Portofino Dreamin'

Hi, fellow speakers... I'm Mark Oristano, an actor/photographer/writer/sportscaster from Dallas. And believe me, all those titles come in handy on my cruise talks! (One is about how to watch football, based on my book A SPORTSCASTER'S GUIDE TO WATCHING FOOTBALL. One is about scene study for film and theater, and one is about being a better writer. I'd love to do a photography talk, but the cruise ships don't want you competing with their photographers.)

My wife, Lynn and I were out on the Azamara Journey in May, cruising the western Med, and it was beautiful. We went from Rome, to Florence, Portofino, Monte Carlo, Bonifacio, Tunis and Barcelona on a gorgeous ship with a great crew.

And that great crew included Kelsey, our entertainment director, who made perfect contact with me the moment we boarded the ship via a lovely note waiting for us in our stateroom. Later that night we met with her and set up a basic schedule, and then got to meet John, the cruise director, who was equally great to work with.

Most all of what Daniel discusses in his speaker videos came true for us. Our one, interesting shift was that since we only had one full sea day, I did two of my three talks on port days, usually about an hour after we set sail again. The talks were well attended, but it probably would have been better on full sea days. Next cruise, I'm looking for one with lots of sea time.

The tech guy was superb, stringing up everything I needed in the three different rooms I worked in. My computer video always worked, and I never had a problem.

I can encourage you to make certain that you act as your own best PR person on board. Give out your card to everybody you meet, everybody you dine with, let them all know you're there, and you're there to speak. The blurb you get in the daily ship's news probably won't fully explain the brilliance of your talk!

All in all, it's a great way to travel.

And here are a few snaps we took. The shot of the Roman forum is by my wife. The others are mine. And the one of the harbor in Portofino has a special meaning. Not just because we both fell in love with Portofino, but because after I got back on the ship, I threw this shot into my computer, did it up the way I wanted it to look, and took it to the photo people, who made me two lovely 8x10 prints. I gave one each to Kelsey and John as a way of saying "thanks." People love getting beautiful photos, and, egotistically, I love giving them out.

Ciao,
Mark Oristano

(Note From Daniel: Thanks Mark for a great post. Mark had a great gift idea here. If you have a nice photo from your cruise, have it printed and give that away to the cruise director and activities manager.)