It may also interest you to know that Middo Llus - Project engineer overseeing the construction of the Oasis of The Seas at the Turku shipyard where the mega ship was built - proclaims this ship to be, "...the most environmentally friendly cruise ship to date.  It is much more efficient than other similar ships." He goes on to explain the Oasis of the Seas reclaims all run off water from passenger use for everything from grounds keeping irrigation to water cooling of machinery, and he asserts that the ship will dump "zero sewage into the sea."
 
The Oasis of the Seas is due to make its U.S. debut on November 20, 2009 at her home port, Port Everglades in Florida, well in advance of its highly publicized December roll out.
 
On her way to Florida, the ship off loaded some 300 construction workers  to tenders awaiting the vessel just off the South Coast of England. An additional 200, mostly craftsmen/finish construction workers, have remained on board to continue putting the finishing touches on the grand dame of the sea in a race against the clock as she sails toward Port Everglades. While the ship is crossing the Atlantic there is 24/7 activity which involves everything from paint touch ups to the installation of moldings, trip guards, and signage, as well as the polishing of marble, and final oil treatments of fine wood surfaces and such. There are also over one thousand minor cosmetic repairs which have been identified that must be completed before the first passengers board. These include tasks such as replacing patches of carpet or tile that, after being laid, may have been soiled, broken, or torn during the installation of an unrelated element while still in the shipyard. The line is being meticulous to a fault to ensure the very first passengers encounter a ship in the most pristine condition humanly possible. And of course, once the ship arrives in Florida, there will be those 12 thousand trees and vines and shrubs, along with pallet after pallet of sod, that will be sitting on the dock in Port Everglades waiting to be planted on board the ship the moment she arrives.

 

PRE-FLORIDA DEBUT SAVINGS END SOON
Make your reservations NOW to join the WANZeGRAM group which will comprise just a portion of a much larger group of gay & gay friendly passengers who will be booking from across the country and around the world for the 7-day Eastern Caribbean-Itinerary sailing from Port Everglades on April 24, 2010.
 
Prices are expected to increase once the ship debuts in Fort Lauderdale on November 20.
 
To enjoy pre-sailing savings - please make your reservation now!
 
Only a $250 deposit is required at this time.
 
When making your reservation.
be certain to state you are with the
WANZeGRAM GROUP
And you will receive a
 $25.00 per-cabin Shipboard Credit
And an invitation to an exclusive WANZeGRAM Group Party
 
To book right now simply ask for
Craig Nordengren
when calling
407-718-9245
Or email Craig at cnordengren@cruiseshipcenters.com
 
For more complete information and lots of great pictures of the ship, visit the CRUISE WITH WANZIE page on the Wanzie.com website:    http://www.wanzie.com/cruise.html 
Or
 
 Email Wanzie directly and he'll send you a 42-page PDF online brochure about the ship, if you like.
 
Or
 
Just bite the bullet to get set for the vacation of a lifetime, and -
 
BOOK NOW: 407.718.9245
cnordengren@cruiseshipcenters.com

 

Remember, you can view daily video updates of the historic Atlantic crossing now underway by logging onto: http://www.oasisoftheseas.com/

 

 

Wanzi,(NOTE: This is the misspelling of the name "WANZIE" as submitted by the letter-writer, so one can deduce from that how well she knows him...)

 

Why don't you and your idiot readers like this Jeff Horn, who ever he is, stop tearing down Patti Sheehan? What has she ever done to you? And what have YOU two ever done for this community?
 
- Trish Ireland
 
Dear Trish,
 
Patti has done plenty to me, and I could fill a page as to why I don't particularly care for the woman, but suffice it to say I'm not fond of a person who tells a vicious lie about me over and over and over again, for years now, and refuses to stop telling said lie even after presented with absolute proof that what she is saying is undeniably untrue. I am not fond of a person who uses their position in government as a platform from which to threaten others. I am not fond of anyone who has tried to cost me my job, or anyone who has verbally assaulted me in public (on more than one occasion), or anyone who invites themselves to sit at my table at a restaurant and then leaves without paying for their meal. Patti Sheehan has done all those things to me, and more.
 
