Pier Pressure Portcast

Port Miami Playbook

• Jesse Hall and Rick Pruzinsky • Season 1 • Episode 5

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PortMiami is a full-on cruise ecosystem, and we break down what makes it run, from terminals and traffic flow to the brands that dominate the skyline. We compare mega-ships, adults-only cruising, and luxury options while sharing practical tips you can use before you even board. 
• Port Canaveral vs PortMiami passenger numbers and the friendly competition 
• Terminal A and why it’s called the Crown of Miami 
• How the tunnel separates cruise traffic from cargo operations 
• Royal Caribbean Icon class highlights and why you still will not see it all 
• Virgin Voyages and what makes the adults-only experience feel different 
• Luxury and boutique options from Explora and Oceania 
• Norwegian, Carnival, MSC and how each fits into PortMiami’s lineup 
• Wonder of the Seas picks: dining, venues, neighborhoods and room basics 
• Bionic Bar as a novelty and why loyalty drink perks do not apply there 
• Aqua Theater show tips plus the balcony view “hack” for specific rooms 
• PortMiami parking: why to reserve ahead and how the QR code process works 
• Quick Miami extras: museums, food, culture and why you need patience and a wallet 
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Welcome To Florida Cruise Talk

SPEAKER_02

Hey guys, this is Captain Jesse, and this is another episode of the Peer Pressure Podcast. 3P, baby. 3P all the way. With me as always, is the Cruise Coach.

SPEAKER_01

How you doing? What's up, Vacation Nation? That's right. This is the Cruise Coach, aka Dr. Paradise, aka Coach Paradise, aka King of the Floridaan. Ooh, I like that. That's a little new one. That is a new one.

SPEAKER_03

A little new one.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, we are coming to you from uh Space Coast Podcast Studios right here in Silicon Beach, Florida. Uh just miles away from one of the biggest cruise destinations. That is, of course, our very own Port Canaveral, the People's Port.

SPEAKER_01

That's right. It is the busiest cruise port in the world.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Millions of passengers. Okay, here it is.

Port Canaveral By The Numbers

SPEAKER_01

Here it is. We're going to stump. We're not even halfway into the episode. We're two minutes into the episode. We're about to do a little stump the captain. Uh-oh. So we just did the reveal. Obviously, you heard that uh Port Canaveral, aka the People's Port, is the busiest cruise port in the world. Yeah. By how many passengers? Two million. Thirty-eight thousand. That's it. Really? Really? Right. Went through Port of Miami. Right. Eight point six million went through Port Canaveral in fiscal year 2025. That's so crazy. Listen, we're just spitting facts over here. That's right.

SPEAKER_02

That's how we do it in 3P, baby. 3P. All the way. Well, we have a great show for everybody today. We are going uh over Port Miami. And as we do always, we got the vibes, we got the the clips, we got the the photos. Uh all of it's ready for you guys to get started. And without further ado, uh, Coach, you ready? I'm ready. All right. Vacation Nation. You ready? If I had a whistle, maybe I'll put a a little whistle effect in here. There you go. Game on. Let's go. What do you say? Kick off. What do you say? All right, here we go.

Port Miami Terminal A Tour

SPEAKER_01

What is that? What are we looking at there, Coach? You are looking at Port Miami. That is Terminal A, also known as the Crown of Miami. And that houses your three Royal Caribbean ships, the biggest in the world, the icon of the seas, the wonder, which we'll talk about later, of the seas, and the freedom of the seas as well. And again, it's it's stunning. Um they're getting ready to that's just the start of what they've done in Miami. They're getting ready to redo Terminal J, spend about 340, 345 million dollars for another terminal. And again, Miami's growing because they want to outdo Port Canaveral, aka the people's port.

SPEAKER_02

You know, and it's it's a friendly kind of I don't even say it's a rivalry, right? It's just a friendly competition. That's it. Who's the most busy on any given year? Um I mean, we're both growing it with terminals, right? I mean, I say I say we, because I take ownership of the Port Canaveral. That's our local port. That's right. So we are also adding more and more terminals. We're dredging new areas, we're putting in new bulkheads so we could uh have more boats, bigger boats. Okay, the fleets are getting bigger, uh the ships are just outdoing themselves. Uh icon class, uh of course, it seems to be some of the bigger ships right now on the water.

SPEAKER_01

7,600 passengers on the icon class right now. You have the icon, the star, and the legend soon to be out this year.

SPEAKER_02

But uh and and and and more on the way. There's more getting created, and and and I think they're trying to outdo, you know, every time there's a uh new ship released, it's uh try they're trying to outdo the others. Now we will get into and what's really exciting for me is the uh virgin uh cruise line. Virgin Voyages. You know, I really like what they're doing. Uh for me, having a kid-free cruise is kind of nice. Uh and and and then being able to offer that, but also uh we're gonna get into some of the more boutique lines leaving out of Miami too, which I'm excited to hear about.

