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The Golden Crew rings in Season 2 the day after Christmas, arguing over Boxing Day, chasing dream destinations from the Panama Canal to Australia, and swapping the most chaotic cruise stories in the log — including the cursed “black magic” Magic and a TSA run-in you won’t forget. Warm, weird, and gloriously off-topic, it’s exactly the send-off a new season deserves.
What they covered
Topics on deck
Season 2 launch
Winter vs. summer cruising
Dream destinations
Carnival slowing new-ship deliveries
“Who Fell Off the Cruise Ship?”
Ask John Heald
This Day in Cruising History
Carnival Triumph
Don’t miss
Moments worth the wait
- The great Boxing Day debate — the gang decides on the holiday’s “true” meaning.
“Boxing day is where you throw away all your boxes and you get rid of your tree.”
- Why winter cruises win — the case for escaping the cold closes fast.
“in winter, you leave and everyone’s cold. And you go to a nice tropical beach, where it’s 80 degrees.”
- Green Bay biological warfare — a frozen-spit tangent gets wildly out of hand.
“it freezes before it hits them… So instead of a snot rocket, it’s just it’s not rock. And a trip to jail.”
- Tom’s TSA horror story — the backpack that got him detained boarding a ship.
“So I’m 22 rounds on board and I was detained by the TSA… I had to get permission from the captain to get on board.”
- The “black magic” legend — the Carnival Magic where something went wrong every sailing.
“we had to turn around for a medical emergency… We also had the coast guard come out because someone fell and broke their hip.”
- Madison’s toned-down history segment — the Triumph bit survived the edit.
“I managed to read that without saying fecal once.”
Golden nuggets
Running bits & lore born here
- Madison arrives — the new level-7 social media manager is introduced, and gently scolded for posting two questions of the week in one week.
- “The cult” — the “cult member” listener bit continues as the show’s community shorthand.
- Speedo formalwear — the Speedo-as-formal-dining-attire callback to the April Fool’s episode resurfaces.
- Tom’s not-quite-60 — the running age-teasing bit (he’s actually 47) keeps rolling.
- Panama Canal dream cruise — Trevor’s ongoing obsession with the bucket-list voyage.
- FRGC hype — the Family Reunion Group Cruise #2 push via Amanda Barmore at Have Luggage Will Travel.