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This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast I am delighted to welcome back again to The Joy of Cruising Podcast Rich and Jazzy, creators of the amazing A Rich and Jazzy Life brand. A Rich and Jazzy Life is comprised of their top ten 110K cruise channel on YouTube; Melanin at Sea (MAS), their 115K Facebook affinity to group known for its legendary group cruises and, in my opinion the most influential cruise croup on Facebook; companion Instagram accounts and more.

You can learn more about why I think so highly of Rich and Jazzy in my latest book release, The Joy of Cruising Again http://amzn.to/3lAfyON where I wrote a feature about them, or listen to their two previous podcast episodes, Ep 15 and Ep 80. We love A Rich and Jazzy Life. You can count on three fingers the The Joy of Cruising Podcast guests to appear on the podcast three times! And I am confident there will be more!

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome back to The Joy of Cruising Podcast Paul and Carole, creators of one of the top cruise brands in the world, Paul and Carole Love to Travel. They are dominant on every social medium platform they are on, and whether you classify them as cruise influencers or cruise content creators they are among the world’s leader as either. Most importantly to me is that Paul and Carole are passionate cruisers, and just about every time I read about them on social or see them on YouTube, they are cruising to one of my bucket list destinations! Like the topic of this podcast; we’ll be checking off Dubai from our bucket list in a few weeks, and when I found out Paul and Carole had recently cruised there, I had to get them back on the show. They are no strangers to The Joy of Cruising Podcast—you can count on a few fingers the number of guests appearing on the podcast for the third time. Ep 27 Paul and Carole Love to Travel, and Ep 99 Paul & Carole Love To Travel, Mekong River Cruise, AmaWaterways, AmaDara, Japan!

By the way, you can count on a couple of fingers the passionate cruisers who have been in more than one of my books, and Paul and Carole Love to Travel was featured in both The Joy of Cruising amzn.to/2EAMddF, and Cruising Interrupted amzn.to/3seFU8y.

It's been over a year, so I wanted to catch up with Paul and Carole, and especially to get their thoughts on their cruise to Dubai and the Emirates, which Cheryl and I will be visiting in a couple of weeks.

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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 Linzi and Mark Cowgill, creator of the UK-based Suite Natured blog, YouTube channel, and Instagram platform. Over a year ago, I reached out to Linzi and Mark to come on the podcast to talk about transatlantics, in advanced of our first transatlantic cruise around this time last year on Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady Ep 91. Suite Natured, Transatlantics. It was a fun conservation which ended with a hilarious anecdote. (Sure enough, I included it in my second annual end-of-the-year episode of the The Joy of Cruising Podcast year's "most memorable, funniest, and most embarrassing stories.” It won!)

Linzi and Mark are back to share with the cruise community their reflections on their recent bucket list on Windstar Star Legend.

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Presley Pfereka, a crew member for Azamara luxury cruise line. I have long observed with awe and fascination cruise ship crew from the Captain to entry-level crew members and have hosted on The Joy of Cruising Podcast a cross-section of ship crew, both former as well as active over the past years. I would love to delve into their lives in an in-depth manner both on the home front as well as at sea. I have often noted that if I had the resources this is a book project I would love to pursue. While I can’t begin to do justice to that in an hour or so podcast episode, my discussion with Presley affords us a brief, unique look at ship life through her eyes. The variety of crew, staff, officers, and guest performers who have guested on the podcast range from childcare associates to maitre d’ to Captains, acrobats, magicians, to guest singers and comedians from all over the world. Presley is my first guest from Zimbabwe, in the Southeastern part of Africa. I first found out about Presley by way of an article I read in Conde Nast Traveler, “What It's Like to Be a Waitress on a Cruise Ship,” by Ashlea Halpern.

Presley is a 37-year young lady from Easten Zimbabwe, Manicaland Province. She finished high school and started working at a young age as an organizing secretary for a non-governmental organization). This was after her parents passed on. Presley has two daughters aged 17 and 6. She moved to South Africa in search of greener pastures and worked a variety of jobs. In 2012 Presley met a fellow Zimbabwean who introduced her to Open Distance Learning with the University of South Africa. She enrolled with the University and attained a Higher Certificate in Business Management and then Registered for Bachelor of Commerce In Business Management which she is still pursuing. After coming across an advertisement on LinkedIn regarding cruise ship job interviews to take place in Cape Town in 2023, Presley applied as it was her wish to travel and work on cruise ships. This led to her being hired by Azamara January 2024 as Assistant Waitress. In November 2024 she got promoted to Administration as a Payroll Purser.

Find Presley online

YouTube: presleypfereka3174
TikTok: @Presley Pee
Instagram: presley_pee87
Facebook: Presley Pee
Email: pee.pfereka@gmail.com

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, a special group of guests, The Chefs: Jerome Brown aka Chef Rome, the chef to the stars with over 35 years of professional cooking, the go-to chef for celebrities worldwide; Chicago Chef George Outlaw specializing in elevated soul food with bold and unusual food combinations; Chef Sondra (Dra) Rhodes bringing creole and southern country cuisine to your table; and, Chef Ricky Simpson, Jr., an Atlanta resident whose credo is “To enlighten people to a healthier way to make their favorite foods.”