SPEAKER_01

So that's right. So we're just scratching the surface right here with the uh MIA. I mean, obviously it's so popular. Will Smith did a song about it. You know, um but many songs about it. Many songs about it, and you know, Homer Rick Ross. That's right. You know, the uh Mr. World Wide, you know, and the Yeah, there you go. Through Mr. 305, you know, so again, Miami's doing big things. You see that right there, pulling up Terminal A, uh, the crown of Miami, and that's that's a really, really cool art piece. You walk in and you just got some moving propellers, they just rotate hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second, and it's just a stunning visual piece to add to uh, you know, the Miami.

SPEAKER_02

And I and I bet that's real brass. Like those look heavy, like those look like the real propellers that uh are found uh but beneath the the ships.

SPEAKER_01

And they're they're pretty large. You know, you're you're looking up, you it's probably well that's what I'm saying. It may be scale. Yeah, that may be to scale. That's that's probably 60 feet high, 70 feet high. Yeah. I mean, that it's a gigantic terminal, hence why it's called the Crown of Miami. That's right. Moving on. And again, so that's obviously right there when you're coming in, uh, you're gonna go 95, uh, you're gonna go to 395, and as you can see all behind the picture, there's there's so much chaos, is what I want to call South Florida. Yeah. But you know, you see that sign, you're you're getting antsy, the juice starts flowing, and you it's getting real. It is, it's getting real, it's real close. And uh you and and many other millions are are pulling up, and as you see right there, you have to go in a tunnel, and you said it's a little different than when you were down

Driving In Tunnel And Traffic

SPEAKER_01

in Miami.

SPEAKER_02

That's right. Yeah, this this uh they built the tunnel so the cruise traffic didn't interfere or mingle with the cargo traffic because it's still a very active uh cargo port.

SPEAKER_01

That's right.

SPEAKER_02

It is the cargo gateway of the Americas. A hundred percent. So moving right along, but yeah, that that that does get exciting. When you see like that the the that cruise uh port uh icon right by Port Miami, yeah, you just you just know your vacation's about to start. There's no better feeling.

SPEAKER_01

You know, and that's why it's called the cruise capital of the world. And as you see right there, you know, not only do you have Royal Caribbean, you have one of the hottest brands right now, one of the hottest cruise lines. Uh we were just on it uh a month ago. That's the MSc Seaside. That's a C-class ship that's right there in the middle, about 430, 4,500 passengers. Uh very stunning ship, visually appealing. Uh again, MSC is gonna be terminal double A, and you will see the seaside. You will see the World America, uh, and again, we're gonna get into that, and then the Divina as well. Exactly.

Virgin Voyages Adults-Only Perks

SPEAKER_01

So And there it is, you know, that that's kind of that upscale, that's different, right? If you were to say, what's the one cruise line that's different than everybody else? Right. And and obviously the owner of the company, Richard Branson. Sir Richard Branson. Sir Richard Brans Branson, you know, he came back from his first cruise and he says, I'm gonna create a company that's nothing like what I just went on. So what you do is obviously once you get on a virgin, everything is all inclusive on this. You don't pay anything more, you get a budget for drinks. Right. So it's not really a drink package, you get a certain budget for it. Gratuities included. Uh the shows are a little different, you know, a little more risque. You're you're gonna see, you know, the red party completely different, and obviously that's the aft of the uh valiant lady. I'm sorry, the Scarlet Lady. And again, they only have four ships right now, uh, and they're gonna continue putting putting these ships out. It's just it's totally different, if you were to say.

SPEAKER_02

And what what would you uh say is because they're all about the same size. So what what is the passenger count for these ships?

SPEAKER_01

You know, I'll be honest with you, that's a relatively new company. We haven't dived completely in.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, we'll have to do a deep dive.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So again, if you know, we're we'll let the audience be part of uh, you know, Team Limitless Travel right here. Yeah. And if you know how many passengers the Scarlet Lady is, go ahead and put it down in the comments.

SPEAKER_02

100%. Let's see those comments. I love I love the feedback we get. So moving on, and uh here we go.

Icon Class And Ship Design

SPEAKER_01

And there you go. That's the icon. That's the creme de la creme. That's 7,600 passengers at max capacity. Uh, there is nothing bigger, there's more neighborhoods, and you know what to do with. If you noticed a little different than the OASIS class, the front of it is the Aqua Dome. That's actually where they're gonna do the Aqua Show. Yeah. A little bit smaller. Uh, you have the Aqua Dome market as well. And it's just it's there's so many things to do, so many things to look over. I know you and I were looking at some of these photos, you know, on the aft of the ship, you have the infinity pool. Uh, there's it there's so many things you can do. And I promise you, even on a seven-night cruise tastic adventure on the icon, eastern or western Caribbean, you're not gonna see it all. Right. You really, really are such a massive boat.

