How To Persuade Someone To Take Their First Cruise | Cruise Cast Ep.5

In Episode 5 of the Suite Natured Cruise Cast, we are taking a look at how to convince someone, whether that your partner, significant other, friend or family member to take their first cruise. 

We look at the misconception behind cruising, the myths that lead to them, and the reality of what taking a cruise really is like. 

We also take a look at three of the last weeks big news stories and give our take and reactions to them. 

When Marky scoffed at the idea of a cruise vacation, little did he know he was about to set sail on an ocean of change. Join us as we recount the comical journey from his outright refusal to his transformation into a cruise aficionado. In a tale rife with laughs and debunked myths, we reveal how a family opportunity and an irresistible suite deal on Royal Caribbean flipped the script on our vacation dynamics. Plus, we've got some hot news stories simmering in the background, ready to serve up some fresh insight.

Selecting your first cruise is like picking the right wine for dinner – it can make or break the evening. We talk about why a seven-night cruise hits that sweet spot for beginners and how matching your partner's vibe to the cruise line can lead to smooth sailing. 

Transcript

Linzi: 0:00

Welcome to episode 5 of the Suite Natured Cruisecast. Hi, I'm Linz. As always, I'm joined by Marky. Hello, Hello. And today we're talking about how to convince your significant other to go on a cruise. But first a little mood music. I feel we're getting there. It was a little Debbie Downer at the end. I don't think it needed you to do it, but yeah, we're getting there. It's getting closer. One day, soon.

Mark: 0:40

We'll keep working on it. Yeah, in today's episode, as you said, we've got our main topic, which is how to persuade your partner to go on a cruise for the first time, because a lot of partners significant others are like me in not wanting to do it. Yeah, and then we've got three news stories. Yes, that you don't know what they are. No, so I'll reveal them later on, after the topic, and we'll get your reaction to those. Okay, but let's kick off with this week's topic.

Linzi: 1:10

Yes, convincing your other half to go on the cruise. Now, it's no secret that you did not want to go on the cruise when I wanted to go on the cruise initially.

Mark: 1:21

No, we've talked about this. We've done an abridged version on some of our live streams and talked about it a few times, but no, I really didn't want to go on a cruise.

Linzi: 1:30

You thought you were going to be bored.

Mark: 1:33

Yeah.

Linzi: 1:34

You thought you were going to have to wear a tuxedo everywhere you went.

Mark: 1:37

Yeah, because what we saw on TV at that point, because when we did our first cruise, that's pre-YouTube.

Linzi: 1:47

So again 2007. Is it pre-YouTube, I guess. So it did exist, but not in the way that it exists now.

Mark: 1:54

Yeah, youtube started in 2007, I think, but it wasn't that easy. So the stuff that you saw on telly was sort of that old traditional vacation holiday TV shows Love boat we saw love boat, but he sort of portrayed it as something for an older generation. He portrayed it as sort of the height of excitement being shuffleboard on the deck, I guess. So.

Linzi: 2:25

Nothing wrong with shuffleboard.

Mark: 2:26

I actually quite enjoy playing it now, but it didn't portray in terms of what cruising was like then and certainly doesn't now. It is now, but of course, we've now got things like YouTube and a huge amount of content that's out there in terms of if you're looking for a video on any element of cruising, you can probably find it.

Linzi: 2:45

Yeah, but I don't know if sitting your partner down and making them watch YouTube is a good way.

Mark: 2:52

Unless it's our channel, of course.

Linzi: 2:55

I'm going to be honest, even our channel, because they still might not get it. I don't think you get it until you walk on the ship.

Mark: 3:07

No, I'd agree. I think cruising is one of those bits. Until you've actually done it for yourself, no matter what a video or a brochure or a book tells you, you're always going to have the doubts. You'll always have the preconceptions. You're definitely going to think that you're bored. That is the most common thing that we get, not that we get bored.

Linzi: 3:30

People are saying to us we'll be bored, it's going to be really expensive and it's not as reasonable as it was now, but I've got a way to get around that. But when it comes, it's just amazing how many couples are not aligned with what they want to do for vacation.

Mark: 3:44

When it comes, it's just amazing how many couples are not aligned with yeah, with what they want to do for vacation or when it comes to cruising in particular Do you want to tell the story of sort of persuading me to go on it, because that's what the topic is.

Linzi: 3:57

Well, I suppose I can do. I mean, what happened was back in 2007,. I had been on at you to say oh, come on, let's go on a cruise. No, we really like it. No.

