Carnival miracle: wherein Farcusian fiction becomes reality

Cruise Travel, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Lynn Seldon

Joe Farcus has gone and done it again. The long-time ship designer has had a hand in more than a score of Carnival Cruise Lines ships, and he continues to develop new and interesting themes that keep passengers--and Carnival executives--guessing.

The hew Carnival Miracle is no exception, with Farcus divining yet another design theme to make this fourth member in the 2,124-passenger Spirit Class quite distinct. Even though the ship has the Same "bones" as the Carnival Legend (2002), Carnival Pride (2001), and Carnival Spirit (2001), the theme of "fictional icons" gave Farcus the opportunity to break new ground with the design of the Carnival Miracle's many public spaces. (The Carnival Spirit has architectural styles as a theme, the Carnival Pride's image revolves around icons of beauty, and the Carnival Legend highlights legendary people and places in its pub c spaces.)

With fabled fictional icons as the unique theme for the newest Spirit Class-mate, Farcus has created a very real ship. Though there are no Current plans to add to the 88,500-gross-register-ton line of ships, Carnival president and CEO Bob Dickinson did say during the Carnival Miracle's inaugural cruise that they would welcome the chance to add another of these workhorses--given the right financial conditions for building one back in Finland.

Constructed at Helsinki's Kvaemer Masa-Yards at a cost of $375 million, the Carnival Miracle crossed the Atlantic to the Port of Jacksonville, Florida, where on February 27, 2004, former Army private Jessica Lynch fulfilled the role of godmother at the official naming ceremony. Still walking with a cane, the emotional ceremony ended with Iraqi war vet Lynch breaking the traditional bottle of champagne across the bow of Carnival's newest "Fun Ship."

There was then a three-night inaugural cruise from the shiny new terminal, where it's quite apparent that Jacksonville is ready, willing, and able to welcome cruise ships in a bigger and better way. The short cruise provided plenty of time for passengers to explore what perhaps is the best theme yet for Farcus and his team.

Farcus, who is obviously a voracious reader and a fan of all types of entertainment, was inspired by characters from novels, songs, poems, myths, movies, plays, and much more. A wide variety of fictional icons were chosen for the styles that evoke a different mood in the Carnival Miracle's many public rooms and spaces. Wandering passengers will find that the ship reveals herself like a novel, with surprising plot twists and small details that add up to a masterpiece.

From the mythical muses of antiquity to the fictional hometowns of Batman and Superman, Farcus and his team allowed their imaginations to roam freely between genres and centuries. "We haven't done anything quite in this style before," he said. "It creates an entirely new look. It has classical elements, re-interpreted in a sort of post-modern way that combines clean lines with decorations that are simply delicious."

The public spaces evoke an Art Deco style, but there's much more to meet the eyes in every direction. To set the tone. Farcus designed the dozens of doors to feature wood inlays of Clio, the muse of history and creator of the Greek alphabet. Who better than Clio could provide a thematic symbol throughout the ship?

The lobby and atrium areas are named Metropolis, for Superman's home city, while the foyer is the Batman-inspired Gotham Lounge (The Joker card room furthers the caped crusader concept). The lobby bar is called the Jeeves Lounge, for the unflappable Jeeves, valet to the batty Bertie Wooster in P.G. Wodehouse's novels.

Fountainhead, the lower promenade is derived from an Ayn Rand novel whose main character (like Farcus?) is an idealistic architect. The upper promenade is called Kane's Way, thanks to the famous Orson Welles film, Citizen Kane.

The main dining room, which was definitely the talk of many passengers on the inaugural cruise, is inspired by Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, with its annex hearing the name of his wife, Ariadne. The large, two-level restaurant features grape vines on the walls, with round grape-like light coverings adorning the vines. Farcus was apparently unhappy with the original color of these lights which, when on or off, looked more pink--than grape-colored. He had already developed a solution by the time the ship sailed from Jacksonville--dip the light bulbs inside each light covering in blue paint and then replace all 4,000 bulbs!

Horatio's, the casual Lido Deck dining area, takes its name from C.S. Forester's fictional British naval captain, Horatio Hornblower. The spacious interior features larger-than-life, three-dimensional Hornblower figureheads that look like carved ivory sculptures. The nautical theme is enhanced by wooden beams, arches trimmed in brass, anchor motifs, and models of 18th--and 19th-century sailing vessels.

The final piece of the tasty dining puzzle belongs to Nick & Nora's, another of Carnival's supper clubs that have become quite popular on the specialty dining food front. Named for Dashiell Hammett's amateur sleuths, Nick and Nora Charles, the elegant ebony-paneled room is situated at the top of the atrium and under a red skylight that's actually part of the ship's funnel. The centerpiece of the room is the large black-and-white mural depicting a photo of New York from the 1930s.