Captain Gianpaolo Casula, Master of the Carnival Victory. Photo by Iris Stoner
After more than 47 years at sea, Captain Gianpaolo Casula is planning his retirement from a career that has evolved from a vocation to a lifestyle that he has found thoroughly satisfying.
“I’ve lived a very interesting life. If I died and came back I’d do it again,” the Captain said of his profession as a seaman.
Captain Casula, whose charge is the hugely popular Carnival Victory, part of the ‘fun ships’ Carnival Cruise Line. will retire in December 2009.
He admits some trepidation at having to find his land legs. “I’m a dynamic man and don’t like the static life.” However, Captain Casula may be spared the agony of leaving his seafaring life behind forever as opportunities exist for him to continue his association with the cruise line after his retirement.
He has been asked to stay on as a consultant, assisting with training new captains. “I have been doing this job for 47 years,” he said, adding that the opportunity to maintain some contact with sea life would give him “the chance to become incorporated into life on the land”.
Gianpaolo Casula was born in Tirano, an Italian village bordering Switzerland where his father served as a border officer between the two countries.
The place that the Captain considers home, however, is the seaside village of Castiglione Della Pescaia. In order to follow his father’s dream of building a fishing cannery, his family moved to the village when he was still a young child.
“One of the seven most beautiful towns in Europe,” Caption Casula boasts of his idyllic home, pointing out that it is known as the pearl of the Mediterranean Sea.
After attending nautical school in Rome, the future captain began his seafaring career as a cadet on a cargo ship where he learned the basic principles of seamanship. As time passed, he achieved the rank of first mate and subsequently made the move to his first passenger ship in 1968.
When he joined Carnival Cruise Line as a Senior Captain in 1976, the company only had two ships – the TSS Mardi Gras and the TSS Carnivale. “This is now the largest fleet in the world,” Casula pointed out, proudly adding that during his time with Carnival he has captained 10 of the 20 plus ships currently in the company’s fleet.
Having visited countries in every continent, the Captain said that stories of his time on the seas could fill a book.
“In 1968 I encountered the perfect storm during a journey from Los Angeles,” he recalled. He did not receive prior warning of the storm before leaving port, he explained, recounting that he stabilised the ship by positioning the vessel across the path of the wind to prevent it from capsizing. “We were in the storm for 32 hours and had a partial blackout,” he said of the experience that he considers one of the worst in his career.
“Some guests sued me because they said I should not have left the port in bad weather.” The case took 10 years to resolve, the suit was dismissed as it was determined that the Captain had not been given adequate notice of the storm.
Such incidents are, however, vastly overshadowed by the good experiences he has had as a seaman. Events such as the unexpected birth of a baby, which resulted in “a big celebration on board“, conducting wedding renewal ceremonies for passengers and “extending the red carpet” to repeat passengers has given the Captain a lot of joy over the years.
“One lady did more than 130 cruises with Carnival,” he said as an example of the frequency with which some travellers use the cruise line.
Seeing the transformation of coastlines brought about by construction and development in various ports has served as an indicator of changes that have occurred in the world during his career. Noting that that he has seen port terminals extended and more buildings going up along coastlines, he lamented the fact that the only island that he has been unable to visit whilst on duty was Grand Cayman.
The Captain first came to the island in 1976 and has returned more than 400 times since then. However, he has only set foot once on Grand Cayman over the past 30-plus years, when another captain was at the helm of the ship he was sailing on.
“The only disappointment is that there is no dock and the captain cannot go out while the boat is in anchorage. If I want to see Cayman I have to come as a tourist.”
Emphasising the disadvantages of a lack of berthing facilities, he added: “This is the only island without a dock. We dock at all the other islands and where there was no terminal before, they have now built them.”
The Captain continued:
“Passengers are not so happy to use tenders.” He explained that at other ports, passengers can make multiple trips on and off the ships, but that was not so in Grand Cayman because of the inconvenience of using tenders.
Captain Casula also said passengers dislike standing in line for the small boats. The lack of shelter means they are exposed to the elements and suggested that the use of tenders may discourage some passengers from going ashore.
With many interesting facts to share about his life on the water, the seasoned seaman said he has seen no more than four New Year celebrations on land during his career. Even his hobbies – boating, fishing and snorkelling – are water-based, raising questions about how well he will manage on land.
But his retirement plans include purchasing a 30- to 40-foot boat that he will sail on the Mediterranean near his childhood home in Castiglione Della Pescaia, where he still resides.
Enjoying sunny climes for much of his working life has made the Captain reluctant to return to living in his native country during the winter. “I am likely to live in Italy during spring and summer and spend six months of the year in a warmer place, probably Florida,” he said.
In any event, it may be some time before Captain Casula loses his sea legs because as a “real sailor with no ties”, he seems determined to maintain his connection with the ocean.
karen@caymannetnews.com | 
