Andrea Zelinski
Before Norwegian Cruise Line came into his life, actor Eric Stonestreet had never taken a cruise, and he didn't know that cruise ships have "godparents."
But when NCL reached out to say it was interested in making him the godfather of the Norwegian Aqua -- and once he figured out what that entailed, like breaking a bottle of champagne over the bow, figuratively speaking -- he wanted to make it happen.
"It was pretty much an automatic, easy yes for me," the two-time Emmy Award-winning actor told me during a Zoom interview.
Stonestreet, perhaps best known for his role as Cameron Tucker on the ABC sitcom "Modern Family," said there wasn't a particular reason he hadn't cruised and added he has plenty of friends and family members who have. But his status as a new cruiser was probably one of the reasons NCL wanted him to be a godparent -- because he could experience it in real time, he said.
So Stonestreet took his first cruise on the Norwegian Joy this fall. He stayed in the Haven, got a hot stone massage, drove a go-kart and recorded a promo video announcing his latest role.
"I don't know what my expectation was; I'd never been on a cruise," he said. "But when I got on there, I know my expectations were completely blown away, right? I couldn't believe I walked through a mall every day to go have lunch and there were Rolex watches to my left and high-end purses on my right, and a casino, an arcade, a go-kart track. I mean, I drove a go-kart in the middle of the ocean, a lot, and it was a blast.
"Now, on Norwegian Aqua, we're going to have a hydro coaster. I said, 'We're going to have a hydro coaster or nothing,'" he jested about the industry's first three-story hybrid roller coaster and waterslide.
Did you notice he said, "we"?
Throughout my interview with Stonestreet, he repeatedly referred to the brand as "we," and the ship as "my ship," weaving himself into the brand.
Eric Stonestreet, who played Cameron Tucker on "Modern Family," will be the godparent of the Norwegian Aqua, a role that Stonestreet said was an "easy" yes. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line
David Herrera, president of the line, said he wanted Stonestreet because his authenticity, wit, charm and genuine desire to bring happiness to people embodied the role of a godfather for the Aqua.
Stonestreet told me he was impressed that the NCL team took the time to learn about him, reading interviews he did and watching his work. "They didn't come and say, 'We want you because you're from a TV show. We want you because you seem like an authentic human being that can express what we want expressed for our company,'" he said.
Stonestreet added that he was taken aback by the loyalty of the Joy's crew, pointing specifically to one person he met who had worked with the line for 34 years and another for 23 years.
"At one point it was like, 'blink if you need me to rescue you,' right? Because they're so loyal to the company. Well, there's a reason for that, and my instincts were right," he said, adding he liked the culture at NCL. The executives he met with seemed like nice, caring people who wanted to create a great company, he said.
As an outdoor person who enjoys the cold and snow, Stonestreet wants to cruise to Alaska with his family. It's long been a bucket-list trip for him, in part because his father, who didn't travel much and passed away three years ago, said if he was ever going to be on a cruise, it would be to Alaska.
I couldn't help but ask Stonestreet how he books his personal travel. He said his fiancée often books their trips but added that a friend of his in Kansas City is also a travel advisor. "You might know her son, Jason Sudeikis, who is Ted Lasso," he said.
Of course, that would be Kathy Sudeikis, an executive at Acendas and a former ASTA president. Stonestreet said she handles the travel for a star-studded charity event in Kansas City called Big Slick, which benefits Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.
"She's helped me book things for myself, for my sister, for my mom when I've arranged travel for them. Love a travel agent," he said. "I'm sure I'm going to be using them a lot more than I have in the past."