WEBVTT - Thou Shalt Just Go With it 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:05.000 Hi, and welcome to everywhere. I'm your host, Daniel Scheffler. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:18.599 Today's travel commandment thou shalt just go with it. As 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:22.159 a travel writer, my belief is don't say no to 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:26.439 any trip, and don't go only once, even when it 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:29.440 comes to the open seas with thousands of people tagging 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:32.960 along to cruise or not to cruise, That's what I 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:36.440 like to say. I do think there's a rather robust 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:39.880 cruise cliche here, and I know my grandmother would say 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:45.240 the marketers have started to circle her. She resisted, but hey, 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.400 if I want to be an open minded traveler and 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:52.760 travel writer worth my salt, I cannot scoff. Even the 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:56.920 late David Foster Wallace went on a Caribbean cruise, and 0:00:57.000 --> 0:01:00.800 he did end up writing his finest essay, a supposedly 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:05.520 fun thing I'll never do again. Everyone's experience is different. 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:08.560 So I did what any sane person would do and 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:13.240 spent some trusty hours researching the different cruise lines. Some 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.600 of them are themed like star Wars, perfect for Holly, 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:20.360 or perhaps focused on a more niche audience, like gay 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.759 men who love to play scrabble or women who love 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:27.160 to knit. I wasn't exactly sure how any of these 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:30.399 activities were enhanced by being out at sea, but I 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.640 was absolutely willing to find out. I felt it the 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:37.679 first time. The smaller the monolith of this boat, the 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:41.440 better for me. A shopping mall of four thousand people 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.120 floating the ocean seemed a stretch for a maiden voyager 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:51.920 like me. On the cruise websites, everyone looked utterly thrilled. 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.320 They had those giant, big smiles I've never had. Plus 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:59.040 they seemed like everyone had their own individual seafood tower. 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:04.600 Don't get me started on the many many relaxed spa faces. 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:07.320 So I reached out to some veterans who cruised once 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:10.959 a season to get a little bit of advice. Their 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.400 advice to me is get to a cruise early. You 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:18.280 don't want to risk missing the boat such deep insight. 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:23.240 How useful cruise ships like aeroplanes and I guess cars 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:27.080 and trains come with a very strict set of rules, 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.840 from the don't lean over your balcony to get a 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:35.519 better selfie because nobody, and I mean nobody we'll even 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.400 notice you down in the water, to the please don't 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:42.560 wear those jeans to dinner. Actually, it's more like I 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.560 hope you packed a jacket or even a penguin tuxedo, 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:50.120 and yes, check check, I always travel with those. No 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:52.520 fuss if you didn't bring pants or they're required attire, 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:55.120 because there's a handy tailor on board who can start 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:58.320 working those hem lines for you right away. Personally, I 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:00.919 felt I looked better in jeans and in the Palazzo 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:04.560 pants that was now being fitted for me. But apparently 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.880 I'm not making the rules. Of course, since pants take 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:10.920 a few hours, the gene wearing meals you now have 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.720 to enjoy in your own cabin or at the pool 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:18.040 seated on a deck lounger. I personally think it's odd 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:22.360 to have Osso buco poolside or a burrito with some 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:25.360 pico de gaio. And as my friends Sue and I 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:29.160 were horrified to witness in Florida, even hot tubs are 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:32.440 perfect for eating Mexican food, especially when you can just 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.680 wash your hands in the water. No problem, nothing to 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:39.200 see here. What I haven't told you is that I 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:42.600 jumped onto a press trip. Sometimes they call this a 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:46.320 fam meaning a trip to make you and other travel 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:51.640 writers familiar with place, hotel, city, cruise, ship, Oh the 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:55.600 joys so part of being on a group trip, as 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:59.720 I'm sure many have you've done with co workers, family members, 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:03.960 and hopefully friends, is that you cannot do everything by yourself. 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:07.680 You're sort of required to join people who you may 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:11.440 or may not enjoy for various activities. Oh look, the 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:14.320 artinery has a group mini golf session. I can't wait. 