Cruise Life Experience

Super Mario: The Ultimate Royal Caribbean Cruiser

• Mitch Merucci • Episode 10

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Summary
With the most cruises in history, the legendary "Super Mario" (as he is affectionately known), shares his journey to becoming the most seasoned cruiser ever, having lived onboard Royal Caribbean ships for 25 years!

Episode Overview
Super Mario, the ultimate Royal Caribbean cruiser, joins us aboard Icon of the Seas to share his extraordinary journey through the world of cruising. Together with our host, Mitch, we explore Mario's unmatched loyalty and passion for cruising, having sailed on 150 ships across 10 different cruise lines before finding his true home on Royal Caribbean. Mario's impressive milestone of 11,300+ cruise points speaks volumes about his dedication and love for the brand. From nostalgic tales of the Voyager of the Seas to the groundbreaking Oasis and the revolutionary Icon of the Seas, Mario paints a vivid picture of Royal Caribbean's evolution and the pivotal role played by its devoted Crown and Anchor Society members.

Listeners will be captivated by the unique experiences of being Royal Caribbean's most tenured cruiser, including the story behind Mario's personal "office" on the pool deck—a charming tradition that began in 2007. As Mario reflects on the innovative ship designs and the camaraderie of the exceptional crew that makes him feel at home, we celebrate the spirit of loyalty that has made Royal Caribbean the leader in the cruise industry. With a nod to Mario's role as the unofficial brand ambassador, we promise an entertaining mix of nostalgia, fun, and inspiration, offering a glimpse into the life of the man behind the legend and inviting you to possibly meet him in his unique office on your next Royal Caribbean adventure. 

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Speaker 1:

All right, hey everybody, it's cruise director Mitch. Royal Caribbean Sails with the one and only the GOAT, the greatest of all time cruiser with Royal Caribbean Super Mario.

Speaker 2:

Mitch, what a great pleasure to be with you on this magnificent vessel.

Speaker 1:

We are live from Icon of the Seas, the biggest, baddest cruise ship in the world, and, first of all, so happy to have Super Mario here. Thank you for spending a couple of minutes of your time to catch up.

Speaker 2:

All the time you want Mitch.

Speaker 1:

You know we go way back. Correct me if I'm wrong. I remember Majesty of the Seas Correct 2012.

Speaker 2:

Even before that, I think 2011 or 2012. Something like that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's when I first was stepping up as a cruise director Right.

Speaker 2:

I sailed with you your first contract as cruise director on Majesty yes.

Speaker 1:

I think I did. I think, so I'm pretty sure you did. You were always in Boleros.

Speaker 2:

What a great venue, wasn't it? I had my reserve table in Boleros, yeah.

Speaker 1:

You know, one of my favorite things is what we're going to get to in a second is your reserved area. So we're going to get to that. That's why the GOAT, the greatest of all time, legendary super mario, the longest, most tenured cruiser at royal caribbean international.

Speaker 2:

That's a pretty big achievement and it's a pretty big thing and it's pretty big responsibility too it is, you know it is, it is responsibility, because I have to, I'm sure, like a, like an unofficial brand ambassador you are. You know that's what they consider me. I used to be the mascot until Rover came around.

Speaker 1:

You did. I'm taking your spotlight a little bit right.

Speaker 2:

Now I delegated to Rover.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, good, some attention off you, you get to relax a little bit more.

Speaker 2:

Rover, by the way, Rover is the mascot Chief dog officer On the ship.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and she is adorable, yeah, yeah, you've met her a hundred times, probably no, a couple. So people always want to know, like. I had a post with you a couple days ago and it's something like thousands and thousands of likes, and then random people who don't know anything about cruising were commenting who is this guy? Why is this in my timeline? What is going on? Who is super mario? What is this all about? So can we just rewind a little bit and talk about how you started cruising and just tell us a little bit about it?

Speaker 2:

Sure, my passion for cruising began when I was in my 20s, many, many, many years ago. I knew I wanted to live on a cruise ship. So I had 15 years, sort of, to save money for it and get ready for it. And then, when the day came, I was in my mid-40s. I said now, which cruise line do I adopt, because I don't want to move around like a gypsy. Well, I didn't know. So I did an experiment. I sailed on 10 different cruise lines and did 150 cruises. Wow, on 150 different ships, 10 cruise lines, because I wanted to get to learn the industry. Well, by the time the experiment was over in 1999, I guess it was I was undecided. I couldn't make up my mind which cruise line. They were all good, all the cruise lines.

