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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast; I am delighted to welcome back Jason Venner. In a section called Specialty Cruising: Fun and Quirky, I wrote about Jason in my book Cruising Interrupted in a chapter titled, Cruise Entertainment Producer, Director, Creator, MC Extraordinaire! And Jason joined me for a podcast of that same name, way back on Episode 26.
I am really happy to have Jason back. I finally got to meet him in person, first last year on the Soul Train Cruise 2025 and then again just a few weeks ago on Soul Train Cruise 2026. Jason is really good at what he does, and I thought I would have him back to get some insight specific to the Soul Train Cruise, and hear Jason contrast it with theme cruises of other genres he has hosted.
Jason got his start in cruising in 2002 as a DJ with Holland America Line (HAL), a high-end cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation. At HAL, Jason progressed through the ranks from a DJ to over 10 years as a Cruise Director, to Corporate Trainer, to three years as Producer and Host of the joint ABC/BBC HAL production, Dancing with the Stars: At Sea. Since 2015, Jason has been self-employed as a Producer, Director, and Host of full-ship music charter cruises, primarily in partnership with StarVista LIVE, a leading theme cruise operator. For StarVista LIVE, Jason hosts Malt Shop Memories Cruise; Soul Train Cruise; The Country Music Cruise; Flower Power Cruise; Ultimate Disco Cruise, and more. Over the years Jason has introduced and interviewed hundreds of star performers. “It’s crazy to be on a first-name basis with the legends of the music industry.”
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Paul C. Thornton started writing at 58 years old incited by the task of delivering a father-of-the-bride speech at his daughter’s wedding. Told to talk about memories of Kina growing up; among Disney trips, high school sports, proms, and first boyfriends, Paul divulged the most powerful memory of all, when Kina was six and his life changed forever. At the end of the talk—as they say—"there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.” It was both liberating and cathartic to release secrets that had tortured Paul for 30 years. Needing to hold on to that feeling of release and empowerment, when he returned to his hotel Paul started his memoir, provocatively titled White Man’s Disease.
Paul’s just completed book, The Joy of Cruising Again, is his fourth; the third in The Joy of Cruising trilogy, and follow-up to the fun, upbeat, award-winning The Joy of Cruising, and Cruising Interrupted. The Joy of Cruising Again is the finale of the series but Paul won’t give up his passion. Besides continuing to cruise as much as possible, Paul hosts The Joy of Cruising Podcast, a weekly conversation with one of the dozens of passionate cruisers featured in the books and other global cruise personalities.
The cruise-themed books are a stark departure from Paul’s debut: White Man’s Disease, a memoir described as “gripping and inspiring” in the press release announcing it as the winner of the North Street Book Prize for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction about Paul’s harrowing brush with death, the journey of recovery from trauma, resilience and ultimately transformation. White Man’s Disease is at once poignant, sad, tragic, funny, and compelling. (And, if I could get a dollar for everyone who asks what White Man’s Disease means, I would be a wealthy man!) Despite their very different subjects, at the heart of White Man’s Disease and The Joy of Cruising Trilogy is passion and how passionate people do wondrous things. Paul just started a sequel to White Man’s Disease; a fun, and hopefully inspirational tale called Gracefully. In addition, he is planning a podcast series that deconstructs White Man’s Disease.
Paul is originally from Brooklyn and Long Island, New York. After serving in the US Army and simultaneously earning a bachelor's degree in business, he attained his MBA and then spent concurrently, 17 years in corporate management, and 23 years in small business ownership. After leaving corporate, he started a career in higher ed. He earned a doctorate, attained tenure as a business professor, and subsequently moved into administration in Dean or Executive Director positions before retiring in 2021.
Paul lives in Mooresville, North Carolina with his wife Cheryl and considers cruising with their children and grandchildren life’s ultimate escape. Paul longs to cruise as much as the people he writes about in The Joy of Cruising Trilogy.