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:19.040 So during these group trips, there's always one lovely soul 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:23.479 who drives everybody insane. And I mean we all know 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:27.159 this person. Maybe it's your very special aunt who treats 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.960 you like a child, or maybe you're super annoying coworker 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:35.320 who tells all those inappropriate jokes at fancy work dinners. Well, 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:40.919 you see, press trips are no different. Meet Deborah and 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.920 I've changed her name from deb in order to protect 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:50.080 her identity. Among our little swarm of travel writers influences, 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:53.919 Deborah was the self appointed cruise credit. She carried a 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:58.160 clipboard to show off this authority. And I'm using air 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:02.160 quotes here. She was exactly the picture that has just 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.640 conjured up in your hand. After a few very very 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.320 long hours of Deborah interrupting every single person so that 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:12.159 she could lament just about how terrible everything is on 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:14.680 the cruise. I started to feel that I may have 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:18.679 to take one for the team. Day two, the captain 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:21.400 came to greet our little posse of eager Beaver cruisers. 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:25.040 While they were interrupted him mid sentenced to discuss her 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:28.760 issue with a carpet right at elevator B one on 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:32.560 floor sixteen, near to her room. She was told this 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.840 carpet would be replaced. This was it for me. I 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:39.839 was replacing her. So I want to preface this by saying, 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:43.200 I'm really not a horrible person. This was much less 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:46.359 about me and about an entire room of people having 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:51.279 their time ruined by one individual. Luckily I paid attention 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:55.159 during orientation, and due to the size of these cruise ships, 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:59.680 if anyone shows signs of sickness, so many thousands on 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:05.120 case hundreds of people can very quickly spread ill. Oh, 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:08.000 how perfect. You've heard those stories of cruise ships having 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:12.839 to offload thousands of passengers vomiting somewhere super unsexy in 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:17.520 the Caribbean. Yeah, so this is the fate I decided 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:22.800 Deborah deserved. I did what any generous team player would do. 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:26.480 During lunch, I made sure to sit close enough to Debora, 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:28.839 but not too close because I just didn't want to 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.800 be there close to her. She was just wrestling with 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:35.440 yet another shrimp. When I said, Debora, you don't look 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:38.960 so well. Are you feeling ill? Please know that I 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.400 said this loudly enough for a nearby staff member to overhear. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:46.599 Of course, anyone looks like after all that shrimp. But 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:50.600 I had bigger goals in mind. She struggled to respond 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:55.159 as her mouth was full. My timing was perfect. Oh no, Debora, 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:59.599 you're looking a little green at the gills, darling. So okay, 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:01.920 I had it up a little. But I was in 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:05.560 custom beige Palazzo pants at this point, and I was 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:11.360 merely assimilating. Within moments, a team of husmad wearing professionals 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:15.520 unplugged Debra. She disappeared so fast, I think we forgot 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:19.320 that she was even with us. Don't get me wrong, 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:23.360 she lived. She was perfectly fine. I didn't push her overboard. 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:26.840 In cruise language, that would have been called an oscar. 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:32.200 The sweet, sweet irony Betty Davis would say. Debra had 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:35.120 also cruised many, many, many many times. She told me 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:38.120 this herself, and she told me she was the formidable 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:42.840 expert on cruising. Her words to me were nobody cruises 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:48.520 like I cruise. Well, honey, you're not paying attention, and 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.000 so they quarantine you to a special part of the ship. 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:53.640 And this is where Debra went, where you can be 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:58.080 sick without infecting absolutely everybody else. I don't suppose it's 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:02.160 beautiful there, but I'm sure it's very RESTful. And since 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:05.440 Debora wasn't really sick, I'm sure she spent this time 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:08.880 contemplating her life and thinking about how miserable she made 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:11.800 everybody else and how she could really cheer up and 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:16.720 not be such a Debora down. But probably not. She 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:20.000 probably made a voodoo doll of me with her own hair. 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:25.200 The sun suddenly came out, and cruising didn't seem so bad. 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:28.040 I loved it for about the rest of the day. 