On this edition of CruiseCompete Cruise Podcast join your host CruiseCompete.com CEO Bob Levinstein and guest Tim Joseph of Revitalize Travel for a detailed discussion of Tim's once-in-a-lifetime experience cruising to the UK and Ireland on the Celebrity Reflection. Highlights include a visit to Giant's Causeway, a Beatles Tour in Liverpool, and lots of details and advice about this cruise in particular and cruising in general.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to CruiseCompete’s Cruise Podcast,
where we share tips, ideas andinspiration to help make your
next cruise a fantasticexperience.
I’m your host, Bob Levinstein.
Today we’ll be talking about ajourney through the British
Isles on the CelebrityReflection.
My guest today is Mr.
Tim Joseph, owner and senioragent at Revitalize Travel.
Tim is a veteran of more the 20cruises, and has been recognized
for the past three years in arow as a top seller of Celebrity
Cruises.
He has also been a member-agentof CruiseCompete for more than
ten years.
We’ll be back with Tim rightafter this.
(00:52):
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Speaker 1 (02:10):
[inaudible]
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Welcome back.
Today my guest is Mr, Tim Josephowner, and senior agent at
Revitalize Travel and an experton Celebrity Cruises.
He and his wife ginger recentlysailed to the British Isles o
nboard the celebrity reflection.
T im, welcome to the program.
Thanks for having me Bob.
Congrats on your sales a wardsfrom celebrity.
That's a great achievement.
(02:43):
It is indeed a great honor.
I absolutely l ove working withcelebrity cruises.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
But it's not just about the business for you.
Celebrity really is your overallfavorite line.
What makes this line of perfectfit for you and ginger?
You know, just a, everythingfrom what I call the culture of
the cruise itself.
They're just a perfect fit.
When I always tell clients isthat finding the right cruise
line is like finding the rightspouse.
(03:10):
It just has to be the right fit.
So everything in terms of thepeople who work on board, the
crew, um, the level of servicethat they provide you, you can
always tell, um, that they'rehappy to be there and be of
service for you.
And, uh, the itineraries, theexcursions, everything is just
(03:31):
the right fit for us.
We love, um, the luxury feel ofthe ships without being
overbearing.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah, I think a, that's something a lot of people
don't really understand aboutcruising that, um, different
lines have, have differentthings they do, they do better
than others.
Um, and really it depends onwhat's your preference profile
is if the nightlife is the mostimportant thing to you, if
you're a real foodie, if, um,you know, the, the itineraries
and destinations are mostimportant to you.
(04:01):
Um, if you don't want to be on aship with a lot of kids, if you
want to be on a ship with a lotof kids, and a lot of the value
in, uh, in having an experiencedexpert travel agent is about
somebody who can understand whatyour needs are and then matching
you with an experience thatyou're really going to enjoy.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
That's exactly right.
Uh, where we are in a way inmatchmakers, we try to find the,
um, the right options based oncertain questions that we can
answer.
Um, especially if you are a newcruiser.
Um, there are certain cruiselines that most new cruisers
start start out with mostly dueto the price that they see.
(04:43):
Um, but as you get more and moreexperienced, um, you will
certain certainly, uh, start tonotice the differences in the
cruise lines and what theyoffer.
Uh, but that's something that anexperienced travel advisor, um,
can help you figure out if youare new to cruising before you
even step on your first cruiseship.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Nice.
Um, so I understand you're a bitof a history buff and interested
in Emily's genealogy.
How did that play into yourchoice of this particular
cruise?
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Well, this has been a , um, a little bit of a lifelong
dream for my wife and I, both ofus have, um, family lineage
going back to Ireland andEngland as well to a certain
extent, but more so Ireland.
Um, so we both, um, we're reallyexcited about this itinerary.
We had, um, three ports of callin Ireland, Dublin Cove, which
(05:40):
is for court as well as, uh,Belfast in Northern Ireland.
So we were excited to, uh, to goover and, you know, learn a
little bit about the history ofIreland.
Um, and I came home, uh,understanding actually a little
bit more about family.
My family name is, uh, McAvoy,which, um, I was able to learn
(06:03):
was, uh, an ancient Celtic, um,lineage, which is very, very
interesting to me.
And of course I'm, one of theother sites that has been on our
bucket list for a long time wasa giant Causeway outside of
Belfast, which, uh, about, Iknow that you said that you've
really wanted to see an outside.
I've got to tell you, it issomething that you do not want
(06:24):
to miss it.
It's a life once in a lifetimeexperience.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Uh, what, what was it about it that, uh, that made it
so, so overwhelming to see inperson,
Speaker 4 (06:33):
you know, just, um, getting there.
Uh, once you get there, you,there's this trail that you walk
along and you can oversee all ofthe clips and the, the Causeway
itself, which is, um, looks likethese, uh, Finch stones that are
kind of put together as a puzzlepiece.
Um, you start to see that and asyou get down towards the, uh,
(06:57):
the stones itself, it becomes alittle bit clear how amazing.
It just, it really is.
Um, you walk out onto the stonesand behind you are these big
lush green clips and whileyou're there, uh, you know, you
start to think about this issomething that was carved out by
nature.
(07:17):
It's not something that anyhumid had any kind of hand.
It, it was just placed there bynature.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I love experiences that, you know, take us out of
our everyday lives and uh, um,you know, allow us to refocus on
things like that.
That's very cool.
Did you take any good pictures?
Speaker 4 (07:38):
We've got some amazing pictures including, uh,
you know, I don't do selfies toooften, but I had to do this one,
you know, standing on the rockswith the, with those lush green
cliffs in the background.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Think about, uh, think about doing a print on
metal.
I'd hang up in your house.
I've done a bunch of those.
Um, my particular strategies.
So I go on Groupon and I seewho's got a deal.
Cause if you just go straight tothe site that prints a, it's
five times as expensive.
But if you go on Groupon, youcan get relatively cheap prices.
(08:11):
Uh, you just pay the shipping.
Then when you go to the websiteand then you can get these
fantastic pieces of art thatwill, every time you look at it,
it takes you back there just alittle bit.
So I would highly recommend thatas a a, a, if you've got some
good shots, very cool.
If you come across one, uh, oneof those Groupon deals, she
would go, just go on Groupon andsearch.
You'll find them.
They, uh, they, they have themevery day of every day of the
(08:34):
week.
And if you really like thelight, and I suspect that's
going to be an element of thisprinted on metal instead of
canvas, if it's just more of a,if it's a softer scene, go on
campus.
