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Discover the 9 top tips and tricks to make your cruise embarkation day fast, stress-free and sets you up for the most enjoyable cruise vacation you can have. I explore the watch-outs and things to focus on drawing on my experiences of setting off on 73 cruises to date. I have learnt, sometimes the hard way, on the things to watch out for, to be ready for and how to make cruise embarkation day easy and get you into your cruise as quickly as possible.
Once you have watched this, why not watch one of these popular recent videos:
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Alaska Cruise Need-to-Knows: https://youtu.be/Tn7dpNw5kSI
Things Cruise Lines Don’t Want You to Know: https://youtu.be/cs5UKha9ALc
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Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 60+ cruises.
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0:00
what are the nine most important
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invocation day watch outs
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tips and tricks that you need to know
0:06
I'm Gary Bembridge this is another of my
0:09
tips of tourism I'm currently in my
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cabin on a cruise and when I was
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boarding it made me think I should share
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with you the things that I do to make
0:16
invocation day smooth stress-free and
0:19
make the most of the day so I have nine
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tips and watch outs starting with this
0:24
one
0:25
making vacations stress-free by arriving
0:28
at the cruise port the day before that
0:31
means that if there's any hiccups with
0:33
travel flights trains whatever you're
0:36
using to get there you have plenty of
0:38
time to resolve it flying in on the day
0:40
of the cruise it can be really really
0:42
risky so I like many experienced
0:45
cruisers always aim to go the day before
0:47
it gives you a chance to settle in sort
0:50
of me issues you've got and if there are
0:52
any hiccups and travel you can resolve
0:53
them so one of the most important things
0:56
to do is to build into your budget and
0:57
plans to get to the port the day before
1:01
my second big tip is prearranged and
1:05
booked as much as you possibly can on
1:07
line before the cruise and there's
1:10
couple of things to really focus on
1:11
first of all if you're flying into or
1:13
joining the cruise in Canada or the
1:15
United States and you're from outside
1:17
there make sure that you've got all the
1:18
esters the same if you're traveling to
1:20
any countries where you might need visas
1:22
make sure that they're all done and
1:24
sorted secondly you'll find that most
1:26
Cruise Lines ask you to check-in online
1:29
and to your credit card details so when
1:31
you arrive at the port you already have
1:32
like an e-ticket printed out and you can
1:34
get through the check-in with just that
1:37
and your passport and get through out of
1:38
the ship really quickly also make sure
1:40
that you've pre book things so whether
1:42
that's excursions drinks packages
1:44
especially dining or any other things
1:48
that you can pre-book online so actually
1:50
you know that everything sorted so you
1:51
don't have to when you get on the ship
1:52
rush around and melly try and book up
1:55
excursions before they go get your
1:57
specialty dining times that you want or
1:59
whatever it is so basically do that
2:02
before so you have time to think about
2:04
it you can look at the deals in the
2:05
office and those you've got everything
2:06
locked down also make sure that you've
2:09
downloaded the cruise line app if they
2:11
have one because you'll find once you're
2:13
onboard
2:13
you might find it more difficult to
2:14
download so downloaded when you still
2:17
have good Wi-Fi or day to minutes apps
2:19
are becoming really really important on
2:21
cruise lines to get your daily program
2:24
to make reservations to book things to
2:26
chat with friends and family so make
2:28
sure you put that all on your phone it's
2:30
all downloaded and all sorted before you
2:31
go so you can actually use invocation
2:33
day to start enjoying your vacation
2:35
without sorting out a lot of admin my
2:38
next tip is around making the most
2:40
efficient use of time before you get on
2:42
the ship really important make sure you
2:43
understand what time you're allowed to
2:46
get there now depending on the cruise
2:47
line they have different approaches so
2:49
some will give you a very set time and
2:51
they won't let you start the check-in an
2:54
invocation process until you're
2:55
allocated time so don't find your pitch
2:58
up too early at the port and you
