Welcome to the Royal Caribbean blog podcast, your weekly look into the world of Royal Caribbean cruising.

I'm your host Matt Hachberg, and this is episode number 483.

Nobody can control the weather on your cruise, but there is one man who can at least try to

help you understand what to expect with the weather, and that, of course, is Royal Caribbean's

chief meteorologist James Van Fleet.

Mr. Van Fleet has been working with Royal Caribbean for years, and as far as I know, he's the only

meteorologist employed full-time by a cruise line in order to help the entire line, ships and captains

understand where the weather is doing and where to go for the optimal conditions.

This week, we're talking to Mr. Van Fleet about what his job entails and how Royal Caribbean

forecast the weather to keep their ships, crew, and of course guests safe on board.

Here we go.

When your cruise vacation is just around the corner, the most important person you're going to want to know is Royal Caribbean's chief meteorologist James Van Fleet.

His work is the first of its kind in the cruise industry as he develops forecasts for the cruise lines fleet of cruise ships and conveys what guests can expect on their sailing from winds to wave height to even lunar eclipses.

So it's my pleasure to welcome James Van Fleet onto the Royal Caribbean

Blog podcast. Welcome, sir. Thank you, Matt. It is an honor to be here. I'm glad to have you here.

So many things to talk about. I think you've got probably one of the most fun jobs at Royal Caribbean

because you get to just dip your toe into a lot of different places. I'm the dude that's always smiling and the dude in the company that other than maybe

Michael Bailey being the CEO, I'm one of the people that captains tell me that I have the best

job in the company.

And it's because of my passion for weather, of course, in getting to do that.

And, of course, the benefit of getting to travel and see everybody. It really is, I think,

one of the best jobs on the planet. Absolutely. I mean, it's been incredible ever since you joined

...