Publisher’s Letter

Welcome to this, the first issue of Porthole Cruise Magazine in 2021.

On page 24, we’ve profiled numerous new cruise ships that will finally debut this year, but before we embark, I want you to take a moment and imagine yourself at sea. Specifically, on Carnival’s new Mardi Gras … and more specifically, in that magical moment when they call your name to go on stage for the ship’s new Family Feud Live experience.

The board asks for “Things You Do at 12 a.m. on January 1.” The arrival of a new year is reason to look ahead and celebrate, and the 2021 countdown might go down as the most anticipated, exultant one in the history of counting. There’s much hope and promise in the coming year — for cruising and mankind alike — so your Family Feud brain is probably running through answers like raising a glass, shouting “Happy New Year,” kissing your partner, or already regretting a resolution. But if you’re like me, you might land on this answer, one that I doubt “Survey Says” will confirm.

Answer: Remember forgotten friends.

That might feel opposed to the new year’s spirit of new beginnings — not to mention being technically impossible, as Billy Crystal’s character in

When Harry Met Sally... explains — but reminiscing and thinking of old acquaintances who “be forgot” is exactly what we sing (or shout … or slur) about in that New Year’s standard, “Auld Lang Syne.” As joyous as the song feels in those first fresh minutes, a (sober) read of the words we fumble through reveals some melancholy, powerful truths. In parts, that titular phrase means something along the lines of “for old time’s sake,” and I can’t possibly be the only one who feels a fuller scope of those words following the year we just all but lost and the new normals we’ve had to accept.

For most of 2020, we were looking forward to 2021 and the euphoria that 12 a.m. on January 1 would bring. But only once we reflect on the days gone by and friends we missed throughout 2020 will we truly be ready to take advantage of the hope and promise ahead. I don’t ever want to forget all that we’ve left behind us because I know it will make me better appreciate the moments right in front of me.

So when you see me on board this year, please greet me as you would an old friend. I can’t wait to embark together, for auld lang syne.

There’s much hope and promise in the coming year — for cruising and mankind alike.