, you have probably heard about the “Extraordinary Explorer” contest. The main goal of the contest was to get people to share extraordinary travel pictures and videos on Instagram, using the hashtag #ExtraordinaryExplorer and @RoyalCaribbeanUK tag.
The prize was huge! The winner received a three weeks cruise on three different cruise ships:
(Beijing), Anthem of the Seas (New York) and Freedom of the Seas (Barcelona), and a £3,000 bonus (around 3900 USD). The contest judges were strict, but that was to be expected as many of them were top names in the travel industry. Among them were Lucy Huxley, the editor of Travel Weekly who has worked in the travel industry since 1998, Johnny Ward, a travel blogger from Ireland who has been traveling the world for the past ten years, and, of course, Ben Boulding, vice president and managing director of the
Here are some Instagram posts you might like: Photo by: @diazapan
Photo by: @eitaeuvou
Photo by: @robertmitson
Photo by: @muri_ottoni
Photo by:@ryan_domenico
The contest winner is Ciara Flynn, a young woman from Dublin, Ireland. She posted the photo of two young monks at Kopan Monastery: Photo by: @flightoftheflibbertigibbet
We contacted her to ask some questions about the contest, her plans for the prize and a few extra details about her in general. She graciously agreed. Below is the transcript of the interview.
CruiseBe: Ciara, tell us please, how did you find out about this contest? Ciara: When the competition was announced, it went viral and was all over social media. It popped up on my Facebook feed and I was tagged in the story by a few different people. I'm known within my circle of friends as being travel-obsessed!
CruiseBe: Did you expect to win? What was your reaction when you did? Ciara: I never in a million years expected to win. I thought "how amazing would that be!" submitted my photos and pretty much forgot all about it. I was totally shocked when I got the phone call! It still hasn't really sunk in.
CruiseBe: Where have you traveled already? Which country, city or place was your favorite? Ciara: I've been traveling and working my way around the world for the last 6 and a half years. I've been to most of Europe, I've lived and worked in Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and the USA. And I've backpacked around India, Nepal and South America. I've loved most of those places! I definitely have a soft spot for South America, as well as most of the Mediterranean countries in Europe. I'm definitely a sunshine person!
CruiseBe: Have you ever been on a cruise before? If so, can you please tell us more about your cruise experience. Ciara: I've never been cruising before. I'm usually a shoestring backpacker with a tiny budget, so this will be a totally new experience for me.
CruiseBe: What do you expect from this adventure? Do you have a must-do and must-see list? Ciara: I'm very excited to see lots of new places! I'll be visiting places like Japan, South Korea, and Bermuda, so that will be interesting for me. I'm also very excited to spend some time on Royal Caribbean’s amazing ships. Some of them have robot bartenders and all sorts of cool facilities and technology. I'm currently leading tour groups around Europe, so it will be really nice to have some time to relax too!
CruiseBe: Do you plan on spending your prize money during the cruise, or save it for something else? Ciara: I haven't really thought about the money aspect too much yet. I'm just delighted about the whole experience at this point.
CruiseBe: Will you go alone or with someone (if you are allowed take somebody along with you)? Ciara: It's just a ticket for one; which is absolutely fine. As mentioned, I'm currently working as a tour guide which is a very social job. So traveling alone for a little while will be a nice break!
CruiseBe: What are your plans during the cruise? As a blogger, will you continue actively blogging and vlogging? Ciara: I'll be documenting the whole trip via Instagram, Facebook and blogging. Taking lots of pictures of my extraordinary experiences onboard will be the central part of the internship with Royal Caribbean. Luckily, I love doing this!
CruiseBe: And one last question; do you plan on collaborating with Royal Caribbean on any other marketing activities as a blogger? Ciara: I have no further plans at this point. Who knows what the future might bring.
Thank you for a great interview, Ciara. CruiseBe wishes you good luck, and we hope it is the best vacation ever.
Follow Ciara on Instagram @flightoftheflibbertigibbet for updates about her cruise adventure. By the way, her dream trip starts very soon in June. Don’t miss it!
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