SPEAKER_02

I'm just looking at the top of it. I'm like, even the top deck would keep me busy for three days. Yeah, it's it's absolutely looking all the things to do.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, full aquapark. Um, you know, you're gonna have slides galore. It's just stunning, it's iconic. And and there it is going back to the Virgin Voyages, kind of the side shot. Uh, you're looking at port side right there. You see it, it's different. Now, here's some cool things about the Virgin Voyages. If you get a balcony, yeah, guess what it comes with? A little stump, stump the captain right here. Uh hammock. Bingo. It is a red hammock. I heard about those. And you can actually purchase that hammock to take home as well. I'm sure it's not wow. Uh I'm sure it's a little on the expensive side. But again, as you see, Virgin Voyages, different exclamation point.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I mean, just like the rest of their brands. So you know, maybe I think everybody knows the Virgin experience, whether it's the airlines, now the cruise ships, even back then, you know, at the record store, Virgins were just that, it was just an elevated experience. Completely different. Oh, that's a that's a bow of the Scar Lady.

SPEAKER_01

There you go. And again, it just looks different. You know, it's it's slicing through the water, uh, four, you know, one of the main four ships that right that's right there out of uh Port Miami, just doing big things.

SPEAKER_02

And so, of course, Virgin being who they are, you know, they have to be the sexy brand, leaving out of the sexy port of Miami. Um, I wish they would have a uh uh a ship up here at Port Canaveral, but you want to get a tattoo?

SPEAKER_01

You can get a tattoo. Yes, they do have a tattoo artist, don't they? Yeah, they have a tattoo artist, and then Margarita Villa of the Seas actually does as well. So no way. I I again I don't know about you. I'm not getting a tattoo on a moving ship, just my personal opinion. Not that I have a few tattoos.

SPEAKER_02

No, I'm sure they have some talented artists, but you know, you don't want to get like a rogue wave, and all of a sudden, you know, you're wearing uh that what that one time the captain slipped up, and uh we you know, but it either way, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Don't don't travel in the winter and get a tattoo.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, maybe maybe while on port. There you go. That's a smart idea, right there.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, all right, moving

Luxury Lines Explora And Oceania

SPEAKER_01

on. Um, oh wow. So uh as you can see right there, that is the Explora. Um that's either the Explorer or the Oceana. Again, that you're talking luxury. Uh, you know, when it comes to Miami, you have the Explorer 2, which is MSC's uh top brand that's their luxury, and then you have Oceana, and the headquarters of Oceana is also in Miami, along with Carnival's headquarters as well. So you have the two ships from the Oceana, that is the Nautica and the Alora.

SPEAKER_02

Gotcha. Okay, and those definitely look like a smaller uh discount.

SPEAKER_01

You're looking you're talking 600 to 1200 passengers, adults only, and luxury. Oh and there you see NCL, Norwegian, a very, very popular brand. Uh still has the old school drink package included, specially dining included. Uh you are not capped at the 15 drinks like you are with Carnival and MSC. Um, and they have the Jade, they have the Pearl and the Encore, and that can be found in Terminal B.

SPEAKER_02

B is NCL. Yeah, that is correct. I got it. I got it. See, I'm learning, I'm picking up what you're throwing down.

SPEAKER_01

That's it, you know, educator and advisor. Yes, that's another portside bow view. Yep, and and I believe that's the pearl right there. Again, there's 16 ships in and out of Miami, Port Miami. They're just doing bigger and bigger things. And again, if it's really cool if you ever see the camera that they have and just seeing all the movement from ship to ship to ship, the way that they execute, and hats off to these captains, you know, uh hats off to the captain Jesse on the episode as well. You know, the captains working hard for your pleasure.

SPEAKER_02

100%, and we are real we appreciate all that they do. So um, yeah, and and I mean, you know, consider that. Like, you know, 20 years ago, you're a new captain with a 500-foot boat, and now it's like, well, now it's a hundred and fifty-foot boat, and soon it's gonna be a 250. Like your job just gets harder and harder.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, 1188 feet.

SPEAKER_02

You know, you've got the uh the OASIS class, and we're talking 1190 in change for the I mean it's almost like you need uh a bridge in uh Ford and a bridge on the stern uh just to navigate these things.

SPEAKER_01

They are floating cities.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

MSC World Class And New Terminal

SPEAKER_01

Oh wow, the world marriage and and that's the world class, you know. MSC, we talked about it before, the Mediterranean shipping company, they have the world class. You're talking about 7,000 passengers, so very, very comp comparable to that icon class. Um, and we will be having one here soon in 2027. It is the world Atlantic. Ooh. So stay tuned, Port Canaveral. That's right.

SPEAKER_02

Look at that beast.

SPEAKER_01

And that's a stunning side view. That's you know, the uh starboard side, it's just gigantic. Uh they're stunning from visually, very similar. We were on the grandiosa about a month ago. Yeah, and just they are knocking it out of the box.

SPEAKER_02

You know, they they what's great is they they created their own identity. I mean, if you look at that bow, right? It's completely different. It's a straight down vertical bow, whereas Carnival has, you know, they painted all their bows like blue and it's got this, you know, it's got these ray almost like a racing stripe, but but they're easy to identify. I think with the MSE brand, their boats are also uh easy to identify. It almost looks like a wave if you look at the uh superstructure, you know, it's it's got that, it goes up, you know, from the bow and then down and then up again. Just very flowy. Yeah, it's got a nice little flow, but you got but you could identify it uh easily uh when you're in port or anything else. You're not confusing an MSc for any other brand.

