The Joy of Cruising Podcast

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome back a special guest, my cohost Cheryl.

As some of you know we are largely in the bucket list checking stage of our lives and just got the opportunity to check one off. I will warn my listeners from the cruise community that this episode is about a land trip—don’t want to be accused of inviting you here under false pretenses. Yes, we cover cruising 99% of th...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome back Judi Cohen, travel writer extraordinaire known in the cruise community as Traveling Judi. I featured Traveling Judi in my second cruising book, Cruising Interrupted amzn.to/3seFU8y in a section called “Cruisers Like You and Me... Sort Of.” Traveling Judi is an ardent world cruiser with a penchant for nontraditional, smaller, and even tiny ships relative to mainstream cruise ships. I met Judi thro...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Jennifer Halboth, CEO for the Americas, Riverside Luxury Cruises. We have had several small ship and river cruise specialists on the podcast as well as leaders from some of the lines, and of course passionate cruisers providing us their cruise reports from their time on various small ship and river cruise. This is the first time we have exclusive focused on Riverside Luxury Cruises, and I am excited to meet Jen and...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Carlene Reid, creator of the See It With C YouTube channel, Instagram, and Facebook page. Carlene starts each video, “Hi, my name is Carlene. I work a 9-5 but travel the world as if I don’t.”

Carlene is a lifelong traveler and educator who has turned her passion for traveling and teaching others into a growing community of travel aficionados. She has visited almost 40 countries and taken 3...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome Helena and Dustin, two “cruisers” with a once-in-a-lifetime harrowing tale with a happy ending on Carnival Splendor. Another one of those world-wide new human-interest stories I love bringing to the listeners of The Joy of Cruising Podcast.

Dusty and Helena are two Australians in their late 30s who have been living off-grid for the past three years. Their journey began with a motorhome adventure around Austr...

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This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am proud to welcome Josh Christina, Recording Artist, scene-stealing, piano-wielding frontman, and veteran headliner of several cruise lines. Listeners know I am as passionate about music and comedy as I am about cruising so when I get a chance to have a conversation with someone who has performed on cruise ships, I am in my glory.

Josh Christina is a dynamic and passionate musician whose love for piano rock has taken him on an incredible journey. His musical s...

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This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome Gian and Angie, two cruisers living out two amazing stories on a cruise ship. That’s right, two amazing stories. The first is living on a cruise ship, Villa Vie Odyssey for the next three years, circumnavigating the globe and in the process visiting 147 countries across all seven continents—425 port stops in all. Anyone who is a regular listener of The Joy of Cruising Podcast knows I wouldn’t hesitate to host Gian...

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This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Jodi Murphy, Director, Strategic Partnerships,Regent Seven Seas Cruises. I have long had desire a desire to sail Regent Seven Seas, stemming from my research in my first cruising book, The Joy of Cruising amzn.to/3lAfyON, where I research an organization, Friends of Festival at Seawhich organizes very high-end group cruises to exotic locations, many on Regent, which at the time I wasn’t very familiar with. Since then, Regent Seven Seas has been on my...

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This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome back again to The Joy of Cruising Podcast Rich and Jazzy, creators of the amazing A Rich and Jazzy Life brand. A Rich and Jazzy Life is comprised of their top ten 110K cruise channel on YouTube; Melanin at Sea (MAS), their 115K Facebook affinity to group known for its legendary group cruises and, in my opinion the most influential cruise croup on Facebook; companion Instagram accounts and more.