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:31.400 After I had gambled, been to the pool a number 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:35.960 of times, snapped twice, eating at seventeen restaurants, and toured 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:39.880 the entire ship again. If I was a drinker like Holly, 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:42.160 I would have had ten cocktails at this point and 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:46.480 I probably would not have cared. But no, I was done. 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:50.320 Oh good, we're talking in Guatemala, which means I could 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:54.439 hop right off and just go home. Perfect. So at 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.959 some point I stood with my suitcase in my palazzo pants, 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:01.520 waving this beast of the sea goodbye, and I got 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:05.720 into a taxi. I speak a handful of languages. Spanish 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:09.520 happens to not be one of them. Spanglish if that counts. 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:12.640 My driver was unsure of what I was saying when 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:15.120 I was sharing my cruise ship stories with him, but 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:18.280 the word airport is pretty unit jostle, so off we 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:25.040 made for about twenty ft. At the harbor border control, 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.000 I was told I didn't have a stamp. Where did 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:31.440 you come from? They kept asking me. I kept saying, 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:38.839 the giant cruise ship that just left you. Somehow missed that, Yeah, 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:41.880 what cruise ship. Well, the cruise ship didn't do the 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:44.760 right paperwork, and I couldn't show where it comes from. 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:47.640 I kept being like, Oh, let's not live in the past, 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:52.320 let's totally look at the future blank. I was starting 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:54.640 to sense that I had a problem here. But you know, 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:57.400 Guatemala looked nice. It was warm. I could live here 0:09:57.440 --> 0:09:59.760 at the ducks. Why not. I didn't need so much 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:05.360 except that I do. So I had this lovely idea 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:07.640 for getting out of the harbor and into the country. 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:13.319 I conspired with my driver in Spanglish for the Daniel smuggle. 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:17.200 I do not endorse or recommend this to anyone, but 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:21.040 sometimes desperate times call for pulling out the tire from 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:24.960 the trunk of a taxi, clambering in and layering luggage, 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:28.160 kid's toys, and all kinds of flotsam on top of yourself. 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:35.680 The border authorities were none the wiser, and into Guatemala 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:40.360 I went. My taxi driver felt like we were Fellmer 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:43.040 and Louise at this point, and I was still in 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:45.960 the trunk, wishing Brad Pitt was going to find me. 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:49.440 I'd also like to add that this was the day 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:55.160 that the volcano, aptly named Volcan de f Weego decided 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.960 let's erupt. I'm not sure if there was a zomb 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:04.040 Be situation happening, but they were definitely burning tires along 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.400 the freeway as the volcano was busting out some serious 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:12.520 smoke clouds. Needless to say, I arrived at the aircraft 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:17.040 door as they closed it without me. So here I 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:19.640 was stuck in Guatemala until the next flight out, which 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:23.960 was conveniently not today. So I did what any reasonable 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:28.040 person would do. I found the finest hotel I could 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:31.720 possibly get my hands on. I ordered excessive amounts of 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:37.000 room service and bubble bathed hard. I was also single 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:39.520 at this point, and so I've learned that the easiest 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:41.640 way to make some new friends in a new city 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:44.959 is to go on the apps. If you gave grind, 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:50.080 it works perfectly. If you're not, I don't know, you 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.040 have to do something else. Of course, these apps come 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.000 with all kinds of horror stories, so I always googled 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.600 and checked some linked in page to be sure. Because 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:02.520 some Q what a marlin gentleman who works at the 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.520 National Bank as a manager and enjoys puppies in his 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:09.960 free time, Well, he seems just fine. I had a penthouse, 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.520 I had champagne on ice, and I was the freshest 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:18.680 meat in town. So I cruised, and then I cruised. 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:29.080 Let's take a break to hear from our sponsors, and 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:34.319 we'll be right back with more travel from everywhere. The 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:37.840 time has come for more of everywhere. Now where were 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:42.120 we at this point? I'd like to invite my friend 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:45.720 Holly to come and talk to us about her cruise. 