Mark: 4:10

Oh, you've been talking to me about it for years.

Linzi: 4:12

I really wanted to try it. I thought it looked fabulous. Disney had brought out a new ship. Not that we did Disney, but I really fancied Royal Caribbean. I thought it kind of would look good, for it would be a good cruise for us. Yeah, and you were like no, no, no. And then my family in the States booked it and they said we've got an amazing deal. It was like a late availability deal. Yeah, Do you fancy coming? With us, it'll be great.

Mark: 4:43

And, to be fair, we were going to be out there anyway. We were going to be out in the States, we were travelling for that reason.

Linzi: 4:48

So the stars did align that way, and it was even when Royal Caribbean used to have hot deals on their site in dollars.

Mark: 4:57

Oh, like last minute special offer things.

Linzi: 4:59

Yeah, which they don't have anymore. But the stars did align and you were like, oh, if I have to, I'll book it.

Mark: 5:07

You sound so ridiculous I know.

Linzi: 5:10

And then we said, okay, we've booked it. And my family then said, whatever you do, don't book an inside for your first cruise. And we were like we haven't because there was an absolute mega deal in fact, steal, steal, on the Grand Suite.

Mark: 5:28

Yes, our very first experience of going on a cruise was in a suite which?

Linzi: 5:32

you know, was maybe not a good thing to start with.

Mark: 5:36

We did set a level to ourselves at that point. But you know we are suite nature Meaning that if we can get a suite we will Absolute mega deal. Not necessarily that we will. Then we get a suite we will absolutely not necessarily that we will then we will.

Linzi: 5:48

So we booked it. You were like. I then took you to an outlet to buy your cruise suit for the for the cruise which I was going Michael Douglas Romancing the Stone cream linen suit.

Mark: 6:12

Is that what I remember?

Linzi: 6:13

Yes, it is. I don't remember that, yes, it is.

Mark: 6:15

I mean the fact that you made me go shopping to an outlet to buy.

Linzi: 6:18

To Boundary Mill, which anyone who's ever been there To North of England. It's awful, it's like yeah, for me it is. Is you do not like?

Mark: 6:28

it so to go on a vacation. I really didn't want to go on you don't make me go to an outlet to buy a suit I really didn't want to buy. No, because your suits, your work suits, were not they weren't work suits, they were sort of bluey, grey, browny things the one for holders.

Linzi: 6:43

I'd like to see you in a lovely linen Michael Douglas romance in a stone suit. So that's what we did we bought it. This made it even worse.

Mark: 6:52

Did I look good in?

Linzi: 6:53

the suit you did. You looked fabulous, good, so yeah, but that's I digress. You did so. We then went for our usual bit of Walt Disney World Christmas, as it was then. We then drove down to Fort Lauderdale. We saw the ship, we parked up, we said goodbye to our luggage, we got on, whisked through.

Mark: 7:20

Did we drive down there the same day, then we drove down? Or did we go down the night before or something? Oh no, no, we drive down there the same day, then we drove down, or did we?

Linzi: 7:26

go down the night before or something. Oh no, no, we drove down, we just drove straight down.

Mark: 7:31

I mean it's not far, it's only three hours.

Linzi: 7:34

We drove down from Orlando. We'd had a few days there and we went down and then we went back again. Because it was only a four night, I think.

Mark: 7:44

Yeah.

Linzi: 7:45

It wasn't a long trip.

Mark: 7:45

Yeah, it wasn't four nights.

Linzi: 7:46

So it was a taster cruise, how they used to be, not how they are now. Yeah, so then we got on the ship. It was Navigator of the Seas.

Mark: 7:57

Yeah, which at that time was still one of the largest ships in the world.

Linzi: 8:00

Yeah, it was all decked up for Christmas in the world. It was all decked up for Christmas. It was beautiful. You walked up and down the the promenade area, the promenade area, and you said to me, why haven't we done this before? And I was like you have to be kidding me.

Mark: 8:20

You did swear, I remember. Yeah so from that, but I blame you for not putting it across to me correctly. No, no.

Linzi: 8:32

I was like you're going to like it. Look, I even brought brochures home. You're like, no, I'm not interested. No, and that is the key. I think that is the secret to convincing your other half to go on the cruise. What's that no-transcript good cruise at a good price that you can? That's that, you, that you not have to build yourself up to that. They're like, oh, we can go. We can go here and have to, you know, and pay this much, and then we'll have to buy all our, our food and everything like that. Or we can get on this late availability cruise to try it. What we feel is a very comfortable price that we're comfortable with.