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome back to The Joy of Cruising Podcast Paul and Carole, creators of one of the top cruise brands in the world, Paul and Carole Love to Travel. They are dominant on every social medium platform they are on, and whether you classify them as cruise influencers or cruise content creators they are among the world’s leader as either. Most importantly to me is that Paul and Carole are passionate cruisers, and just about every time I read about them on...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome back Linzi and Mark Cowgill, creator of the UK-based Suite Natured blog, YouTube channel, and Instagram platform. Over a year ago, I reached out to Linzi and Mark to come on the podcast to talk about transatlantics, in advanced of our first transatlantic cruise around this time last year on Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady Ep 91. Suite Natured, Transatlantics. It was a fun conservation which ended with a hilarious anecdote. (Sure enough...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Presley Pfereka, a crew member for Azamara luxury cruise line. I have long observed with awe and fascination cruise ship crew from the Captain to entry-level crew members and have hosted on The Joy of Cruising Podcast a cross-section of ship crew, both former as well as active over the past years. I would love to delve into their lives in an in-depth manner both on the home front...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, a special group of guests, The Chefs: Jerome Brown aka Chef Rome, the chef to the stars with over 35 years of professional cooking, the go-to chef for celebrities worldwide; Chicago Chef George Outlaw specializing in elevated soul food with bold and unusual food combinations; Chef Sondra (Dra) Rhodes bringing creole and southern country cuisine to your table; and, Chef Ricky Simpson, Jr., an Atlanta resident whose credo is “To enlighten people to a...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome back to The Joy of Cruising Podcast Sheri of Cruise Tips TV. Sheri is a special friend to me, having been featured in my first two cruise books, The Joy of Cruisinghttp://amzn.to/2EAMddF and Cruising Interrupted http://amzn.to/3seFU8y, and then being my first choice for the initial episode of The Joy of Cruising Podcast which she graciously accepted Episode 1. Sheri returned to the podcast for Episode 93. Today Sheri becomes...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am proud to welcome Dr. George Alexakis, a former colleague of mine from Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers. George is a Hospitality Professor at FGCU, and he did some work some collaboration with the organization I led, which was the Office of Continuing and Off-Campus Education. George and I always had a good rapport given our mutual interests—not just in continuing ed but hospitality, which I had taught at my prior institution. George ta...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Belencia Wallace, creator of Ladybug Travel of Facebook, Instagram, and with its 55k following on TikTok, which is where I met her. I was amazed to learn Belencia decided last year to leave her professional career to embark on a full year at sea. Belencia sails on a variety of Royal Caribbean ships and estimates her one-year journey to cost approximately $100k. When Belencia’s The Joy of Cruising Podcast ep...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome Racquel and Vincent, two cruisers who have never been on a cruise ship. Yes, you heard that right. All of you, well the vast majority of you—I know we have listeners who aspire to take their first cruise—the vast majority of you have been on cruise ships, yet unlike most of you Racquel and Vincent have cruised around the world. Confused?

Well, with respect to mains...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome JD Harbor, author of the new seafaring novels, Emerald Tide, and Sapphire Seas. They are both set aboard a luxurious cruise ship and were inspired by JD’s own experience. You see, he met his wife onboard a singles cruise in 2014, and they have sailed together ever since. Man, that sounds fun! As JD notes, “Meeting my wife on that cruise is proof that the magic of the sea really can lead...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome back a special guest, my cohost Cheryl.

We are largely in the bucket list checking stage of our lives, and just got the opportunity to check one off—a cruise on a luxury cruise line, specifically Explora Journeys and its first ship, Explora I. Let me preface with a brief overview oo the main categories of cruise lines:

Mainstream-Carnival, Royal Caribbean, NCL

Premium-Celebrity, Holland America, Pr...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Shelton and Ke' creators of the YouTube channel, Your Favorite Couple. As frequent listeners know, I enjoy watching cruise YouTube videos and from time to time I get introduced to potential The Joy of Cruising Podcast guests. That’s how I met Shelton and Ke'. I enjoyed their fun, informative video style and their diverse choices in terms of cruising and sensed similarities to our own cruise choices. They ha...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome back again to The Joy of Cruising Podcast Mikkel and Dan, creators of the Sometimes Sailing cruise website and Instagram. Mikkel and Dan are special friends, that I got to know when I wrote about Sometimes Sailing in my latest book release,  The Joy of Cruising Again http://amzn.to/3lAfyON where I wrote about their penchant for small ship cruising as well a...

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This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Cheryl Cooper, creator of the SIG the Solo Cruiser YouTube channel, Instagram, and website. As frequent listeners know, I watch cruise YouTube videos incessantly. Cheryl has carved out a solid niche as a specialist in solo cruising with high quality content and reviews from a solo cruising perspective of a diverse array of cruise lines and cruise ships—many I have sailed or plan to sail. Accordingly, her channel is on repeat. While I have never done a so...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome back this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Prof Cruise. I first met Prof Cruise featured her in my 3rd cruising book, The Joy of Cruising Again amzn.to/3lAfyON, to The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Yes, Sarah really is a former university professor—but her passion for cruising not only contributed to her decision to move on from teaching, but also directly influenced her family’s decision regarding where to live after she did so...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Emma & Jack, creators of the YouTube channel, Live A Little. As frequent listeners know, I enjoy watching cruise YouTube videos and from time to time I get introduced to The Joy of Cruising Podcast guests. That’s kind of how I met Emma & Jack. I say kind of because normally I just watch videos and then perhaps transfixed by someones video style, or sense of humor, comprehensiveness of their vi...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Peta-Gaye and Allan, creators of the My Cruising Family YouTube channel, Instagram, and blog. As frequent listeners know, I enjoy watching cruise YouTube videos and from time to time I get introduced to The Joy of Cruising Podcast guests. That’s how I met My Cruising Family (with their fun, mostly family-oriented videos often accompanied by a Jamaican beat.) I also occasionally interact with them on social media and de...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome back Nancy and Dale Houchens. I learned 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 sect...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and welcome to The Joy of Cruising Podcast, and in this special episode we meet members of the World-Renowned London Community Gospel Choir (LCGC) and discuss their participation in this summer’s Caribbean Gospel Choir Workshop Cruise on the stunning new MSC World America. I am delighted to welcome the founder of LCGC, Bazil Meade; Kaylin Cain, who is coordinating the Caribbean Gospel Choir Workshop Cruise, and long-time member of LCGC, Jenny La Touche.

