H: Keith Betton, host
D: David Seamen

H: Hello and welcome to Holiday 07, the program on the internet that allows you to quiz my guests about holiday destinations, whether it’s a beach holiday, long haul, safari or maybe cruising, and cruising is our subject on this particular program. Now you might have thought that this is something really for the older person, as you get on in life, but we’re going to prove today that it isn’t, because a recent convert to cruising is none other than world famous goalkeeper, David Seaman, David welcome to the show

D: Thank you

H: So how many cruises have you now been on?

D: This is my first one, and I just really enjoyed it, I was like amazed, amazed at the size of the boat, amazed at what was on the boat as well, it was just fantastic

H: I think the great thing about what you did is you really proved that you don’t just have to go on a cruise ship to eat and drink, which you can do, but you can do an amazing amount of activities, running around – I mean what kind of things were you able to do?

D: Well exactly, you know I’ve just recently started this Floating Fit campaign where it shows that you can go onto the cruise liner and not just go there and relax and eat loads of food and drink loads of wine and beer and that, you know you can actually look after yourself, but still enjoy that sort of thing, but take the family on there, and the family really enjoyed it, I mean we all got into it, we were doing ice skating, we were doing rock climbing, basketball, five-a-side football, golf, and then there was the spas, there’s the gyms – there’s just so much to do, and we went on a 7 night cruise and we hardly felt like we scratched the surface

H: Did you actually have time to eat?

D: Yes exactly, but there’s some great restaurants as well, you know there’s – even fine dining down to the Windjammer which is a buffet-style restaurant, and then down to even like a burger bar called Johnny Rockets which is fantastic

H: Terrific. Well this is your opportunity to ask questions of David about his experience on cruising, and particularly with the kids activities and the sporting activities you can do, so do email into the program, we’re live and you can do that by just simply pressing on the button on your screen and sending us a message, and I’ll put your questions to David live on the show. Now you went on a fantastic cruise, I think it was in the Caribbean

D: Yes

H: So let’s just have a look at the activities that you and your family got up to during your 7-day stay

D: Sure

Video footage

H: Well that looked like amazing fun, so if you’ve always thought that cruise ships were about sitting down and eating from one end to the other, then that proves that you can certainly work off those calories. My guest today in the studio, David Seamen who you saw there with his family travelling around the Caribbean on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. Now you got into ice skating a while back, I remember you ended up on a TV show, probably didn’t plan to be there did you really, it kind of happened at the last minute?

D: It did actually yes because my friend Paul Gascoigne got injured, he actually broke a bone in his neck, or damaged the bones in his neck, and – mind you having seen the footage of him, he wasn’t very good, so I took over from Paul and I had probably 8 days to get a show and the routine done, and managed to do that and actually won it. And then the following year I did the ITV, you know Dancing on Ice and had a great time, you know it was totally different, it was skating every day, practicing properly for about 3 weeks before I went into the show, and it was hard, hard work

H: Had you been ice skating sort of you know in younger days or -

D: I used to go as a kid, you know when I was like 14 or 15 I used to go to the local rink every Saturday and try and impress the girls, as you do and things like that, but I left it for 26 years when I became a footballer, that was it, it weren’t allowed

H: Anyway you carried on with the show, you didn’t win did you, you came 4th though I think?

D: Came 4th with the, in the ITV show, I had a great time, I had quite an eventful journey you know, my partner split her chin on the ice after I supposedly dropped her, but if you look at the tape I’ve still got her feet in my hands

H: It was her fault

D: Exactly!

H: So did you ever think you were going to go ice-skating on a cruise ship?

D: No see that was one of the fascinations, I was like what, ice skating on the ship, and when I saw the pictures and that I was just like wow, I can’t wait to do this, and when we got there the whole family went on the ice as you saw on the tape and we had a great time, and it was great, but one of the best things is the ice show that they put on, and that is just unbelievable because there’s so many good tricks that they do, you know on the ice and it was just brilliant to watch

H: Yes. And rock climbing as well, we saw the rock wall – how high is that?

