You're listening to the Cruise Tips TV Unplugged Podcast.
Today on the show, Junior Editor and I discussed the best kids clubs at C,
as well as the best things to do on a cruise from a kid's, well, a teenager's perspective.
We'll start with some questions that you all had for Junior,
cover the best things to do on a ship,
and then chat about what our community considers the best kids' centers and activities at C and Y.
Welcome to Cruise Tips TV Unplugged.
I'm your host, Sherry, and we invite you to join our cruise loving family
as we travel the world creating cruise videos and vlogs.
In this podcast, we talk tips, tactics, and strategies to help you make every cruise your dream cruise.
Hey, buddy! Welcome back to the podcast!
Hello there. Hello there. How are you? Very good today, Sherry. How are you?
Good, and you are how old now? I am 14. Wow, it's good to have you back on the show.
Yeah, thanks. It's really great to be back on the show. I love doing this kind of thing.
And we have been missing you, and you had said, mom, we got to do this again, right?
For sure. For sure. So what do we do? We went to our awesome community and we said, hey,
Junior and I are plotting out an episode. Well, Junior is plotting out an episode,
and he wants to talk about like the best kid centers and the best stuff to do on a ship.
And so our Facebook community agreed to give us some of their inspiration as well.
And talk about what they think are some of the best kids clubs, kid centers,
whatever you want to call them, right? Like there's a million names for them. They all have their own names in the business.
And then also just what are their kids and their teens like to do on cruises?
And we're just going to have some fun with it today and keep it kind of chill and relaxed and go with it.
Yeah. And I mean, I'm a kid, so I have a few of my favorites prepared as well.
I'm really excited about those. I'm excited about those too.
And so what we're going to do is we, Junior has made a list of his basically like his favorite things to do on a ship,
favorite places, favorite kid centers, right? And he's going to share those at the end.
And we also have a few listener questions that we're going to ask you at the end, okay?
I thought we were going to do it in the beginning, but we're actually going to do it at the end.
Okay. Okay. So first thing I want to do is we have a listener spotlight. Do you know what the listener spotlights are?
No, I mean, I think I do, but I don't remember.
It's when people leave us a review on iTunes or wherever they listen and we read it out loud.
So I'm going to read it today because I didn't give you a copy of it. So I'm just going to go for it. Sound good?
Yes. That's cool. Okay.
Okay. So Explorer Girl 80 just happened by the way to mention your name and her five star review.
It was a complete coincidence that we're reading Explorer Girl's review.
But she says cruise tips TV is my number one go to for all things cruising.
Sherry, Mr. cruise tips TV and Junior have helped me navigate fun for everyone in the family to include our children.
I truly enjoy listening to tips, especially the ones for Alaska as we're planning an Alaska cruise from May 2023.
Oh my goodness. Welcome back Explorer Girl.
She continues, I enjoy listening to the show on the way to work and pretty much anywhere.
Love the YouTube content as well. I get the tips I need and new places I would like to explore.
Keep the content coming. Well, you are welcome, Explorer Girl.
I'm sorry that we didn't get to read your review before your cruise, but hope you had a great time and send me a message.
To tell me who you are, I always love everybody.
I always use these like Vailed user noons.
You know, when they leave their eye to interview, it's always like Explorer Girl 80 or Seattle Girl 40.
And so I'm like, who is this person? I want to know who they are.
So anyhow, we're excited to get into it.
So let's talk about some of our communities favorite things to do on a cruise ship.
Well, actually, let me ask you this. Do you want to talk about the kids' clubs first or do you want to talk about the coolest things that kids like to do on cruise ships?
It's your choice, right?
Oh, well, thank you. Do you have to call me Mom, though?
Okay, Mom.
Okay, so let's start with, I'm going to go with, we'll start with a couple of cool things to do on a ship.
Then we're going to go to kids' clubs and then we're going to go back to cool things to do on a ship.
Okay. So one of the coolest things, and I have to agree with this one, to do on a cruise ship.
According to our community, this one with Steve and T, is no doubt Norwegian cruise lines go cart racetrack.