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:48.440 I have actually never been on a cruise. I feel 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:51.240 I should preface this with exactly my point. Yeah, I 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:54.120 will eventually. Part of it for me is being potentially 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:58.440 trapped in a steel tube effectively with people I do like, 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:01.400 and because I probably we would do like a Disney 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:04.120 or Star Wars one, there's a whole kid thing to wrangle. 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:06.760 I know there are adults only spaces on those cruise 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:09.400 ships every That's what everybody always tells me. We're going. 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:12.000 You and I are going on a Star Wars day 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:14.520 at sea. That's fine, but you will have to protect 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:17.240 me from sticky little people. I'm sure those kids are 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:19.080 the best, but I'm telling you, there are kids on 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:22.360 those cruises. You have to protect me from. Deb. I 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.240 can handle deb, no problem. But I thought we should 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.720 talk a little bit about how cruise lines got to 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:30.640 be the way we see them today, because now it's 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:33.839 a floating city. But obviously that was not always the case. 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:39.240 I'm not going quite that far back, but you know, 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:41.960 there was a point where there were a lot of 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:44.720 ships going back and forth, for example, across the Atlantic, 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:48.160 but they were carrying cargo. And then eventually it was 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:51.520 like eighteen when one of these cargo lines got the 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:54.400 idea of like, maybe we should make things a little 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:56.600 nicer for the people that may have to travel on 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.880 this ship. That was the black Ball Line. They operated 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.760 of New York. The name was one. It was the 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.679 black Ball Line, and I just grown up with me 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:10.200 up to cruise on not to cruise. They ran a 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:13.240 primary route between New York and Liverpool and back and forth, 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:17.280 and they did have an eye towards their passengers, but 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:19.680 really they were still a cargo ship. They were transporting 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.760 things like livestock and mail. A lot of it was 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.640 mail on all of these ships. But even though they're 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:27.920 often cited as the one that is like, oh, they 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.840 were the first ones that started thinking about comfort in 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:33.880 terms of accommodations. It was not fancy. It was not 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:36.600 comfort of the type that would be touted today in 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:39.400 an ad for your your cruising experience. It was definitely 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:43.000 like there's actually a space for you to lie down now, 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:47.520 like fancy. And it was a few decades later when 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:52.800 this idea of maybe offering premium accommodations began. Some ships 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:56.720 actually started to shift their business from we're carrying cargo, 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.640 or we're carrying cargo and we'll make room for some passengers, 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:04.760 to what if we only carried people? Yeah, part of 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.320 me is like, does that make it easier or more 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:11.280 difficult than if you were carrying like a load of cows? 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:16.600 And I don't know. Cows probably asked for less, but 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:20.680 they come with their own complications. This also starts that 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:23.120 shift where at that point they're not just giving you 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:25.040 a place to lie down at night, but they're starting 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.080 to think about, hey, we should have some onboard entertainment. 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:32.120 Hey we should maybe make spaces where people could be 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:34.800 on deck just for leisure. So that's where that all 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:38.040 starts in the mid eighteen hundreds. And then there's this 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:40.920 great moment we've talked a little bit about before, and 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.280 it comes up on our History show a lot, this 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:48.280 idea of traveling for the benefit of your health, which 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:50.440 really started in the eighteen eighties. That was when the 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:54.320 British Medical Journal extolled the virtues of sea voyages as 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:57.720 a way to improve your health and possibly cure your ills. 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:01.520 So nice to get the norovirus wild at right again, 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:05.080 trapped in a thing with a bunch of people. And 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.480 this is also the time though, when this idea of 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:13.920 class based passenger segregation started to happen. You know, the 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:17.960 immigrants went down in steerage and then down with more 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.520 money could be in much prettier spaces. So that started 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:24.000 to happen at that point as well. Isn't it ironic 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.600 that now the people in the front of the plane 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.400 are taking their own food because the food on the 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:35.320 plane is so terrible. Everything is always a circle. Time 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:38.320 is a flat circle, Daniel, it's only Earth flat too. 