Up next in 10
If you are planning, or wondering if you should, cruise this year in 2022 with everything going on and all the uncertainty and changes, I have 4 essential questions and tips to help you navigate cruising this year. Including some key advice I have based on things that went well and less well for me as I tried cruising this year
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0:00
the cruise lines are telling wall street
0:01
that 2022 bookings are weakening
0:04
significantly which is not a surprise to
0:06
me as i've been asked all the time by
0:08
potential cruisers if they should go
0:10
cruising anytime soon or importantly
0:13
even this year at all now i've been
0:15
cruising fairly regularly since the end
0:17
of lockdown and through these variant
0:19
surges but found many challenges issues
0:21
and things to consider i've managed to
0:23
boil it all down to four big questions
0:26
that i suggest everybody needs to ask
0:29
before considering cruising this year
0:31
and more importantly through those
0:33
mistakes and experiences i have very
0:35
specific actions and things you must do
0:38
if after these questions you want to go
0:40
cruising by the way if you're new here
0:42
welcome aboard i'm gary bembridge and
0:45
it's my goal to make it fun and easy to
0:47
discover plan and enjoy unforgettable
0:50
cruise vacations first you need to ask
0:52
if you are able and more importantly
0:55
willing to keep on top of the constantly
0:58
changing rules and of course be willing
1:01
to adapt and change plans constantly as
1:04
the rules change often
1:06
during the trip without getting stressed
1:08
out and that's really really important
1:10
for example just two days before i left
1:13
for panama to join a cruise on oceania
1:16
panama changed the rules around
1:17
vaccination this then required three
1:20
doses to avoid any of the restrictions
1:22
and the quarantining which could have
1:24
thrown up any chances of getting on the
1:26
ship whilst on my panant antarctica trip
1:29
the uk changed the type of test that i
1:32
was required to do for my return which
1:34
meant scrabbling around finding a new
1:35
test center before my flight home on the
1:38
cruise i'm just back from in the
1:40
caribbean as i record this ports were
1:42
constantly changing import restrictions
1:45
which we would often only discover the
1:48
night before or even on the day after
1:51
we'd docked saint lucia barbados and
1:53
saint kitts decided for example we could
1:56
only go on cruise line bubble excursions
1:58
or we could use government-approved
2:00
taxis to a smallest of
2:02
government-approved locations we were
2:04
only aware of that often the day before
2:06
as i said getting into those ports and
2:08
then how to make plans based on that so
2:10
if you decide you are happy to travel
2:13
with these changing rules like i am
2:15
what should you do to make this easier
2:18
and definitely less stressful well first
2:21
of all get someone else to do much of
2:23
the work i book all my cruises through a
2:25
travel agent sarah bolton of travel
2:26
counsellors now i know and trust her and
2:30
she's proven herself to be up to date
2:32
and very proactive in terms of tracking
2:34
and letting me know of rule changes and
2:36
helping me make the changes i need to
2:38
make
2:39
her agency very importantly also has a
2:42
24-hour helpline that i can contact by
2:45
phone but really importantly i can
2:47
contact them by email this is really key
2:49
when you're on the ship and of course
2:50
you have sea days and can't use the
2:52
phone
2:53
second i make sure i read every single
2:56
document that the cruise lines send me
2:59
in detail for example from both hundred
3:01
american oceanic cruises i've just done
3:04
almost every single day in the run-up to
3:06
these cruises there were emails
3:08
announcing
3:09
reinforcing or changing rules and there
3:12
were many many changes
3:14
make sure you read every single one of
3:16
them because i know that if i don't do
3:18
the actions and i miss anything the
3:20
lines could refuse and will refuse me
3:22
boarding and any refusal of boarding is
3:25
at my own expense
3:27
the third critical thing is i found that
3:30
travellers need to be tech savvy to
3:33
navigate all of this
3:34
you need to be good with a smartphone or
3:36
a tablet people without these
3:38
i saw getting really stressed out and
3:40
struggling because they had to complete
3:43
these various country and cruise line
3:45
forms online they had to change
3:46
arrangements online you need to be able
3:48
to access emails you need a device to to
3:51
pull up because there's various forms of
3:53
qr codes you have to scan and basically
3:55
to stay in touch with any changes you
