Explore every episode of the podcast The Joy of Cruising Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cruise Addicted | 24 Oct 2024 | 01:17:25 | |
Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Cathy and Emma, creators of Cruise Addicted—YouTube channel, blog, Facebook and Instagram platform; and shortlist candidate for The Wave Awards, Favorite Cruise Influencer. Let me set the stage by pointing out The Wave Awards is the UK cruise industry’s premier award; included are award categories for cruise lines, ships, travel agencies, and cruise influencers. As you are aware I greatly appreciate cruise bloggers, vloggers and influencers and have written about them extensively. In the Joy of Cruising books, I call them “cruise community champions.” I have interviewed every winner and virtually every short lister since I have been involved with the cruising industry. Some trivia: the very first person who agreed to be featured in my first book in 2018—when I was just a “voice on the internet”—was 23-year-old Emma Le Teace, now of Emma Cruises, who I reached out to after she won The Wave Award for her Cruising Is Not Just for Old People blog. (Love that name!) This year’s award ceremony will be held in London in November. Most of this year’s Favorite Cruise Influencer finalists have been featured in the books and/or guests on the podcast. Cruise Addicted has not—love that name as well—and I thought this was a great opportunity to get to know Cathy and Emma and to share passionate cruisers’ story with the cruise community. I love this time of the year when the Wave Awards are pending because it always presents opportunities to enlarge my circle of global cruise friends.
Cathy and Emma, is the dynamic duo behind the scenes Cruise Addicted. Fuelled by a shared passion for cruising, they bring a wealth of experience in travel, business, photography, and writing. While rarely spotted together, their backgrounds blend seamlessly to offer you a unique perspective. With almost 50 years of combined cruising expertise – from planning, booking, packing, filming, writing, to pure enjoyment – they are the driving force behind Cruise Addicted. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Brits On A Ship | 17 Oct 2024 | 00:51:22 | |
Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Sandra and Chris, creator of BritsOnAShip, blog, YouTube channel, and Instagram platform; and shortlist candidate for The Wave Awards, Favorite Cruise Influencer. Let me set the stage by pointing out The Wave Awards is the UK cruise industry’s premier award; included are award categories for cruise lines, ships, travel agencies, and cruise influencers. As you are aware I greatly appreciate cruise bloggers, vloggers and influencers and have written about them extensively. In the Joy of Cruising books, I call them “cruise community champions.” I have interviewed every winner and virtually every short lister since I have been involved with the cruising industry. Some trivia: the very first person who agreed to be featured in my first book in 2018—when I was just a “voice on the internet”—was 23-year-old Emma Le Teace, now of Emma Cruises, who I reached out to after she won The Wave Award for her Cruising Is Not Just for Old People blog. (Love that name!) This year’s award ceremony will be held in London in November. Most of this year’s Favorite Cruise Influencer finalists have been featured in the books and/or guests on the podcast. Brits On A Ship has not—love that name as well—and I thought this was a great opportunity to get to know Sandra and Chris and to share passionate cruisers’ story with the cruise community.
Sandra and Chris, BritsOnAShip, are two Brits from London who enjoy exploring the world, one cruise at a time! They have been on over 45 cruises across nine different cruise lines since their first cruise together in 2009. They love the sound of the sea, discovering new places, good food, beer and cocktails, trivia and making new friends. Sandra and Chris have a fascination with brand new cruise ships, cruise technology and providing tips on plus sized cruising so watch out for more on their platforms on those topics. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Todd Truax, The Ultimate World Cruise | 29 Aug 2024 | 00:40:44 | |
I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, a special guest straight from somewhere in the world, Todd Truax, a passenger on Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise on Serenade of the Seas which departed Miami December 10, 2023. Todd, along with his wife Gina are two-thirds of the way through the world cruise and is scheduled to disembark in Miami on September 10, 2024. As of this conversation Todd and Gina are somewhere between Africa and Southern Europe.
The Ultimate World Cruise, a social media—and mainstream media—sensation, is scheduled for 274 days and is divided into four segments. Within each of the segments are a number of Wonders of the World: Ultimate Americas Cruise
Ultimate Asia Pacific Cruise
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, including the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Temple of Artemis Ultimate Europe and Beyond Cruise
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| Living On Cruise Ships | 17 Aug 2023 | 01:01:13 | |
I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Nancy and Robert (Dale) Houchens. I found out about Nancy and Dale when I read articles about them in both USA Today and Miami Herald. The Houchens retired in 2015 to a life—planned well before their last day at work—of living on cruise ships. I wrote a feature about the Houchens, Living On Cruise Ships in my new book, The Joy of Cruising Again amzn.to/3lAfyON in a section called “Cruisers Like You and Me…Sort Of.” I have been intrigued about this burgeoning trend for people to live largely, or entirely on the ocean. It is not a new thing. Cruise fans who are “loyal to Royal” know about Mario Salcedo, aka Super Mario who left the work world in the 90s and has been cruising continuously on Royal Caribbean ever since. Or “Mama” Lee Wachstetter who started living on cruise ships in 2005 and has cruised continuously into her 90s. There are numerous others, and I love to have you on The Joy of Cruising Podcast to share your story with our listeners! Retiring to live on cruise ships remains an option financially out of the reach of most retirees inclined to trade their retirement home for the ocean. Nevertheless, many of us cruisers are fascinated by such retirees. Such a life is the embodiment of the joy of cruising. I suspect that, like me, many fantasize about doing the same thing. I think I could rationalize a virtually full-time life on cruise ships, but I don’t think my wife would approve. Nancy says tell her about no cooking and cleaning--maybe I'll try that in a couple of years! Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Cruise with Ben and David | 14 Aug 2023 | 00:57:15 | |
I am delighted to welcome this week to The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Ben and David of the massively successful Cruise with Ben and David. With 200,000 followers on YouTube and over 500 videos, only since starting the channel in 2015, landing Cruise with Ben and David as the #3 cruise channel in their native UK, and #6 worldwide. To garner those kinds of numbers in that time means Ben and David are constantly cruising. It seems any ship I am considering—they have already sailed it. So, I watch every one of their videos. Not just because they are topical and relevant to me as a cruiser willing to try different lines. Ben and David’s videos are also incredibly informative and entertaining. Married since 2014. they sprinkle their banter with irreverence, ‘We are two queens on Princess,’ and double entendres; David might do an impromptu dance like he did when demonstrating Virgin Voyages ‘get it on mode’ music and lighting scene on Scarlet Lady; and they clearly love food; watching them sample eating venues and then listening to Ben’s reactions: ‘Fireworks in my mouth;’ ‘Oh Mother Goose that’s good;’ ‘We’ll probably die from overeating;’ ‘Hit me with a carrot and call me a snowman” has become a standard anticipated feature for me. They feature pristine video and photography so stunning that they generate comments from the audience about technique. That clearly is due to their professional background which I will ask them about. Cruise with Ben and David has been featured in some of the top publications and news outlets globally, such as The Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USAToday and The Mail on Sunday. And, they have made a memorable appearance on the BBC's "The One Show". Prepping for this show, I have been gorging on Cruise with Ben and David videos. That has been great fun—not just because their videos are excellent, but they’ve recently done a series of videos about their 16-day Hawaii to Alaska cruise aboard NCL Spirit. As you know Cheryl and I were on that sailing, so it has been joyful to relive that bucket list experience! Finally, if the above is not enough to explain why I could not wait to host Cruise with Ben and David; in The Joy of Cruising books, and on the podcast, I have interviewed several UK Wave Award winners and finalists. The Wave Awards is the UK cruise industry’s premier award. But I never have had the honor of talking to a two-time winner like Cruise with Ben and David —winning Favourite Cruise Travel Blogger in both 2019 and 2021. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| The Singing Maitre D' | 10 Aug 2023 | 00:28:30 | |