D: Well that, apparently when you get to the top of that, and there’s a little bell that you can ring just to prove that you are at the top, and apparently it’s 200 foot above sea level, so it is pretty high but it’s – you’re concentrating so much on where your hands and your feet are going, you don’t really notice the height. It’s a good job actually

H: So the new Floating Fit campaign, this is basically about really advising people on how they can actually get, become very healthy when they’re on a cruise ship -

D: Yes it’s not, it’s not about becoming healthier or becoming fit, it’s about you know looking after yourself when you do go on holiday, you don’t have to go on the cruise and eat loads and put loads of weight on or drink loads and put loads of weight on, it’s about you know looking after your body and there are facilities there, you know like the gyms, like the spas, that you can look after yourself. You know there’s something for everyone, you know even if you do want to just laze around, don’t just do that all day, get up and have a walk round the ship, it’s quite a long walk, so my campaign’s about being active you know and being active with a family or being active if you’re elderly, you know don’t just sit around doing nothing

H: If you want information about the Floating Fit campaign have a look at the Royal Caribbean website, that’s royalcaribbean.co.uk or click on the link on the website and find out more about it. So we have a question in actually from Beccy, says, “Was this your first cruise?” well we know that now, but what did you think and would you recommend it to others?

D: I would certainly recommend it to others because you know I would do it all again, but next time I go I would definitely do the 14 day one because like you said the 7 day one you just seem to scratch the surface, because there was just so much to do, you know obviously there’s all the activities that I said about, you know the rock climbing, and basketball and football and things, but there’s also theatres, there’s bars, there’s different – there’s champagne bars, there’s a shopping mall that’s two football pitches in length, so there’s a lot there for the girls to go and shop, you know and there’s just everything that you would, you know – not that you would expect but it really surprises you when you see what is on board

H: Well I suppose the big news story is the arrival of Navigator of the Seas which is an amazing cruise ship, the largest cruise ship to ever be based in the UK, it’s coming into Southampton and going to be based in Southampton from the end of April onwards, with a whole load of itineraries. Which ship did you actually -

D: That was the one that we went on -

H: Oh was it?

D: Exactly the same one and it’s the – when we went to Miami, and we got on at Miami and when I first saw the ship I was like, wow, this is massive, you know and people think you know, of old people being on there and everything, and I was just totally shocked you know, as soon as we got on board there was parties going on on deck, there was even people doing dancing competitions and things which I didn’t get involved in, but you know it was just a real good atmosphere, and people just wanted to enjoy themselves, you know and from teenagers down to like my little boy Robbie and even younger, you know there’s clubs for all of them as well

H: I know, I mean on that occasion they’ve even got a teen disco, a nightclub just for the kids, which I think, is a great idea

D: Yes great idea

H: No alcohol but just good fun

D: Yes

H: So I mean this is an enormous ship, I mean it’s over 300 metres long, as you say it’s what like three football pitches -

D: Yes

H: The entire ship, and very high indeed, in fact we have a question from John, he says, “an ice rink on board, this boat must be huge?” Well it is huge

D: Yes exactly it is huge and like we said there’s a shopping mall that’s over two football pitches long, you know they’ve actually got a full size basketball court on there, and they’ve actually got like a putting green, they’ve got roller blading, you know and it’s all purpose made -

H: Don’t you find the ball going kind of – is the ship so stable that when you’ve actually putted it, it does -

D: It does stay on its line; you have to read it with a little bit of give and take

H: So the putting green, how many holes on that then?

D: Probably about, I think it’s round about 9, but it’s a little bit like crazy golf but there is a golf simulator there that you can choose which hole you want to play on which course, you get down and have a hit and it’s good

H: Do they have football on board then?

