Cruise Like a Pro: Insider Tips from Royal Caribbean's Vicki Freed

Join us for an insider's look at cruising with Royal Caribbean's Vicki Freed! We discuss her travel must-haves, Perfect Day at CocoCay, and the brand's latest innovations. Hear about Royal Caribbean's commitment to the environment and get Vicki's tips for stress-free travel. Plus, we break down the latest airline mileage changes and share hot deals on business-class flights. Don't miss this information-packed episode – your next vacation awaits!

Introduction and Guest Welcome

Mike Putman: Welcome to No Tourists Allowed, a podcast where two recognized travel industry executives with a combined 71 years on the inside of travel and technology give up their secrets to the thing everyone wants to do. Travel better, pay less, and see more of the world. Here are your hosts, Mike Putman and James Ferrara. Good day, everyone. I'm Mike Putman.

James Ferrara: And I'm James Ferrara. Welcome to No Tourists Allowed. Mike, we have a very special guest this week. We’ve got a lot to talk about today, but we're going to jump right in with our special guest because she is a busy lady. She's a legend in her own time. If I do the math correctly, I'll say that while you and I have a combined 71 years in the industry, our guest today puts us over a hundred. She is the Senior Vice President of Sales, Trade Support, and Service at Royal Caribbean International. I know our audience knows that brand very well. That person is not only an industry legend but a longtime friend and colleague of ours, Vicki Freed. Welcome, Vicki Freed, to our podcast.

Vicki Freed: Well, thank you, James. Thank you, Mike.

Rapid-Fire Travel Questions

James Ferrara: Thank you for taking the time with us, Vicki. We know how busy you are. You are really the face of this world-famous brand to the travel agency community and also just to the industry in general. There's so much we want to talk to you about, but you are also personally quite a frequent traveler, one imagines. I know Mike would love to jump in with his usual rapid-fire questions for our frequent traveler guests.

Mike Putman: It really is an honor to have Vicki. She has been a leader in the cruise space specifically for quite some time and has been a true friend of the travel agency distribution arm. We're really appreciative to have Vicki on today. Now that I've got you buttered up, Vicki, I’ve got to ask you some tough questions. No, these are not tough; these are just standard questions. I'm going to ask you real quickly—we call them rapid-fire questions. If you can just give us a short answer, we've got about five or six of these. This is just so that our listeners can learn a little bit more about how you travel and what your likes and dislikes are. I'll start off with: what is your favorite hotel brand or an individual property, and why are you attracted to that brand or property?

Vicki Freed: Okay, Mike, I'm going to cheat on this answer and I'm going to tell you my favorite brand, of course, is Royal Caribbean because we are sort of a hotel at sea. But I will say that I probably favor the Marriott brands if I had to pick one particular brand because they have a variety of different properties and different brands within their segment. I can always find a brand within the Marriott Corporation that I enjoy.

Mike Putman: And they do have a great loyalty program across all of those brands, right? It makes it a great choice. They have really hooked me in. I've actually procured two credit cards for the sole purpose of getting this elevated experience with Marriott. So yes, their loyalty program is truly great. All right, so next question: what is your favorite destination, and do you have a recommendation in that destination, like an activity or maybe a favorite restaurant that you've been to there?

Vicki Freed: It's interesting that you're asking me this question because I was just in the hallway talking to a colleague and he said, "Next week I'm going to Turkey." I said, "Oh, Turkey is my absolute favorite destination." I love Istanbul. I like to sightsee and I like to have great food. I would tell you all of the above really fits Istanbul. There is a lot of history there and I do enjoy it as a destination. As far as properties go, there are so many beautiful properties there. There are a lot of five-star properties and I've seen a variety of them. It's all good when you go to Istanbul.

Mike Putman: Now you're making me want to go get Turkish food tonight. I love Turkish food. So Vicki, this one may hit close to home. What is your favorite shore experience you've ever been on?

