Joe Farcus, the architect responsible for the interior look of every Carnival Cruise Lines ship at sea, will not be the lead architect for the Carnival Breeze, which enters service in 2012. The last Carnival ship Farcus will be head designer for will be the Carnival Magic, which debuts in June; on that project, he will work with Germany's Partnership Design. Cruise editor Johanna Jainchill talked with Farcus about his impact on the industry and designing more than 40 ships over three decades.
Q: The Breeze will be the first Carnival ship in decades that you won't design. Why are you cutting back now?
A: I'm 66 years old, and the grind of doing several ships at the same time is a lot of work. It's very intensive. With both companies [Carnival and Costa], I'm always working on two or three ships at once. I love the design work and feel like my designs are better than ever. But it's not my whole life.
On the Breeze, I'm doing the theater and the casino. I'm pleased to be doing that. I've designed those rooms already and look forward to seeing [them].
I have no less ambition, but I don't have to prove anything anymore to myself in terms of design.
Q: You will still work with Costa Cruises. Why?
A: I asked myself how to figure out a way to cut it down but still be in there doing some ship work, which I enjoy.
Costa is the known, and Carnival is the unknown. The fact is that there is new management [at Carnival], and it is putting together its own management style and ideas about what the product should be.
This choice better suits my effort and goals. I enjoy working very much with [Costa CEO] Pier Luigi Foschi. He's a great client, and we speak each other's language, even though I don't speak Italian. I'm just finishing the design now of the Costa Fascinosa. Hopefully there will be more orders, and I'll continue doing work for them.
Q: Does this mean that Carnival's ship will have a new look?
A: It's different designers doing the work, German architects. Inevitably, it will have a different look. I've worked very hard to create a personal style. ... I don't think anyone has ever, to any great extent, been able to do what I do, because I'm an individual. I believe in a multiplicity of designs and feelings that the public should enjoy. I wouldn't want to live in a world where I designed everything.
Q: What are some of the ships that you feel reflect your best work?
A: That answer is always the same. It's the last ship. The Costa Deliziosa and the Carnival Dream both answer that question from different aspects.
There is not one ship that I can look at and say, "I wish I did that again." Every time I design a room or a ship, I am thinking not of what I've done before but what I haven't done before. I try to create new and interesting things that people haven't seen before.
When I started doing work for Carnival, [longtime CEO] Bob Dickinson used to characterize it as one of the bottom-feeders in the industry. We went from there to being the powerhouse of the industry. I feel very proud of that. I've always felt that the real clients, besides Carnival and Costa, were the guests onboard. I always wanted to present a very different world at sea for them.
Q: Any great memories?
A: The last ship that [Carnival founder] Ted Arison was alive to see, I think it was the Carnival Spirit. He came in his wheelchair. And he looked at me and said, "I'm glad it was you." I really took that as a supreme compliment. It was a real Hollywood ending.