Uh, but I've done a lot ofexperimenting with that and it's
been, uh, it's been very cool.
So let's, uh, let's talk aboutyour crews on the reflection.
Uh, how was your experience in,uh, in getting the Amsterdam and
Speaker 4 (08:56):
boarding the ship?
It was really easy.
You know, we've been toAmsterdam before, so we have
figured out a little bit.
Um, so, you know, one of the,uh, the great things about
living where I live in New Yorkis that we have GFK right here,
which we can get almost anywherein the world, relatively easy.
So, um, flights are never a bigproblem for us.
(09:19):
So we had nonstop right intoAmsterdam.
Um, we arrived mid morning,which, um, if you could work
that out at all, uh, you know,going over to Europe works out
perfectly.
Your room is almost always readyby the time that you get there.
And of course, uh, flying toEurope overnight, you're going
to want to take a quick napbefore doing anything.
Um, so we, we flew intoAmsterdam, we got there and mid
(09:42):
morning I had a car serviceready, um, pick us right up and
took us right to, to our hotel.
Hotel was great.
Um, it was, uh, located rightnext to, to the port, literally
within walking distance.
Um, so the next day, uh, we justwalked out of the hotel and
(10:05):
about a half a block later, wewere at the court.
Um, if you're one of thegreatest inventions of this
century of less entering Arctic,my God, it can sound believable
right now.
All we need is one that willjust follow us without having to
pull them.
Right.
They have them, they actuallyhave them, but the problem is
(10:25):
they have batteries that theairlines don't like.
And uh, I think you've gotpretty heavy motors and things.
Yeah.
What we need actually is one ofthe suitcases to be made on
Harvard grafts.
Oh, there you go.
That'd be even better.
Send me the address and sendthem ahead.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Uh, but baby's looking for greathotel Virginians who the port in
(10:48):
Amsterdam.
It's called a moving pick hotel.
Mov N T I C.
um, so that, that's the easiesthotel if you're cruising out of
the port of Amsterdam.
Well, that's good to know.
So tell me about the reflectionherself.
Amazing ship on after sailing.
Honored.
(11:08):
Uh, definitely my, my favorite,uh, definitely in the celebrity
fleet.
My favorite and even overall.
Um, and I absolutely love theRoyal Caribbean ships.
Uh, they're amazing.
But this one just blew me away.
Um, we did, um, almost nothingbut, uh, specialty dinners on
board because there are so manygreat options that we didn't
(11:31):
want to miss any of them.
And we actually, we repeated thecouple, uh, because we had 12
nights, uh, we were able torepeat a couple of our
favorites.
So, um, throughout the ship it'samazingly clean.
You always see people cleaningmore so than I've ever seen on
any cruise ship.
Um, my wife, who is a cleanfreak, um, absolutely was amazed
(11:55):
by how clean it was, said thatshe, she never had a problem
touching anything, whichsometimes she does.
Uh, so, uh, we were just amazedby that.
Uh, the artwork on board, uh,one thing that we discovered the
first couple of days and it wasreally cool is that the name,
celebrity reflection is not justname of the shifts, it's what
(12:16):
they do on boards to a lot ofthe artwork is reflective in
nature.
So it's kinda cool.
It make it almost like a game towalk around the ship and try to
find pieces of art that havesome kind of reflection in them.
[inaudible] so that part wasreally cool.
Uh, the dining options ingeneral, even if you're not
(12:39):
going to do the specialtydinners, uh, we're really good,
I'll say, um, had high qualityfood for lunch and breakfast,
especially tons of options.
Um, the, the main dining hall wedid for lunch one day, uh, was
really also great service, uh,phenomenal as well there.
(12:59):
Um, and really the, there's justnot a bad thing I can say about
it, about the ship.
It's a big ship, fourcelebrities, fleet, um, and
holds more passengers in justabout any other than the edge
class now.
Um, but you do not feel likethere's a lot of people on
board.
So you're, um, you're a, uh, abit of a, a bit of a chef
(13:21):
yourself.
And, uh, I would assume also abit of a foodie.
What, um, what are your go todishes that you'd like to make?
And, um, in light of that, didyou have a favorite restaurant?
So, um, my, my favorite dishesto make tend to be, uh, Italian
in nature.
So you know, the, the pastadishes with, you know, fresh
(13:43):
vegetables, um, in Parmesan ofcourse is a staple meatballs.
Um, anything Italian that I canget my hands on.
I, I love the way, um, thatItalian cuisine is prepared with
the, a lot of the, um, localmindset so to speak.
So you, you use what is local toyou, what's natural in your, um,
(14:07):
in your area, so to speak, uh,what they call slow cooking.
Um, so, uh, I, that's what Ilove to cook.
Um, as far as the food on boardscoming from that standpoint, w
was absolutely amazing.
Um, one of our favorite placesto eat on board, uh, is called
the lawn club.
Um, so if you imagine, um, thereflection as well as a few
(14:31):
other ships in the fleet of anactual living lawn on top of
the, the ships where they havethe owl about what they have to
do to, to set that up andmaintain it and make sure it
grows.
And just the idea of saying,Hey, we have a ship, let's put
some grass on it.
It's kind of wild to me.
Absolutely.
And what I found most amazingabout that part is that we're in
(14:54):
Northern Europe where there'snot a lot of sunlight and the
grass was still as green as whenyou watch a baseball game.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
So that part was incredible.
Uh, if it were warmer weather,they have the nice alcoves out
there.
And I would definitely haverented one if I was in the
Caribbean.
Uh, but, uh, being more of aEurope, the, the weather's not
exactly conducive to that, butout of the long club they had
the lawn club grill.
It's a nice enclosed restaurantoverlooks the lawn club.
(15:25):
Um, they have the, the heatersin there, so it's not cold.
They give you a really nice, um,blankets to put over your, if
you get cold.
Uh, but it's, it's a real grillexperience, which, uh, which is
very nice, uh, and tons tochoose from skewers.
Uh, they, they make flatbreads.
They have really nice, um, saladbar.
(15:47):
Uh, what am I absolute favoritethings.
And one of my favorite cuisinesto either, I haven't been able
to master it at all is Indiancuisine.
And what they serve at the, uh,lawn club does well.
My favorite thing to eat on theship is called tandoori chicken.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
[inaudible] one club, a specialty restaurant.
Is it, uh, does it have a chargeor is it just included?
It is a specialty restaurant.