I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast Ken Byrne, known to his legion of fans who cruise on Carnival Cruise Line as The Singing Maître D’. I had the pleasure of writing about Ken in my new book, The Joy of Cruising Again, in a section call Ship Life, which was intended to provide a perspective of life onboard cruise ships through the eyes of current and former crew and staff. Ken Byrne is a consummate professional within the hospitality industry. He started off in the hotel industry in Dublin, Ireland in 1975. He was serving a gentleman in the hotel where he worked who was recruiting waiters for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. He offered Ken a job. Ken started at Royal Caribbean in 1986 as a busboy on The Song of Norway. Given his skills and experience attained from his hospitality background, Ken quickly moved up to waiter, and then became head waiter on the Sun Viking. Ken also served on the Nordic Prince, Song of America, and Sovereign of the Seas—which was my wife and my first cruise 1988. After Ken’s four years between Royal Caribbean and Premier Cruise Lines, The Big Red Boat, where he was a head waiter on Atlantic, Majestic, and Oceanic, he decided to go back to Ireland and the hotels. His respite from working on cruise ships was short-lived. He told me that after five months he got hungry for the sea. He was about to come back to Royal Caribbean when an opportunity arose to join Carnival instead. Carnival hired Ken in 1990 as a busboy, then waiter, then in 1994, he became maître d’ on his first new ship to take out, the Fascination. The first time Ken sang in public was on the Carnival Triumph in 1997 when a couple was celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Ken recalls. ‘I was about to make the nightly announcement and was walking by their table with a microphone when the man grabbed my arm and said, ‘Hey Ken, you’re Irish. Sing us a song for our anniversary.’ Ken belted one out. The rest is history. Within a couple of weeks after his impromptu performance, Ken’s singing in the dining room—and even in the theater—became a regular fixture on Carnival for the ensuing 26 years and he became known as The Singing Maître D’. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Ask Chef Dennis | 03 Aug 2023 | 00:43:11 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Dennis Littley, better known as Chef Dennis to his prodigious fan base— 830,000 followers on his Facebook account, A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis, 73,000 on Twitter and 72,000 on his Instagram accounts Ask Chef Dennis & Chef Dennis Travels. Chef Denniswas featuredin my second cruising book, Cruising Interrupted amzn.to/3seFU8y in a section called “Cruisers Like You and Me…Sort Of.” By 2019 when I interviewed him for Cruising Interrupted, Dennis had gone through an amazing career journey—and I longed to share his story with the cruise community. Chef Dennis epitomized a “Cruiser Like You and Me…Sort Of.” He had only done his first cruise—Disney Dream a couple of years prior—but did he ever have a story to tell. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Cruise Life Matt | 31 Jul 2023 | 00:46:29 | |
I am delighted to welcome this week for a special Bonus Episode on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Matt Theriault, the embodiment of Cruise Life Matt, a blog, YouTube channel, and an Instagram account comprised of stunning images of ships. It was on Instagram that Matt first caught my attention. His IG feed is comprised almost exclusively of cruise ship photography—mostly stunning drone footage. Matt is an FAA Certified Drone Pilot. As a result of those amazing images, Matt is extremely popular on IG with over 100,000 followers. I love drone photography: tropical vistas, buildings, and my passion, cruise ships. No one does cruise ships like Cruise Life Matt. Matt also has a second IG account, RV Camping To Go, featuring RVs, Camping, and Family Travel. Matt has a YouTube channel—more great drone shots and some videos from his family vacations. However, it was the Cruise Life Matt blog and his accompanying Facebook group where I got the best sense for his passion for cruising and sharing that passion with his followers. His amazing images led me to Matt, but the Cruise Life Matt blog and a Facebook group led me to invite Matt to The Joy of Cruising Podcast to share his passion with the listeners. Matt started cruising in 2004. His first cruise was on the Caribbean Princess, and he is one of the many who got hooked on their first cruise. Matt has since sailed 65 times. He says, "Cruising is my true passion in life. When I cannot be on board a cruise ship, you can most likely find me talking about them or planning my next cruise vacation." Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Cruise Mummy | 27 Jul 2023 | 00:39:01 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Jenni Fielding, creator of the Cruise Mummy blog. I featured Cruise Mummy in Cruising Interrupted amzn.to/3seFU8y in a section called “Bloggers: Cruise Community Champions.” To say Cruise Mummy is one of the top cruise blogs out of the UK is an understatement. First, Cruise Mummy is the second most trafficked cruise blog in the UK. And recently, Jenni and Cruise Mummy won UK’s Wave Award for Favorite Cruise Travel Blogger for 2022. As a matter of fact, Cruise Mummy is the 7th most popular cruise blog in the world! Besides the recognition from the Wave Award, Cruise Mummy has been quoted in USA Today, Cruise Critic, Yahoo, World of Cruising and many more. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Joseph Farcus, Renowned Cruise Ship Designer/Author, Design On the High Seas | 20 Jul 2023 | 01:00:46 | |
This week The Joy of Cruising Podcast, welcomes a special guest. In The Joy of Cruising books, all the passionate cruisers I write about are special—whether they are “ordinary” cruisers with extraordinary stories, or “Googleable” individuals such as TV personalities, Grammy winners and nominees, a Hall of Famer, and UK’s first non-royal, non-celebrity cruise ship Godmother. Today I am honored to welcome one of those Googleable individuals: Joseph Farcus, a veritable legend of cruise ship design, and author of the book, Design On the High Seas. I featured Joe in my new release The Joy of Cruising Again in a section called “The Fun Ships.” Joe’s entrée into the world of cruising was in 1975 when the architectural firm he worked for, Morris Lapidus Associates, was engaged by Carnival Cruise Line to work on its 2nd former liner to add to its Mardi Gras. Morris Lapidus, renowned for its design of Miami’s famed Fontainebleau Hotel, was commissioned to design the ship, which was renamed Carnivale, for its transformation into a cruise ship. Joe oversaw much of the work as the project manager on board at the shipyard and designed Carnivale’s theater. By the time Carnival purchased its 3rd ship, a passenger/cargo ship that would become the Festivale, Joe had left Morris Lapidus. Joe approached Ted Arison, founder and CEO of Carnival, in an effort to obtain his first contract as an independent architect. Joe eventually got the contract to design Festivale, and it was a massive success, positioning the Fun Ships to launch their first build of a new ship, the Tropicale. Joe landed the contract to design the Tropicale and went on to design the next 30 Carnival ships. In 2000, he also began designing for Costa Cruises, Carnival’s Italian subsidiary and designed 11 ships for them. Joe’s last ship where he led the design for a Carnival ship was the Magic in 2011. He designed the Costa Diadema in 2014 before retiring later that year. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Mr. Scott Eddy, One of the World's Most Popular Travel Influencers | 13 Jul 2023 | 00:37:51 | |
This week The Joy of Cruising Podcast is delighted to welcome Scott Eddy. I wrote about Scott in Cruising Interrupted amzn.to/3seFU8y in a section called "The Globetrotters." And a globetrotter Scott is, whether by land or sea or literally—it’s on his website and social media: Innovator—Trendsetter—Globetrotter. And, Scott is the television host for the first travel series ever on LifetimeTV, called Video Globetrotter. @MrScottEddy, as he is known on social media where he is among the world’s most popular travel personalities, has taken somewhat of a circuitous route to arrive at his current designation as one of the top travel influencers in the world. A Forbes Magazine profile stated that Scott Eddy “is consistently rated as one of the top five luxury travel influencers in the world.” Yet, travel wasn’t even Scott’s first career, although he traveled quite a bit with his family in his youth. Before travel, he found success in financial services as a stockbroker. But if not for a tragic twist of fate Scott would have ended up in neither investments nor travel, but as a police officer. Scott has over 100 cruises but he transcends cruising. He is a top tier hospitality and travel brand ambassador and influencer. He lives in south Florida but from following his whereabouts on his social media you’re as likely to find him anywhere in the world—abroad or in the US—on a given day.
