9 travel podcasts to listen to before your next cruise

The excitement you feel between booking a cruise and leaving for it is unrivalled. You want to throw yourself into your adventures but have to wait. During this time, you spend countless hours online researching everywhere you’ll be going, planning your outfits, clearing your camera memory for some holiday pictures and, of course, bragging to everyone you know about your upcoming trip. 

However, even after all of this, we’re left waiting for the day we can step onboard our cruise and take to the water. Whether it’s on a river cruise or a longer voyage, you’ll be sure to want to build the excitement before you leave. In this article, we look at some of the best travel podcasts you can listen to in order to embrace your excitement and prepare for your trip. 

Despite its rather misleading name, Amateur Traveler is a podcast loaded with comprehensive travel reviews, dating back to 2005. After 13 years of the podcast, Chris Christensen has honed his technique and created one of the most reputable travel podcasts around. As well as Amateur Traveler, Chris also hosts two other travel podcasts; This Week in Travel and Passport Travel Marketing & PR Podcast. 

Chris describes himself as a podcast junkie and that is what led him down this path. Amateur Traveler dedicates its episodes predominantly to travel guides and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a destination Chris hasn’t discussed! His love for the platform shines through, and as well as being informative, his episodes are a delight to listen to. Alongside his array of podcasts, Chris runs his award-winning blog under the same name. 

“I am a podcast junkie and listen to around 70 to 90 podcasts,” says Chris. “I knew I wanted to do a podcast before I knew what the podcast would be about. Then on Memorial Day in 2005, we had friends over for a BBQ and as we sat there and told stories, all the best stories were travel stories. It was then that the idea for the podcast and website was created.” 

Chris describes the podcast to someone who’s yet to listen, “Each week on Amateur Traveler, we cover a different destination. It is usually an interview. We talk about why you should to this destination and what you should do with a one-week itinerary.” 

Run by Travis Sherry and his wife Heather Sherry, Extra Pack of Peanuts is a website and podcast intended to walk through every part of travel. From advice on getting cheap flights to travel guides, Extra Pack of Peanuts is crammed full of advice for the adventurous. 

Travis presents the podcast and uses it to share his knowledge and everything he has learnt through his time travelling. As well as talking to some of the biggest famous in travel, he will also break down topics to make them easily digestible for all of his listeners. The perfect podcast for anyone experiencing 24/7 wanderlust. 

Alex Cwalinski describes himself as a travel writer, podcaster and aspiring dog whisperer. On Go the Travel Podcast, Alex hopes to inspire you through his storytelling to catch the travel bug, whilst he documents some of the world’s most interesting places. 

Alex’s interests shine through his podcast and he often discusses topics other podcasts do not. Fascinated by the extraordinary and the slightly geeky, as well as brilliant travel content, you can also find excellent insights into some of the world’s weirder corners. The perfect podcast for a person who loves a bit of mystery in their life. 

Alex explains what inspired him to start the podcast, “As an avid podcast listener, I wanted to create a podcast that a traveller can listen to for inspiration for their next journey and something they can listen to for entertainment. This podcast takes you on adventures. We share the world with your ears and hope to inspire the travel bug in you as we document some of the planet’s most amazing places. 

And finally, we asked Alex which episode he’d recommend listening to first, “Check out episode 3 and learn about the oldest living animal in the world, the Greenland Arctic Shark. We also sample the infamous yet traditional Icelandic rotten shark meat. It’s a great episode and features a shark scientist and Icelandic locals.” 

After 12 years, the Indie Travel Podcast is still bringing people updates and insights into the world of travellers Craig and Linda Martin. The kiwi couple wants to take you on their journeys with them and open up about the truth about life on the road with your partner. 

They started the podcast in order to share their mistakes, in the hopes they can stop people from making the same ones. Now, the podcast continues to breathe interesting anecdotes, travel tips and stories. 

The Cruise Dudes Podcast is run by Scott and Tommy, brothers-in-law with a passion for the cruising lifestyle. They bring their wealth of cruise knowledge to the table, along with their great sense of humour and brilliant connection. The podcast is full of interesting nuggets, top tips and gems that only seasoned cruisers would know.

The perfect podcast if you’re looking to learn more about the cruising world, from two people who really do know what they are talking about. As well as the podcast, they also have a successful clothing line and their own magazine Seawind, created to celebrate cruising. 

Travel Stories Podcast is another that has one purpose: sharing experiences. The podcast has a high production value and is loaded full of inspirational stories and interviews. 

The host and producer, Hayden Lee, brings his own charisma and personality to every episode and ensures the project is something the whole team is proud of. Hayden himself is currently riding around Europe on his Harley Davidson so truly is practising what he preaches!  

Travel Tales does exactly what it says on the tin and to a high standard. Every week, comedian and TV host Mike Siegel invites a different guest onto the podcast to hear their travel tales. Mike has performed on shows like The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, acted in Prison Break and hosted numerous TV shows including TBS Movie EXTRA. All of this experience gives Mike the credentials to be a great podcast host, but Travel Tales is about a lot more than that to him. The podcast gives him a chance to explore the other passion in his life travel. It finds him talking to people from all over the world. 

Rick Steves is a guidebook author and TV host and is often regarded as America’s authority on European travel. As well as his podcasts he has also produced more than 50 European guidebooks, a popular travel series on public television and more.

Due to Rick’s popularity, he often gets great names on his podcast and interesting characters but also sails well alone with his wealth of knowledge spanning a lifetime. Rick’s love of, and focus on, Europe means that although an American, his guides and information is equivalent to that of a local. 

Tropical MBA was started by Dan Andrews and Ian Schoen. Originally avid entrepreneurs, they gave up the business world in 2015 and since then have been on a journey. They started Tropical MBA to talk about their story and the business world. They soon found that they want to be free from offices and took to the road. 

Dan tells us, “It was nothing more than a love of podcast/radio and feeling like businesses of our style weren’t represented in the broader conversation.” 

The podcast is a combination of their love for business and their love for travel. They discuss working from foreign countries and how they balance work and fun whilst travelling. If you are looking to live on cruise ships but know you’ll still need to work whilst you do, this is the podcast for you.