That's pretty cool, right?
Yes. Now, I have to say, though, I actually did not get to do the racetrack because I was too busy in the kids' center.
I was having a lot of fun on Norwegian Bliss' cruise center.
Yeah, yeah, you were having a blast, which is hilarious because you don't generally love going to the kids' centers, but on this cruise, I couldn't get you out of it.
Yes, and I mean, I am going more accustomed to the kids' center because I love meeting new friends.
Yeah, it's a great experience.
It is a great experience. It's a really good way, especially as an only kid, huh?
Because you're an only child, so it's really nice to meet new friends on a cruise.
Now, there's somebody else in our community who has an only child that mentioned that.
But that was one of the top contenders of activities, so the racetrack is really fun.
So next time we go on Norwegian, you got to get on the racetrack.
For sure.
For sure, hopefully more than once.
Now, here was another one from a man to be.
Her kids love, and you're going to love this one too, the boardwalk on Royal Caribbean.
Do you like the boardwalk, too?
I love the boardwalk.
The boardwalk is one of my all-time favorite cruise locations, although I didn't include that in mine here, but it's definitely one of my favorites.
Lots of cool stuff there, huh?
Now, I have to mention, there are too many things that I love on cruises for me to put them all here.
It's not your disclaimer.
I like it.
So do you do you remember what's on the boardwalk on Royal Caribbean?
Yeah, I think there is the, there is Johnny Rocket sometimes, and there's also the ultimate abyss.
Yes.
And a lot of lovely things there, like sometimes America around.
Yeah, like a carousel.
There was cotton candy on our last cruise, too.
Oh, yes.
Wonder if it was that.
I love that.
That was cool.
There was a long line for the cotton candy, but it was still there.
Yes.
The cotton candy is great.
Yeah.
It's so good.
The cruise ships make everything taste better.
Isn't that interesting?
For sure.
I love it.
So Amanda said that there's also the rock climbing wall back there, right?
Yeah, that's true.
There is a rock climbing wall, and the rock climbing wall, the rock climbing wall is good.
I haven't done it very many times because I'm not as into climbing as I am doing other things on the boardwalk.
Mm-hmm.
It's cool.
It's still a very good, like if you're into climbing or just getting exercise for your kid, it's great place to go.
Go burn off some energy.
I love it.
Well, let's talk about what our community said the best kids clubs are.
Now, I have to say, we're going to talk about four different cruise lines here.
We're going to talk about Disney.
We're going to talk about Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and we're going to talk about Carnival.
But what cruise line do you think our community mentioned the most,
as having the best kid centers, kids club, whatever you want to call?
Which one do you think was the most popular?
I'm going to guess maybe Carnival or Disney.
It was Disney.
Yes.
Disney is a cruise line that's probably their target audience is most likely kids,
so I can assume that their kids clubs are some of the best in the industry.
Did you just say target audience?
Yes.
I think you may have a future in marketing.
Would you like a job, sir?
Yes, I would.
That was awesome.
Well, yes, I think their target audience is kids.
And you are so right.
So here's where our community had to say about Disney, and they love it.
Their kids love it.
Ginger said the kids club on Disney wish amazing.
Her kid did not want to leave.
They have Star Wars and an Avengers Bay.
They have a Princess area.
They have Imagineer stations to design your own roller coaster and test it out.
I have to say that sounds really fun.
I'd love to design a roller coaster.
Yeah, you'd be super into that.
It sounds like it may be a little bit more for little kids, but I'm a teenager,
and that still sounds very exciting to me.
Yeah, you're not a huge Disney guy, so I don't know how you do,
but I think that they have so many things you'd probably figure it out, right?
I'm sure I would love it.
Debbie Smith also said that Disney had the best kids club.
Prudence said, she's only traveled with one teen at a time,
but they did Disney magic.
This is what she said about her teen.
Ginger, you're going to love this.
She said, we were on Disney magic, and once she found the teen club,
I only saw her at dinner.
She had a fabulous time.
That is so cool.
I can see that happening.
Are you going to be about to be at the age where we only see you at dinner?
