Suite Natured Cruise Cast | Cruise Chat & News
Linzi and Mark aka Suite Natured host a light hearted podcast where they share their cruise experiences and give their thoughts on recent cruise news and stories.
Each episode is recorded and published in real time & unscripted, no edits, which can lead to some "interesting" conversations. Every other Cruise Cast we are joined by special guest co-hosts who bring they own experiences and style to the show.
Linzi & Mark's YouTube channel, Suite Natured has had over 1.9M views in the past year and covers cruise reviews, ship tours, dining guides, drinks package reviews, cabin tours/reviews and more.
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Suite Natured Cruise Cast | Cruise Chat & News
What Will Cruise Lines Do Next To Get Your Money? - Audio Only 🎧 | Cruise Cast Ep.17 With JJ Cruise
Join us as Jared and Jordan from JJ Cruise help us untangle whether the latest innovations like Royal Railway's immersive dining or La Petite Chef's theatrical meals are genuine game-changers or mere gimmicks that don't add to the whole cruise experience. From the enchantment of Spellbound aboard the Sun Princess to the growing trend of onboard tattoo parlors, we dissect the true value and staying power of these new experiences.
Ever wondered about the hype behind private islands? Get the scoop on our adventures at Royal Caribbean's Coco Key and Norwegian's private retreat, comparing their offerings and what truly makes a private island experience memorable. We also reflect on Virgin Voyages' surprising success with their onboard tattoo parlor, once dismissed as a gimmick but now a hit among cruisers. Hear our thoughts on how these trends might shape the future of cruising and the evolving strategies behind cruise dining experiences and collectibles.
Laugh along with us as we recount Matt's tuxedo mishap on his first cruise and dive into the ongoing debate over Carnival Cruise Line's decision to nix tablecloths in their main dining room. Plus, get the latest scoop on the upcoming revamp of Virgin’s Scarlet Lady, from new dining options to the addition of luxurious cabanas. As we wrap up, enjoy a few tales of "Late night Lindsay" and her escapades, leaving you both entertained and eager for your next voyage.
As usual the cruise cast includes our favourite cruise tips, takes on the cruise news stories and tales from our times on cruises.
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Cheers, and have a lovely day
Linzi & Mark
Welcome to episode 17 of the S Nature Cruisecast. Hi, I'm Linz. As always, I'm joined by Marky, hello, hello. And today we're talking gimmick or cruise evolution, and we're joined by some very, very special guests. But first a's mood music after criticizing last week's I felt it was like something from a 1980s sitcom ah, you see, I was kind of going with 1980s magnum type no, that wasn't magnum. That wasn't magnum.
Mark:No, no in which case I shall carry on trying to find the perfect mood music, but I will introduce our special guest today, because we're joined by the wonderful jared and jordan from jj cruise. Hi guys, hey how's it going?
Linzi:oh, my goodness, thank you for joining us. This is. I've been looking forward to this forever, so it's um. It's lovely to see you. The last time we saw you, we were on some princess and we had about. It was like 15 minutes and I couldn't get over how tall you both were. So that's, that's the um.
Mark:Well, that's the thing about the internet and seeing people on video. You have no idea of scale.
Linzi:No, it just makes you smaller because you have to fit in the television. Anyway, back to um what today's topic.
Mark:Yeah, and today we're going to be talking about um gimmicks or evolution in cruises. Okay, because over the last decade or so, maybe a little bit longer, cruises have been adding more and more non-traditional features, um restaurants, entertainment, to try and attract new audiences, um, so that they've got new people constantly coming as customers yes, but are they things that cruisers want, or are they just gimmicks?
Mark:okay, I understand and that's what we're going to talk about. So obviously what we mean by a gimmick doesn't mean that it's tacky or anything. It just means that it's. It's there to catch the attention of the press or sort of the internet as a whole and a little bit more than just saying we're a cruise ship okay, and the guests?
Mark:I'm guessing as well yeah, absolutely, to give them a reason to go into that particular ship, yes, as opposed to another one, whether it's in the same cruise line, um, or different one, I understand, so I thought it'd be a good idea to discuss some examples of that oh my goodness and one of them which came straight to mind because I was watching the guy's video on it yes, I was fascinated when they announced it, and I know you were, because you're a massive railway fan was the royal railway which you guys went on not that long since.
Jordan:Yes, we did and also thank you so much for having us on here. This is really exciting for us to be here and you're right, when we got to meet earlier this year on the Sun Princess, it was like passing in the night. It was so quick and I know you all were getting on as we were getting off, but it's so wonderful to reunite here. But yes, Royal Railway, railway we had some feelings.
Jared:Yeah, for that ship it is something that they needed, something new and flashy, because it was one of the later, you know, ships in the fleet and so they really had to bring something in. They brought a couple other things. I would say the pesky parrot on that ship might have been a little bit more of a gimmick for what they were asking. They were saying about having a parrot being on board and it was going to talk to you and it was going to be able to interact with you. That was a true gimmick because once we got on board, we witnessed the parrot and it was not what we expected.
Jared:But that Royal Railway was one that I I would say maybe more of a cruise evolution. I think that is going to be something that we're going to see more and more of is just more immersive experiences in dining. We already see it on celebrity. I think this is something else, that kind of thought the process through for royal railway, and that is that of la petite chef. So I think these types of more immersive, um, more of experiential dining is only going to get more and more popular with cruising I, yeah, I would agree with that, yeah yeah, do you think la petite chef is a one and done?
Mark:and I guess we'll go as well. Yes, something you'd keep going back to time and time again.
Jordan:Yeah, so for us we would say it's a one and done. We know a lot of other cruisers out there that love La Petite Chef.
Jordan:And there's two different menu experiences, so technically you could go twice and get a different show. I think, for the two of us, both of those experiences are one and done. I think, for the two of us, both of those experiences are one and done. But I think that the Royal Railway we're going to see evolve into a lot of different experiences and those experiences we would go back for. I know that they teased a train through Napa Valley with a wine tasting, which you know, that's my love language, so that sounds wonderful. You'd be a big fan of that. That would be a huge fan of that. And if they introduced cheese as well, you'd. That's my love language, so that sounds wonderful.
