Up to about 30 years old it’s all about looking forward, so stories start with “I can’t wait”, “We’re going to…” and “When I …..”. From about 30-50 years old friends have been around a while so you have a common history to discuss. Then activities change and the world changes around you, suddenly stories start with “I remember”, “In my day” or as I often tell my wife “when I was a happy, single guy” or the more preferred “BL”; Before Lynda, and no, neither of these last two goes over well.

But I figure the key to staying young at this point is to focus on the future and avoid moving on to the phase of story beginnings that follows. That nostalgic look back that starts with those familiar words “Once upon a time…” There are story starting variations of this, like the Song “American Pie” version (A long long time ago…) and the Star Wars version (A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away) because sometimes that is exactly how it really feels.

Once upon a time, originally comes from the German translation of Es War Einmal meaning it was once which was the beginning for many a tale told by a fire and handed down from generation to generation. Believed to have originated in the Arab world (1001 Arabian Nights) the Germans were the first to put these stories in print.

The Carnival story is a lot like a Fairy Tale. Once upon a time there was the Golden Fleet. Carnival had contracted for two ships with gold colors on them but at the last minute the deal fell through and they had to find another ship. The founders contracted for a different ship (This became the Mardi Gras) but there was no time to change the marketing brochure nor to paint the ship. So Carnival was launched as the Golden fleet, of course there was nothing golden and the “fleet” was just one ship. (Which ran aground on its maiden voyage, but that is a different story).

So now Carnival is in its 30’s and rather than look back, we too are focused on looking to the future. With 22 ships (including the Carnival Splendor set to launch this summer in Europe) and more on the way this story is far from over. With several new Executive Management team members in place we are more focused than ever on product quality and delivery. Changes are coming every day and each one is focused on enhancing the experience for our guests on board.

In the original German version of the Fairy Tales the stories would end with what translated into “They all lived happily until their deaths”. As you know this was changed to something much more appropriate for children and perhaps more appropriate to Carnival’s story, where with your help in booking more business with us, we will all; “live happily ever after”.

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BACK TO SCHOOL

But this schooling is for our customers. Carnival’s Corporate University combines the best of learning tenants with the unique venue of a Cruise. We provide Training, coaching and team building programs on any of our ships. From diversity to creativity we can customize a session to fit your company’s needs. We use proven leaning principles for professional enrichment and interactive learning. Call us to learn more about including one of our cost effective programs in your next event at sea.

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THE LURE OF THE SEA

In keeping with our Fairy Tale theme and a possible tie in with the sea, I am thinking about Captain Hook and Peter Pan. It seems they lived in a place called Never Land. This was the “official” name but often accepted was Never Never Land and the less common Never, Never, Never Land. But Barrie’s 1904 play was not the origination of Never Land. (Insert your favorite Michael Jackson Joke here) but it was the source that made the expression widely known.

As early as 1882 an outsider referred to the “Never Never Country” in Australia. It seems that the uninhabited lands of the outback were well known as the “Never-Never Lands” or more often shortened to “The Never Never”. Australians meant this as a positive view of the far off lands while outsiders often referred to the territory in this manner as a place they would “never-never” want to visit. "When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." (From Peter Pan)

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