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Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm just getting started really, but having a lot of fun and trying to grow. Feel free to share!

Thanks!

Ok, I just now noticed the music on your other videos. Hmmmmmmm. Maybe this one is just louder.

Probably the case. Thanks for the input!

Thanks so much! And you're right, Celebrity had not released Reflection's schedule when I recorded this. However, look for Reflection's itinerary ratings this week! (I recorded it and it's currently available for channel members, but goes public on Friday I believe). I love cruising to the ABCs!

It's on my bucket-list for sure!

Sure! Id be happy to take a look!

Ahh... Good catch. Thanks!

Awesome - I hope you have a great time! Yes - it's really easy to relax on the ship for sure (and I aggree that I love a day (or two) at sea before getting back home to rest up and prepare for "re-entry" into work. :-) The Relaxation Score is based on opportunities to rest at a port destination itself. Some people may just want to chill on the beach, get a cabana, or even relax overlooking a fjord in Norway. But if there's too much frenetic energy in a port, it can detract from the relaxation score (but alternately, it likely offers some other opportunities to bump that score up). For example, Marseille isn't a relaxing city, (it's great city to visit!), but one has to get into the Aix-en-Provence region to relax a bit more.

Nice! I hope you have an amazing trip!!!

@@ThisistheCruise thank you!

You're absolutely correct. There are so many amazing youtube channels out there covering those very cool ships - so I'm trying to focus on something a bit different and more port-intensive. Unfortunately, the big ships often can't (or won't) do the really port intensive cruises. I wish they would though! Thanks for watching and commenting!!!

Happy to! And wow, that's quite the series of itineraries! (Makes me want to move to Tampa! 😂)

It looks like it. I know Norway has been working hard to protect their UNESCO fjords, and Geiranger is one of them. It looks like there's a significant reduction in the number of ships visiting starting next year. Holland America may not qualify any longer to visit until they get their ships prepped for lower (or zero) emissions. However, Celebrity Apex is going to Geiranger (departing from Southampton) - that may be worth a look. That's staying in the premium cruise lines. Otherwise MSC is going if you want a big ship (but no carbon emissions) and some luxury lines like Viking.

Well- maybe only TWO "very"s - three is a bit excessive. :-D

I have a few other videos in line before those, but they're in the queue - thanks for letting me know you're interested in those! I'll try to get them done sooner than later!

Absolutely - NO is a place I don't frequent often. The story I describe in the video was a few months ago on a work trip - and safety was less of a concern given all the factors. I've yet to cruise out of Galveston - have you cruised from there before? What's your take on it as an embarkation port?

@@ThisistheCruise Pros: 1) Easy to get in and out of. 2) Relatively cheap parking. 3) Very cheap hotels in Houston and Texas City. 4) Good cruise fares. 5) Friendliest cruise port that you will use. Cons: 1) More limited options than other pots. 2) Distance from the airports is significant. 3) There are no rental car options between Houston and Galveston that are reasonable. We are arriving in Houston four days before the cruise to attend the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show and to see other sights. Houston is the 5th largest US city and we will generally get there early as hotels are $75 vs $250 in FLL.

@@ThisistheCruise We have cruised out of Houston twice - Liberty of the Seas and the Regal Princess. The first time we flew into HOU and took the RCL shuttle. On the second, we drove in from Southern Arizona.

You got it!

Totally get it! There are so many amazing cruise channels out there that do incredible jobs covering the ships and the experiences... I figured I'd do something a bit different and focus on the quality of the itinerary that are port-intensive. There are plenty of ports where I'd rather just stay on the ship too - so it's kind of a win-win. Transatlantics are interesting as well... I gotta retire before I can do some of those though! :-D

Thanks for sharing - the lower standards seems to be a common sentiment. I hope other premium lines don't follow the same path. What's your favorite line and cruise region?

@@ThisistheCruise at this point I am giving up on “mainstream” lines…..I have one more trip with Princess next week. I’m changing to Azamara, Silversea, & Seaborn or similar. Smaller ships, all inclusive, more port intensity, & small ships. My two favorite trips were 14 night Norway & 17 night SW Asia to include Thailand, Singapore, & Bali Indonesia.

Not yet - I'm working on the application - and will hopefully be able to make it available to channel members. (It's a lot of work :-D but coming along very nicely)

Interesting - perhaps this is just one more reason we haven't cruised Celebrity? (Stay tuned - three more to go to figure it all out!) - Also, can you give me an example of something that was 'uppity'? - Thanks for watching!!!