3:00
basically just surround you know wasting
3:02
your time of course if you want to get
3:05
onboard earlier there's a couple of
3:06
things you can do obvious you can book a
3:07
cabin which has priority boarding or
3:10
through status sometimes with a cruise
3:13
line some cruise lines also sell
3:14
different packages which includes
3:16
priority invocation as part of that but
3:19
really make sure you understand what
3:21
time you can get there now if they're
3:22
pretty lacks on time you might want to
3:25
get there really early on the hope that
3:26
you're going to be there before the
3:27
crowds arrive and you get on the ship
3:29
much earlier arriving early won't always
3:32
work so do really check what the cruise
3:35
liner policy is the other thing you
3:37
might want to consider if you don't want
3:39
to spend a lot of time hanging around is
3:40
look at arriving later now the downside
3:43
of that of course is you don't get on
3:44
the ship as quick however you might find
3:47
that that's a real advantage so for
3:48
example if you're going out of Vancouver
3:50
on an Alaska trip it's quite a slow
3:53
process getting through all the
3:55
immigration checks so one things that I
3:56
like to do is go a little bit later when
3:58
the whole peak has slowed down so you
4:01
just get through quicker because
4:02
actually you don't spend a lot of time
4:04
just sitting in the terminal waiting to
4:06
board what's very important is anything
4:10
that's valuable whether it's medicines
4:12
or electronics computers anything that's
4:15
of value to you have in a day bag do not
4:18
put it in your checked in bags keep all
4:20
that stuff with you but also when you're
4:22
looking at packing that day bag that
4:24
carry-on bag also think about what you
4:26
want to do
4:27
when you get on the ship so for example
4:29
if it's a nice warmer cruise you might
4:32
want to be able to use the pool or the
4:33
hot tubs your bags could only come to
4:36
the cabin quite late in the afternoon so
4:38
think about what you want to do
4:40
so perhaps pack some shorts or some
4:42
swimming trunks or workout gear or
4:44
whatever it is that you're going to want
4:46
to do on the ship before you're going to
4:48
get your bags and assume you're going to
4:50
get your bags
4:50
later in the afternoon that way you can
4:52
also know that you've got a little
4:54
valuables and the important things with
4:56
you but also you're able to enjoy the
4:57
ship and do whatever you want to do
4:59
before your bags arrive so pack that day
5:01
bag and really think that one through
5:04
the other thing that I do on embark a
5:06
Sunday is I avoid the buffet restaurant
5:08
most people when they embark they just
5:10
want to go somewhere simple and easy so
5:12
they head up to the buffet it gets
5:13
pretty crowded and pretty crazy up in
5:16
the buffet on invocation day most cruise
5:18
lines actually open one or more of their
5:21
normal restaurants and that's a much
5:22
better place to go because you can sit
5:25
down you can enjoy yourself and it's not
5:27
crazy madness with their own rushing
5:29
around in the buffet restaurant for me
5:31
that's a really big way of making
5:33
invocation day just feel a little bit
5:34
more special a little bit more relaxed
5:37
and less stressful my next tip is a
5:40
really important one this is something
5:41
that I always make sure I do as early as
5:43
possible when I embark a ship and
5:45
there's four things that you want to
5:47
check all are okay and these are as
5:50
follows first of all third your cabin as
5:52
soon as you can and check your cabin
5:54
really carefully make sure that
5:55
everything works nothing's broken try
5:58
the bed make sure you're happy where the
6:00
cabin is radius make sure that
6:02
everything in the cabin is as you want
6:04
it your chemistry will normally come
6:06
along quite quickly once they know
6:08
you're there if there's anything you
6:09
don't like in your cabin or anything
6:11
you're unhappy with your cabin tell your
6:13
cabin steward there and then very
6:15
important that it's registered with the
6:17
cabin steward they will probably then
6:19
also talk to their supervisor and this
6:21
becomes really important if you have any
6:23
issues with your cabin you want to
6:24
escalate the problem but really within
6:27
the first hour or two of getting into a
6:29
cabin check everything make sure that it
6:31
is absolutely how you want it to be so
6:33
there's time for it to get fixed
6:35
secondly go and check what the situation
6:38
is with upgrades if the ship is not
6:40
selling
6:41
there may be a chance to get upgrades
6:43
now if you have a problem with your
6:43
cabin you might end up negotiating a
6:45
free upgrade or there may be really
6:47
special offers going for upgrades so
6:50
always check out what the situation is