Maybe.
I don't know if I'm ready for that.
Oh, I don't know.
Rich Austria also said that Disney is pretty awesome,
and that the entire kids area is just amazing.
They said kids are king, and the areas are designed for different age groups.
They take the best of the Disney parks and put them on a ship.
So yeah, lots of love for Disney from our community.
Yes, now if you wait a few more years until I can drive,
then maybe you'll only see me at dinner.
Where are you going to be?
Still a faint possibility.
I'll be a Disneyland, of course.
Of course.
Oh, my goodness.
Well, Norwegian also got a big nod from our community too
about having amazing kid centers.
And I have to say, of all the cruises we've ever been on,
the Norwegian kid center was the one that I could not pull you from.
That was on the Norwegian Bliss inaugural cruise.
When you were playing Gaga Ball like a beast for like two straight days.
Yes, and I love all kinds of sports and video games,
and they had very good video games in that kid center as well as the Gaga Ball,
which is a sport that a few of you might not know.
Gaga Ball is wild, isn't it?
Yes.
Is it like you can't use your hands, right?
You have to use your hands.
You can't use your legs.
It's kind of like inverse soccer, except the goal of the game
is to hit someone in the legs with a ball and then they're out.
Inverse soccer.
Kind of, except there's no goal.
The goal is hitting other people in the shins.
So it's like dodgeball with a soccer ball.
Kind of like dodgeball.
It's actually with one of those foam dodgeballs that they make.
Okay.
It sounds kind of fun, but also for a young gentleman like yourself,
that sounds like the ultimate game.
For me, I don't know if I really want to be hit in the shins.
It's a very distinguished sport for us teens.
So fun.
Well, Bob and Sarah and Abby Martin said the same thing.
They said they could never get their kid out of the kids club,
and they absolutely loved the Norwegian one.
They also said that Norwegian has a really good arcade.
I don't know if you've spent a lot of time.
Oh, I think you and I went on the bliss arcade,
but it's been a while.
I don't remember it that well.
Yeah, I actually remember that.
Right.
Stinkly, we stayed up until 1 a.m.
and that arcade.
It was 1 a.m.
We did.
Because I remember mom's 1 a.m.
Do you want to go sleep?
Hmm, maybe.
That is hilarious.
How do you remember that?
It was a good time, and I remember these things.
I have a distinct memory.
You have a photographic memory for good cruises.
Yes.
Well, what cruise line do you think would come next?
So we talked about Disney.
We talked about Norwegian.
How about one of your faves, Royal Caribbean?
What do you think?
Royal Caribbean.
Now Royal Caribbean is definitely one of my all-time favorite cruise lines
for a teenager like me, because they just have so many fun things,
and they also have cocoa cake, perfect day cocoa cake.
Yeah.
How do you like to pronounce it?
I like to pronounce it how it rhymes.
Yes.
For satisfaction purposes.
Yeah.
I think that's probably fair.
You and I can disagree on that.
I'm not even going to go there.
Yeah.
Norwegian has a great arcade, and they have huge ships,
and great pools, and great water slides.
And Royal Caribbean also has the, they have the flow rider.
Oh, yeah.
So good.
The flow rider is so fun, huh?
Flow rider is amazing.
I really love the flow rider all the way.
It is definitely a bit of a learning curve.
Are you a stand-up or a lay down or a kneeling kind of guy on the flow rider?
I have never got standing up.
And next time we go on one of those cruises,
I don't know when that's going to happen, but if we do, I may stand up,
but the most ever got to a kneeling because it is definitely tough,
but it is a blast.
So fun.
You want me to throw out a Royal Caribbean cruise tip for the flow rider?
All right.
Go on day one before anybody else figures out how awesome it is.
Yes, I can, I can concur with that, with that tip,
because we went on day one on one of our last Royal Caribbean cruises,
and it was, there was almost no one there, and it was great.
Yeah, that's the time of our lives.
Time of our lives.
Flow rider is one thing.