Mark:You'd be a big fan of that. That would be a huge fan of that, and if they introduced cheese as well, you'd be all over that.
Linzi:Goodness, cheese and white train, that's my dream.
Mark:On a cruise.
Linzi:On a cruise. It's like does not get any better yeah.
Mark:What about something like I'm sure you guys saw this as well Spellbound on Some Princess, which? Can I think of another magic show like that on any other cruise line? Do we see that as a gimmick? Or, again, is this an evolution of entertainment and dining and that whole experience?
Jared:Yeah, I think when we experienced it we felt more of the evolution part, but beforehand we really felt this was going to be a gimmick. We really did feel like this was going to be one of those things that we enter, we pay a lot of money to go into and we regret it immediately. And that was the opposite. We were so impressed by Spellbound personally, and we didn't even get the dining part.
Mark:No, that wasn't ready, yeah, yeah.
Jared:So I can only imagine getting food with the cost of Spellbound for the rest of it, because, honestly, I would pay to just be in Spellbound the entire night, like you can't. Yeah, those drinks are incredible. That environment is just.
Jordan:You know, ship within a ship concept well, this is like another world inside a ship, which is just so cool yeah, we've loved that experience, and that is one we would go to time and time again, I think because we enjoyed it so much yes yeah, do you agree with that?
Linzi:I did. I love spellbound. It's a shame we never got the dinner, and the dinner I don't think it's where, how they're presenting it and where you sit and everything. People feel that they're a little bit being shortchanged with that.
Mark:I think that'll probably continue to evolve. I hope not. They have evolved some princess, a lot since we went on it, and that's only six months ago.
Linzi:Yeah, but I always worry about forced fun in these situations and you go, oh, I'm going to feel really awkward about it and in order not to feel awkward, I better hit all the cocktails so that I feel a little bit more loosey-goosey. But it's um, yeah, that's what I worried. But, like you say, spellbound was lovely and we would definitely go to it again and we felt that the cocktails were value for money and also that you can stay there all evening if, if you want to do and and really enjoy it.
Mark:Well, that would be really good value for money if you did that, especially if you know the drinks package right yeah, and that's the thing as well.
Linzi:When you are on the drinks package and then you pay extra, I feel there should be two prices, but that may be a different show altogether. For what? What we're discussing?
Mark:okay, well, let's talk about some ones that maybe not the dining experience type, yeah, but that we've seen sort of appear, um, and disappear to a degree as well. Yeah, um, things like go karts and vr experiences, because I noted, I'm fairly sure I remember seeing on the new ncl aqua they're not having the go karts on there, um, so they've had them on a couple of ships and then they're going. This has taken up a huge amount of space. And then the vr experiences that we've seen on the likes of msc are they just really more gimmicky, do they? Would that make you want to go on those ships?
Mark:no whereas would spellbound or the royal railway make you want to go on those ships? No, whereas would Spellbound or the Royal Railway make you want to try a ship.
Jared:Yes, it's just yeah.
Jordan:I would completely agree. I mean we feel the exact same way. Yeah, I mean Jared and I also don't. We're not bringing our kids or families on board, so we also maybe are not the demographic that that's being marketed to.
Jared:We definitely aren't, I know, since we we are travel agents as well. So we have a lot of clients and the number one thing we get from clients is the gimmicks of like, especially when they're new to cruising. They're like we have a family. So we want to do this ship because that's go-karts, or we want to do this ship because that's a roller coaster, you know, whatever it may be, and we have to talk them through the process of like realistically. Are you going to spend this amount of money over and over and over again? Because it all costs? It's?
Linzi:not included?
Jared:Are you going to really spend money for a 17 second roller coaster ride over and? Over again for your kids, are you going to?
Jared:do that for go-karts it might be a little longer, but are you really going to do that? And the answer is always no, and a lot of times they just don't even know. They think it's included, they think that you know or that it's one times included, but then you have to pay for extra or something. And the the honest truth is I'm glad the roller, uh, the roller coaster is there because it's tried out now and now we don't have to do it again. But the go-karts, I'm glad they're one and done. I mean, I guess it's on a couple of ships, but I'm hoping Norwegian stays away from go-karts because, like you said, it took so much space from what could be actual experiences for families that it's already included for everyone.
Jordan:You also got white, terrible stains on your shirt when we did the go-kart Oil spill.
Jared:I was wearing white, Like there was white spots all over my or there's white areas on my shirt and there was just oil all over it. From someone ahead of me slicked Like. I don't even understand how it happened, so they didn't wash it, it didn't get cleaned, it went in the trash.
Linzi:Oh no, oh no, which is even more expense.
Mark:Yeah, it's then 50 for the catting plus the shirt, or maybe it's a secret way of ncl trying to get more money from laundry services maybe if I put my tinfoil hat on.
Linzi:yeah, maybe that's exactly what it is they do like nickel and diamond yeah.
Mark:A couple of other experiences that sort of sprung to mind when I was thinking about this in terms of what maybe started out as gimmicks, okay, but have gone massive since then and I'm kind of thinking they might be kind of coming back into it at the other end. Are the private islands Right? So it's not that long since the private islands first really started appearing and you used to go on them and everything was pretty much included. You could do some excursions on there, and I'm thinking about disney in particular. There's a lot to do, yeah, but now when you look at things like perfect day at coco k, that or or key, depending which way you want to pronounce it that particular day, um, there's a huge amount of expense to that, yes, but it is something that the cruise lines and again, going back to what you guys just said about from a family point of view, yeah, the big water slides, all that sort of water park thing, is a big picture on a brochure or on an advert to get kids going.
Mark:I want to do that, yeah, as opposed to the normal cruise ship. But what do you think? Do you think the private islands are so? They do add a lot of value to it. Are they a gimmick? Have they continued to evolve? Where do you see them?
Linzi:well, I'm not. I'm not a sun bunny, um, but so I I in respect to the water, the water parks, that they're charging extra for a fortune, a cabana of 1500 for the day. You're just paying to pose, really, aren't you?
Mark:you are, yeah, it's um. When you know, from your point of view, you avoid the sea I avoid. You don't like lying on the sand and you don't like the sun. That doesn't make a private island necessarily the target for you.