Vicki Freed: Well, I'd have to say it's Perfect Day at CocoCay because there's so much to do. You can go to the chill side, you can go to the thrill side, you can go up on the slides, you can do the zipline, and now, of course, Hideaway Beach. That is truly my favorite spot now. It's an adults-only area. It's beautiful. The over-the-water cabanas are stunning. It's really my favorite destination.

Mike Putman: Yes, it is a special place for sure. And when you fly, are you an aisle person or a window person?

Vicki Freed: Window.

Mike Putman: Me as well. I think that makes a lot of sense. And do you carry on or do you check your luggage?

Vicki Freed: That's interesting you're asking that question because I'm going to Manila next week and it's for six days and I'm definitely going to carry on. I'm going to visit our call centers there. I was talking to my colleague who's a guy, and usually, men can do carry-on because it's so easy—wear a sport coat, slacks, and change your shirt every day. I said to him, "John, I hope that you're bringing carry-on because I'm not waiting for you in baggage claim." And he's doing carry-on.

Mike Putman: I can't believe that you can do carry-on for a six-day trip.

Vicki Freed: You have to be careful on the shoes and the makeup. Makeup has to be very condensed and the shoes have to be very simple; they really have to match every outfit.

Mike Putman: For men, I wear a size twelve shoe. If I bring three or four pairs of shoes, I need a bag just for my shoes. I can't carry on; it's just not in my DNA.

James Ferrara: Absolutely. I'm in the same boat with you, pardon the pun, Vicki.

Vicki Freed: And we don't call them boats; we call them ships.

The Royal Caribbean Brand and Innovative Vessels

James Ferrara: Well, let's talk about that actually, Mike. Thank you for the little peek into who Vicki is. An important part of who Vicki is, of course, is this brand that she leads. I think just for our listeners, I'm sure everyone is familiar with the brand, but help us position it. What should we think of when we think of Royal Caribbean?

Vicki Freed: Royal Caribbean is the largest cruise brand in the world. It's an exciting brand, it's an innovative brand. We build magnificent ships that really are not "Me Too" products. Look at the ships that we built. It really started with the Voyager class, then it upgraded to the Freedom class, then from there we went to the Oasis class, and now we have the Icon of the Seas, which is a new class of ship. It is really the way in which we design and dream about what could be and what is. We start with a blank piece of paper. We don't go out necessarily to build the largest cruise ship in the world. We just want the cruise ship that has the most bells and whistles and the excitement for guests. To describe Royal Caribbean as a brand in a quick soundbite: it's that unique combination of quality and energy combined. There are a lot of brands out there that are quality brands, and we own several of them, like Celebrity Cruises and Silversea. There are other brands out there that have energy, but nobody has that unique combination of quality and energy combined. We have the quality aspect of the cruise, but we also have all the energy that goes on board the ships with the ship's design, the entertainment, the music, the food, the choices, and the accommodations. It really is the complete package.

James Ferrara: I had the pleasure of being on Icon of the Seas with you recently. Everyone talks about it being the largest ship in the world, and I get that, but that's really not what the ship is about. That's not what the experience is about. I was amazed that the public spaces were so spacious and I never felt crowded. Every elevator that opened was empty. It was close to a full sailing, so I felt it's not about the size.

Vicki Freed: The good thing about the size is that it allows the ship to contain so much to do. It was the first time that I ever felt that I was on a cruise ship for a week and might not be able to do all of the things that there are to do in that week.

James Ferrara: In that sense, it's like going to one of the big famous theme parks and giving up on the idea that you're going to do everything in a day or two. There was just so much for so many different types of guests, including luxury dining experiences and quiet adults-only experiences. I reported about it here, Vicki, on a prior podcast, so I won't take up the time, but it was really an amazing experience. It's just one of the experiences you can have through Royal Caribbean. You mentioned Perfect Day as your favorite excursion. This is Perfect Day at CocoCay, everybody, and it is a private island owned by Royal Caribbean that has been developed into a destination all its own. You mentioned the ziplining and some of the beaches and activities. For me, it was the private restaurant at Coco Beach.