Looks like you're all set. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Thanks Geoff!

I often say that WHO you're traveling with may be the biggest factor. I hope you have an amazing time! Make sure to check out 55 North coffee when you're in Ketchikan! We absolutely loved it!

Excellent! If you remember, let me know your thoughts when you get back, I'd love to hear about your experience!

Wow - thank you so much! I really enjoy the process - just takes time around my day-job. :-)

I'm sure it's going to be awesome! If you remember when you get back, let me know how it went - I'd love to hear!

Same here -- booked on 9/2 as we have friends in Seattle that invited us out to join them. First Alaskan cruise and hoping to find some videos that review the different excursions as well. A lot to choose from and we're excited, too.

I'm sure it's going to be great! Is there anything in particular you're wondering about (regarding excursions?)

I will be on the August 26th Cruise a week before you.😊

@anita1030tg nice!

I honestly don't recall. However - it's likely that one of two things happened (even a combination) - I overlooked it - OR (more likely) it's the same itinerary that leaves at an earlier date and I didn't point it out in the visual. My graphics come from my app, and I try not to have the repeated sailings displayed. (I can easily confuse myself LOL. :-D) I hope you guys have (or had) an amazing time!!! If you remember, let me know how it went - I'd love to hear what you thought! Thanks for watching!!!

Thank you for replying. We're going on the July 19 cruise. Looking forward to it! Have a blessed week!!!

That's great! I'm sure it's going to be an awesome cruise! If you remember, come back and let me know how it was. Thanks for commenting!

Thanks for subscribing! (Still sitting at 999... So close!) I completely understand the challenge of trying to get to new places. You end up booking something that goes to a bunch of places you've been to get in just one new place. I can't imagine getting to Bonaire without getting another stop in Aruba at least. Good luck though! I think you can do it!!!! (We're wrapping an Iceland cruise now, but will be back in the Caribbean in a few months)

Awesome! Thanks so much. If you remember, come back and let me know how it went!

Absolutely! Thanks for commenting and the insight. We're thinking of a shoulder season cruise next year and we're trying to decide between the two.

Thanks so much! Being a cruise travel agent sounds a bit like work. 😉 I just like researching the options for fun. 😃

@@ThisistheCruise likewise! I do a bit too much research on RUclips 😜.

Thank you so much for the kind words!!!

I totally understand. For me, the distinction between a Sea Day and a Scenic Cruising Day is that a Sea Day doesn't offer anything beyond the walls of the ship. Done well, a scenic cruise offers a level of enrichment and enhanced experience you wouldn't otherwise get and a regular day at sea. This really depends on how the cruise line handles a scenic cruising day. For example, Holland America has their naturalists available in some of the public areas during scenic cruises to talk to passengers about what they're seeing. Plus they'll do talks over the P/A (only heard in public areas - or on the stateroom TVs) during those times as well. This is super interesting for places like Glacier Bay or Geirangerfjord Norway. We even had this happen during a scenic cruise of Stromboli - we were watching it erupt while Holland America gave a history of the island, the people, and how they handle the eruptions. If the line just treats it as a way to keep people on the ship and doesn't do anything special, then yes, I completely agree - it's just a little bit more interesting Sea Day.

Very nice!

Lol- Yep!

Happy to! When do you plan on going and how long of a cruise are you wanting to do?

@@ThisistheCruise June - August 2025 for around 2 weeks. Thanks!

Thanks so much and congratulations on your cooking channel! Let me know if you have any questions, always happy to help!

@@ThisistheCruise will do and thank you. We made it home late. We didn’t watch yet. If not tomorrow night, on Saturday for sure

@@CookandBakewithSamer no worries. I'm on a cruise now and will get back to you when I return

Well ... It's hit or miss. The last time we were in the North Sea, we had shockingly calm water and then average seas on the return. I guess we'll find out together in a couple of days how this one is. 😃 My plan is to take some Bonine Sunday night and likely Monday night. It makes me a little drowsy, but I'm usually good the next day. That's at least been my experience.

How did you do? It was definitely rougher than I expected! (Especially between Akureyri and Isafjordor!)

Because of how far ahead I recorded the video, I just felt it safer not to publish when we're going to be out of town. 😃

Do you know if there's a site to monitor the levels? I don't have this as a resource yet (but will need it when we start looking at the sailing options). Thanks!