3:57
need to be tech savvy also once you're
3:59
on board nowadays the cruise lines have
4:01
shifted many many of the cruise
4:03
materials and bookings onto their
4:05
smartphone app i watched the new mustard
4:08
drill process on the app i reviewed the
4:11
daily program on the app i booked dinner
4:12
times i booked a slot at some events and
4:15
venues and i reserved excursions on the
4:18
apps they've become fundamental to the
4:20
cruise experience of course you can get
4:22
help in person from the crew to do many
4:25
of these things
4:26
as well
4:27
and you won't be excluded but i've
4:29
definitely seen less tech savvy
4:31
passengers get really stressed and it's
4:33
been pretty fraught on many of these
4:35
trips i've done because they're starting
4:36
to navigate these changes and the
4:38
country and line and port requirements
4:40
and all the forms however there's an
4:42
even more
4:43
fundamental question to ask that could
4:45
be the killer one on whether you should
4:47
cruise or not will you be comfortable
4:49
with whatever protocols the cruise lines
4:52
will have in place when you cruise
4:55
really really important
4:57
we will not know exactly what those
5:00
protocols will be until the time of the
5:04
cruise now this really struck home to me
5:05
when i received an email just the other
5:07
day for one of the followers of the
5:09
channel saying their wife had said that
5:11
she refused to go on their cruise if she
5:15
had to wear a mask now they've got a
5:16
cruise booked in seven months and he
5:17
wants to know what should he do
5:21
now my point to him was we have no idea
5:24
what the protocols will be throughout
5:25
this year and neither do the cruise
5:27
lines
5:28
there are some key protocols which i'm
5:31
assuming are going to stay for a while
5:33
if not for much of the year and i
5:35
recommend you work on this basis first
5:38
vaccinations
5:39
i think if you can't have or don't want
5:42
to have a vaccine or soon a booster then
5:45
cruising as a vacation option i think
5:48
is going to be impossible or extremely
5:51
restricted and basically i wouldn't
5:52
change a one to be honest the cruise
5:54
lines are extending their vaccine
5:56
mandates further into the year
5:58
and the requirement for fully vaccinated
6:01
to mean you have to have had a booster
6:03
is gaining speed rapidly
6:06
i received emails in just the two days
6:08
before i recorded this from three lines
6:11
that i've got bookings with this year
6:13
silversea
6:14
viking and azamara they've all advised
6:16
that i must have a booster to be able to
6:19
cruise and basically board with them
6:22
piano and cunard in the uk as i'm
6:24
recording this they've already required
6:26
boosters for the cruisers that are
6:28
operating at the moment
6:30
even carnival cruise line
6:32
they said that they will follow whatever
6:34
rules the us cdc have and they are
6:36
indicating the cdcr that they're likely
6:39
to change the definition of fully
6:40
vaccinated to include boosters which may
6:43
have happened even by the time that you
6:44
watch this and other governments around
6:46
the world are saying the same thing
6:48
growing number of countries that
6:50
cruisers call on like panama as i've
6:52
already mentioned
6:53
are requiring boosters or vaccines
6:55
within a certain time frame to happen
6:59
before people can enter the country i
7:02
can't even enter the united states at
7:03
the moment without being vaccinated to
7:05
join a cruise because the us only let
7:08
vaccinated travelers in
7:10
the cruise lines will have to keep
7:12
vaccines i believe as part of the
7:14
protocols because basically so many
7:17
countries require a vaccine before you
7:19
can even enter so they're going to just
7:21
have to do it if they want to do their
7:22
itineraries the second protocol is
7:24
around mask now mask wearing mandates
7:27
will likely have a time diminish or be
7:29
reduced less clear to me though is
7:31
around lower capacity social distancing
7:33
on ships and how quickly they will be
7:35
able to build back or decide to build
7:37
back to higher load levels this brings
7:40
me though to a related question one that
7:42
i personally am really wrestling with
7:45
how comfortable will you be if they lift
7:48
all the protocols if the lines say we're
7:50
now selling with full ships no social
7:52
distancing no masks or even lifting the
7:54
vaccine rules how comfortable will you
7:57
be getting on a ship on that basis i
8:00
think there's many
8:02
who will not be comfortable with that
8:03
change once they all think about it and
8:06
i'm a little bit in that camp to be
8:07
honest i've been on quite a few cruises
8:09
now since shut down all at very reduced