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| Sometimes Sailing | 06 Jul 2023 | 01:00:57 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Mikkel and Dan Woodruff, known in the cruise blogosphere as Sometimes Sailing. Specializing in small ship sailing and ship within-a-ship concepts such as Celebrity Cruises The Retreat, Norwegian Haven, and Princess MedallionClass, Sometimes Sailing is featured in my new release, The Joy Of Cruising Again amzn.to/3lAfyON in a section called “Cruise Bloggers, Vloggers, and Content Creators.” They also have a companion blog which predated Sometimes Sailing called Sometimes Home. From their website: Sometimes Home grew out of a deep passion for exploring the world and wanting to share it with you while maintaining a home base. We write about travel in the United States and internationally as adults, only, on a mid-size to luxury budget. We also share tips about our home because we take care of it while we travel (plants included). And when we’re home, we love our cozy nest. We’re often away. And we’re sometimes home. While Mikkel and Dan Woodruff chronicled their extensive travel--local as well as international--on Sometimes Home, during the cruise lockdown they launched Sometimes Sailing to specifically focus on small-ship sailing. On the podcast we discuss barge cruising, yacht cruising, river cruising and ship-within-a-ship experiences on large cruise ships. They are particularly knowledgeable about river cruising, which has long been on my bucket list. When I interviewed them for The Joy Of Cruising Again we focused substantially on river cruising. It's a fun read, but be forewarned: I booked my first river cruise for August 2024 on AmaKristina shortly thereafter!
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| Paul & Carole Love to Travel | 29 Jun 2023 | 00:39:28 | |
This week The Joy of Cruising Podcast is delighted to welcome Paul and Carole of Paul and Carole Love to Travel, a blog and accompanying YouTube channel, one of the leading UK cruise sources. I like to say to the cruise personalities I write about in the The Joy of Cruising books that we are forever connected—many years from now their friends and relatives will be able to read about them in a book written by me. Well, Paul and Carole and I are doubly connected because they are one of the very few cruise personalities that have been featured in more than one book. They first appeared in The Joy of Cruising in a chapter called “Cuba Cruising”, which chronicled the experience of three diverse couples—two from the US, and Paul and Carole from the UK—cruising to Cuba prior to Cuba being cut off as a destination for US travelers. So, it’s still on my bucket list. I had a lot of fun interacting with Paul and Carole in the writing of Cuba Cruising. When they talked about their bar crawl in Havana, I felt like I was on it with them. In the ensuing months, every time I saw photos or videos of Paul and Carole I would smile—they just exuded fun and always seemed to be having a good time. When I decided to write a follow-up, Cruising Interrupted, I included a section, “The Passionate Cruisers of The Joy of Cruising...What Are They Up To Now” and I reconnected with Paul and Carole. It was again a lot of fun, and I am delighted to once again reconnect with them on The Joy of Cruising Podcast . Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Bob and Holly, Innocents Abroad | 26 Aug 2024 | 01:06:12 | |
Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome San Diego’s Bob and Holly, creators in 2020 of Innocents Abroad, YouTube channel, Facebook group and page, and Instagram platform. Their goal is to grow appreciation for discovery, diversity and conversation about travel, with a concentrated focus on cruising. Bob and Holly note that, “Engaging with other cultures is no small thing to us—breaking down cultural barriers is what drives our travel…” To underscore that, their catchphrase, which I love is—an optimistic outlook of humanity through travel and exposure to other cultures. On their channel Innocents Abroad is serious about their craft. Their style is visual storytelling; cinematography of very high quality, combined with choregraphed audio, and historical facts. How a film looks and sounds is very important to them. Journalistic integrity is of utmost importance to them. They emphasize that every cruise and land trip has been and will be out of their own pocket without exception. (They wouldn’t even accept free WIFI to facilitate their vlogging about their travels.) Bob and Holly have an amazing cruise background. 61 cruises to-date including very high-end cruise lines, with plenty more booked. In fact, what motivated me to reach out to Innocents Abroad—Bob and I are friends and followers on social media—he posted that he and Holly were on a 120-day (!) grand tour of cruising in Europe and a wee bit in the Caribbean. They just arrived home, and I am delighted to bring Bob and Holly to the listeners. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Jason Venner, Cruise Entertainment Producer, Director, Creator, MC Extraordinaire! | 26 Jun 2023 | 01:13:22 | |
This week The Joy of Cruising Podcast is delighted to welcome MC Extraordinaire Jason Venner. In a section called "Specialty Cruising: Fun and Quirky," I wrote about Jason in Cruising Interrupted—Cruise Entertainment Producer, Director, Creator, MC Extraordinaire! Jason Venner has spent essentially his entire adult life in the cruise world, mostly in a variety of cruise music and entertainment capacities. In other words, bringing the fun! Jason got his start in cruising in 2002 as a DJ with Holland America Line (HAL), a high-end cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation. At HAL, Jason progressed through the ranks from a DJ to over 10 years as a Cruise Director, to Corporate Trainer, to three years as Producer and Host of the joint ABC/BBC HAL production, Dancing with the Stars: At Sea. Since 2015, Jason has been self-employed as a Producer, Director, and Host of full-ship music charter cruises, primarily in partnership with StarVista LIVE, a leading theme cruise operator. For StarVista LIVE, Jason hosts the following annual cruises, each of which features scores of legendary performers as well as comedians, activities, and ship décor in keeping with the musical genre: Malt Shop Memories Cruise; Soul Train Cruise; The Country Music Cruise; Flower Power Cruise; Ultimate Disco Cruise, and more. The hundreds of entertainers Jason has introduced, interviewed, escorted, and accompanied include Smokey Robinson, Frankie Avalon, Kenny Rogers, Charley Pride, Chubby Checker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Beach Boys, Earth, Wind & Fire, and The Temptations. “It’s crazy to be on a first-name basis with the legends of the music industry.” Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| The Disney Cruise Line Blog | 22 Jun 2023 | 00:39:05 | |
This week The Joy of Cruising Podcast is delighted to welcome Scott Sanders, creator of The Disney Cruise Line Blog. My first involvement with Scott was when I featured him in The Joy of Cruising in a section called “Cruise Bloggers: The Reader’s Choice” comprised of finalists and winners in the 10best Readers’ Choice Best Cruise Blogger, sponsored by USA Today. Scott won for The Disney Cruise Line Blog. Since 2012, The Disney Cruise Line Blog and accompanying podcast has been an unofficial source of Disney Cruise Line news and information and a place where fans can share Disney cruise experiences. I have told the various individuals I’ve featured in The Joy of Cruising books that we are forever connected. Many years from now a reader will pick up a book written by me and featuring them. Well, Scott and I share a special bond. In addition to The Joy of Cruising feature, Scott’s photo of Disney Magic against the midnight sun in Reykjavik, Iceland is on the cover of my new book The Joy of Cruising Again! When I included the photo and its backstory in The Joy of Cruising five years ago, I told Scott it was the most stunning cruise ship photo I had seen. Little did I know it would become an indelible part of my writing journey years later. Scott lives with his wife Emily, and daughter Isabelle in Celebration, Florida, known as “the community Disney built.” Celebration is five miles from Disney World and was originally developed by the Walt Disney company. Scott and Emily were married in a Disney wedding at Walt Disney World Resort. Half of their honeymoon was at Disney World, and the other half on Disney Wonder. He was destined to create The Disney Cruise Line Blog! Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Royal Caribbean Blog | 15 Jun 2023 | 00:39:37 | |