D: They’ve got five-a-side football, which is within the basketball court. Little goals which I quite liked, not as big as the normal ones but -

H: I was going to ask you a question about being a goalkeeper, did you always want to be a goalkeeper or was it something you just got into by chance?

D: No as like a 7, 8 year old I was always tall, and I went to play with the big boys so I’d be in the playground and they’d be like you go in goal, and that was it, I just fell in love with it

H: But you’re much taller than Gordon Banks or Peter Shilton, so I guess it does help?

D: It does yes, sometimes I weren’t tall enough

H: Ok well that’s always the case, I guess. Now Helen says “there are a lot of cruising destinations to choose from, what made you decide to go for the Caribbean?”

D: The reason that I went was, the ice rink just fascinated me, you know I was like how can they get this on board you know, and I’ve just got to see it, but then when I actually saw the ship it was huge, it looked modern, you know and then like I say we got on board and it was a party atmosphere, but going down to the ice rink was always like the main thing and when we got there it was just great, you know it’s a theatre, and I think that they actually use the theatre for other things where they put a cover over the ice rink and use it for different stuff, but I was just so desperate to get on the ice and when we did it was great, you know the family got on, Georgina and Robbie got on and actually Debbie, my wife, got on the ice for the first time ever so we had a really good time

H: Isn’t it odd though, having you know an ice rink on a cruise ship, and how do they manage to keep it, to stop it from cracking because you know they have to move the ship?

D: Yes exactly, I’m not that technical, I assure you -

H: They have got systems -

D: The ice didn’t have any cracks in it, yes – or they might have a crack from falling over but -

H: So your itinerary was a 7-day itinerary, you went round the Caribbean, but Navigator of the Seas will be going from Southampton

D: Yes

H: From what I’ve heard a lot from people is they love the idea of cruising but they don’t want to have to travel to the Caribbean to do it, and the idea of simply going to Southampton and heading off for a few days is great

D: Exactly you know going to Southampton, unpacking your bag and off you go, you’re going to different countries, you know France and Italy and places like that and you’ll be having a great time while you’re getting to the destinations that you’re going, and you’re being entertained by the boat

H: Yes

D: It’s brilliant and then when you arrive, you get off and you go and have a quick look round and then you get back on the boat, it’s brilliant

H: Navigator I think is going to be travelling around a number of destinations I saw there’s going to be a quick excursion over to Lahav, and then back again but also travelling around parts of Northern Europe, Scandinavia – have you any plans to do any of those itineraries?

D: Yes that appeals to me because I’ve never, I’ve been to all these countries before but as a footballer, you never get to see them, all you see is the airplane, the training ground, the stadium and then back on the plane, you know so I’m looking forward to seeing the countries as they should be seen, you know as a tourist

H: Did you put any weight on?

D: No

H: You didn’t?

D: I was bang the same when I got off, which you know is not to say I went crazy in the gym and everything, which I wasn’t, but I went on board and enjoyed myself, I still had all the food that was there, just a massive selection of food, and I like a drink, I’m a Yorkshire man so – and came off you know feeling good, didn’t feel bloated or overweight or anything

H: Now we’ve got a question here from Lemanie saying “I have 3 children under the age of 10, are there any kids clubs on board that I could pack them off to?” so she gets time to herself

D: Yes there are kids clubs there and they’re all from different ages, age groups so – but don’t just pack them off, let them see you doing some activities as well but obviously put them in so you do get a bit of free time on your own, but Robbie and Georgina, they went in, probably in the second day and absolutely loved it, and then they all wanting to go into the kids club but we still kept them active as well, they did the ice skating and the roller blading and things like that, you know as you saw on the tape they loved the rock climbing

H: And how many different destinations did you call in on when you were on your trip?

D: When we did the Caribbean one we did Haiti, then we did Jamaica, Cayman, Mexico and then back to Miami

H: One of the things I find people quite often asking me is when you’re on a cruise ship and you’re called into a port, do you have to get off or indeed do you have to stay on board, so how does that work?

