Sloan founded USA Today's cruise sub-site, then called the CruiseLog.
Name That Ship contests
He oversaw the Name That Ship Contest with Royal Caribbean to name Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas—then the world's biggest cruise ships. It was a USA Today reader who came up with those names. A few years later Sloan ran a similar contest to name Norwegian Cruise Line's new ships Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway.
'It's been an honor and a pleasure to cover the cruise industry for USA Today these many years,' he said. 'It's a fascinating business ... I can think of few others that are as innovative.'
Sloan joined USA Today right out of college, in the internship program at age 21, and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a full staff reporter at 23. He started in the Life section as a general feature writer but quickly transitioned to writing about travel, which he's covered for 25 years.
Pushed for cruise coverage
Seeing the huge growth of cruising in the 1990s and 2000s, Sloan pushed for expansion of USA Today's coverage. The job took him to more than 80 countries and all seven continents.
'That's one of the great things about cruising. It can take you almost anywhere. Truly to the ends of the Earth,' Sloan said. Some of his most memorable trips include several recent forays into the most remote parts of the Arctic, including a four-week-long voyage this past summer across the Northeast Passage aboard Hapag-Lloyd's Bremen. 'We stopped in places that have been seen by just a few hundred people in history,' he said.
Cavorting with penguins and eagle hunters
On assignment for USA Today, he ogled penguins in Antarctica, rode horses with eagle hunters in Mongolia, descended into the tombs of the pharoahs in Egypt and canoed with the locals in Polynesia.
The Philadelphia-based Sloan plans to continue covering the cruise world.
'How can I walk away from an industry that comes up with stuff like robot bartenders and deck-top roller-coasters?' he quipped. He'll share his plans at a later date.
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