Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:04 Welcome back everyone to episode number seven, this one, I am calling my best cruise things and whos. First of all, my apologies in getting this one recorded. The good news. Is this the reason why I've kind of delayed in recording? This one is because I have been swamped and it's actually a good thing because people are cruising traveling this back. And which just means that I'm just busy with my travel agency, but I have not fr forgotten about my podcast. And I'm super excited to be sharing some information about my favorite cruise things. And what do I mean by cruise things? Because there's so many different, uh, things that we can associate with cruising, like favorite port, favorite room, favorite itinerary, favorite ship. Um, so many favorite restaurants. I mean, honestly, between all my social media platforms, you guys, I always get asked Susie, what's your favorite cruise?
Speaker 1 00:01:05 And it's kind of like picking, like, who's your favorite kid? It's so hard to pick just one because I feel like every cruise is so different. Um, and I think sometimes it's the destination. Sometimes it's the ship sometimes it's who you cruise with. Sometimes it's, you know, the crew, it, it just all really depends. So I wanna kind of share my favorite. Now, this is my personal favorite. It may vary obviously from person to person. And honestly it can even vary from like sailing to sailing. So you may have a wonderful cruise on one ship one week and it might be a different experience the other week, just depending on what's going on. So be through my TikTok and Instagram, I'm constantly being asked, what is my favorite cruise? And again, I really have a hard time narrowing it down to one, but I have narrowed it down to five of my favorite sailings, which I'm not sharing just yet.
Speaker 1 00:02:03 I will share towards the end of this podcast, which five cruises out of the 30 something cruises that I've taken are my absolute top five. And I'll tell you why just a little background on me as a cruise, just lover. Uh, I have been cruising since 20, oh my gosh, sorry, 2000, which was my honeymoon cruise with Royal Caribbean on Monarch of the seas. And since then I've been on over 31. I have 32 and 33 number 32 and 33 coming up in July and several others booked for this year and next year. So I'm, you know, definitely have a variety of sailings to choose from. Um, I'm hoping to expand my experience by cruising with other lines. I have not been able to cruise with yet, which include princess celebrity. I will be cruising with Ms. Scene just in a few weeks kind of excited about that.
Speaker 1 00:03:02 Um, but I, in terms of the, the general lines, I have cruised on Royal I've cruised on Disney, uh, carnival Norwegian, Virgin voyages. So let's talk about my favorite ship, cruise ship components. So what do I mean by that? Like if you have been on a ship, you know, that there are certain aspects of a cruise ship, which is a moving vessel, kind of like a hotel, but on the water, right? That there are things that you just love, like certain, maybe a bathroom that you like. <laugh> a restaurant, uh, a venue. So the F my favorite cruise ship components are these. So my favorite state room, you're not gonna believe when I tell you this is actually from Royal Caribbean, and it is on the ovation of the seas. Now, this is a part that you're not gonna believe. My favorite room of all times is an interior room.
Speaker 1 00:03:59 I know shocker, right? But it's an interior room because it had a virtual balcony. I know shocker even more, right. It was a shape of the room. You guys, it was a square room. And I had it all to myself. It was a work cruise, and it was just spacious. That bathroom was like huge. Um, it was comfortable. I slept so well in that room. I, it wasn't even so much about the virtual balcony, to be honest with you. It was about the size. I felt really comfortable. It was big. And most of my cruises have been on ocean view balcony rooms. That was only the second time that I've cruised in an interior state room. The first time being on Monarch, which was four adults in an interior room. That was, that was that wasn't fun by the way, at all. <laugh> imagine four grownups trying to get ready in an interior room.
Speaker 1 00:04:59 Yeah. Not fun at all, but this one I loved and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Not sure if I would do it to Alaska, just because I feel like the Alaska itinerary really like, you need that ocean view balcony, if you can, uh, put it in your budget, but I would do that, that, that room type again in a heartbeat. So that is my favorite state room. My favorite bathroom in the state room again, is on the ovation. It was, it was huge. It was probably one of the biggest bathrooms I've had surprisingly enough. And it was in an interior room. I am a fanatic of the promenade deck. So what is a promenade deck? That's usually deck on a lot of ships, usually kind of other in the middle of the ship, like deck five, deck six, depending on the ship you're on.
