It takes more than great hardware to make a great cruise. You can have the finest ship in the world but
if the officers and crew aren’t good, it is going to be at best a mediocre
cruise. So too, if you have a really
good team running the ship, it can be the difference between a good cruise and
a great cruise.
There was a
very good team in charge when I was on Island Princess recently. I liked the ship and its layout quite a
bit. However, the quality of service,
the programming and the dining made it a cruise to remember. All of these are hallmarks of a good
management team.
At the top
was Captain Nicolo Bommarco. Born by the
sea in Venice , Italy ,
Captain Bommarco has been sailing passenger ships since 1984. He has served on nearly every ship in the
Princess fleet.
Hotel
General Manager Emilio Mazzi, first went to sea in 1968. He is a true gentleman and reminded me of the
managers of the grand hotels that we used to stay in when I was a teen. Mazzi is relaxed and friendly but he knows how
to make guests comfortable like those old school experts did.
Another
cruise industry veteran is Cruise Director Rick Joseph. His first job at sea was at age 15 on
Carnival Cruise Line’s first ship the Mardi Gras. He
went on to Holland America
and then to become the youngest cruise director in the industry for
Chandris. Subsequently, he was closely
involved in bringing out all eight of the R class ships for Renaissance. Thus, he brought a great deal of experience
with him when he joined Princess in 2002.
Moreover, with this background, his onboard lecture about ocean liners
and cruise ships is not to be missed.
I met with
these three leaders and asked them to talk about Island Princess. My goal was to have the people who actually
run the ship tell about the ship and the cruise experience that they provide
onboard. The interview is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/island-princess-interview.html
But what
about the dining on board Island Princess?
For this I turned to Maitre d’Hotel Ignazio D’Agostino. Ignazio is seemingly everywhere - - the main
dining rooms, the specialty restaurants, the galley etc. As he said to me: “This job you can’t do it
just because you have to do it, you have to love it. You have to love it in the sense to be
accommodating, be smiling, be friendly to the customer.”
This was
most evident at the Chef’s Table event.
Together with Executive Chef Klaus Baumgarten, Ignazio hosted a small
group of guests in an evening that began with a visit to the ship’s main galley
when it was in full operation. This was
followed by a multi-course dinner that was literally a feast. The evening was enhanced by the commentaries
by the Maitre d and the Chef about cooking and restaurant operations. All the time, Ignazio was ensuring that the
service was beyond perfect.
I asked
Ignazio to give us some insights into the various dining venues on Island
Princess. They are incorporated into the
dining guise that is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/island-princess-dining-guide.html
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