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There are at least 9 things you should never hide from your cruise line when booking, embarking and once on your cruising vacation. Some may seem obvious but some are less well-known but could cause you problems, stress and difficulty on your cruise if you try and hide or withhold these from the cruise line. Find out what I have discovered as being the things not to hide.
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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 75 cruises at time of making this video.
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what are the things that you should
0:01
never hide from your cruise line hi I'm
0:05
Gary beverage this is another my tips
0:06
for travelers I'm gonna tell you nine
0:08
things that you should never hide from
0:11
the cruise line when you're going on a
0:12
cruise starting with this one food
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allergies or needs whether it's
0:17
religious health or otherwise most
0:20
cruise lines require some notification
0:22
before you get on the cruise of any
0:24
issues you've got so some cruise lines
0:25
for example if you want kosher or halal
0:27
they might need 45 to 90 days warning in
0:31
order to be able to cater for you
0:32
properly if you have any really serious
0:34
allergies for example nut allergies
0:36
which could be pretty catastrophic
0:38
really important that you make sure at
0:41
least 45 days to 90 days kind of at the
0:44
time when you're paying your final
0:45
balance that your travel agent or your
0:47
cruise line whoever you're dealing with
0:49
knows about your needs very important
0:51
particularly as you go on smaller ships
0:53
or even right down to barge cruises
0:54
where they're buying food at a much
0:56
shorter time period and they need to
0:58
make sure if there any real important
1:01
food allergies or needs and particularly
1:03
if they are religious because whilst
1:06
most cruise lines now have vegan menus
1:08
not free menus vegetarian menus they
1:12
don't have many of the more specialized
1:14
religious type needs the next one is
1:18
something that people are tempted to do
1:20
and that's if you have any
1:22
gastroenteritis type issues you know
1:24
vomiting diarrhea whatever now when you
1:26
get on board a ship you normally have to
1:28
fill out a health declaration whether
1:30
you've had any of these issues in the 48
1:32
hours in the route to the cruise lots of
1:34
people who are suffering are tempted not
1:36
to cuz they're worried about the
1:37
consequences however there is a risk if
1:39
you bring it on board that the ship
1:40
could go down with norovirus and you
1:42
could have much more serious effects I
1:43
have actually been on cruises where
1:45
norovirus broke out in fact it was so
1:47
bad and it spread so widely that the
1:49
cruise was actually cut short and was
1:51
kind of frustrating knowing that people
1:53
had probably come on board knowing that
1:54
there weren't a hundred percent well so
1:56
if you do have it declare it when you go
1:58
in you'll meet with a nurse or the
1:59
doctor and they will decide if perhaps
2:01
you need to be quarantined for a couple
2:03
of days or not very importantly also if
2:05
it starts happening on a cruise let the
2:07
medical center know what they ask you to
2:09
do if you do suffer from vomiting and
2:11
diarrhea and it's clearly quite serious
2:13
as you know just
2:13
phone the medical center that I charge
2:15
you for any of the medical consultations
2:17
or if they give you things like a mo
2:19
diem or whatever to deal with it but
2:20
very important to help everybody else on
2:22
the ship if you are suffering with any
2:24
of those issues make sure you tell a
2:27
cruise line and don't hide it from them
2:29
the next series of things I want to talk
2:31
about are related to kids and pregnancy
2:34
so the first thing that you should never
2:36
hide from your Cruise Line is if you are
2:38
pregnant most cruise lines have a policy
2:41
where if you're more than 24 weeks
2:43
pregnant
2:44
you can't Cruise and this is
2:45
particularly two of ocean cruises if
2:47
you're a little bit over that and you
2:48
want to go cruising take a look at river
2:50
cruises because they tend to have
2:52
slightly more relaxed rules because of
2:55
course River cruise boats are always
2:57
close to shore and so if for any reason
2:59
you go into early labor or whatever they
3:01
can normally deal with it but don't hide
3:03
your pregnancy because you don't you
3:05
know arrive to check in people notice
3:07
you're pregnant
3:08
they give you a hard time and won't let
3:10
you on board so 24 weeks is normally the
3:13
cutoff period the next thing not to hide
3:16
is if you're traveling with kids
3:18
particularly kids under 18 or under 16
3:20
is making sure the cruise line knows
3:22
what the sleeping arrangements are going
3:24
to be now very importantly check with
3:26
your cruise line what their rules are so
3:28
some cruise lines for example will not
3:30
let kids under 16 be in a stateroom or a