Mark: 9:18

And do you think that the four night one is that?

Linzi: 9:20

No, not now. You have to go seven nights.

Mark: 9:23

So would you recommend someone for when they're trying it for the first time to do a seven night or four night, if they can go Seven, no, because they're not a true reflection of the cruise. They're not For the first cruise, for getting your partner on. I definitely wouldn't say do one of these boost cruise two-night weekend ones. They're not a good approach.

Linzi: 9:43

No for the four nights. They're becoming like a hen night, stag night, bachelorette.

Mark: 9:47

So you don't really get that.

Linzi: 9:48

No, I would go for a seven-night and, depending on, I would go definitely seven nights Somewhere on a cruise not too far from you, so you don't have to do a lot of travelling because that can set you in.

Mark: 10:03

Yeah, so wherever there's the nearest port for you, I would say so.

Linzi: 10:06

There's the nearest port that's going somewhere that you might like to go for seven nights, where you can get a bargain. Where you can get a bargain Now, you could use your travel agents. Go to your local travel agents, say where can I get on in? You know you've booked your time off work, you knew you're going to get a week away, cheeky week away, but instead of going to tenerife or somewhere where you would normally traditionally go, go on a cruise at a good price. So you're comfortable with it and you're happy with it. And I wouldn't go sweet, but I wouldn't go, like my family said, an inside room either.

Mark: 10:48

No, I think a balcony on Ocean View is a great one for that first time. If you're in the inside one, you might end up feeling a bit claustrophobic. It's nice to be able to see how it's definitely well. We prefer.

Linzi: 11:02

And I'm not thinking. I don't think Cunard is a good starter cruise for you either.

Mark: 11:07

Now I'm going to disagree slightly.

Linzi: 11:10

You're allowed to. You're allowed to.

Mark: 11:12

Well, it's a discussion, but I mean it brings me on to sort of which cruise line is that one that you would persuade your partner to go on to? Because I think it really depends on looking at your partner's interests and then figuring out which cruise line is going to best align to them when they're on it yeah, but it's fantastic. We had some friends from our Facebook group who they did do Cunard for their first one they did and they went to Norwegian fjords.

Mark: 11:41

Yeah, and it worked out perfectly because it had things that interested the partner.

Linzi: 11:45

Yes, and therefore but they weren't looking forward to it no, not at all. They were taking one for the team.

Mark: 11:52

Yeah, and I suspect there was a lot of persuasion went on in that house to make that happen.

Linzi: 11:59

Yeah.

Mark: 11:59

But I would say that having that conversation with your partner, well, you probably don't need to have that conversation with your partner If your partner knows, if you know that your partner likes, for instance, archery, or they like puzzles, or they like trivia and quizzes and things like that, if they want to go to a lot of local pub quizzes.

Linzi: 12:22

There are certain cruise ships that are better for doing that than other, and QNAP, for instance, is brilliant for the quizzes it is, but I don't want you to be having to get a whole new wardrobe or feeling stuffy when you go. So if you've got shirts and a jacket and suit and everything that you, that you you can fit into and you feel very comfortable with and well, I think that's the other side of the.

Mark: 12:47

The persuading part of it and convincing your partner to go on it, is that it's finding a cruise ship that also aligns to what they're going to be comfortable with, not just the activities. So if you mentioned QNAD, so I'll do that one again. If you've got a partner who likes to dress up and likes to wear a shirt and a tie a lot and lots of people do like that then that's going to fit better. If you've got someone who likes to wear shorts and t-shirts and prefers more that Ibiza scene, then you're probably going to enjoy Virgin Voyages more.

Linzi: 13:20

But you've also with Virgin Voyages. It's a young at heart mindset as well, so Virgin Voyages is a great first cruise if you can get a really good buy. It's just that you're not driving. Well, you can. You can actually go to Portsmouth, can't you?

Mark: 13:36

this year, yes, they do, but they are small they are, I don't know.

Linzi: 13:43

You know your partner better than we do, but I would. It's getting for me. The way I got you on that ship is with a late deal at a good price.

Mark: 13:56

And you're like for that money. I'm happy. Well, you stopped my inner yorkshire of liking it like in a bargain. It's like this would have. I think at the time it would have normally been about 1800 pound, it's not. It wasn't as expensive, in fact even less, I think it would have been about I can't remember 1300, 1400 dollars and we ended up paying, I think, 400. It wasn't a lot.

