I want to introduce my YouTube audience to my new friend, Emma!
And I want to introduce my audience to my friend, Jim Zim.
Emma caught my attention with a series of YouTube videos that she's done about cruising.
And Jim caught my attention with a series of videos about cruise ship waterslides.
Emma has a Facebook page and also a great web site about cruising: Cruising Isn't Just For Old People
And Jim has a web site which is JimZim.net
So Emma, can I let everybody in on your little joke?
Which joke would that be?
About your accent. You see, this is a character that Emma plays on the Internet.
She's actually from Houston, and when she's not in character, she speaks with a Texas accent.
But when she's on a YouTube video she plays this character, Emma, a British girl.
I don't think anyone's going to believe that, Jim. I wish I could do accents this well.
She's still in character! It really is a great fake accent, Emma!
I don't think I'm going to be able to convince you, but that's fine by me. Shall we talk about cruising?
Yeah, I think we probably should.
So, how did you find my YouTube channel?
Well, after I posted a video about the MSC Seaside, YouTube started recommending MSC videos to me every time I watched a YouTube video.
And they recommended your video about the MSC Meraviglia.
I love the MSC Meraviglia, and your Seaside video was very interesting to me because we had completely different experiences.
Despite being on the same cruise line, and similar ships.
You know, I had a better time on the MSC Seaside than maybe my video made it sound.
There were some really good parts about the MSC Seaside.
But what really disappointed me was that they had built it up here in the United States
as it was going to be the first MSC cruise ship to appeal to Americans.
They even gave it the first English name that they've ever used for a MSC cruise ship.
Yeah, it took me a while to pronounce Meraviglia.
And I don't think you can say it without an Italian accent: like MERAVIGLIA!
But would you have enjoyed it if they hadn't have built it up to be something else?
Like as it was, did you enjoy it?
Um, no... if I had known exactly what it was, I probably wouldn't have gone on that ship.
Because I am an American with American tastes in entertainment and food.
And if I had realized that it was really catering more towards the Europeans, then I probably just never would have booked that cruise.
And my real disappointment with it was that they had built it up to be something that it wasn't.
I think I'd like to see some of that.
Because MSC really don't advertise here much at all, but we know it's an Italian cruise line and things are in 8 different languages.
And we expect Italian food and things. So, I'd like to see what they tried to sell you.
Well, they kept saying that it was the first MSC ship that was designed specifically for the North American market.
And then they did interviews with CruiseCritic and other travel press...
Indicating that they had hoped they would get 80% of the passengers onboard to be from the United States.
And their chairman made this big speech at the dedication ceremony saying that
They understood what Americans wanted and that they were going to deliver it.
And it just really didn't strike me that way when I was onboard.
So, what is it that you would want, as an American, to change on the MSC Seaside?
Well, the big thing was the opera that they had at night, and the songs sung in Italian at the shows.
And the fact that all the singers were from Italy.
They sang American songs with an Italian accent.
There's an old favorite Barbra Streisand song of mine, All I Ask For You.
And they launched in to All I Ask For You and it was done in the style of an opera performance, with a thick Italian accent.
And it was just... for me it was a face-plant. It was like... way to go, ruin one of my favorite songs.
That's really strange, because I didn't see a single opera song onboard the Meraviglia,
and we were doing a Mediterranean cruise.
They did sing Jingle Bells in quite a strong Italian accent, and I'm not convinced that that man could speak English.
But he was just making the right noises at the right time, which was... It was entertaining, and is entertainment, so...
I kind of expected that when I went on this cruise. I knew MSC were a bit like that, but...
So, you didn't see any opera performances at all when you were onboard?
I saw a lot of strange performances, but I don't think we had any opera.
I cruised over Christmas, so we had a Christmas show on Christmas eve.
We had a show about... where all these dancers were dressed as dogs and they were just running around pretending to be like "ruff ruff ruff".
Which was, I mean, entertaining... but I just couldn't stop laughing the whole way through, and everyone was taking it really seriously.
We saw a magic show. No opera anywhere. I didn't see any around the ship.
I didn't really see that much music around the ship at all.
That was a disappointment for me, too.
There wasn't a lot of music around the ship.
I'm used to, on cruise ships, you know, when you get out of a show, then you come out and
you go over to some lounge somewhere and there'll be a band playing, and there'll be dancing, and fun...
And there just wasn't a whole lot of that. So that was a little bit disappointing.
I thought that about Royal Caribbean then. Because I've mostly been on NCL.
And I went on the Independence this year, and there wasn't as much going on around the ship.
Because normally I'd like to just go for a wander. I have an inside cabin, so I don't spend any time there.
And I expect to just bump in to something happening somewhere, but...
On Royal Caribbean, I didn't really feel that that much, and I wanted to. So...
Now I'm curious, because we've both been on Independence Of The Seas...
I think it's the one ship that we share in common.
How did the food strike you?
I liked it. I thought it was pretty good.
I liked it, too. I thought it was one of the best buffets that I've seen on a cruise ship...
And overall, I had a surprisingly good time on Independence Of The Seas.
I had low expectations for that ship, because it's kind of an older Royal Caribbean ship.
But to me, it totally delivered and I wouldn't hesitate to go on Independence Of The Seas or her sisters again.
No, I did like it. The only thing that I didn't like about the buffet was that it closed at, I think, nine in the evening.
And I normally like to go to the theater and come out and have another meal before bed.
So, that kind of annoyed me a little bit, but...
The food there was very good, and if my only complaint is that I couldn't get to the food all the time, I think that's pretty good, yeah!
Did you try the FlowRider?
(Laughing) I think I'm a little too old for the FlowRider!
I saw your video on the FlowRider, and you maintained your dignity and you did quite well and I was very proud of you.