And what does it cost to keepthere?
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Uh, I wanna say it was about 50 or 55 per person.
I don't know exactly because we,because we were eating so many
times at the specialtyrestaurants, we actually bought
a package ahead of time.
Um, so the, we bought a packageof nine, so the average per meal
(16:36):
worked out to about$35 perperson.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Oh, that's not bad on the fall, what you buy at, what
else did you buy before you goton the ship?
Speaker 4 (16:45):
A short excursions of course, because, um, you know,
certain things like a Giant'sCauseway we're afraid would sell
out.
Um,
Speaker 3 (16:52):
was there a reason why you went through the ship
instead of going through a thirdparty vendor?
Speaker 4 (16:57):
You know, I have two third party vendors that I
really like to work with.
Short trips and shore excursionsgroup.
Um, I just, uh, the, the optionsthat they have in this area were
all privates were so a lot morecostly.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Got it.
Got it.
Yeah.
I usually have very, very goodluck, a shore excursions group
as a partner of ours, a cruisecompete and we've done, I've
been on a bunch of their tours.
Um, I've had just very, verygood experiences, but it's nice
to have a variety of differentoptions to choose from and, and
uh, and pick what you want.
Did you, did you buy the wifipackage and in advance as well?
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Of course you to, it's a business expense, so
Speaker 3 (17:36):
yeah, I find that, I find, uh, that one is a very
good, it tends to be a very gooddeal I have to get before you
get on board.
Um, just to be able to stay intouch if needed.
Also, I don't know, does thecelebrity have a, have a, uh,
one thing that I like aboutcarnival is they have a water
package where very cheaply forlike five bucks, they'll put 12
(17:58):
bottles of water in your cabin,which
Speaker 4 (18:01):
they do have a water package.
Um, and we were, we were tossingit back and forth, whatever we
wanted to do, the water packageor if we wanted to do, um, a
regular package.
So what we decided is actuallyto do, um, a non alcoholic
beverage package.
(18:22):
Oh huh.
The root, the reason, uh, wellthere, there were several
reasons, but what it came downto for us is we get unlimited
bottled water.
We drink a lot of water.
Oh, there you go.
Um, and with the package that webought, we got the pre what they
call the premium package.
Um, they include Avi-on, whichis one of our favorite, um,
bottled waters to drink.
(18:42):
Uh, on top of that you getunlimited, um, specialty
coffees.
Um, you know, we drink a lot of,uh, Mateus and things of that
nature.
So that worked out nicely forus.
Um, and you do get, you know,uh, juices included and, um, so
some other drinks that we mighthave every once in awhile.
(19:04):
Uh, we're not big alcoholdrinkers, but, uh, some of my
wife, you know, we, we pushed acouple of bottles of wine for
her and that, um, did well forher throughout the crews and for
myself, a couple bottles of beer.
Um, but that, that's really, um,
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Oh, do I think the customization aspect really
comes back to, you know, what wewere talking about earlier in
terms of fitting the crews to,you know, your own personal
needs and style and, and youknow, what's important to you.
Um, I've looked over the, thedrink packages and all, you
know, as far as the alcoholicbeverages, like you, you know, I
(19:43):
like to have a glass of wine ora beer or whatever, but there's
no way I can drink.
I can drink so much on seven andseven on a seven day cruise to
make it pay for itself, you know, um, finding, finding what fits
for you and what makes sense foryou, uh, is really important.
Part of this.
And again, a good reason why youwant to have an agent, uh, who's
familiar and can maybe help talkyou through some of these things
(20:06):
and without you having to figureit all out on your own.
But moving on to entertainment,what was your, uh, your favorite
entertainment onboard?
Speaker 4 (20:14):
My favorite entertainment on board a
celebrity has, uh, their own inhouse production.
So meaning other cruise lineswill take Broadway style shows
and just put them in theirtheater.
So celebrity does their ownoriginal, um, Broadway style
shows.
And my, my absolutely favoriteone, um, and I, I don't remember
(20:39):
the name of it, but the, they do, um, an aerial show.
So, uh, it's completelyacrobatic and um, their
performers, uh, are just amazingat doing this.
You can tell obviously that theypractice a lot.
Um, it really shines through inwhat they do.
(21:02):
And, um, what's really nice isthat a lot of the performers on
board, um, throughout the cruisewill give, um, uh, classes on,
wow, that'd be cool.
What they do.
So you fail hard, but I stilllike to try it.
Yeah.
(21:23):
I wouldn't even attempt to, youknow, thankfully, you know, the,
the moves that, that, that I sawin that I was able to do were
very, very basic.
Um, she, you can see how muchthey actually work on and when
you get up close to the personallist with the performers, you
can see just how passionate theyare about what they do.
(21:45):
And that part is really nice tosee.
Yeah.
I mean, even just getting alittle bit of experience with
it, you get with anythingreally.
I mean, you get a much betterappreciation for how hard they
have to work and what they gothrough and how fit they are and
how, how really strong andflexible.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
That's, that's, that's a partwhere I definitely, so was there
(22:07):
a favorite music then, you, thatyou liked on the ship?
Likes to hang out?
Yeah.
You know, my favorite place tohang out was, uh, what they call
the Centrum.
Um, it's a, it's a big openareas.
Yeah.
It's where the main elevatorsare.
Uh, but, uh, from time to timethroughout the cruise, they'll
have, uh, you know, liveperformances there, uh, usable
(22:31):
performances.
Um, they'll have certain parksthere.
They'll have, um, contest there.
For instance, they hide aputting contest.
Um, they had a, uh, archerycontest.
So that's really the place to,to, uh, to hang on board ship
when there's nothing else to do.
(22:51):
And we'll be the archery and thearchery contest, uh, w the, the,
they didn't use real at Rose.
I don't know how they use thesearrows with these big plastic
flat piece on the front.
Um, yeah, I've never seen thatbefore, but it was very
interesting.
(23:12):
Um, so no, thankfully noinjuries.
Um, what I, what I really loveabout the central areas, that's
where the cafe is located.
So, uh, you know, you grab, yougrab a cup of coffee, uh, and
the pastry and you can just hangout there, watch live music,
watch the, uh, the contest or,or get involved in the contest.
(23:35):
Uh, there's also a few barsright around the Centrum.
If you've heard of averagedrinking and sit and watch and
you're making me, you're makingme really want to go on another
cruise right now.
My favorite.
Yeah.
My
Speaker 3 (23:46):
favorite parts of cruising.
