Tell me this MSC Seaside video doesn’t look... off

[JLMoran]

Just had this show up in my YouTube notifications. Watch it and tell me this doesn’t smack a little of... desperation? Trying too hard to impress? I mean, have any of you heard of any of the people name-dropped in this video? And what the bloody hell is an “influencer”?

Seriously, does anyone here think this was an ideal way to show off the new ship to prospective new passengers? I came out of it feeling like it was some desperate effort to say, “Hey! We’re hip! We’re cool! Look at all these  possibly influential people we found in a web search who we were able to convince to take a promotional sailing with us!”

[twangster]

51 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Just had this show up in my YouTube notifications. Watch it and tell me this doesn’t smack a little of... desperation? Trying too hard to impress? I mean, have any of you heard of any of the people name-dropped in this video? And what the bloody hell is an “influencer”?

Seriously, does anyone here think this was an ideal way to show off the new ship to prospective new passengers? I came out of it feeling like it was some desperate effort to say, “Hey! We’re hip! We’re cool! Look at all these  possibly influential people we found in a web search who we were able to convince to take a promotional sailing with us!”

Competition is a good thing.  Keeps RCI on their toes.  Matt is a better "Influencer" but that's just an opinion...  

[DocLC]

I just recently returned from a sailing on the MSC Meraviglia. And while it is obvious that they borrowed many features from Royal Caribbean, I don't think their design were as effective as Royal's design. While their interior promenade is impressive, especially with the LCD screen, it seemed a bit cramped as it was narrower than Royal's. And their 270 venue, while a great show lounge didn't offer the variety of Royal's ships. While I enjoyed the cruise and think that the competition is good for the industry in general, I still believe that Royal is offering a superior product. However, there were some areas where MSC exceeded what Royal had to offer.

[Lovetocruise2002]

I don't know if it necessarily reeks of desperation...to put that video into context, it was actually shown during their big shot naming ceremony in Miami in December. Many corporate people and agents were there.  That ceremony was then followed by a 2 day media sailing. Some of those people in the video were on that sailing. I've watched a lot of their videos...for "research purposes". So not sure if it's a desperate advertisement or maybe just a shout out to their media supporters.

The reviews have been steadily improving. I know I'm a bit of a cruise snob but still feel that YC is the way to go.  Not sure if many of you have followed Jim Zimmerlin (jimzim) at all online or YouTube (logical, clear headed guy, @twangster type reviews) but he just wrote the most in-depth review of his experience on the Seaside. Google him, he's not a TA, has great reviews of a few RC ships too (Allure, Anthem, Harmony, liberty...).  After spending a good part of Sunday afternoon combing through it, I feel even better with our YC choice. However, I also realize from Jim and many other reviews I've read, it's not going to be like RC. But I am willing to go with an open mind and check out the competition ?

@L454S any thoughts after your sailing this past week?

[JLMoran]

41 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

Not sure if many of you have followed Jim Zimmerlin (jimzim) at all online or YouTube (logical, clear headed guy, @twangster type reviews) but he just wrote the most in-depth review of his experience on the Seaside.

Just watched his video that mainly covered the cabin. He was so positive about the overall cabin experience I was honestly surprised when he ended the video by saying it was the worst cruise he'd been on out of all 43! I'm in the process of reading the full written review now, but it's definitely not looking good just from what I've seen so far in his bullet lists of the pros and cons. Will finish reading it tomorrow, but it does seem that at least from his definitely American point of view, MSC hasn't cracked the American market yet and is still pretty solidly European in nature and flavor. I could still be OK with something like as long as I know it's what I'm getting into, but it definitely has to be known and clearly understood up front.

1 hour ago, DocLC said:

I just recently returned from a sailing on the MSC Meraviglia. And while it is obvious that they borrowed many features from Royal Caribbean, I don't think their design were as effective as Royal's design. While their interior promenade is impressive, especially with the LCD screen, it seemed a bit cramped as it was narrower than Royal's. And their 270 venue, while a great show lounge didn't offer the variety of Royal's ships. While I enjoyed the cruise and think that the competition is good for the industry in general, I still believe that Royal is offering a superior product. However, there were some areas where MSC exceeded what Royal had to offer.

@DocLC, will you be posting a full-length review, either here or on your web site? Since you were in Europe and that's supposed to be MSC's dominant region, I definitely would like to hear the details about what they did better and where they fell short, even after making the mental allowances for it being a cruise that caters to its mainly European audience and not so much an American one.

