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Paul Grigsby came to the cruise industry by way of trains.

Grigsby, who is Holland America Line’s vice president of deployment and itinerary planning, grew up boating but he counts a month-long train trip through Mexico as “first real travel experience.” Shortly after graduating college, he and a friend traveled by rail from Mazatlan to Veracruz in 1987.

“We were able to take advantage of what it was like to travel in the United States back in the ‘40s and ‘50s on these old rail cars,” Grigsby told USA TODAY. “And it was a bit of a madcap adventure because of my lack of Spanish. At one point, there were two of us traveling and we were in a berth for one because I didn’t translate very well.”

The trip cemented his interest in travel, especially in its nostalgic forms, which show up in the itineraries he plans these days. Grigsby spoke to USA TODAY about how he got his start, his love of travel books, and his cruise tips.

The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Question: How did you get into this role? How did you come to itinerary planning?

Paul Grigsby: Well, I’ve been at Holland America now (for) 25 years, and I’ve been in the capacity of revenue management. And itinerary planning is within the revenue management function of this brand, and in fact, (at) most of the cruise lines it’s arranged that way. And I kind of worked my way through. Started out in revenue management proper, and then evolved to more (of) a planning function, which was with the revenue plans. And then, back in 2019, I was given the leadership role of the itinerary and deployment planning.

Did you grow up loving ships?

Yeah, I did. I mean, I grew up in Seattle, and I used to walk the docks with my father. You know, he loved ships and the sea, and he greatly influenced me. We would visit ships when they were in town, and they had visitation opportunities. Also, he was an avid boater, so I grew up boating throughout the Pacific Northwest, and you know, the Washington State archipelago as well as up in British Columbia.

This may be self-evident given your work, but do you have a preferred way to travel?

Well, I am biased towards travel by ship. I think even if I didn’t work for Holland America Line or the cruise industry, I’d still say that. There’s no such thing as ship lag, right? There is (such) a thing as jet lag, and it’s just a leisurely way to go. And if I had the time, I would definitely travel by sea. I would cross the Atlantic instead of flying across the Atlantic. … I love being at sea. And again, I think it goes back to my roots, growing up on the water. I was a commercial fisherman for a summer, so I feel at home on the water.

Is there a cruise cabin type that you particularly like, or a location on a ship that you prefer?

I like the port side because when I was a kid, my father assigned his two kids to one side. You know, I was assigned port side, my sister was assigned starboard side. So, I always have stuck with port side.

And as far as the type of cabin, I will admit, I do like a veranda cabin. I do enjoy being able to walk outside and enjoy the sights and smells of the sea.

Do you have any travel must-haves, things that you always like to bring with you or have with you?

I like to bring a good book along, especially a travel book. You know, there are always some hiccups that happen with travel, it seems like, and so it’s always fun to read about somebody who might have had it worse off than you do.

I like reading travel history. Evelyn Waugh, one of my favorite authors, he wrote a lot about his times of traveling back in the ‘30s. Also, Candice Millard, that’s another book: her book, “The River of Doubt” … is about Teddy Roosevelt’s exploration through the Amazon. Fascinating read.

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Do you have any travel pet peeves or any unpopular travel opinions?

I think it’s used a lot, this word, but I think it does resonate for me, and that’s just authenticity. For instance, if I go to a city, I want to visit the old section, you know, a section that really defined what that city was. And maybe it’s my interest in history. And, for instance, I’ll find out what the old hotel was that people would stay at back in the day, so I’ll visit that. I’m more interested in that than staying at, you know, a hotel or something that is an American name hotel.

For those new to cruising, what are the top things you would recommend they know before booking a cruise?

Yeah, so if you’re new to cruising and you’re not sure if it’s your cup of tea, I would definitely start with a trip that you would not see any other way than on a ship. For instance, Alaska, is often the first of many people’s foray into cruise travel. And the reason is that the best way to see Alaska is by ship. You’re not going to get to Glacier Bay – I mean, maybe, yeah, you could get an airplane or whatever, fly and buzz around it, but to immerse yourself in Glacier Bay, you’ve got to be on board a ship. And you know, places that are known for being archipelagos, those are best seen by ship.

So I would pick trades like that first, and hopefully you catch the bug, and then you might go to places like, say, the Mediterranean, where there are other ways of travel around. But then you realize how easy it is to travel by ship, and you’ll probably be just as happy there, too.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meet the cruise planner who still books trips like it’s 1940

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