Uh, it's the live music for meespecially, and just meeting
people and kind of drawing himin, getting people to get up and
down, uh, stuff definitely isall, um, uh, a big part of it
for me.
Um, so are you a big Beatlesfan?
Speaker 4 (24:09):
I am.
I am, uh, you know, any, it goesback, I'm a little bit younger
than that generation, so itreally goes back to my mother
who was a, a big Beatles fan.
And then as I started to getinto the music when I was in
high school, um, it was seeinghow, um, my favorite modern day
(24:29):
is, um, were really influencedby the Beatles and, um, some of
the other, um, bans from, fromthat era.
And, and when, when I got tocollege, um, you know, through
electives, there was this areally interesting class, um,
that I had the opportunity totake.
That was a history of rock androll.
(24:51):
And of course, a big part of thehistory was the Beatles.
So we spent a lot of time on theBeatles and just learning about,
um, the Beatles, uh, throughthat made me, um, get more
interested in their music.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Okay.
So tell me, so, um, so I assumethat's why you opted for the
beetle tour in Liverpool.
It is
Speaker 4 (25:10):
absolutely.
Um, put a beautiful city on itsown.
Uh, but, uh, having theopportunity to, to learn more
about the Beatles and theirmusic was, um, just a absolute
wonderful experience.
Um,
Speaker 3 (25:29):
don't you get a picture of yourself in that
crosswalk?
[inaudible]
Speaker 4 (25:32):
we didn't actually go , uh, to, to, to Abbey road.
Um, what we, what the main focusof the tour was, uh, is the
cavern club, which is the clubwhere, um, the Beatles played
most of their, their, uh, earlygauge in Liverpool.
(25:53):
So getting to visit, uh, thecavern club and just walk around
and see all of the members ofDelia.
Um, it's almost, uh, you know,brings a tingle to your spine.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Oh, that's neat.
So you also experienced some,uh, some, uh, more, uh, more
ancient, less modern history ata, at Blarney castle in cork.
I understand.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
Yes.
So a bloody counsel in court,really interesting.
Um, beautiful old castle.
Um, as you drive up, you can see, uh, the, the castle kind of in
the distance with all of thesebeautiful, um, gardens all
around.
Um, we didn't do the typicalthing, although we did have the
(26:37):
option to, to go up and kiss theBlarney stone.
Um, my wife having done italready and um, myself, you
know, I'm not big on very longlines, so you have to gift of
gab anyway.
So yeah, that one.
Yeah, we that that too, youknow, being in, in, uh, in this,
(27:00):
uh, in this job for as long as Ihave, you kind of developed that
anyhow, so I don't want to chewpeople's ears off maybe more
than they have to.
So we, we opted to, to walkaround the gardens, uh, and they
have a lot of really nice, um,trails like hiking trail and you
can go through and see differenttypes of, uh, Fonda flora.
(27:24):
Uh, so just absolutely beautiful, um, little waterfall
throughout the property.
Uh, and, and of course not to beno, uh, misses the, the wooden,
uh, woolen mills shop.
Um, which is a great place toget some authentic Irish gifts.
Uh, especially if you're in themarket for um, wool clothes just
(27:45):
to amazing varieties there.
So you're all set.
You're Chris, you checked outyour whole Christmas list then I
take it, we, we did Christmas,we did birthdays.
Um, well there's days.
Yeah.
Nice.
That's a, that'd be a great,that's a great gift.
Cause I mean that's the kind ofquality that will let somebody
for years and years, absolutelyNew York winters accurately.
(28:07):
And to say that this, Hey, thiscame from Ireland, you know?
Yeah.
Seriously.
All right, well next up is ourcruise skip of the week and
after that we'll be back withTim.
Do your, his overall thoughtsand advice right after this.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Hi Bob.
Living Stein here with a cruisecompete travel tip.
Today we'll be talking about theranger role.
Now arrange your role.
May sound like something youmight order it in New York sushi
restaurant, but it's actually amilitary packing technique
that's easy to learn quick toemployee.
It allows you to pack moreclothing with fewer wrinkles
than any technique I've everseen.
(28:46):
Though it can be used for almostany garment.
I find the range of role to bemost useful for shirts.
Here's what you do.
Lay a shirt flat on the tablewith a collar away from you in
the front, facing down at thebottom.
Fold about three inches offabric up and out all around the
shirt.
If this is hard to visualize,imagine that if you were wearing
the shirt, you'd have a pocketall the way around at the
(29:08):
bottom.
So turn the shirt around in thetable so the collar is towards
you and that pocket that you'vejust created faces away.
Now fold each side of the shirtin, so it's about the width of
the collar, tucking in thesleeves, starting at the collar.
Roll the shirt up.
Now take your time here.
Make sure you keep the rolltight and that both sides state,
(29:28):
even when you get to the pocketyou created with the fold at the
bottom, just pull that extrafabric back over the roll and it
will hold your ranger roll inplace.
It may take a few tries to getthis right.
If you need extra help, thereare lots of YouTube videos
demonstrating the technique, butyou should be able to master it
in as little as five to 10minutes.
(29:49):
And once you do, I guarantee youwill never pack any other way.
(30:14):
And we're back with Tim Joseph
Speaker 3 (30:17):
revitalized travel.
Tim, from everything you've toldus, this was a really fantastic
experience for you and forginger.
Any overall thoughts or generaladvice for others about this
cruise and itinerary?
Speaker 4 (30:32):
Be prepared for weather, weather and as part of
the world can be veryunpredictable.
Um, the week before we were overthere, they were experiencing a
heat wave.
So, uh, we, we thought that maybe that we carry you over to our
crews, but luckily we keptchecking the weather and found
(30:55):
that I was going to be a littlebit cooler.
So we were prepared for coolerweather.
We also brought a few things,um, for warmer weather just in
case we did hit another, um,warmer spell.
Uh, so that's one thing.
Definitely be prepared for that.
Uh, currency is always an issueas well.
(31:18):
Um, the, the thing that I wouldrecommend, um, traveling
anywhere where there's a, adifferent currency is to check
into credit cards that willallow you for, and transactions
at no additional fees.
That's the best way to go.
And of course, a little bit ofcash on hand.
Um, so you don't get stuck incase you want to, to purchase
(31:39):
something that does not, uh,accept credit cards.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
Very good advice.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Okay.
Well, Hey, thank you so much forspending time with us today.
