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Plays here stream straight from our feed. Prefer your own app? Hit “Listen on Spotify,” or find us wherever you get your podcasts.In this episode
The crew lands their biggest guests yet — Rich and Jazz of “a rich and jazzy life,” architects of the 104K-strong Melanin at Sea community — for a warm, wide-ranging talk on going viral, getting noticed by Disney, and why you should absolutely get off the ship in Nassau. Then Jazz ends the hot-dog debate with the most New York answer imaginable.
What they covered
Topics on deck
Starting the channel
Thick skin & viral hate
Disney recognition
Building Melanin at Sea
Ranking lines by who you travel with
First-time Alaska
Favorite ships & ports
The hot-dog-sandwich debate
Don’t miss
Moments worth the wait
- The Spotify-controls welcome — Trevor “mutes/un-mutes” the crew before rolling out the red carpet.
“with no further ado, I want to introduce you guys to a rich and jazzy life.”
- Surviving the comments — Jazz's honest read on YouTube's brutal side.
“If you are someone that is very sensitive, it may not be the place for you because people are going to come for you.”
- Disney knows their address — The outreach that still stuns them.
“when I was a little girl, I couldn't imagine Disney knowing my address and sending me book bags.”
- No single favorite line — Their whole cruising philosophy in one line.
“I do not have a number one favorite. I have a number one favorite for who I'm going with and why I'm going there.”
- The Nassau defense — Jazz makes the passionate case to explore the port.
“I encourage you as someone that is black American... Get off the ship and explore Nassau. It really is a lot to do there.”
- The hot-dog ruling — Jazz settles it New-York-style, leaving Trevor the lone “sandwich” voter.
“You cannot pick up a sandwich from the cart man... You can only get a hot dog. So therefore it is not a sandwich.”
- “Arrest or walk the plank” — A room-steward request gets a firm ruling from the panel.
“attend to your stay room, not attend to your body.”
In the guest chair
Special guest
🎤
Rich & Jazz — YouTube's “a rich and jazzy life” / the Melanin at Sea community — a married cruising and travel-vlogging couple (Rich born in Trinidad and raised in NYC; both former New Yorkers now in Sandy Springs, GA) who are also travel agents and founders of the 104,000-member Melanin at Sea Facebook group and its group cruises. Their kids Reign and Reese already have 25 and 26 cruises each at ages 7 and 8. They drop anchor for a warm, wide-ranging talk on starting the channel, weathering viral hate, getting recognized by Disney (including the Disney Wish christening), ranking lines by who you travel with, and why you should absolutely get off the ship in Nassau — before Jazz delivers the most New York hot-dog verdict imaginable.
Golden nuggets
Running bits & lore born here
- The Jubilee delay grudge — The Carnival Jubilee delay that killed their planned Melanin at Sea group cruise — “Carnival did us dirty... I've never forgave Carnival for that.”
- Gary, Talent Acquisition Manager — Gary's title for landing “mega talent” gets another workout.
- “Arrest or walk the plank” — The Golden Boys' listener-dilemma segment returns in full.
- The hot-dog-sandwich question — The recurring debate gets its most decisive ruling yet.
- Gary keeps taking Tom's questions — The friendly turn-stealing bit rolls on.
- “116 episodes ago, that's what I said” — Trevor's long-standing Nassau advocacy gets vindicated.