[mathbees]

I'm a 51 year old, out of shape guy.  Seeing the young media bloggers enjoying the high life on the ship does not impress me much - certainly I could never have afforded the obvious perks they are able to pay for.  I do appreciate @Sabrinaklai's point of view, in that if it was geared towards media types, perhaps it was well placed.  If I saw this add on TV, though, I think @JLMoran expressed my opinions better.  I still think my favorite RCI ad was the one with the teenage girl who wouldn't smile on camera and sped away on the sea-do when they saw her enjoying herself.  That speaks more to me as a dad and husband - let me do the best I can to give my family a great cruise.  

That said, if I look beyond the names and titles and look at what they are actually doing, I was intrigued by what the ship had to offer.  I'm a convert from Carnival going on my first RCI cruise in June on the Oasis.  Just based on the activities available on board the Oasis vs all the Carnival ships I've sailed, I'm predicting my wife and I will be complete converts and may never go back to Carnival.  Not sure if I'd look at the MSC (I tend to be loyal to one company - can't afford to spread my points over too many competing companies).  Also, I'm not sure what YC is?  The best I can tell is it the Yacht Club on MSC?  If so, it looks like it's way out of my price range.  Oh, to be a young successful blogger... lol.

[Lovetocruise2002]

2 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

 it does seem that at least from his definitely American point of view, MSC hasn't cracked the American market yet and is still pretty solidly European in nature and flavor. 

6 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

I could still be OK with something like as long as I know it's what I'm getting into, but it definitely has to be known and clearly understood up front.

 

This is my conclusion so far. And I've been all over, CC, FB groups, waiting for Jimzim's review. But I feel better about it now because I sort of know what I am getting into. And it's not RC.

[Lovetocruise2002]

5 minutes ago, mathbees said:

I'm a 51 year old, out of shape guy.  Seeing the young media bloggers enjoying the high life on the ship does not impress me much - certainly I could never have afforded the obvious perks they are able to pay for.  I do appreciate @Sabrinaklai's point of view, in that if it was geared towards media types, perhaps it was well placed.  If I saw this add on TV, though, I think @JLMoran expressed my opinions better.  I still think my favorite RCI ad was the one with the teenage girl who wouldn't smile on camera and sped away on the sea-do when they saw her enjoying herself.  That speaks more to me as a dad and husband - let me do the best I can to give my family a great cruise.  

That said, if I look beyond the names and titles and look at what they are actually doing, I was intrigued by what the ship had to offer.  I'm a convert from Carnival going on my first RCI cruise in June on the Oasis.  Just based on the activities available on board the Oasis vs all the Carnival ships I've sailed, I'm predicting my wife and I will be complete converts and may never go back to Carnival.  Not sure if I'd look at the MSC (I tend to be loyal to one company - can't afford to spread my points over too many competing companies).  Also, I'm not sure what YC is?  The best I can tell is it the Yacht Club on MSC?  If so, it looks like it's way out of my price range.  Oh, to be a young successful blogger... lol.

1. You will love the Oasis. It crushes carnival! 

2. YC = yacht club

3.  Have you watched Jimzim's videos on YouTube?  The guy has a FT job and does it on the side. He recently mentioned that his YouTube channels more than pays for their cruises. And he has stayed in his fair share of suites. So...young blogger is not necessary for success ?

[DocLC]

29 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

 

@DocLC, will you be posting a full-length review, either here or on your web site? Since you were in Europe and that's supposed to be MSC's dominant region, I definitely would like to hear the details about what they did better and where they fell short, even after making the mental allowances for it being a cruise that caters to its mainly European audience and not so much an American one.

2

I would like to do so, but time seems to be the issue with work and all that. However, I will tell you that we had the ship booked for Norway this summer and opted for Holland America mainly because there wasn't enough entertainment or included alternative dining venues to satisfy us. One sea day was enough for us, so taking a cruise with six would have been painful. I will say, however, that there main dining room was phenomenal when it came to allergies.

