OK, it may not be quite on that scale, but Gary Clading's new book Stars, Staterooms and Stowaways is a terrific 'insider' read into some of the many offbeat, rewarding and downright comical moments of spending a life at sea.The P&O Cruise Director has been in the business for 25 years and covers a wealth of experience of ships large and small, with Hollywood celebrities, epic adventures, comical passengers and brilliant insights into the cruise world that many of us love but few know from the inside out.
The likes of Marti Webb, Ginger Rogers, Joan Fontaine, Eve Arden and many more all crop up throughout the pages but it is not so much a catalogue of the rich and famous as the real life of the staff and crew that jumps out at you.
At once both admirable and touching, it is a diary of sea-going delight, with Gary's own tendency towards extraordinary animal welfare shining through in various stories both small-scale and large.
Highlights include cruising along the Orinoco; a magic act that went horribly - and hilariously - wrong; a passenger 'mutiny' on the SS Norway; a perilously rough transatlantic crossing into the teeth of a hurricane; Christmas with Ginger Rogers; and a cat called Yalta.
It is a kaleidoscopic series of stories and vignettes, all told in first person and with a delightfully light touch. Clading knows he has been part of an extraordinary lifestyle and privy to a succession of famous figures, but he always comes across as a regular guy (albeit one who can speak eight languages!) who just happened to find himself in an irregular job.
For anyone who has cruised, ever thought of a cruise or just wants a good, light-hearted read from someone who has lived life 'behind the scenes,' this is an excellent choice.
If you're reviewing a book, you could at least spell the author's name correctly. It's Gary Glading. Check the cover
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