A former rear admiral from the U.S. Navy, Richard J. O'Hanlon, once commanded the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.
But can he bring an end to the jokes about Carnival Cruise Lines that are nuclear for the cruise business, and viral for everybody else?
For the last three years of his career, O'Hanlon was commander of the Naval Air Force 
Atlantic, the logistic and administrative command for all Naval Air Forces, overseeing a crew of 40,000 men and women.
But how is he going to be convince the cruise customer that accidents won't happen?
Richard O'Hanlon's most recent employment was as COO of Talon Air, a charter service with 25 corporate aircraft.
Now he is Carnival's CSO (Chief Safety Officer…the proper term is V-P, Nautical and Safety Operations) for the 24 ships that belong to the world's biggest cruise line.
The cruise corporation has turned to the respected ex-rear admiral — rear admirals always command respect — to repair its battered image when it comes to ship safety. He will specifically address things like bridge procedures, nautical operations and firefighting and life-saving systems.
If you don't think this appointment is important, you haven't been subjected to Carnival jokes for the better part of a year now. One of the corporation's ships (outside of the cruise line's 24) capsized off Italy and 32 people perished. Another caught fire off the coast of California, marooning passengers in deplorable conditions for days. The same thing happened to another in the Gulf of Mexico and, in part because the media was starting to see a trend, continues to make headlines — and punchlines — today.
The safety bucks stops here.
Presumably, rear admirals have thick skin and tough rules. For a cruise line that rightly or wrongly has become a safety subject of slapstick, it seems like a good move.
Star Princess
15 nights
December 5, 2013
Los Angeles (return): Honolulu, Nawiliwili, Lahaina, Hilo, Ensenada
Inside: $1,299
Cost per day: $84
www.princess.com