[twangster]

 

1 minute ago, mathbees said:

 I'm a convert from Carnival going on my first RCI cruise in June on the Oasis.  Just based on the activities available on board the Oasis vs all the Carnival ships I've sailed, I'm predicting my wife and I will be complete converts and may never go back to Carnival.  Not sure if I'd look at the MSC (I tend to be loyal to one company - can't afford to spread my points over too many competing companies).  Also, I'm not sure what YC is?  The best I can tell is it the Yacht Club on MSC?  If so, it looks like it's way out of my price range.  Oh, to be a young successful blogger... lol.

I'm in Denver, just up the road more or less and pretty close in age.  I was 3 cruises shy of platinum on Carnival.  Then in 2016 I sailed Oasis.  Granted I was in a Loft Suite, but wow. 

To be fair, I next booked smaller and older ships within the Royal fleet.  Since I had sailed on different Fantasy, Spirit, Conquest and Dream class Carnival ships I wanted to be fair since Oasis is in a league of her own.  I needed to know if what I suspected was a fluke.

At this point I've sailed on or hold bookings for half the Royal fleet.  I haven't looked back.  I've since seen many of the previous Carnival ships I've sailed on in various ports but I've never questioned if switching to Royal Caribbean was the right move.  I look over at those ships with a warm smile knowing I'm standing on the right ship.

There are things I miss from Carnival and during that first RC cruise I told myself to stop saying "That's not how Carnival does it".  With that open mind I have come to prefer many things on Royal Caribbean.  They have a much better loyalty program if you stick with it.   

For me, the biggest question I ask myself is ..."Why didn't I switch sooner?".

[JLMoran]

9 hours ago, DocLC said:

I will say, however, that there main dining room was phenomenal when it came to allergies.

Now that's interesting, as one of Jimzim's complaints was that on Seaside, the dining room (and I assume buffet) was not particularly helpful with his wife, who required a gluten-free menu. Different ship, I know, and Meraviglia has been in service a few months longer than Seaside, but one would think that if they had managed to nail that down on the second-newest ship that they'd have figured out how to apply it to the newest one earlier on.

[ellcee]

The video just seems that MSC has a very particular market - millenials, Europeans with cash to spend. Nothing wrong with that but I love nice things I'd prefer a more diverse crowd. I wouldn't say that's it's off but it's not marketed for someone like me - over 40's professional from NY.

[Lovetocruise2002]

14 hours ago, twangster said:

Then in 2016 I sailed Oasis.  Granted I was in a Loft Suite, but wow. 

If I recall correctly from @mathbees other posts, he is sailing in a 2BDR ATS on Oasis..so double WOW.  Starting with Star Class, how do you go back after that??? 

[LetsTryThisPlace]

As a twenty-something, this video actually made me want to go on my cruise more, we're on Bellissima in May 2019. I love Royal they are great ships. I do find that you feel (at least thats how they make it out to be) more luxurious for less, on MSC than what you would pay on Royal in Europe at least. We got the Fantastica package, according to the deck plans we got upgraded to a balcony and it was under $500 pp for a 7-night cruise. They are stricter with clothing which I like as I hate when people come into the MDR on a formal night in beach clothes. Its one of my pet peeves and this is one reason I hated NCL. This ad really made me think it was more of a luxury ship. There were a few names there that we are already following and it is actually a cool way to do it in my opinion. I mentioned this on another thread how they had much more options and better prices for Meditranion than Royal and they are more well known there. I see it like how many of us here would pick royal first over other brands, this ship is intended to do the same for Europeans that already love MSC.

I will be able to compare the 2 next year and decide if I would ever do it again or not.

[DocLC]

2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Now that's interesting, as one of Jimzim's complaints was that on Seaside, the dining room (and I assume buffet) was not particularly helpful with his wife, who required a gluten-free menu. Different ship, I know, and Meraviglia has been in service a few months longer than Seaside, but one would think that if they had managed to nail that down on the second-newest ship that they'd have figured out how to apply it to the newest one earlier on.

The buffet was difficult to navigate with a gluten allergy, but they did have gluten free bread available. In the dining room, however, they had a dedicated gluten-free menu for all meals, so there was no need to order ahead. They also had gluten-free bread, pastries, and muffins. 

One of the reasons we cancelled the Seaside is because MSC has a very hard time getting their new ships up to par based on reviews of the Meraviglia. 