Vicki Freed: That's a luxury experience because there you can have your lobster, you're overlooking the beautiful ocean, you have the infinity pool, and the over-the-water cabanas. You just have so many options and it is a really beautiful place to just chill and relax and have a wonderful meal.

James Ferrara: It has become important in the experience that Royal Caribbean offers. This idea of a private island is where the company controls the quality of the experience. That is different than taking people to a port somewhere where they are off on their own in a sense, or it's not something that the brand has control over. Is that why private islands are important?

Vicki Freed: Private islands for us are very important. If you look at Perfect Day at CocoCay, with the hundreds and hundreds of ports that we call on throughout the year because we are a global company, it is the number one rated port of call. People love it. They do like the experience. We make sure that it is a beautiful experience whether you want lots to do or just sit on the beach. We have over a hundred lifeguards that do nothing but watch for the safety of all of our guests because we have the wave pool, the water slides, and so many water attractions. We really pride ourselves on what we offer with Perfect Day at CocoCay. We're in the process of developing the Royal Beach Club, which is going to be in the Bahamas in 2025. That will start service and then we're talking about other Perfect Days, so more to come.

Authentic Travel and Onboard Atmosphere

Mike Putman: So CocoCay is a really interesting place, but how do you find a real purpose when you're on a cruise? How do you find the authentic part of travel? Not the t-shirt shops and the piña coladas, but how do you find real things when you're traveling on a cruise?

Vicki Freed: The ships are really designed to fit your needs and to fit what you're looking for in an experience. If you love entertainment, you are going to have so many options. You're going to have the Broadway productions—on Icon of the Seas, we have the Wizard of Oz, which is spectacular. Or if you like dual pianos, a music hall, or maybe a jazz band, there are so many options for entertainment, including comedy shows. Whatever your authentic experience is, what you want becomes what we can offer you. If you're a foodie, we have food venues. You were talking about luxury dining before, James. We have the Empire Supper Club, which is really a throwback to the twenties. It is a beautiful dinner experience that's curated for thirty-eight people an evening. It is very special. There's a three-piece band where you have a singer and two people on instruments, and it's just a lovely dinner experience. But then you might want to be dining with the family at Giovanni's, which is an Italian restaurant, or at our steakhouse, Chops Grille, which is at our Central Park neighborhood. We have so many different activities. We have seven pools aboard Icon of the Seas, for example—a pool for every day of the cruise. If you want that suite experience, Decks 17 and 18 are dedicated to you. We have our own private suite restaurant, Coastal Kitchen, just for the suite guests. We have beautiful two-story suites with the loft upstairs for the bedroom and the living room area downstairs. You have beautiful views of the ocean. There's so much to offer that can make your experience very authentic to you.

James Ferrara: That's a really great answer, Vicki, and true in so many ways. When we ask about sense of place, we're typically thinking of arrived in Jamaica and wondering what the sense of place of Jamaica is. But in a cruise like this, the place is really the ship, and then you also have the ports as places. To your answer, you and I had dinner sitting on the outdoor area of Chops Grille. Imagine this: we're surrounded by trees and walkways and twinkling lights. There's a beautiful balmy breeze coming through this open area of the ship, open to the sky. There was a jazz guitarist playing and that music was wafting down the pathway through the trees. It was a magical moment. We had this beautiful sense of place at that moment. Or having dinner in Coastal Kitchen with a beautiful duck entree. There are a hundred places on board that ship with a sense of place.

