Hello, everyone! I'm here in my backyard on a beautiful spring day in California...
And I want to fill you in on something going on on my YouTube channel...
And also tell you about the four cruises that I've got booked between now and 2021.
But let's start with the YouTube situation...
You may have noticed that the comments have been disabled on all the videos on my youtube channel.
And I just want to assure you that that wasn't my choice!
That was something that YouTube did and forced upon me.
I have no way to change that so, for now, it's impossible for anyone to comment on my videos.
And I think that's really a shame because I really enjoy reading the comments on my YouTube videos. It gives me good feedback...
And I just like to stay in touch with what people are saying about the videos I make.
But what happened was YouTube had a little bit of a scandal a couple of months ago.
It involved some pedophiles that were making really horrible comments on videos about children.
And if you were to Google the phrase "YouTube comments disabled" you'd probably find some news stories about what happened.
So YouTube made a knee-jerk reaction... because it was critical for them that their advertisers not get upset.
So they felt that they had to do something and they made a very rash move...
And that was on a lot of channels like mine that have videos that appeal to children...
Like I have a lot of videos about Thomas the Tank Engine and other model trains that a lot of kids watch.
They disabled the comments completely on my channel...
So that it would be impossible for anybody to make inappropriate comments or any comments at all...
On any of my videos. Now it was very unfortunate because...
Nobody was making inappropriate comments on my videos!
And there was also a much easier solution that they could have done... less drastic...
That would not have cut off the feedback that I get from my viewers.
All they really had to do was to just turn comment moderation on.
Which means that I would have to view and approve all comments...
Before they appeared on my website.
So after somebody typed a comment it would come to me for review...
And then I would look at it and say yeah that's fine and approve it and it would go on.
Well, that's what YouTube should have done but that's not what they did.
They made a very drastic move and just shut off comments completely...
And I have no way to get them to change that plan for now.
Now I hope it's just a temporary thing...
Because I really would like to eventually see the comments get turned back on on my videos so I can hear what everybody has to say.
In the meantime if you have something that you want to say about one of my videos...
You can just email me directly at james.zimmerlin@gmail.com
And that'll be a little workaround that we can use.
I'm always happy to talk to people about my YouTube videos.
The next thing is I want to fill you in on the four cruises that I've got booked between now and 2021.
And the last few cruises that I've done have been in the Haven...
On Norwegian Cruise Line and that is a very expensive way to cruise...
Although a great way to cruise!
So now the pendulum is swinging in the other direction and I'm kind of moving towards a less expensive way to cruise for the next few.
And that is to go with Carnival which is a tremendous value.
You get a lot of bang for the buck without having to pay huge amounts of money.
And the thing I like about the newest Carnival ships is they have an adults-only area that's very uncrowded...
At the back of their Vista-class ships called the Havana area.
So, my next two cruises are in Havana cabins in the Havana area of a Carnival Vista-class ship.
And then also in 2021 I'm booked on the Carnival Mardi Gras...
Which is a whole new type of ship for Carnival...
And it's got something that I just absolutely love!
And when I found out about it I had to book it!
They've got twelve suites at the back of the ship...
That have private Jacuzzis on the balcony...
And also big daybeds on the balcony.
And... Kellyn and I just absolutely love having a Jacuzzi of our own on a cruise ship.
And the couple of times that we've done cruises that way, it's always been fantastic, so...
When we heard about that on Carnival Mardi Gras it was an absolute must-book situation for us!
So, that one's in 2021
And now I've kind of saved breaking news for the very end of this video.
Because I only wanted the people who were really the biggest fans...
Who would have stuck with this video all the way through now to hear this next bit of news.
And that is that Kellyn and I are going to be going on a cruise in Alaska in July of 2020...
And we're inviting you along!
So, if you have any interest in cruising with me and my wife and also...
My travel agent, Caitlin, and her family...
And then some of our friends and family...
And hopefully, a whole bunch of my fans from YouTube...
We want to do a big group cruise to Alaska, July of 2020.
Now we're still working out a few of the details.
So I can't tell you exactly the sail date, the the ship that we're going to be on...
It's going to be on Princess. I can tell you that!
And on a fairly modern Princess ship.
And we're going to be visiting Glacier Bay, Alaska...
As well as several other places, and also...
There's going to be a little bit of a focus on trains because...
If you've watched my videos you probably know I like model trains and I also like real trains.
So, we'll be visiting the White Pass Railway in Skagway, Alaska and riding the White Pass up to the top...
And back, I hope! (laughing)
And also, we're going to be riding the Alaska Railroad...
During an Alaska land tour before the cruise.
Now you don't necessarily have to join us for that land portion of the vacation before the cruise, if you don't want to...
But if you want to make it a big, long vacation you can.
And after the cruise, we're going to be doing a Canadian rail tour...
On the Rocky Mountaineer through Western Canada.
So, a real focus on trains and cruising in this one gigantic vacation scheduled for July of 2020.
So, that's the big news in my world.
There will be many more details about this Alaska group cruise for July of 2020.
Probably the details will be coming in May or maybe at the latest, June of 2019.
We should have all the details worked out.
And I'll be inviting you to contact Caitlin, my travel agent...
To book it or to get more information about it at that time.
But at this point we don't have it a hundred percent nailed down as far as all the details.
So, I just wanted to have you mark July 2020 on your calendar if you're interested in cruising with us.
And then hopefully within a month, or at most two months from now...
We will have all the details...
And you can book it if you want to join us.