5 Minutes With Chris Owen

For McCool Travel’s 117th travel profile, I am thrilled to present Chris Owen. When I think cruises, Chris Owen is one of the first names I think of. Not only is his insider cruise industry knowledge astounding but he is also up front and tells it like it is.

Chris Owen‘s bio: “Chris Owen is a travel writer from Orlando Florida charged with sharing frank, inside information about cruise vacations with travelers. Ranked a Top Ten Cruise Blogger by the readers of USAToday, the #9 Most Socially Shared Cruise Blog In The World, and one of the top cruise information websites, his website ChrisCruises.com currently ranks in the top ten cruise information web sites globally and draws readers from around the world. Chris has an online social presence that has been noted for his “straightforward approach” to social media. As an active cruise travel agent with behind-the-scenes working knowledge of cruise vacations as well as a member of the press, reporting daily on current cruise industry topics, Chris Owen brings a unique perspective not often found elsewhere.”

travel interview with Chris Owen of Chris Cruises
Chris Owen, Chris Cruises

Chris Owen

Hometown…

Beautiful Downtown Apopka, Florida—AKA The Foliage Capital Of The World (We make more green house plants here than anywhere else on the planet apparently). Actually born in Kansas, lived a half century there then got tired of the weather and moved to Florida to be closer to cruise ships.

Always in my luggage…

Anything I can fit in my backpack and small carry on luggage. I never check luggage and life is better since I started doing that. Oh, you want one thing. Hmm, there are many that I can’t leave home without. If I had to pick one it would be my cheap Nikon D5500, a workhorse.

3 favorite home-away-from-home places…

  1. Any Viking Cruises ship, river or ocean—we are one
  2. Amsterdam—I will live there one day, very nice people there
  3. Most restaurant kitchens—in an earlier life I worked in that business and will always feel at home there
travel interview with Chris Owen of Chris Cruises
Photo credit: Chris Owen, Chris Cruises

A favorite travel memory is…

Ditching a diva journalist who was way too full of themselves then watching them squirm and panic when they had to navigate a city on their own. I hate jerks.

3 favorite travel brands…

  1. Viking
  2. Holland America Line
  3. American Airlines

3 money-saving travel tactics I use are…

  1. Buy flexible fares early, keep looking at pricing until I begin that cruise/flight/ride/etc.
  2. Pay as little attention to advertised pricing as possible…which is very hard to do actually. I am most often disappointed that the end price does not match the touted price.
  3. If I buy a travel accessory that works well, I buy another one when they are on sale or go on sale.  Nothing lasts forever.

3 ways that I have fun while traveling are …

  1. Talking to people along the way. They are all that really interests me.
  2. When the crowd heads in the direction of the iconic landmark, I walk the other way.
  3. When an “expert” suggests doing (whatever), that’s the last thing on my list of things to do.

8 word (or less) travel mantra…

Enjoy every minute today, tomorrow may never come.

favorite non-travel website …

MSNBC International feed wherever it is available

most memorable souvenir …

amazing model of Viking Star

favorite cheap eat …

pretzels in Germany

recent discovery …

Apple watch that lets me exchange heartbeats with my wife when I travel and she does not

I am fortunate to have met …

Richard Dreyfus—a real gentleman

I would like to meet …

President Obama

travel interview with Chris Owen of Chris Cruises
Photo credit: Chris Owen, Chris Cruises

Thank you so much, Chris, for taking a few minutes to share travel inspiration and tips.
Follow Chris Owen on TwitterInstagramFacebook, Pinterest, and Chris Cruises.

Check out McCool Travel’s previous interviewsMcCool Travel presents tips from travel experts in our 5 Minutes interview series—featuring travel industry giants, super frequent travelers, and adventurous persons. Previous 5 Minutes post: Richard Kerr.

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5 Minutes With Chris Owens was originally published on McCool Travel.com on Dec 16, 2016.

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