Speaker 1:

That's one thing we always say. We don't compete with other cruise lines. We love each cruise line. There's a cruise line for everybody, and yeah so.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, we compete with Vegas and Orlando and places like that. We don't go to sleep with other cruise lines. So I was in a quandary At the end of the experiment. I'm going, where do I go? Which one do I want? I like all of them. At that time it just so happened that Voyager was coming out. Yep, she came into the Port of Miami and I have a condo in Miami and I look out of my on my balcony and I'm seeing this massive ship, brand new ship, sailing to the fort. I'm going oh, my god, I need to book her. I need to do one more experiment. And he, I booked her. I got on the voyager and said, oh man, this ship was made for me. Yeah, it was made for me. That's it. Contest over, over and done with. From that day on, loyal to Wonderful.

Speaker 1:

And you know that was the first revolutionary big ship that came out with the Royal Promenade, the rock climbing wall, the ice skating rink, exactly, and now with Icon. But 25 years later, it is the next generation, the Evolution. Royal Caribbean has been doing it for over 50 years.

Speaker 2:

I think there's been three key milestones in the history of Royal Caribbean. The voyage of the seas was revolutionary, obviously. Then oasis, yes, and now icon.

Speaker 1:

Those are the three major yeah, and it's funny that oasis, I was part, luckily enough to be on the takeout team as activities manager back in the day, I remember, and luckily after that it got promoted, and so it's a really amazing feeling to be on the icon to see where, how far we've come. But it really all is because of you as the top cruiser at Royal Caribbean. All the other pinnacle members Diamond Plus, diamond, platinum, emerald all Crown and Anchor members that are loyal to Royal Caribbean enable us to continue to innovate and be able to build these ships, because without our loyal guests, we don't have anything imagine.

Speaker 2:

The crown of anchor society is now pushing 20 million members worldwide. It's amazing that is the most successful loyalty program on the in the industry yep, and we owe it to our amazing cruisers.

Speaker 1:

You as the top pinnacle member, how? Many points do you have?

Speaker 2:

I hit 11 300 last week.

Speaker 1:

Wow 11 300. So what would that kind of be in an equivalent of how long you've?

Speaker 2:

okay, you know the cruise, cruise nights and cruise points don't correlate. Yeah, because they get double points for swedes. Yes, you're always going to have more cruise points and cruise nights. I have a number of physical cruises on royal, without counting the other 150. Yeah, it's just over a thousand. Wow, a thousand cruises cruises, physical cruises wow. Now I'll give you an average multiplied by eight. Average per cruise, that's 8 000 nights. That's something. Now they tell me the travel professionals in the media. They tell me that's a world record.

Speaker 1:

Whether it is or not, I don't know can we get you in the guinness world record? Well, have you looked at that I?

Speaker 2:

talked to michael bailey about that and he said you know, that is a great idea. Why don't we get our names in the guinness? So he's he's going to work on it and let me know. I love that. Yeah, they're going to have to provide the documentation you know of course, yeah, but you can get that because you have to.

Speaker 1:

We have to have records of that. Anyway, you have all the records.

Speaker 2:

I have all the records, so we're going to sort of work together on that.

Speaker 1:

That's amazing. So people just wonder and so are you retired now or do you still work? No, I'm still running my business from the ship.

Speaker 2:

So still running your business from the ship.

Speaker 1:

The fact that we now have the the world boom powered by Starlink doesn't hurt, because now you're able to stay connected 24-7.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. Now my efficiency has gone up 200% Amazing Because of Starlink.

Speaker 1:

So, without getting too much into it, you're in investing.

Speaker 2:

I manage other people's money there, you go. Yeah, opm.

Speaker 1:

So he's going with money. That's why he can be on the ships. And you don't, do you still have a house in Florida.

Speaker 2:

I have my condo in Miami. I've always had that condo.

Speaker 1:

And you're just not there very often.

Speaker 2:

No, it's a home base. It's what it is really. It's not. I don't sleep there. This is amazing. I mean I cruise 50 weeks a year. 50 weeks a year, wow. And guess what I do the other two weeks Laundry.

Speaker 1:

I'm on vacation. My dream, my dream goals, life goals. Hashtag life goals. So you are living the dream. You live in that life that you know we would. We thought we were living the dream as working on the ship, but even better, your side. What's your favorite benefit as a pinnacle member?

Speaker 2:

well, once you get the pinnacle, you get certain benefits that nobody else gets, for example, free internet. That's a big benefit, free internet. Then you get access to the suite lounge and coastal kitchen on oasis class and quantum class. And then you get the free cruises. Once you reach pinnacle, you get a free cruise, and then every 350 points or let's say 50 cruises you get another one, and then another one. Wow, I've gotten many, many free cruises.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's not to mention the six free drinks a day. And the six free drinks a day, I'm trying to get to diamond status pretty quick. All right, you want some? Points that would be amazing, you could share some, yeah, I'll give you some. There's always another level. They're gonna get.

