Up next in 10
I did a survey to find out how many cruise passengers had their cabin spoil or reduce enjoyment of their cruising vacation. Thousands responded and a staggering 4 out of 10 said issues with their cruise ship cabin had. Even though most people tell me the cabin is not important as they don’t plan to spend much time in it, I explore the traps people falling into when choosing, booking or in theie cabin on a cruising vacation
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0:00
I did a survey recently which thousands
0:02
and thousands of Cruisers responded to
0:04
and a staggering four out of 10 Cruisers
0:07
said they had a cruise ruined or made
0:09
less enjoyable because of cabin issues
0:12
so I'm going to reveal how you can avoid
0:14
having a poor Cruise experience because
0:16
of your cabin and you're also going to
0:18
hear how I disagree with some key cabin
0:21
advice that other Crews bloggers writers
0:23
and vloggers have given you by the way
0:26
if you're new here welcome aboard I'm
0:27
Gary benbridge making it fun and easy to
0:29
discover fan and enjoy incredible Cruise
0:32
vacations the biggest trap and the
0:34
reason that most people end up having a
0:36
less than optimal cabin experience is
0:38
because of booking guaranteed fairs let
0:41
me explain what a guaranteed fair is and
0:44
importantly why Cruise Lions absolutely
0:48
love people like you booking them which
0:50
should be a big red flag in the first
0:52
place and also I'll tell you why I never
0:55
do this a guaranteed fair is where you
0:58
don't get to choose a specific cabin and
1:00
you just book one in a broad grade
1:03
inside Ocean View balcony or a suite and
1:06
then the cruise line chooses where they
1:09
put you importantly you have no say
1:12
which cabin and where and you may only
1:14
find out which cabin you've got as late
1:17
as embarcation day now Cruise Lines love
1:19
it because they can then put cruises
1:22
wherever they want to filling cabins
1:23
that people like me for example have
1:25
chosen not to book because I know
1:27
they're problematic or they're in poor
1:29
location for example underneath the
1:31
nightclub the theater The Bar Next to
1:33
noisy Cruise access areas or in high
1:36
traffic areas like say the left now in
1:38
my poll most people having a poor Cruise
1:42
confirmed in that that it was from
1:44
booking guaranteed fairs for example
1:46
Sylvia left a comment who was allocated
1:48
a cabin on Holland americ new statendam
1:51
underneath BB King's Blues club with
1:53
loud late night music Cody also replied
1:57
where he said he was placed uh under
1:59
Discovery princess pool deck with
2:00
scraping chairs from early morning and
2:02
into the evening and then an for example
2:04
also mentioned about being under the
2:07
wind Jam buffer and or Caribbean who
2:09
said The only time that she wasn't
2:10
having disruptive noise was between 3
2:13
and 5 a.m. now I've found that while
2:16
many bloggers vloggers and writers
2:17
recommend or go for guaranteed fairs
2:20
because they say they're cheaper than
2:22
those where you choose your own cabin I
2:24
have found that is not always true I
2:27
found for example especially when
2:28
booking early I could still choose my
2:30
cabin for the same price as a guaranteed
2:33
fair I did that for future roal
2:35
Caribbean holl America and Celebrity
2:37
Cruises that I've got booked so always
2:40
check the difference in price and if
2:42
there is one ask yourself is paying
2:44
slightly more to guarantee a very
2:46
specific cabin that's unlikely to have
2:49
issues is actually better value in the
2:51
end I personally think it is another
2:53
Cruise cabin trap many 44 is another one
2:56
that the cruise lines absolutely love
2:59
Auto upgrades this was the second
3:02
biggest reason Cruiser said in that
3:04
survey that led to their bad cabin
3:06
experience it was one I fell for very
3:09
early in my cruise Journey with a
3:11
terrible experience on pno cruises let
3:14
me explain this trap before telling you
3:16
what actually happened to me now usually
3:19
when you book a cruise You Are by
3:21
default opted in to accept an order to
3:24
upgrade and most people of course stay
3:26
opted in because most people think an
3:29
upgrade must be a great and positive
3:32
thing now importantly you normally need
3:34
to actively opt out of an auto upgrade
3:38
either by taking a box if you're booking
3:40
online or asking a travel agent or the
3:42
line booking agent to remove the option
3:44