[melski94]

On 2/5/2018 at 8:34 PM, Sabrinaklai said:

 

The reviews have been steadily improving. I know I'm a bit of a cruise snob but still feel that YC is the way to go.  Not sure if many of you have followed Jim Zimmerlin (jimzim) at all online or YouTube (logical, clear headed guy, @twangster type reviews) but he just wrote the most in-depth review of his experience on the Seaside. Google him, he's not a TA, has great reviews of a few RC ships too (Allure, Anthem, Harmony, liberty...).  After spending a good part of Sunday afternoon combing through it, I feel even better with our YC choice. However, I also realize from Jim and many other reviews I've read, it's not going to be like RC. But I am willing to go with an open mind and check out the competition ?

 

I just read his review and want to read his review of Liberty next having been on that ship. Just makes me realize how these reviews have to be taken with a grain of salt.  I know food is very subjective but reading where and what he eats in ports makes me realize that I would never take his food recommendations. I'll probably read the Harmony review just to know what he likes so I know what to stay away from!

Now the media file does make me want to try it but as I look at family friendly vacations this isn't going to be the ship for us. The more competition the better for us all ideally.  That being said I think I found a good thing for my family with RC so I'm unwilling to try something new. Our vacation time is precious and I'd hate to spend the time and money on something that we may or may not like. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

2 minutes ago, melski94 said:

I just read his review and want to read his review of Liberty next having been on that ship. Just makes me realize how these reviews have to be taken with a grain of salt.  I know food is very subjective but reading where and what he eats in ports makes me realize that I would never take his food recommendations. I'll probably read the Harmony review just to know what he likes so I know what to stay away from!

Now the media file does make me want to try it but as I look at family friendly vacations this isn't going to be the ship for us. The more competition the better for us all ideally.  That being said I think I found a good thing for my family with RC so I'm unwilling to try something new. Our vacation time is precious and I'd hate to spend the time and money on something that we may or may not like. 

I've read all his reviews on the RCI ships and they are great.  So detailed and informative. However, I never take his food recommendations because they are not MDR people.  They like buffets only.  And we are the opposite.  But otherwise, he's great.

[LetsTryThisPlace]

5 minutes ago, melski94 said:

I know food is very subjective but reading where and what he eats in ports makes me realize that I would never take his food recommendations.

That's the biggest issue with food reviews. Unless they explain the flavour in detail it's really subjective and may be influenced by things like where they are from and what they tend to eat, to begin with. If they compared it to something referenceable it might be better.

[JLMoran]

11 minutes ago, LetsTryThisTech said:

20 minutes ago, melski94 said:

I know food is very subjective but reading where and what he eats in ports makes me realize that I would never take his food recommendations.

That's the biggest issue with food reviews. Unless they explain the flavour in detail it's really subjective and may be influenced by things like where they are from and what they tend to eat, to begin with. If they compared it to something referenceable it might be better.

I definitely have to agree, this is my only issue with his reviews. Look at his commentary about the salting of the food on Seaside, and how he found everything highly under-salted, then an Italian passenger complained that the tomato soup was far too salty -- and he found it exactly right!

For me, this would be an indication that food on Seaside might actually be quite enjoyable for me. Why? Because for years as a teen, due to my dad having developed high blood pressure, I had to learn to deal with salt-free / low-salt cooking, and I've stuck with that my whole adult life. I now find typical American diner and chain restaurant food to be so heavily over-salted that I end up not eating those things again (or being ready to drink an absolute ton of water to flush it out fast).

It also warns me that I should expect the food on RC to maybe be a good bit more salted than I might care for, but at least I know I can then speak to the dining staff and ask them to please prepare my meals with less salt going forward.

[Lovetocruise2002]

4 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

I definitely have to agree, this is my only issue with his reviews. Look at his commentary about the salting of the food on Seaside, and how he found everything highly under-salted, then an Italian passenger complained that the tomato soup was far too salty -- and he found it exactly right!

For me, this would be an indication that food on Seaside might actually be quite enjoyable for me.

Agree totally on this.  At home we add salt to nothing.  Our meals are fairly bland.  I don't even cook with salt so I think that works well for me.

FWIW, I don't recall on any RCI cruise finding anything overly salty.  It is still way more sodium that we are use to on a regular basis but nothing that we had to complain or send back.

[melski94]

55 minutes ago, LetsTryThisTech said:

That's the biggest issue with food reviews. Unless they explain the flavour in detail it's really subjective and may be influenced by things like where they are from and what they tend to eat, to begin with. If they compared it to something referenceable it might be better.