Vicki Freed: If you look at entertainment, for example, we're the only cruise brand that offers entertainment across four different stages. Of course, the main theater, and many cruise lines have main theater shows. Then we have the aerial things that happen in the air. If you saw the Wizard of Oz, you saw the bed flying in the air and you saw so many beautiful acrobatic performers. Then we have the ice shows which are spectacular, and the ice shows are on many of our ships. We also have the aqua theater shows which is the AquaDome on the Icon of the Seas. On the Oasis class, it's the AquaTheater, where they have divers and really beautiful stories. It's sort of like at the Bellagio Hotel where you have "O." That was really the concept when we started building the Oasis ships—to have an aqua theater show that just brings you into a different place.

Mike Putman: I was lucky enough as a child to grow up sailing on Royal Caribbean back in the days of the Song of Norway, the Sun Viking, and the Nordic Prince. The one thing that really impressed me about Royal was the quality from ship to ship. Even at that early stage in the cruise industry, there was a great deal of consistency, a high-level product, and fabulous service. I know that that holds true today, which is really a landmark of Royal Caribbean's brand.

Vicki Freed: We've always had a belief: if you treat the crew right, the crew treats our guests right. We put a lot of emphasis on the crew and their accommodations. They have their own neighborhood with their own Windjammer and wonderful cuisines from all around the world. They have their own gym, their own crew bar, and crew lounge. We try to make it as comfortable for them because then it all works out beautifully.

Environmental Stewardship and Travel Hacks

Mike Putman: Take good care of your staff, and they take good care of everybody else. There's been a lot of talk about cruise lines and the environment. Do you have any thoughts about things Royal Caribbean is doing to improve that?

Vicki Freed: A hundred percent. The ocean is our life, so we have to take care of the ocean. Every day we're talking about what we’re going to do to make sure that we are a good citizen of the ocean. Our new ships have LNG, which is a different fuel technology that is better than the old ways of doing things. Even as we build bigger ships, they're actually more efficient and we have ways that we're reducing our carbon footprint. We're paying a lot of attention to this because we want to be the leaders in this area.

James Ferrara: I think that our listeners and travelers in general need to know more about that. If you go to the Royal Caribbean website, there's an area that talks about what Royal does. I don't think travelers are aware enough of the millions and millions of dollars spent by Royal and by your colleagues in the industry to protect the oceans, protect animal life, and give back to the communities that we sail to. We are often unfairly scapegoated in the cruise industry by the media who love a great headline. During the pandemic, the media tried to blame cruise lines or say that it was somehow more risky to be on a cruise. Now we know that's not true. The industry has come through the pandemic with flying colors. I was interviewed a couple of times on television and got some attention for saying that a cruise was actually safer than a hotel room or an Uber ride. Cruise lines have always paid more attention to cleanliness and sanitation than anyone else. This is another area where people just need to be educated. Go out there and educate yourselves; you will feel good about taking a cruise vacation as it relates to environmental responsibility.

Mike Putman: Vicki, are there any ideas or travel hacks that you've found while you're traveling to make your life or your travel experience easier through an airport, on a cruise ship, or at a hotel?

Vicki Freed: Always check your passport. I have TSA PreCheck. I also have Clear. I try to find the fastest way to maneuver through an airport. One of my little secrets is that I like a bar of soap. When you go to hotels nowadays, they only have liquid soap. And there are hardly any washcloths anywhere. In Europe, you can forget about having a washcloth, but even in the US, there are very few hotels providing washcloths.

James Ferrara: I checked into a very nice hotel recently that shall remain nameless, and I opened up the hand towel and there was a hole the size of a baseball in the middle of it. But Vicki, I don't think we've heard the bar of soap before. That's a great one.

Vicki Freed: Absolutely.

James Ferrara: Well, listen, we want to thank you very much for being with us. I know our listeners found a lot of good advice here and a lot to be interested in. Thank you for taking the time; it's great to see you.

Vicki Freed: Thank you, James. Thank you, Mike. It's been a pleasure to be on your show.

James Ferrara: You're welcome back anytime.