it's very important to absolutely do
3:48
that now I had not done that on a p
3:50
Bania Cruise a while ago I was moved
3:52
from my carefully chosen balcony cabin
3:54
kind of midship lower down with cabins
3:56
above below me to now admittedly a
3:59
bigger Lux one that was supposed to be a
4:01
better cabin but it was underneath the
4:03
pool deck like I mentioned earlier and
4:05
it was so noisy from chairs late night
4:08
music parties it was really ruin my
4:10
cruise I met a family on that same
4:12
Cruise who' booked two cabins next to
4:14
each other because they were traveling
4:15
with their teenage kids and didn't want
4:17
to uh you know didn't want to be
4:19
separated but they hadn't opted out of a
4:21
to upgrade both cabins were upgraded but
4:24
two different decks and on opposite side
4:26
of the ship so splitting them completely
4:28
up I also Al discovered through this
4:30
whole process that with an auto upgrade
4:32
none of us had the opportunity to accept
4:36
or reject those new cabins and go back
4:38
to the original cabins we' chosen we
4:40
were stuck with those unsuitable cabins
4:41
for the whole Cruise so I always opt out
4:44
of aut to upgrade and stick with my
4:45
carefully chosen cabin unless I'm 100%
4:49
sure that all the cabins above me are
4:52
worth it so for example in a recent MC
4:54
virtuosa Cru I was booked in their Yacht
4:56
Club in an entry-level Suite I checked
4:58
the Suites above my grade which were
5:00
only a few levels and none of them had
5:02
into connecting doors none of them were
5:04
above or below noisy venue so I actually
5:06
stayed opted in for an auto upgrade
5:08
although I actually wasn't upgraded in
5:09
the end Cruise Lines love Auto upgrades
5:12
because it means if they have unsold
5:15
higher cost cabins including those in
5:17
poor locations or problematic ones they
5:19
can shift cruises up into those because
5:21
it's easier to sell cheaper cabins like
5:23
ocean views insides uh you know that
5:26
then become available by shifting people
5:28
up through aut to upgrade the third key
5:30
trap that I see people falling for is
5:32
upgrade bidding now I won't spend a lot
5:34
of time on it here because I've spoken
5:36
about this in other video so I don't
5:37
want to duplicate myself but basically
5:40
what happens is close to a cruise the
5:42
line sends out opportunities to bid for
5:45
an upgrade now the cruise lines again
5:47
love this because they find that they
5:49
can entice people to pay more than they'
5:52
planned for their Cruise anyway and
5:54
again it frees up those lower grade
5:56
cabins which are easier for them to sell
5:58
rather than the high grade cabins are
6:00
trying to get people to bid for now the
6:01
Trap here is the cruise line sets a
6:04
minimum bid level which on checking are
6:07
often the same or close to what it would
6:10
be if you'd basically book that grade
6:12
anyway so it's not really a great deal
6:15
you're not kind of getting an amazing
6:16
deal now I've been on cruises and I've
6:18
met people who've realized they did not
6:21
get a great deal and in fact they paid
6:23
as much or even paid more than if they'd
6:26
simply booked that cabin or done an
6:28
upgrade in the first place
6:30
on my last celebrity Edge cruise I met a
6:32
great couple who bid for an upgrade into
6:34
one of those beautiful two level Edge
6:36
Suites and they worked out that they'
6:38
paid more than if they just booked it or
6:41
upgraded it separately in the first
6:42
place also what is important that if you
6:45
bid you again usually have no say in the
6:47
cabin and you're stuck with whatever
6:49
cabin they put you in which could be
6:52
again a problematic cabin so before
6:54
upgrade bidding check at least what it
6:57
would have cost to Simply upgrade in
6:59
into that cabin in the first place the
7:01
sck Trap is one I was reminded of thanks
7:03
to a friend of mine who recently was
7:05
looking to go on a Norwegian onle cruise
7:08
I think it was to Alaska and they were
7:10
going as a Solo Traveler he was close to
7:12
booking one of their solo cabins in
7:14
their dedicated access controlled solo
7:16
cabin area which is a great kind of area
7:19
however he checked and noticed that even
7:22
paying 100% solo occupancy search charge
7:26
you can actually get an Ocean View cabin
7:28
at a low affair because demand for those
7:30
solar cabins had pushed those faires up
7:32
higher but not those other cabins bear
7:35
in mind Cruise Lines use Dynamic pricing
7:37
which means that fases by cabin grade