Speaker 1 00:05:47 And it will sometimes wrap all the way around. You can walk outside, get some fresh air, find a comfortable, you know, uh, lounger something to sit on some of the ships, like some of the Norwegian ships have that like inside, outside concept where they have part like the bar in the restaurant that din D now, I don't know. I just love a good promenade deck. And I'm gonna say that my favorite promenade deck nod duck so far in my cruise life is on the carnival Panorama. And I'll then explain why. So January, 2020, right before the pandemic little did we know? Right. We, and about like kids, you not, it was like about a hundred of us went on a group cruise on the canal, pan Panorama from Los Angeles. And we spent so much time on the promenade deck on the Panorama. Like they have these like big circular lounges, like all my friends and I, we like drank and hung out and just totally soaked in ocean views.
Speaker 1 00:06:58 Um, yeah, I mean, it just was comfortable. It was fresh. It was just, I don't know. I just loved it. There was tons of spaces with shade and comfortable seating for me is a big plus. So I'm gonna say the carnival Panorama for me has one of the best promenade, decks and close second though. I will say Norwegian with that waterfront. Another huge, huge plus on those breakaway plus class ships are the waterfront. Okay. So my next one is my favorite pool deck. Disclaimer, I am not a sun worshiper. Uh, I enjoy viewing a good like pool deck, but I am, I'm not one that you're gonna find chilling by the pool. One of the biggest reasons is I' very fair complected and I burn, I literally, you guys, I burn, I have freckles on my back and my shoulders from Cabo from years ago and not Cabota.
Speaker 1 00:08:02 And I get blisters. Like I'm just a very fair skin person that doesn't do well. <laugh> in the like Caribbean sun or Mexican sun. So you're not gonna find me hanging out by the pool most of the time. Not that I don't enjoy, you know, a good dip here and there, or hanging out by the hot tub, just not one to chill by the pool all day, but I'm gonna talk about my favorite pool deck only because it has other things to offer than just chilling by the pool. And this one goes to Royal Caribbean's navigator of the seas, because it has like a backyard feel like they, when they reify that ship, they made it feel very kind of homey. Like, um, yeah, it has a very Caribbean feel to it, but it also has a very like backyard vibes feel to it with the lights, the lime and coconut bar, the comfortable seeding they have these little, like Guita where you can, um, day beds that are covered.
Speaker 1 00:09:04 I mean, the overall feel you have soft serve, you have Johnny rockets, you have, uh, local fresh, there are tons of like, just hang out by the pool or near the pool options. So the fav my favorite pool, I'm sorry. My favorite pool deck goes to Royal Caribbean's navigator of the seas. The next one I wanna talk about are the, my favorite shops onboard a cruise ship. Now this is just, again, my personal preference. Everyone may have a different opinion. My favorite shops goes to Royal Caribbean's adventure of the sea. And let me share why I felt like the stores on that ship were really big. They had amazing sales. Now, of course, I think this is very specific to the sailing that I was on, but everything was discounted, cuz things had been sitting on the ship for like, you know, 15 months. So there was like great sales and the crew.
Speaker 1 00:10:01 I never felt like the crew were super pushy. They were super friendly, um, down to earth. And for me that was super important. Okay. So the next one that I kind of wanna talk about is the elevators. And you're probably thinking, why am I even mentioning the elevators? Because on some of the cruise ships, these elevators are pretty fantastic. One of my favorite is from rural Caribbean and it is on the ratings class ships recently having sailed on the ratings of the seas. I really love all the outdoor views. So these elevators are next to the windows that face the outside. So it really gives you that like outside, inside concept and on some of these itineraries, like the ratings does a lot of like Alaska ceilings. It is just so awesome to be able to see the outdoors and then have the elevator right there.
