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Here are some European River Cruise Tips and big river cruise no-nos, and things to avoid, based on the river cruises in Europe that I have done. These are the 10 things you really should not do when on a Europe River Cruise. I found out the hard way, so you do not have to.
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here are a couple of things i always
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tell people heading off on a european
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river cruise to watch out for some of
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these
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i did learn the painful way so you won't
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have to by the way
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if you're new to my channel i'm gary
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bembridge and i'm here to help you
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make it easier to find plan and have
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those amazing cruise vacations
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you're dreaming of so with that in mind
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let's get going
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first off never assume that your
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itinerary will run
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as advertised and like clockwork water
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levels
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are the bane of river cruises too high
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or too low
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affects these cruisers in all sorts of
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ways and in most seasons they're
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affected for some
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or all of the year to some degree so if
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water levels are too high perhaps from
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heavy rain
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or heavy winter snow actually melting
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and overfilling rivers
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ships simply can't pass under some of
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the bridges if it's too low
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from drought or low into snow it makes
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it impossible to sail
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as there's not enough depth underneath
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the ship so this could mean
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that you might stay docked in one place
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and be bust to go on excursions which
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could be some distance away
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or you may even have to pack up
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completely and change onto a ship
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further down the river these have
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happened to me
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quite a few times actually so keep an
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eye on water levels if you are going on
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a european river cruise and check and
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ask
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what the arrangements will actually be
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now this next one will be something that
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some of you will disagree with
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because i'm actually telling you to
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spend more money however don't go on
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those
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cabins that are right at the bottom of
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the ship because three quarters of them
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are below water you have a long window
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close to the ceiling
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and it can feel pretty claustrophobic it
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gets dark you're missing out the scenery
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but there's a much bigger issue it's
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around noise especially on the danube
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and the rhine where there's lots of
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locks and in the evenings there'll be
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bumps and water noise
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and it can really disturb your sleep i
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really don't like those lower cabins so
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much
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that i've actually not gone on sailings
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when those are the only ones available
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because i really think
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it diminishes the overall experience and
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it's not a great feeling
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now bear in mind of course if you do
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have a cabin higher up which does have
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those floor-to-ceiling windows or a
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balcony
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you might actually not have a lot to
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look at when you're moored because
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on the european rivers the ships in
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different ports
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are moored next to each other rather
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than
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you know side by side so actually you
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could be opening your
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window and staring straight into another
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cabin
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now unlike ocean cruise ships river
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cruise boats
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actually have very few facilities and
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very few options and they do actually
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differ
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ship by ship so it's really important
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before you go on a river cruise to see
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exactly what facilities your ship has
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you know does it have a plunge pool some
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do
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does it have a workout room where they
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do classes does it have a hairdresser
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very few do
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and also one of the dining options most
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just have one is their laundry room do
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they have bikes to use
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because that's really going to determine
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what you're going to bring what you're
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going to pack and what you're going to
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plan for also really importantly
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check and don't assume that it's
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accessible friendly
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does it have a lift does it have ramps
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what are the excursion options not many
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river cruise ships are that accessible
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friendly also they will not
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have a medical center but they are able
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to connect you
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with a doctor or a pharmacy or whatever
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if you need one don't be shy to ask i've
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been on
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trips where i've needed to see a doctor
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and they've been absolutely brilliant
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at finding a local one that speaks
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english and is really helpful
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and not that expensive to go and see now
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you will be doing a lot of walking
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on a european river cruise because
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almost all of the excursions
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are walking tours they go to historic
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towns places cathedrals whatever
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you can easily do 10 000 to 20 000 steps
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a day so make sure
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that you have comfy worn-in shoes to
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walk in that's
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absolutely critical there's also four
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other packing tips that i do have
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for river cruising first of all don't
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take too much luggage because cabins are
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pretty small and you don't want that
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space taken up with big suitcases
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layering is really important it can get
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chilly a waterproof outer layer is a
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really good idea affordable umbrellas a
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great idea
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have a little backpack to carry stuff
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out your excursions
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and having a european adapter is really
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important
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and the fourth one is take euros with
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you that is going to be the key currency
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to have with you the next thing is
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don't plan on having a lot of downtime
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european river cruises are very
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scheduled they're very packed
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you know i often joke to people you're
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not going on a european river cruise for
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a vacation
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you're going to go and do things see
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things it's really really packed
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you're going to be woken up early maybe
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seven o'clock most mornings you're gonna
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have breakfast
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you then gonna head out on tours from
