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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome this week to The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Justin Sorrell aka MrBucketlist. Justin is a video creator and influencer and the creator of the 19k subscribers MrBucketlist YouTube channel where you get to follow his adventures not only on the seas but anywhere else. You see MrBucketlist is a certified thrill seeker, never He cruises exclusively solo, which is relatively atypical for men, and has done 30 Solo Cruises—3 of which involved leading MrBucketlist group cruises.

As suggested by Justin’s brand name, cruising is only one aspect of his adventure seeking lifestyle. He has checked off over 150 items on his bucket list in numerous forms. Justin is a confirmed thrill seeker having visited over 80 Theme Parks; 49 of 50 States—and that will soon be 50/50 as he just booked a Hawaii cruise for this Spring; and 5/7 Continents.

And then there was this statement on the MrBucketlist homepage, and Justin became a new travel role model of mine: “I vacation every 2 weeks!”

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am proud to host Christian McBride, multi Grammy-winning jazz superstar bass player! We talk about performing at sea, and hear about Christian’s inaugural charter cruise, Christian McBride's World at Sea, January 20-27, 2026. The cruise will be on Celebrity Summit from Ft. Lauderdale, stopping at Jamaica and Grand Cayman.

Christian McBride is creating a new kind of experience for jazz fans while breaking new ground for artists as he takes on a "captain" and completely immersive role on his upcoming cruise, Christian McBride's World at Sea (produced by Signature Cruise Experiences whom we hosted on the podcast when they were called, Jazz Cruises, Ep 113). Music cruises have gained in popularity in recent years and give fans an incredible opportunity to personally engage with their favorite artists (running into them all week long on the ship...at the buffet, the pool, during shore excursions together, seeing concerts in smaller venues than they would on tour) but Christian is in a unique position where he's not simply one of the acts booked onto a festival at sea. Instead, he curated the cruise, building a completely personal environment and atmosphere to share with jazz fans by inviting his friends and peers like Samara Joy, Angelique Kidjo, Ledisi, Jose James, Cecile McLorin Salvant and 40 more musicians to join them. Plus, he's a prolific musician, in several bands at any given moment so it's no surprise that his time on the cruise will be no different than on land: He is bringing three of his bands onboard and will perform with each of them separately.

Christian has performed on over 400 recordings, leads six different bands, has been the Creative Chair for Jazz at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is the artistic director for the world-renowned Newport Jazz Festival, curates the James Moody Jazz Festival and he hosts the popular NPR show "Jazz Night in America."

Christian McBride's World at Sea: https://mcbridesworldatsea.com/

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome back a special guest, my cohost Cheryl.

As some of you know we are largely in the bucket list checking stage of our lives and just got the opportunity to check one off. I will warn my listeners from the cruise community that this episode is about a land trip—don’t want to be accused of inviting you here under false pretenses. Yes, we cover cruising 99% of the time but this was a rare land trip to a place that was on the bucket list to visit whether by land or sea—Dubai. You likely have heard me point out that while I live and breathe cruising, Cheryl appreciates the occasional land trip, so we have a couple planned this year. In addition to Dubai, we are going back to Vegas for the umpteenth time but this a little bit of bucket list checking because we want to see the Sphere, the $2.3 billion state of the art music and entertainment arena characterized by the venue's exterior featuring 580k sq ft of led displays.

We experienced Dubai, one of the 6 emirates of the United Arab Emirates along with a 2nd Emirate, Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates about a 45 minute drive from Dubai. Our itinerary was called Dubai & Abu Dhabi: Beauty Among the Dunes, an 8-day, 6 night journey booked via The Joy Of Vacation by Dream Vacations. Our package included air from Charlotte, accommodations, all breakfasts, 2 dinners, 4 guided tours and excursions, entrance fees to certain venues like the largest Mosque in the UAE, and the Kings Palace, and transfers and transportation. For that we paid $4300. As we’ll discuss, this amount did increase unexpectantly before we ever left home, so the total price turned out to be $5000.