Speaker 2:

They're gonna have to add perks for you. Well, I, that's what they say. But now I say I'm I'm keeping Pinnacle. That's okay.

Speaker 1:

I'm happy with Pinnacle, maybe you'll be like Pinnacle Plus or something.

Speaker 2:

That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to carve out the top, top, top, creme de la creme and say let's make that a Pinnacle Plus.

Speaker 1:

Do you know how many Pinnacle members we have?

Speaker 2:

We have approximately and this is an unofficial number around 6,000. And that's over 700 cruise points. Yeah, but keep in mind you have 20 million members. That's a rounding error. Wow, you know, really it's a minuscule number. It is very small, very small. The only problem is, as the pinnacle population grows, you start to get crowding in the coastal kitchen.

Speaker 1:

True, in the sweet lounges so that's why they're going to need a top, another top level eventually, keep cruising.

Speaker 2:

Eventually they're going to need another top level. Eventually, keep cruising. Eventually, they probably do have to do something.

Speaker 1:

Wow, eventually, yeah, yeah. So let me ask you a question here. I would just say, really, one thing that I was going to think about is when you were off cruising for a couple of years, we were off 30, 40, 50,000 crew members were home. What was that like for you? Obviously it was pretty pretty it was miserable.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the day I had to get off march of uh 2020, out of oasis. I was doing oasis and they told me I had to get off. I said, come on, guys, I'm here back to back for another three months. What do you mean, get off? You don't understand. This is a real touchy situation. You have to get off, you have to pack and leave. So I'm, I'm, I'm lost. You don't understand. This is a real touchy situation. You have to get off, you have to pack and leave. So I'm, I'm, I'm lost. I don't know what to do. You know, I'm in terminal, a looking up in the sky saying, you know where am I going? Well, I decided I don't know how long this is gonna last. Nobody knew. So I decided right away I'm gonna leave miami and fly to the caribbean. Yeah, which is what I like.

Speaker 2:

So I found a through friends, a timeshare in aruba yes so I went to aruba and I spent 15 months in aruba and then we restarted 15 months later, yeah, so it was a 15 month sort of dry period for me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know it's uh, we're back. We're so excited and again want to say something really special to our crowded anchor members, to you, because of our incredible loyalty guests. We were the first to be fully back, the first industry and a lot of people. You know there was a little bit of uh stuff on the news about cruising, and cruising is back with a bang. It is the fastest growing segment in travel.

Speaker 2:

So, thanks to the likes of you and all of our other loyal guests, matter of fact, when cruises restarted again, the first people to come on the ship and they limited the number of people at the beginning, you could only have four or five hundred yeah, where the crown of anchormen, 100 that were dying to come back, you know, and I, I jumped on the first ship out of miami, the freedom, and uh, I said, well, thank god I'm here and I was just unbelievable, I was so emotional just coming back, you know, yeah, yeah yeah, I was very fortunate to be on the quantum sailing out of Singapore as the only ship sailing for Royal Caribbean at the time.

Speaker 1:

So I can put that feather in my hat and say at one point I was the only cruise director sailing you were.

Speaker 2:

That was the first ship to restart in Singapore in December. Yeah, I joined.

Speaker 1:

December 28th. Yeah, so very interesting stuff. I would two quick things before we finish. One, a little bit about your office. Everyone's just enthralled and loves the fact that you have your own little area and you do. You have your office because you're Super Mario, you're the top. You have to have your own space. And how did that come about?

Speaker 2:

Okay. So that came about because, uh, all the officers and captains and hotel directors got to know me, of course, got to know me. I've been on all ships, everything, and they know that I run my business from the ship and they always see me working on my computer. So I said you need an office. People are coming by you looking at your screen and interrupting you. So they started the office started as a thing that they gave to me on the pool deck. Now I smoke cigars, I like to smoke, so they gave me an office in the smoking area of the pool bank and so that has evolved as a sort of a tradition. So every ship now gives me an office with a sign and I'm roped off. But people come over and they say what's the meaning of this? Of course, we've never seen anything like this in our lives, you know. So I have to explain, you know, but that's fun, yeah, so yeah.

Speaker 1:

What was the first ship? Do you remember that happened on?

Speaker 2:

Sure, it was on Liberty Liberty In 2007. Wow yeah, captain Charles. I don't know if you remember him, charles, I don't know if you remember him, captain Charles, on. Liberty and Staff Captain Henry Henryk Sorensen. No, henryk Loy. Oh, henryk Loy, he was Staff Captain on the Liberty.