I even enjoy the flow rider, but for the ladies out there,
if you're going to wear your bikini, make sure you wear a rash guard or something to,
you know, keep that bikini top on.
Adult tip and a kid tip there, junior.
So we were going to talk about Royal Caribbean,
because a lot of our community members have said they just love it.
Like Charlotte said, she's like, well, if you ask my grandson,
he likes the big Royal Caribbean ships, right?
And one thing that her grandson likes about the teen club in Royal Caribbean
is he doesn't have to be escorted by them all the time,
which a lot of cruise lines allow you to check your kids.
The kids can check themselves in and out,
so that's not just limited to Royal Caribbean,
but that was a good one.
Terry from said same thing.
Oasis and alert of the sea's kids clubs are awesome.
And I think that Royal Caribbean, really,
like you said, just so much to do for kids,
there's really just a good Julian different activities, right?
You've got the flow rider.
You've got the rock wall.
You have the boardwalk.
You have all the different neighborhoods.
You have mini golf.
There's just so many things.
So for kids, Royal Caribbean is really awesome.
What about Carnival, junior?
You love Carnival too,
and we're going to talk about some of your Carnival faves at the end.
Yeah, I do love Carnival.
And one of my favorite Carnival ships is Carnival Panorama.
It is a great overall ship.
I think maybe even out of all the ships,
I've been on that one like the most,
except maybe Carnival splendor.
I've been on a lot of Carnival ships.
You have.
I spent a lot of time on Panorama, didn't we?
Carnival Panorama.
I basically had that ship memorized.
It's a great ship.
One of my favorites.
It's awesome, huh?
I want to hear more about that at the end.
Let's talk about how our Facebook group feels about Carnival.
Chica said that her grandkids basically have grown up
in Carnival's club O2
and their camp Carnival product, right?
And I asked her what they liked about it.
And she said there's just so many things,
like they have scavenger hunts.
They have games.
They have dances.
They have contests.
They have private dinners at the buffet.
They have pillow fights by the pool or in the pool,
which I've never seen that one, but that's wild.
And of course, all the different water sports and stuff.
So very popular.
Mark Webster actually said that his favorite teen club
was Club O2 on Carnival.
Now, Mark, you're going to have to tell me,
was this your kids or was this you growing up?
I think Mark might have been speaking for himself.
He said that the age grouping was pretty tight.
So like you had like the 15 to 17 year olds,
which means you're not stuck with kids that are younger,
or older than you,
and then they can kind of aim the programming
at like the right age group.
So pretty cool stuff.
Mark said that they also put the teen club
next to the adult club on some of the ships.
So the teens just kind of felt kind of cool.
G. Forna C.A. said that her kid also loves Carnival.
Because Carnival has a night owl program.
So if you are, you know,
the kind of person who stays up late on a cruise,
your kid can also be a night owl on Carnival and hang out.
Yeah, I think I remember that.
I think I spent some time in the later hours.
Maybe even up to 12 o'clock.
I think so too.
With my friends in the kids club on some Carnival ship.
Yeah, I think so too.
Laurie Reed said that her kids and preteens
loved Carnival too,
and they were super sad when they aged out of the kids area.
You're like, you're 18.
You can no longer go in there.
In there and where you're like, oh man.
She said that they made friends
and that they would hang out any time
and that the counselors were also really, really cool.
So that's kind of a summary of some of the top kids
centers.
Yeah, the kids centers, the kids clubs,
the kids centers, whatever you want to call them,
write the camps.
But let's talk about just the best things about cruising
and the best places to hang out and have fun as a kid.
So Sarah said that her kids love,
and you actually said this too, Junior,
the MSC VR games on MSC Cruise Line, right?
Those are pretty cool.
Yes, for sure.
I love those.
They're really unique in the industry too.
The VR games, so you don't really find those everywhere.
Yeah, little spoiler here.
These are in my top.
Okay.
Those are in your top.
Okay, cool.
Brenda Beretti, who you know, said her boys love the pools
and the flow rider and iFly and Adventure Ocean and Pizza
and unlimited ice cream.
Because of course, right?
And Cheryl said the same thing.