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome back Judi Cohen, travel writer extraordinaire known in the cruise community as Traveling Judi. I featured Traveling Judi in my second cruising book, Cruising Interrupted amzn.to/3seFU8y in a section called “Cruisers Like You and Me... Sort Of.” Traveling Judi is an ardent world cruiser with a penchant for nontraditional, smaller, and even tiny ships relative to mainstream cruise ships. I met Judi through my association with Quirky Cruise online magazine, for whom she is a significant contributor.

Traveling Judi was on the podcast a year-and-a-half ago Episode 64 It is good to catch up.

From travelingjudi.com: Judi has traveled the world in search of unique experiences and off-the-beaten-path destinations. She is also a connoisseur of small-ship cruises that pack big adventure, and local cultural and dining experiences. Judi became a full-time traveler and travel advisor in 2015 following her 35-year career in engineering and transportation, and today she writes about her experiences to inspire others to step outside their comfort zones and embrace new kinds of adventures. Judi has been to over 90 countries on six continents and enjoys sharing her stories along the way. Her training and experience as a Health Coach and as a Travel Advisor allows her to plan trips and seek out wellness destinations and experiences. Combined with her story-telling skills, she has become an accomplished Travel Writer accredited by SATW, NATJA and IFWTWA, and her work has been published on travel websites such as Quirkycruise.com. She is also a Board Member on the Travel Media Association of Canada's (TMAC) National Board and Board Secretary.

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Jennifer Halboth, CEO for the Americas, Riverside Luxury Cruises. We have had several small ship and river cruise specialists on the podcast as well as leaders from some of the lines, and of course passionate cruisers providing us their cruise reports from their time on various small ship and river cruise. This is the first time we have exclusive focused on Riverside Luxury Cruises, and I am excited to meet Jen and learn about Riverside.

Jen Halboth is the CEO of Riverside Luxury Cruises, Americas. She believes that title really stands for Chief Engagement Officer. Travel, after all, is a business built by and for humans to get out and discover the world and each other. To do that, you have to be engaged. Before she joined Riverside in 2022, she was with Avalon Waterways and the Globus family of brands for 19 years, most recently in the Senior Director – National Accounts role. She held various sales and marketing positions during her tenure and even sharpened her teeth on operations, planning and hosting successful charter programs for travel industry partners including Virtuoso, Signature Travel Network and Travel Leaders. Halboth’s initial foray into the world of travel began in 1998 when she worked in advertising and marketing for one of the very first internet travel sites, Trip.com. Though her career is quite varied. Before diving into travel full-time with the Globus family of brands, she was a founding member and account executive at PR & Marketing agency LH3 in Denver. Prior to exploring the agency world, she was Trade Marketing Manager at Airwalk, which manufactured and marketed snowboarding boots and skate shoes. She graduated from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business in 1995 before moving to Colorado where she began her career in professional sports. She worked in public relations for the Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche in 1995. And yes, she does have a Stanley Cup ring.

When Halboth isn’t out creating preference and excitement for Riverside Luxury Cruises she spends her time in Evergreen, Colorado with her son Hank, sweet puppers Daisy Cakes and an amazing tribe of family and friends biking, snowboarding, playing tennis, traveling, seeing live music and rooting for Michigan sports. Go Blue!

Find Riverside Luxury Cruises online

Website: https://riverside-cruises.com/ta

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riversidecruises.na/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riversidecruises.na

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Carlene Reid, creator of the See It With C YouTube channel, Instagram, and Facebook page. Carlene starts each video, “Hi, my name is Carlene. I work a 9-5 but travel the world as if I don’t.”

Carlene is a lifelong traveler and educator who has turned her passion for traveling and teaching others into a growing community of travel aficionados. She has visited almost 40 countries and taken 35 cruises mostly solo and shares those experiences as well as tips from her adventures on her YouTube channel See It With C in hopes to motivate and encourage others to explore the world.

As frequent listeners know, I watch cruise YouTube videos incessantly as I work on the podcast seemingly every waking hour. Carlene’s, with her over 4k subscribers to See It With C YouTube channel is on repeat.