7:40
will and can change as a ship fills up
7:43
and this can sometimes lead to
7:45
inconsistencies so if say balcony cabins
7:48
are in high demand the differential
7:49
between that and say an entry-level
7:51
Suite that is selling less fast may be
7:54
surprisingly small and I found that
7:56
while looking at booking a future cruise
7:58
on COD we're going into their grills
8:01
grade which is their mini and their
8:02
suits versus a balcony capab was
8:05
actually not a very large cost
8:07
differential uh it was actually on Queen
8:09
Anne but the difference in Cabin size
8:11
the ability to be in a grill restaurant
8:13
versus the main dining is huge so don't
8:16
fall into the Trap of assuming the
8:18
difference between cabin types is
8:20
enormous it can be you know when a
8:23
selling goes on sale because they've got
8:25
them all nicely priced differentials but
8:27
as cabin sell and sell differently that
8:29
could change a lot so don't necessarily
8:30
assume that you you know you can't get a
8:33
better cabin for your money another
8:34
cabin trap I must remind you about again
8:36
is one that I've also spoken about
8:37
before and it's not asking for a better
8:40
cabin if the fair goes down now this is
8:43
becoming much more challenging because
8:45
lines are trying to resist it but you
8:47
should absolutely do Fair tracking after
8:50
booking now I have an article on my
8:51
website that shows you how to do that at
8:53
tips travelers.com set it up and you'll
8:55
get alerts if the fair that youve paid
8:58
for a cruise changes now if you find the
9:00
fair you've paid has gone down for the
9:02
grade you've booked ask the cruise line
9:05
for a better cabin that matches what
9:07
you've paid now in the past you could
9:09
often get the new lower fair but lines
9:11
are increasingly putting in their terms
9:12
and conditions that they will not fair
9:14
match once we've actually done a booking
9:16
but I'm still finding there is a really
9:18
good chance to get cabin matching uh the
9:21
new low fairs you know if fairs are
9:23
going down simply because it means the
9:25
sh ship is not full so you probably can
9:27
push and get that upgrade so don't fall
9:30
into the Trap of not checking to see if
9:32
you can get a better cabin for your
9:35
money after booking do that fair
9:37
tracking one of key trap that I see
9:39
people falling for is not complaining if
9:42
you've got an issue with your cabin now
9:45
while the ability of the line to solve
9:47
the issue by moving you to another cabin
9:49
is absolutely becoming more challenging
9:51
because ships are sailing Fuller than
9:53
ever before I have found though that
9:55
raising a problem with my cabin has
9:58
mostly made meant I've managed to get
10:00
moved to a better cabin often
10:02
surprisingly easily because I do believe
10:04
that Lions know there are some problem
10:06
cabins so if you raise an issue they
10:08
know it's an issue so for example I was
10:10
on a silver sea expedition to Antarctica
10:13
where I booked an entry-level Ocean View
10:14
cabin it had a terrible kind of banging
10:16
noise at various times of the day
10:18
including early morning I raised it with
10:19
the hotel director and they immediately
10:21
moved me to a great alternative cabin
10:23
which I did a balcony by the way and it
10:25
didn't have any noise I discovered that
10:27
the people in the cabin next to me had
10:29
the same issues discussed it and it also
10:31
been moved which suggests these are
10:33
probably known problem cabins now some
10:35
argue that these moves happen because
10:37
I'm known because of my channel but I've
10:39
got a string of similar experiences from
10:41
people that left comments in that survey
10:42
I mentioned about that had raised an
10:45
issue and had got them moved to a better
10:47
cabin so it's definitely something that
10:49
you should do don't be shy to ask and of
10:51
course asking a firm but polite way and
10:55
if the cruise lines can help you I
10:57
generally think they will don't be one
10:59
of those four out of 10 Cruisers whose
11:01
vacation is not perfect due to a cabin
11:05
issue now there are actually some other
11:07
General Cruise traps that I see people
11:09
are falling for right now that I talk
11:11
about in this video so why don't you
11:13
join me over there where I talk about
11:15
the biggest trap that's happening right
11:18
now that you need to know about and
11:20
avoid see you over there
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