Yep, pools, ice cream, and Pizza are kids favorites.
Corey King said the splash pad for sure
is what their little one said.
Jenner first said, again, ice cream and hot chocolate,
anytime you want, is probably the favorite activity on a ship.
So are you into, are you begin to ice cream and food
and stuff on a ship?
I do like ice cream on a ship.
I don't eat it as often as I used to because like,
it's, I'm a little bit older now and it's not my favorite.
But when my parents go to get some,
I will also definitely go to get some
and they will fail with the ice cream machine so spectacularly
that it's actually funny and good.
Like, there's like, soft serve going everywhere.
And it's like, shh, shh, shh, shh.
Oh my gosh.
Well of course, like the pool areas, Marlena said her 8-year-old
is totally into the pools, right?
Now I liked this.
Tracy Clarks said that her daughter loves the kids areas
because she's an only child and so she gets to meet other kids.
Can you relate to that at all?
I can't really because I am an only child.
Yes.
meaning kids, it's great experience.
It's a fun way to meet kids, huh?
Okay, cool.
How about Minigolf?
Dawn said the Minigolf area is kind of fun.
Do you like Minigolf?
I always love the Minigolf areas on a cruise.
It's a great place to put some time into
and try to complete every single course
and maybe even do it in the lowest jokes possible
on the floor or lower.
Wow, oh, listen to you.
There are a few kids on them.
I think it was one of the seas.
I got some really great trick shots.
Nice.
Like I would bounce the Minigolf off the rock.
So I think it's one of my favorite Minigolf courses.
Now you didn't shoot any balls off the side of the ship
or anything, did you?
That's never happened.
Has it?
We're not going to talk about that.
Okay, our little secret.
That never happened?
It's never happened.
No, okay, never happened.
Never happened, definitely.
Now I wonder, do you remember, have you ever been,
had I been on a cruise ship or Royal Caribbean?
Debbie says there's one,
there's something called the seaplex on Royal Caribbean.
I don't know if we've been on a ship
like Anthem of the Seas with a seaplex.
Have you been on that one?
It doesn't sound familiar to me.
I don't think so.
I'm not taking many cruises without you.
So I'm thinking that you haven't been on.
That's true.
I think it was Anthem of the Seas
according to Debbie that had the seaplex.
But you know, MSC has something
that's kind of similar to that.
So we'll have to go back to that
and look at Debbie's comments, see what she had to say.
You know what other kids like about,
and I know you can relate to this one, Juner,
like about cruising.
Leslie said the soda package is pretty fun.
And I like soda, I drink soda a lot.
Yeah, soda is fun.
And how about if you can just like walk up to a pool bar,
like Leslie's kid can just walk up to a pool bar
and be like, I would like a sprite, please?
Yeah, I do love the pool bar
because I can get pampered
and I can get something fancy like a virgin mojito
and I like to get virgin mojitos.
Yes, virgin mojitos are the best.
So I just slide up to the pool bar
and order me something fancy.
You're cracking me up today, dude.
You slide up to the pool bar
and order you something fancy.
Virgin mojitos are delicious.
A little bit of mint in there, a little bit of lime.
Yeah, really good.
Definitely one of my favorite drinks.
Okay, I'm a cruise ship.
Yum, love it.
So now listen to this, Bobby and Kristi Meyer,
their son is really shy, but he is a foodie.
He likes cruise ship food.
So he's super into like specialty dining.
He's super into MDR dining.
He's all about anything and everything
that comes to the food and also going to the diamond lounge,
which is not always a bad thing, right?
So of course, you know, just beyond the pools
and the soft serve, there are kids out there
who are like super into fine cuisine.
So this is a young man that I would like to meet someday
and give him my five, because I'm a foodie too.
But another thing that Bobby and Kristi's son does
is he'll study the deck plans
and tell everybody where to go.
Does that sound familiar to you?
Yes, I do that.
The second we get on every ship, I study the deck plans
and I try to memorize the ship.
So I can help with navigation.
I love it.
And you do help with navigation
and then I don't really have to worry about it.