Linzi:No, I'm not their target audience.
Mark:So, in which case, let me flick to the guys. Then I realised immediately after I answered that I'm like. Well, Lindsay, don't like any part of this, apart from the cocktail area.
Linzi:I like the cocktails, but then I need to sleep. But apart from the cocktail area, I like the cocktails, but then I need to sleep, but I need to sleep where it's shaded.
Mark:I could go on over to you guys. What? What do you think about the private island?
Jordan:I mean, we love coco key a lot like that is one of our happy places. We and I feel like they opened up this adults only section, the hideaway, and that has just made it so much better. But we've spent I would say we've probably been to Coco 25 times maybe. Wow, and I would say now, with the exception of this last year, because we've gone to hideaway a lot and we paid for it every time, but before this last year I think we probably went 20 times and there was only once that we spent a dime on the island.
Jordan:We always went to the Oasis Lagoon, hung out by the swim up bar, and that's at the back of the island, isn't it?
Linzi:You used to sort of get off and then take a left all the way around to the side.
Jordan:Yeah, and that was what we did. That was our day get off and then take a left all the way around, yeah, the side, yes, yeah, and that's, and that's like what we. That was what we did that was our day and we you know, we didn't spend any extra money there.
Jared:We ate the free food that was there, yeah I would say this and just, uh, just a note we say coco key because right when we started saying coco k at the beginning of our, of our entire channel, um, the bahamian people actually emailed us and said we pronounce it Coco Key. So we want you to pronounce it Coco Key. So we've always said Coco Key. We get so much pushback from so many people on all sides, so it is fine either way, but we say Coco Key for that reason.
Jordan:You make it sound like the whole island came for us Pretty much.
Jared:We're like we're not trying to do wrong by anybody. We will say coco key, um, but I I agree with what jordan says. There's a lot to do. That's all like included. It has the largest, uh, freshwater pool in the entire north america I think it is, or caribbean or whatever, maybe like it's huge, uh. So it's wonderful it has a swim bar.
Jared:But what I was going to say is not every private island is the same, and I do think some cruise lines treat that more as a gimmick than as an evolution. You've seen coco key evolve over time and they put more and more and more money into it, and now they're doing so. Many other destinations in the bahamas and the south pacific, like everywhere. They're just putting money into private islands. On the flip side, you see something like Norwegian and they still have a tender to their island, and once you get there, you immediately want to get back on the tender and go back to the ship, and so you're wasting your whole day waiting for a tender, getting on a tender, go into the island and then coming back.
Jared:And some people love an island that's untouched. I get that, but I think more people than not see it as just kind of a gimmick of like oh we have this great private island you're going to go to, and then you get there and you're like this isn't much. This is not. And you can see Cocoa Key from that island, which is even worse Because you see a hot air balloon, you see water slides. So I think it really depends on the cruise line and the private destination, but we've been really impressed by Cocoa Key personally.
Mark:And people do seem to like them.
Linzi:They do, it's me, it's me, I get that.
Jordan:Listen, I also appreciate shade and I appreciate a heated pool. Neither one of us are beach people. I think that's why we like Cocoa is because we enjoy just being in, you know, lounging in a shaded area and in the pool, so we totally understand your perspective there.
Mark:Well, we'll have to organize another cruise that stops off there and try again, because we haven't been there since they put all the new, Not all the new things in no.
Mark:So I'd be interested to try it as well. Yes, the last one that I really want to ask as to whether people think it's a gimmick or not and I have got my opinions on this yes is on virgin voyages. Okay, and that's their tattoo parlour. So when they sort of first announced it, it was the first tattoo parlour at sea and everyone thought, yeah, is this just a gimmick? Is anyone actually going to get it done? Yes, um, every time we've been on, yeah, it gets pretty much booked up within the first day. Yes, uh, if not quicker, um, but what about? What do you guys think about sort of the tattoo parlor?
Jared:I I personally think it's it started as a gimmick but it actually worked. And I mean that because when we went on, we were, I mean, obviously with covid happening very few people got on at the very beginning and we got on pretty quickly after the restart and when we got on, when we saw the selection of tattoos you could get, we're like this is a gimmick because it was the smallest yeah, the smallest, the most simple, basic, like I could do the same tattoo kind of they've evolved since then and, like you said, they're completely booked, so I think it was their target demographic.
Jared:They wanted to be that brand, so it worked perfectly with their brand and I applaud them because it obviously did work for them, because it's completely booked and people are doing it and then now this is marketing for them everywhere people go, which is not something you could say about the roller coaster on Carnival.
Linzi:No, and it's something that you take with you, well, literally Everywhere.
Mark:That's it. You have no choice, yeah.
Linzi:It's a memory for life, I feel choice it is.
Mark:It's a yeah, it's a memory for life. I feel it's um there, I put that in to mention it, but I, I genuinely uh. So, as you guys, I think that they'd put it in there to grab some headlines to start with, probably with the best intentions. I think they felt it would work, but they also felt it's not a big area and we could easily swap that into another shop yes, if we needed to.
Mark:Yeah, I think what they've done really well with that is build it into the brand but then bring in sort of guest artists to come and do sort of a period of weeks on there, and I've seen people commenting that they've then booked to go on the cruise just to get the tattoo from that particular artist because they're booked up on land.
Mark:So works, yes, all the way around. So I think that's a a really good sort of what definitely I felt was a gimmick. Um has done really well for them. Let's just talk about sort of money, because we touched onto that a little bit earlier on with things like the Royal Railway put my teeth back in, that shouldn't be that hard to say but in particular, with other dining experiences that have been put in, things such as the Empire Supper Club and Love by Brito, albeit the price of that has come down since they originally announced that as well. But when people are speaking to you and in your travel agent guys, do you get people who are inquiring about these sort of high-end experiences, and yeah, how much are they then put off when they realize just how high and they are?
Jordan:I think that we get quite a few questions and inquiries specifically about the Empire Supper Club. There's a lot of curiosity around that and I'll be honest, in general people don't tend to blink an eye at the price if they're asking about it, and I think it's because the price is pretty well known out there. People know it's a very premium, expensive experience. Yes, and I have yet to talk to anyone that said the price is not worth it.
