The Joy of Cruising Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome back this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Roland and Emma, certainly worthy to join the handful of guests who have been on the podcast for three times. I first met Roland and Emma a couple of years ago on the 119,000 member Melanin At Sea, created by friends of the show and global cruise personalities A Rich and Jazzy Life, and I anointed them as my new travel role models, after they posted photos and description of just an absolute bucket list trip, Ep 63 40-Day Enchanted Princess European. I had to invite them on. Then they did it again the following year with an epic Ep 142 European adventure covering 61 days! 

Well, they have outdone themselves themselves with their Grand Asian Invasion Holiday! 

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am honored to welcome a special guest, Richard Fain, Chairman and former CEO of Royal Caribbean Group (RCG). Mr. Fain’s new book, Delivering the WOW: Culture as Catalyst for Lasting Success (October 21, 2025; Fast Company Press), reveals actionable lessons from Royal Caribbean’s rapid growth: a culture that motivated employees to deliver WOWs to customers, transforming the customer and employee experience all at once with electrifying energy. RCG’s trademark culture and dedication to delivering wows also catalyzed innovations including the world’s first and biggest megaships, beginning with Sovereign of the Seas in 1988—Cheryl and my first cruise, also in 1988—peerless onboard experiences, including soaring atriums and unexpected ice-skating rinks at sea; and unforgettable offboard experiences including Perfect Day at CocoCay, a private island resort owned by RCG. 

Proceeds from proceeds from Delivering the WOW will be donated to the Fain Scholarship Fund, a scholarship program Richard Fain established in 1999 to support the education of Royal Caribbean Group employees and their children, which he has been contributing to at an average of $200,000 in annual support.

Richard Fain served as chairman and CEO from 1988 to 2022 when he transitioned to his current role as chairman. Under his leadership, the company grew from a small cruise line to its current place as one of the world’s most valuable vacation companies. Recognized for his “visionary leadership”, Mr. Fain was named one of the 30 World’s Best CEOs by Barron’s for three years running and received the Ultimate CEO Award from the South Florida Business Journal. His international awards include the rank of Officier in the Légion d’Honneur of France and Commander, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland. He and his wife of 56 years have four children and eight extraordinary grandchildren.

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome back to The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Ben & David creators of Cruise with Ben & David, one of the top cruise brands in the world, certainly when it comes to content creators and cruise influencers. They have a massively successful YouTube channel with over 320k subscribers—in the top five of all cruise channels. This is the 3rd time Cruise with Ben & David has been on The Joy of Cruising Podcast—you can count on one hand the number of guests appearing on the podcast for the third time. Their two previous episodes were Ep 35 Cruise With Ben & David and Ep 89 Cruise With Ben & David Fun fact, their two previous appearances onThe Joy of Cruising Podcast are the top two most listened to episodes we have ever had. Is that a humblebrag?

It's been over a year, so I wanted to catch up with Ben & David. Besides, I recently watched one of their shows and learned much to my surprise, given their prolific cruising, that they have just cruised for the first time on Holland America Line. It gets better; their cruise was on HAL’s flagship, the Rotterdam. Cheryl and my next cruise…Rotterdam to Panama Canal! 

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This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Gail and Mike, a couple from UK and creators of the Sail With Gail and Mike YouTube channel, Instagram platform, and Facebook group. They are specifically from Liverpool, UK, which takes on a special significance related to the main topic of this episode.  

One of the most anticipated and majestic new cruise ships of the last couple of years, Queen Anne, was recently launched by UK’s Cunard, its 249th ship. Cunard announced the unprecedented decision to choose the city of Liverpool as “Godparent” of Queen Anne. On June 4, 2024, Cunard held Queen Anne’s official naming ceremony at the Liverpool waterfront. The gala event featured performances by Andrea Bocelli, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and afireworks display. Among the dignitaries in attendance were five distinguished residents of Liverpool, chosen to represent the city at the naming (one of the five was Melanie C aka “Shorty Spice” of the Spice Girls.)
 

Oh, by the way, there were two other notable residents of Liverpool in the crowd—Gail and Mike! And, a week or so later they boarded Queen Mary for a nine-day cruise. Gail and Mike are members of The Joy of Cruising Podcast Facebook group, and when I heard about their plans to sail on one of the first cruises on Queen Anne, I immediately reached out because I am sure many of our listeners are interested in this signicant new entrant into the cruise industry. I am delighted Gail and Mike are joining us today to tell us all about their experience at the naming ceremony and their cruise on this monumental ship.