SPEAKER_01

Any other brand. And what's really cool is obviously you're in terminal double A, and they just finished the beginning of uh 2025, I believe, a $450 million terminal. So it is state of the art above state of the art and MSc, stay tuned. I'm telling you what we've heard in the industry: 35 cruise ships by 2035.

SPEAKER_02

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01

And there's kind of that old school look. If you notice, that's the aft. Yeah, and that's the Divina. Um, so again, it's gonna have that little different feel, more boxy shaped than you saw with the uh world uh uh, you know, Atlantic and the World America and the world Europa. You know, it's just uh and again that's it does seven-night voyages and really, really great price points. I mean, we're talking about a thousand eleven hundred, twelve hundred for two people for a seven-night. That's easy.

SPEAKER_02

That is so reasonable.

SPEAKER_01

Yep, and drinks and Wi-Fi um you can add on, and obviously you have the yacht club. Yacht club. Hey, and you know that and if that's for you, listen, we've got you taken care of at 3P. And you know, we joke and we say that, but really that yacht club is that true elevated experience, and you're covered. So without going on the Oceania or yeah, without truly stepping up into that luxury world. I mean, you truly you have that yacht club feel, you want the you know, the explorer too, that all that smaller ship feel as well. You know, you can do it. That's the ship within within a ship concept. Yeah, and there you go, that's the aft that we were just talking about. We looked at this picture in pre-production, and you have the flow rider, you have the infinity pool, you have so many different you get you want to get a little tan over to the left, you've got the water park above it. And then if you look right where that arc is or the arch, yeah, it that's where it that replaced the boardwalk, and that's a true children area. Right. So they they stepped it up on the star, you have more of a teenage feel. That's more for you know eight to twelve right there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah, I could spend a lot of time on there. Oh, and here's uh what is that the the aqua, yeah, the port side, and now we have a better s view of that that aqua domain.

SPEAKER_01

That aqua dome, and it's really, really cool. If you've ever been to the circus, right? What's one thing you notice when you go to the circus? Oh, the big top. You got the big top right? Yeah, and then inside of it, they're gonna do a circus circus feel. You usually have two motorcycles floating around in the globe. Fun. They do that on the ship as well. Oh, nice. So again, just it's star-studded, pun intended, yeah, legend, and they already have six of these on order.

unknown

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01

So stay tuned. No kidding. We're we'll take you there. And there you go, that's the Explorer 2. As you're gonna see, that definitely that different feel, right? It looks unlike anything you've ever seen. Yeah, thank you for for you know zooming in on that that back half, that aft right there. Yeah, it is just those day beds, that pool, that's their version of kind of that infinity pool. That is luxurious looking. You know, it's almost like you can pull your little speed boat right in the back. No kidding.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I mean, uh it's like a dive platform. Yeah, but you put like a party of like 200 people back there.

SPEAKER_01

Right there, you know. I like the idea. I like where you're going there, Captain Jesse. Leave it to me. I'll I'll consider some ways. All right. There we go. So as you can see, that's gonna be, I'm sorry, there you go. Yeah, that's the Explorer 2 as well. You know, that's that if you notice that the different, you still have the brand, you know, and as you see, a lot of gold right there, just a much smaller field, luxury at its finest. So if you want to step above the yacht club to ship within a ship concept, there you go, right there.

SPEAKER_02

And that's MSC brand, right?

SPEAKER_01

That's MSC's luxury brand, and we've got that also. And you're booking that. We are booking that as well. Yep. 3P and Maluna Travel Network teamed up with the affiliate of Team Limitless Travel and the Cruise Coach. That's right.

SPEAKER_02

We're ready to take you there.

SPEAKER_01

Here we go. And as you can see, I know you know we were just we we go back to it, we were just on the grandiosa. Right. A little bit different feel, you know, those day beds right there are you got the neon underneath it, the you've got the uh actuators that you know raise the head, raise the feet. But just a stunning shot of that top deck. Again, next level.

SPEAKER_02

It doesn't look like uh, you know, it looks like it belongs on the uh rooftop of uh a sophisticated you know hotel in in downtown Miami or even like a Manhattan or London or something. It looks like it doesn't look like you're floating. Yeah, you know, this looks like something that is next level. Yeah. Next level. Yeah, gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.

SPEAKER_01

And as you can see, there you go, there's that that red tail right there, you know, uh Carnival headquarters in Miami. And you know, it's tough to go from what you just saw, full luxury, over to Carnival. But you know, right there you have the Carnival, you have the the sunrise, you have the conquest, and you have the horizon. And those can be found at terminals D, E, and F.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, because yeah, Carnival has how many boats in rotation down there now? Three. Three, okay. Yeah. So NCL has three.

SPEAKER_01

NCL has three for Carnival. Virgin has four. Uh Virgin has no, has there's four ships total in their fleet, but only one is out of Miami.