Which is great.
This is one of the reasons I have carnival panorama memorized.
It is true.
It is a fact.
Well, now guess what, buddy?
It's time for you to share your favorite.
Your cruise favorite kids clubs and places
with our community.
So have at it.
Let everybody know.
And then when you're done with that,
we're going to talk to you about some questions
from our subscribers.
All right, so I have six favorites here.
And I'm going to start off with the Diamond Princess Kids Club.
Which is, I may be my favorite kids club ever,
besides Norwegian Bliss.
Now, the Diamond Princess Kids Club,
everyone, all the counselors and new staff, they're amazing.
And there are just some great kids there.
And there's lots to do.
There's just dance.
And I made a bunch of friends on the last Diamond Princess
ship I was on.
So it's definitely one of my favorites.
You made friends from all over the world, too.
Yes, I made a few friends from Malaysia, actually.
Malaysia.
And Japan?
Yes, Japan.
Yes.
Some of the counselors were from Japan, too.
Which is very interesting.
Because now I'm learning Japanese.
So maybe if the counselors are from Japan on any other ship,
I will be on in the future.
That would be great.
That would be so cool.
Because I can speak Japanese.
That would be awesome.
What's next?
My next one is the Norwegian Bliss Kids Club.
It's definitely another one of my favorites.
And they have great counselors.
And there are a ton of games you can play.
Like, they have Rocket League.
I'm not sure if anyone's heard of Rocket League,
but it's a great game to play with friends.
And I made a lot of friends on Norwegian Bliss,
even though I was only on that ship for a short time.
But I had great friends there.
And we went to the arcade, spent until 1 o'clock there.
So it was absolutely great.
And this is also the ship where you play Gaga Ball,
which we explained earlier.
But in short, it's kind of like dodgeball with your hands
that you try to hit other people in the shins with.
Very fun game.
OK.
Now, my next favorite place is not a kids club,
but it's actually the clubhouse on Carnival Panorama.
Now, they have billiards in the clubhouse
on Carnival Panorama.
They also have ping pong, but I really like billiards.
Now, not only do they have regular sized billiards,
but they also have foot billiards.
So you play it with soccer ball, which
is a very interesting experience.
When you basically learned how to play billiards on that ship,
it's one of my favorite games to this day.
It's a great family activity, too.
If you like soccer, I like soccer,
and it's really, really fun to play,
because it's a mix of billiards and soccer, which
is really fun.
I love that one, too.
And I love that there were windows all along the soccer
billiards one.
You could look out at the clubhouse outdoor area out
at the sea.
And you're just, I don't know, it's just really fun.
It's all windows, and you take off your shoes,
and you just hit the ball and play billiards with your feet.
It's very fun.
Very fun.
Now, my next favorite, the clubhouse
is actually inside of it.
And this is the Carnival Panorama Sports Square.
So this, it may be on other ships,
but the only ship I've ever been on with is Carnival Panorama.
And the clubhouse is inside of this,
and they also have the sky ride, which
is like a bicycle that you pedal through the sky.
So it's kind of like a monorail, but you pedal it.
And it's very tough.
But you can go really fast on it,
and you can race your friends or family.
What a great description of monorail.
And also, there is the ropes course up there,
and I love me some ropes course.
Also, you can kind of jump around and try to hang on to ropes.
And I love doing it without using my hands, which
makes it even more fun.
And I like parkour and stuff.
So that was a very exciting place on the Carnival Panorama
for me.
Did I ever get windy up there?
Did it get windy up on the ropes course?
Yes, it did actually get pretty windy.
But it was worth it for me.
Because on the ship we were on, it was pretty warm.
The three times we were on it.
And the wind just felt good.
I love it.
What's next?
My next one is the MSC Virtual Reality.
And other experiences on MSC, because there's
a lot of great areas on MSC.
I think that they have an arcade.
And with that is the Virtual Reality Experiences.
And they have all kinds of other things
where you sit in seats and do fun things.
So I don't really remember much about the Virtual Reality
because it was a long time ago.
But I do remember loving it.