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I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, a special guest straight from somewhere in the world, Brandee Lake, the creator of Tik Tok’s 179k followers iambrandeelake, and same named Instagram. Brandee’s profile at IG says simply: “Asia finishing…Africa loading.”

On December 10, 2023, Brandee embarked in Miami Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise on Serenade of

the Seas and is scheduled to disembark in Miami on September 10, 2024. In mid-2023, Brandee had announced she was stepping away from corporate America for a 9-month world cruise with her parents and younger sister and urged friends to follow along with her journey on social media.

Within days the Ultimate World Cruise became a social media sensation, and for several passengers it became a social media obsession. The best known of those passengers is Brandee Lake.

The Ultimate World Cruise is scheduled for 274 days and is divided into four segments:

Ultimate Americas Cruise 

• 64 nights from Dec. 10, 2023, to Feb. 11, 2024
• 36 destinations, including Cozumel, Mexico; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Los Angeles, California
• 4 Wonders of the World, including Iguazú Falls and Machu Picchu

Ultimate Asia Pacific Cruise 

• 87 nights from Feb. 11, 2024, to May 9, 2024
• 40 destinations, including Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; Manila, Philippines; and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• 3 Wonders of the World, including the Great Barrier Reef and the Taj Mahal

Ultimate Africa and Southern Europe

·      63 nights from May 9, 2024, to July 10, 2024

·      38 destinations from Dubai to Barcelona. It includes Mauritius, Seychelles, Cape Town, Dakar and Nice

·      4 Wonders of the World, including the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Temple of Artemis 

Ultimate Europe and Beyond Cruise 

• 63 nights from July 10, 2024, to Sept. 10, 2024
• 40 destinations, including Casablanca, Morocco; Paris, France; Bruges, Belgium; and Nuuk, Greenland

It is now my pleasure to bring Brandee’s story to the listeners of The Joy of Cruising Podcast. 

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This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Alex Roberson, creator of Alex the Cruiser, internet persona and major cruise Facebook and Instagram cruise personality. Alex has been cruising since he was 5 years old and has over 150 days at sea under his belt. He currently has his 27th, 28th, and 29th cruises booked, and he just can't get enough of the cruising lifestyle.

Alex is a social media influencer who is renowned for his real-time cruising experiences. His Facebook pages, including his personal page, have a combined following of over 130,000 people, with 30,000 of those followers on his personal page alone. His passion for cruising is infectious, and he loves nothing more than sharing his experiences with fellow cruise enthusiasts.

In addition to his social media presence, Alex has recently started making and selling custom cruise decorations, including personalized koozies and wooden cabin door signs, which have become a fan favorite. He works closely with Derek and Amanda from Island Time Travel, and they have a large group cruise planned for the very first sailing out of Galveston on the MSC Seascape on November 9th, 2025. With 100 rooms already booked, Alex and his friends are eagerly counting down the days until they can set sail again.

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This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Michael Lazaroff, Executive Director and Owner, Jazz Cruises, the world’s leader in full-ship charter jazz music cruises, having produced over 90 full-ship charters featuring more than 2000 musicians including several legendary performers and dozens of Grammy winners. Jazz Cruisesis comprised principally of a portfolio of three theme cruises: The Jazz Cruise, launched in 2001, the first and only full-ship cruise charter dedicated to “straight-ahead” jazz; The Smooth Jazz Cruise, the company’s flagship cruise it holds twice each spring. The Smooth Jazz Cruise sold out its first sailing in 2004 and has held 34 consecutive sold out cruises since; and, Botti at Sea, designed in the spirit and style of Grammy-winning world renowned trumpeter Chris Botti.

I wrote about Michael and Jazz Cruises in my new release, The Joy of Cruising Again http://amzn.to/3lAfyON. I got to meet Michael when I checked off a bucket list item by sailing The Smooth Jazz Cruise in 2023 which included performances by just about ‘everyone who is anyone in smooth jazz,’ such as Marcus Miller, Boney James, Gerald Albright, Candy Dulfer, Bryan Culbertson, Take 6, and one of my favorite comedians, Alonzo Bodden. I got to take photos with Michael McDonald, and with Peter White. I even met rising saxophone star Vince Ingala who agreed to come on The Joy of Cruising Podcast when I was first starting out and for that I am forever appreciative. (Vincent Ingala: Performing On Theme Cruises https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/12246466)

Many of you know about my love for music, and smooth jazz is my favorite genre. I have wanted to profile Michael and his importance to live jazz on the ocean since my first cruising book, The Joy of Cruising. I remember my reaction when Michael agreed to talk about Jazz Cruises, LLC in The Joy of Cruising Again, and I am similarly ecstatic to get to chat with him again for the global cruise community to hear.