Thanks so much for subscribing! The scoring is a bit complicated. - The score methodology was co-developed with a friend of mine who's a statistics professor at NYU, It's very helpful for comparing itineraries against each other (vs a score of "X out of Y"). If we're being technical, the highest score an itinerary could get is 100. That's practically impossible though. I have ten facets per destination (with a rubric for every point scored - in an attempt to remove as much bias as possible), five additional facets per itinerary (again with a rubric I follow), factor in any scenic cruising and overnights, and then run it through the algorithm. The algorithm uses a weighted average to total everything up and balance it out to what could be 100. Sort of like a school grade (Quizzes are 20%, Homework is 30%, Final is 50% of the grade) The reason it's almost impossible to get to 100 though is because some of the destination facets are so difficult to get 5/5 in multiple categories. For example, I have a "Natural Beauty" score and a "City Quality" score. A place like Amsterdam would land a 5/5 on city, but a 1/5 on Natural Beauty. Geiranger Norway (one of the most beautiful places I've ever been), gets a 5/5 on Beauty, but isn't a city at all, scoring a 0/0. Some places are pretty and great cities, but not as safe as we'd like. (Rome for example) My highest scoring itinerary to date doesn't yet have a video, and it's only 62.8... but that one's coming soon. ;-) I hope that helps - and thanks again for watching and subscribing!

@@ThisistheCruise thanks so much for explaining in such detail. The scoring could be subjective depending on what one is looking for…i.e. natural beauty would be important for most Alaskan cruisers. No perfect place, just like no perfect human being. 😉 Can’t wait to hear/see your analysis on 2025 Alaskan cruise!

@icedteamama176 exactly! Thanks again!

Yep - Now we can just get an itinerary that's great - we'll have the best of both worlds!

Absolutely spot on! Thanks for commenting!!!

Norwegian vs Royal is a tough one. Here's my take. First, it depends on the RCL ship for comparison... but let's assume you're looking at a newer one (the older ones aren't aging well). RCL has better ships, and (IMO) overall better service. NCL may be a bit less expensive, with very good service, and will have better places to view the scenery outside your stateroom. BOTH will be great for your son - no worries there. (I have some good friends who took their three teenage sons on NCL to Alaska two years ago and reported back it was a trip of a lifetime for them.) I'd honestly consider the itineraries + cost over which line. More stops are better. Make sure you're getting a glacier or two. IF the cost is the same, AND the stops were the same AND it wasn't an older RCL ship - I'd go Royal, but otherwise your experience will be great either way. Now, the Balcony. For us, we almost never book a balcony. This is a cost consideration. We want to bring all four of my family (adult-size kids. :-) ) - so we usually get two inside rooms (which often ends up being less than one balcony). Even when we travel just the two of us, we usually get an interior room. This is because I'd rather cruise more often, and to do that, we need to keep our expenses reasonable. Viewing the glaciers (or even inside passage) from your balcony will be the same as seeing it from an observation deck or exterior promenade (NCL is better in this regard). One more consideration - I truly believe that Holland America cruises Alaska better than anyone else. If your son is an introvert (or doesn't need a lot of "teen activities"), and you're looking for a more "Alaska enrichment experience" - I'd consider HAL over the other two. We took my 16yr son (my older one was in college) at the time on HAL and he absolutely loved it. He's an extravert, but was completely enamored by the enrichment activities on board. PLUS you get to visit Glacier Bay - and HAL has that pretty much locked up. (Princess visits Glacier Bay regularly - and sometimes, just sometimes you can find it on an NCL itinerary - but they're very rare). That was a lot - but I hope it helped! Let me know what you decide - I don't think you can go wrong, but there are nuances that may make one better for you and your family than others. :-D

@@ThisistheCruise omg, sooooo helpful!!! We’re looking at RCL Quantum sailing on 5/26/25 or NCL Encore 5/25/25, both RT Seattle and both 5 ports. I keep hearing Glacier Bay is a must (NCL only). Pricing looks about the same for interior, but Royal is much less for balcony. NCL interior cabins are smaller. Never sailed on HAL before, not sure what “enrichment” entails….son usually plays computer games 😅…not an extrovert..he enjoyed FlowRider and Lazer tags on Royal’s mega ships. Just booked HAL Eurodam 5 nights Caribbean this December. Thank you so much your insight!

@icedteamama176 glad to help. Holland often brings on guest speakers and does port presentations. You won't get that much on a shorter cruise, but on Alaskan cruises visiting glacier Bay, they have to bring on park rangers. They do talks and spend time with passengers while cruising the national park. It's the kind of cruise where you leave feeling like you were more immersed in nature and the local culture.