SPEAKER_02

I see I see. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01

Oceana has two, right? You have Explora, and then you have three in the big four, I guess you want to call it. Your Royal Caribbean, MSC, Carnival, and Norwegian.

SPEAKER_02

Right. So for so for somebody um listening right now, how many boats again are out of Port Miami?

SPEAKER_01

16. 16, okay. Yep. 16, obviously, you know, you got a couple going in the dry dock. So, you know, there

Wonder Of The Seas Onboard Picks

SPEAKER_01

you go. That's jumping over to the wonder. That's our favorite specialty dining restaurant. You're gonna have Azumi, and what's kind of cool is this this is kind of that old school feel, because again, we're gonna talk more and more about the wonder of the seas. But there you go with the Azumi, and you want to get sushi, that's on the left-hand side right there. Yeah, that'll made fresh for you. Or if you want to go the old style hibachi tables, uh, that's over on the start of the video, and you come in, and again, there's only two or three tables that you're walking in. That's right there on deck four, right in front of the uh casino, and there you go with the hibachi tables. Oh, yeah, plenty of hibachi. Yeah, you know, and so there's three tables, it's a little louder over on that side, uh, but again, fun. It's a dinner show and well worth the money. If if you were to say, hey, coach, what's the one specialty dining restaurant you're always gonna do?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, right there. 100%.

SPEAKER_01

All right, let's see what's next. And there you go. That's walking into the music hall, and that's actually so that area in because again, here's what you have to know: is the wonder of the seas is a true sister ship to the utopia of the seas. Okay. There's only gonna be about three or four main differences. Okay. This is one of them. This is where geo. Giovanni's would be on decks eight and nine on the Utopia. So there's a music hall. They're going to play some live music. Super, super chill environment. You're going to walk out here. We're going to go right to where the stage is. And then what's cool, that's on deck eight. You go up to deck nine, and they have you got some pool you can play. And as you can see, Giovanni's normally right here is you're overlooking the aft. And what's on the aft on the Oasis class ships? The Aqua Theater. The Aqua Theater and the Boardwalk. Good job. Look at you. I'm getting there. Listen, you're the teacher is teaching and the student is learning.

SPEAKER_02

I'm kidding. Captain Jesse's going to be a cruise ship captain here, uh, with all my knowledge. Um, but yeah, I do like the upstairs and downstairs concept. Big old natural wood dance floor. I like to dance. I already see good lighting from this video. I can already imagine some really good loud uh live music um and that view.

SPEAKER_01

You know, I I see the and it's gonna zoom in here, right? Yeah, this is this is the the theater, the dun dun dun dun, right? And it's gonna zoom in. You're gonna see the beautiful and stunning wonder of the seas. Uh it's just, you know, it's it's spectacular. It's top-notch. It's just the way that they do it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and and and once again, here's the entrance.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, look at the etched glass. Yeah. It's just a wow factor, you know, and that's the cool part, is no matter what ship you go on, if it's MSC, it's gonna have, you know, the Swarfski uh staircases. Right. You go on to Royal, you're gonna see all these different environments, neighborhoods, uh they truly call them neighborhoods. It's just it's stunning.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Oh, I love to see it, bro. Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01

All right, so we're gonna go ahead and get into a room right here. Nice. So pulling in, there you go. That is an ocean view, about 181 to 191 square feet. Uh, you know, you're you're coming in, you've got the beds. The the nice part is double wide beds, or you can put them together. Uh, you know, if you're a couple, plenty of room right there. We actually unload, we roll everything when it comes to the uh clothes, and then you you go ahead and you put it in there. I mean, look at the bathroom. Yeah, that's a generous head. Yeah, you know, and then obviously you've got on the other side, you've got the couch. You also have a sitting area, so you know, if you have a a a lady who wants to go ahead and get ready for dinner. Is in her closet, right? Is in her closet, you know. Again, then you've got the the the drawers as well. So, you know, and then you've got more and more, you know, looking out. You've got here's if you look from the other side, right? You know, plenty of room. 181, 191 square feet, plenty of room, and then obviously you've got the balcony, you know, double chairs, plenty, plenty big enough.

SPEAKER_02

Wow, wow, wow. Unreal.

SPEAKER_01

And that's kind of a cool view coming out of Coco K. Uh, we're actually on the tram, and as you can see, you got the the staple of the wonder of the season looking up. And uh it's it's really, really cool. You know, one thing I I just kind of figured out is obviously the Utopia. Leaves on a Friday. It's a three or four three-day weekend, four-day week, leaves on a Friday, goes to Coco K and then goes to I'm sorry, goes to Nassau and then goes to Coco K, the wonder's opposite. Funny. Okay. So you're gonna go to Coco K first. Right. So again, it it's it gives you that the A to B, you know, can the verses, the you know, comparison, and it is truly the same, very similar ship, true sister ship. And the here's something else. The wonder is actually capacity-wise, just slightly larger than the Utopia of the Sea. So when they say the world's biggest weekend, they're not kidding. Royal Royal Caribbean, this is actually the world's biggest weekend. But hey, I'm just the educator. Sometimes the textbooks is wrong, so don't be mad at me, Mr. Liberty. And that's actually there you go, you know, our favorite neighborhood. That's right, you guessed it. The boardwalk. Um, you know, you're walking out, it's got the wooden uh horses right there, and just a really, really cool view. It's got the Zoltar machine over to the right, and then obviously, when you first walk out, you're gonna have the doghouse, the carousel, all the way to the aqua theater in the after the ship.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's so immersive. Look, look how they they painted the the ceiling to look like to match a sky of like hot air balloons.