I was very, like, so proud of myself.
When you sit at the top, you don't realize how steep it is.
And that water's about 30 miles an hour, or something, they said.
It doesn't look it when you're just looking from the bottom. But from the top, oh, it's terrifying.
But I had one go, and I didn't fall off.
And I thought, that's it. Me done. I'm never going back on that again.
I don't need to. I've done it. Fine!
And do you like to go on waterslides on any of the ships that you've been on?
Or have they even had waterslides?
Yeah, so I've been on the Breakaway and the Getaway, and I saw your videos of the drop slides.
But I didn't do that one. I was too scared.
I wish I did, and I probably would now, because that would make a great video... But at the time...
I really love those vertical-drop slides that they have on the Getaway and Breakaway and the Escape...
And they'll have on the new Norwegian Bliss that I'm going on in a couple of months. It's just a lot of fun.
I'm sixty years old, I'm not really your typical waterslide customer, but... It's just a good thrill.
I like on the Norwegian Epic they have a big slide on the back that's like a...
I don't know how to say it other than it's like a toilet, and you fall through the middle.
It's like a toilet bowl, yeah!
I really liked that one. That was really fun.
When I did that, that was a Christmas cruise as well. So, it was freezing.
I think it was just me and my brother.... just going up and down and around and around... and then no queues. And that was brilliant!
Yeah, you know, you get cold in the wind when you get off a waterslide and then you have to climb up the steps to get to the top.
And that's what I found really interesting about the dry slide that's on the newest Royal Caribbean ships.
Is they have a slide that's not a waterslide.
And when you get off of it, you know, you're all dry, and you're fully dressed, and it's even nicer than a waterslide, I thought.
Just carry on with your day.
You don't have to do anything. That sounds really good. I'd like that.
Yeah, maybe you should try that sometime.
I will definitely try that. So, I've only tried Royal Caribbean this year.
And I was really going to compare them to NCL. Because NCL has been...
I cruised on NCL when I was eleven, and I've been on nine NCL cruise now.
So, everything else I do is compared to NCL. And Royal Caribbean and NCL were pretty similar to me.
I couldn't really find that many differences.
Well, that's interesting. I didn't realize you had been on that many Norwegian cruises.
I actually consider, even though I've done more Carnival cruises than any other cruise line...
I consider NCL to be my cruise line of choice now.
I really think that it's the best fit for me.
Because I like to be really casual on a cruise.
And this black shirt is about the most formal thing that I take with me on a cruise.
And if I can stay in shorts and flip flops for the entire cruise, I'm happy. That's a good vacation for me.
Yeah, me too. I think dressing up is a bit too much like work.
I do try to avoid the dress codes, but I did do a Cunard cruise last year... which was quite an experience.
Tell us about that!
I really liked it, and it was one of the most relaxing cruises I've ever been on.
Because there wasn't really that much going on on the ship, and by about 10 PM... no one, anywhere to be seen.
You could sit in a bar for about 20 minutes, and you would... No one would come in. It was really strange!
But if you want to just relax and hang out at the pool... And you don't have to fight for a chair because... It's so quiet!
So, I enjoyed it from that sense. But it was very different from what I'm used to.
And the dress code is very strict! Very strict.
Give us some details about the dress code, because...
My understanding is that it would just never work for me to be there because...
The shorts and the flip flops... It's just not going to fly on Cunard, right?
No way! Not even slightly. You cannot take off your jacket at dinner, or your bow tie.
So tell me about your future cruises. What's coming up for you?
So, I'm doing Singapore to Tokyo, in 31 days onboard the Golden Princess.
And I've never cruised with Princess, so I'm really looking forward to that.
And I've never been to Japan or Vietnam or any of the places I'm going to... so, I'm really looking forward to that one.
Besides that Princess cruise, what else have you got?
There's so many I want to do. I really want to do one of the Norwegian ones, up where it's all pretty.
I want to try P&O, because I feel like, as a British cruise blogger and vlogger, P&O... I should know them, and I don't know them.
And I really want to try Carnival. I think Carnival... I think I'd like them.
I think you would like Carnival, too. It's a whole lot of fun.
And I don't know... do you like comedy?
I mean, does the idea of seeing a show by a stand-up comic... does that sound fun to you?
Yeah, it does. I think there's sometimes a bit of a gap between British and American comedy.
So, tell us about the award that you recently won!
OK, so... in the U.K. we have a magazine called "World Of Cruising"...
And they have an awards ceremony every year which celebrates cruising excellence...
And I won the category of favorite cruise blogger, and I got this amazing trophy.
There it is!
So good!
I'm going to keep this for the rest of my life. I'm never letting it out of my sight.
I actually have an award, too. I'm an award winning cruiser just like you.
They give these things out on Carnival, if you win a trivia contest, or something like that, so...
It's not as prestigious as yours... but we are both award winning cruisers.
Yea! That's nice. I like that one!
So, Emma, how many subscribers do you have to your YouTube channel?
I have 334.
So, you're caught in that space where YouTube isn't sharing any revenue with you right now.
No, YouTube does not appreciate me, at all.
Yeah, you have to have at least a thousand subscribers before YouTube starts cutting you in on some of the ad revenue that they make.
So maybe the goal today can be some of my subscribers can check out your channel and maybe subscribe to your channel.
If we can get you to be over a thousand subscribers, then this whole YouTube thing will be a money-making deal for you. That'll be better.
That will be absolutely amazing, and I will spend it on cruise line drinks packages and excursions and all things cruising, so...
Then I'll have more content to bring you, and it will just get better. So, please do subscribe.
It's been a pleasure talking to you. I hope this is not the last time that we talk.
And maybe we'll meet up on a cruise ship sometime.
That would be really cool. Okay, thank you!
Thank YOU. Bye!