500 episodes listed below
Cruise news with deck-level detail.
Cruise Radio pairs cruise news with detailed trip reports from people who just got off the ship. It covers cabins, food, ports, pricing, service, onboard quirks, and the travel decisions that matter before booking.
PRESS PLAY
Cruise Radio is a long-running cruise travel show with a simple working rhythm: current cruise news first, then a detailed review from someone close to the sailing. It is brisk. It does not linger on polish when there is a useful detail to get to. Recent episodes move from Carnival lawsuit news and Royal Caribbean passenger-behavior stories into conversations about Liberty of the Seas, Carnival Radiance, Star Princess, Norwegian Joy, Celebrity Infinity, Carnival Mardi Gras, Queen Mary 2, and Star of the Seas. The show is especially good at turning a vacation report into a planning file. A guest might start with airfare, birthday timing, or a red-eye into New York, then end up explaining balcony pricing, embarkation choices, and what changed as the sailing date got closer. Another review spends time on the Queen Mary as a hotel, including the charm of walking the decks and the practical drawback of not controlling room temperature. That mix is the point. Cruise Radio cares about the romance of ships, but it also cares about the breakfast line. Food gets treated as more than a list of venues, with comments on buffet quality, complimentary dining, late-night wings, carrot cake, tiramisu, specialty restaurants, and where a second dining room may have no wait. Cabins get the same treatment. The Star Princess review notices marble-look bathrooms, a glass shower door, hot water, storage, lighting, and the cabana-style indoor-outdoor space. Spa talk is equally grounded, from Carnival Mardi Gras thermal-suite relaxation to the familiar hard upsell after a massage. The news segments keep the show connected to the broader industry, with staff writer Richard Sims appearing for cruise headlines and context. There are also interview-style moments, including a conversation with Richard Fain about Royal Caribbean Group and his book Delivering the Wow. The result is not a generic travel fantasy. It is a practical, conversational cruise companion for people who want the deal, the deck-level experience, and the thing nobody mentions until after final payment.
Made for: Cruise Radio is for active cruisers, cruise planners, and travel-deal hunters who want recent ship reviews before choosing an itinerary. It also fits listeners who enjoy cruise industry news but still care most about cabins, dining, ports, and onboard value.
What sets it apart: The show pairs headline-driven cruise news with unusually specific post-sailing reports. Instead of stopping at whether a ship was good, it tracks the booking logic, pre-cruise travel, dining tradeoffs, cabin details, spa pressure, and small decisions that shape the trip.
Doug Parker gives weekly cruise news, ship reviews, money saving tips, answers your travel questions, and helps you make the most of your cruise vacation.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Doug Parker turns ship reviews into decision-ready guidance by asking how cabins, meals, crowds, ports, and onboard extras work in practice.
Cruise Radio turns a sailing into a practical inspection, pairing cruise news with traveler accounts of specific ships and itineraries. Doug Parker keeps those reviews moving through concrete questions about booking prices, cabins, dining, embarkation, crowds, spa facilities,…
A glass shower door gets airtime here, because your cabin choice should survive contact with reality.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A bargain balcony and a birthday detour anchor a practical Liberty of the Seas discussion.
Cruise Radio puts Liberty of the Seas at the center, and the sailing detail does the most work. A nine-night Bayonne trip to Canada and New England, booked in 2022 as a guaranteed balcony for about $700, becomes a useful reminder of how quickly cruise pricing can climb,…
A Queen Mary stay gives Cruise Radio ship history, room-level practicalities, and a grounded reason to wander aboard.
Cruise Radio frames this single-episode review around a Queen Mary stay, with Doug Parker first teeing up a Carnival Radiance review and Cruise News with staff writer Richard Sims.
A close look at a cabana cabin that turns storage, lighting, and balcony space into the main story.
Doug Parker keeps the episode tightly centered on the cabana cabin, and that narrow focus works because the room has enough detail to carry it.
Norwegian Joy's dining rooms get a practical test after cruise news leads with a prank aboard Oasis of the Seas.
Cruise Radio opens with a busy cruise-news segment before settling into a practical look at Norwegian Joy, so the episode works as both a quick incident recap and a dining-focused ship review.
A calm sea-day review where easy loungers and a hard spa upsell define Carnival Mardi Gras downtime.
A Carnival Mardi Gras sailing turns into a clear read on how the ship feels between port stops. Mia, a bed-and-breakfast owner in the Finger Lakes region, explains why summer and fall are tough times to get away, then walks through an Eastern Caribbean trip from Port Canaveral…
A grounded Celebration Key check-in where good ribs come with less simple pricing.
Celebration Key gets a practical second look as Doug Parker returns after the July 19 grand opening to see how the port feels with guests on the ground and to collect more photos and video.
A practical cruise-news episode built around Port Canaveral logistics and Nicholas's nine-night Voyager sailing.
Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas anchors a Cruise Radio episode that moves cleanly from cruise-line rumor control into the practical realities of Port Canaveral, then closes with Nicholas's nine-night Voyager sailing.
Deep Disney parks talk, right down to the signage.
Real family routes, practical travel stories.
Everyday curiosities, explained with a sideways grin.
Doug Parker interviews staff writer Richard Sims about Carnival Cruise Line's new private destination, Celebration Key in the Bahamas.
This episode reviews the Star Princess 2026 Eastern Caribbean cruise and shares Princess Cruises news.
This episode of Cruise Radio covers weekly cruise news and a ship review.
Doug Parker opens with a travel-insurance note, then shifts into a review of Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas and a nine-night Canada and New England sailing.
This episode of Cruise Radio features a review of Carnival Radiance and covers a disturbing cruise news story about a passenger arrested for hiding a video camera pen in a ship's bathroom.
Doug Parker opens from Jacksonville, Florida.
This episode of Cruise Radio features a review of Norwegian Joy's Western Caribbean itinerary and discusses a recent man-overboard prank incident on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.
Andrea shares her experience on a 10-night Celebrity Infinity cruise to Greece, discussing pre-cruise thoughts, the ship's recent technical issues, and why she chose this off-season trip.
Grand Turk whale watching put Mia beside a mom, a calf, and two marine biologists.
Rick discusses his recent transatlantic cruise experience on Cunard's Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to New York City, including changes in crossing duration.
This episode features an interview with Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain discussing his new book 'Delivering the Wow' and the corporate culture that transformed the cruise line into a global brand.
This episode features an interview with Frederick about his 14-night Norwegian Sun cruise from Honolulu to Tahiti, discussing his experience and pre-cruise preparations.
This episode features an interview with Rick about his 14-night transatlantic cruise on Holland America's Osterdam from Port Everglades to Barcelona, including discussions on travel insurance during hurricane season.