Joe Farcus, the Carnival Cruise Lines interior architect responsible for the interior look of every Carnival ship at sea, will not be the lead architect for Carnival Breeze, which enters service in 2012.
Farcus, whose bold, brassy and over-the-top style has defined the look of Carnival’s ships since he joined the team in 1977, is still the lead architect on the Carnival Magic, scheduled to enter service in June 2011.
He will work alongside Hamburg, Germany-based Partnership Design on the Magic, and Partnership Design will take the lead on the Breeze, where Farcus will design only the theater and the casino.
Farcus, 66, said he wants to concentrate on quality personal time. He will continue to work with Carnival’s Italian sister brand, Costa Cruises, citing a very comfortable relationship with Costa CEO Pier Luigi Foschi.
"The grind of doing several ships at the same time is a lot of work," he said, explaining that between the two companies he is sometimes working on two or three ships at once. "It’s very intensive. ... I love the design work and feel like my designs are better than ever. But it’s not my whole life."
Farcus has designed the interior of more than 40 Carnival ships over is three-decade career. He said that in order to "slow down," he had to make a decision.
"I chose Costa to devote my major work, as this choice better suits my effort and goals," he said. He added that he and Foschi "speak each other’s language."
Inevitably, Carnival’s ships will have a new look without Farcus' touch.
"The fact is that there is new management, and it is a putting together its own management style and ideas about what the product should be," Farcus said.