They had good water slides on MSC, too.
Now, here's one of my favorites.
This is very broad.
This is my last favorite, on Carnival.
And like I said, I have so many favorites
that I couldn't begin to put them all on the list.
But cherry on top on all the Carnival cruises
is just amazing.
Because you can get so many varieties of candies.
And I made friends with a lot of the staff there, too,
which is like, you don't do that very often.
But the staff there on Carnival are very nice.
And I love candy.
And you love candy.
And you love candy.
Who doesn't love candy?
So what is cherry on top?
Cherry on top is a candy store that's exclusive to Carnival
as far as I know.
And it is just, they have the best candy ever.
And it's really fun.
I can spend all day there and just buy candy.
I would blow through all my money, but it would be worth it.
What's your favorite kind of bulk candy
that you buy at cherry on top?
Ooh, maybe the sour gummy worms.
I really love those.
You can get chocolate bars and stuff,
but it's just so fun.
Buy those by the bag full, huh?
I think that on Carnival you can also buy
the rubber duckies that you hide in cherry on top.
They sometimes have those in cherry on top.
Oh, fun.
They do have a duck themed thing going on in cherry on top, huh?
Yeah.
Very cool.
Will do you have any other ones or any honorable mentions?
I do have an honorable mention.
And my honorable mention is the Harmony of the Seas Kids Club.
Now, I love Harmony of the Seas.
It's one of my favorite ships ever,
but I didn't spend very much time in the kids' club.
I went there for a day, and it was a very nice kids' club.
So it's my honorable mention.
Is Harmony the Seas or Wonder of the Seas?
It could have been either one.
It could have been.
They're kind of both awesome, huh?
Yeah.
They're very similar, and they're both great.
Yeah, they're both great.
You were just busy doing like perfect day,
and the miniature golf, and the flowwriter,
and all the other gazillions of things.
That's the ironic thing about going on Royal Caribbean
is oftentimes you end up doing so many other things.
Yeah, yeah.
So cool.
All right, that was really fun.
I loved your list.
So are you up for a couple of, or I guess,
just maybe one kind of question from a subscriber?
Yeah.
OK, Judy wants to know what you've
learned from your cruising experiences,
and if cruising has made you more worldly,
what do you think about that question?
Well, I think I can agree with this.
I'll say I have definitely learned a lot from cruising
because I've gone to various cultures like Italy and France
and Spain, and I love traveling around the world.
Awesome.
And even just going to places like Alaska are amazing.
And then on one cruise, we traveled all the way around Asia.
And I just took a liking to Japan,
because I love the culture there,
and that's actually kind of what inspired me to learn the language.
And I just, like, sometimes I may even want to live there
or go to college there.
Wow, don't tell your mommy you want to move to Japan.
That makes me sad.
I would miss you so much.
I would miss you, too, but it might be worth it.
You're graduating.
So you're saying that you have been exposed
to other cultures all over the world,
so you've been Europe.
You've been to Asia, and you fell in love
with the Japanese culture, and you've been studying Japanese.
Now, how far into Japanese language are you?
I'm not very far in.
I've learned maybe like 70% of the grammar, I think my teacher said.
No.
That may seem like a lot, but I've been doing it for like three years.
OK.
Now, I've gone through different methods of learning it,
and that slowed my progress down a little bit.
But is it a tough language, although it's definitely
very nice sounding, in my opinion, and the alphabet is very pretty?
Mm.
And when we went to Japan, there were so many nice people that helped me,
because when we went to Japan the first time, me and my mom, this is cruise tips TV.
This is cruise tips TV.
The locals, they taught us a lot about the language just from being there,
and we learned a bunch of words, like simple words like thank you and hello,
and goodbye.
And they were very nice.
The locals were super nice, and I love the climate in Japan as well.
Yeah.
And the cities, Tokyo is very pretty.
You're a city boy.
You love your big cities, don't you?
Yeah.
You do.
How do you say thank you in Japanese?
Arigato.
Arigato.
And you're going to gozaimasu.
Arigato gozaimasu.
Or if you're trying to send English, thank you.
Thank you.
Oh, oh, oh.
Well, that is awesome.
I'm so glad that you were inspired.
Now, do you feel like, obviously, you've met a lot of neat people around the world, too, right?
That's been a highlight of our travels.
What about food?
Do you like trying a variety of different foods around the world, too?
I do like trying new foods, like McDonald's in every single country.
Well, and people may judge us for saying that.
But really, it is kind of fun to go to McDonald's in different countries.
And the reason why is because they have unique, regional menus.
That's not to say we don't also try the local food, right?
They do.
And in Japan, there are a lot of lovely foods, like not so, no, I'm kidding.
Not so?
All the soybeans.
Oh, those are so gross.
I love Japanese food, but I can't do not though.
I like not though.
You do.
But this gross looking.
Yeah, it's a little weird.
The beans are kind of sticky.
Yes.
But Google it, friends.
Google notto.
N-A-T-T-O, and you'll see what we mean.
First.
What about ramen?
Good old Japanese delicious, authentic, wonderful ramen.
Ramen is one of my favorite foods, and it's definitely better in Japan.
It may be my favorite food.
I love ramen, especially when it's spicy.
Spicy.
Eat your ramen in Japan, quietly.
Well, you have to, actually, I'm pretty sure that the etiquette, I watched a little video
on etiquette, and I translated it all into English from Japanese.
But anyway, you pick up the bowl, and you use your chopsticks to slurp it in your mouth.
And if you don't slurp it.
If you don't slurp it, it can be considered rude.
But if you don't pick up the bowl, it's also considered rude.
You have to pick up your bowl and slurp it.
Like bring it closer to your face, right?
Yes.
And practicing in my houses is lovely for my parents.
Yes.
We love it when you slurp your ramen.
True story, though.
Well, that was good.
Thank you for answering that question from Judy.
I think that she'll probably be interested to hear your answer about what you've learned
from your cruising experiences.
That's a good one.
So Robin said, what are some things a parent can do to help kids feel good about going
to the children's area?
Now, I feel like this is a multi-faceted question.
As Robin, to be honest, this guy here who's podcasting with me today, he doesn't always
gravitate towards the kid's center.
He hangs out with mom and dad and does what we do.
But you know, I think that one of the best things you can do is go on day one, right?
Go scope it out.
Would you agree with that?
For sure.
I'm a cultured young man.
So I do adult things.
Yes, you are.
But you do, every time you do go check it out, right?
And see if you like it.
That's the best thing you can do is get them up there, get the child up there, and see
if they like it.
For Robin on day one, it's going to be a lot easier for the rest of the voyage.
If you bring them in, mid voyage, mid cruise, when all the other kids have already bonded,
it's kind of awkward.
So day one visits are probably really, really important.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And of course, ask them, hey, what do you want to do?
Do you want to go?
Do you want to try it?
Do you understand that if you don't like it, you can leave and come back to mom and dad,
right?
And check on them frequently so they feel safe.
But also be good to pop up there, see how they're doing, make sure that they feel comfortable
and they know that you're not that far away.
For sure.
And most of the time, if you go to check into the kids' club and see how your kids are doing,
they are most likely vibing.
They're vibing?
And they're going to ignore their parents.
Maybe.
Maybe.
You're so funny.
Well, what do you think?
Was this fun?
Yes.
And to those that speak Japanese, I got to go say them us.
Very nice.
Thank you.
I loved it.
Well, I think that this was a really fun one.
Thank you for helping me put this together, by the way.
And thank you to our Facebook community for giving us a lot of inspiration for this.
And this is meant to be casual.
This is not like the cruise tips TV best list of things to do ever for kids.
It's like this is what everybody has to say in 2023, right?
And maybe we'll do this again sometime and kind of take a poll and see how things are
changing.
But thank you for being my co-host today, buddy.
Of course.
All right, friends.
Thank you so much for listening.
Podcast topics coming.
And until next time, we'll see you on the high seas.
Matane.
See you on the high seas.
Thanks for listening to CruiseTipsTV Unplugged.
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