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I look at 8 things we cruise passengers see all the time on cruise ships but don’t realise they are there, what they mean nor the significance of them.
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* Michelle Tiller https://www.youtube.com/c/MichelleTimrox
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
it was 10 o'clock in the evening on a
0:02
viking cruise i was chatting to the
0:04
cruise director when an innocuous
0:06
announcement came over the public
0:08
address system she immediately turned
0:10
and ran away now when i discovered how
0:12
the bridge knew she had to run and how
0:14
they let her know it had got me thinking
0:16
about other hidden things on cruise
0:19
ships that are staring us in the face
0:21
that we have no idea of there or simply
0:24
we're missing the significance of
0:26
welcome aboard i'm gary bembridge let's
0:28
explore these secrets lurking in plain
0:31
sight all around us on cruise ships
0:35
the viking cruise director had fled to
0:37
the rear infinity pool as the bridge had
0:39
seen a man having a late night swim
0:42
collapse getting out of the pool on the
0:44
cctv
0:46
there's cctv everywhere on cruise ships
0:49
next time on a ship look up and you'll
0:52
be amazed at the volume of cameras
0:55
monitoring us for example on my recent
0:57
queen mary 2 cruise there were eight in
0:59
the fitness center alone i think the
1:02
only places without cctv were the public
1:04
bathrooms the spa changing rooms and in
1:08
my cabin
1:09
now this of course helped the man who'd
1:11
collapsed on that deserted pool deck
1:14
late at night get medical help quickly
1:16
but i found there is another aspect to
1:18
it that was staring me in the face
1:21
literally
1:23
facial recognition software is being
1:25
increasingly used by the cruise lines
1:27
that photograph taking of me at check-in
1:30
is not just a security can check it's me
1:32
leaving and returning to the shipping
1:34
port it is so
1:36
much more
1:38
most lines have stopped printing out
1:40
photographs taken by their photographers
1:42
for me to go and find facial recognition
1:45
software using that invocation photo now
1:48
identifies if i'm in any photo and
1:51
allocates it to my cabin i just tap my
1:53
cabin number into a screen and all
1:56
photos with me are there despite the
1:57
photographer never
1:59
asking who i am
2:02
as shut down eased and lines were
2:03
recording my temperature daily most use
2:06
screens where all i had to do was walk
2:08
up to it put my face in a circle and it
2:11
would recognize me and record my
2:14
temperature on a recent oceania panama
2:16
canal cruise i didn't even swipe in and
2:19
out with my cruise card imports i step
2:21
into a screen briefly and it used facial
2:24
recognition to identify me and talk me
2:27
in and out
2:29
royal caribbean also advised that they
2:31
used cctv facial recognition to do
2:34
contact tracing of people who came up
2:38
with covert
2:39
while i've not thought about the
2:40
significance of this new technology
2:42
staring me in the face on one of those
2:44
trips i realized there were other signs
2:47
that i'd also missed
2:49
coming back from an excursion on that
2:51
recent oceania panama cruise someone
2:53
pointed to a key shaped symbol on the
2:56
hull
2:57
and asked me
2:58
what it meant looking closer there were
3:00
signs all over the hull staring in the
3:03
face that i also had no idea of their
3:05
significance so i went to find out that
3:08
key shape symbol or bottle lying down as
3:11
some see it
3:12
shows where the ship's stabilizers are
3:15
these are the arms deployed in rougher
3:17
seas to help keep the ship more stable
3:19
and more comfortable for us passengers
3:22
the c-shaped symbol with a line going
3:24
upwards near the front of the bow warns
3:27
everyone that the ship has a bow bulb
3:30
this is the chunky bulbous area
3:32
protruding in front of the bow it's just
3:35
the water line and helps the ship push
3:37
through seas much more efficiently
3:40
there's a circle with a cross through
3:42
showing where the bow thrusters are
3:44
these are sideways pointing thrusters
3:47
that a ship uses mostly to push away
3:49
from or get close to the dock or for
3:52
maneuvering at slow speeds
3:54
i noticed numbers running up the hull of
3:57
the ship and going under the water line
3:59
this i now know is known as the draft
4:02
scale and shows how deep the very bottom
4:06
of the hull is in the water
4:08
though of course nowadays of course
4:10
there's modern technology up in the
4:11
bridge telling them all that information
4:14
another thing i saw in port which i
4:16
noticed in my early cruising days on
4:18
queen elizabeth in bergen are circular
4:21
wooden disks placed at the end of the
4:23
ropes tying the ship up to the key
4:25
imports i asked the crew who told me
4:28
they are actually rat guards they date
4:30
back to early sailing days when it was
4:32
discovered rats would scurry up and
4:34
scurry down those ropes and be exported
4:37
and imported to foreign lands as well of
4:39
course playing havoc in the ship these
4:42
stop that i realized just how important
4:45
they were when i was on my panant
4:47
antarctica cruise in 2021 where it
4:50
explained that rats had been brought by
4:52
ships by whaling ships to south georgia
4:55
and had devastated much of the bird life
4:57
by eating their eggs and their chicks
4:59
and eventually millions and millions of
5:00
dollars had to be spent over years to
5:03
eradicate them
5:04
now while these signs and symbols are
5:06
hiding things within the hull inside the
5:09
ship inside the hull there are also
5:10
signs staring us in the face that hide
5:14
something huge like me i'm sure you
5:17
notice crew-only doors but also never
5:19
really think about the scale of what's
5:22
hidden behind those doors
5:24
you also like me look at deck plans and
5:26
focus on the brightly colored areas
5:29
showing our cabins bars lounges dining
5:32
rooms restaurants theater casino pool x
5:35
and so on not noticing or dwelling on
5:38
the blank white spaces
5:40
their significance nor the fact that
5:43
there are missing decks often those deck
5:45
plans start at deck 3 or deck 4.