Uh, I really appreciate it andI'm sure our listeners will
definitely appreciate all thefounder advice and having a
chance to share your experience.
So, uh, for Tim, uh, I'm BobLevinstein for cruise compete.
Uh, thanks and have a fantastic.
Hello and welcome to CruiseCompete’s Cruise Podcast,
where we share tips, ideas andinspiration to help make your
next cruise a fantasticexperience.
I’m your host, Bob Levinstein.
Today we’ll be talking about ajourney through the British
Isles on the CelebrityReflection.
My guest today is Mr.
Tim Joseph, owner and senioragent at Revitalize Travel.
Tim is a veteran of more the 20cruises, and has been recognized
for the past three years in arow as a top seller of Celebrity
Cruises.
He has also been a member-agentof CruiseCompete for more than
ten years.
We’ll be back with Tim rightafter this.
(00:52):
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Speaker 1 (02:10):
[inaudible]
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Welcome back.
Today my guest is Mr, Tim Josephowner, and senior agent at
Revitalize Travel and an experton Celebrity Cruises.
He and his wife ginger recentlysailed to the British Isles o
nboard the celebrity reflection.
T im, welcome to the program.
Thanks for having me Bob.
Congrats on your sales a wardsfrom celebrity.
That's a great achievement.
(02:43):
It is indeed a great honor.
I absolutely l ove working withcelebrity cruises.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
But it's not just about the business for you.
Celebrity really is your overallfavorite line.
What makes this line of perfectfit for you and ginger?
You know, just a, everythingfrom what I call the culture of
the cruise itself.
They're just a perfect fit.
When I always tell clients isthat finding the right cruise
line is like finding the rightspouse.
(03:10):
It just has to be the right fit.
So everything in terms of thepeople who work on board, the
crew, um, the level of servicethat they provide you, you can
always tell, um, that they'rehappy to be there and be of
service for you.
And, uh, the itineraries, theexcursions, everything is just
(03:31):
the right fit for us.
We love, um, the luxury feel ofthe ships without being
overbearing.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah, I think a, that's something a lot of people
don't really understand aboutcruising that, um, different
lines have, have differentthings they do, they do better
than others.
Um, and really it depends onwhat's your preference profile
is if the nightlife is the mostimportant thing to you, if
you're a real foodie, if, um,you know, the, the itineraries
and destinations are mostimportant to you.
(04:01):
Um, if you don't want to be on aship with a lot of kids, if you
want to be on a ship with a lotof kids, and a lot of the value
in, uh, in having an experiencedexpert travel agent is about
somebody who can understand whatyour needs are and then matching
you with an experience thatyou're really going to enjoy.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
That's exactly right.
Uh, where we are in a way inmatchmakers, we try to find the,
um, the right options based oncertain questions that we can
answer.
Um, especially if you are a newcruiser.
Um, there are certain cruiselines that most new cruisers
start start out with mostly dueto the price that they see.
(04:43):
Um, but as you get more and moreexperienced, um, you will
certain certainly, uh, start tonotice the differences in the
cruise lines and what theyoffer.
Uh, but that's something that anexperienced travel advisor, um,
can help you figure out if youare new to cruising before you
even step on your first cruiseship.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Nice.
Um, so I understand you're a bitof a history buff and interested
in Emily's genealogy.
How did that play into yourchoice of this particular
cruise?
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Well, this has been a , um, a little bit of a lifelong
dream for my wife and I, both ofus have, um, family lineage
going back to Ireland andEngland as well to a certain
extent, but more so Ireland.
Um, so we both, um, we're reallyexcited about this itinerary.
We had, um, three ports of callin Ireland, Dublin Cove, which
(05:40):
is for court as well as, uh,Belfast in Northern Ireland.
So we were excited to, uh, to goover and, you know, learn a
little bit about the history ofIreland.
Um, and I came home, uh,understanding actually a little
bit more about family.
My family name is, uh, McAvoy,which, um, I was able to learn
(06:03):
was, uh, an ancient Celtic, um,lineage, which is very, very
interesting to me.
And of course I'm, one of theother sites that has been on our
bucket list for a long time wasa giant Causeway outside of
Belfast, which, uh, about, Iknow that you said that you've
really wanted to see an outside.
I've got to tell you, it issomething that you do not want
(06:24):
to miss it.
It's a life once in a lifetimeexperience.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Uh, what, what was it about it that, uh, that made it
so, so overwhelming to see inperson,
Speaker 4 (06:33):
you know, just, um, getting there.
Uh, once you get there, you,there's this trail that you walk
along and you can oversee all ofthe clips and the, the Causeway
itself, which is, um, looks likethese, uh, Finch stones that are
kind of put together as a puzzlepiece.
Um, you start to see that and asyou get down towards the, uh,
(06:57):
the stones itself, it becomes alittle bit clear how amazing.
It just, it really is.
Um, you walk out onto the stonesand behind you are these big
lush green clips and whileyou're there, uh, you know, you
start to think about this issomething that was carved out by
nature.
(07:17):
It's not something that anyhumid had any kind of hand.
It, it was just placed there bynature.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I love experiences that, you know, take us out of
our everyday lives and uh, um,you know, allow us to refocus on
things like that.
That's very cool.
Did you take any good pictures?
Speaker 4 (07:38):
We've got some amazing pictures including, uh,
you know, I don't do selfies toooften, but I had to do this one,
you know, standing on the rockswith the, with those lush green
cliffs in the background.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Think about, uh, think about doing a print on
metal.
I'd hang up in your house.
I've done a bunch of those.
Um, my particular strategies.
So I go on Groupon and I seewho's got a deal.
Cause if you just go straight tothe site that prints a, it's
five times as expensive.
But if you go on Groupon, youcan get relatively cheap prices.
(08:11):
Uh, you just pay the shipping.
Then when you go to the websiteand then you can get these
fantastic pieces of art thatwill, every time you look at it,
it takes you back there just alittle bit.
So I would highly recommend thatas a a, a, if you've got some
good shots, very cool.
If you come across one, uh, oneof those Groupon deals, she
would go, just go on Groupon andsearch.
You'll find them.
They, uh, they, they have themevery day of every day of the
(08:34):
week.
And if you really like thelight, and I suspect that's
going to be an element of thisprinted on metal instead of
canvas, if it's just more of a,if it's a softer scene, go on
campus.
Uh, but I've done a lot ofexperimenting with that and it's
been, uh, it's been very cool.
So let's, uh, let's talk aboutyour crews on the reflection.