This week The Joy of Cruising Podcast is delighted to welcome Matt Hochberg, creator of the Royal Caribbean Blog. My first direct involvement with Matt was when I featured him in The Joy of Cruising in a section called “Cruise Bloggers: The Readers’ Choice” comprised of finalists and winners in the 10best Readers’ Choice Best Cruise Blogger, sponsored by USA Today. Matt won for the Royal Caribbean Blog. Royal Caribbean Blog originated in 2010 and the accompanying podcast is now up to 500 episodes, and today is indisputably the leading unofficial source for all things Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. To say Matt dominates his space is an understatement. The Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube channel is the second most popular cruise channel in the world, with 235,000 subscribers, its blog is the third most visited in the world and the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is a consensus top three in the world—all the more amazing when you consider Royal Caribbean Blog exclusively covers a single cruise line. How popular, and influential is Matt’s brand: search “Royal Caribbean” and one of the top results—the first result after Royal Caribbean Cruise Line will be Matt’s blog. He has become almost synonymous with the cruise line! I mentioned my first direct involvement with Matt was his inclusion in The Joy of Cruising. However, I became really familiar with Matt well prior to that. After sailing my first cruise ever on Royal Caribbean Sovereign of the Seas—the world’s largest ship in 1988, I got hooked and sailed many cruises in the ensuing years, but I didn’t return to Royal for 30 years. Then I booked Anthem of the Seas in 2018 (which turned out to be the genesis of The Joy of Cruising series). Matt’s podcast was the first stop for my research! Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| The Jenn Danielle Experience: Reflections On Virgin Voyages | 12 Jun 2023 | 00:46:33 | |
I am delighted to welcome to The Joy of Cruising Podcast, The Jenn Danielle, who I could refer to as a social media star, leading solo travel content creator, influencer, brand ambassador, or vlogger! I’ll refer to her as Jennifer, and ask her to share her insight into a topic of immense curiosity to passionate cruisers like our listeners: critically acclaimed, rapidly growing, and yet a mystery to most cruisers—cruising on Virgin Voyages. In the three books comprising The Joy of Cruising Trilogy, I have had little content regarding Virgin Voyages. When the 1st book The Joy of Cruising was published early 2019, cruisers hadn’t heard of the line yet. The new release The Joy of Cruising Again, was startedwhen the cruise world was in a state of suspended animation, although I said this in the introductory section: I’m intrigued by Virgin Voyages; the upstart cruise line jettisoned two cruising institutions—buffets and, wait for it…kids! I got into travel at all-inclusive resorts where buffets were the “entry drug” that led me to try cruising. At first, I was put off by the prospect of no buffets. After COVID-19, buffets are no longer as significant a part of the cruise experience for me. Virgin’s no kids policy also gave me pause. Before the pandemic, I almost always cruised with my granddaughter. And as a young adult I grew up in cruising by taking my young daughters with me. So, it’s definitely a new passenger experience for me. Later in the book after cruising had restarted, I featured UK cruise writer legend Dave Monk (Shipmonk) whose photo at the naming of Scarlet Lady showing Richard Branson dancing on the table to Rihanna, was front page in UK. By the way, Shipmonk will be my guest on The Joy of Cruising Podcast in August. Now, Virgin Voyages, whose Scarlet Lady was named Best New Cruise Ship in 2021 at the Cruise Critic Awards, dominated the Ocean Cruising category of the 2022 Cruise Critics Editors Picks Award (Best Dining; Best Nightlife; Best for LGBQT+ Travelers). We are booked on Scarlet Lady, interest in the unique cruise line is sky high, and there’s no one better to share her perspective on Virgin Voyages than The Jenn Danielle! Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Eat Sleep Cruise | 08 Jun 2023 | 00:38:30 | |
Today on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome Donald and Heidi Bucolo, the creators of the popular and highly influential Eat Sleep Cruise, an award-winning blog. Eat Sleep Cruise was selected by Porthole Cruise Magazine to its list of the top 10 Cruise Influencers of 2019. Eat Sleep Cruise has been quoted regularly in places like Forbes, CNBC, AARP magazine, and Porthole Cruise Magazine. Eat Sleep Cruise was featured in my second book Cruising Interrupted amzn.to/3seFU8y in a section called Bloggers: Cruise Community Champions. Eat Sleep Cruise brings a very comprehensive and diverse perspective to the cruise conversation. Don and Heidi have sailed all the major mega-ships; they tend to try out every major new ship that is launched; and, they also have also sailed on more intimate vessels to unique destinations like the high-end Viking Ocean Cruises, and Windstar Cruises. They have sailed throughout the Caribbean and Bahamas, Alaska, Hawaii, Cuba, Bermuda, Ireland, Iceland, and Northern Europe and have experienced bucket list excursions like helicopter tours in both Alaska and Hawaii; a glacier walk in Alaska, exploring Chacchoben Mayan Ruins in Costa Maya, Mexico; a stop in St. Petersburg, Russia where they visited the Hermitage Museum and attended the Russian Ballet; Berlin where Heidi and Don saw the Berlin Cathedral, the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, and visited the remnants of the Berlin Wall; the Game of Thrones tour on a visit to Northern Ireland. And, they have visited some of the world’s best beaches including Horseshoe Bay Beach in Bermuda, Eagle Beach in Aruba, Waikiki Beach in Oahu, White Bay Beach in Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, and the Baths at Virgin Gorda. I could go on and on, but i just wanted to provide you a sense for what you can learn about by visiting the Eat Sleep Cruise blog and YouTube channel. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Mother's Day: A Daughter's Love Letter, The Today Show, and Alaska Cruise On Holland America Line | 05 Jun 2023 | 00:57:14 | |
On this bonus episode of The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Stephanie and her mom, Marineda. A few weeks ago I did a fun episode called The Godmother and referred to it as a modern-day fairy tale. Well, I just learned of another modern-day fairy tale—a sweet Mother's Day oriented tale that I would have found compelling in and of itself. What made it extra special for me was when I clicked on a Holland America Line blog post, I recognized in the accompanying photo of Stephanie and Marineda, that I knew Marineda from when we worked together in Florida where I lived for nine years. And, we were Facebook friends. When I read the post, some other considerations made me that much more interested in their story. First of all, Marineda and I both grew up in Brooklyn, and moved to Long Island, NY. The blog post discussed a Holland American Line Westerdam cruise to Alaska that Stephanie and her mom sailed. We recently did a podcast episode, Fire & Ice, which detailed our own cruise to Alaska in May so I couldn’t wait to compare and contrast Alaska experiences with them. Stephanie and Marineda’s Westerdam cruise was the result of a touching letter Stephanie sent to the NBC Today Show about her relationship with her mom in response to a Mother’s Day Brunch challenge. Perhaps most amazingly, I learned from the blog post that Marineda was 88–which means we worked together when Marineda was 85! I’d have never guessed that! I am so appreciative they agreed to share such a beautiful story with the listeners of The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Cruise Ship Diaries | 01 Jun 2023 | 01:16:23 | |
The Joy of Cruising Podcast welcomes to this week's episode, Neil Gregory who kept, and continues to update a diary of his time working as a videographer on several ships for Princess Cruises. His story is real, raucous and laugh-out-loud funny! Cruise Ship Diaries was featured in the just released The Joy of Cruising Again amzn.to/3lAfyON Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Cameo Rascale, Internationally Acclaimed Acrobatic, Comedy Juggling Act | 29 May 2023 | 00:32:12 | |