6:52
the third thing is check your dining now
6:56
depends a little bit on the cruise ship
6:57
you're with but you're probably going to
6:58
have a table allocated in the main
7:00
dining room if you're on one of those
7:02
cruises which has some form of fixed
7:04
dining if that's the case go and check
7:07
the table and make sure you're happy
7:09
with it because that's gonna be your
7:10
table for the whole cruise now
7:12
increasingly what's happening of course
7:13
is it's moved to a more open seated
7:15
dining freedom dining down when you want
7:18
type of approach so that's less
7:19
applicable but if you do have allocated
7:21
seating make sure that you're really
7:23
happy with it the number where it's
7:24
located or the time of that and talk to
7:27
maitre d when they still have time to
7:29
influence it also when it comes to
7:31
dining if you haven't pre-booked
7:33
specialty dining sort that out as soon
7:36
as you can
7:37
when you get on board on the invocation
7:39
day so you can get the dates and times
7:40
and restaurants that you want the fourth
7:43
thing to check is if you're traveling
7:44
with kids make sure you get them to the
7:46
kids club as early as possible and
7:47
register them now most kids clubs have
7:50
capacity to take all of the kids but get
7:52
there early and make sure that you get
7:53
your kids signed in and you understand
7:54
what the times are what they will do
7:57
won't do and get that all sorted so
7:59
those are the four important things to
8:01
sort out as soon as you can once you
8:03
embark the ship the next thing that I
8:06
always do on an invocation day is see
8:07
what offers and deals are going now if
8:10
you've been really organized you've
8:11
probably booked many of the things and
8:13
seen what's available in terms of deals
8:14
and offers before you get on the ship so
8:16
some cruise lines will let you book
8:18
Wi-Fi packages with the discount or
8:20
drinks packages with the discount or
8:22
excursions with the discount so you
8:24
might have already done that in advance
8:25
but also find out what discounts are
8:27
going on the day because on an
8:28
invocation day most apartments will have
8:31
some offers going so that particularly
8:33
is true of places like the spa so go and
8:36
find out what offers are available also
8:39
check out places like the spa or even
8:41
some of the shops and find out if
8:43
there's any lucky drawers or things like
8:46
or raffles going on because you'll find
8:48
that many of those departments are
8:49
trying to encourage people to go and
8:51
explore them they then will have a draw
8:53
which normally takes place
8:54
just before the ship actually set sail
8:56
and you have to be there to win the
8:59
price but I on a couple of cruisers have
9:01
one whole spa packages through those
9:03
lucky drawers so find out what offers
9:06
are going but also find out if there's
9:07
any free raffles going and take part in
9:10
those another really important thing to
9:13
do particularly ownership early is
9:15
explore the ship but take photographs so
9:18
if you want to take lots of photographs
9:19
of some of the public rooms or you
9:21
actual want to take pictures of yourself
9:22
on the ship do it really early on
9:25
because most people are going to get on
9:27
the ship they're gonna go to the buffet
9:28
and then go to their cabin so explore
9:31
the ship when it's pretty empty you're
9:33
likely to have lots of good open spaces
9:35
to take pictures because once the cruise
9:37
is in full swing and everybody's on
9:39
board you're gonna find it really
9:40
difficult to get great pictures of empty
9:43
spaces to show people you know the pools
9:46
always going to be busy the bars always
9:48
going to be busy the facility is always
9:51
going to be busy so taking photographs
9:53
early on an invocation day is a really
9:55
great idea it also means you can start
9:56
sharing those with all your friends and
9:58
family and make them jealous as well
10:01
another critical thing to do on
10:03
invocation day is of course go to the
10:05
mussel drill this is mandatory most
10:07
cruise lines will take a roll call and
10:10
if you don't go to the muster drill you
10:12
are likely to be refused to sail now
10:15
normally what they'll do is they'll make
10:16
sure that you go through a muster drill
10:18
separately but you must go to the master
10:20
drill because you if you don't do it
10:22
you're not going to be able to sail
10:24
these are the ways that I make my
10:27
invocation day run smoothly and just be
10:30
much less stressful and means that I can
10:33
enjoy my cruise vacation straight away I
10:36
have lots more videos of cruise tips and
10:38
advice so why don't you watch another
10:40
one of those videos right now
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