Linzi: 14:15

It it was an incredible change, but that's not going to help you now and you're like oh, look how cheap this is. Because that's not a thing now.

Mark: 14:21

No, I mean, you can still get some last-minute bargains. You can, and it's definitely worth speaking to a travel agent.

Linzi: 14:26

But you're not getting a grand suite for $400.

Mark: 14:28

Probably not.

Linzi: 14:30

That seems less likely. We're putting that out there, but it is as a couple. It's a lovely cruise. It's a lovely cruise for a family as well. What's that? A cruise in general.

Mark: 14:41

Oh yeah, absolutely. Again, depending on how old your children are that you're taking with you, because you can have a family that's made up of grown-up children yeah, and again, your cruise line that you'll pick for that one would be different. If you've got very young children, then you'll probably prefer one of the more mainstream ones, like well, caribbean who?

Mark: 15:03

all they you know, the kids clubs are fantastic amazing which also means that you get a holiday that's the thing. That's the thing again, that's a really good persuasion. But if you've got young children and you know one of the elements is to be able to have some time to yourself, going on a traditional holiday, like a traditional beach type one, they might have kids clubs that operate for a couple of hours, but they're not taking them for dinner.

Mark: 15:28

No, these ones. You can drop your children off at eight in the morning and pick them up at one o'clock at night, in extreme examples. Yeah but you, I mean.

Linzi: 15:40

I'm not necessarily saying you should do no, no, but you do get time to yourselves. You do get time to yourselves. That's another good thing. We, just, we, just we love a cruise. I'm glad the stars aligned and that you, we've got you on that cruise. Yeah, because I'd have had to just go on a cruise of your mouth if that was the case yeah you, you don't have to now.

Mark: 15:56

No, you can go on cruises with me.

Linzi: 15:58

No. So yeah, something easy to get to. That's not, you know, not going to break the bank. You feel you're getting a bargain.

Mark: 16:06

I would definitely go with that element too, because that was sort of a big factor for me.

Linzi: 16:14

Why would you pay thousands for something that you think you're?

Mark: 16:16

going to hate, yeah, and I hated buying a suit for it at an outlet store because I'm like this is a waste of money for a suit to go on a holiday. I don't want to go on, yeah, but if you're thinking well, it's only costing me X, I'm still getting a holiday that you get to do that side of it. And again, one of the other bits it didn't matter as much for us on that first cruise. We did, because I think we went to Cozumel and the Bahamas, Went to the Bahamas.

Linzi: 16:48

I think that was it. In those two days it was yeah, I don't think we went far.

Mark: 16:51

So, it wasn't a port thing for me, but again, from your partner's point of view, if they're interested in visiting certain places, like maybe the fjords or some of the Greek islands that are not as easy to get, like Santorini and places like that where you might not want to go to for a fortnight, going and visiting them for a day, is that a great way of going and trying it, because we've been to places and then we need to come back here and spend more time here. Dubrovnik one of them? Yeah, absolutely, and we have done that. We've been to Dubrovnik and spent a few days there, so it's a good way of seeing places without again committing to going to them for a longer period.

Linzi: 17:30

And yeah, and also, then, if you want to go somewhere where you're not sure you're going to love the food, you can get back on the ship. And get back on the ship and enjoy whatever you would like to enjoy.

Mark: 17:45

And I think you know when we talk about that sort of what's going to float your boat for your partner, for that side of it, the best thing about cruising is you're making it your holiday.

Linzi: 17:55

Yeah.

Mark: 17:56

If you want to be heavily involved in every activity that's going on, from trivia to entertainment, to discos and parties and going to all the different dining venues, you can do that. If you want to do nothing other than lie around a pool and get sort of food from the local grill or pop into the buffet and you don't want to get dressed up for formal nights or things like, that you can like that.

Mark: 18:16

You don't have to. It's very much your holiday, yeah, and for me I really didn't think it was going to be that. No, I was expecting just this very formal, traditional thing.

Linzi: 18:27

So what were you darling about cruising? What were you?

Mark: 18:31

What were I?

Linzi: 18:32

Yes, begins with W Begins with. W it's got an R in it Right.

Mark: 18:41

No, no, no. I don't think I was wrong about cruising, because I think how it was portrayed at the time wasn't aimed at me.