On this bonus episode of The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome James and Rebecca, who are the embodiment of Cameo Rascale, internationally acclaimed circus variety act dazzling audiences across the globe! We experienced this dynamic husband and wife duo performing exciting acrobatics, mesmerising juggling and quick-witted comedy on our recent bucket list 16-day cruise from Hawaii to Alaska. On the second day of the cruise I saw that the headliner in the theater was a juggler. Jugglers are always a lot of fun, and if you listened to Episode Two featuring Ilana of Life Well Cruised, you might recall her being asked to toss the bowling pin to the juggler and she almost hit him in the head with it (the video of that is in episode two's show notes.) I thought perhaps this juggler was the same one. Well, it turned out this juggling act, Cameo Rascale was unlike any I had ever seen. First of all, as mentioned it was a married couple. James did all the amazing things jugglers do, including juggling axes, knives, and bowling balls. But the acrobatics, dance, and humorous interplay with Rebecca added a unique dimension. We were spellbound, and laughing the entire show. And at the end of the show, we were excited when James mentioned they would be performing an entirely different show later in the cruise, which we made sure to get better seats for and had as much fun or more than the first performance. I am so appreciative they agreed to be on The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Cruising's Young and Restless: Sparkx | 25 May 2023 | 00:34:10 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Marcus Adams of the website Sparkx. Marcus is a 30-something leading UK-based blogger and travel writer who is passionate about cruising.Marcus is a sought-after cruise expert, and he writes for and contributes to several publications and websites in UK and the USA, such as Porthole Cruise Magazine, Huffington Post, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, and CNN. Marcus has also been a featured contributor for Cruise International Magazine, specializing in LGBTQ travel.I featured Marcus in The Joy of Cruising in a section called “Cruising’s Young and Restless” which focused on up-and-coming millennials making their mark in cruising. Marcus is still doing great things in cruising, and it is so good to chat with him again. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Fire & Ice: Reflections of 16-Day Hawaii to Alaska Cruise On NCL Spirit | 22 May 2023 | 00:28:32 | |
Fire & Ice refers to our late April/early May 16-day cruise on Norwegian Spirit to the dual bucket list destinations of the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska. This episode shares our reflections of this unique cruise. Would we recommend it? I learned of this cruise several months ago when I interviewed Professor Cruise, a leading cruise blogger and Alaska expert, for a feature I was writing about her in The Joy of Cruising Again. Professor Cruise who also goes by Sarah, had just returned from this same cruise and I was amazed that such a cruise existed—especially given that it contained two destinations that were on my bucket list. In fact, on episode #12 Professor Cruise, which aired a couple of days before we flew to Honolulu, I thought it would be fitting to have Sarah on the show. When Sarah first told me about the Fire & Ice cruise, I thought “What a wonderful way to check off two bucket list destinations in one trip.” However, I knew that convincing my wife was not going to be easy. She is not quite as cruising addicted as I am, and this was a more costly cruise than what we typically spend. Not the most money we’ve spent on a cruise but certainly significantly higher than our average cruise expenditure. So, I figured perhaps we could do it in a couple of years. And then an opportunity presented itself! Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| John the Wanderer | 22 Aug 2024 | 01:14:42 | |
Hello, passionate cruisers! I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, John Perri, creator of the John the Wanderer blog, Facebook Page and Instagram. John is a consummate cruise aficionado. He notes “There is something about being on the ocean that is such an awesome experience. Plus having all the food and entertainment included and in one place makes for an awesome vacation. You can’t go wrong with going on a cruise.” Since childhood, he has loved anything to do with travel, and would get cruise brochures and plan trips for his family. To his parent’s amazement he would research destinations and pick the right room on the ship as well as what to do while the family visited the ports. Fast forward to today, John works as a travel advisor and still loves planning trips and hopping on an ship and being whisked off to a tropical destination.
I teasingly use the analogy of Superman when discussing John. Most of the time he is a mild-mannered travel agent where he can help his clients plan an amazing cruise or land vacation and experience all the fun that he does when he travels, but at other times he becomes John the Wanderer, the super cruiser. For instance, when I first reached out to John we couldn’t schedule a conversation because he was headed to the inaugural cruise for the new Margaritaville at Sea Islander, noting almost apologetically, “I’m not a parrot head or anything, I normally do more luxury cruises like Celebrity, Explora Journeys.” I told him that’s ok—I want to talk about those other lines too. But he would be the 1st to give listeners a report on the Islander. Shortly after Islander, John was also going on Celebrity Beyond a week later for the President’s Cruise, so I definitely wanted to wait so we could have our conversation until after he returned. Then I found out he was about to sail the new Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas, the world’s second largest ship. So we deferred our conversation again because I had to hear about that. No wonder he is known as John the Wanderer. Celebrity Cruises: $150 Onboard Credit for any 6 night or longer Balcony or higher cabin for any sailing in 2024. Royal Caribbean: Onboard credit offer up to $150 (Varies depending on the type of room) Contact me: john@johnthewanderer.com Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| DCL Duo | 18 May 2023 | 01:09:00 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Sam and Brian of DCL Duo podcast. Their impressive website describes them as follows: "The DCL Duo podcast is a Disney Cruise Line-focused podcast, with occasional detours into general cruising and Disney topics. We’re fans of the Disney parks, Adventures By Disney, Run Disney and Disney Vacation Club." Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| A Rich and Jazzy Life | 11 May 2023 | 00:53:46 | |
The Joy of Cruising Podcast is delighted to welcome Rich and Jasmine Ranmarine, the creators of one of the most popular YouTube channels in the world, A Rich and Jazzy Life, along with their highly influential private Facebook group, the 57,000 member Melanin At Sea. A Rich and Jazzy Life was featured in my new book The Joy of Cruising Podcast Again in a section called The Cruise Communicators. Of course, A Rich and Jazzy Life is a play on Rich and Jasmine’s names. I didn’t know that when it showed up in my search results on YouTube, after I searched for Carnival Mardi Gras, which I had just booked for my granddaughter's 13th birthday celebration. Despite seeing some search results, I was familiar with, I clicked on the one I wasn’t familiar with. The name, A Rich and Jazzy Life, evoked style and glitz, and I was curious. Well the style and glitz was off the chart, the visuals were compelling including a well-dressed, beautiful family comprised of Rich, Jasmine, and their daughters Reign and Royce--that always wore matching outfits-- and the review was substantive. I became a loyal fan with that introduction to A Rich and Jazzy Life and proceeded to gorge on their video catalog. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| The Godmother | 04 May 2023 | 00:55:55 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Elizabeth Hill. Two queens, a convicted felon, and a schoolteacher board a cruise ship.... Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. This is no joke, however; these four individuals are, respectively, the Queen of England, Queen Latifa, the iconic, and Snoops good friend, Martha Stewart, and my guest today Elizabeth Hill—all Godmothers of cruise ships. Cruise ship Godmothers perform the task of christening a new cruise ship, ceremonially naming the ship marked by the smashing of a bottle of champagne against the ship hull. Cruise ship “Godparents” are usually women, even animated ones like Tinkerbell who was named Godmother to Disney Cruise Line’s Wonder—although rapper Pitbull was selected as Godfather of Norwegian Escape. The notion of a ship godmother had its origins hundreds of years ago where ceremonial launching of seagoing vessels took place in various forms, either celebratory or religious, depending on local custom, but generally to bestow the ship and crew with well-wishes and safe travels. Usually, celebrities are chosen as godmothers, such as Oprah, Helen Mirren, Dame Judi Dench, Whoopi, Reba McEntire, Jennifer Hudson, Mariah Carey, J-Lo and Simone Biles. And then there is Godmother Elizabeth, who you probably never heard of. I wrote about her story in The Joy of Cruising and called it a ‘Modern Day Fairy Tale.’ Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Emma Cruises | 27 Apr 2023 | 00:24:37 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Emma, of Emma Cruises a blog and accompanying YouTube channel, which is one of the most popular cruise channels worldwide. As mentioned, I like to say to the cruise personalities I write about in the books that we are forever connected—many years from now their friends and relatives will be able to read about them in a book written by me. Well, Emma and I are doubly connected because she one of the very few cruise bloggers or cruise personalities that have been featured in more than one book in The Joy of Cruising Trilogy . Emma first appeared in The Joy of Cruising when I featured her after the then 23 year-old part-time blogger shocked the UK cruise community by winning UK’s Wave Award for Favorite Cruise Blogger for Cruising Isn’t Just for Old People. I featured the 28 year-old Emma in The Joy of Cruising Again after she transformed herself into Emma Cruises a full-time global cruising personality. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Professor Cruise | 20 Apr 2023 | 00:36:21 | |
