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I decided to take a risk five years ago
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I took my partner mark on a cruise line
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which she was not a fan of by the end so
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since then I've had to go solo on them
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because I really do like them now as
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they've changed in those five years I
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decided I would try to get mark back on
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board even though he's adamant that he
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would prefer we use his limited vacation
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time to only go on his favorite line
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Cunard when we're cruising together but
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I felt if I could get him to like this
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line it would unlock so many more
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exciting places to go because they have
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way more varied and much more
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interesting itineraries than you get on
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Cunard welcome aboard I'm Gary bembridge
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join me as I explain how it went but
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importantly what I learned about going
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back on a line you weren't impressed
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with the first time round the first
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challenge was convincing Mark to go back
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on the line which is Holland America
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first I found a cruise that was heading
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out of San Diego to Sunny Mexico for
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Christmas so we could Escape cold London
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on the conning stand it's one of their
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new pinnacle-class ships it's bigger and
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with better facilities versus the Vista
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class New Amsterdam he'd been on before
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it's also the class and the template
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that the new Cunard Queen Anne is being
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used to be built so that of course
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peaked his Interest next I pointed out
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that we could get a suite for 30 percent
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less than the one we usually go in
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cunard's Queen Grill and like with
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Queen's Grill we would have a dedicated
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restaurant called Club orange also I
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pushed the entertainment versus Cunard
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like the now expanded music walk area
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with live music rotating every night
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between Rolling Stone Rock Room Lincoln
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Center Stage BB Kings and billboard
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onboard plus they've ditched the
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standard cruised themed song and dance
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review shows that he found really dull
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then and they replacing with the one
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step dance company in a modern high-tech
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World Stage Theater also so importantly
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for him the cell was it had a big busy
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casino and I promised him many blackjack
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tables with low table minimums
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the final cell I guess was the retreat
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an exclusive area with a group of
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Cabanas that we could hire for the
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entire cruise which was way better and
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quieter than the busier and rather
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uninspiring I think anyway Queen's cruel
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decks on Cunard now he loves the food in
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Cunard Queen's Grill he sees it as the
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best at Sea and he had found it not
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great when he we're on that 100 America
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trip but I told him the food is way
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better because they revamped it all I
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found through a culinary Council which
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was led by the chef Rudy soderman I also
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pointed out that we'd have more
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specialty dining options on Cunard we
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just have The Veranda but on the
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pinnacle-class ships on Holland America
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you got Pinnacle Grill Steakhouse
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Tamarind Asian Ami Sushi Rudy saldameer
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seafood and the Italian caneleta all of
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this together clinched it and it was a
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go however the next challenge I faced
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was once he was on board as not
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everything I'd sold him worked out or
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was exactly to his liking but through
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this whole process I hit on a really big
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aha that will help you if you plan on
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going back on or you want someone to go
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back with you onto a line that they
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haven't had a great experience with and
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that is really understanding what makes
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or breaks a cruise for you or for them
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now during this trip I realized more
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than I had perhaps realized before what
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really makes or breaks a cruise for Mark
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and what things just basically needed to
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three things I found really make a
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crucial Mark and I suspect these may be
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for you too first of all the evenings
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are absolutely key for him that means
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great entertainment and a very active
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Casino dinner as I mentioned for him the
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gold standard is Cunard Queen's Grill
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open seated dining the same table for
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breakfast lunch and dinner the same
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waiting staff and being able to if you
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want to order off Menu Club orange
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unfortunately didn't offer any of that
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it had the same menu as the main dining
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room with one little extra it was only
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open for breakfast and dinner we didn't
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have the same waiting stuff but you know
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it's kind of small venue so we got to
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know mostly pretty well even though we
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weren't at the same table for every
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single meal Club orange was a bit of a
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hit and miss as although it was open
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seeded dining which he likes the ship
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was really busy and to guarantee a table
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was available when we arrived we found
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we were starting to time our meals
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around what we thought was availability
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versus what were our ideal times but on
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the plus side we always always got a
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table for two the food on the plus side
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too he agreed was way better than it was
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before so that was good to know it was
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also good enough that he didn't feel the
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need that we should Splash out on
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special edged restaurants we did
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actually go to Italian caneleta and
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Tamarind the Asian because we actually
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had some onboard credits to go to them
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when it came to entertainment while I
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had pushed the strength and the
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difference of how America being the
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music walk venues it was not of interest
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to him once he was on board he didn't
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really go to them at all I loved going
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there every night I think it's great but
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if it's not your thing then the evening
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options I guess if you don't want the
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music are perhaps a little bit more
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limited than I had really estimated he
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enjoyed the One Step Dance Company show
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and the theater well the first one he
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thought it was fresh new and exciting
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however he went to the second show and
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he said it was just too similar just
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with different music and he skipped the
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rest of their shows he probably had a
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point that the evening shows lacked
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variety they were all kind of just
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permutations of the same old thing they
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did have another Honda America staple
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when we were on board BBC planet Earth
