebook and other social media outlets, talk turned to Funfetti Cheesecake (a much-loved embarkation day treat among the line’s cruisers) and how this delay might impact the ports on their itinerary.

More: John Heald reveals change to gift-giving policy

The ship’s original itinerary saw it departing Norfolk before paying visits to Nassau, Celebration Key and Bimini. A letter to guests indicated that schedule changes might be made, leading to speculation among passengers as to which port would be skipped.

The letter indicated that the ship’s “Captain, Antonio Gargiulo, and our Fleet Operations Center rare reviewing the alternatives and will have an update for you later this evening.” 

While many on board speculated that Celebration Key would be skipped, it’s more likely that the ship would skip Nassau as opposed to Carnival’s private destination.

Everybody loves to get something for free. And while Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador, John Heald, might well be considered the Santa of the high seas when it comes to handing out gifts, a recent incident means not everyone will be able to take advantage of his generosity.

No Kids Allowed (To Drink)

For years, followers of Heald’s very active Facebook page have know that he does far more than simply answer questions and compare rude folks to yaks. (If you know, you know!)

He and his associate Jacinta also do their very best to arrange gifts in the staterooms of those celebrating special occasions.

Until very recently, the pair occasionally would also arrange to leave a special treat for cruisers on behalf of friends. If, for example, they received a note from someone saying their grandparents would be celebrating their 50th anniversary on board, a bottle of bubbly or some other treat might be arranged.

But as of now, the idea of third-party gifts has been suspended. Why? Well, as Heald explained in a recent video, a simple mistake had what can only be called far-reaching consequences.

As these things so often do, it started simply enough. Heald received a note from someone saying they had friends who’d be doing their first Carnival cruise while celebrating their retirement.

Asked to send something special, Heald did just that. “I sent a bottle of champagne and a medallion,” he shared with his followers.

Unfortunately, that simple act of kindness led to Heald receiving a note from “the mothership in Miami.” Why? “The cabin that the gentleman had given me was wrong, and I had sent a bottle of champagne to two children.” 

Despite clearly regretting the accidental incident, the end result, a downtrodden Heald reported, is that “I can not send anything to third parties.” 

Can You Still Request Something Special?

To be clear, this does not mean his days of gift giving have come to an end. “If you are cruising… of course I will do my best for you as I always have done and always will.” However, those who aren’t sailing and write trying to arrange something for a friend, that will no longer be happening.

“I’m not going to put myself or my colleague, Jacinta, into that particular nest of vipers,” he sighed.

Elsewhere in the video, Heald revealed that while he grants as many requests as he possibly can, he’s working within a specific per-ship budget.

Because of that, he asked that people not — as is occasionally mentioned in cruise-related Facebook pages and message boards — reach out saying it’s their anniversary, birthday or other special occasion when it’s not.

Read Next: Fake John Heald scams thousands of Carnival guests

Most Carnival Cruise Line passengers know that Brand Ambassador John Heald is the go-to guy for questions or complaints.

But that reputation has been a bit sullied by a fake John Heald, who has scammed over 15,000 people.

Is ‘John Heald’ Scamming You?

The jovial Heald has a Facebook page with over 650,000 followers. He dedicates many hours each day to answering questions posted by past, present, and future cruisers.

He’s also the person from whom many of the line’s guests get their news. Good, bad or indifferent, it is Heald’s job to pass along dispatches from “the Beards,” as he calls executives.

There is, however, another John Heald. This one is followed by around 15,000 people who wrongly assume the person they are interacting with is the real deal. They are, however, being scammed.

How to Spot the Scammer

If there is one thing that separates Heald from most corporate representatives, it is his extremely blunt nature.

So it should surprise no one that in exposing the fraudster, he began by saying there “truly are some people who have no more right to live on God’s green earth than a dung beetle. And whoever is running this [fake] page is one of them.”

Were this just another person with delusions of adequacy looking to pull a harmless prank, Heald might not be motivated to address the matter. There are, after all, many fake accounts out there. The person in question, however, took things much farther.

“This is not me,” Heald declared, “and please be warned that whoever is running this page has just managed to scam a lady and had her [send] money. I can’t go into details legally, but she thought she was paying for a specific excursion.”

‘I Hope You Get Seasick and Lockjaw’

Of course, Heald immediately reported the imposter. But he then went on to directly address followers of the fake John Heald: “This is not affiliated [with] me and has nothing to do with Carnival Cruise Line in any way, shape or form.”

And his personal message to the perpetrator of the fraud? “I sincerely hope you get seasick and lockjaw at the same time.”

The warning immediately prompted many to check and make sure they were not somehow following the imposter as well as the original.

As several noted, the fake John Heald’s page can easily be spotted thanks to the lack of a cruise-related cover photo and the low — compared to Heald’s real account — follower count.

On the plus side, those who accidentally wind up on the impostors page may find themselves pointed in the right direction.

Why? Because fans of the real deal have made it something of a mission to monitor the faux account and respond to those who believe they are interacting with the fraudster.