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:42.360 Don't even get me started. It was they have a 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:46.720 cruise ship. In fact, the Flat Earth Society next meeting, 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.840 which is later this year, is on a cruise ship. 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:53.280 Are they going to go to the edge? They will 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:57.640 fall off the edge. The irony event is that the 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.360 Earth has to be round an old for you to 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:04.919 sail this boat. Yeah, perhaps they'll find the edge and 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:09.399 kudos them um. The first ship that was actually just 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:13.080 built as a cruise liner though, didn't happen until nineteen hundred, 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.560 and that was the Princess in Victoria Luis, which was 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:20.320 a German ship that one first had its maiden voyage 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.159 starting on June nine hundred. It was part of the 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:26.960 Hamburg Victoria line. That ship only lasted six years, though 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:29.560 it was accidentally run aground in Jamaica, but it still 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:33.040 was really like the beginning of this idea of just 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:35.800 building ships with I know you hate the word, this 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.280 idea of luxury travel and it being about humans being 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:42.640 catered to completely, because even though that kind of activity 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:44.760 was already happening, the design of the ship had not 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:47.160 been built with that in mind, so it was all retrofitted. 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:49.879 Of course, not too long after that was when the 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:53.119 Titanic went down. That's its own story then, way bigger 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:55.399 than the scope of this. Do you want to know 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:57.800 what the next big thing that shifted the cruise line 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:04.280 industry was? Kind so yeah, I guess since the cruise 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:08.840 industry seems to love all things royal, right, princess cruizes 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.440 royal blah blah bah, it's probably something related to the 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:15.480 Queen for Love and Country. I'm gonna make the hand 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.520 signal and go ish, not really love and country, you're 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:21.359 onto it. It was World War One fair enough, because 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:23.520 it kind of stopped the cruise industry for a while 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:26.639 because all of those ships got requisition to transport troops 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:29.960 and it wasn't safe for many people to just be 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:34.280 cruising around on the sea. And then what really gets 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:38.240 interesting one is that as part of the reparations that 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:40.800 Germany had to make. They had to give the United 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:42.920 States in Great Britain a bunch of their cruise liners. 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:48.000 That's only right. Um. That actually led in some ways 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:51.040 to the real boom that happened in cruising in the 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:55.080 twenties and thirties, because suddenly the US had cruise liners. 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:58.600 And that's really when Americans started getting on this idea 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.880 of like, oh, cruising is a trip that sounds great, Yes, 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:03.920 let's do that. I don't have to go to Florida. 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:06.119 I can go on a boat, right, we can go 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:09.680 across the Atlantic Ocean and won't have you romantic? Uh? 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.280 No surprise that World War Two had a similar effect 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:15.359 on on the cruising industry, where once again it was like, hey, 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:17.760 not so much safe for you guys to be tootling around. 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:20.760 We actually need these boats and maybe get out of 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:24.439 the water if you're not military. So leisure cruising ceased 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:27.360 entirely for a while, and then post World War Two, 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:29.440 let's get back up on it. Because there had been 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:32.679 this big boom after World War One, the same thing 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:35.920 did not quite work after World War Two because just 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:39.160 as that industry was starting to really get robust again, 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:44.119 airline travel became much more accessible, and it really punched 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:47.800 a hole in that industry because it's so much fun 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:51.680 to rather go on a plane for three hours opposed 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:55.800 to getting that by cruise over three weeks. I understand, 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:58.840 I mean different people think fun is different, but particularly 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.600 it really he really got a lot of interest in 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:05.480 a lot of financial backing in the nineteen sixties, where 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:07.520 the cruise industry was like, we have to fix this, 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:11.000 and that is how we got the cruise city. That's 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:12.960 where they were like, we need to make the actual 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:17.199 travel just as important and fun and engaging and as 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:20.040 much of the vacation as getting them to a place. 