Uh, how was your experience in,uh, in getting the Amsterdam and
Speaker 4 (08:56):
boarding the ship?
It was really easy.
You know, we've been toAmsterdam before, so we have
figured out a little bit.
Um, so, you know, one of the,uh, the great things about
living where I live in New Yorkis that we have GFK right here,
which we can get almost anywherein the world, relatively easy.
So, um, flights are never a bigproblem for us.
(09:19):
So we had nonstop right intoAmsterdam.
Um, we arrived mid morning,which, um, if you could work
that out at all, uh, you know,going over to Europe works out
perfectly.
Your room is almost always readyby the time that you get there.
And of course, uh, flying toEurope overnight, you're going
to want to take a quick napbefore doing anything.
Um, so we, we flew intoAmsterdam, we got there and mid
(09:42):
morning I had a car serviceready, um, pick us right up and
took us right to, to our hotel.
Hotel was great.
Um, it was, uh, located rightnext to, to the port, literally
within walking distance.
Um, so the next day, uh, we justwalked out of the hotel and
(10:05):
about a half a block later, wewere at the court.
Um, if you're one of thegreatest inventions of this
century of less entering Arctic,my God, it can sound believable
right now.
All we need is one that willjust follow us without having to
pull them.
Right.
They have them, they actuallyhave them, but the problem is
(10:25):
they have batteries that theairlines don't like.
And uh, I think you've gotpretty heavy motors and things.
Yeah.
What we need actually is one ofthe suitcases to be made on
Harvard grafts.
Oh, there you go.
That'd be even better.
Send me the address and sendthem ahead.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Uh, but baby's looking for greathotel Virginians who the port in
(10:48):
Amsterdam.
It's called a moving pick hotel.
Mov N T I C.
um, so that, that's the easiesthotel if you're cruising out of
the port of Amsterdam.
Well, that's good to know.
So tell me about the reflectionherself.
Amazing ship on after sailing.
Honored.
(11:08):
Uh, definitely my, my favorite,uh, definitely in the celebrity
fleet.
My favorite and even overall.
Um, and I absolutely love theRoyal Caribbean ships.
Uh, they're amazing.
But this one just blew me away.
Um, we did, um, almost nothingbut, uh, specialty dinners on
board because there are so manygreat options that we didn't
(11:31):
want to miss any of them.
And we actually, we repeated thecouple, uh, because we had 12
nights, uh, we were able torepeat a couple of our
favorites.
So, um, throughout the ship it'samazingly clean.
You always see people cleaningmore so than I've ever seen on
any cruise ship.
Um, my wife, who is a cleanfreak, um, absolutely was amazed
(11:55):
by how clean it was, said thatshe, she never had a problem
touching anything, whichsometimes she does.
Uh, so, uh, we were just amazedby that.
Uh, the artwork on board, uh,one thing that we discovered the
first couple of days and it wasreally cool is that the name,
celebrity reflection is not justname of the shifts, it's what
(12:16):
they do on boards to a lot ofthe artwork is reflective in
nature.
So it's kinda cool.
It make it almost like a game towalk around the ship and try to
find pieces of art that havesome kind of reflection in them.
[inaudible] so that part wasreally cool.
Uh, the dining options ingeneral, even if you're not
(12:39):
going to do the specialtydinners, uh, we're really good,
I'll say, um, had high qualityfood for lunch and breakfast,
especially tons of options.
Um, the, the main dining hall wedid for lunch one day, uh, was
really also great service, uh,phenomenal as well there.
(12:59):
Um, and really the, there's justnot a bad thing I can say about
it, about the ship.
It's a big ship, fourcelebrities, fleet, um, and
holds more passengers in justabout any other than the edge
class now.
Um, but you do not feel likethere's a lot of people on
board.
So you're, um, you're a, uh, abit of a, a bit of a chef
(13:21):
yourself.
And, uh, I would assume also abit of a foodie.
What, um, what are your go todishes that you'd like to make?
And, um, in light of that, didyou have a favorite restaurant?
So, um, my, my favorite dishesto make tend to be, uh, Italian
in nature.
So you know, the, the pastadishes with, you know, fresh
(13:43):
vegetables, um, in Parmesan ofcourse is a staple meatballs.
Um, anything Italian that I canget my hands on.
I, I love the way, um, thatItalian cuisine is prepared with
the, a lot of the, um, localmindset so to speak.
So you, you use what is local toyou, what's natural in your, um,
(14:07):
in your area, so to speak, uh,what they call slow cooking.
Um, so, uh, I, that's what Ilove to cook.
Um, as far as the food on boardscoming from that standpoint, w
was absolutely amazing.
Um, one of our favorite placesto eat on board, uh, is called
the lawn club.
Um, so if you imagine, um, thereflection as well as a few
(14:31):
other ships in the fleet of anactual living lawn on top of
the, the ships where they havethe owl about what they have to
do to, to set that up andmaintain it and make sure it
grows.
And just the idea of saying,Hey, we have a ship, let's put
some grass on it.
It's kind of wild to me.
Absolutely.
And what I found most amazingabout that part is that we're in
(14:54):
Northern Europe where there'snot a lot of sunlight and the
grass was still as green as whenyou watch a baseball game.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
So that part was incredible.
Uh, if it were warmer weather,they have the nice alcoves out
there.
And I would definitely haverented one if I was in the
Caribbean.
Uh, but, uh, being more of aEurope, the, the weather's not
exactly conducive to that, butout of the long club they had
the lawn club grill.
It's a nice enclosed restaurantoverlooks the lawn club.
(15:25):
Um, they have the, the heatersin there, so it's not cold.
They give you a really nice, um,blankets to put over your, if
you get cold.
Uh, but it's, it's a real grillexperience, which, uh, which is
very nice, uh, and tons tochoose from skewers.
Uh, they, they make flatbreads.
They have really nice, um, saladbar.
(15:47):
Uh, what am I absolute favoritethings.
And one of my favorite cuisinesto either, I haven't been able
to master it at all is Indiancuisine.
And what they serve at the, uh,lawn club does well.
My favorite thing to eat on theship is called tandoori chicken.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
[inaudible] one club, a specialty restaurant.
Is it, uh, does it have a chargeor is it just included?
It is a specialty restaurant.
And what does it cost to keepthere?
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Uh, I wanna say it was about 50 or 55 per person.
I don't know exactly because we,because we were eating so many
times at the specialtyrestaurants, we actually bought
a package ahead of time.