Mike Putman: Thank you so much, Vicki. That was a lot of fun talking to Vicki. Many memories with her in the past. What an icon in the industry to have on No Tourists Allowed.

Giveaway Announcement and Industry News

James Ferrara: Yes, sir. And we have a great giveaway that we are putting together for one lucky winner and a guest of their choice. We've got a fabulous vacation giveaway and the rules will be shared with you, our listeners, next week as we put the final touches on this promotion. Stay tuned and listen to the podcast next week. Go to the website, notouristsallowed.com, and you'll find more information there. This is going to be a season-long giveaway. One of our lucky winners will win a fabulous trip for two.

Mike Putman: On to the news. There are a couple of things that are newsworthy this week, James, I wanted to share with our listeners. One has to do with a new policy that American Airlines actually just announced today. This new policy is a little bit predatory towards some other distribution channels.

James Ferrara: Oh, an airline being predatory and unfair? How could this be, Mike?

Mike Putman: Things are getting tougher and tougher in this space. I think it has to do with these airlines having their own space. If you live in Dallas, you're going to fly American or Southwest because that's who has the nonstop flights. If you live in Atlanta, you're going to fly Delta. You don't have much of a choice. It's not a true monopoly, but if you had Bill Gates' money, you could not start a competitive airline tomorrow because there are restrictive things that the government has in place—landing slots, approvals, etcetera—that prohibit what I call free trade. Here is what American has done. They've come out with a policy choking the distribution. They are now taking into consideration where you buy your airline tickets. Today they announced that you will only earn miles and loyalty points on American Airlines when you book directly with American or their other eligible partner airlines. They are part of Oneworld, so I'm assuming it's those airlines. The reason they do that is it makes their cost to distribution lower and they have more control over somebody going to American to buy a ticket rather than going to a travel agent. If you go to a travel agent, they may tell you about a less expensive flight on Delta or Frontier. The second condition is if you are an AAdvantage Business member or you are a contracted corporate traveler. If you have a contract with American or you're part of their AAdvantage Business program, then you can get loyalty points and mileage. The third category is if you book through their preferred travel agencies. There's not a lot of detail about this, but we're assuming that these preferred travel agencies are travel agencies who have their NDC content, which we've talked about before. A vast majority of smaller travel agencies are not going to be considered a preferred travel agency with American. Your choices, if you're an American flyer, are really limited. This is disappointing because right now they're rolling over into their new year of eligibility for elite status, which starts May 1st. People like myself have been working really hard trying to give American market share where it made sense. To find out right after you've achieved this status that now they're going to tell you where you have to buy your tickets if you want points is very disappointing. I think it is a really bad business decision.

James Ferrara: Let’s talk about what it means for our listeners and travelers. I think it's anti-competitive. It means that if American can force you to buy only through American, then American does not have to necessarily compete with pricing and availability in the same way they do now in an open marketplace. You go to a travel agent now or you go to a booking engine, and you've got all the available flights next to each other and you can compare schedules, pricing, and seating availability. The more information you have as a consumer, the more powerful you are. This is a move by the airline to make you more dependent on them.

Business Class Deals and Long-Haul Travel Tips

Mike Putman: I will tell you a use case for me personally. I had looked up a flight on American recently and found the flight that I wanted. I have American Express points, so I called American Express to convert points into dollars. I said I would like these flights, which should be four hundred dollars based on the American Airlines site. They said, "No, we don't have that price." It made me wonder because we've always had a level playing ground when it came to flight prices. I asked for a supervisor and someone at American Express said they don't have NDC content, so they’re not going to get the better pricing found on American. This has not happened before in the history of air travel. Frequent flyers, if you agree with me, you may want to share your opinion with American and let them know how you feel about it. On the good news side, a lot of the airlines have reduced business class trips to Europe and points beyond. In a recent move, many of the carriers have released very low-cost prices in business class from several points of interest. If you live in Phoenix, Orlando, Chicago, LA, New York, Dallas, Vegas, or Seattle, there are some exceptional deals. There are round-trip deals as low as six hundred dollars from Phoenix to Madrid in business class. This requires a 150-day advance purchase. You’ve got to be willing to plan well in advance, which negates most business travelers. You also have to stay at least fourteen days. But if you can do those things, these are tremendous prices. These prices are before taxes and fuel surcharges. To give you an idea, that ticket fully loaded with taxes and fees would be around twenty-three hundred dollars compared to about nine thousand dollars, which is the normal price for a business class ticket. There are lots of great deals to be had in business class if you can plan in advance and stay at least two weeks. If I was going to take advantage of a deal like this, I would find the fares and then try to move my travel schedule around so that I could fly and meet the requirements.