Speaker 1 00:10:52 I don't know. I just think it's such a cool concept. And so for me, best elevators on a cruise ship, go to Royal Caribbean radius, radiance class, and having recently cruised on the radiance, I'm gonna give it to the radiance of the seas. Okay. I'm gonna talk about something that people love talking about when going on a cruise and of of course it's the food, right? Like one of the things that people love about cruise travel is the different food options that you have and having gone on so many cruise ships, I definitely have some opinions on what I have liked in the past. And let me share those with you the best buffet. And I'm gonna say, disclaimer, I am not a buffet buffet person. I rather have a sit down meal than go to the buffet unless I'm in a rush or I just want a quick bite, but other than like, I don't wanna have like dinner, for example, in the buffet, I prefer to have it in the dining room.
Speaker 1 00:11:50 That for me is just personal preference, best buffet. I think I've had, I think it's gonna go to the symphony of the seas. So Royal Caribbean symphony of the seas. And I think the biggest reason aside from the food, that food is pretty much the same across the lines. I, it's nothing to really brag about. I feel like the buffets have certain things that make them great, but overall you have some international fair. You have, you know, your burgers, hot dogs, your breakfast items, your pastries dessert, but the symphony layout of the buffet was really nice. It felt very big, very open, very spacious. Um, I will mention though, that Norwegian cruise line on some of those breakaway plus class ships, they have an entire section dedicated to Indian food and I am a fan of Indian food. So I gotta give a mention to Norwegian cruise lines for their Indian food station on some of their ships and then Disney, uh, having recently cruised on the wonder, the Disney wonder they had a whole seafood section.
Speaker 1 00:13:01 Uh, my son who's a big seafood person, enjoyed all the crab legs, the shrimp. I mean, it was like all you can eat seafood. And that's something that generally you don't see like on a day to day buffet, but overall, I mean, again, personal preference, but I think the best buffet will go to symphony to seas mostly because of the layout of the buffet. Never felt crowded, never felt overwhelmed. Like sometimes these lines can get really long and I never felt that on my symphony sailing, moving on to favorite cocktail, another disclaimer, I'm not a big consumer of alcoholic beverages because I get drunk really easily. So it's really hard for me to have more than two in one sitting therefore like I don't, I don't drink a lot. I just, alcohol hits me differently than most people. And so I, I, I, don't also, don't perf I don't like feeling like I don't have control of myself.
Speaker 1 00:14:04 And so if I have more than two, we're gonna be in trouble, but I do enjoy one here and there. And Norwegian cruise lines has the sugar cane mojito bar and they have a pineapple coconut mojito that just hits the spot. So best cocktail that I've had on a cruise ship goes to Norwegian cruise lines, sugar came mojito bar. If you guys have had a mojito from there before, you know what I'm talking about now we're moving on to a subject that is my personal favorite. And that is my favorite coffee shop. Now we're talking. So let's move on from the alcohol. Let's talk about coffee because I do like a good cup of coffee. Uh, I do prefer the espresso drinks over drip coffee. I will have drip coffee. I have to have coffee every day or say, I get this massive headache from not having the caffeine from the coffee, but the reason why I'm going to share my favorite coffee shop is for a very specific reason.
Speaker 1 00:15:13 I'm let me, let me explain. I recently cruised with Norwegian cruise lines on the Norwegian bliss, and we went to, uh, Alaska on the bliss. You guys, they have a full size Starbucks on these ships on the breakaway plus class ships, huge Starbucks. So the Encore has one, the joy, um, the bliss, and then the, their new ship. The Prima's gonna have two Starbucks. I mean, how cool is that? And the Starbucks on the bliss just had like the most amazing barista crew. So I don't know if they work for Starbucks or if they work for Norwegian or one or the other or both, but they just were super nice, friendly, totally like made you feel welcome. And not only outta the beverages, like amazing as always, but like I had a hot latte one day and the, one of the baristas made, she made like a bear face with the foam and the espresso.
Speaker 1 00:16:13 And I just thought it was the coolest thing. That's something you generally don't like get that kind of a service at a regular Starbucks on land. So favorite coffee shop goes to the Starbucks on the Norwegian BLIS for the reasons that I just mentioned favorite MDR. So if you hear of MDR, you know, that I'm referring to the main dining room and I, I do enjoy, like I said earlier, a good meal in the main dining room. And some people like it, some people don't, it is, you're there for a couple hours for dinner. You get to eat what you want. You get amazing service overall. Like, you know, I've had great experiences with, uh, both, but let me share with you guys, my favorite MDR restaurant on a cruise ship. I really think there is something magical and special about the main dining rooms on row, Caribbean Voyager, class ships.