This week on The Joy Of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Sarah, known in the cruise blogosphere as Professor Cruise. And yes, she really is a professor (she has a PhD in psychology.) Sarah no longer teaches for a university—but she is still holding class online—cruisers are her students. Check her blog out because I guarantee you’ll learn an lot about cruising in general, as well as for your upcoming cruise—like what are the menus on every restaurant on a particular ship. Professor Cruise is featured in my new release, The Joy Of Cruising Again in a section called “Cruise Bloggers, Vloggers, And Content Creators.” The name of her feature of course, is Professor Cruise. I could have subtitled it though, as Professor Alaska. For one thing, my interviews with her for the book took place over a couple of months, because she was constantly cruising, and seemingly was in Alaska every few weeks. How much does Alaska appeal to Professor Cruise? Well, she relocated to Seattle from the northeast because of her attraction to cruising to Alaska. And oh, she overlooks the pier from her apartment. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Card Player Cruises featuring Poker Hall of Famer/The First Lady of Poker, Linda Johnson | 13 Apr 2023 | 00:24:57 | |
This week The Joy of Cruising Podcast is honored to welcome Linda Johnson of Card Player Cruises, a leading theme cruise operator that for the past 30 years has specialized in partial- and full-ship chartered poker cruises. Card Player Cruises has hosted over 200 poker cruises and well over 50,000 passengers--from beginners to a virtual who's who of professional poker. Linda Johnson was the second woman inducted into The Poker Hall of Fame, and is universally known in the world poker community as The First Lady of Poker. Linda and Card Player Cruises was featured in The Joy of Cruising in the section, Theme Cruising: Two Passions In One. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Lucy Williams, The Traveling Wife Cruising Around the World | 06 Apr 2023 | 00:39:51 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Lucy Williams. Lucy was in The Joy of Cruising in a section called The Influencers, as The Traveling Wife Cruising Around the World. As you might expect, my interest was immediately piqued when I came across her catchily titled blog. It turned out that The Traveling Wife Cruising Around the World was much more than just a catchy tagline for Lucy. It literally was a way of life for her by virtue of the fact that Lucy—a former cruise ship employee—was the spouse of a cruise ship officer, and she cruised with him full time. In her thirties, as a “traveling wife” Lucy has been on over 60 cruises totaling approximately 600 days and has visited over 80 countries. Amazing right? Well, that has just been since 2015 when Lucy started cruising as a traveling wife; It doesn’t include the hundreds of cruises and destinations Lucy experienced as a crew member—so many that she doesn’t remember her first as a 24-year-old jewelry shop hostess Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Dana Freeman Travels | 30 Mar 2023 | 00:31:31 | |
Dana Freeman of Dana Freeman Travels, is Vermont-based. Dana got her start in travel focusing on Vermont area staycations. Today, Dana is a world traveler in every sense—she is one of several featured in The Joy of Cruising Trilogy who transcend cruising—travel icons who cruise. When Dana cruises, she focuses on small ship and luxury cruising. Dana is a highly demanded freelance travel writer.
I featured Dana in The Joy of Cruising in a section called The Influencers. I reached out her when writing the book in 2018, as Dana was named one of the “10 Travel Influencers Changing How We Vacation” by Porthole Cruise Magazine, and one of the “30 Bloggers and Travelers to Follow for Summer Vacation Advice” by Travel Pulse. The title of Dana’s feature in The Joy of Cruising is "Dana Freeman Travels: Cruising With Grandma." Dana’s passion for travel, particularly cruising, can be traced directly to her grandmother. "Cruising With Grandma" is the most poignant story I featured in The Joy of Cruising Trilogy; yet it is joyous—highlighted by 95-year-old gran kayaking in Costa Rica. I suspect some tears were shed as "Cruising With Grandma" was read. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Billy D. Washington, Stand-Up Comedian On Cruise Ships | 27 Mar 2023 | 00:58:09 | |
On this bonus episode of The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Comedian Billy D. Washington. Those of you who have cruised Carnival, specifically the beautiful new Mardi Gras or Celebration have likely seen him late-night in Punchliners, or with your kids at the family-friendly show. We took my granddaughter on Mardi Gras for her 13th birthday; we watched Billy D at the family-friendly show—on more than one occasion. And, we watched every version of Billy D’s uncensored sets in Punchliners. He was hilarious, and what set him apart was his delivery, timing, and total unpredictability—he took funny stories in directions I totally did not expect. He killed! I have always been interested in the entertainment aspect of the cruise experience, especially music and stand-up comedy. In The Joy of Cruising, I included a section called “Performing On the Ocean.” And then when we cruised Mardi Gras, with 4 comedians—a first for me in my cruising experience—I was fortunate to be introduced to Billy D. Washington. They were all funny. Billy D. distinguished himself from the others by interspersing music, by way of a keyboard—and he was very good at it. Lastly, he had a unique, and impressive, background—appearances on HBO; Comedy Central; and was a regular host on VH1. And he once had a career in law enforcement. A funny and thought-provoking conversation. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| The Legendary Manny Kellough | 23 Mar 2023 | 00:40:08 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome The Legendary Manny Kellough. Legendary? At 17 Manny played drums with Ray Charles; later Barry White, Carmen McCrae, The Main Ingredient, Freddie Hubbard, The Rolling Stones (Goat's Head Soup Tour), Quincy Jones (Sanford & Son Theme Song), Billy Preston (Grammy, and 4 gold records) and Larry Graham and Graham Central Station. Manny set up the jazz program on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Currently he appears with his ensemble on Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas, and also is a guest musician on Virgin Voyages. An amazing gentleman and a great conversation! Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Jones Getaways, Soulful Epicurean French River Cruise on AmaKristina | 19 Aug 2024 | 01:15:54 | |
Hello, passionate cruisers! I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Nikki and Tommie Jones. As regular listeners and readers of any of The Joy of Cruising books know, among passionate cruise celebrities, musicians, performers, CEOs, or global cruise personalities, we feature “ordinary” cruisers with extraordinary cruise stories. If this podcast was video, you would see me put air quotes around “ordinary” because there is nothing ordinary about Nikki and Tommie, as you will learn. But what I mean is like I have done from time-to-time, I encountered Nikki and Tommie by happenstance in one of the many social media cruising groups I am a part of. And as I am wont to do when I see a cruiser sharing reflections, photos, and videos about some bucket list cruise they experienced, I reached out to them and invited them on the podcast to share with the cruise community. I had extra motivation to request the Jones’ to be on the show—I “met” them on an AmaWaterways FB group—and this bucket list cruise they experienced—the Soulful Epicurean French River Cruise on AmaKristina is at the top of my bucket list and booked! When this podcast episode releases, Cheryl and I will be enroute to France.
