You Aren’t A Mean One — Are You, Mr. Grinch?

It appears that The Grinch’s heart has really grown three sizes this year and to prove the point, he brought some holiday cheer to Carnival crew members across the fleet, delivering more than 10,000 hand-written cards from the line’s fans and employees.

Operation Happy Holidays was kicked off by Carnival’s Brand Ambassador John Heald and promoted by the line’s personal vacation planners and on Carnival’s Facebook page, asking guests and employees to bring some holiday cheer by sending cards to the roughly 125 crew members on each of its 23 ships who are maintaining the vessels as the company prepares to resume service.

The response was nothing short of sensational with Carnival fans delivering in a big way, posting photos of themselves writing cards or mailing them at the post office.

Even the kids from the Camp Carnival child education centre at the company’s Miami headquarters got into the act, creating beautiful handmade cards for team members on board.

The Port of Galveston Police Department also showed their thanks and appreciation by submitting more than 500 cards. Galveston is one of Carnival’s most popular ports.

While crew members are accustomed to being away from family during the holidays, usually the ship is filled with guests which makes this initiative that much more special and heartwarming.

Christine Duffy, Carnival’s president, said: “This year’s holiday season is different and our most sincere thanks and appreciation to everyone who stepped up and made our crew feel special and are making their holidays brighter.”

And Duffy added: “Operation Happy Holidays is a testament to our wonderful guests and employees who go to great lengths to remember our crew who are the secret behind our success.”