Speaker 1 00:17:10 So having sailed on the Mariner and the navigator, I don't know if about you guys, but it's something about that staircase, the like op it's like three, I think it's three decks of like open space. It has a very grand kind of feeling like kind of reminds me of Titanic. I know like sounded a little bit nutty saying that it like referring to something to the Titanic, but in the movie and of obviously in real life before it sunk, uh, that dining room just had a really like grand like elegant and extravagant kind of feeling. And I feel like the main dining rooms on those Voyager class ships give me those vibes, give me those feelings of classy and just traditional open, airy, um, fancy type dining rooms. So I'm gonna say that the Voyager class ships having specifically cruised on the Mariner and the navigator just are some of the, like my favorite dining rooms that I've experienced.
Speaker 1 00:18:15 Um, moving on to specialty dining restaurants. I am a big foodie. I love specialty dining. So specialty dining is typically is not included in your cruise fair and having cruised a lot and, and tried several specialty dining. I'm gonna say that Jamie Oliver Italians with Royal Caribbean has been some of the best Italian food I've had. And I also have to mention that on the Norwegian bliss recently, we had labro, uh, which is a French cuisine restaurant specialty dining option with Norwegian. And it was the best piece of LA I have ever had in my 30 I'm sorry, 20 years of cruising, 30, 30, more than 30 ants, 20 years. So I would say Norwegian had some amazing specialty dining options and also, uh, Royal Caribbean and Jimmy Oliver's was Italian was really, really good. And of course, of favorite that I wanna bring up is a pizza.
Speaker 1 00:19:24 Now I hear princess pizzas. Pretty good. I've never cruised with princess yet, but carnival for me, <laugh> the, um, C the Capano or the Capitano pizza. I forgot the exact name, um, is one of the best. I love that pizza having cruised on the Mardi Graw last year, we were with a group of friends. We would go to the nightclub every single night. I kid you not. And then at 2:00 AM, we would hit up the pizza, fresh mozzarella. They make 'em right in front of you. So, so good. So until I try the princess pizza, I'm gonna say that the best pizza so far for me is carnival. And I also wanna mention that I hear MSC has really good pizza and I'm cruising with them in just a few weeks. So make sure you follow me on Instagram at cruise. Yes, please. Or on TikTok cruising Susie, because I will be sharing content from my MSC cruise, and I hear that their pizza is pretty fantastic.
Speaker 1 00:20:26 It is an Italian cruise line. So you would think that they would have really good pizza, right. Okay. So that wrap up my favorite food drinks, restaurants, anything that we can consume, um, from my past cruises. And I'm gonna move on now to another thing that I really love about cruise travel is the entertainment, because I am a big show person. I love a good musical. I love good, great vocals, good music. And my favorite entertainment, Broadway style show is gonna go to the crew of hairspray, um, that we saw on Royal Caribbean symphony of the sea last year. I mean, the, everything, the vocals, the dancing, the production, the, the effects, the, I mean, everything, the lighting, it was just, I was left like speechless. So, so good. Um, I wanna also mention that Norwegian also has some really great Broadway style shows you have, uh, kinky boots, choir of man was fantastic on the Norwegian Encore.
Speaker 1 00:21:37 So those are some of my favorite shows that I've seen on a ship. I want to talk about, uh, the atrium experience. I'm gonna mention the carnival Panorama because the carnival Panorama, um, we cruised on her in January, 2020 and Emma pack, uh, was our cruise director. And I had some of the most fun I've ever had on a cruise ship on that sailing with her in the atrium. So like she would have a lot of like dancing stuff, um, where the audience gets involved. Music just, I just felt like the energy in that atrium was really fantastic. They have this funnel where they project, you know, uh, like different pictures and it changes. Um, and with that being said, I wanna move on to the best, uh, cruise director. I do firmly believe that carnival has some of the best cruise directors out there. And again, my favorite cruise director of all times is gonna go to em, Emma pack.
