What Are Pax Thinking About?

Have you ever wondered why Carnival ships look the way
they do? Most passengers see the public rooms as
colorful, or gaudy or busy, but they never really
discover there is a connection between them. For an
article last week Cruise News Daily we talked with
Carnival's interior architect, Joe Farcus, about his
philosophy for Carnival ships, which he calls
"entertainment architecture." Most passengers never
realize there is a theme to each Carnival ship!

Each public room has a connection to that theme, some more
tenuous that others, and much of the fun of exploring
Farcus' design (they are the FunShips, you know) is
discovering that connection. Then within the decor of
each room, many of the elements relate to that room's
subject and its relation to the overall theme.

Karen Segboer wrote:

Chrissy Cruiser wrote:

Have you ever wondered why Carnival ships look the way
they do? Most passengers see the public rooms as
colorful, or gaudy or busy, but they never really
discover there is a connection between them. For an
article last week Cruise News Daily we talked with
Carnival's interior architect, Joe Farcus, about his
philosophy for Carnival ships, which he calls
"entertainment architecture." Most passengers never
realize there is a theme to each Carnival ship!

Each public room has a connection to that theme, some more
tenuous that others, and much of the fun of exploring
Farcus' design (they are the FunShips, you know) is
discovering that connection. Then within the decor of
each room, many of the elements relate to that room's
subject and its relation to the overall theme.

If people aren't getting that "connection," then Joe Farcus isn't
doing his job.

Karen

__ /7__/7__/7__
\::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.cupcaked.com/reviews ®
(...and leave off the "potatoes" to e-mail)

Chrissy, you are right. On my Conquest cruise, I noticed the French
theme througout, from the names of the various venues, to the decor. In
particular, we were in the Renoir dining room, the the backs/seperators
between each booth had little Eifel Towers on them.

And, Karen, most people aren't particularly observant, nor are they into
aesthetics. It isn't that Farcus isn't communicating, the pax just
aren't "getting it".

Stranger

I have to agree with Karen and it would seem obvious if a designer was
attempting to convey a theme and the passengers aren't getting it then the
design is flawed. Who is farcus communicating with if not the passengers?

George in NY


If people aren't getting that "connection," then Joe Farcus isn't
doing his job.

-----

Karen
And, Karen, most people aren't particularly observant, nor are they into
aesthetics. It isn't that Farcus isn't communicating, the pax just
aren't "getting it".

Stranger

"George in NY" wrote in message
news:G73Md.959$t46.311@trndny04...
I have to agree with Karen and it would seem obvious if a designer was
attempting to convey a theme and the passengers aren't getting it then the
design is flawed. Who is farcus communicating with if not the passengers?

George in NY

It wouldn't be marketing, would it?

Fred in RI

Karen Segboer wrote:

But that was exactly my point. He's NOT doing his job if the design
ideas aren't coming across. THAT's his job.

Except there are people (I'm the mom of at least one of them) who wouldn't
get Art Deco in South Beach.

-
Julie
**********
I could be wrong. My experience is limited to my experience.

Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 07:04:52 -0500, "Fred" wrote:


"George in NY" wrote in message
news:G73Md.959$t46.311@trndny04...
I have to agree with Karen and it would seem obvious if a designer was
attempting to convey a theme and the passengers aren't getting it then the
design is flawed. Who is farcus communicating with if not the passengers?

George in NY

It wouldn't be marketing, would it?

Fred in RI

I think you could be right. As long as the "industry experts" think
that something is good, then they believe the public will also.

During college, I worked as a waiter in an upscale restaurant. One
day, the management came and told us that we were eliminating all
trays in the dining room. The reason for this is that "proper"
service is done without a tray. This can be done quite well if a
restaurant is designed around trayless service. However, this
restaurant was not designed for trayless service. Of course, patrons
would complain about slow service since servers only have 2 hands,
while the management discussed how great it looked to not have trays
in the dining room. The management just didn't get it that people
didn't give a $hit if their food came out on a tray or not. The
patrons just wanted prompt service. this was now impossible because
we could only carry so much on one trip from the kitchen to the dining
room.

This may be what is happening with the Carnival ships. The management
sees the ships as "inspired", "themed", or whatever other trendy term
that they can come up with. Whereas the public doesn't see it. In
this case, the designers have failed to impress the customers, but
rather they have impressed their colleagues.

Another example is the Pinnicle Grill on our Zuiderdam trip last year.
When we arrived for dinner, I was surprised that the wine list
featured so many wines from the Pacific Northwest (I am a big fan of
Oregon Pinot Noirs). I did not pick up on the fact that the whole
restaurant is supposed to have a Pacific Northwest theme untlil the
waiter told me. To me, cast iron chairs, and crab cakes do not say
northwest, they say industrialized northeast. Are there other cues
that I missed, other than the few game items on the menu, that
indicated a northwest theme for this restaurant?

"Karen Segboer" wrote in message
...
Juliana L Holm wrote:

Karen Segboer wrote:

But that was exactly my point. He's NOT doing his job if the design
ideas aren't coming across. THAT's his job.

Except there are people (I'm the mom of at least one of them) who wouldn't
get Art Deco in South Beach.

True, Julie, and that's where designers like Farcus can educate the
ocean-going public. If just one person who wouldn't normally "get it"
actually DOES, he's begun to do his job. If yours goes to South Beach
and wonders about all those colors and those edgy lines, they've also
begun to get it, too. Just capturing their attention is a start.

Joe Farcus captures attention in a less positive way or not at all.

So true........His expressive ways remind me of a old TV show. Bewitched.
Darin always had a way, with Samantha's help, of a round about way of
advertising. You get it or you don't.

Fred -----must be the new meds????????

On Tue, 01 Feb 2005 22:33:13 -0600, wrote:

Chrissy, you are right. On my Conquest cruise, I noticed the French
theme througout, from the names of the various venues, to the decor. In
particular, we were in the Renoir dining room, the the backs/seperators
between each booth had little Eifel Towers on them.

Nice touches.

And, Karen, most people aren't particularly observant, nor are they into
aesthetics. It isn't that Farcus isn't communicating, the pax just
aren't "getting it".

Stranger

I agree. In this case, it's more like missing a screaming jet 2' overhead.

On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 11:49:58 GMT, George in NY wrote:

I have to agree with Karen and it would seem obvious if a designer was
attempting to convey a theme and the passengers aren't getting it then the
design is flawed. Who is farcus communicating with if not the passengers?

George in NY

Three types of people in the world. Observers, non observers, Hubby.

CC: What's the name of the street that intersects with ours?
H: Trail Edge? No?
CC: Not even close.

CC: How as your trip to out of NOLA?
H: The road southwest from New Orleans into the heart of Cajun country
rolls past chemical plants, oil refineries, pipelines, and storage tanks,
crisscrossing a network of manmade waterways and natural rivers and lakes.

CC:????????

On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 12:57:10 GMT, Karen Segboer wrote:

wrote:

And, Karen, most people aren't particularly observant, nor are they into
aesthetics. It isn't that Farcus isn't communicating, the pax just
aren't "getting it".

Stranger

But that was exactly my point. He's NOT doing his job if the design
ideas aren't coming across. THAT's his job.

Karen,
again

Some never will see it. Then we are arguing percentages.