D: Yes when it does call into port, no you don’t have to get off, but I would say about 90% or even more of the people do get off and that’s when the regular cruisers were telling me that if you stay on board then we have the ship to ourselves which is nice, but like I said you don’t have to get off but it is nice to go and see the country a little bit or the town where you’ve docked. When we went to Jamaica we got off the boat and we had probably walked about 5 minutes onto a beach, on our sun loungers, the kids were playing in the sand and the sea, we’d got our big special boat waiting to take us away to another destination which was brilliant

H: Well you’ve sold the idea to me! Well today we’re talking about cruising and we’re talking about David Seamen’s campaign to get us all Floating Fit with Royal Caribbean, and if you’ve got questions you want to ask there’s plenty of time left, so just email in the question and we’ll try and get the answer for you. Now Kerry has written in, she says “are there any teenager clubs that I can encourage my 13 year old to join on board? She doesn’t want to spend her time with an old timer like her mum.” So they’ve got the sort of teens nightclub, what else is there for teens rather than small kids?

D: There is actually a teen club, you know that’s similar to the younger children’s club but obviously based around teenagers, with arcades and things like that, you know but then there’s the added bonus of a nightclub, but like you said no alcohol allowed, but when we saw them were like wow, that is a great idea because the teens do seem to get a little bit forgotten about, but not on the Navigator, there’s some great facilities there for them

H: Yes I think that’s actually one of the ages where they particularly have tried to included everybody, because as I said before so many people think about cruising being for old people, and there must have been some older people as well?

D: Yes there was, and you know there was older people there that obviously what they want to do, they do want to relax quite a lot, of course they do, but you know it’s about being active and don’t just sit there all the time, you know these people were getting up and walking round the boat and you know having a great time and watching other people having a good time because there’s different dates, you can overlook the pool area and watch people in the water and messing about doing the dancing competitions and all that sort of thing

H: Now some people don’t have a week spare, they may only have two or three days, and I was looking on the itineraries on the Internet, and there’s a rather nice trip that goes over to Cork, just a 3-day trip. I guess you could do that, I mean what sort of prices do they charge for these cruises, I mean are they good value for money or -

D: As far as I know they are, yes. I think a 7 day one is around about £1300 a person, but with the shorter ones I think the best idea is to go onto the website which is Royalcaribbean.co.uk and actually plan your cruise. You know don’t go on there without knowing what’s on because there’s just so much, it will baffle you, you’ll want to do that, want to do that and you’ll end up not doing anything, it’s best to go on the website, have a look at – even if you’re doing a 2 or 3 night stay, go and plan it

H: Well there’s some pretty good itineraries actually and if you want to go to Italy there’s one there, there’s one to the Canary Islands, there’s the coast of Spain and Portugal, pretty much anywhere you want to go, so lots of itineraries there. Now we’ve got another question here, actually it’s from Harry, he’s actually pretty much asking what I’ve just asked but he says “I’m a 60 year old active pensioner, and all this family stuff sounds great, but are there people from older generations around?” Well you said there are

D: Yes there are but you know it’s, it’s not about how old you are it’s about how active you are and get on there and try and join in

H: So did you have 60 year olds climbing on the rock wall?

D: Not quite but well I’m like I’m 16 ½ stone so if they want to have a go – and you’re in a harness and you’ve got the ropes, you know so – I would be very gentle

H: Something about the rock wall, it’s pretty high -

D: Yes

H: We saw a bell at the top so you have to ring the bell at the top –

D: There’s your challenge to show or prove that you got to the top you’ve got to ring your bell

H: So is it a case of how quickly you can do it in or -

D: No no, it’s -there’s different grades of difficulty, you know there’s different coloured blocks that you grab hold of and obviously it goes from a lot of blocks to not so many blocks, and it’s hard and it’s a good workout, and when I did it I probably got there within about 2 minutes, but you can really feel your body working in a totally different way to I was used to

H: And your daughter, did she beat you?