We are friends/followers on social media, and I occasionally see Carlene in videos of other cruise friends—always appearing to be fun-loving and adventure seeking. So, I have long planned to invite Carlene on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, and I am so pleased she was agreeable.

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome Helena and Dustin, two “cruisers” with a once-in-a-lifetime harrowing tale with a happy ending on Carnival Splendor. Another one of those world-wide new human-interest stories I love bringing to the listeners of The Joy of Cruising Podcast.

Dusty and Helena are two Australians in their late 30s who have been living off-grid for the past three years. Their journey began with a motorhome adventure around Australia — accompanied by their three beloved dogs. After completing the full lap of the country, they asked themselves, “Why not take on the world?” That question led them to their next big chapter: life at sea. Eight months ago, they bought a catamaran, La Vita, and set sail, trading roads for open ocean and embracing a new kind of freedom. Along the way, they decided to document their sailing adventures — the highs, the lows, and everything in between — in a YouTube vlog called Sailing Barking Cat." Back at home in Australia is the wine company, Little Ripples, that Dustin founded and is the CEO of, and is so instrumental to their story.

Little Ripples is wine with purpose. Crafted in Australia’s most celebrated wine regions, every bottle of Little Ripples delivers more than just great taste — it provides one year of clean drinking water to a person in need. So far, we’ve helped over 750,000 people with 1 year of clean and safe water, and we’re on a mission to reach 5 million lives within 10 years. From bold Shiraz to crisp Sauvignon Blanc, our wines are made to be shared, savoured, and remembered — not just for their flavour, but for their impact. Drink well. Do good. That’s the Little Ripples way.

Dustin Leonard, Founder & CEO

Suite 3, 23-24 Belgrave Street, Manly, NSW, Australia, 2095.

(m) 0410 599 682

www.littleripples.co

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This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am proud to welcome Josh Christina, Recording Artist, scene-stealing, piano-wielding frontman, and veteran headliner of several cruise lines. Listeners know I am as passionate about music and comedy as I am about cruising so when I get a chance to have a conversation with someone who has performed on cruise ships, I am in my glory.

Josh Christina is a dynamic and passionate musician whose love for piano rock has taken him on an incredible journey. His musical story began at the age of 7, inspired by the iconic sounds of Elvis Presley in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch. It wasn’t until age 15, after seeing the Broadway show Million Dollar Quartet and discovering the electrifying Jerry Lee Lewis, that Josh began playing piano, igniting his path as a pianist and performer. Josh’s talents caught the attention of Grammy-nominated producer Kent Wells, who has worked with legends like Dolly Parton and Reba McIntire. Kent describes Josh as “such an old soul,” praising the way “the music just pours out of him.” This connection led to Josh recording in Nashville, creating music that resonates with the soul of classic rock and boogie-woogie.

His single “Kayla Ann” topped several independent radio charts, and Josh’s album Instincts (recorded at the historic Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis, TN) was a testament to his mastery. Produced by Josh and Grammy-winning pianist Jon Carroll, Instincts received high praise, with Jon calling Josh a performer who “does it real well and means every note.” Josh’s high-energy performances have taken him across the globe, including a UK tour where he graced the stage of Ireland's Late Late Show. He’s headlined major cruise lines, bringing his piano rock show to fans of all ages worldwide. He’s also shared the stage with some of the world’s top boogie-woogie and rock ‘n’ roll pianists, earning admiration from both peers and fans for keeping the genre alive.

His latest album, UFO’s Over Phoenix, recorded live at Stages Music and Arts in Maryland, has already captured attention for its unique sound. Daryl Davis, former bandleader and pianist for Chuck Berry, describes the album as striking “the perfect balance of a scent of the familiar while being creatively and refreshingly new.” Josh Christina’s infectious energy, undeniable talent, and deep respect for rock and roll history have earned him a dedicated following. His music is a celebration of the past, present, and future of piano rock.

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