On December 17, 2023, I shared how excited I was that we hit our 2023 “wild stretch goal” of 2,500 YouTube subscribers! It was truly an accomplishment that exceeded our expectations and we were so humbled by all of the followers who have joined us in this cruise life of ours.
We were also excited to know that we still had a whole bunch of Carnival Jubilee content that we’d be putting out over the next two weeks as we sailed on her inaugural cruise out of Galveston… but we had no idea how big that sailing would be!
Carnival Jubilee Sets Records
During the week we were on board Carnival Jubilee, we broke all records. Number of views, number of watch hours, number of comments, number of likes, and, yes, number of subscribers!
On Friday, December 29, 2023, one day prior to the end of our Carnival Jubilee cruise, we crossed 3,000 YouTube Subscribers! I literally recorded a message the moment I saw the screen update to 3k – from the Cloud 9 Spa!!!
What a year!
It has truly been so much fun to bring our passion of cruising to life through our videos and content. It’s also been humbling to have people come up to us to let us know how our videos helped them. In fact, on Carnival Jubilee, I had this conversation:
Crew Member: Do you record YouTube Videos?
Me: (sheepishly) Yes, my partner and I have a little channel.
Crew Member: I work for Carnival, but I had never been on an Excel-class ship. I found your Jubilee video and watched the entire thing. It’s helped me out so much already this week. I watched all of your Jubilee videos to learn about the ship, and I work for the company!
My jaw dropped. To know that we are not only bringing the joy of cruise to other travelers, but that we might be even helping out crew members on the ships we talk about… that was a true “wow” moment for me.
What’s Next
Well, we’ve got quite the year ahead! The first half of the year is packed with some really exciting cruises!
- January: MSC Meraviglia Yacht Club Experience (9 days)
- January: Carnival Conquest Journeys sailing (14 days)
- February: Carnival Celebration (7 days)
- February: Margaritaville at Sea Paradise (2 days)
- March: Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady (7 days)
- April: Carnival Firenze Inaugural (7 days)
- May: Carnival Firenze Original Inaugural (5 days) and third sailing (5 days)
- June: Margaritaville at Sea Islander Inaugural (4 days)
If you’re tallying it up, yes, that is TWO MONTHS AT SEA over the next six months! And, based on some current deals we’re seeing, that might not be all of them!
2024 Goal
On December 17, 2023, I shared that our goal for 2024 was likely going to be 5,000 subscribers. Based on the love and support we’ve seen from the cruise community, we’re actually upping the ante and setting a stretch goal of 6,000 subscribers by the end of the year.
Of course, we will only be able to accomplish that goal with the support of our current subscribers, new friends and fans we meet on our travels, and with you here on our blog.
If you haven’t already, please consider checking out some of our content. Watch some videos, share your comments, and don’t forget to click that Subscribe button. YOU will help us achieve our 2024 goal, and we’re excited to welcome you to our little community.
Thank you for reading about our exciting journey to 3,000 YouTube Subscribers!
Happy New Year,
-Mark and Rocky