5:48
they hide another whole world a ship
5:53
within a ship
5:54
the passenger part of the ship i like to
5:56
see is an outer case for a whole other
5:59
ship hidden within a vast
6:02
and sprawling ship too on ultra luxury
6:04
lines like seabourn silversea region 7c
6:07
there are almost as many crew as
6:09
passengers sleeping eating and living
6:12
inside that ship inside the ship we
6:14
inhabit on huge mega ships like those of
6:16
royal caribbean msc norwegian and even
6:20
new ships like carnival mardi gras those
6:22
all have around 2 000 crew living and
6:26
working within that parallel ship it has
6:28
cabins
6:30
crew bars fitness centers restaurants
6:32
and a galley that serves different menus
6:34
for multiple nationalities medical
6:36
facilities open deck areas some have
6:39
pool some have hot tubs within that
6:41
hidden ship are also what crew on
6:45
american ships call the i-95 on british
6:47
ships they often call it the m1 this is
6:49
a long passageway running the full
6:52
length of the ship it's designed to be
6:54
the efficient and quickest way for crew
6:56
to get to and from where they're working
6:58
and also for transporting goods say from
7:00
storage areas to the galley of course
7:04
there are also all the storage areas the
7:07
engines the laundry and all the other
7:09
things that are needed to operate the
7:11
ship that we actually inhabit now this
7:13
hidden ship
7:14
within is one of the biggest things
7:16
staring us in the face on board that we
7:18
miss or under appreciate in my view
7:21
but so is the next one although it is a
7:24
bit
7:25
more subtle many cruise ships have
7:28
in-jokes or items on board that have
7:30
huge significance which are literally
7:32
staring us in the face and we pass by or
7:35
use them every day without realizing
7:38
their significance for example on that
7:40
recent cunard queen mary 2 crossing i
7:42
was talking about there were so many
7:46
there's a homer simpson buried in one of
7:49
the artica panels near the golden lion
7:51
pub so samuel's coffee shop is named
7:54
after the original founder of cunard
7:58
corinthia lounge is named after the very
8:00
first ship to ever do a world cruise
8:02
which cunard did on that ship in 1933
8:06
g32 the nightclub is the name of the
8:08
hull of the ship when it was being built
8:11
and before it was officially named queen
8:13
mary 2. what appears to be some modern
8:15
art sculptures on the bow of the ship
8:17
are actually spare propeller parts many
8:20
ships have all these hidden jokes
8:23
memorabilia and names of significance
8:25
and it's definitely worth asking about
8:27
especially if you go on one of the ship
8:29
orientation tours on embarkation day
8:31
you'll be surprised what you discover
8:33
now while these all take some
8:35
investigation and are less obvious there
8:37
is one other thing staring us in the
8:39
face that we all assume we know what
8:41
it's there for
8:43
but it's not the case the ship's funnel
8:46
is hard to miss but they have always
8:48
played a different role to what we
8:50
passengers think they do
8:52
hiding that in plain sight as it were
8:55
way back in the days when liners like
8:57
the titanic were fueled by coal engines
9:00
the lines would often add additional
9:02
funnels because they symbolized power
9:06
and speed many many liners had extra
9:09
fake funnels with no purpose other than
9:13
for marketing
9:14
funnels still play a massive marketing
9:17
rather than functional role still today
9:21
of course they still expel and direct
9:23
exhaust fumes out and they pull air into
9:26
the ship for various equipment that
9:28
needs it but they are bigger and much
9:31
grander than are actually needed they're
9:33
designed as symbols to identify and help
9:37
the line be instantly recognized and to
9:39
stand out which is why each line has a
9:41
different shape funnel and uses
9:43
different colors for example
9:45
carnival has their famous wing funnel
9:48
holland america their oval sort of shape
9:51
celebrity have their chunky one with the
9:53
x logo the funnel makes ships easier
9:57
also to identify import and out at sea
9:59
from a distance it's certainly what i
10:01
use to tell which line is out there at
10:03
sea
10:04
as there is much much wasted space
10:07
inside these funnels as they're bigger
10:08
and grander than needed some cruise
10:10
lines are starting to use funnels to
10:13
incorporate different venues
10:15
disney wish for example has a suite
10:18
within the funnel and carnival miracle
10:20
actually has a restaurant
10:23
there's something else about ship design
10:25