Linzi:We have not done it, no.
Jordan:But every single person that we know that have done it said it was incredible, one of the best dining experiences of their life and worth every penny dining experiences of their life and worth every penny.
Jared:What's interesting is cruise lines do such a different strategy when they release these dining experiences. For example, royal Railway started off lower price and we're kind of shocked at how low they started. And then it went up and we expected it to. But then you have Sun Princess, where it was the opposite for Love by Brito, where it started at a higher cost and they went down because not enough demand, I'm guessing. So I'm curious about what marketing strategy really works the most, because I do think Royal Railway, with the current environment, is not worth the price. Personally, whereas I haven't done Love by Brito, but that seems way more something I've spent money towards than the Royal Railway. Again, empire Supper Club, similarly like Empire Supper Club, has been constantly sold out, something I've spent money towards. Then the royal railway, again, um, empire supper club, similarly like empire supper club, has been constantly sold out.
Jared:It's an experience that people rave about, and so they can keep raising the price all they want yeah but la petite chef another one we get a lot is another thing that people ask us all the time about. So I think especially dining is that kind of thing of you. Just you pay what you actually think it's worth and then, as long as you have a good experience, you're happy that you paid that money. But when you have not a good experience, even a smite like a small bit it is well known across all facebook, all youtube, everywhere people complain.
Mark:Yeah yeah, it'll be really interesting to see where the evolve the dining on cruise lines over the next 10 years. For where we've got now Because we're getting up to the pricing of pretty much land-based Michelin star restaurants, certainly with Empire Supper Club and are we going to see a genuine Michelin star restaurant at sea. Who'll be the first one to do that? Because on the sort of six star ones you region, your silver sea sort of viking ones, you've already got that very sort of high-end evolved food and they're from michelin star chefs yeah, but you.
Mark:But they're not actually a michelin star I think there might be.
Linzi:I think they'd have to go. Is it five diamond in thes to start with? I think they'd look at that also.
Mark:Whichever, um that equivalent yeah, because I don't know if michelin had got oh you think there'll be an element of snobbiness about it maybe maybe, but it will be lovely. It will be lovely but it'd be really interesting. I mean, where do you guys think it was the next evolution? What are we going to see sort of coming through?
Jordan:well, I I will say this, and in terms of pricing of some of these things, la Petite Chef is actually a restaurant that's in New York and now in Chicago Really, and in New York it's like $150 up to $200 per person. So people actually go on Celebrity and are pleasantly surprised by the price. They see that they can go for $65, $75, $75, $70, and they're really impressed. There's experiences also in Chicago that are similar to Empire Supper Club that are $600 to $700 a person.
Jordan:So I think the people that go and buy these experiences actually see great value in them versus that's not our everyday experience. To go to one of those restaurants.
Jared:So it's perspective. It is perspective If you're coming from a big city where you see something similar to this and it's cheaper on the ship of course you're going to go. But the mass market is not coming from a big city and that's why it's such a limited, more intimate experience.
Jared:I think I think your idea of a Michelin-starred restaurant at sea would be great. I mean, they have that already at all-inclusives all the time, whether it's all-inclusive or resort, that's like what gets people to come in. I don't know how that would work with a chef being on board that long. I don't know of any Michelin-starred chef that would want to be on a cruise ship for that long to get that ready, but we would be happy to have some ship do it. I could see a lot of cruise lines already thinking about that process right now.
Jordan:That would be amazing, though, to have chefs rotate with the menus as well, because that's something I think. Things get stale sometimes on cruise ships. I just had a complaint the other day about Blue, the Blue restaurant in Celebrity. We love that restaurant, but the menu hasn't changed in seven, eight, nine years, and people are getting tired of it, and so it would be so cool to see a Michelin star restaurant where the Michelin star chef every six months changes and you get a new menu or a different experience. Yeah, it would be expensive. It would be expensive. A Michelin star chef every six months changes and you get a new menu or a different experience yeah, it would be expensive.
Mark:It would be expensive. Well, it might bring people on more. You know, we're seeing the cruise lines do sort of food festivals. Now Virgin have just had their first comedy festival.
Linzi:Cunard have Michelle Rue Jr.
Mark:Yeah, they did a food festival as well. So you know the, the food tourism is a huge thing and certainly for us, the the food is one of the, the highlights of, yes, of going on a cruise. Yeah, and it can make or break it if you are, if you have the bad one I just don't let petty chef though you didn't get it, you were just like I'd find him really annoying.
Linzi:He's a health and safety.
Mark:Yeah, this is the actual little chef, you were just criticizing him oh he's, yeah.
Linzi:Yeah, the more I'll better be quiet. There's obviously a lot of love for le petit chef out there and there's a lot of people that really do like it.
Mark:You're just not necessarily one of those people. No, but he's, I don't think, like the private island, some area. You're not that target demographic.
Jordan:I'm so fun hey, we also do not love le petit chef and we and we love food, we love, yes, we love the dining experiences, that's yeah. I would say that's our second favorite, after entertainment.
Jordan:On a cruise ship, oh, especially dining yeah food, especially dining, and we have not been impressed with it. We've done it twice or La Voyage. We've not been impressed with that. We weren't very impressed with La Voyage on Beyond either, but I've heard that that has changed In a sense. I've heard that that has changed In a sense. I've heard that that menu has changed.
Jared:Yeah, we'll have to go back and try it For science. For science, yes, yeah.
Mark:That's definitely one we want to try. Yeah, we've only heard good things about that. But again, you are paying Exactly, but compared to how much Daniel's is in New York, then it's a bit of a bargain by comparison. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, I just thought I'd finish on on this particular section, just talking about ones that started out as gimmicks that seem to have stuck for the long term and are now, just now, mainstays of that.
Mark:As much as anything else on a cruise ship, okay, and then any that we can think of that didn't work and have vanished already. So for me, the ones where people said this will never last are things like the water parks on the cruise ships, and we've just seen them get sort of bigger and bigger. Doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to work on every ship. Some princesses are having a sort of change of thought in terms of what they're doing on their side of that, but it it has gone there. Glass bottom walkways you see them on increasing number of ships and bottom glass bottom staircases. Don't like them. No, you don't, but you're not a massive fan of that. Um, the the water coasters on disney. I remember when people sort of first heard that they were going on. They were like oh no, but that it fits so well to that brand and the new ones have just expanded on it yes even more on there.