Um, so the, we bought a packageof nine, so the average per meal
(16:36):
worked out to about$35 perperson.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Oh, that's not bad on the fall, what you buy at, what
else did you buy before you goton the ship?
Speaker 4 (16:45):
A short excursions of course, because, um, you know,
certain things like a Giant'sCauseway we're afraid would sell
out.
Um,
Speaker 3 (16:52):
was there a reason why you went through the ship
instead of going through a thirdparty vendor?
Speaker 4 (16:57):
You know, I have two third party vendors that I
really like to work with.
Short trips and shore excursionsgroup.
Um, I just, uh, the, the optionsthat they have in this area were
all privates were so a lot morecostly.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Got it.
Got it.
Yeah.
I usually have very, very goodluck, a shore excursions group
as a partner of ours, a cruisecompete and we've done, I've
been on a bunch of their tours.
Um, I've had just very, verygood experiences, but it's nice
to have a variety of differentoptions to choose from and, and
uh, and pick what you want.
Did you, did you buy the wifipackage and in advance as well?
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Of course you to, it's a business expense, so
Speaker 3 (17:36):
yeah, I find that, I find, uh, that one is a very
good, it tends to be a very gooddeal I have to get before you
get on board.
Um, just to be able to stay intouch if needed.
Also, I don't know, does thecelebrity have a, have a, uh,
one thing that I like aboutcarnival is they have a water
package where very cheaply forlike five bucks, they'll put 12
(17:58):
bottles of water in your cabin,which
Speaker 4 (18:01):
they do have a water package.
Um, and we were, we were tossingit back and forth, whatever we
wanted to do, the water packageor if we wanted to do, um, a
regular package.
So what we decided is actuallyto do, um, a non alcoholic
beverage package.
(18:22):
Oh huh.
The root, the reason, uh, wellthere, there were several
reasons, but what it came downto for us is we get unlimited
bottled water.
We drink a lot of water.
Oh, there you go.
Um, and with the package that webought, we got the pre what they
call the premium package.
Um, they include Avi-on, whichis one of our favorite, um,
bottled waters to drink.
(18:42):
Uh, on top of that you getunlimited, um, specialty
coffees.
Um, you know, we drink a lot of,uh, Mateus and things of that
nature.
So that worked out nicely forus.
Um, and you do get, you know,uh, juices included and, um, so
some other drinks that we mighthave every once in awhile.
(19:04):
Uh, we're not big alcoholdrinkers, but, uh, some of my
wife, you know, we, we pushed acouple of bottles of wine for
her and that, um, did well forher throughout the crews and for
myself, a couple bottles of beer.
Um, but that, that's really, um,
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Oh, do I think the customization aspect really
comes back to, you know, what wewere talking about earlier in
terms of fitting the crews to,you know, your own personal
needs and style and, and youknow, what's important to you.
Um, I've looked over the, thedrink packages and all, you
know, as far as the alcoholicbeverages, like you, you know, I
(19:43):
like to have a glass of wine ora beer or whatever, but there's
no way I can drink.
I can drink so much on seven andseven on a seven day cruise to
make it pay for itself, you know, um, finding, finding what fits
for you and what makes sense foryou, uh, is really important.
Part of this.
And again, a good reason why youwant to have an agent, uh, who's
familiar and can maybe help talkyou through some of these things
(20:06):
and without you having to figureit all out on your own.
But moving on to entertainment,what was your, uh, your favorite
entertainment onboard?
Speaker 4 (20:14):
My favorite entertainment on board a
celebrity has, uh, their own inhouse production.
So meaning other cruise lineswill take Broadway style shows
and just put them in theirtheater.
So celebrity does their ownoriginal, um, Broadway style
shows.
And my, my absolutely favoriteone, um, and I, I don't remember
(20:39):
the name of it, but the, they do, um, an aerial show.
So, uh, it's completelyacrobatic and um, their
performers, uh, are just amazingat doing this.
You can tell obviously that theypractice a lot.
Um, it really shines through inwhat they do.
(21:02):
And, um, what's really nice isthat a lot of the performers on
board, um, throughout the cruisewill give, um, uh, classes on,
wow, that'd be cool.
What they do.
So you fail hard, but I stilllike to try it.
Yeah.
(21:23):
I wouldn't even attempt to, youknow, thankfully, you know, the,
the moves that, that, that I sawin that I was able to do were
very, very basic.
Um, she, you can see how muchthey actually work on and when
you get up close to the personallist with the performers, you
can see just how passionate theyare about what they do.
(21:45):
And that part is really nice tosee.
Yeah.
I mean, even just getting alittle bit of experience with
it, you get with anythingreally.
I mean, you get a much betterappreciation for how hard they
have to work and what they gothrough and how fit they are and
how, how really strong andflexible.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
That's, that's, that's a partwhere I definitely, so was there
(22:07):
a favorite music then, you, thatyou liked on the ship?
Likes to hang out?
Yeah.
You know, my favorite place tohang out was, uh, what they call
the Centrum.
Um, it's a, it's a big openareas.
Yeah.
It's where the main elevatorsare.
Uh, but, uh, from time to timethroughout the cruise, they'll
have, uh, you know, liveperformances there, uh, usable
(22:31):
performances.
Um, they'll have certain parksthere.
They'll have, um, contest there.
For instance, they hide aputting contest.
Um, they had a, uh, archerycontest.
So that's really the place to,to, uh, to hang on board ship
when there's nothing else to do.
(22:51):
And we'll be the archery and thearchery contest, uh, w the, the,
they didn't use real at Rose.
I don't know how they use thesearrows with these big plastic
flat piece on the front.
Um, yeah, I've never seen thatbefore, but it was very
interesting.
(23:12):
Um, so no, thankfully noinjuries.
Um, what I, what I really loveabout the central areas, that's
where the cafe is located.
So, uh, you know, you grab, yougrab a cup of coffee, uh, and
the pastry and you can just hangout there, watch live music,
watch the, uh, the contest or,or get involved in the contest.
(23:35):
Uh, there's also a few barsright around the Centrum.
If you've heard of averagedrinking and sit and watch and
you're making me, you're makingme really want to go on another
cruise right now.
My favorite.
Yeah.
My
Speaker 3 (23:46):
favorite parts of cruising.
Uh, it's the live music for meespecially, and just meeting
people and kind of drawing himin, getting people to get up and
down, uh, stuff definitely isall, um, uh, a big part of it
for me.