Speaker 1 00:22:40 I mean, her positivity, her energy, just how she made you feel so welcomed. I got to talk to her a little bit on that cruise, and she's no longer, uh, doing the job of being a cruise director, cuz she's now a mom. But man, she was like, in my opinion, one of the best cruise directors that I've had ever the best entertainment theater, like the actual theater room is gonna go to Disney. Another amazing quality production goes to our friends that obviously put on these Disney shows, the Walt Disney theater and the Disney wonder was fantastic. I mean again, elegant grant. And then of course the shows are great. And then lastly, to wrap up the, uh, category of best entertainment goes to best sell way. Who do you think, who do you guess you guys yep. Giving it to carnival carnival has some of the best sailaway and again, I'm gonna give it to the Panorama just because of that particular cruise.
Speaker 1 00:23:42 So cruising with so many friends, all of us dancing, having fun Salem went sailing away from long beach, California, the energy, everything was fantastic. Close. Second. I'm gonna say Virgin voyages, Scarlet lady, we cruised at nighttime from Miami last year. And that was an experience that was just truly magical. Not only that, but the music on Virgin voyages was great. It was not your typical cruise music, meaning there was no like, you know, wobble, wobble or, um, Cubitt shuffle. It was all very like kind of cool stuff you would hear on the radio or stuff, you know, from the nineties. I don't know. It was just a good mix. So I would say again, carnival and Virgin voyages has some of the best sailaway all right, moving on to port experiences. Now again, this is my opinion. And if you've cruised, you know, that we all have different opinions.
Speaker 1 00:24:37 And so on the west coast, because obviously we can talk about ports for days and that's like a whole nother podcast episode. But my, one of my favorite excursions on the west coast is going to be when we were on that carnival Panorama cruise, January, 2020. And we ended up, I ended up buying a day pass, um, on my, like I had learned about it from another vlogger, uh, that took you to the Marriot there in Porto Vota, and you buy a day pass and they have a beach, uh, with an infinity pool. I'm sorry. They have a pool with an in, oh my goodness. Susie put it together. They have a pool, an infinity pool. And right next to the beach, um, I think it was around $50 per person, more or less. And it was cooled beverages and, uh, food. If I remember correctly, I don't know you guys, it was like worth every single penny.
Speaker 1 00:25:31 And we had so much fun hanging out there with our friends. Um, it was just, everything was perfect that day. Um, moving on to the east coast, I would say that my absolute favorite port port experience is going to go to carnival again. Um, because they have a private island called half moon key or H moon K, depending on how you pronounce it, that's a whole nother episode. Right. And that is like the prettiest speech I've ever in my entire life have seen. I'm not a big, like let's swim in the ocean person. I have like Majory sand issues, like sensory issues from the sand. I know it sounds crazy. I know I sound like a complete nutball, but I promise you that I'm not crazy. I just don't like the feeling of sand on my skin, but I, you guys that entire day we were there.
Speaker 1 00:26:21 I was in the water. Yes, I was. It was beautiful. It was, it was gorgeous. The water temperature was perfect. The sand was soft. Uh, I don't know. I would go back to that port in a heartbeat. So that is like, basically, because we could talk about this forever. We could talk about my favorite, um, private island aside from KA moon key experience would also be Royal Caribbean's perfect day at cook. Okay. I really enjoyed every single time I've gone to that port for different reasons. I love that your food is included. I love the largest freshwater pool in the Caribbean. So fun to hang out, listen to music. And I mean, just the crew, I just, I just love Royal Caribbean crew. So I have to also mention them as well. So as I wrap this up again, I mentioned in the beginning of this podcast episode that I would share with you guys, my top five favorite cruises, and these are no particular order.
