Tropicale Opens for Booking, Serenade Cancels in Vancouver, Aura Burns & Tim Calls In

<p>Trevor has declared this a spider-free episode. It does not stay a spider-free episode.</p><p>Carnival Tropicale opened for booking this week — the last Excel-class ship, arriving in Galveston in 2028, which gives Galveston two Excel ships and gives Carnival a reason to finally do something different. Tropicale drops BOLT entirely in favor of Sun Station Point, a new zone anchored by Carnival WaterWorks Ultra, a multi-level water park. (The first Ace-class ship, Carnival Destiny, comes after.) Meanwhile Royal Caribbean&#39;s Quantum of the Seas debuted a dramatic new cascading waterfall down the midship stairs on deck five, which was in fact a burst pipe in the men&#39;s room, and which they fixed quickly and quietly.</p><p>Less funny for the people involved: Royal Caribbean cancelled a Serenade of the Seas Alaska sailing <em>after</em> guests had been aboard in Vancouver for three days without ever leaving port — full refund, 100% future cruise credit, and up to $400 in airfare. And Norwegian Aura, NCL&#39;s largest ship ever, caught fire during construction in Italy. More smoke than blaze, but the crew runs the depressing roll call of ships that have burned before her.</p><p>Also: a man ran a marathon every single day of his Princess cruise — seven marathons, 186 miles, six hours for the Rome one because he kept stopping for photos — which the crew agrees is a crime against the entire concept of cruising. A viral video of a woman who paid $1,100 for her half of a $500 cruise, and the roommate who has now been located. Tim calls in from Australia with the real story on why Carnival Encounter can&#39;t get into Cairns, an open invitation for Trevor (and pointedly not the other two), and a Japan trip before his own sailing. Bobby writes in to ask what the warning label on Trevor&#39;s life would say. And Jen quietly passes two years on the show, making her the longest-running third wheel in cruising podcast history.</p><p>Next week&#39;s episode comes to you raw, unedited, and possibly unhinged — the boys are on the Jubilee.</p><p>8 days to the Jubilee. 109 days to Jen&#39;s next cruise. 358 days to FRGC5 aboard Allure of the Seas.</p><p>🌐<a href=" cruisepodcastaways.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"> cruisepodcastaways.com</a><br>🎙️ Leave us a voice message: <a href="speakpipe.com/carnivalcruisingpodcastaways" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">speakpipe.com/carnivalcruisingpodcastaways</a><br>👥 Join the Facebook group: &quot;The Po