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Trevor's off "figure skating," so Tom and Jenn hold down the fort for a curveball-packed week — Carnival is heading to Africa, a waterfall froze solid on the Lido, and the crew is (reluctantly) MSC-curious. Wash your hands and fly in a day early; the airport is not your friend.
What they covered
Topics on deck
Carnival Sunshine to Africa
Fly in a day early
NCL flight policy
Frozen Lido deck
MSC North American expansion
Royal's smaller ships
Cold-and-flu hand-washing
Don’t miss
Moments worth the wait
- The rebrand cold open — Tom nearly reverts to the old show name and course-corrects on the fly.
“I almost messed up and it called us the Carnival Cruising Podcast, which we are no longer the Carnival Cruising Podcast. We are the podcastaways.”
- Carnival Sunshine goes to Africa — A 2027 deployment out of Barcelona hits Tanzania and Morocco, per Christine Duffy.
“we're excited to bring carnival sunshine to an expanded lineup of destinations that offer our guests even more ways to explore Europe and beyond.”
- Fly in a day early, no exceptions — The crew is firm about not gambling on same-day flights.
“You are not missing that ship. No, I am not. I paid good money for that ship if it leaves because my flight was late.”
- NCL finally agrees — As of Jan 26, Norwegian's own policy comes around to the fly-early gospel.
“Guests booking flights through NCL will be scheduled to arrive at least one day before the cruise.”
- Snow on the Lido — A frozen serenity-deck waterfall on the Sunshine sparks a snowball-fight fantasy.
“I think that would be wicked to get on the ship. There's snow on the Lido deck and have a giant snowball fight while the ships… cruising down the coast into sunny weather.”
- Carnival controls the weather — On cruisers blaming the line for a snow-shortened sailing.
“Oh, they're doing it on purpose. They just got sick of you and decided to go home early. They control the weather and they said it's going to snow.”
- MSC-curious confession — The hosts admit their wandering eye.
“we did confess last… week that we were MSC carriers. Very MSC curious. I feel dirty.”
Golden nuggets
Running bits & lore born here
- Boat vs. ship — The eternal tease resurfaces the second anyone slips and calls a ship a "boat."
- Christine Duffy fan-service — The recurring plea to the Carnival brand ambassador — "please let us go on this for free."
- The Splendor fire as origin story — The running gag that the 2010 fire is how John Heald got famous.
- Miss Amanda shout-out — Travel agent Miss Amanda of Have A Logistical Travel gets another plug.
- "Sorry, Tim" — Tim's SpeakPipe goes unplayed again, and the apology has become part of the bit.
- Balcony tuba — Jenn's tuba running gag escalates, with Tom now lobbying for a "balcony tuba." Panama Canal countdown sits at 333 days.