James Ferrara: I just got one of these fares myself on United to London. What was really interesting about it was that business class was only a couple of hundred dollars more than economy. Keep your eyes open, guys. It really pays to work with a professional travel advisor. If not, then you've got to do the work yourself, but you've got to search and look carefully to find some deals.

Mike Putman: There are also deals to India, Bangkok, and Singapore as well, and also to South America. Not quite as good, but still more than fifty percent off the fare. It’s a great opportunity for those who like to get in a lie-flat seat and relax on a long-haul trip.

James Ferrara: It isn't always what it's cracked up to be. It's a little bit like a coffin for me. The way they've designed these new seating configurations, half your body is in this hole and I get a little claustrophobic. It's also because I'm bigger than the normal person, so it feels a little constricting. It beats the old-fashioned seating, but I still have a hard time sleeping on a plane. Do you sleep on a plane, Mike?

Mike Putman: Absolutely. Even if I'm in economy, I'll sleep. But it's certainly much more comfortable sleeping in business class in a lie-flat seat. It seems hard to justify if you don't get one of these deals, but you're basically picking up a day of your life. If you fly over in coach, even if you sleep three or four hours, you feel like you've been run over by a train the next day. Business class doesn't solve that entirely, but it makes it a heck of a lot easier if you can get on the plane, have a quick meal, and get five or six hours of sleep. It makes for a different experience.

James Ferrara: I agree, but they wake you up for meals the whole time. I never put the "Do Not Disturb" sign because I don't want to miss a meal. But I don't think they have the meal times right. If I'm flying over to Europe, you should serve me breakfast when it's breakfast time where I'm going, right? They don't always get that right. Sometimes I find the meal times are very confused.

Mike Putman: One of the tips you can use is to ask for an express meal. When you board the plane, you can just say, "I'd like the express meal." They don't walk by you three times giving you an appetizer or a salad; they just bring it all at once and you eat, you're done, and then you can go to sleep. That's what I do. You can also pre-order what you like now, so you don't have to worry about them running out of anything. You can tell them in advance that you want the salmon or whatever it is.

Closing Remarks and Listener Engagement

James Ferrara: Okay Mike, well look, a lot of good stuff on this episode and a lot of value here for a traveler. And of course, our giveaway. We want you guys listening in and watching the website. We're going to give you different ways you can get multiple entries into the drawing to increase your chances for our free vacation giveaway.

Mike Putman: Absolutely. Well, thanks so much for listening, folks, and we look forward to coming to you next week. In the meanwhile, feel free to send any comments that you have to the No Tourists Allowed website, and we'll be happy to answer questions and maybe even talk about a topic that might be of interest to you on a future episode.

James Ferrara: Or even if you have a guest in mind that you think we should invite to talk with you, we'd be happy to do that too. Get on the website, correspond with us, and get interactive. Engagement makes this time we have together even more fun.

Mike Putman: Thank you so much for being with us, guys. Thank you for joining notouristsallowed.com. We'll see you next week.

James Ferrara: Thank you for listening to another episode of No Tourists Allowed. We'll see you next week for another episode. No Tourists Allowed is produced by Podcast Studio X.

END TRANSCRIPT