D: Georgina did beat me, yes and she came back down and then went back up another 2 or 3 times, she loved it, and she’s only – she’s 7 in April

H: Right and we’re looking at that now on the screen actually it’s, it looks like a great experience

D: It was

H: Well we have a question now from Greg, he says “I’m booked on the same cruise as David” – the same one you did – “but I like keeping fit, I enjoy competitive sports, are there any competitions”, so are there competitions -

D: Yes there is, on there’s basketball competitions that they have probably like a 7-a-side or a 5-a-side as they do in basketball, but they also have like 5-a-side competitions as well, so there is something there if you really want to get into it, you know and then if you’ve still got a little bit more energy left get yourself in the gym and see how hard you can really make yourself work!

H: And there’s a jogging track as well isn’t there?

D: There’s a jogging track that goes all around the ship, which you know I was watching, there was a lot of people doing it. They tend to do it early in the morning and last thing at night you know because when the boat’s got quite a few people on it, it can become a little bit difficult, but there’s lots of treadmills and bikes and things like that in the gym so there’s a lot of ways to lose your energy

H: Did you actually take part in the 5-a-side football?

D: No no no. We had a little penalty competition and I was in goal so

H: Now we’ve got a question from Gerry, now we’re getting away from the sports activities a little bit he says “can you please tell me a little bit about the menus on board?” so what about the food –

D: The food is great

H: And also from the kids point of view too, because the kids don’t always want fussy food?

D: Yes the restaurants are great, there’s fine dining like Chops Grill which is really really nice, there’s some great T-bone steaks and things like that in there, you know down to Winjammer which is a buffet style restaurant, and there is an absolute unbelievable option of food, you know down to healthy options to burgers to fruit, you know everything you can think of and really well displayed, and then down to Johnny Rockets which is a burger bar restaurant but it’s great, there’s a little juke box on your table and the girls give you some dollars or quarters or whatever it is and you put them in, and if you pick a certain song, all the staff stop what they’re doing and they do a display, they all do a dance, and like an in-line dance and it’s really good and the kids get involved and they start copying them and it’s real good fun

H: What you mean they’re in the middle of serving somebody else, they put it down and then start dancing?

D: Then they have to start dancing yes

H: Mad

D: But good fun

H: Now we’ve got Carrie who says “can you explain a bit more about Floating Fit, what exactly is this and is it the first of its kind?” Well I think it is isn’t it?

D: Yes it is the first of its kind

H: I think it’s the first cruise ship to have all these activities

D: Yes exactly and what it’s about is like getting involved and using the fitness options available, you know I’m not saying become fit doing this, but don’t slob around, you know keep your body active and keep yourself healthy, you know and use the facilities, especially the gym and the health spa, you know if you don’t want to be too active just use the health spa, have your massages and saunas and steam rooms and things like that, you know but if you want to you’ve got the rock climbing, the basketball, the in-line blading, the golf, you know ok golf’s not too tiring but it’s still nice, you know and stuff like that and just use it, but don’t just slob around, get the family, let the kids see you being involved because once they see mum and dad doing it they want to join in

H: Are all of these sporting activities included in the, as part of the cost, or did any of it you have to pay extra for?

D: No all the activities are free, some of the treatments in the spa there may be a small charge for

H: Of course

D: But no everything on board is totally free

H: Well if you want to know about the cost I guess the best thing is to look at the website and find out about that. Just to remind you that if you do want to see the actual leaflet, the details of the campaign that’s on the royalcaribbean.co.uk website, where you can download it. this is a massive ship, I mean it’s the largest ship that’s going to be operating out of the UK, arriving at the end of April. I think I read somewhere is it something like 3500 people or something who get on board?

D: Yes exactly

H: Something like 1500 crew, it’s massive?