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show where the onboard musicians play
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Live to scenes from the show and that
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was not of interest to him at all though
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I could see many passengers absolutely
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loved it the bigger Casino though was a
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big hit he played longer her than he has
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ever played on any of the 30 plus
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cruises that I've been on with them so
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in terms of the evening being make or
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break the dinner entertainment and
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casino was a bit more mixed than I had
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however the other make or break cruise
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thing for him is ports and put immersion
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this was mixed but it laid down an
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important factor in Holland America's
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favor as you're about to see he
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absolutely loved that we went to Ports
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that neither of us have been to Cabos
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and Lucas Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta
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however one critical thing that was
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missing was Mark and I prefer
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self-exploring but there was not that
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much Port immersion provided on this
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Cruise there was one talk around the
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ports by the Excursion team but that was
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mostly around selling the excursions
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there were no Port guides available in
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paper or on the app and there was no
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transfer bus into the towns when we were
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docked further away Mark doesn't want to
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do research he wants to be given just
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good information on board to be able to
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go and explore now he compared that with
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Cunard who usually have really good put
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immersion talks great Port guides and I
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was kind of surprised that we didn't
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have it on this trip because on most
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Highland America trips that's normally
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the case so this may have been an
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exception I'm going to be watching out
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for that on my next trip which is to
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South America the third key thing that
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makes or breaks his cruise is the
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ability to chill and relax he has a very
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stressful job crazy long hours so on
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vacation he basically wants to unwind
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now on America delivered big time here
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because we had a couple of C days but
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the really critical thing that made it
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for him was the retreat especially
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because the ship was so full for
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Christmas the retreat was a quiet area
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with great service we had Raymond Clyde
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and Annika who fetched breakfast lunch
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drinks and even bought us chocolate
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covered strawberries in the afternoon
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this did come at a cost of a few hundred
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dollars but it was absolutely worth that
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I also came to realize through this
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whole process that there were things
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that I thought were going to be make or
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break but for Mark just had to be good
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enough to make a cruise for him
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something I think may also be helpful
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for you as you think about taking people
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on cruises as well the biggest of these
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was the cabin I'm obsessed about cabins
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and their location but for Mark why he
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really liked the suite and made the
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point that the Neptune Suite is bigger
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than the ones we usually afford to book
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on Cunard Queen's Grill he didn't see
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that as a big make or break unlike me
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though of course the category going in a
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suite was a big plus factor for him he
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realized though that he didn't miss
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having the buck you get on Q note but he
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did Rave about the Neptune Lounge the
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ability through the day to call in and
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get cake pops cookies coffees but more
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importantly about Vinnie who was the
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concierge in there Vinnie was helpful he
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added to Mark's trip with tips and
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advice and importantly he sorted out the
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retreat booking which had been showing
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his fully booked before the trip that
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alone mehd Vinny ahira but that having
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Vinnie was a big big plus interestingly
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and maybe not a typical it's the other
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thing that he felt only has to be good
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enough on the cruise was the daily
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program now while he felt that the
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Holland America daily program was a
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little light I pointed out the
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comparison with Cunard is always
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difficult because they have one of the
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most packed daily programs of any I have
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ever seen I think it's a hangover from
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their transatlantic experiences the
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program on Honda America was basically
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the same as most premium lines with
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trivia deck games dance classes the odd
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cooking demonstration and so on but the
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reality is Mark never ever does much on
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the program other than enrichment talks
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he really enjoys these and it's hard to
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beat Cunard to have three to four
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speakers on every selling hot in America
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were rarely light on enrichment this
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time there are a few of the standard
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pre-prepared talks they do with audio
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visual effects they're given by the
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cruise director they do these on all of
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the ships they included things like
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color America origin story they used to
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have board games but they're not the
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same as the genuine authentic specialist
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in Richmond lectures he didn't find any
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of these appealing the other thing he
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pointed out there was a lot of promotion
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on board and in the daily program it's
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on America's Credit in the daily program
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they were clearly marked what were
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promotional activities in the program
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but it did some days seem half or more
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of the activities during the day were
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promotions including the inevitable Port
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shopping talk and events to see where he
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felt after all of this I decided to ask
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him at the end of the cruise if he had
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the choice of us booking seven nights on
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Cunard or 10 nights on Holland America
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because that would roughly equate at the
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same cost saying the Mediterranean or
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Caribbean and roughly the same ports
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which would he choose seven Knights
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Cunard 10 nights on home America he
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chose the seven Knights on Cunard but
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agreed that Holland America would be a
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great option if the itinerary was unique
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and Cunard didn't do it like the one we
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did in Mexico so Hunter America is back
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on his list so some success just needs
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to look for those itineraries if you
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find this interesting watch this video
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to find out why in more detail Mark
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likes Q not so much starting with the
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one thing they do that no other line
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does see you over there
