The Joy of Cruising an Interview with Paul C. Thornton

Welcome to an interview with author Paul C. Thornton from The Joy of Cruising book trilogy and the The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Back in 2019, I interviewed Paul for my Cruise Tips from Cruise Ship Passengers series. He gave some great advice and he had just launched his book ‘The Joy of Cruising’, which I feature in.

Fast forward to 2023 and he has written two more books and made The Joy of Cruising into a trilogy. Paul has started this year – The Joy of Cruising Podcast.

I was delighted to be interviewed by Paul for his podcast. It was completely nerve racking as I have not been on a podcast before! But I think in the end it turned out okay – listen for yourself and see what you think.

Cruise Ship Diaries – The Joy of Cruising Podcast

The Joy of Cruising Podcast welcomes to this week's episode, Neil Gregory who kept, and continues to update a diary of his time working as a videographer on several ships for Princess Cruises. His story is real, raucous and laugh-out-loud funny! Cruise Ship Diaries was featured in the just released The Joy of Cruising Again amzn.to/3lAfyONThis podcast episode pertains to Neil’s first contract onboard Coral Princess. After Coral Princess, Neil went on to the world cruise on Sun Princess and then contracts on Sapphire Princess, Diamond Princess, Crown Princess, Grand Princess, Emerald Princess, Dawn Princess, Royal Princess, and the Ocean Princess over the ensuing seven years. We look forward for Neil to come back and talk about his later contracts.I worked for Princess Cruises for seven years and they were some of the best experiences of my life. Every itinerary had its pros and cons as did every contract; the highs on certain days were immeasurable: from scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef, to climbing the Great Wall of China, visiting Angkor Wat in Cambodia and getting to walk across the Panama Canal. The lows could be working yourself to burnout for little pay, not getting along with the people you worked with or shared a cabin with and missing friends and family back home or ‘the real world’ as we called it in our cruise ship bubble—Neil Gregory, Cruise Ship DiariesThe Joy of Cruising Again is now available! Coupon code is joyofcruisingpodcast.Support the show

The Joy of Cruising An Interview with Paul C. Thornton

Anyway, back to Paul!

Paul C. Thornton is an award wining author and has a passion for cruising. Paul is originally from New York City, and now lives in Mooresville, NC near Charlotte with his wife Cheryl.

Why did you start writing books about cruising?

After a wonderful Christmas in 2017 where my wife and I surprised our kids and grandkids by knocking on their door on Christmas morning (we lived far away and hadn’t seen them in a couple of years), we decided we wanted to generate that same kind of excitement for Christmas 2018. So we decided to do an extended family cruise for Christmas (a surprise for the grandchildren). We chose Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas. In researching the most expensive purchase I ever made – besides cars or houses – I researched on every cruise forum I could. What I found was that there were a lot of passionate cruisers with fascinating stories out there. So, I decided to bring those stories to the cruise community in The Joy of Cruising, which came out shortly after that Christmas cruise on Anthem.

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How did you find all these different types of cruisers for the books?

At first, it was a challenge, because I was “just some guy on the internet” and had no credibility. Through reading blogs and forums I would find candidates and would reach out to them cold. For instance, what led me to reach out to you was the intriguing name of your blog – The Traveling Wife Cruising Around The World. I surmised, correctly, that you had a story to tell. As I gained some success in finding passionate cruisers, they began to tell others about me, and some even approached me about being in the book.

The Joy of Cruising Books

What are the titles of your books and how are they different?

The Joy of Cruising; Cruising Interrupted (which came out during the cruising shutdown); and the just released, The Joy of Cruising Again. There’s little difference between the books: fascinating cruising tales and profiles, including some well-known cruisers and even celebrities – Grammy Winner; Winner, Last Comic Standing; Television Host; Cruise Ship Godmother; Poker Hall of Fame Member; CEOs of cruise companies – but mostly “ordinary” cruisers with extraordinary stories.

The Joy of Cruising Podcast

Why did you start the ‘The Joy of Cruising Podcast’?

I knew that The Joy of Cruising Again, which was in celebration of the return of cruising from the brink due to the pandemic, was going to be the end of the series. However, I am still passionate about cruising and telling the stories of cruisers. So I created the podcast www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com, which is a weekly conversation with the dozens of cruisers I have featured in the books and more, so I could continue to pursue my passion even while writing other books. (I am currently writing an autobiographical book called Gracefully.)

Cruise Ship Diaries – The Joy of Cruising Podcast

Cruising Questions

Now for some cruise questions!

How many cruises have you been on?

What is your favourite cruise ship and cruise port?

Probably Celebrity Beyond; favourite ports were several in the Mediterranean which we visited on Beyond.

What is your favourite part of cruising?

I am an introvert, so sitting alone on the top deck looking out at the ocean, listening to music, and sipping a tropical drink while writing. The best office in the world!

Where will you be cruising again soon?

I leave in a couple of weeks on the Norwegian Spirit to two destinations that are on my bucket list – 16-day Hawaii to Alaska. After that, we will try two cruise lines I have never experienced: in Christmas 2023 we are sailing MSC Meraviglia, and in April 2024 we are sailing a transatlantic for the first time on Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady.

What is on your cruise bucket list?

A river cruise, and we are close to booking one for 2024. Longer-term, a cruise/land tour to Africa.

Thank you Paul, that was a great insight into how The Joy of Cruising book trilogy and podcast started. Make sure you get your own copies of Paul’s books and please tune into the podcast to hear some great stories from his interesting guests.