Contributors

Paul Thornton Author, Podcaster

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.

Books Authored By Paul Thornton

The Joy of Cruising Again

By Paul C. Thornton

Cruising Interrupted

By Paul C. Thornton

The Joy of Cruising: Passionate Cruisers, Fascinating Stories

By Paul C. Thornton

Recent Content

Paul &Amp; Cheryl’s Virgin Voyages, Scarlet Lady Transatlantic Cruise Reflections &Raquo; 2C6Fbec80C7E8317Ed20281C1521E888D2Fe1922F26Eb50D7Efad8F0529Ebc71 3

The Joy of Cruising Podcast

Paul & Cheryl’s Virgin Voyages, Scarlet Lady Transatlantic Cruise Reflections

Send us a Text Messa…

Send us a Text Message.This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast we want to share our reflections on our recent cruise—a transatlantic on Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady—Miami to the Med. Not a review, YouTube can do a much better job than us, but just our random reflections. The cruise starts with 8 sea days, so we will be trying so much of the award-winning food we have heard so much about. This cruise was special in a couple of ways. As you know from a podcast we did a couple of months ago, we are on a quest in 24/25 to check some items off of our overflowing bucket list. This cruise allo…

Listen · 36:09

Paul Thornton May 11, 2024

Paul &Amp; Carole Love To Travel, Mekong River Cruise, Amawaterways, Amadara, Japan! &Raquo; 2C6Fbec80C7E8317Ed20281C1521E888D2Fe1922F26Eb50D7Efad8F0529Ebc71 3

The Joy of Cruising Podcast

Paul & Carole Love To Travel, Mekong River Cruise, AmaWaterways, AmaDara, Japan!

Send us a Text Message.I am delighted to welcome back to The Joy of Cruising Podcast Paul & Carole, creators of Paul & Carole Love To Travel. I go aways back with Paul & Carole whom I cons…

Send us a Text Messa…

Send us a Text Message.I am delighted to welcome back to The Joy of Cruising Podcast Paul & Carole, creators of Paul & Carole Love To Travel. I go aways back with Paul & Carole whom I consider friends though I have never properly met then. But I kind of felt like I met them in our first interaction when I featured them in my first cruise book, The Joy of Cruisinghttp://amzn.to/2EAMddF and they took the readers on a Havana, Cuba bar crawl and it was like I experienced it vicariously through them. Every time I saw a photo of them subsequently, they seemed to be having fun and it remi…

Listen · 1:07:38

Paul Thornton May 8, 2024

The Joy of Cruising Podcast

Spike Davis, Comedy On the Ocean

We love stand-up com…

We love stand-up comedy here at The Joy of Cruising Podcast, and no one does it better on the ocean than Carnival Cruise Lines. I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Spike Davis, a Carnival favorite comedian, host, and writer. He is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, now residing in Atlanta—when not on the ocean. Perhaps after looking at his Carnival Cruise Tour Dates at https://www.spikedavis.com, I should restate that as: when not residing on the ocean Spike rests his head in Atlanta. He performs on ships a lot! Spike’s not new to this. For the past decade, S…

Listen · 41:47

Paul Thornton May 5, 2024

The Joy of Cruising Podcast

Le Boat, Who's On Board?

This week on The Joy…

This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Lisa Mclean, Le Boat, Marketing Manager for North American. Le Boat is the market leader in providing luxury houseboat vacations on the beautiful rivers, lakes and canals of Europe and Canada. They have the world’s largest fleet of luxury houseboats and the widest choice of fabulous boating destinations to choose from. Le Boat has been at this a long time—over 50 years’ experience on the water. Here’s the part that fascinated me when I first heard of Le Boat from a previous guest on The Joy of Cruising Podcast: You don…

Listen · 38:24

Paul Thornton May 1, 2024

The Joy of Cruising Podcast

Lucy, Cruising As Crew

This is Paul and thi…

This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Lucy, creator of the Cruising As Crew, website, YouTube channel, and Instagram platform. Lucy has worked for P & O and Virgin Voyage in the shops, and for Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Lines as a shopping ambassador. I will be sure to ask Lucy to elaborate on and differentiate between those positions. Lucy’s passion, the mission of her website and channel is to facilitate the entry of others into working on cruise ships. Her tagline is: “Helping People Land Their Dream Job On Cruise Ships.” Afte…

Listen · 51:51

Paul Thornton April 24, 2024