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:27.200 I think they called that up sailing. Yes, So that's 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:32.119 where suddenly cruise ships start to have not just lovely 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:35.520 accommodations and a beautiful dining room and maybe a chef, 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:40.320 but now also full casino, full shows every night, also 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:43.119 twenty two water slides for all of the kids to 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:45.840 be busy like. That is really how the industry got 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:47.520 to the point where now they will have people like 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:49.520 you come and do a tour of the ship that 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:52.520 lasted day and a half because there's so much I'm 0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:57.320 still on my tour, so Holly at one point did 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:02.080 we get the famed cruise direct at That kind of 0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:05.199 started also in the nineteen sixties, and then of course 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:09.840 that entire aspect of having someone on board that could 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:13.439 just give you your itinerary and keep you occupied. It 0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:17.000 sounds silly, but it really did get popularized because of 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:18.959 the Love Boat, because the people who had never been 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:21.399 on a cruise were like, wait, there is a person 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:24.000 who will arrange your days and nights for you and 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:27.760 make sure your fun is optimized at all times. That 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:31.040 show really did have a significant impact on the industry 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:34.040 and drawing more people to it because it always looked fun. 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:37.000 Of course, everybody who's having nutty adventure, I think they 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:40.719 were all having sex. Well probably, I mean, but it 0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:45.960 was the love Boat, not the boat. But I wonder, 0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:50.040 like the point of cruising is one I have friends 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.879 that have done a number of cruises and they always 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:57.160 joke that their personal cruise mentality is eat until you're 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:00.480 sleepy and then sleep until you're hungry, and them it's 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:02.240 just like a nice way to check out. They don't 0:22:02.240 --> 0:22:05.960 worry about like the rules of life. They didn't they 0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:09.720 don't worry necessarily even about doing the activities on the boat. 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:11.639 You just want to hang out together in a way 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:15.359 where there's no pressure and no concern about like what 0:22:15.400 --> 0:22:16.800 are we going to do next? Where do we have 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:19.560 to be at next? That's the ultimate. We'll just walk 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:23.480 to the restaurant. It's fine, they're ready for us. That's 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:26.480 a big appeal for people. Right, everything is right there. 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:28.719 You don't have to worry about logistics at all if 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:31.119 you don't want to, unless you're wearing jeans. Unless you're 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:33.679 wearing jeans and you have to get your palazzo pants handled. 0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:38.480 Even if the boat docks somewhere and at the port, 0:22:38.600 --> 0:22:40.920 like they're letting people off to do activities and come back, 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:43.199 it's still structured in a way where you don't have 0:22:43.240 --> 0:22:45.760 to waste a whole lot of brain space. The thing 0:22:45.800 --> 0:22:49.919 we haven't talked about is gay cruising. Yeah, so I cruised, 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:53.760 and I cruised, well, I cruised and then I cruised, 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:57.600 cruise on the cruise. I didn't cruise on the cruise. 0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:03.880 They now have proper gay cruises. That's only for cruising. 0:23:04.760 --> 0:23:09.680 But I am interested in the drag queen cruises, and 0:23:09.720 --> 0:23:12.640 I think you and I should do a drag queen cruise. 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:16.760 Both of our shows. What would be more fabulous and fun, right, 0:23:17.000 --> 0:23:21.040 and just giggling constantly in delight. So much glitter, so 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:24.600 much glitter. It's true. How do they clean that ship 0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:28.560 from all the glitter? I think we should get someone 0:23:28.600 --> 0:23:30.560 on the line to tell us how they do that. 0:23:30.720 --> 0:23:33.520 They have to go into like a NASA grade clean 0:23:33.640 --> 0:23:40.840 room and create a vacuum and all glitter anti gravity. 0:23:40.520 --> 0:23:44.919 If they and anti gravity, all the glitter will float 0:23:44.960 --> 0:23:48.720 to the top. Maybe it gets caught in crevices, but 0:23:48.760 --> 0:23:50.480 I want of those people. It's like, I don't understand 0:23:50.480 --> 0:23:53.600 why people are so obsessed with cleaning glitter. Leave it. 0:23:53.600 --> 0:23:56.639 It's fabulous and sparkly. Yeah, but I have to go 0:23:56.720 --> 0:24:00.159 to meetings and then I'm in glitter. Great people be 0:24:00.240 --> 0:24:03.399 like that. Daniel Shuffler is so sparkly. I love it. 0:24:03.840 --> 0:24:06.640 Usually they say that about my personality, not my glitter 0:24:06.800 --> 0:24:09.960 combo burrito. You could have both in a hot tub. 0:24:11.960 --> 0:24:16.560 Oh my god, this is sanity. I'm gonna pause this 0:24:16.720 --> 0:24:19.639