I do agree and I do appreciate his reference to salt.  We also eat a fairly low sodium diet so I would probably like the food on MSC.  

He says they went to Senor Frogs while in Cozumel and Hard Rock...once again this is a huge indicator on type of food he likes.  I personally chose to stay away from chain restaurants and I would probably go wherever Matt went in Cozumel as that is more to my taste.  

[Guest toodle68]

Since I am neither young, attractive.. or hip, cool, or fashion aware, it is obvious I would either not fit in on this cruise or would be rejected at the gate..  

When did blogging become a profession?

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, toodle68 said:

Since I am neither young, attractive.. or hip, cool, or fashion aware, it is obvious I would either not fit in on this cruise or would be rejected at the gate..  

When did blogging become a profession?

A few years back, we had a classroom discussion on what profession might interest students.  One student said, "Miss, I want to be a YouTuber.  Those guys make millions!"  I was apparently the only one who did not know what that meant at the time.  This is where society is heading...where bloggers and YouTubers are professions ?

[LetsTryThisPlace]

22 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

A few years back, we had a classroom discussion on what profession might interest students.  One student said, "Miss, I want to be a YouTuber.  Those guys make millions!"  I was apparently the only one who did not know what that meant at the time.  This is where society is heading...where bloggers and YouTubers are professions ?

The thing with youtubing/blogging is that to make any money you need to do a lot to get there. I honestly think to make money it takes more work than an actual job, to be honest. I've started a little blogging on the side and if I didn't enjoy it I don't think it would be worth it. 

[twangster]

1 minute ago, LetsTryThisTech said:

The thing with youtubing/blogging is that to make any money you need to do a lot to get there. I honestly think to make money it takes more work than an actual job, to be honest. I've started a little blogging on the side and if I didn't enjoy it I don't think it would be worth it. 

It's also quite fickle.  You can be hot one day and nobody the next.  It takes a while to build it up but one wrong word and its all lost overnight.  

[WAAAYTOOO]

Ok...here is where I fully expose my ignorance and lack of hip-ness.

How does anyone make any money doing YouTubes or blogs ?  I have never paid for a YouTube video or a blog; granted I have only watched/listened a dozen of them in my life...but they are all free, that I know of, anyway.  Is it a "sponsor" kind of thing ?  I guess I had the same question about Yahoo and Google a few years back.  I was scratching my head.  How in the hell did they ever get to be worth so much money when they give their service away for free ?!  I guess it's advertising ?

[KLA]

12 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Ok...here is where I fully expose my ignorance and lack of hip-ness.

How does anyone make any money doing YouTubes or blogs ?  I have never paid for a YouTube video or a blog; granted I have only watched/listened a dozen of them in my life...but they are all free, that I know of, anyway.  Is it a "sponsor" kind of thing ?  I guess I had the same question about Yahoo and Google a few years back.  I was scratching my head.  How in the hell did they ever get to be worth so much money when they give their service away for free ?!  I guess it's advertising ?

You got it - it's ad revenue. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Ok...here is where I fully expose my ignorance and lack of hip-ness.

Raye, don't feel bad.  I didn't know what a "YouTuber" was until a few years back and it was explained to me by kids less than half my age! 

[LetsTryThisPlace]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I guess it's advertising ?

This is the biggest component. Have you ever noticed on a YouTube video you have the little ad at the bottom or the video is delayed by an ad? Those are the ads that goes back to the ones who upload the videos. Some other things may be sponsored. Another way like how Matt can run this site is something like Patreon or a storefront like Spreadshirt. When you support them through those sites you help keep them producing good content. There are other ways like Amazon links that when you click it they get a small % back for the recommendation. 

[DocLC]

Not just ad revenue, though. If you get enough subscribers and viewers, sponsors come along to have you pimp their products. There are some well-established channels where some are making millions of dollars per year. While this isn't the norm, I think this is what everyone is striving for much like wanting to play professional sports.

[Lindsay]

What is an influencer?

• An influencer is an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his/her audience.
• An individual who has a following in a particular niche, which they actively engage with. The size of the following depends on the size of the niche.

[JLMoran]

2 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

What is an influencer?

• An influencer is an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his/her audience.
• An individual who has a following in a particular niche, which they actively engage with. The size of the following depends on the size of the niche.

