Which Cruise Line Is Right for You with Where's Walter Travel | Cruise Podcast Ep.28

Many cruisers are loyal to the cruise line they started cruising with, but a some point they wonder what else is out there. In this episode, I talk to Walter from Where's Walter Travel about what the considerations are for those cruise goers who are looking to step up to the next cruise level. We also talk about what is like to transition into being a travel professional after careers in other fields. Walter also shares some favorite cruise tips.

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Thanks so much Tony for the opportunity to chat! Great discussion and it's such an interesting discussion between Princess, Celebrity and even Virgin Voyages. It's always fun to talk car-uuuuuuising with you. Next time we do this on a ship!! I'll see you out on the Lido!

[@normamejias6587]

Love you interview with Tony. Happy travels.🙏

[@steveroper8733]

Wow Tony....I love this long form interview! I wasn't familiar with Walter but definitely want to check his stuff out!

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Thanks so much for the kind words Steve!

[@LemmyMoore]

Matt smith was the man!!!! 😊

[@kathryncashner3294]

Love Virgin. I've done a 14 night and a 15 night....so there are long cruises if you choose them. THere are SO many good things about Virgin. We call it our "new favorite" line. VV has a lot of innuendo, but I'm over 60 and fairly conservative. I found some of the shows a bit boring, but not overly sexy. And I have priced each of my VV cruises compared to Celebrity, Princess, and NCL getting as close to "apples to apples" as I can. In each case, VV was less costly. For example, I priced the TA on Virgin vs. TA on Princess with Princess Plus (since I had a complimentary drink package on VV, this seemed fair.). VV was slightly more than half of each of the other lines! We got off our first VV cruise with 3 more booked. Celebrity over Princess for the ship/food/etc. Princess over Celebrity for the itineraries.

[@mimikarenbryant7325]

Just delightful to hear from Walter. Like how he describes the Caribbean as testing ground, for those of us who have done plenty of Caribbean. Yes, FLL sailaway is very nice. Christmas Markets is at top of my list as well! Love the British shows! Thanks for all the great info!

[@TWSmith42]

The Dr. Who series you discuss is the Christopher Eccleston reboot. My Doctors growing up were John Pertwee and Tom Baker, and I loved the Tennant and Smith Doctors, too. However, Eccleston is my favorite, not just for bringing the franchise back to life, but I liked his presentation of the character; too bad his tenure was short lived. Tony should try watching a David Tennant episode or two.

[@carolynadams1249]

Two couples of us cruised on the MSC Divina, unfortunately we were very disappointed with the overcrowding and lack of enforcement of any rules, we have cruised with Princess several times, also Holland and Carnival but never had those unpleasant issues.

[@gazstaf]

Just came across this video...I think Celebrity and Princess share a common space down here in Australia..although, during the cruise season Princess do offer more itineries, even a 35 night round trip from Sydney to Hawaii and return..even Sydney to Vancouver via Japan and Alaska( at the end of the season) and yet Celebrity have maybe one ship this season..with much smaller voyages. Horses for courses. Tony I put you down for a Celebrity guy.😀

[@sarahj.8372]

Really enjoying these podcasts today Tony..had more time..love the free option..thank you.

[@QueenKayKay47]

Awesome chat. Thanks!

[@Bahamut_Mega]

I get carnival with few to no kids. But that's because I take Journeys cruise when school is in.

[@andershay99212]

Both of you are amazing. Love watching you both. Love all the views of different cruises. I can't wait to try all the cruise lines too.

[@darleneeastburn7639]

Wizard of Oz sounds amazing 🤩 ❤❤❤

[@angielovett4159]

That was great, thank you.

[@charliedurham4248]

Great episode!

[@rumbleyd]

Great podcast!

[@iocat]

Great video!

[@WiredForFlight]

Great chat, we are actually having this chat with our cruise group so very timely. We are testing Virgin and going back to Celebrity after RCL for the reasons mentioned

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Awesome, thanks so much for watching!

[@kathywest7205]

Tony, I’ve watched your other La Lido Loca channel for months but somehow missed this one. Very good show!! Also watched the newest with Emma, also great! Love Walter’s TV choices 😊! Have subscribed, of course!

[@cruisepodcast]

Thanks!

[@CheriAwesomeSunsetsTravel]

Great Chat 👍

[@LemmyMoore]

Tony, I love your content I am a KZbinr as well and I would love to meet you one day. Quick question have you ever been to vidsummit? Bro, I’m driving back to Oklahoma and Dallas and I’ve watched you completely the entire time lol and by the way, shouts out to Luda!!! Haha. Keep going bro

[@cruisepodcast]

I went last year in LA. It was good.

[@IHeiter]

Some older less active people may like a few other cruise lines. But Carnival brings the shows, the food, the ports and great cruise workers!🎉

[@WheresWalterTravel]

If I'm being honest, Princess has better overall food and original shows than Carnival. :) But thanks for watching Brenda!

[@loungelizard1975]

Wow Tony, this is excellent content! Really compelling and informative. I just got off my first Princess 14 day Transatlantic cruise to Spain and Portugal after 12 Carnival cruises under my belt and what a difference. As a solo cruiser in my 40s I had mixed feelings about Princess because it’s a whole different vibe than Carnival that I wasn’t prepared for and add to that no internet for first 7 days of the crossing. I will say that going back to Carnival just got a lot harder but I’m not sure if I could sail solo again on Princess at the same time. One thing is definite… Walter is right, Princess has the BEST itineraries at the most amazing prices! Hands down!!!