8:12
capacity my holland american new staten
8:14
down was around 30
8:16
other cruises i've been on including
8:18
celebrity princess viking and even
8:20
antarctica we had only 50 capacity on
8:24
all those cruises i'm now used to space
8:28
no crowds no busy places on board it is
8:31
very reassuring i noticed for example
8:34
when i was on my last cruise that people
8:37
were already informally socially
8:39
distancing in the theater with no rules
8:41
and if a stranger came and sat down next
8:43
to someone
8:44
people would get up and move to build
8:46
space in between them and the new
8:48
arrivals so even though that wasn't part
8:51
of the rules people clearly are
8:53
feeling the need for space so how
8:56
comfortable will i and you
8:58
be with full theaters full excursion
9:00
buses full ships and so on if you're not
9:04
comfortable to cruise
9:05
not knowing what the protocols will be
9:07
in place
9:08
when you cruise
9:09
i've got some really key actions and
9:11
tips that i think you should take first
9:14
look at delaying or pushing back your
9:15
cruise now if you're not comfortable
9:18
with whatever the protocol is going to
9:19
be but even if you are happy to go
9:21
without clarity on protocols
9:24
still understand the rules the key
9:25
decision dates and what flexibility your
9:28
fare in your line is offering in case
9:30
the protocols when it gets close to the
9:32
cruise are not suitable for you
9:34
check if the line is offering you a
9:36
cruise with confidence fare or your fair
9:39
falls within that because that will
9:40
allow you even once you've paid final
9:42
balance to cancel or postpone your
9:44
cruise i made a mistake of not checking
9:46
that on my last cruise and realized too
9:48
late that i could only cancel 30 days
9:50
before departure with no penalty and
9:53
only thought about it afterwards so if
9:55
booking a new cruise go for a refundable
9:57
deposit or a very low one for example i
10:00
recently booked a christmas 2022 cruise
10:03
on westerdam it only has about 120
10:05
pounds about 170 deposit so if i have to
10:08
lose that it's not a catastrophic
10:10
financial hit but if you have any
10:13
reservations
10:14
about protocols do not pay your final
10:16
balance and move your cruise because
10:19
once you've paid your final balance even
10:21
if you delay you'll only get a future
10:23
cruise credit and you'll have all that
10:24
money tied up with the cruise line that
10:26
you can't move around to other
10:28
opportunities but there is another thing
10:30
to consider based on the type of cruise
10:32
that you are doing and another question
10:34
you should ask is the cruise you doing
10:37
or planning a bucket list cruise perhaps
10:39
one that you've always wanted to do and
10:42
may only do once in your life or maybe
10:44
there's a destination a port or activity
10:47
in a port
10:48
that's fundamental to why you're going
10:51
on that particular cruise
10:53
there's no certainty on when lines and
10:55
ports are going to be able to deliver
10:57
everything
10:59
so are you willing to pay a full fare
11:01
and not get that experience that you
11:04
have as your big must-do list i got no
11:07
compensation for a change of port from
11:09
martinique to grenada or a council
11:12
thomas call on my caribbean cruise and
11:14
neither have other people i've spoken to
11:16
who've had even more port cancellations
11:18
now i was happy and definitely happy to
11:20
go to the caribbean knowing that the
11:22
ports could chop and change because
11:24
basically all of them were offering what
11:26
i wanted to do i wanted to escape
11:28
european winter i wanted to get some sun
11:30
i wanted to go to the beach i wanted to
11:31
swim in the sea so whether i was doing
11:32
that in grenada or martinique or saint
11:34
thomas was much less important to me it
11:37
was going to the caribbean and
11:38
experience and that that was important
11:40
but if martinique had been fundamental
11:42
to my going this would have been a very
11:45
different
11:47
thought and idea about that cruise
11:49
now for example i've got a baltic cruise
11:51
this summer and knowing that i will get
11:54
to saint petersburg is essential to that
11:56
cruise so for this particular cruise i
11:59
bought cancellation insurance that i can
12:01
cancel for any reason because i couldn't
12:03
get that cruise with confidence fair but
12:05
also linked to this ask if there are
12:07
specific things that you want to do
12:09
onboard the ship or in a port that's
12:12
fundamental to the experience if you're
12:14
doing a cruise where the itinerary
12:17
or onboard activities are absolutely key
12:20
to you then i do have a couple of tips
12:22
around what you should be doing first if
