silly

Rendering of "Central Park"
from RCI's Genesis Project

Royal Caribbean is calling it Central Park, but when I read the description in the press release: "a revolutionary design in which the center of the ship opens to the sky and features lush, tropical grounds" that doesn't sound like the temperate (and often snowy) Manhattan park I grew up with.

When RCI decided to code-name their innovative newbuilds Project Genesis, I hope they prepared themselves for some Star Trek jokes. I really can't resist any longer.

At least part Vulcan?
(we mean that as a compliment)

You do remember Star Trek II, right? Ambitious engineers of the future worked on the Genesis Project to turn grey, lifeless ships, er, I mean planets into vibrant, verdant environments.

Kenneth Cole's Perfect Dress

Okay, enough with the serious posts.

People often ask me what to pack for a cruise. In general I point them to our guides to packing for a cruise and minimalist packing. But for you, my faithful reader, I will reveal my secret weapon: Kenneth Cole's perfect cruise dress.

No, I'm not talking about HAL's SoE program. I'm talking about the thing people stick at the end of e-mails and forum posts as part of their signature. You know the ones. For correspondence from us, it's: