A private message on a social media platform recently alerted me to the fact that this website had been placed on the “longlist” of nominees for the Favourite Cruise Blogger of the Year category in the Wave Awards 2019.
UPDATED: It appears the list hasn’t been set in stone and has been edited since this post was first published. Some modifications to the original post have been made accordingly.
As it turns out that list of nominees is very long indeed and features more-or-less everyone I’d be able to list under the general description of “cruise blogger”, although with some very notable omissions (edited: that appear to be being addressed). Whoever put this particular website into the mix did enough sleuthing to marry up the authorship from our travel-related Twitter account name or Facebook page to our surname which generally isn’t published anywhere, the most likely source being my private Facebook account. But then managed to spell the site name incorrectly (it’s not two words, people; it’s never been two words; only the O is capitalised). Puzzling and very interesting. I’d love to know who drew up that list in the first place.
I won’t be asking anyone to vote for this site; I’ll go further and request that nobody does. If the list is one that is judged on merit then a vote will make no difference as the decision will be a subjective one; if the list is one whittled down by weight of numbers then there are a handful of nominees who are going to get tons more votes than anyone else anyway because of social media following that, again, a vote for here wouldn’t make a dent against. It may sound like sour grapes but I assure you it’s just a realistic view of the way of things and, besides, the prospect of actually being up for an award is one that fills me with horror (I am very much a classic introvert. Do you see me in any videos or photos? No, you do not.) Flattered to be considered this far in a queasy stomach-feeling way but hopeful and quietly confident that it will go no further, to sum things up.
What this list of awards nominees has given me, though, is the opportunity to take a critical eye through everyone else’s content, comparing it all. Usually, I’ll rely on RSS updates to let me know a cruise or travel blogger has new content or I’ll spot some notification on social media but I haven’t sat down and matched each of the other cruise bloggers I know against one another to see how I’d rank their output on merit. We’re all different, we all do this blogging differently, we all like different things, and the type of content I like to view is original; not relying on too many easy “Top X Things To See”-type posts; not heavily copied and pasted from PR releases; done for the love of cruising; objective; not too painfully obviously trying to get freebies from the industry with overly gushing praise; not obscured by pop-ups asking me to subscribe to a newsletter.
The voting can be found here – Wave Awards 2019 Vote – and the longlist will be shortened in September. In no particular order the fellow cruise bloggers on the list whose content I most like (which is not to say I dislike the others (well, not necessarily)) and who I would vote for (I have voted for one of them already) are as follows:
The Cruise Blogger
Anna has connections with the industry which allows her to get some great access and interviews that make her content stand out amongst many other cruise bloggers.
Vegancruiser
Sanna has a unique approach to cruising and tying in being a vegan with it which even if I don’t share that lifestyle outlook I can at least appreciate.
Gluten Free Horizons
And in a similar vein, Francesca marries up living life gluten-free with as much cruising as she can get away with, again producing something that stands out from the crowd.
Brits On A Ship
Sandra and Chris produce probably the content I’d describe as most similar to this my own so it would be quite weird if I didn’t like it.
Tom’s Cruise Blog
What I’d describe as a classic, old-school blog genuinely done for the love of it with hardly any social media tie-ins and a refreshing read because of it.
Holidays At Sea
Clearly done for the love of cruising and with an emphasis on P&O cruises, Gavin and Luke produce a good blend of port and ship guides as well as interviews and general tips.
The remainder of the nominees (excluding any I’ve blocked for engaging in questionable social media practice or whose content I can’t read because of adblocker detectors (update: or those who have chosen to block me and obviously don’t want to be connected for some reason)) are:
- CruiseMiss Cruise Blog
- Shipmonk
- Sparkx
- firstinitialsea
- Explore With Ed
- do you cruise?
- Lost Ashore
- The Luxury Cruise Company
- Reasons To Cruise
- Cruising With Kids
- Cruise Addicts Blog
To whomever ultimately wins, a hearty congratulations, and best of luck to everyone involved.
Much like yourself, I am chuffed to be included… last year and this, though now there’s a whole lot more of us. Which is good IMO, as it shows the cruising community is active on social media/blogosphere and it is a valid media for companies to reach people via bloggers/influencers. One could argue that the increased blogger presence and wider recognition for the Wave award is proof that there are younger cruisers out there.. as not that many 55+ cruisers blog and promote on social media (55 being the avg age of UK cruisers last time I checked). But like you said, getting a nomination is swell but since it is a ‘vote for me’ contest those with the biggest following will do well – having a large FB group will come handy here. It automatically rules me out as I am so niche and don’t have a group but it is a nice thing to have on my blogger CV, so to speak. Personally, I’d like the Honest Cruising boys to take this as their YT videos are a delight…funny and so well put together. They’re not bloggers but the Award should be renamed a Blogger/Vlogger one