Um, so are you a big Beatlesfan?
Speaker 4 (24:09):
I am.
I am, uh, you know, any, it goesback, I'm a little bit younger
than that generation, so itreally goes back to my mother
who was a, a big Beatles fan.
And then as I started to getinto the music when I was in
high school, um, it was seeinghow, um, my favorite modern day
(24:29):
is, um, were really influencedby the Beatles and, um, some of
the other, um, bans from, fromthat era.
And, and when, when I got tocollege, um, you know, through
electives, there was this areally interesting class, um,
that I had the opportunity totake.
That was a history of rock androll.
(24:51):
And of course, a big part of thehistory was the Beatles.
So we spent a lot of time on theBeatles and just learning about,
um, the Beatles, uh, throughthat made me, um, get more
interested in their music.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Okay.
So tell me, so, um, so I assumethat's why you opted for the
beetle tour in Liverpool.
It is
Speaker 4 (25:10):
absolutely.
Um, put a beautiful city on itsown.
Uh, but, uh, having theopportunity to, to learn more
about the Beatles and theirmusic was, um, just a absolute
wonderful experience.
Um,
Speaker 3 (25:29):
don't you get a picture of yourself in that
crosswalk?
[inaudible]
Speaker 4 (25:32):
we didn't actually go , uh, to, to, to Abbey road.
Um, what we, what the main focusof the tour was, uh, is the
cavern club, which is the clubwhere, um, the Beatles played
most of their, their, uh, earlygauge in Liverpool.
(25:53):
So getting to visit, uh, thecavern club and just walk around
and see all of the members ofDelia.
Um, it's almost, uh, you know,brings a tingle to your spine.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Oh, that's neat.
So you also experienced some,uh, some, uh, more, uh, more
ancient, less modern history ata, at Blarney castle in cork.
I understand.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
Yes.
So a bloody counsel in court,really interesting.
Um, beautiful old castle.
Um, as you drive up, you can see, uh, the, the castle kind of in
the distance with all of thesebeautiful, um, gardens all
around.
Um, we didn't do the typicalthing, although we did have the
(26:37):
option to, to go up and kiss theBlarney stone.
Um, my wife having done italready and um, myself, you
know, I'm not big on very longlines, so you have to gift of
gab anyway.
So yeah, that one.
Yeah, we that that too, youknow, being in, in, uh, in this,
(27:00):
uh, in this job for as long as Ihave, you kind of developed that
anyhow, so I don't want to chewpeople's ears off maybe more
than they have to.
So we, we opted to, to walkaround the gardens, uh, and they
have a lot of really nice, um,trails like hiking trail and you
can go through and see differenttypes of, uh, Fonda flora.
(27:24):
Uh, so just absolutely beautiful, um, little waterfall
throughout the property.
Uh, and, and of course not to beno, uh, misses the, the wooden,
uh, woolen mills shop.
Um, which is a great place toget some authentic Irish gifts.
Uh, especially if you're in themarket for um, wool clothes just
(27:45):
to amazing varieties there.
So you're all set.
You're Chris, you checked outyour whole Christmas list then I
take it, we, we did Christmas,we did birthdays.
Um, well there's days.
Yeah.
Nice.
That's a, that'd be a great,that's a great gift.
Cause I mean that's the kind ofquality that will let somebody
for years and years, absolutelyNew York winters accurately.
(28:07):
And to say that this, Hey, thiscame from Ireland, you know?
Yeah.
Seriously.
All right, well next up is ourcruise skip of the week and
after that we'll be back withTim.
Do your, his overall thoughtsand advice right after this.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Hi Bob.
Living Stein here with a cruisecompete travel tip.
Today we'll be talking about theranger role.
Now arrange your role.
May sound like something youmight order it in New York sushi
restaurant, but it's actually amilitary packing technique
that's easy to learn quick toemployee.
It allows you to pack moreclothing with fewer wrinkles
than any technique I've everseen.
(28:46):
Though it can be used for almostany garment.
I find the range of role to bemost useful for shirts.
Here's what you do.
Lay a shirt flat on the tablewith a collar away from you in
the front, facing down at thebottom.
Fold about three inches offabric up and out all around the
shirt.
If this is hard to visualize,imagine that if you were wearing
the shirt, you'd have a pocketall the way around at the
(29:08):
bottom.
So turn the shirt around in thetable so the collar is towards
you and that pocket that you'vejust created faces away.
Now fold each side of the shirtin, so it's about the width of
the collar, tucking in thesleeves, starting at the collar.
Roll the shirt up.
Now take your time here.
Make sure you keep the rolltight and that both sides state,
(29:28):
even when you get to the pocketyou created with the fold at the
bottom, just pull that extrafabric back over the roll and it
will hold your ranger roll inplace.
It may take a few tries to getthis right.
If you need extra help, thereare lots of YouTube videos
demonstrating the technique, butyou should be able to master it
in as little as five to 10minutes.
(29:49):
And once you do, I guarantee youwill never pack any other way.
(30:14):
And we're back with Tim Joseph
Speaker 3 (30:17):
revitalized travel.
Tim, from everything you've toldus, this was a really fantastic
experience for you and forginger.
Any overall thoughts or generaladvice for others about this
cruise and itinerary?
Speaker 4 (30:32):
Be prepared for weather, weather and as part of
the world can be veryunpredictable.
Um, the week before we were overthere, they were experiencing a
heat wave.
So, uh, we, we thought that maybe that we carry you over to our
crews, but luckily we keptchecking the weather and found
(30:55):
that I was going to be a littlebit cooler.
So we were prepared for coolerweather.
We also brought a few things,um, for warmer weather just in
case we did hit another, um,warmer spell.
Uh, so that's one thing.
Definitely be prepared for that.
Uh, currency is always an issueas well.
(31:18):
Um, the, the thing that I wouldrecommend, um, traveling
anywhere where there's a, adifferent currency is to check
into credit cards that willallow you for, and transactions
at no additional fees.
That's the best way to go.
And of course, a little bit ofcash on hand.
Um, so you don't get stuck incase you want to, to purchase
(31:39):
something that does not, uh,accept credit cards.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
Very good advice.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Okay.
Well, Hey, thank you so much forspending time with us today.
Uh, I really appreciate it andI'm sure our listeners will
definitely appreciate all thefounder advice and having a
chance to share your experience.
So, uh, for Tim, uh, I'm BobLevinstein for cruise compete.
Uh, thanks and have a fantastic.
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