SPEAKER_01

You know, that's that Coney Island Island feel. Yeah. Uh, you know, Coney Island feel, and it's it's just doing things the right way. You know, again, our favorite neighborhood from Team Limitless Travel, the cruise coach, and Dr. Paradise. Oh my goodness,

Bars Shows And Cabin View Hacks

SPEAKER_01

what's this? And that is one of the true differences. So, again, our favorite drinkery chill spot is the pesky parrot, and that's actually in the same spot of the pesky parrot. That's called the bionic bar. So you have two bionic arms, fully robotic. They make your drink from the drinks, from the ceiling. But think about this from a business standpoint. How many drinks are being made at one time right now? No, this is novelty. You get one and you're like, all right, never again.

SPEAKER_02

Right. You just get the you just get the one to say you did it.

SPEAKER_01

You know, and and again, it here's another hack, so to speak. If you're a diamond member or diamond plus and you get your four or five drinks a day, right, you cannot use this. You cannot use your drinks at this point. So this is a la carte. It's an a la carte, right? And again, they're gonna be removing all the bionic bars because they want to take it's how it shakes the cocktail. Oh, yeah, it's a it's a numbers game, you know. Um, but a really, really cool environment. You see it once, you see it twice, you see it three times. And what's cool is that LED screen right there, and look at that beautiful stud in the in the rear view. Yeah, they're they're actually show you what they're putting in it and when they're putting in the actual drink. All the ingredients. Yep, and there it is, you know, pouring a drink, and it's not to the top, so you might lose a little bit. And then in order to get that drink, you have to go up and put your key card and then it'll release it to you.

SPEAKER_02

You know, the Bionica guys are, I can see like a little bit of spillage going on over there.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so they're making their money one way or the other. But a really, really cool environment right there. You know, that drink now say it's ready, uh, as you saw, and then someone had to use their key card to have that drink hand delivered to them.

SPEAKER_02

It's a novelty. It is, you know, but yeah, I mean, look at all that square footage. Exactly. You don't need all that that big old lounge. Not for that. No. You know, so you need a couple barstools, you know, it's just be like a walk-up thing. Like you walk up, you have it made. But look at people, they're like they gather around like it's a show. Exactly. That's not the show, people. That's not entertainment. That's just a novelty. Um, I wouldn't sit there and watch these things all day.

SPEAKER_01

No, you you know, it again, I spend a lot of my time at the Pesky Parrot. Yeah. So once the Oasis class ships fully embrace the Pesky Parrot, because right now you only have the Pesky Parrot on two ships. Right. You have it on obviously the world's biggest weekend, or the so-called world's biggest weekend. It's just like Miami, you know, it's just like they're thinking they're the largest, they're really not. But you have, and then you just have the Allure, which just did a hundred million dollar amplification, has the Pesky Parrot in it as well.

unknown

Nice.

SPEAKER_01

And that's a really, really cool view. So as you can see, there's some audio. Yeah, so there's your your aqua theater, right? And we are on deck 16, right next to the abyss slide. Wait till you see what we zoom in here on the slack lining. Wow. Just absolutely stunning. And and I don't think you have seen this part of the video. I haven't. So it's all very new. Yeah, so you're kind of wild. I wish the camera was on you as well. They just it's just different. Yeah, it is hands down, the best show. So if you were to say, what's the one show I have to make sure I go on before the cruise ship to book? There it is right there. And this is a this one is called Intense. Yeah. And it is an all-female show.

SPEAKER_02

Look at that. Zooming at the prop wash. You know, it's it's so surreal because you're like, you're surrounded by all these cool, fun things, and then you just look overboard and you're like, and we're still in the middle of flipping nowhere. Darkness below darkness, the abyss of the ocean below you.

SPEAKER_01

18 decks, that's from deck 16. And there you go. There's that, there's the start of it. So we did the slack lining because that's usually the most popular, right? But just, I mean, look at the visuals and the sound. Look at that.

