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 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. Listen at www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com or Home Supportthejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new Support Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulth Contact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.html Book Cruises https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingPodcast-BookACruise US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast) The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruising Cruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterrupted The Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgain Intl Orders via Amazon
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 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, maritime artist, and creator 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 was 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. Listen at www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com or Home Supportthejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new Support Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulth Contact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.html Book Cruises https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingPodcast-BookACruise US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast) The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruising Cruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterrupted The Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgain Intl Orders via Amazon  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 Cruise Buoys with the listeners of The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Listen at www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com or Home Supportthejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new Support Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulth Contact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.html Book Cruises https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingPodcast-BookACruise US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast) The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruising Cruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterrupted The Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgain Intl Orders via Amazon  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. Listen at www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com or Home Supportthejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new Support Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulth Contact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.html Book Cruises https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingPodcast-BookACruise US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast) The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruising Cruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterrupted The Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgain Intl Orders via Amazon  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 experience cruisers I have hosted. Check out Ep 84 Venus’ Sydney, Australia Bucket List Cruise on Carnival Splendor Listen at www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com or Home Supportthejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new Support Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulth Contact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.html Book Cruises https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingPodcast-BookACruise US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast) The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruising Cruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterrupted The Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgain Intl Orders via Amazon  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 amzn.to/3seFU8y in a section called The Globetrotters, featuring travelers, passionate cruisers all, who transcend cruising in traversing the globe. The others featured in The Globetrotters—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 the story 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. Listen at www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com or Home Supportthejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new Support Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulth Contact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.html Book Cruises https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingPodcast-BookACruise US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast) The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruising Cruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterrupted The Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgain Intl Orders via Amazon  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. Specifically they are 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. Listen at www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com or Home Supportthejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new Support Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulth Contact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.html Book Cruises https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingPodcast-BookACruise US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast) The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruising Cruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterrupted The Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgain Intl Orders via Amazon  Brandee with her sister Shannon, cohosts of the Brannon Files podcast
I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, a special guest straight from somewhere in the world, Brandee Lake, thecreator 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
· 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
Listen at www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com or Home Support the podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new Support Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulth Contact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.html Book Cruises https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingPodcast-BookACruise US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast) The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruising Cruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterrupted The Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgain Intl Orders via Amazon  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 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. Listen at www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com or Home Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new Support Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulth Contact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.html Book Cruises https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingPodcast-BookACruise US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast) The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruising Cruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterrupted The Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgain Intl Orders via Amazon  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 got 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. Listen at www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com or Home Support thejoyofcruisingpodcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2113608/supporters/new Support Me https://www.buymeacoffee.com/drpaulth Contact Me https://www.thejoyofcruising.net/contact-me.html Book Cruises https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingPodcast-BookACruise US Orders (coupon code joyofcruisingpodcast) The Joy of Cruising https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruising Cruising Interrupted https://bit.ly/CruisingInterrupted The Joy of Cruising Again https://bit.ly/TheJoyOfCruisingAgain Intl Orders via Amazon |
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