It may interest you to know that I have, at several points in time, tried in vain to put past issues between Patti and me behind us, and I had forgiven her some really horrible things she had done behind my back, including her despicable attempt to have me fired from my job as director of a Gay & Lesbian community service organization I helped to build. I have tried earnestly to get along with her, but Patti seems ill content to be on good terms with me, and has consistently initiated another fracas each time we manage to go through a spell without friction between us. She is not happy getting along with me, nor is she interested in getting along with me. So I am officially done trying. I officially dislike the woman, and have lost all respect for her, and I will not allow myself to be burned again by her, as I have been in the past each time I have attempted to mend fences, only to have her tell the same old lie about me again, or to take issue with me once again in public. I am done with her once and for all. And yours, Trish, will be the last letter or posting I answer concerning the rift between Patti and me which has always been attributable to her intense dislike for me, in which she became vested long before ever even having met me.
 
I am weary of being against Patti, so I'm going to do my level best, starting right now, to just pretend she doesn't exist. I don't need to be wasting my time and energy being against Patti when there are so many far more deserving people who are actually worthy of my time and energy whom I need to be supporting. Any time I spend dealing with this ridiculous nagging Patti issue is time someone actually worthy of my support is not getting. So I'm going to try to turn over a new leaf (not in an attempt to get along with Patti; that never seems to work for her), but rather to just forget her, if at all possible.
 
My new mantra: "Patti who?"
 
Now, with regards to your second question:
 
If you really have to question what, if anything, Jeff Horn and I have done for this community, then you are obviously not an engaged participant in it. You obliviously are not engaged in local politics, care little for the disenfranchised among us, and have no knowledge of Orlando's GLBT history.
 
You may read elsewhere in this very WANZeGRAM that Jeff Horn just raised over $14,000 to help at-risk under-privileged youth in Orlando's Parramore neighborhood. That's just one of many, many examples of what Mr. Horn has done for this community. But then again, if you actually subscribed to and read the WANZeGRAM, you would know what a blessing this community has in Jeff Horn. Obviously you don't read the WANZeGRAM, or you would not have been stupid enough to question what Jeff Horn or I have done for this community. Therefore, your impetus and motive in writing to this publication in support of Patti, while at the same time implying that Jeff Horn and I have likely done nothing for the community, is automatically suspect in my book, and was certainly written from an ill-informed mindset with no idea as to whom you were questioning. All this leads me to believe you are one of Patti's minions who support the woman for no other reason than that she is gay. I know I speak for Jeff as well as myself when I say, quite frankly, that simply being gay is not reason enough for any politician to garner our support, nor should it be the sole deciding factor for any gay person of conscience when choosing to vote for a candidate.
 
Also Trish, I find it curious that while you and I do not know one another (if in fact Trish Ireland is your real name), the email letter you sent to me, which had "For wanzigram (misspelled by the way) publication" written in the subject box, did not reach me through the "email Wanzie" link provided in the WANZeGRAM and on my website, but rather, it came to me by way of one of my least published private email addresses. Almost as if you were not writing in response to anything you yourself had actually read in the WANZeGRAM.
 
Curious that.
 
So In conclusion, Trish, I would like to invite you to actually subscribe to this free e-publication and then you would know first-hand what Jeff Horn and I, along with so many other wonderfully dedicated friends of ours, actually do for this community. But I suspect that being a friend of Patti's you would prefer to remain ignorant to our many civic and charitable endeavors.
 
And by the way, if YOU, in fact, were actually out there doing anything for this community, you would never have had to inquire as to what Jeff or I might be doing for the community; you would know first-hand, because you would know us.
 
And thus with you, I am also now DONE!
 
Here's wishing you a lovely day wrapped snuggly in your blissful ignorance.
 
- WANZIE
 
Public PS. - Please don't anyone write in asking me anything further about Patti Sheehan in an attempt to elicit a response from me. I'm done responding. Done. Done!  DONE!  My standard response will now be the afore mentioned, "Patti Who?", so don't waste your time. Hopefully she will follow suit and forget who I am, as well. What a blessing that would be!
 
(Deep breath)


 

We at the WANZeGRAM are always just as pleased as punch to receive, post, and answer our mail in this public forum. But it takes two to play!  Send your email to WANZIE!