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eight o'clock or nine o'clock you then
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might
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come back from a tour for lunch or then
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you might sail to the next stop
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do another tour you might have free time
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to go and explore that place
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then you're gonna be back at six o'clock
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you can have a briefing seven o'clock
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you're gonna have dinner
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then you're gonna have some maybe insane
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real talk then you're gonna go to bed
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and it all starts over again so it's
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really really packed so don't assume
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you can have lots of downtime now unlike
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ocean cruising
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which has a much more predictable
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schedule import so you kind of you know
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arrive at eight o'clock in the morning
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you leave it sort of five o'clock or so
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but every day and every stop on a
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european river cruise will be very
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different so you need to really watch
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very carefully what's happening that day
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to avoid getting left behind or messing
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up
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the whole itinerary and plans really
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important if you go
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self-exploring in the evening the ship
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might stay in the place until late in
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the evening
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and then leave or even during the day a
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ship might actually change where it
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moors
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while you're out so it might drop you in
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one spot move to a different spot
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where you rejoin because of the traffic
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or the flow of the river
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so it's really important to make sure
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you know what this the schedule is
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attend the briefing every evening take
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the daily program out with you
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and really important make sure you have
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the ship phone number and they have
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yours so make sure you've got that in
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your phone
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also check in and out some you know you
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leave your key behind somebody to scan
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out because then they know that you
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are or aren't on the ship all european
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river cruise lines they offer menus they
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offer meals
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they offer drinks kind of inspired by
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the specific region you're selling
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through but
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bear in mind it's not the real thing
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it's an interpretation of it
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and if you only drink and eat on the
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ship you're not experiencing europe so i
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do
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strongly strongly recommend that you do
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find time to eat and drink
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within the towns and places you're
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visiting maybe skip lunch
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when the ship's more than a place get
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out and meet the locals spend your money
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there
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don't just stay in a bubble of your
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fellow americans british
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australians whatever they are the ship
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will also often
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be in a certain place in the early
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evening and so much late in the evening
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so maybe
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if you don't want to go out and eat
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maybe pop out for a drink afterwards you
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know things will be open in europe
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because it does have a late evening
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culture but don't just eat and drink
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the whole time on the ship the next
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thing is river cruise lines
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say that fares are all inclusive but
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every single line has different
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interpretations of what all-inclusive
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means
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so make sure exactly what is included
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and
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isn't because you may end up paying much
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more than you expect
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most lines include all their meals most
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of them will include wine and beer with
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dinner
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wi-fi is included excursions in each
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port are included
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um they have normally at least one
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choice but then some have
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drinks at all times included so crystal
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uniworld they'll have all drinks while
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others
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might just have non-premium drinks like
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across europe while others have none you
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have to pay
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extra you know most will offer various
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additional
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optional excursions which you will pay
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extra
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beyond the included ones some won't
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they'll just have everything included
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most will expect gratuities
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and you have to pay that in cash in
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euros others
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will have it included so really make
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sure you understand what is
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actually all inclusive on your
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particular cruise line
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now this one may offend people they may
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find it not
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something they agree with but don't take
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kids you know although
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some of the cruise lines are trying to
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attract more families they run special
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cruises with activities in school
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holidays river cruising
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is not really a kid activity in my view
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it goes along the rivers it goes to
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historic towns there's lots of
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excursions involving history
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cathedrals the whole dining approach the
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ambiance
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and most of the clientele on board is
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not kind of family focused
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so if you do want to go with kids take a
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look at perhaps something like an ammo
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waterways
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or other lines like that which are
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running very specific family activities
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and programs during the holidays across
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europe is another good example of that
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one really really important thing that
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you should never do
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on a european river coos is ignore the
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safety warnings you're often going to be
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going under low bridges
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so when the crew tells you to stay off
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the top deck absolutely stealth the top
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deck
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you know when you're going through
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things like a lock you're going to be
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really like
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close to the walls you know don't hold
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out your hand don't touch onto objects
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as
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the ship is moving you will get damaged
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and hurt
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but really really important follow those
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safety briefings particularly
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when you're on the top deck because it
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can be pretty risky
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if you want more help on choosing
8:52
planning and making the most of the
8:54
european river cruise
8:55
i've put together a playlist of three
8:56
videos you can watch it right now
8:59
by clicking here so why don't you go and
9:00
watch those right now to find out more
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