We were introduced to The Chefs on our recent bucket list cruise, the Soul Train Cruise, which we raved about in our reflections of the cruise several weeks ago on Ep 165 The Soul Train Cruise. It was our first Soul Train Cruise; we enjoyed it so much that we booked for 2026. Immediately after we boarded the Holland America Line Nieuw Amsterdamwe became aware of The Chefs albeit in an indirect way. In the buffet we noticed some soul food items; for instance, there was Rick’s Ribs. Then at the main dining room, throughout the menu was soul food and New Orleans favorites. Things came into perspective when we read the tent card on our table mentioning The Chefs return to the Soul Train Cruise (for the third year) along with short bios of each.

I have hosted several fascinating celebrity chefs on The Joy of Cruising Podcast. This is the first time I get to host a team—each a celebrity chef in their own right.

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome back to The Joy of Cruising Podcast Sheri of Cruise Tips TV. Sheri is a special friend to me, having been featured in my first two cruise books, The Joy of Cruisinghttp://amzn.to/2EAMddF and Cruising Interrupted http://amzn.to/3seFU8y, and then being my first choice for the initial episode of The Joy of Cruising Podcast which she graciously accepted Episode 1. Sheri returned to the podcast for Episode 93. Today Sheri becomes the second podcast guest to make a third appearance on the show. Cruise Tips TV has its own podcast, Cruise Tips TV Unplugged, as well as blog, You Tube channel, IG and more. In fact, across all platforms Sheri and Cruise Tips TV is one of the mostly followed and influential cruise brands in the world.

It's been over a year, so I wanted to catch up with Sheri, and especially to get her thoughts on her cruise to United Arab Emirates, which Cheryl and I will be visiting this spring on a land trip.

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am proud to welcome Dr. George Alexakis, a former colleague of mine from Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers. George is a Hospitality Professor at FGCU, and he did some collaboration with the organization I led, which was the Office of Continuing and Off-Campus Education. George and I always had a good rapport given our mutual interests—not just in continuing ed but hospitality, which I had taught at my prior institution. George taught cruise management classes and led several cruises with students. He also garnered a reputation for putting together annual land trips to his homeland of Greece, popular with students, faculty, and the southwest Florida community.

Dr. George Alexakis is a lifelong tourism and hospitality professional who began his career managing his family’s restaurant and banquet operations in Ontario, Canada. He went on to serve as a hospitality consultant and marketing manager for the renowned firm, Cini-Little International. Today, he is a full professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he teaches courses in culturally responsible tourism, sustainability, and a variety of other courses. An accomplished speaker and educator, Dr. Alexakis has presented across the globe on topics such as dynamic communication, exceptional customer service, and human resource development. He has taught in Italy, the Caribbean, Israel, and aboard major cruise ships. He holds a doctorate in higher education with a concentration in hospitality, a hospitality master’s, and a hospitality and tourism bachelors.

A prolific scholar, George has authored numerous articles and book chapters in the fields of tourism, entrepreneurship, and leadership. Each summer, he plans a tour for travelers to have an authentic experience of Greece—off the beaten path and beyond the postcard views. Very fluent in Greek and deeply connected to his heritage, George collaborates closely with a professional tour director and local guides to create unforgettable cultural experiences filled with heritage, storytelling, and—of course—fun. He proudly refers to himself as the “Mayor of Fun.”

Find Dr. Alexakis Online

Email: george7alexakis@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/george7alexakis

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dralexakis/

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Hello, passionate cruisers! This is Paul. I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Belencia Wallace, creator of Ladybug Travel of Facebook, Instagram, and with its 55k following on TikTok, which is where I met her. I was amazed to learn Belencia decided last year to leave her professional career to embark on a full year at sea. Belencia sails on a variety of Royal Caribbean ships and estimates her one-year journey to cost approximately $100k. When Belencia’s The Joy of Cruising Podcast episode airs, she will have completed more than half of her yearlong journey. We not only want to hear all about what the adventure has been like but—inquiring minds want to know—what’s next after her one-year adventure is over!

Ladybug is a passionate traveler and former healthcare administration professional who has embarked on an extraordinary one-year sabbatical to explore the world by sea. Starting her journey in October 2024, she meticulously planned every detail of her grand adventure without the assistance of a travel agency, showcasing her organizational skills and love for exploration. Over the course of this year, Ladybug will cruise along the East Coast, the enchanting Caribbean islands, and the rich cultures of Europe and the Middle East. Her voyages encompass popular destinations and hidden gems alike, allowing her to indulge in diverse experiences while connecting with fellow travelers.

Ladybug brings a unique perspective to her travels. Her dedication to service and attention to detail enhance her journey, as she navigates new environments with a keen eye for culture and community. Follow Ladybug on her continuous cruising adventure as she shares insights, stories, and breathtaking photographs from around the globe, inspiring others to pursue their own travel dreams.

Find Ladybug Travel online:

YouTube: @officialladybugtravel

TikTok: @ladybugtravel

Instagram: @officialladybugtravel

Facebook: @ladybugtravel

Email: officialladybugtravel@gmail.com

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