Cruise Reviews, Ship Reviews by The Avid Cruiser

Junior suites are spacious on AMA Waterways, which boasts Europe’s youngest fleet of river cruise vessels.

I’m currently cruising the Danube River on Amalegro in Junior Suite 303, which measures a generous 255 square feet. The queen-sized bed is oh-so-cozy, and the bathroom has a deep tub and separate shower, with lots of storage space.

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Sister ships: Infinity, Summit, Constellation

Ship capacity: 1,950 based on double occupancy

On our sailing: 1,890 passengers. A summary of nationalities from the passenger manifest looked like the roll call for a United Nations’ meeting. We met Russians, Danes, Swedes, South Americans, Greeks, Chinese, Brits, Irish and Dutch.

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Following is Ralph Grizzle’s 2005 interview with Heald: 
 

Carnival Cruise Lines’ John Heald may be regarded as the funniest cruise director at sea, but it was a serious event that launched his career of making people laugh. Born in Essex, England, the political science major worked as a marine insurance broker for Lloyd’s of London.

That changed one wintry night in 1986 when 24-year-old John boarded a commuter train after work: “I looked at all the long faces and thought, there’s got to be more to life than this.” He chucked his job, traveled to America, and signed on as a bar waiter for Carnival.

Managers promoted him to cruise director in 1990. “When God made me,” John jokes, “he said ‘I am going to make you ugly, but I’m going to give you a sense of humor, and you have to share it.’ I believe that was what I was supposed to do: Go out and make people laugh.” We caught up with John on the Carnival Liberty.

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When people learn that I am a travel writer specializing in cruise vacations, one question never fails to surface: “What’s your favorite cruise line?”

It’s a difficult question to answer, like asking which of your children do you love most. As with my children, when it comes to cruises, there is no clear winner. I have two favorite kids. My favorite cruise line? There are many. But ask me my favorite cruise ship, and I can answer that. Celebrity Solstice, at least for the moment. She is a truly remarkable ship. Continue Reading »

Over the next few weeks, I invite you to read articles, view photos and videos, and learn more about a cruise ship that breaks the mold.

In fact, during my short time on board Celebrity’s newest ship, I felt as though I were in a small city as opposed to a huge cruise ship.

Celebrity Solstice simply is a stunning ship, or as one travel agent who has cruised on countless vessels told me, “five-star-plus-wow!”

Solstice is making her debut cruises out of Fort Lauderdale before heading to Europe in the spring. I have no doubt that after hearing and reading all the buzz, you’ll want to consider cruising Celebrity Solstice. I’m here to help.

My articles are intended to help you sort out how to best experience the ship - both before and during your cruise. I’ll be posting interviews with Celebrity’s Vice President of Food & Beverage Jacques Van Stade about some of the unique dining innovations as well as interviews with the ship’s designers about what makes this ship so special.

Make it easy on yourself. Subscribe to - or bookmark - the rss feed to be notified each time a new article is posted.

The creative force behind the interior design on all of Carnival Cruise Lines’ ships for the past quarter century, Joe Farcus employs a phrase he coined, “entertainment architecture,” when designing ships.

“When I am designing a ship, essentially I am designing the ship that I would like to be on,” Joe says, sitting at his drawing desk at his home office in Miami Beach.

Pictured here is 1/4 of Joe’s team. That’s right. The firm that has designed (or refitted) more than 40 ships is comprised of just Joe, his wife and two assistants. “The most interesting part of the story is that Carnival still uses the studio approach,” Joe says, explaining that many ship design projects are carried out by firms with up to 100 employees.

Clearly, Joe loves what he does. The first book he bought, at age 11, was on how to draw merchant ships. He signed up to study mechanical drawing in junior high, took college-prep architecture courses in high school, and graduated from the University of Florida with a B.A. in Architecture. Diploma in hand, he took a position with the design firm of Morris Lapidus, creator of such Miami Beach iconic hotels as Fontainebleu, Eden Roc and Americana.

Lapidus’ firm also worked with Carnival on its second ship, Carnivale, where Joe served as the project’s construction manager. When Joe eventually started his own firm, Carnival contracted him to convert a passenger freighter to the cruise ship that would become the Festivale, a revolutionary ship, Joe says, in that if marked the coming of an age where the ship would become the destination.

“It changed the industry. It had so much going on aboard the ship. There was space for everybody and space for everybody to do different things at one time. You didn’t have to maintain the schedule of activities as on earlier ships.”