Mark:And then a big one for me that I remember them announcing when they were coming out and everyone said well, that's ridiculous, that's never going to work was the princess medallion, and for me that's probably one of the better sort of integrations of technology, certainly when you know you go into your door and opening it open and the bits and pieces. On some busy cruises that we've been on princess it doesn't work as good as it does on others, but for me it's now a mainstay and Princess have made that sort of a big part of the cruise. Yes, yeah.
Linzi:Yeah.
Mark:Completely agree. Anything that you can think of.
Linzi:No, I'm just thinking that I just sound really painful to go on a cruise with right now.
Mark:So oh, just avoiding the Pet chef. And beaches, and beaches and glass walkways. The glass walkway is very easy to avoid and he did la pettisha and so, yeah, any that you guys can think of the sort of people were very sort of cynical at the start, which are sort of now just a mainstay you know.
Jared:It's so interesting because when you mention all this, branding really matters like we're just talking about tattoo parlor, even though that's newer of a concept.
Jared:We definitely don't see that leaving the virgin brand any time no and similarly, I was just thinking of one that probably would go away from most cruise lines as movie theaters. But then you talk about disney and it's like something you have to have because people love Disney movies and they go in to see new releases and they go to see movies that they love every single day Like how many movies going? But then you see IMAXs and Carnival completely go by the wayside, or the VR kind of experience of 4D theaters go away as well for the newer ships. So it's so interesting how branding really matters for some of these experience to work or not work. I was thinking of one that didn't work the carousel bar. Remember that in? Oh, that's on the brilliant radiance class yeah, of royal caribbean.
Jordan:Um, the bar in the nightclub turned like, like rotates, and we had never been on a Radiance class ship before last year.
Jared:Right, and it might not be on all of them, but we know the one that we went on was Brilliant. It was on and we thought it was awesome Because in New Orleans this is the most popular bar in all of New Orleans. It's hard to get a seat on. But then we realized in a nightclub late at night when everyone is completely well maybe not in their best state of mind this has to have been one of the worst ideas and the crew probably hate it for cleanup, like it is. So I understand why, but we loved it. We personally were not at that state, so we loved it. We sat the whole night in that bar?
Jordan:Yeah, we sat and rode the bar all night long.
Mark:It was really fun. See, that's making me want to try them. So that's a gimmick. That he, yeah, speaking to me it's like, yeah, it's legend. Yeah, go, get ready to go. Yeah, and the only other one that I can think of as well just finished, the these are. That, for me, just hasn't worked. And we haven't seen a massive expansion of robot bars. We saw them appear on the quantum class and then we saw MSC put it on. Was it Virtuosa?
Linzi:Did they put it on any of the other ones? I think it's on Euripia as well Is it.
Mark:People just don't seem to have really well, I think. One the charge you extra over and above a drinks package, which if people start a drink package, necessarily in rural caribbean?
Linzi:I don't think they do.
Mark:But you put humans like humans yeah, you have to have a conversation, yeah, and not have to sort of work a tablet to get your drink, which becomes increasingly more difficult than all of the drinks that you've had.
Linzi:When he gets to Westworld level and we've got a nice Romanesque kind of path.
Mark:You're up for that. You'll introduce the robots again at that point. Yes, let's wait till, then I'm up for that. So when we get a Westworld cruise ship, oh, that would terrify him. I would really want to go on it. Any final thoughts?
Jared:no, anything from you guys. You know, I will say this just talking about this. There is one new gimmick that we're going to, I think, see more and more and more and we started seeing it on utopia and that is cruise line specific souvenirs. Oh yes, this was the pandemonium. We have never seen this before. We've never seen anything like this before. Yeah, you take this, because you wouldn't have said more than I did so and actually one gimmick that we didn't talk about was tiki bars.
Jordan:Tiki bars, I'm surprised, have not taken off like they should, but I think they. I think we're about to see them take off, and that's what this is about. So they replaced the robot bar from wonder of the seas to utopia of the seas with the pesky parrot and the pest. The parrot part is a total gimmick.
Jordan:The bar itself, the drinks, the candy straws, like so good one of my favorite bars now on any cruise ship ever is that bar. But for the inaugural sailing, for the maiden voyage, they had mugs and they had 300 of them and they were all numbered like etched into the bottom of the mug there were tiki mugs from the pesky parrot and people went wild over these mugs. They paid high, high dollar for them. They're being they. I don't know anymore, but they were being resold on ebay for up to a thousand dollars, um, and they were specific to the bar, specific to utopia of the seas, and I agree that is a very disney thing that we you know, when disney releases merch, that happens.
Jordan:I think that will. We'll see more of that happen with the cruise lines as well.
Jared:Like the royal, bling the fact that they have a Royal Bling shop now on board. So I think Royal Caribbean's really pushing this. They're leaning into that. I think every cruise line, if they're smart, is going to go into a headfirst too For money. Obviously we aren't ones that are going to get every souvenir out there or even want to get every souvenir out there, but there are people that are huge fanatics that want every single thing, and maybe in time it'll be worth something.
Jordan:I don't know. But it was quite the drama because they changed the maiden voyage on utopia of the seas but they promised everyone they would have mugs for both. They sold out on the very first sailing, so lots of unhappy cruisers on that second utopia of the seas voyage. Um, that couldn't get a mug. It was, yeah, it was quite.
Mark:It was quite dramatic I think there's definitely been that sort of increase in the merch. I remember there being a similar thing for queen and second sailing, the, because they had the bear on there, um, and that sold out, and again there was a big kickoff that they didn't have any for the second sales. Yeah, you would have thought there'd have been plenty on there, but no, not for that one. Wow, wow, yeah, I'm genuinely amazed. I've not thought about the Tiki bars, but I can't believe that Disney have never put a trade of Sam's on one of the ships.