Nikki and Tommie are passionate cruisers who are happily married and headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. They are retired U.S. Army Veterans with more than 50 years of combined active-duty service. Nikki served for 20 years, and Tommie served for 30 years. ‘Thank you for your service! They are the owners of Jones Getaways by Dream Vacations. With more than 5 years as Certified Travel Advisors, travel is their life, and their goal is to help people experience the amazing of the world through travel. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| In The Loop Travel | 16 Mar 2023 | 00:25:00 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome John Roberts the embodiment of In The Loop Travel. I featured John and In The Loop Travel in Cruising Interrupted in a section called The Globetrotters, which focused on world travelers who transcend cruising. John is a consummate cruiser, however. He has sailed 120 cruises and has a wide breadth of cruising experience, from mega-ships to luxury craft to expedition cruises to Antarctica. Whenever I am close to booking a ship—and I wish it were one of the luxury vessels John vlogs about—I first check to see if John has a review up. And he always does. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Joe Church: Marathoner of the Seas | 09 Mar 2023 | 00:35:48 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Joe Church, a truly amazing story and reader favorite. In The Joy of Cruising. I dubbed Joe the Marathoner of the Seas, and told his unique story of how 70-something Joe runs a marathon distance, 26.2 miles, on every Royal Caribbean ship—beginning with Liberty of the Seas in 2008, not only his first marathon distance on a ship, but his first cruise—through to Royal’s newest, the largest ship in the world, Wonder of the Seas just a few weeks ago. Joe was also featured in the second book, Cruising Interrupted—his story is evergreen—as long as Royal builds new ships, Joe says he going to run a marathon distance on them. As fascinating as that is, there is a lot more to Joe than running on ships. He ran in the NYC Marathon a couple years ago; he has run marathons on every continent, 63 countries, and in every state in the US—well over 25,000-miles since running his first marathon in only 2005. Joe is a man of three passions: cruising, running, and oh, he is an ardent bird watcher who traveled the world birdwatching long before his first cruise. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Quirky Cruise | 02 Mar 2023 | 00:36:49 | |
Quirky Cruise was featured in Cruising Interrupted in a section called “Specialty Cruising: Fun and Quirky.” I have had conversations with cruisers who have gone on over one hundred cruises but have never experienced a cruise on a non-traditional cruise ship; that is, a small ship designed to hold 300 or fewer passengers; some low double digits, even single digits! These small ships can range from spartan to ultra-luxury, and because of their size and design can access destinations that mainstream cruise ships cannot. Quirky Cruise's slogan is “travel without the crowds.” Quirky Cruise is the source for reviews, news, and round-ups about unusual and small-ship cruises under 300 passengers, from river boats to canal barges, sailing ships, coastal cruisers, and expedition vessels. Heidi Sarna and Ted Scull created Quirky Cruise because they love small-ship cruising and want to share what they know and have experienced with others who also like traveling on small, intimate vessels. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Vincent Ingala: Performing On Theme Cruises | 23 Feb 2023 | 00:38:47 | |
The Joy of Cruising Podcast welcomes contemporary jazz star Vincent Ingala to the show. One of the fastest emerging contemporary jazz recording artists in recent history, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer, Vincent Ingala has blasted into an exciting stratosphere. Still in his twenties, the charismatic saxophonist has been named Billboard Smooth Jazz Artist of the Year in 2012, Sirius XM Watercolors breakthrough artist of the year in 2013, and his music is consistently found atop the most noteworthy music charts in the world, including nine number one hits on the billboard smooth jazz chart, and twenty one singles in the billboard smooth jazz top 10. In The Joy of Cruising, I wrote extensively about theme cruising in a section called Theme Cruising: Two Passions In One, and another section called, Performing On the Ocean. I am delighted to welcome Vincent Ingala to talk about theme cruising from the performer’s perspective.
Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Life Well Cruised | 16 Feb 2023 | 00:26:55 | |
A conversation with Ilana of Life Well Cruised, a massively successful cruise blog, YouTube channel, and influential FaceBook community. Life Well Cruised was featured in the second book of The Joy of Cruising Trilogy—Cruising Interrupted www.amazon.com/Cruising-Interrupted-follow-up-formerly-known/dp/1098344650/ in the section, Bloggers: Cruise Community Champions. Ilana and Life Well Cruised are certainly Cruise Community Champions to its almost 200,000 fans. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Cruise Tips TV | 09 Feb 2023 | 00:31:35 | |
Sheri of Cruise Tips TV is one of the most popular cruise influencers and content creators on social media, and is often called upon to represent the perspective of cruisers in mainstream media. Cruise Tips TV was featured in both The Joy of Cruising amzn.to/2EAMddF and Cruising Interrupted amzn.to/3seFU8y, and when I wanted to get quotes to include in the new book, The Joy of Cruising Again amzn.to/3lAfyON, from cruise community leaders following the restart Sheri is one of the first I turned to. Sheri is a welcome and ideal first guest, always full of valuable cruising insights. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| The Joy of Cruising Podcast Introduction | 03 Feb 2023 | 00:08:01 | |
Paul C. Thornton, author of The Joy of Cruising Trilogy—The Joy of Cruising, Cruising Interrupted, and new release, The Joy of Cruising Again introduces The Joy of Cruising Podcast—a weekly conversation with one of the amazing cruisers with fascinating stories featured in The Joy of Cruising Trilogy. Paul highlights the amazing diversity of the books in terms of where the various cruise personalities he writes about are from in the world, their age range, and their fascinating stories about cruising from the perspective of celebrities, to “ordinary” cruisers doing extraordinary things! Paul emphasizes this is the last time you'll hear just him, and mentions some of the podcast guests in upcoming weeks Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Cruise Cotterill | 15 Aug 2024 | 01:10:22 | |
Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome UK’s Harry Cotterill, cruise blogger and artist from Cruise Cotterill. The Cruise Cotterill brand was launched in 2015 and since then Harry's talent for producing one-of-a-kind drawings of the world's cruise ships and other craft has become increasingly talked about around the world. Cruise Cotterill is nominated for cruise awards year after year; he has been shortlisted for the UK Wave Award and is again nominated in 2024.
To date, Harry's artwork has been presented onboard no less than 100 different ships! He has been commissioned to produce his highly detailed one-of-kind drawings by clients all over the world, as well as cruise lines including Azamara Cruises and Ambassador Cruise Line. His artwork has become so popular he currently has clients securing commissions many months in advance. As a teen, so impressed were his fans and followers that they got together and paid for young Harry's first cruise!
Harry first started drawing ships while he was still in school, where he studied art. His artistic skills only improved over time as he continued to draw. As a teenager, Harry had the ambition to become a naval architect and design his own ships. In May 2009, Harry had his first large-scale drawing presented on board Holland America Line's Eurodam at Harwich International Port. This was to be the first of many more presentations to come. After excelling at college, Harry decided to pursue his passion and aim of setting up his own business, Cruise Cotterill. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Cruise Buoys | 08 Aug 2024 | 01:24:52 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Tristan Roebuck-Trull, Justin Roebuck-Trull, and their son young Josh, a couple from UK and creators of Cruise Buoys, rapidly growing YouTube channel, Instagram platform, blog, and Facebook group.
At https://cruisebuoys.com/: We’re Justin, Tristan, and Josh – the faces behind Cruise Buoys, your new best friends in the vast ocean of cruise travel. Our love story with cruising kicked off in 2019, aboard the majestic P&O Britannia, cruising through the breath-taking Norwegian Fjords. That was it. We were hooked! Fast forward to now, we’ve danced on the decks of MSC Bellissima during a summer dream cruise and have collected memories from P&O, MSC, Costa, Marella, Celebrity Cruises, Virgin Voyages, Cunard, and Princess cruises. And guess what? Our adventure radar is beeping with excitement for our upcoming sails with Royal Caribbean, NCL, and Viking. Oh, and did we mention our mini adventure on Ambassador? Eight hours onboard, but a story for the ages! Why We’re Obsessed with Cruising? It’s simple. Cruising gives us that delicious taste of freedom and exploration we all crave, mixed with a sprinkle of luxury and a whole lot of fun. It’s about waking up to a new horizon every day, indulging in endless culinary delights, and making every moment count. Through our YouTube and Instagram channels, we’re not just sharing our journeys; we’re bringing you into our circle, our family. We’re here to spill the beans on how to make the most out of your cruise, all while keeping it real and fun.
I consider Cruise Bloggers, Vloggers, and Content Creators as Cruise Community Champions and have featured them throughout The Joy of Cruising books and on The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Passionate cruisers like Tristan and Justin epitomize the joy of cruising; they are so passionate about cruising that they want to share it with the world! Plus, I have a special affinity with UK content creators—such a passionate cruise community, and the first person to agree to be featured in my first cruising book, The Joy of Cruising http://amzn.to/2EAMddF, was a UK cruise personality.