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Thanks so much for the kind words. Yeah it's hard to be what Princess and even HAL are doing these day with such interesting itineraries. If only Princess would lean into the solo market with solo cabins or at least a good solo supplement deal. That being said, I will say I've been surprised a few times booking solo clients on Princess cruises and having almost no solo supplement added. Princess doesn't advertise this, even to us TA's, I just find out when I price the cruise. If you ever want any assistance finding some interesting and unique solo itineraries, feel free to reach out. We've just started working with Stefanie Mullen from the Sean and Stef channel diving deep into solo traveling. Again, thanks for the kind words and have an amazing day!

[@loungelizard1975]

Walter, you’re not going to believe this… I’m going to be with you and Stef on the same cruise on Valiant Lady over Thanksgiving!

[@WheresWalterTravel]

@@loungelizard1975 Oh wow, that's fantastic! We have a nice Group of 11 cabins so far coming along on that one. It'll be great to see you all there!

[@douglaswagner1696]

We like Princess! The food, service shows and the coved pools!

[@chuckspencer5296]

Always a great show... Walter brings so much knowledge to the table... Great guest.... Thanks for sharing with us Tony B...

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Wow, thank you so much for the kind words Chuck!

[@charliedurham4248]

Would love to hear more about his experience on Good Eats!

[@debburd2903]

Very enjoyable show!😊

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@normamejias6587]

What a great interview with Walter. I have learned a lot. Thank you guys!!

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Thank YOU for watching. :)

[@dianej1714]

Great conversation!

[@susandowney6386]

Enjoyed the show 😊

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Thanks so much for watching, I really appreciate it!

[@johnlund2654]

How much is a beer now? The last time I went on a 3 day to ensenada, it was $2 for a can of bud. Now it is what $8 A "drink package" might be an option, but then you have to drink 15 per day I would grab a can and then walk it back to the cabin and back and back and back so my kids can have beers too

[@lindastover9541]

Great show ❤❤❤❤

[@maryanncapece2623]

Loved this discussion! Thank you both.

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@maryanncapece2623]

​@@WheresWalterTravel Liked your pod cast with Tony today. Just wanted to let you know I subscribed to your channel.

[@WheresWalterTravel]

@@maryanncapece2623 You are incredibly kind, thank you so much!

[@WheresWalterTravel]

@@maryanncapece2623 Thank you so much, that is very kind of you!

[@darleneeastburn7639]

Interesting show . Thank you for sharing

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Thanks for watching!

[@heatherdelacruzstevens3260]

My favorite Doctor is Tennant. My favorite companion was Amy Pond played by Karen Gillan while Matt Smith played the Doctor.

[@WheresWalterTravel]

NICE, it's going to be interesting to see what happens with David Tennent returning. I'm excited about that. Matt Smith was probably the most fun of the modern Doctors, but I just loved David Tennent because he could be funny and engaging and then downright terrifying. Thanks so much for watching!

[@smokeytraveler]

Tony B as I have said in the past I also feel like we are cut from the same cloth. Love cruising and really enjoying the podcasts.

[@IHeiter]

Carnival, more filing for less money so you can cruise more more more.

[@nildamager1649]

No children, amazing food , all inclusive use Regent .

[@TWSmith42]

No love for NCL? What's the issue with them?

[@brucerosner3547]

Disagree but I think RCL is as good if not better than Celebrity with Princess third. Both Celebrity and Princess both declined after Covid. I've been on over 20 cruises over time starting with the on-off cruise line Crystal. Crystal was a class above the current generation but alas they failed and have since gone through a succession of clueless new owners. No doubt Celebrity has the best service but their food is no different than RCL (similar corporate menus and even the same Lavazza coffee) with more casual free options like Mexican and a Sorrento pizza that is is much better than Celebrity's. Newer RCL ships have better cabins than Celebrity as well. Some of my opinion is based on a preference for a larger ship with more entertainment, activities and dining options than the smaller Princess and Celebrity. But even on similar sized ships I prefer the RCL layout - individual spaces for entertainment rather than a single central area with limited seating, crowded and over-run by people walking through making it hard to hear and see the performers. Can't beat Princess for the routes but they have lost direction - not clear what is their demographic base - do they want older and richer, families or "love boat" couples. I'm pretty tolerant of price increases but for example the Italian restaurant fee on Celebrity doubled from $30 to $60. I live in LA and can get a good Italian meal at a real restaurant for $60

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Thanks so much for all the input Bruce. We LOVED our Symphony of the Seas cruise this past December and felt that RCCL had stepped up their buffet game for sure. The MDR was still on the weak side, but Hooked and Izumi were just amazeballs. As was the Chef's Table dinner. Wonderland was interesting but not sure we'd go back anytime soon. But that's the beauty of cruising, so many different cruise lines for different styles of cruising. Thanks so for watching!

[@ginabyrd503]

But is it any good? 🤷‍♀ Watching now! 😊

[@wesleyahines]

That was Christopher ecolston…Doctor 9

[@WheresWalterTravel]

It's a shame he only got the one season, would have liked to have seen where that character developed into. But then we got David Tennent pretty quickly out of that deal.

[@johnlund2654]

The reason the nude cruises are so popular is because there are no kids. So what, some people want to sunbathe and enjoy the pool, big deal

[@ninerjen1]

I really like the podcast. Nice to meet Where’s Walter Travel. Always has new info on podcasts. Thanks. 👍

[@WheresWalterTravel]

Thank you so much, I really appreciate the kind words!

[@tentingaroundflorida]

Cruising used to be fun but with everything they keep taking away and or doubling the prices it's not worth it

[@johnlund2654]

Oh yeah go to a port and be greeted by shills and then do some stupid excusion for 8 hours Baaaa Baaaa Baaa