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This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Jill and Jerry, creators of Cruising Canucks the Canada-based blog, YouTube channel, Facebook Group and Instagram platform. I always enjoy meeting passionate cruisers who are like me, curious about what the cruising world offers and who go out of their way to share their findings with you. Thank you to my friends Paul and Carol Love to Travel—who as you know were on The Joy of Cruising Podcast a few weeks ago Episode 99—for introducing me to Jill and Jerry.

I consider Cruise Bloggers, Vloggers, and Content Creators as Cruise Community Champions and have featured them throughout The Joy of Cruising Trilogy and on The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Passionate cruisers like Jill and Jerry epitomize the joy of cruising; they are so passionate about cruising that they want to share it with the world! Cruise Bloggers, Vloggers, and Content Creators champion the cause of cruising and at the same time they are champions to cruise fans by providing them with free, useful information, reviews, videos, photos, and cruise tips to cruisers planning a voyage, and prospective cruisers considering their first cruise. 

I have enjoyed Jill and Jerry’s videos at the Cruising Canucks channel and it is now my pleasure to chat with them, and to share their story with the listeners of The Joy of Cruising Podcast.

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This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Raimele (Rai) and ShaKeia (Keke) Reese, creators of the fast-growing Team Reese Travels YouTube channel, Instagram platform, and Facebook Group. In addition, Keke partners with Charvon of Parkers On The Go, and Cheryl of SIG Cruiser as hosts of the Cruise Kibitz podcast. Created in 2020, Team Reese Travels is truly a family affair as 10-year old Raimele Jr. (RJ) not only accompanies one or both parents on most cruises, but RJ plays a significant role on Team Reese Travels videos. When the caption states RJ Cam, the camera shows RJ behind a mic wearing headphones and he provides his input!

From the Team Reese Travels channel:

We're a travel-loving family of three, exploring the world and creating unforgettable memories. Join our exciting adventures, engaging vlogs, and get valuable travel tips to enhance your globetrotting experiences.

With a passion for cruises and land vacations, we show our 10-year-old son the beauty and diversity of the world. We're here to inspire fellow families to embark on extraordinary adventures, providing practical advice, destination recommendations, and insider secrets. Dreaming of a beach getaway, city escape, or off-the-beaten-path exploration? Let us fuel your wanderlust and make your travel dreams a reality. Subscribe now for exciting journeys and valuable insights. Join us on this incredible journey!

• Contact Email : teamreesetravels@gmail.com
• IG: @teamreesetravels
• TikTok: @teamreesetravels

I consider Cruise Bloggers, Vloggers, and Content Creators as Cruise Community Champions and have featured them throughout The Joy of Cruising Trilogy and on The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Passionate cruisers like Team Reese Travels epitomize the joy of cruising; they are so passionate about cruising that they want to share it with the world! 

It is my pleasure to chat with RAI & Keke, and to share their story with the listeners of The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Welcome, RAI & Keke, Team Reese Travels to The Joy of Cruising Podcast

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I am delighted to welcome back this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Don Buculo, one half—along with his wife Heidi, of the influential Eat Sleep Cruise blog, YouTube channel, and Instagram platform. When it comes to mega ships, I consider Eat Sleep Cruise among the very best content creators/cruise influencers, and 2024 represents an excess of mega-ship riches. The Icon of the Seas, the new world’s largest cruise ship and a new class for Royal Caribbean was launched to near universal rave reviews; the largest ship for the world’s most popular cruise line, Carnival’s Jubilee joined its sisters of the Excel class, Mardi Gras and Celebration; and, finally Sun Princess, unlike in any other Princess ships. Of course, Eat Sleep Cruise has already experienced the 3 stunning vessels and I can think of no one better to compare and contrast the Icon, Carnival Jubilee, and Sun Princess than Don. And oh, by the way,  Don and Heidi just took their first expedition cruise to Antarctica, and first river cruise, and you know I want to hear about that with our first river cruise rapidly approaching.

Don and Heidi are longtime friends of mine. They were featured in my second book, Cruising Interrupted amzn.to/3seFU8y, and were guests on The Joy of Cruising Podcast Episode 22last year. Eat Sleep Cruise  has been featured in some of the top publications and news outlets globally, and we serve together as USA TODAY 10Best cruising experts.

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