3:33
cabin by themselves some are more
3:36
relaxed and they will allow that if
3:38
there is obviously parents traveling
3:40
with them people over 18 traveling with
3:42
them and they're either in adjoining
3:43
cabin or in nearby cabin other cruise
3:46
lines are much more relaxing as long as
3:47
there is an adult they don't have those
3:49
rules but the rules differ quite a lot
3:51
some cruise lines for example when you
3:53
book you can have to make sure that if
3:54
they are to parents for example one
3:57
parent and one child under the age of 16
3:59
is booked into one stateroom one child
4:02
and one parent 8 of 18 is in another
4:04
state room so you need to make sure that
4:06
you check the rules and the cruise line
4:08
understands what the sleeping
4:09
arrangements are clearly they want to
4:10
get you on board and they will work with
4:12
you to make short work so for example
4:14
they might arrange an adjoining cabin or
4:16
might find a family cabin for you but
4:18
very important make sure you understand
4:20
the rules because you don't want to get
4:21
caught out if you're on the cruise and
4:22
start having problems the next point is
4:26
also around
4:27
kids and this is if you have kids with
4:29
any special needs or behavioral issues
4:31
or things that are very specific to them
4:35
make sure the cruise line understand
4:36
those particularly if you're going to
4:38
leave your kids in the kids clubs also
4:40
if your kid does have any special needs
4:42
or issues check which is the best cruise
4:45
line to cruise with so for example Royal
4:48
Caribbean actually do have various
4:50
programs within the kids programs to
4:52
deal with kids on the autism spectrum
4:54
so there's specific toys and activities
4:56
to deal with those kids so don't just
4:58
take your kids along not let them
5:00
understand what the issues are and
5:01
really understand if your kids you know
5:04
react to certain things behave in a
5:05
certain way and particularly if they
5:07
have specialty it's really important you
5:09
do that so the sixth thing you shouldn't
5:12
hide from the cruise line is if you have
5:14
any mobility issues really important
5:16
before you're going to cruise if you do
5:18
have issues that the cruise line knows
5:20
also make sure that you've booked an
5:21
accessible cabin if that's what you need
5:23
this is really important particularly if
5:26
there's an emergency on board so if you
5:28
are going to need help getting to the
5:30
muster station if there's a problem
5:31
really make sure that the cruise line
5:33
understands because they will make
5:35
arrangements even if you can't walk down
5:37
many flights of stairs
5:38
let the cruise line know don't hide it
5:41
because if an emergency happens of
5:43
course the elevators the lifts are out
5:45
of service if you do also have mobility
5:48
issues work with the cruise line to make
5:51
sure that you have the right facilities
5:52
on board now this may mean that you have
5:55
to hire your own equipment and there are
5:57
a number of specialist companies that
6:00
you can work with that partner with the
6:01
cruise lines that will deliver any items
6:03
you need to the cruise ship and they
6:06
will be installed in your cabin so for
6:08
example there are companies like special
6:11
needs at sea comm mobility at cedar code
6:15
at UK and scoot around comm cruise lines
6:18
have different rules around for example
6:21
the type of wheelchairs or mobility
6:22
scooters you can bring on board Cruise
6:25
Lines also will not provide any services
6:27
to help you get around so whilst you'll
6:30
often find you might get some help with
6:32
a wheelchair
6:33
onto the ship that's normally done
6:34
portside the ship won't send out people
6:37
with you to go on excursions if you need
6:39
an escort
6:40
you need someone to push the wheelchair
6:41
in almost all cases so really important
6:44
to understand that also the if the
6:46
Cruise Line knows they can also guide
6:48
you towards excursions that are going to
6:50
work for people with mobility or other
6:52
issues but don't hide mobility issues
6:54
from the cruise line critically
6:56
important if there's an emergency they
6:58
need to know what helped you go into
7:00
need if that happens I know it's
7:02
unlikely but really important don't hide
7:04
it so your aren't at risk in an
7:05
emergency the next thing that you
7:07
shouldn't hide from the cruise line is
7:09
if you're bringing on board any items
7:11
which fall into their restricted list
7:13
cruise lines have different rules and
7:15
regulations which you should check but
7:17
the main things to think about are they
7:19
won't allow onboard flammable items you
7:21
know things like candles or incense
7:22
burners items with a heating element
7:25
some cruise lines will allow for example
7:27
curling tongs some won't so check if
7:30
that's the case if it being on board
7:32
alcohol or any other kind of drink
7:34
cruise lines have different regulations
7:36
around that also very importantly remote
7:39
control devices so for example I have a