Well, yeah, I kind of figured that was a part of it. But how the heck does someone actually make that their profession and earn a living off of that? I mean, I'm an "influencer" among my friends and family when it comes to tech and home theater gear, but there's no way I could give up my day job for that. If the people buying the stuff he recommends are the ones paying him, then isn't he an advisor or a freelancer? If it's companies paying him to review and then push their merch on his followers, why would his followers trust his word on the matter with the obvious conflict of interest?

"Show me the money!!!!!"

[LetsTryThisPlace]

10 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

I mean, I'm an "influencer" among my friends and family when it comes to tech and home theater gear, but there's no way I could give up my day job for that. If the people buying the stuff he recommends are the ones paying him, then isn't he an advisor or a freelancer? If it's companies paying him to review and then push their merch on his followers, why would his followers trust his word on the matter with the obvious conflict of interest?

"Show me the money!!!!!"

I guess I would be an "influencer" by definition and so would anyone who works sales. This the part that is the grey area and really depends on the real honesty of the person. Some work just off YouTube/Patreon/ other support network, where as others have sponsor who they advertise for on their network (not directly connected to item being influenced). Now you do have those who aren't honest and are paid by the companies and normally those you can spot. Now there is a difference between being paid to influence then getting a sample to try in hopes you like it. I am hoping this is what MSC did, tell a bunch of them "hey, come on our ship free of charge and we hope you review and hope you enjoy." Now getting into influencing is a whole nother story.

[Lindsay]

LOL!!!!  Right?  I guess it's like people who have the profession of "Life Coach".  

 

 

[cruiselife]

Social Media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have become the main source for younger generations to absorb content. I am looking into buying a new video camera to capture footage of my vacations and I didn't even consider going to a Best Buy or to their website at all. Instead the first thing I thought to do was go to YouTube and search videos of people reviewing the video cameras I was looking for. The people in the videos were professional photographers and/or die hard enthusiasts and demonstrated everything the camera could do in detail with examples of picture quality, etc. I was able to get knowledgeable insight about the product instantly that no high school kid working weekends at Best Buy would ever be able to give me. 

A company might pay millions to have their commercial air during a huge television event and just hope that their target market sees the ad. With influencers they can pay much less, or even just send their product, to an influencer who already has millions of followers that fit right into their target market. MSC didn't invite the influencers on the boat and hope that people would see all of the influencers in this particular video. Rather they invited them so that the influencers could create and post their own videos to their own social media sites with millions of followers who may have never even thought about or been exposed to cruising before. In terms of how they make money there are tons of different ways for them to do it, but none of them are easy and it is definitely still work to get there. A lot of influencers were famous before they became "influencers" and found a way to capitalize on their following. Royal Caribbean's "adventurist" Shay Mitchell is a great example of this.

 

[michelle]

On ‎2‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 11:39 AM, DocLC said:

The buffet was difficult to navigate with a gluten allergy, but they did have gluten free bread available. In the dining room, however, they had a dedicated gluten-free menu for all meals, so there was no need to order ahead. They also had gluten-free bread, pastries, and muffins. 

One of the reasons we cancelled the Seaside is because MSC has a very hard time getting their new ships up to par based on reviews of the Meraviglia. 

Just had clients sail with MSC Seaside last week and they liked the food overall, but said service was not the same and the staff seemed to be annoyed with all questions they asked, no towel animals in room so the kids were bummed but they said the Ship was beautiful.  Staterooms (they had a balcony) were a little smaller.  They like Disney and RCI better

[Rose City Cruiser]

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 1:26 PM, JLMoran said:

Well, yeah, I kind of figured that was a part of it. But how the heck does someone actually make that their profession and earn a living off of that? I mean, I'm an "influencer" among my friends and family when it comes to tech and home theater gear, but there's no way I could give up my day job for that. If the people buying the stuff he recommends are the ones paying him, then isn't he an advisor or a freelancer? If it's companies paying him to review and then push their merch on his followers, why would his followers trust his word on the matter with the obvious conflict of interest?

"Show me the money!!!!!"

I believe you must have a least 1,000 subscribers to your YouTube channel to even get a "piece of the pie" in terms of ad revenue.  The creator gets paid on a per-click basis or if the viewer watches the entire ad.  So when you press "Skid Ad" button, the creator gets $0.  There are some YouTube creators that have over 1 million subs.  They are raking in over 6 figures in revenue.  Those creators have an entire production and video-editing team.