that is staring us in the face and we're
10:27
missing what the lines are actually
10:30
hiding have you ever noticed the layout
10:32
of the ship is designed to make us spend
10:36
more
10:37
it's most obvious on the main promenade
10:40
decks for example
10:42
the main dining room
10:43
is at the very rear of the ship normally
10:46
and the theater at the very front of the
10:48
ship
10:49
these are the two places that most of us
10:50
visit every evening thinking about a
10:52
recent holland america cruise for
10:54
example to get to and from the dining
10:57
room to the world stage theater i had to
11:00
walk through or pass through the music
11:03
walk bars so four of those different
11:05
lounges the casino art gallery and shops
11:08
all of those are revenue generating
11:11
venues another design feature staring us
11:13
in the face that has a big significance
11:16
is up on the top deck we want our pools
11:19
up top and in the sunshine but this
11:21
caused all sorts of issues have you
11:23
noticed that the pools are much smaller
11:25
than they would be on land at a hotel
11:27
for a similar number of guests as on the
11:29
ship they're often made to look bigger
11:31
by having a shallow water room around
11:33
them and they're also emptied when the
11:35
ocean gets rough if not you should
11:37
notice this water is very heavy even
11:40
those modest sized pools on ships have
11:43
over 250 000 pounds of weight added to
11:46
the top of the ship risking making it
11:49
top heavy and challenging to keep the
11:52
ship stable so as well as limiting size
11:55
pools are placed dead center of the deck
11:57
and as mid-ship as possible pools at the
12:00
rear of the ship you'll notice are much
12:02
much smaller for this reason hot tubs on
12:04
a pool deck will mirror each other on
12:06
each side to balance out the weight
12:09
counterbalancing weight is then added at
12:11
the very bottom of the ship to try and
12:13
keep it stable and when the ocean gets
12:15
rough draining the pool helps with
12:17
stability especially when the pool water
12:20
and that weight starts moving about
12:22
while on the pool deck or above
12:25
high up in the ship there's another
12:26
feature staring us in the face that i
12:28
have missed until it was pointed out
12:30
most times cruise ships have areas where
12:33
helicopters can land to do medi-vacs off
12:36
the ship and they can normally be pretty
12:38
well hidden
12:40
but still staring us in the face on
12:41
celebrity i stumbled across it only when
12:43
i was invited by the hotel director for
12:46
a sell-out party from costa maya on the
12:48
bow celebrity solstice and i found it
12:51
there on that queen mary 2 trip i
12:53
noticed a large yellow dot on a wide
12:56
open space up on deck 12 sports deck on
12:59
your next cruise when you're on a big
13:01
open deck space look down to see if
13:04
there's a bigger darts or a big letter h
13:06
and the helicopter pad will have been
13:08
staring you in the face all along which
13:11
brings me to something i can't believe
13:14
has been staring at me that i missed as
13:16
i could have used it to stop my mother
13:19
and my mother-in-law getting lost every
13:21
single time we went cruising with them i
13:24
learned this from one of my favorite
13:26
youtube channels
13:27
cruisley who pointed out that cabins are
13:29
numbered from the front of the ship to
13:32
the back of the ship and even cabin
13:35
numbers are port side and odd numbers
13:38
are starboard side so if i or my mum
13:40
want to head to the rear of the ship we
13:43
go in the direction where cabin numbers
13:45
are going upwards are getting higher and
13:47
higher and follow cabin numbers falling
13:49
again lower and lower to go towards the
13:51
front of the ship cruisely also pointed
13:53
out that on norwegian cruise line the
13:55
carpets have tons of little fish motifs
13:58
in the carpet design pointing in the
14:00
direction of the front of the ship and
14:02
royal caribbean cruise line cabin number
14:05
signs often have ships or small
14:07
indicators pointing again towards the
14:10
front of the ship things i had been
14:12
staring in the face didn't realize i now
14:14
have an easy way to find my way forwards
14:17
or to the rear that lit has been staring
14:19
me in the face i've been on dozens of
14:21
cruises without even realizing it
14:23
if you found this interesting watch this
14:25
video about things that make no sense on
14:27
a cruise ship until you know why i start
14:30
with one thing that confuses me more
14:32
than anything else see you over there
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