Passenger missing from Carnival Fantasy

When Carnival Fantasy arrived at New Orleans this morning, a passenger was unaccounted for. The 77-year-old man was traveling in accommodations with a private balcony. The door was locked from the inside, and all of his belongings seemed to be in the room when it was entered. The man was last seen Friday evening about 7pm.

The Coast Guard was notified, and they have been searching the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico.

From the personnel department:

Norwegian Cruise Line has appointed two new senior executives.

Kevin Sheehan has become the line's new Chief Financial Officer effective immediately. Sheehan comes to the company with an extensive financial background including two years as president and CFO of Avis, and the last two and a half years consulting to private equity firms.

Effective December 3, Gregory Hunt will become NCL's new EVP of Strategic and Commercial Development, a newly created position. Hunt will oversee onboard revenue, including casino operations, and will head up a new strategic planning initiative as well as the commercial development of licensing opportunities and business partnerships. Hunt has held senior operating positions at companies owning and developing such household names as Culligan, Samsonite, Coldwell Banker and Century 21. Most recently, Hunt has been working for Apollo Management in the U.K.

Both gentlemen will report directly to president and CFO Colin Veitch.

From the difference of perspective department:

Many North American fans of Princess Cruises as sad to see the line deploying the Sun-class ships on more exotic itineraries that are far from US shores. They say they enjoy the "smaller" ships because they are "more intimate." Princess earlier this year announced that Sun Princess would be homeported in Australia year round, and just last week they said that Dawn Princess would also remain there year round beginning late next year.

Sun Princess made its maiden call at Fremantle last week (actually the occasion was when the line announced Dawn would also be homeported in Australia), and it was interesting the way the local media covered it. The 77,00-ton ship that fans North America see as a "small ship" made headlines in The West Australian as the "giant cruise ship" arriving at Fremantle. The article then went on to refer to it as "one of the world's largest cruise ships."

It's all a matter of perspective.

From the isn't that a bite department:

Is it a good idea to have your teeth whitened on a cruise ship? Not necessarily, according to an article in the (London) Times Online. It recounts one woman's experience, which turned out not to be a good one. Going into a little more depth is an article on the Cosmetic Surgery Answers website. The bottom line in these articles is that the woman in question hasn't had a good experience, and the experts (who are not really unbiased) quoted in these articles don't think it's a good idea to have the procedures done by anyone other than a trained dentist. Probably the best course of action would be to do some research and consider the possibilities before getting on the ship, and not buying a service such as this on the spur of the moment.