Jordan:Ah right, it would go, perfectly on a cruise ship. Oh, and people would pay for it, and people would pay to get into it. I'm shocked. That is a smart idea.
Mark:Disney, are you listening?
Linzi:Yeah, they can have that for free?
Mark:Yeah, they can have that one. Yeah, but also, we recommend every other cruise line copies it and does their version as well. Yeah, I'd be right at the front of the queue for that, you would Okay. Should under the queue, for that you would okay. Should we have confession time? Oh, my goodness, okay, okay, so we. Um. Today's confession is from somebody called matt. Have you changed the name? No, that is actually his real name. Um, he said to use his real name. I'm not giving his surname away no, okay uh, but no, matt, his real name.
Mark:Okay.
Linzi:So from matt's perspective, so we have to decide whether or not what was the term?
Mark:So I did put something at the end of this. Oh, that's it. Do we allow Matt to continue sailing the seas, yes or do we suggest he gives up his cruising badge and gets off at the next port?
Linzi:Okay, I understand, because I didn't want to get sued by another radio station that does something very similar.
Mark:Which inspired us in the best way all creative stuff does yes, okay, okay. So on my very first cruise, I'm reading this from matt's perspective as he'd written it for me. Yeah, on my very first cruise way back in 2011 to the lovely, warm caribbean okay I'd been really enjoying the formal night, the whole experience getting dressed up, the whole excitement around my first cruise.
Linzi:Nice.
Mark:Fast asleep from a very, very enjoyable night. Mm-hmm, he was awoken, I was awoken.
Linzi:Yeah.
Mark:Put it back in first person. Yeah, I was awoken by a sharp prod, oh, which brought him around very quickly. Okay, I was very surprised to see that it was one of the crew, oh, who had been tasked with getting the pool deck ready for a busy day where I'd passed out on a sun lounger still in my tuxedo from the night before. Feeling a bit sheepish, I headed back down to my cabin, uh-oh, only to find that I didn't have my cabin key, which had gone missing, which meant a walk of shame down to guest services. Hmm, long night, was the comment from guest services.
Linzi:Oh dear.
Mark:When I explained the situation from them, they got another card headed back up to the cabin where, of course, I found the key card waiting for me.
Linzi:Oh no.
Mark:I still don't know why I left the room to go sunbathing in the early hours of the morning.
Linzi:So he'd gone back and then turned out again. Yeah, wow.
Mark:Please don't tell me I'm the only one who's been woken up by a cleaner or a pool attendant or gone for a midnight moonbathing in a full tux. I ask for forgiveness from the crew member who probably didn't expect to find a tuxedo-dressed passenger passed out during the morning pool deck clean-up, and to the lovely guest services team who probably had a good laugh after I laughed. Okay, that's Matt. So do we forgive and allow matt to continue sailing the seas? To be fair, he has carried on sailing for the last 13 years. He's held this one in for a while or do we suggest that he gets off at the next port and gives up his cruise badge?
Linzi:I am going to say he may sail, continue sailing the seas, because, compared to the full frontal nudity that we had on the last confession, this is this is. This is not a problem and sounds like something I would do guys, what do you think?
Jared:yeah, who did he hurt? No one you know, besides that four crew member that was waiting on that one chair to really, you know, tidy up he didn't hurt anyone.
Jordan:Yeah, I completely agree, Matt. Continue sailing and enjoy the cruising experience. Moon Bay the way.
Mark:Absolutely Unanimous. We all forgive Matt, and I'm very sure that the crew had a good laugh about that as well. New stories oh, here we go. Okay, laugh about that, that's right. New stories oh here we go, okay. Now, unusually for us, because we tend not to cover as many with carnival, but I've got two from carnival today. Okay, okay which I don't know no, you, you've not heard any of these.
Mark:So the first one is carnival and the great tablecloth debate okay so earlier this year, carnival cruise line, not the group, because obviously that I didn't kill kuna I stopped using tablecloths in its main dining room. I've been for anyone just listening to the audio version. That was lindsey giving me a glare of shock and the thought of not having a tablecloth, and a recent post by the brand ambassador, john Heald Heald. Yes, seems to have inflamed things further.
Linzi:Oh, my goodness.
Mark:So John posted on his Facebook group. There are many people posting on the cruise boards that they will stop sailing Carnival unless tablecloths come back to the main dining room. We will all move to other cruise lines. John read the headline on a post to me this week. This was presented to me as some very bad news, Something I should worry about over my bowl of breakfast grits. I wanted to reply with we didn't mean to upset you. We didn't realise how important a piece of cloth was to you and how you felt about all this. We are all very sorry, except I couldn't lie. I didn didn't feel sorry. I'm afraid my first reaction was okay, cheerio, you do what's best for you and we'll manage without you, I'm sure.
Mark:But the debate has then gained a lot of traction with an initial response of two and a half thousand comments on his post so far. And on top of that um, a university professor, Professor Melissa, has commented that she's going to make a video specifically about the cheapening of the cruise experience and how small luxuries are being taken away slowly but steadily to make bigger profits for the cruise lines. But what do we think? Obviously, you looked at me in horror that they took a tablecloth away, so I'll go to the guys first. Does a tablecloth matter to you guys when you're sitting down for a meal?
Jordan:We might have a differing opinion on this. Yeah, probably Go ahead. Yeah, I hated that change on Carnival. I don't know. You're in a main dining room and I think that you should have a tablecloth because tables can be sticky and dirty and I think that that's just not the cruising experience that I it of like. That's a lot to do. Every single service um laundry wise, and is it?
Jared:necessary? No, is it nice? Definitely, and I agree with jordan that fact that tables in general just aren't as nice of an appearance table class way better. But if it was for environmental purposes I can't really bat an eye at that.
Jordan:I would argue back that it's creating jobs what do you think?
Linzi:well, I like a tablecloth because I like to think when I'm going for dinner that I'm doing it in a very elegant way, and you can be elegant without a tablecloth.
Mark:Well, I can't imagine that they would expand that onto other parts of the group. For instance, if they took the tablecloth from Cunard, I would imagine there would be a literal riot. Yeah, I think there are maybe some cruise lines that you can get away with it on. I'm kind of with jared on it there. My first bit when I heard it was that's probably going to save quite a lot in terms of laundry and sort of from an environmental point of view. I I kind of get that, but it does take away a little bit from that experience and it does feel a little bit nickel and diming of what else can we cut now? And I'm sure it does actually save an awful lot of money.
