Cruise crazy? Couple takes 100 voyages on same ship
A Central Florida couple epitomizes the ultimate in brand loyalty.
Bernard and Janice Caffary of Lakeland, Fla. on Sunday set sail on their 100th cruise since 2003 aboard the Carnival Sensation, departing from Port Canaveral.
Carnival says no other customer has sailed that many times on the same Carnival ship in the company's 43-year history.
"They love the ship and they love the staff, and it's a big part of their lives," Carnival Cruise Line public relations manager Vance Gulliksen said. "It's a pretty amazing feat. We're very excited to have them."
Janice Caffary, 68, says she and her husband, a 77-year-old retired submarine designer for General Dynamics, enjoy the shows and the food aboard the Sensation.
But, mostly, they enjoy hanging out with the crew, and finding out more about them. She said Carnival, more than some other cruise lines, allows the crew to interact with passengers.
"It becomes friendly and warm and family, and it stays with you," said Caffary, who is a retired office manager. "We really do like the crew. It's a family atmosphere. A lot of the crew members call us 'mom and 'dad.' "
In addition to their 99 previous Carnival Sensation cruises and 42 on other Carnival-branded ships, the Caffarys have sailed 40 times on other cruise lines, including Celebrity, Holland America, Norwegian, Princess and Royal Caribbean. Holland America and Princess are Carnival Corp. divisions.
The Caffarys typically spend most of their time on their ship, talking with crew members. On recent back-to-back cruises to the Western Caribbean they took aboard the Carnival Pride over a 14-day period, they left the ship only once — to take a walk on shore with the ship's doctor, Carlos Trevino, in Costa Maya, Mexico.
They even wear buttons while on their cruises that reads: "I give crew hugs."
The Caffarys not only are big fans of the Sensation, they reserve the same cabin on that ship about 90 percent of the time.
They have 24 cruises on their schedule this year. They have taken cruises from ports throughout Florida, as well as from Virginia, California and Hawaii.
But, with the Sensation based at Port Canaveral since 2006, many of their departures have been from Brevard, Fla.'s seaport.
Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Walsh said the port is joining Carnival in celebrating the Caffarys' 100th sailing aboard the Sensation.
"Our staff strives to provide a pleasant beginning and ending to every cruise from Port Canaveral, and we are pleased that we have been able to provide that experience enough times to sail to the top of the Caffarys' favorites list," Walsh said.
Sunday was a special day at the port for Carnival. The cruise line had a VIP ceremony at Cruise Terminal 5 for the Caffarys with a welcome banner.
Carnival also had three ships in port on Sunday — the Sensation, Liberty and Sunshine — as part of only the second time in Port Canaveral history when six cruse ships filled the port at one time.
Gulliksen said the Caffarys "have an amazing relationship with the ship" and will be the guests of honor for Sunday's cruise to the Bahamas.
Janice Caffary said she and her husband have spent a total of 585 nights on a Carnival-brand ship since they started cruising in 2000 after they retired from their jobs.
She doesn't know exactly how much they've spend on Carnival cruises, other than to say "you're looking at a lot of money."
She said, based on a ballpark figure of $100 per night per person, the total could be $117,000 to date, with lots more cruises planned.
Caffary said, when she and her husband take a cruise on another ship, it doesn't quite feel the same.
When they board the Sensation after being on another ship, she said, "it feels like we've come home and we've come back to family."
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