D: It is you know and it’s a ratio of 3 to 1 so every person, you’ve got lots of staff to look after you and they do, they really take care of you, down to making little figurines out of your towels every night and different figurines out of the towels, and the kids love coming back to the cabin and they were like “what’s happening today? Which one is it today?” and sometimes they’d make monkeys out of towels that hang from the roof, and just little touches like that which you remember and it makes it really enjoyable

H: I actually wrote these down so I’ve got it here – 14 passenger decks, 3838 passengers when it’s full, 1557 state rooms, 707 of which have balconies, and 1176 crew – can you actually get away from the hubbub and noise of things, I mean are there quiet corners as well, so if you really want the sort of place where the highlight of the day is when the library van walks past you, I mean can you do that?

D: Yes you can because there’s so many different bars, there’s so many different areas of the ships that you can go to that you can, excuse me, you can get a bit of peace and quiet, you know it wasn’t until about 3 or 4 days in that we found this bar that was right up on the 14th floor and I was like wow this is great you know why didn’t we find this first day? But we were finding new stuff every day

H: Excellent. Question from Sophie “I like the idea of this cruise but we’re an odd couple, I am very active, my husband is very lazy” so she wants to know about this chilling out places – are they hidden away, these quite places, I mean where would you go?

D: Yes there’s actually an area for adults only, so if you want to be away from your children total and away from other people’s children, there is an adults only pool where you can go and sit down with the loungers and everything, you know which sounds ideal for the guy there but don’t stay on your lounger, tell her to just drop my little leaflet in his lap and have a read of that and you know he might get up and have a walk round, he might even have a jog round, you never know

H: So where do you think the Floating Fit campaign’s going to go, I mean are you going to expand this more and develop it for other ships within the Royal Caribbean range?

D: Well hopefully yes, we’re in a time where we want to start looking after ourselves you know and look after our bodies, you know we’ve seen a lot of people that have got a lot of extra weight, I mean they find out that it isn’t good for you and it’s time to change your diet and change the way you live, you know have a serious look at yourself and say do you want to be overweight and not be able to run around and you know make some small little changes and it will do you good in the long term

H: I know absolutely, I mean I’m all for losing weight and being fit, because we don’t get much time on this planet but we get a hell of a long time dead so -

D: Exactly – it’s not about being fit, it’s about looking after yourself

H: I mean by losing weight and getting the cardio-vascular work, you will extend your life basically

D: Exactly and even on board you know there’s a body-testing program that actually tests the age of your body, you know and I had that done and I was ok

H: Well it’s been interesting this, so I mean if you had to look at other destinations that you haven’t been to yet on a cruise ship, I mean from your personal point of view David, what would you pick next?

D: I think I would do the 14 day one but I would like to do the Mediterranean one because like I said before, I’ve been to a lot of countries without actually seeing them so to go as a tourist would be really nice, but you know when you got to the Caribbean you do get obviously the guaranteed weather which is really nice, but with the Med it’s nice to see a lot of the European cities

H: Well David thanks for joining us today, it’s been fascinating to hear from someone whose just really got into cruising for the first time, so often you talk to people who have been doing it since – well all their lives, but someone whose a real convert, I mean you are an absolute ambassador for the cruising industry

D: Yes I mean I absolutely loved it and so did my family

H: Brilliant well it’s great to hear about it. so if you’re interesting in knowing more about cruising, particularly with the kids and with the floating fit campaign, have a look at the Royal Caribbean website, www.royalcaribbean.co.uk where you can download the details, find out more about Navigator of the Seas which is going to be sailing out of Southampton from April onwards to various destinations from the Mediterranean to northern parts of Europe, whether you’ve got 2 days or 14 days or something just in between. Everything there for you to choose from, including all those amazing sporting activities which I think I’m going to have to do as well, looking at the size of me at the moment! So David thanks again for joining us

D: Thank you

H: And we’ll see you again on Holiday 07, thanks for joining us