Linzi:But yeah, I mean there was the for the pno cruise line. There was a lot of angry people when they then started putting butter from a main block of butter onto people's plates rather than getting individual butter portions.
Mark:Yeah, people want now, if you do that.
Linzi:You take your butter away, you take your tablecloth away why are? You laughing?
Mark:the next thing the knives and forks will be gone and they'll just be a trough. Oh, no that's the buffet.
Linzi:Yeah, that's all, how dare you?
Mark:I know okay, um, but yeah, I thought it quite interesting. Yeah, it doesn't take a lot to get people riled upon or anything, and it appears that the tablecloth debate will continue. I will keep an eye on that story, um. New story two whilst this specifically happened on a carnival ship, I have been keeping an eye on what's happening on the cruise lines, but no one else has said anything at the time. We've gone to record all right okay, so styling mini.
Mark:Oh, the little one. Yeah, we, we were watching the um youtube post by a guy called richard shillington who has a channel called no profits. Um, no, no pants profits, which?
Mark:means something different in the uk, the us, yeah, um, so yeah, I'm not gonna I'm not, I'm not criticizing his choice of a youtube now, um, but it popped up in our feed I think it was yesterday or the day before in the last couple of days about how you could potentially use the new Starlink Mini, which is only the size of an Apple MacBook Air. It's really small.
Linzi:Yeah.
Mark:To get better and perhaps cheaper connectivity on board, because we all want to have good connectivity when we're on. For different people as to why they want it. Yeah, yeah, even with Starlink, the internet is not always fantastic on on the cruise ships. It's better than it used to be. Yeah, definitely, but yeah, having your own little dish seemed fantastic, and he showed it working at the side of the pool, which you're like okay. Well, that's fine, you can see the sky. But what was more impressive was that he showed it working on his balcony and was still getting over 100 megabit, at which point I then genuinely started costing how much starling mini was uh, and I guarantee I wasn't the only person to do that at that
Mark:point, however, oh, he's trying for his short-lived why, after posting his video to his youtube channel, yeah, um, he was then called to the hotel director's office while he's still on board, because he's posted it, while he's on the ship, where his satellite dish was confiscated, um, due to violation of carnival's policy, which the policy was not necessarily well written because it talked about satellite discs and it was the old sort of that as opposed to that. So they reworded it, okay, they took it off him, then they reworded it, yeah, and have made it now very clear that they won't be allowing people to bring on personal satellite dishes.
Linzi:But what if your phone could be a satellite phone?
Mark:Well, your phone could be a satellite phone. Well, your phone could be a satellite phone, but that doesn't mean that you necessarily At this point the technology is not there that you can use it like Starlink. It might be in 10 years' time. I can see that happening. It's not oh poor thing I know. So what do we think? Should you be allowed to take your own little mini dish if the connectivity is so bad, or are they protecting?
Jordan:the profits I I absolutely think you should be allowed to have it on board, but it is not something you should publicly talk about, um and put out there into the public space like youtube. I think that that was you know it's. It's one thing to talk about something and how something works. It's another thing to do it in real time while you are there um it would have been great video for him to release after he got off of the ship.
Jordan:You know, yes, um, that's a really hard lesson to learn. Well, what about the starlink phone?
Jared:we talked about starlink phone is not out yet, I know. But when they come out I think the big thing is, I don't know if there's any problem with satellite feed for the rest of the guests. If there's a lot of these minis on board, does that affect it at all?
Jordan:I don't know Price protection, because they make a certain amount of money off of the internet.
Jared:But there is no, because, like you think about bandwidth on the ships, the more people are using the Wi-Fi, you can tell right, like everyone's tends to be slower, whatever. I don't know how, I'm not technology savvy enough to know if that affects everyone else. If a bunch of people have minis that are better than the, the massive satellites on board, I don't know that much. So that would be why I would have to learn more to say yes or no to this. But on first thought, if that didn't matter, it's just price protection. Totally in agreeance with jordan, they should be able to put that on board as long as there's no risk for safety and no risk of other people having worse experiences, for pain on board yeah yeah, why not well?
Mark:yeah, I'm completely with you guys that as long as there isn't a safety issue, I get why they don't want people to attack irons and similar things where there's an increased probability of causing fires or electrical issues. Yeah, something like that dish is so relatively low powered um, you're talking the same power as using a laptop, so it it probably isn't about that. But I'm with you. I don't know enough about starlink specifically and how they do the beaming on a local area, uh, down, as to whether it would affect what's available to the rest of the ship, even though they're coming on different satellites. I would hope that they've got enough bandwidth, you know, by the satellites, for that not to be an issue, because otherwise, in any major sort of area where you've got a lot of satellites on the land, you'd have that same problem. Yeah, so I'm I'm kind of with you that I suspect that it's about protecting that bottom line. They will probably flag it around. Safety, yes, um, yeah, and until you can prove otherwise, yeah, um, then it'll be a shame. Any thoughts on that? No, okay, I genuinely completely expected that one-word answer from you all. I thought that we'd cover that, okay, final news story.
Mark:Okay, and we're back to Virgin again for the second time today. Scarlet Lady, which was our first cruise ship, we went on its second sailing. Oh, our first, our first Virgin cruise ship, not our first cruise ship. I see he's having a makeover, so it's the first of the Virgin Lady ships to have a refresh. Yes, he's actually fairly quick because he didn't actually start sailing until after the pandemic fully it was ready to go just before. So I guess it's gone up to four or five years, but it'll be entering dry dock on the 14th of November for two weeks. Yeah, but it's having a lot more done to it than people thought and they've said this is based on feedback.
Linzi:Okay.
Mark:And a lot of it does genuinely sound like it. We've been having these conversations, we've talked about it on the podcast, we've talked about it outside of this. Yeah, in terms of do they need to change the restaurants up a little bit? Going back to what we talked about earlier that they are essentially the same menus as what they were when it first launched. They continue to revive them that's not the word that I want to know. They continue to adapt them and change them a little bit.