12:24
you have an absolute must-do must go to
12:27
place look at your options now to move
12:31
and if you don't move it at least know
12:33
the key decision dates where you can
12:34
shift without penalties you know if
12:36
you're doing a bucket list cruise you
12:38
want to make sure you go when it's going
12:39
to happen second if you're making a new
12:41
booking for that bucket list cruise look
12:43
for a fair that offers changes close to
12:46
the cruise or with low financial risk
12:49
like that christmas cruise that i've
12:50
mentioned with only that 175 deposits so
12:53
you're not locking in potentially using
12:55
a lot of money there's one question
12:57
though that few people seem to ask which
12:59
in my view is one of the most essential
13:02
because it could make a huge difference
13:04
to how your trip plays out and the costs
13:07
involved this is asking exactly what
13:10
happens if you test positive for covert
13:12
or a close contact of someone who tests
13:15
positive on board and importantly who's
13:17
going to cover any costs of isolation
13:20
quarantining and any medical care if you
13:22
need it i found the cruise lines have
13:24
not made it that easy to find out what
13:26
all of these things will be
13:28
although interestingly on my most recent
13:31
cruise on oceania they were the first to
13:33
send me in detail in a pre cruise email
13:37
and i'm prompted what happens if i test
13:41
positive so for example testing positive
13:44
in the pre-boarding test
13:46
would mean five days quarantining in a
13:48
hotel in panama arranged and covered by
13:51
oceania
13:53
testing positive and symptomatic would
13:56
mean 10 days quarantine on board if the
13:58
cruise ends before that time is up then
14:01
i would have to be disembarked into a
14:03
hotel which again was arranged and
14:05
covered by them until the 10 days was up
14:07
if i was asymptomatic and had been in
14:09
quarantine for at least five days when
14:11
the cruise ended i would be allowed to
14:13
disembark as planned and travel home
14:16
this is the first time i had
14:18
detailed information without prompting
14:21
most lines i've been on positive
14:23
passengers by the way are moved from
14:25
their cabins to dedicated cabins in a
14:27
secure restricted area on the ship
14:29
but close contacts are usually
14:31
quarantined in the cabin they've booked
14:34
now these rules actually differ by
14:36
region as well which is why it's
14:37
important you ask in the caribbean
14:40
isolated passengers and crew are kept on
14:42
the ship or sometimes transferred to a
14:44
separate dedicated quarantining ship
14:46
however in europe
14:48
positive and close contact guests are
14:50
not kept on the ship they're usually
14:52
removed from the ship for their
14:53
isolation and in all these cases the
14:56
cruise lines was covering the costs the
14:58
transfers home was arranged costs were
15:00
covered but it's important to understand
15:02
what happens and with units down the
15:03
ship will be disembarked and when now
15:06
this is what i do and what i recommend
15:09
around this area
15:11
if you have any concerns which i think
15:12
you should have first
15:14
get your travel agent or the line to
15:16
confirm
15:17
what will happen at all stages and who
15:20
will be covering the costs including if
15:22
you will be refunded any of your fare
15:25
while you put in isolation
15:27
second have insurance that covers covert
15:29
issues like quarantining returning home
15:32
and medical i make sure i've got
15:33
insurance that covers that thirdly and
15:35
very importantly if you're traveling to
15:37
a foreign country to catch crews like
15:38
i've been doing time it so you can do
15:41
the required cruise line pcr antigen
15:43
test for boarding the line at home
15:46
before you fly so you don't have to do
15:48
it once you get there so if you test
15:50
positive then you don't have to sort out
15:52
and pay for your quarantine and miss the
15:54
cruise in a foreign country
15:56
fundamental to this whole thing
16:00
and cruising now is flexibility if
16:02
you're flexible and you know that you
16:04
will not get stressed by some of this
16:06
uncertainty some of things i've been
16:07
talking about then keep going but why
16:10
not find out more about what it's like
16:12
to cruise right now during the current
16:14
situation take a look at this video
16:16
where i show you in detail exactly what
16:18
it's like starting with one of the
16:19
things that i probably thought was going
16:21
to be a massive issue but turned out not
16:23
to be and one that caught and completely
16:26
blindsided me
16:28
see you over there
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