Speaker 1:

Oh, this Captain, yeah, yeah, wow, he's come a long way.

Speaker 2:

He certainly has. Yeah, so it started in 07 on the Liberty with Captain Charles and he and I became really, really close. I sailed the Liberty three years back to back Three years back to back so I had a permanent office there. And then the other ships started to catch on because people put the office on them on YouTube and everything. And then the other hotel directors decided, yeah, we gotta give them an office. So when I get on a ship let's say I got on Odyssey last week I had an office already. When I get on a ship let's say I got on uh odyssey last week uh, I had an office already. They already have my office set up.

Speaker 1:

It's part of the preparation for day one of the cruise, yeah, so, uh, I think it's just amazing, and I think the last thing I want to ask you about is a lot of people wonder well, how and why are you at royal caribbean? What is it about royal caribbean? Now? What I think is someone who's actually in February next month, in just a couple days celebrating 20 years at Royal Caribbean, which is a pretty big achievement for me, but I spent 18 and a half years working on board the ships. I loved every minute of it, with all the incredible crew from up to 75 different countries. So what would it's? What would you say to someone that asks you why Royal Caribbean? What is it about you? Like, ships are incredible, but I think you know where I'm going with this. We just our crew and the people that work on board and the guests that we have. This just something special, right?

Speaker 2:

well, let me take you back to my experiment, when I did my you know, four-year experiment on 150 cruise ships and 10 different cruise lines. What made me decide to adopt royal? I think that's the answer to your question, and to me there were three big things. Three big things that made the uh, that made the cut for royal. Number one is the innovation, the creativity, the uh tremendous, you know uh imagination that goes into building and designing their ships. Yeah, I think they're the most innovative in the whole industry. I don't think anybody disputes that right.

Speaker 2:

So that was number one, and the Voyager, of course, displayed that for me. It gave me the proof right there. Number two, mitch the amazing crew, the friendliness, their professionalism, their service, their camaraderie, because I mean, to me the crew is my family. I don't have any friends on land. I lost them all. Same, the crew, they're my friends. Every ship I go to, I know all the crew, not all of them, but most of the crew members. I know pretty much all the captains, all the hotel directors, all the cruise directors, the activities managers hey, you know. So the crew was number two, without a doubt. And number three, the loyalty program, the crown and anchor society, the most popular, best program in the industry, yeah, a lot of people ask why doesn't real caribbean have packages that the the drink packages combined with the prices?

Speaker 2:

because we have so many loyalty guests who get free drinks, there's no point exactly so, yeah, those are the three big things that made made it for me number one, being the real driver, the innovation factor yeah, and you know what?

Speaker 1:

all these years later, we are still doing it, ever since the smallest ships, sovereign of the seas, the first cruise line to have balconies, and we keep pushing the envelope. So you will see it, if you are, uh, you know, able to come and cruise on icon of the seas, and maybe you will find super mario up on the pool deck in his office and say hello, so any, uh, any, I know you get asked this a lot, so I, when people ask me if I have a favorite ship, I say I really don't think I do. But do you have one?

Speaker 2:

I'm like you, mitch, I've sailed on the. Uh, there's right now 27 ships on royal. Of those 27, I've sailed on 26. I'm missing the spectrum because it never hit north america. Yeah, it went straight to asia. So I've done 26 and plus five that have been sold out majesty, empress, legend, splendor, so monarch, yeah, so I think it's 31, 31, 31, 32 ships there and you know I have to mention not only the crew but the shoreside people at Royal. You know I've gotten to know all the executives and all the managers and directors. Such a tight family, you know.

Speaker 1:

It really is a family company, a family brand and an amazing group of people that are so passionate about it, with not just the people that work at Royal Caribbean, but our guests as well, and you're known as Super Mario, the top guest whose crews the most, and people look up to you so I, we all do, as well as a staff and crew who worked on board. So thank you for your loyalty to Royal Caribbean and thank you for spending a couple of minutes here to say hello and talk a little bit about yourself with our guests.

Speaker 2:

Okay, well, thank you, mitch, and I've always regarded you as a very good friend, and over the years I've seen you on Majesty, then on Odyssey, now on Icon, so I keep following your career, even though you're on sales now.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, thank you so much for your time.

Speaker 2:

It's great to have you All right, thanks.

Speaker 1:

Super Mario the legend, the greatest of all time cruiser. Thanks for tuning in the ex-mascot.

Speaker 2:

The ex-mascot. See you next time. All right, ciao for now.