I have not previously interacted with Cruise Buoys other than as friends and followers on social media. They have fun videos and have sailed a large diversity of cruise lines in their short time as cruise content creators. So, I am looking forward to getting to know someone who clearly embodies the joy of cruising, and enlarging my circle of cruising community friends, and it is now my pleasure to chat with Justin and Tristan, and to share the story of Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Carol McQuaid, The Illustrated Vagabond | 05 Aug 2024 | 01:08:00 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Carol McQuaid, artist, writer, blogger, world traveler and creator of The Illustrated Vagabond. I am so excited to bring Carol to the listeners of The Joy of Cruising Podcast--the first seafaring artist in over 200 guests featured in The Joy of Cruising books, and The Joy of Cruising Podcast. (In just a few weeks we will follow up with The Joy of Cruising Podcast's first interview of a maritime artist--Cruise Cotterill, who has drawn and displayed onboard over 100 cruise ships.) My interview with Carol McQuaid, aka The Illustrated Vagabond, a seafaring artist who travels the world sketching, painting, and teaching art workshops, was loads of fun and informative.
From www.theillustratedvagabond.com: I love to travel, teach and make art. I’ve been showing in galleries and teaching watercolour painting and printmaking around the globe for a few decades. I’m based in Canada but spend more time on the road than not. I get invited on cruise ships to teach watercolour and printmaking, which gives me a great opportunity to travel the globe. I also do workshops and artist-in-residence experiences. I love to draw, especially on location. It used to be in little sketchbooks, some of which I’d make by hand. Now it’s mostly on my iPad, using Procreate. It’s never about what ends up on the paper or posted on social media. It’s about the act of really observing. It’s a meditation. I love that. The drawings on here are all done by hand with an Apple Pencil, not an app. The writing is also done by an actual human, me. I understand there’s a use for AI, but I hope it doesn’t replace real human creative effort. That would make me sad.
Carol just completed the World Voyage on the Azamara Onward as its onboard art instructor. Apart from her love of cruising, and teaching art to passengers, Carol kept a sketchbook of the entire World Voyage and created a gorgeous fully illustrated book that is about to hit the bookshelves. It’s full of all the top port stops, some good planning info, and lots of fun sketches and stories of life onboard. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Venus, Melanin at Sea, Grand Alaskan Group Cruise on Celebrity Edge | 01 Aug 2024 | 01:08:21 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Venus Anderson who attended Melanin at Sea’s recent group cruise to Alaska on Celebrity Edge and will share her reflections with the listeners. Venus and I are among the 105 thousand members of Melanin at Sea, one of the most influential of the thousands of private cruising discussion groups on Facebook. It is comprised predominately but not exclusively of cruisers or aspiring cruisers of color. Melanin at Sea was created by friends of the show and global cruise personalities, A Rich and Jazzy Life (Richard and Jasmine Ranmarine) who I featured in my newest book, The Joy of Cruising Again amzn.to/3lAfyON and who have been guests on the podcast.
Venus is the moderator of Melanin at Sea. As I read the posts and enjoyed the images coming from Alaska, I recalled my trip there last year, where I fell in love with Alaska, and wished I was on the group cruise (which by the way, Melanin at Sea group cruises are known to be legend!) Plus, it was on Celebrity’s Edge-class; many of the listeners know my favorite ship is another Edge-class sister, Celebrity Beyond. So as soon as Celebrity Edge disembarked, I reached out to Venus and asked her to come back on The Joy of Cruising Podcast and share her reflections with the listeners. I was confident Venus would be a good representative on behalf of Melanin at Sea. Besides serving as moderator, Venus has been a fun guest on The Joy of Cruising Podcast before. From-time-to-time I invite guests I encounter on social media who post a great story and photos about some bucket list cruise that I think the listeners would enjoy hearing about. Last year I invited Venus on to talk about her bucket list holiday cruise with her daughter to Australia—a destination on my bucket list as well as some of the most experienced cruisers I have hosted. Check out Ep 84 Venus’ Sydney, Australia Bucket List Cruise on Carnival Splendor Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Gary Bembridge, Tips for Travellers | 25 Jul 2024 | 01:10:58 | |
This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome back Gary Bembridge, the embodiment of the successful Tips For Travellers blog, podcast, and most notably, YouTube channel. I have to be careful introducing Gary, lest you think of me as being sensationalistic. I’ll just give you one opinion, and one fact about Gary. It is my opinion that Gary is the smartest person out there when it comes to cruising; regardless of what I think, the one fact I will share is Gary is the most followed cruise personality in the world.
I featured Gary and Tips For Travellers in Cruising Interrupted amzn.to/3seFU8y in a section called “The Cruise Communicators.” You can read all about the development and growth of Tips for Travellers in Cruising Interrupted or hear the condensed version when Gary was last on The Joy of Cruising Podcast Episode 49. Today we want to catch up Gary on what has transpired since we last spoke (hint: a lot).
Gary epitomizes the kind of individuals I sought when wrote I began writing the The Joy of Cruising books, and subsequently The Joy of Cruising Podcast—passionate cruisers who act on their passion in fascinating ways. From a businessman who blogged about his travels part-time, to full-time most popular cruise influencer, content creator, and most knowledgeable cruise resource in the world! Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| The Five Foot Traveler | 18 Jul 2024 | 00:48:05 | |
This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Sarah Gallo AKA The Five Foot Traveler. I had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah for a feature in my second cruising book Cruising Interrupted, in a section called The Globetrotters, featuring travelers, passionate cruisers all, who transcend cruising in traversing the globe. The others featured in The Globetrotter—John Robert’s of In the Loop Travel Ep 6, and Mr. Scott Eddy Ep 29—have since been guests on The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Life happens however, and there have been some major developments in Sarah’s already busy life, so we are just now getting the chance to catch up with The Five Foot Traveler.
Sarah Gallo is professionally known as a Destination Marketer and Travel Expert to the many audiences she stands in front of at international travel and hospitality events and symposia. She is a writer, content creator, keynote speaker, and photographer. Sarah is also known as The Five Foot Traveler to the travel blogosphere, her legion of fans on social media, and to the digital marketing world where she reigns among the elite when it comes to travel influencers. Launched in 2013, The Five Foot Traveler specializes in luxury accommodations, adventure activities, and cultural immersion worldwide.
It was fun to interview Sarah for Cruising Interrupted, especially that time about a major cruise line hiring Sarah to do a marketing campaign where she got to sample each of the line’s Caribbean excursions. Sarah was featured in a series of destination excursions commercials to be shown on the ship’s television for a major cruise line. She got the opportunity to do every excursion available from swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman, to bobsledding in Jamaica (4000-foot sled coaster ride down a mountain and through a rainforest), to snorkeling in Cozumel, to the Flying Dutchman in St. Maarten, the world’s steepest zip line,
Now I am looking forward to hearing what fun things has Sarah been up to since we spoke several years ago. Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||
| Point My Soul North, Ultimate World Cruise | 14 Oct 2024 | 01:19:12 | |
Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. This week I am delighted to welcome to The Joy of Cruising Podcast Leslie Nilsen, creator of Point My Soul North blog, Facebook page, YouTube channel, and Instagram platform. Leslie is a passionate traveler and cruiser, and recently completed a major cruising milestone and a tiny percentage of us have anything like that. She sailed the entire Ultimate World Cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas. Sailing on a 9-month cruise fascinates me to no end. I wanted to get Leslie’s perspective.
She told me, “As an avid world traveler, of course, signing up for Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise was the next only option! Having only sailed on maybe ten prior cruises with the longest being 7 days, doing a World Cruise was a leap but I was READY! I have travel in my blood. Seeing other cultures, exploring the world for all it has to offer, humbles your soul. It is a reminder of how truly small you are in the world and that literally anything is possible! The Ultimate World Cruise afforded us the ability to see 60+ countries on all 7 continents and immerse ourselves in areas of the world we never thought possible. From the second the world cruise was offered, I knew I would be on it. I didn’t know how, but I signed up, with a large nonrefundable deposit and trusted the universe that in the two years I had to plan, it would come together. It did! We left December 10, 2023 and circumnavigated the globe to return just last week on September 10 with full hearts, pockets full of memories, and experiences that will take a lifetime to process!” Do you have a dream car? Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new | |||