SPEAKER_02

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, what a party. And here's the best part. I I know I told you this answer. This is from our balcony. This view. Yeah. Right here. This is you're not at the show. Right. So if you do an aqua theater switch or you do an aqua theater balcony, right, and you do 327, 329, uh, 325, or uh I believe it's 723, 725, 729. That's the last three numbers. That's the view you're gonna get from your balcony, and that is a hack from the cruise coach.com. You know, that's that's my favorite neighborhood. And again, it just it doesn't get any better than that. And and it's in peer pressure portcast colors as well. I know, right? Right. You see it right there. That I mean, floating. You've got the you know, you you you called it aerobatics right you in the first episode. And it's more aquabatics. It yeah, it's but you know, I mean, it's it's just top-notch. Yeah, and we've had clients come to us and say, Hey, Rich, cruise coach, yeah. This alone was worth the five to seven hundred dollars we spent on the you know, on the the boarding. Yeah. And it's a 45-minute show, all females, and it's really cool because not only you get to watch the live shows twice a night, you also get to watch them practice and you see how hard they work. Yeah, and that's just uh that's just what Royal Caribbean and the cruise coach we want to make sure we outwork the competition, and that's what Royal Caribbean is doing right here as well, is just making sure one upping each other. And guess who gets to see the the fruit of their labor? You, the client, vacation nation. So this is all for you.

SPEAKER_02

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01

And there you go, that's the promenade. Kicking it old school because we're a fo old fool who's so cool. I messed that one up, but that's okay. Hey, I'm human. Do it one more time. Kicking it old school because we're old fools who's so cool, right? And there's that the Ford, even though I drive a Chevy, but you know, that's the classic right there. That's the old school vert looking out to the promenade. And as you what's on the other end? Do you see? Did you see what was out there in brass? Let's see. One more view through.

SPEAKER_02

Wait, wait, wait. Let me let me see what's going on. All right.

SPEAKER_01

Let's see if you can zoom in. What are we looking at? What's brass on the other end?

SPEAKER_02

Brass.

SPEAKER_01

It's an old school cowboy hat.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, wait, what?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's so it's hard to see. It's hard to see right there, but literally, and there it is. That's probably one of the best hidden gems you will ever see. Go ahead and turn the volume up on this. Boy. So what you see right there, they're beatbox in the background. So there is no instruments being played. Yeah, it's a cappella. 100%. This show, Trey and I, uh, one of my best friends, Trey Trevlist up from Daytona, we were on uh The Wonder in December. And he's I said, Hey, you know, I've never seen this show. I've been on this ship. This is my third time on the ship, and let's check out this voices show. And literally, our jaws hit the floor, they're beatboxing. It's it's you know, it's like watching uh Police Academy back in the day. And and the guy Oh, yeah, Michael Winslow. Yeah, there you go. You know, just stunning. And it's visual, and they just knock it out of the box. Beautiful, truly a dope voices show.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

Port Miami Parking Miami Culture Closing

SPEAKER_01

And there you go, that's leaving the port, Miami. We're driving in the vehicle, and um, you know, you see that right there, and you were just wowed, right? That's leaving terminal A. And here's the really cool part. If you get up 6 a.m., you get off the ship about 6 45, as soon as they allow you to get off the ship, Jesse. It literally took us uh five to six minutes to walk from our cabin to our vehicle. Oh wow, and and pull down that uh that that exit way right there. So beautiful, you know, and and here's the one thing make sure you reserve parking. It was $115.50 for the three-day weekend, but it's well worth it. You are right there walking distance. If you have mobility issues, we highly suggest just pre-pay. And it's really easy. You go straight to the website, Port Miami, you type in the ship that you're gonna be on, and then from there you go ahead and you just prepay for it. You pull up, they give you a QR code, you scan the QR code, you pull right up to your uh garage. Easy peasy. Easy peas. I like that. And there you go, on the wonder right there. That is our favorite dessert, and that is in Giovanni's. So again, Giovanni's, like we said, is not located on decade or nine. What do you think that is right there? Any idea?

SPEAKER_02

It looks like uh a ravioli and a cake of some sort.

SPEAKER_01

That is a chocolate dessert ravioli. Oh. And I can't have hazelnut, so they make me they hand make that for me with true brownie inside and chocolate sauce instead of the hazelnut. The Nutella. Yep, exactly. So, you know, again, if you if if you have allergies, that's the one thing. You just simply communicate that and they've got you covered. Alright, and this is uh looks like the last one to culminate the show. And again, uh, I don't know if you can move my picture on the bottom, but that actually culminates, or you want to there it is right there, really fast. And those are the the two staples, right? You look at the best of what Miami has to offer, right? Royal Caribbean, Wonder on the left, Oasis class ship, icon on the right, self-made class, self-named class, and you know, you've got 7,600 passengers on the right, 6,700 on the left, the best of the best from the MIA.

SPEAKER_02

Dude, those each of those boats look amazing. Like you can't have a bad time on either of those boats, no matter what you choose. So I guess it really comes down to itinerary for some, you know? That's it. Yeah. Well this is a fun little uh I don't I don't want to say a deep dive. I think we just scratched the surface of what the port of Miami or Port Miami uh has to offer, okay? So we're we're trying to do the round robin, you know, Florida first, Port of Tampa, Port Canaveral, Port Miami. We saw uh Port Everglades, and we may even bring up Jacksonville or Palm Beach because they're they're very small markets. Um probably no nobody would really consider them a destination, especially when Canaveral, Miami, Tampa, these are the uh markets that most people think of when they consider you know going on a cruise.