Linzi: 18:50

Misinformed. You were misinformed.

Mark: 18:52

I was uninformed.

Linzi: 18:53

Uninformed Okay.

Mark: 18:55

The information just wasn't as readily available.

Linzi: 18:58

I know, but like I say, I'm not sure making it force.

Mark: 19:02

Forcing them to watch every sort of Cruise vlog maybe. No, but if there's something in particular that your partner likes to do on a cruise, for instance, if your partner's into let's go extreme skydiving.

Linzi: 19:16

Okay.

Mark: 19:17

Then you could show them that on certain more Caribbean ships Quantum class, Quantum class ones they have the skydiving simulator and you could just show that bit and go look, these are the sort of things you can do on a cruise ship.

Linzi: 19:29

Okay.

Mark: 19:30

Or that sort of thing.

Linzi: 19:32

Maybe look for the bits that's going to interest them more.

Mark: 19:37

Okay, I know what you're saying. I know as opposed to saying let's watch this two-hour ship tour, uh, which may not interest them quite that much yeah so have you got any sort of last tips in this section for sort of how to broach the conversation? I can only sit at the other side of it and say the things that turned me off of it. How would you bring up the idea of cruising a star?

Linzi: 20:07

I feel that this conversation has taken a real turn, maybe pour a drink. Put on a candle.

Mark: 20:18

A bit of mood music.

Linzi: 20:19

Mood music.

Mark: 20:20

Not having trouble. That was the wrong one to do.

Linzi: 20:22

No, no and yeah. Just say oh, we've got a week off in so-and-so, where shall we go? Oh right, let's take a cheeky holiday and, by the way, we can get this amazing cruise. Let's try it. Let's try something new.

Mark: 20:41

Would you recommend springing a cruise on something?

Linzi: 20:45

Oh, no, no.

Mark: 20:47

I think you have to be sort of prepared for going on it. I don't know, unless you had done it to me yeah, but you'd have been fine because I knew that you'd want to the right sprung the right sprung.

Linzi: 21:05

Yeah, but we're not talking about how to surprise your partner for the first cruise no, I wouldn't spring it on them, but I think it should be a mutual consent cruise.

Mark: 21:18

You both agreed to it.

Linzi: 21:19

You both agreed to it.

Mark: 21:21

It's mutually consensually cruising. Yes, yes, anyway, good luck with that. Hopefully that's been helpful.

Linzi: 21:31

Getting a good price basically.

Mark: 21:33

Honestly, yeah, maybe let them listen to this podcast as well, no, or? Don't let them listen to this podcast, but I'm so glad that I did get persuaded to go on it. Yes, but I can't imagine not having been on the cruise now. No no not at all. No, okay, right, story time. No, I'm going to read you a story.

Linzi: 21:58

I'll have a drink. Here we go.

Mark: 21:59

Right, let's see how you sort of react to these and what you think of them. Okay, drink time for me as well. Just a wet more whistle over there. Okay, lay it off. So the first one we can speak to this from experience. Okay, so Princess Cruises have just announced the rolling out what we tried on Sun Princess, which is their new dining plan. Oh so, this is fleet-wide, every ship from the 14th of September 14th of September 14th of September this year.

Mark: 22:31

Well, I mean it takes time to roll it in and get the stuff in and you can start booking things on the app from the 17th of June, so that's pretty quick. So, for anyone who isn't aware of this and for you, how they've introduced it on Sun Princess is that they have three separate dining rooms, and that's how they're doing it on every ship.

Mark: 22:53

So there'll be three separate dining rooms a traditional one, which you have either an early or late sitting yeah a reservable one where, when you're on the ship that day, you can say we want to eat at seven o'clock tonight and if the seat's available, you can book it so it's like a virtual queue, but you book it in advance yeah, the other one is a walk-in at any time. So you might have a little bit of a queue. Okay, you might not.

Linzi: 23:17

Okay, like Deck 8.

Mark: 23:18

Yeah.

Linzi: 23:19

With the Americana yeah.

Mark: 23:20

Now they haven't said the copying element of some princess.

Linzi: 23:24

No, I understand.

Mark: 23:25

But historically your options have been sort of a fixed eating time or queue. I like it eating time or queue.

Linzi: 23:34

I like it.

Mark: 23:36

I do because on Some Princess we never queued for the main dining room.

Linzi: 23:41

No, we didn't.