LCGC is one of the most energetic and inspiring fo...

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This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast  join me and guest Peter Knego, a maritime historian, journalist and creator of YouTube’s MidShipCinema, currently working on a video about the fascinating career and sad end of the Pacific Princess, Princess Cruises much loved ship that was the “star” of the Love Boat TV series that changed the face of cruising forever. With 2025 as the 60th anniversary year of Princess Cruises now unfolding, Peter will share what was and special about the Pacific Princess and discuss how that ship captured the imagina...

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I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Carol Riddick. We met Carol on The Soul Train Cruise, where she was one of performers ranging from Soul Train TV show stars like Shalimar, to contemporary favorites like Carol. We enjoyed it so much that we booked for 2026. If you listened to our reflections of the cruise on Ep 165 The Soul Train Cruise I think it would be clear the person that ‘stole the show’ for us was Carol. The thing is, unlike the dozens of old scho...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Bill, creator of Ritzy Travel Guide. As many listeners know, I am a serial viewer of YouTube cruise channels, watching them continuously while I work on my podcast and will even play them on mute when I listen to music. They are informative and sometimes introduce me to prospective podcast guests. That was the case with the Ritzy Travel Guide. Bill’s seductive voice and accent first caught my attention, but mo...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Nathalie Holiday, creator of Round Trip Nat, Travel Content Creator and World Cruiser.Nathalie notes, “I like to speak on the reality of travel. Nothing is ever perfect no matter what price point you are traveling at. Someone at a 4-Star accommodation can have the same issues as someone staying at a 2-star. I like inspiring people that don't think they have the finances to travel. There are so many options th...

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Hello passionate cruisers. This is Paul and I am joined by a special guest, my wife Cheryl, to share our thoughts on the Soul Train Cruise. Longtime listeners and readers of my books know of my fascination of theme cruises, especially my first cruising book, The Joy of Cruising http://amzn.to/2eamddf where I included a section on theme cruising and featured a chapter on my first theme cruise, Festival at Sea, the oldest African-American Cultural Cruise, and a chapter about StarVista Live, a company that does a series of...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome back this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Stefanie Mullen, co-creator of the Sean and Stef blog and YouTube Channel. From the Sean and Stef website: ‘We are Sean & Stef, your favorite cruise travelers! We are professional filmmakers and have won 3 Emmy awards for our video work. We are positive filmmakers who focus on the joys of travel and all the fun that goes along with the journey. We travel the world exploring destinations, all while making video memories th...

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This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Kathy Lu of Explora Journeys. Let me preface my conversation with Kathy by pointing out that Explora Journeys was not even on my radar a few months ago. Then a series of events converged in a short amount of time. In November the Cruise Critic Awards came out and Explora Journeys was announced as respectively Best Cruise Line, Best Dining, and Best for Families in the luxury category. Mind you at the time of that announcement, a luxury...

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Regular listeners of The Joy of Cruising Podcast know that I include in most conversations a section about the guest’s most memorable, funniest, and/or most embarrassing cruise or port recollection. The answers have ranged from touching—for example marriage proposals; to poignant, like last year when Iris from Life of Iris—who expected to join a vibrant Holland American ship as a Communications Manager responsible for getting out the daily activities listing to cruisers, instead was sent to a ship designated exclusively to host Ukrainian women and children refugees fleein...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome back this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Sam & Brian, hosts of the massively successful DCL Duo podcast. DCL Duo is a Disney Cruise Line-focused podcast, with occasional detours into general cruising and Disney topics including the Disney parks, Adventures By Disney, Run Disneyand Disney Vacation Club. 

It is great to get back together with Sam and Brian, who are not just friends of mine but are podcast mentors as well. DCL Duo is featured in...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Chris Warren. As you know, I try to portray cruising in all its diversity: region of the world; age; celebrities as well as “ordinary” cruisers with extraordinary stories; and profession—cruise CEO’s, Captains and crew, chefs, performers, travel writers, cruise influencers and content creators, etc. Here we are with over 160 episodes and have yet to host a professional travel photographer. Until today…

Chris is a talented photographer born in Philade...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Laura Pedlar, and Craig Shaw of Cruise Lifestyle Blog. Those of you with my second cruising book, Cruising Interrupted amzn.to/3seFU8y, know that I featured Laura and Cruise Lifestyle in a section called “Bloggers: Cruise Community Champions.” Laura also came on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Ep 46 Cruise Lifestyle over a year ago and I’m glad to talk to her ag...

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome back this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Emma of the massively successful Emma Cruises.

Emma is one of the most well-known cruise personalities in the world—and she is still in her 20’s. I first met her in 2019 after Emma shocked the UK cruising community at age 23 by winning the UK Wave Award for Best Cruise Blogger for her irreverently named blog, “Cruising Isn’t Just for Old People.” I was writing my first cruise book, The Joy...