SPEAKER_01

Yep. You know, and obviously the cruise capital of the world, this gives 3500,000 jobs. Wow. So, you know, a lot of jobs. It's uh 34 billion to the economy down in Miami. Um again, terminals A through J. Uh you just saw it right there. The best way to pull up to a Royal Caribbean ship is to go ahead and just make sure you reserve the uh parking. And it is now also known as the recreational capital of the world. What do you think I mean by that, Captain?

SPEAKER_02

Recreational capital.

SPEAKER_01

Uh probably uh socializing rec W R E C K. Oh scuba diving. Oh that's that's a phenomenal pun, by the way. I was wow.

SPEAKER_02

That is a phenomenal pun.

SPEAKER_01

Yep.

SPEAKER_02

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_01

Scuba diving. So there's 50 ships that are on the bottom of the waterways in Miami.

SPEAKER_02

That's fascinating. Okay, I did not know that.

SPEAKER_01

So a little recreational capital of the world. Uh again, funny. You have two museums. You have the Pam Museum, which is the Perez Art Museum, Miami, and you have the Frost Science Museum. You have food and culture galore, obviously.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, you have Vizcaya.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You know, I mean, there's so much to do once you're down there. You know, you have uh Coconut Grove and Coral Gables and more.

SPEAKER_01

Little Havana, you know, that Cuban food is is top notch. Oh, yeah, go to Versailles.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, tell tell them tell them uh three P sent you.

SPEAKER_01

That's it. You know, the nightlife is amazing. I'm not gonna, like I say, uh no no disrespect. I'm not spending 100 to 150 just to walk into the club, right? And then another 35 on a drink. Um, and uh obviously you're gonna do a little shopping, you have the Bayside marketplace as well. So here's the one thing we're gonna tell you if you go down to Miami, be patient and bring your wallet.

SPEAKER_02

No disrespect. Win to lottery and then go to Miami. That's it.

SPEAKER_01

You know, and again, the Wonder of the Seas, you saw a lot of video and uh photos from the Wonder of the Seas, 18 decks, 2,867 staterooms, 5,734 guests, so 5,600 guests on the Utopia, 5734 on the uh Wonder, three two hundred and thirty-five hundred thousand gross ton in tonnage. You're gonna have about twenty two hundred in staff, eleven hundred and eighty-eight feet long, made in voyage, two years earlier than the utopia in March 4th of 2022. Again, three main differences. We talked about it, no destination elevators, bionic bar, no pesky parrot. And then instead of um, you know, just like we said, you're not gonna also have not only do you not have Giovanni's in that same location, Azumi was in a different location, and then a cool dinner experience named after the ship itself, Wonderland. Love it.

SPEAKER_02

Love it. Alright, well let's book your next one. Uh, real quick, thank you to the cruise coach, your travel educator and advisor, uh associated with uh Luna travel uh group. Uh thank you to uh Blake Spa, of course, for uh you know his leadership with that. Uh big shout out to Flow Mason, our buddy at uh FlowMason. He is uh doing very well. Thank you, Steve. And uh we have uh again some shirts and other things uh from Flow Mason. Uh he has all kinds of different brands and uh products. So he does a custom merch for us. He's got all these other uh sub-brands as well. So check out FlowMasin. Uh get your bikinis for the cruise, get get all your headgear for the cruise. So much more uh from our our sponsor. So uh more of that to come. And uh again, thank you so much from all of us at Peer Pressure Podcast. We hope you have enjoyed this episode. And of course, uh as you sending a comment, maybe clicking that like, click the bell, uh, give us a little subscribe so you don't miss another episode.

SPEAKER_01

That's right. And I am the cruise coach with Maluna Travel and Team It Limited Travel. And we could go on and on. 3P. 3P, and obviously we're here with the Captain Jesse. And before we leave, we're gonna go ahead and make a quick prayer for the city of Miami and all those located down in the MIA.

SPEAKER_02

That's right.

SPEAKER_01

Dear Lord, we love you and we thank you. We thank you for every opportunity, every blessing, Lord. We just pray for a hedge of protection around Miami. Uh obviously, the uh the hustle and bustle of those working down in South Florida. We pray for all the ports, we pray for all the things going on in our world right now, all the the instances with Mexico. We just pray for a hedge of protection to be put around all those in the cruise world, uh, all those traveling. We pray for all those family that you'll just go ahead and calm their minds and allow leisure and uh just allow the the cruise to do what it's supposed to do. We pray for all those dealing with any mental health issues and all those in the education world as well. And Lord, we just know that you are with us. We pray that your light is the brightest thing in this world to rid all of this world of the darkness. And we know this that we cannot be peer pressure forecast without you, and we know that your light shines brighter than all that we do. We love you and we thank you. In your name we pray.

SPEAKER_02

Amen.

SPEAKER_01

Amen. That's right. I love that.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

You're very welcome. Vacation nation, we love you. Hands down, best in the world, we're not us without you. This is the cruise coach with Captain Jesse. Follow us, we'll take you somewhere.

SPEAKER_00

Get your prescription to paradise on the water. Get your prescription to paradise.