7:41
drone but very few cruise lines actually
7:43
let me bring it on board or they have
7:45
very strict regulations about handing it
7:47
over to security when you get on board
7:49
but that applies equally if you've got
7:51
kids and they have the remote control
7:52
helicopters or cars or things like that
7:55
also you're not allowed to bring on
7:57
board any weapons whether they're real
7:58
weapons have guns for example or things
8:00
that are replica weapons or even things
8:02
that could look or be used as weapon
8:04
like you know baseball bats I have a
8:06
whole video about this if you want to
8:08
find out more about that but don't hide
8:10
those things because they are screened
8:11
and in many cases you can work with a
8:13
cruise line and they might take them
8:15
away from you and let you fetch them
8:17
when you go and port to use them so
8:19
using the example of the drone some
8:21
cruise lines ask me to hand that to
8:22
security they keep it at the point where
8:25
you check on and off the ship and when I
8:26
get off on a port they then let me take
8:28
it off do the drone filming and I hand
8:30
it back so then you can come to some
8:31
kind of arrangement by not hiding it
8:33
from the cruise line if you hide that
8:34
they would base it as confiscate the
8:36
drone until the end of the cruise the
8:37
same applies to some of the other items
8:39
the next area not to hide is if you have
8:42
any medical issues or particularly drugs
8:44
you're taking now this becomes really
8:45
important depending on where you're
8:46
cruising to so for example even things
8:49
like temazepam
8:50
or products with codeine if you're
8:52
cruising into the united arrow
8:53
it's a particular disembarking there is
8:55
a real issue because those are banned
8:57
also if you're heading to place like
8:59
Japan even some fairly innocuous things
9:01
like Tylenol arthritis medication or
9:05
even sudafed become issues so if you are
9:08
taking any particular prescription drugs
9:10
or medication that you think could be an
9:12
issue make sure that Cruise Line knows
9:14
about those and that's particularly as
9:16
you head into some areas where things
9:18
like medical marijuana is being
9:19
prescribed make sure your cruise line
9:21
understands if you've got any specific
9:22
medications that you think could prove
9:25
illegal or some issues within the use on
9:27
a cruise line or even in certain of the
9:30
ports now some cruise lines and
9:32
depending where you're cruising could be
9:34
even stricter so if you're heading to
9:36
places like the Arctic or Antarctica
9:38
more remote places where there aren't
9:40
easy ways of getting off the ship
9:42
most of those cruise lines that had
9:44
there require your so to declare all of
9:46
your medical history or issues that you
9:49
may have so they can assess whether it's
9:51
safe for you to travel to that area
9:53
where they can't disembark you or
9:55
evacuate you if you have an issue so
9:57
again don't hide those things because
10:00
you don't want to fall into a terrible
10:01
situation where a problem you have blows
10:04
up and the cruise line can't do anything
10:06
about it the last one might surprise you
10:09
but if you're planning to take
10:12
photographs or make videos which you're
10:14
going to post on things like YouTube so
10:15
for example what I do
10:17
make sure the cruise line understands
10:19
that you're going to be doing that now
10:20
the cruise contract allows them to take
10:22
photographs and videos and use them but
10:24
actually it is more restrictive on what
10:26
you can do so whenever I go on a cruise
10:28
line if I know that I'm going to be
10:30
making a video about the ship or
10:32
shooting stuff to use in my vlogs here I
10:35
will normally contact the cruise line
10:38
directly or through the PR company if
10:41
I'm going by myself or if they're
10:42
hosting on a trip I make sure that they
10:44
understand it it's always a really
10:46
important idea to do I do know people
10:47
that have been on cruises and they've
10:49
had particularly fancy equipment and
10:50
they have been challenged about video
10:52
and stopped videoing making their vlog
10:55
so very important it's quite easy to do
10:56
the cruise line is pretty relaxed about
10:58
it normally if they know what you're
10:59
doing so don't hide it from the cruise
11:01
line you're doing it just let them know
11:02
even if when you're on board just talk
11:04
to the cruise director or the hotel
11:06
manager
11:07
someone like them to say look by the way
11:08
I've got a YouTube channel here's my
11:09
card I'm gonna be making videos for it
11:12
and off you go
11:13
it's better to do that than fall into a
11:15
problem later so those are nine things
11:17
that you should not hide from the cruise
11:20
line to make sure that you have a really
11:22
smooth cruise hope you found it helpful
11:24
I have loads more videos of cruising
11:26
advice and tips so why don't you watch
11:27
another one of those right now
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