Mark: 23:42

At breakfast or dinner. No, no, it just seemed to work really well. Now I know that other ones, other cruise lines, have had things like the Anytime Dining and Freedom Dining. I think NCL were one of the first to do that freedom yeah um, but it's one of those things that, if it's done correctly and having three separate dining rooms geared up for it, yes it's gonna work? Yeah, because I think these days you know, speaking to people that we do on cruises, people don't want to always eat at five or six past six depending on which Whether you've been on the port, if you've had an excursion, if it's a formal night and you've had an excursion.

Mark: 24:24

If you've been on an excursion and it's formal night and you've only been back on the ship half an hour, you have not got time to get changed. Do your air and get ready.

Linzi: 24:32

No, they normally try and do it on a sea day, or there's a sea day afterwards.

Mark: 24:38

But some cruises are port intensive.

Linzi: 24:40

There's no chance, no, and it's always a pain.

Mark: 24:43

And sometimes you're just not hungry.

Linzi: 24:45

When it gets round to that point in the day of might we now need to go for a three-course meal at half past five? No, if it's been a sunny day, you don't want to, because you've got more.

Mark: 24:53

You've been led out by the pool, you've been having cocktails and nibbles as the day's been going on, and then by the time it gets to sort of seven, eight o'clock, you've had fun, I suppose. Yeah, so I think it's great that they've sort of pushed that forward, because we said when we were on Sun Princess how well that new system worked.

Mark: 25:10

We loved it yeah, it'll be interesting if in the future, they do take that approach to the walking one being a different menu. Yes, because it doesn't say that on the press release it talks about specifically. It'll be the same one, but it's an interesting yeah, thank you any other thoughts on that? No, I like it, it gets a seal of approval, yes, a big thumbs up, yeah, okay. Next story. It actually covers a couple of different cruise lines.

Linzi: 25:44

Oh, okay.

Mark: 25:45

And it's about some new ship orders Right With people ordering things way into the future. Okay, so Winster, yeah, I often think about, with the sort of tall sails ones but they do have the poppy yachts. Now they're taking two new ships.

Linzi: 26:02

Lovely.

Mark: 26:03

One of them that's been built brand new, which is called Star Seeker, part of the Star Class ones that's coming out next December, Nice. So very quickly yeah yeah, and then the other one is called Star Explorer. That's coming out in December 26.

Linzi: 26:17

Yeah.

Mark: 26:17

But that's already built. It came out in 2019 and was part of the Mystic Group, but it had been chartered for Quark expeditions, though I'd never heard of them before that. Both ships have 112 suites for a maximum of 224 guests, oh lovely. And a staff ratio of one to two. So they are properly.

Linzi: 26:40

Both ships have 112 suites for a maximum of 224 guests, oh lovely. And a staff ratio of one to two, so they are properly a small ship luxury. I would love to do a Windstar in Polynesia, the Tahiti ones.

Mark: 26:50

I would love that, but I'm guessing the reason for that other one taking a little bit longer is they're having to completely rebrand it into the Windstar, look, feel yeah, no, it's happening with Disney and their Disney Adventure. So it's a thing. I forget who that was.

Linzi: 27:04

I want to say Genting.

Mark: 27:06

Yeah, it began with G.

Linzi: 27:08

Yeah.

Mark: 27:09

And then the next one is the NCL Group.

Linzi: 27:11

Yeah.

Mark: 27:12

They've ordered eight new ships for three different brands. Wow, four new Prima Plus models. Oh is that? Which are 5,000 plus passengers? Oh, my goodness, so they're big ships.

Linzi: 27:24

Yeah.

Mark: 27:24

So that's their next generation of Prima. Oh, good grief. Okay. Is Aqua Prima Plus, or is that still Prima?

Linzi: 27:30

Aqua is.

Mark: 27:31

I know they're doing things different.

Linzi: 27:32

They are doing it different. I don't know if it's Prima Plus, the itinerary I had my eye on for us has disappeared. That doesn't bode well.

Mark: 27:42

Never bodes well with an itinerary disappearing, so it might reappear.

Linzi: 27:46

It could be just having a glitch, but it was the Transatlantic Southampton to Boston. It's inaugural. It's disappeared.

Mark: 27:54

But if it reappears, then great. Yeah, we'll keep you posted on that one, but they're coming out a little bit later down the line in 2030, 32, 34 and 36. Good grief, so that's their next 12-year plan under NCL. They're doing two new ones for Oceania. Lovely, I've got to try Oceania. They're a little bit sort of nearer to us. They're 1,450 passengers coming out in 27 and 2029. And then two new ones for Region Seven Seas.