Speaker 1 00:27:19 And again, by mentioning that for me, the biggest thing it comes down to is crew and service and who you go with. So no matter if you're in an old ship, a new ship, one that has tons of bells and whistles, one that is older, what sticks in my memory are the cruises that made an impact in my life. So whether that be the people that I cruised with or the crew, um, memories that we created, you don't have to have the biggest, the newest, the, you know, more sparkly. It has to be all those things, the crew who you go with and the memories that you make with those people that you cruise with. So in no particular order, here we go. Number one, I'm gonna say symphony of the sea Royal Caribbean for me on this cruise. I don't know what it was, but the crew to me like just was amazing.
Speaker 1 00:28:17 I, I made several crew friends on that crew that I still kind of keep in touch with on Instagram. Uh, so Royal craving symphony, the sea. That is one another one. Again, just because of who we went with is the carnival Panorama. I got to cruise with a bunch of my friends and our kids hanging out. It was just, I think something that I don't think is ever gonna happen again, just because our lives are changing, our kids are going off to college. So that for me, and it was a cruise right before the pandemic. So that's cruise number two is a carnival Panorama. Number three, Virgin voyage is Scarlet lady. It is a brand new cruise line by Richard Branson, having cruised on the Scarlet lady this past December, you guys, the food, the entertainment, the quality BIM beach club. I mean, there's so many things about Virgin.
Speaker 1 00:29:07 I can't wait to cruise with them again. I'm plugging in here that I will be cruising on the Valiant lady in December. I tell people all the time you want an experience with no adults. I'm sorry. Excuse me. No children, all adults. <laugh> great food. Totally different. Definitely Virgin voyages, number four, carnival Mardi GRA. Again, for me, it was a brand new class ship. I was on the second sailing this past August last year. And I met a lot of new friends in the cruise, uh, vlogging blogging community. And it was just so much fun. I, I mean, I literally like we partied every single night, which is not typical of me. Like we dance, we ate that pizza. So carnival Mardi GRA, and then last but not least Royal Caribbeans adventure of the seas, June 12th, 2021, which is almost a year ago, just passed. And that was a first cruise back with Royal for us of us here in north America.
Speaker 1 00:30:06 I cried. I mean, it was a, it was the first cruise back. It was the restart cruise and the crew that adventure is not a new ship and I didn't care. It's something it's a cruise that will always stay close to my heart because it meant the restart the back to normal. Um, and you know, kind of give us hope that we were gonna get out of this pandemic that we're in. And so, yeah. Uh, some Royal, some carnival, some Virgin, I would say top five, but there's so I think every cruise that I go on, I take something I learn from it. I grow, I'm appreciative all the crew that I've met, um, became friends with those that I've shared their story with me. Um, you impact me in ways that you can't even imagine. And all my friends that I've made from this cruising community, um, to me, that is priceless, no matter which cruise, cuz there isn't one perfect cruise where everything is like absolute perfect.
Speaker 1 00:31:02 But I think that if we can take something that's gonna help us be a better human being. If we could learn from other people, if we can enjoy and cherish, I think that's, what's special about cruise travel and I cannot wait to get back on a ship and in just a few short weeks, I will be back on the MSC SEAHO out of Miami and then, um, jumping in on a Royal Caribbean ship right after that. So please make sure you funnel follow me along on my social media accounts. Uh, Instagram is cruise. Yes, please. And on TikTok is cruising Susie. So thanks again for listening to what are my favorite cruise things in the past 20 years of cruising? I hope you enjoyed my episode on my favorite cruise. Thanks. Thanks again for coming on and supporting my podcast. I am seriously enjoying this so much and I really am gonna ask you guys for a favor in the comments of whatever platform you're listening to. Please let me know. What, um, is your favorite cruise Leia review share with me your thoughts. And again, my name is Susie. I am a cruise travel agent and this is countdown travels podcast. All right, you guys, I will talk to you guys very soon.
Speaker 1 01:03:46 I hope you enjoyed my episode on my favorite cruise. Thanks. Thanks again for coming on and supporting my podcast. I am seriously enjoying this so much and I really am gonna ask you guys for a favor in the comments of whatever platform you're listening to. Please let me know what, um, is your favorite cruise li me review share with me your thoughts. And again, my name is Susie. I am a cruise add and travel agent and this is countdown travels podcast. All right, you guys, I will talk to you guys very soon.