Mark:Um, and we've seen three menus at the test kitchen for instance now, and they rotate them around as opposed to just the one when it started. Yeah, you get new little additions. We had razzle dazzle by night get introduced, so they've tweaked them, but not, yeah, massively. So there's been really a demand for sort of virgin their take on an Asian restaurant since they started doing things like Another Rose and they did the Asian food markets, the night market on the food festivals and one of the first things they announced was a, a restaurant that would satisfy your chinese needs for a long time yeah, I I feel that the generally the, the chinese restaurants on cruise ships, I feel, are generally sort of undercated, for, yeah, there isn't that many on them.
Mark:there's not many good indian restaurants on cruise ships but there are more, I feel, than than chinese. Yeah, you get quite a few japanese, especially the tapinyaki, but the chinese side has been sort of left a bit wanting of like. So razzle dazzle, which is changing, um, still razzle dazzle during the day, so still that vegetarian bit with the naughty bits for anyone that doesn't just want that side. But at night it's going to become Lucky Lotus by Razzle Dazzle. That's cute, but it's a full change around at night from what it looks during the day and it'll turn into communal tables, as it is now, into an intimate restaurant. So they have a lot bigger, longer tables in there. Yes, they do, yes, yes, yes. So it'll become sort of tables, two tables full.
Linzi:I wonder if they'll have tablecloths.
Mark:Well, because they don't have tablecloths in Razzle Dazzle.
Linzi:No, that's true.
Mark:They do in the wake.
Linzi:They do in the wake and they have very nice tablecloths.
Mark:But that's a steakhouse experience. Yeah, it, but that's a steakhouse experience. Yeah, it can't be a restaurant, I expect it. But yeah, I'd be interested to see if they have tablecloths. We shall check that out. But they're also serving it up with how they tagged it as a daring pairing. So they're doing craft cocktails to go with it, you know, like they have in Test Kitchen.
Mark:Oh yeah when they're doing a pairing menu as well. Oh, which, if you've got a decent bar tab on there, that could be very lethal. A couple of the other changes that they're doing on there as well Ground Club 2, which is the one up in the galley that's going to be turned into a glamorous cocktail bar at night. Oh, it's kind of a bit underused, that resource. It tends to get used when people are in main sort of meal time. Okay, yeah, I understand a lot of the time, just don't get in. Uh, expanding the casino? I haven't seen expanding that because you kind of get to the bottom end of it and you're going into. Is it the red room at the bottom end of there, I think? So I think it is. Yeah, um, and then you've got the bar and you're into sort of the shop, the shop. So I'm not quite sure how they're expanding that. So that'll be interesting. But they're also putting in some luxury cabanas.
Linzi:Oh no, not cabanas again.
Mark:And I'm never convinced by these. On a ship I kind of get them to a degree, not necessarily the price that they charge on the private islands, but I never really properly get them, especially on things like the edge class ones where people can just walk past in the middle of it yeah and these kind of look like it's on the top deck above the athletic club and the pool, um, and people can just walk all around it is it the sanctuary on Princess?
Linzi:What's it called? I like that Sanctuary's right when you've got an adult-only area that you can have a nice plush sun lounger. I like that.
Mark:And they have the big cabanas in there that you could use as well.
Linzi:Again, cabanas, I just I'm not a cabana person, yeah.
Mark:No mentions to entertainment, but there is an expectation that they will bring it in line with what's on, resilient and probably what's going on brilliantly as well. And what's your thoughts on? I love Virgin. Is there anything else you would have liked to see changed at the unannounced yet?
Linzi:oh, that's a good question, um, hmm, well, while you're thinking, let me throw it over to the guys as well that they haven't announced yet.
Mark:Oh, that's a good question. Well, while you're thinking, let me throw it over to the guys as well. What was your thoughts when you heard sort of the changes to Scarlet? Has it made you want to go on Scarlet and try again?
Jordan:Yeah, I mean, we've always said there needs to be more Asian-inspired restaurants on cruise ships in Pan-Asian, so I was most excited about that. I think the expansion of the casino, more Asian-inspired restaurants on cruise ships in Pan-Asian so I was most excited about that I think the expansion of the casino is great because and again, I don't know where they're going to do it but They'll knock down the wall from where the smoking and not smoking is. Maybe and maybe they'll make it just a bigger space, but that needs to. That needed to be bigger. Yeah, what about you?
Jared:Yeah, I would, would I agree completely. I think we want that to happen on celebrity edge class, where they remove, like the american gourmet restaurant and change it over to pan asian or a thai restaurant. We don't see thai restaurants anywhere yeah on cruise ships. They have it in the buffet but it's like let's get a thai restaurant in there and asian, yeah, yeah yeah ggs is one of our favorite.
Jared:That's on carnival and it is one of the best and asian restaurants we've ever had. And it's on a cruise ship, yeah, but it's just not anywhere else. We just don't understand why the other lines haven't done that. I'm excited.
Linzi:Yeah, yeah, we're excited about it.
Mark:Love that seems so strange that it's a market that's just so not really catered to in or by any of the cruise lines particularly well no, yeah, but going like opening it up and then so you could have malaysian food and just have it.
Linzi:Just oh, oh, I'd be there all the time, I'd be there, but it's um has it made you want to try Scarlet again? I would love to try Scarlet again when she comes out. I just, I'm a different person, on a virgin voyage.
Mark:You are very different. Late night Lindsay comes out and stays out on a virgin voyage. She doesn't go back until she gets back home. Oh my goodness. So it's we're broken. And then normal Lindsay is. Left with a consequence and dealing with feeling very rough for about a week afterwards. Yes, that brings us to the end oh wow, well, that just flew.
Linzi:Thank you guys. It's been lovely to see you. I've yeah well, shall we just end it with a cheers it's been quite cathartic for me talking about all the things I don't like yeah, so cheers, cheers.
Jordan:Guys, thank you so much for joining us thank you so much for letting us uh be a part of this, and we just uh, we think that you're both so lovely and wonderful, and we were so happy to be here today oh, thank you thank you so much, guys, and I'll play us out with a little music, oh no,