Linzi: 28:29

Wowzers.

Mark: 28:31

Coming out in 26 and 29. Wow. So if you look at that eight ships that they've ordered, they're for delivery between 2026, 25. Technically, no 26 was the earliest for NCL, wasn't it? And 2036, so they've got a 10-year launch plan.

Linzi: 28:51

Wowzers.

Mark: 28:51

So you'll have a new NCL group ship virtually every year. Now it did say on the press release subject to finance being accepted. It actually genuinely did say he's subject to the finance approval.

Linzi: 29:05

That is the world. Welcome to the real world.

Mark: 29:07

Apparently. When you're spending billions on your ships, you have to have the finance approved as well, which I think is very good. We will take that.

Linzi: 29:16

So anything there to takes your fancy, no, WinStar yes, winstar, we keep talking about going back to NCL and then I cost it and then we go, oh, so we will get on it. We will get on it. It's like we said we have a price in mind.

Mark: 29:38

It's just a little bit out of that at the minute we will get on it, but it'll be interesting to see. There's obviously demand for if you look at in particular sort of windstar oceania and region, which are the more luxury liners that there's obviously there's obviously the demand there for them to bring new ships in, because you've got two new ships in each one of those ones which when those come out, we might see a little bit spare capacity.

Linzi: 30:05

Because if they, need to.

Mark: 30:06

That means they're full pretty much all the time and therefore, the price is going to stay very high.

Linzi: 30:11

Yes, like with Royal Caribbean.

Mark: 30:13

Well, like with anyone, if the demand's there for it. Like with Royal Caribbean. Well, like with anyone, if the demand's there for it, why sell it cheaper? Yeah, they are a business, but hopefully we'll see a little bit more sort of come out from that. Yeah, yeah, and then the final.

Linzi: 30:26

That wasn't it.

Mark: 30:27

No, no, that was a two for one.

Linzi: 30:29

Okay.

Mark: 30:30

The final one is a story that we had been keeping an eye on because we were quite sad about it when it happened, and that there was a recent auction I don't think it was on eBay for the American Queen ships.

Linzi: 30:46

Oh, I'd love to go on those.

Mark: 30:48

Because the American Queen as a company went into Chapter 11 receivership last year, which was a shame.

Linzi: 30:58

Because they do the big, was it last year or early this year.

Mark: 31:02

Recently. Let's just go with recently. That way we're not wrong. And we were real excited because the big paddle boats that they're doing just look stunning.

Linzi: 31:11

I'd costed it up so many times.

Mark: 31:13

Well we watched Visit With Us when they went on American Queen, yeah, and it just looked absolutely stunning. We're like we have got to do that. We saw them at a cruise show that we went to and picked up the brochure, yeah, and it was like we're definitely going to do that. So we were absolutely gutted when they went over. Anyway, it went to auction.

Linzi: 31:32

Mm-hmm their Anyway it went to auction.

Mark: 31:33

Their four main river cruise ships have all been sold. They actually had apparently I don't even remember reading this a couple of small yachts as well, which American Cruise Lines have not bought them. Someone else bought them at the auction. But what I thought was interesting was just how much the ships went for Right, because they're not as much as you would expect. So American Queen went for $2.1 million.

Linzi: 32:05

Still, it's not insignificant.

Mark: 32:07

It's not.

Linzi: 32:07

It's not a billion dollars like Beyond us American.

Mark: 32:10

Empress. $1.6 million American Countess. $1.6 million American Duchess, which I'm not familiar with, so I'm assuming it's smaller or older only $200,000. You can't buy a house in the UK for that. We could have bought our own river ship and gone up and down the Mississippi that would have been wonderful that could have been our new studio.

Mark: 32:31

I need to keep an eye on future auctions. I thought one of the interesting stories we've been following there wasn't anything in the press release of when it's going to go back on sale, but I would hope it's very soon because obviously they've spent the money so they want to get out as part of the auction.

Mark: 32:53

They've got all the trademarks and stuff like that so hopefully we'll see it out, but that brings us up to the end of the auction. They've got all the trademarks, so hopefully we'll see it out, but that brings us up to the end of the podcast.

Linzi: 33:00

Well, thank you, darling cheers. Thank you for listening. We hope we've helped a little bit. Have a lovely day.