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On my last cruise, a Windstar Fjords cruise, I posted clips on Instagram of the best attended event of my entire cruise. It immediately ignited a fiery, lively, and divided debate about if the event was a good idea or not.
It got me thinking about other things that I talk about on social media or in my videos, that spark heated debates and where cruisers fall into “for” or “against” camps, with few on the fence. So, let's find out where you stand on these right now as I suspect that, like me, your stand is shifting as we face a new world of cruising.
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0:00
on my last Cruise a Windstar fjords
0:02
cruise I posted Clips on Instagram of
0:04
the best most popular event of the
0:07
entire cruise it immediately ignite a
0:09
fiery Lively and very divided debate
0:12
about if the event was even a good idea
0:15
and should have taken place at all so it
0:18
got me thinking about other things that
0:19
I talk about on social media or in my
0:22
videos that spark really heated debates
0:24
and where Cruisers definitely fall into
0:26
four and against camps with very few
0:30
people on the fence so let's find out
0:31
where you stand on these right now
0:34
because I suspect that like me your
0:36
standard is Shifting as we Face a really
0:38
unchanging world of cruising so what was
0:42
that popular event that wound up so many
0:44
cruises
0:45
the crew talent show Cruisers who are
0:48
pro the crew talent show argue that it's
0:50
a chance for the crew to connect with
0:52
passengers showcase their skills or
0:55
importantly their country now on that
0:57
WinStar trip there were several crew
0:59
members for example that asked me to go
1:01
to the show like my way to Mark he
1:03
wanted me to hear what a great singer
1:05
was and he was and then Anna who was
1:07
another waiter who's so proud that her
1:09
and other Indonesian crew were going to
1:11
be showcasing their traditional
1:13
Indonesian dances however those against
1:16
it argue that Crews seem to be kind of
1:18
pressurized or made to do these and it's
1:21
really a way that cruise lines are
1:23
cutting back on entertainment costs
1:25
adding more duties adding more
1:27
responsibilities onto an already
1:29
overworked crew because they have to
1:31
rehearse and perform after their normal
1:33
work is finished
1:34
so where do you stand on that one
1:36
personally I feel it's putting extra
1:38
work and demands onto the crew and they
1:40
kind of seem a little bit unnecessary
1:42
and they do make me feel a little bit
1:43
uncomfortable now a few cruises before
1:46
that Windstar cruise I was on Honda
1:48
America or sedan and I posted a series
1:50
of towel animals that my cabin Steward
1:53
had made for me during the trip this too
1:55
I saw erupted and totally divided
1:58
cruises many people were leaving
2:00
comments saying they're fun they're
2:03
being a smile to their face they're a
2:05
great little treats you know it's great
2:06
when you come back to the cabin at the
2:08
end of the night you've got the great
2:09
little towel animal there now other
2:11
people argued really strongly these are
2:13
a waste of overstretched cabins to your
2:16
time they should be left to focus on
2:19
cleaning and service and it's also
2:21
importantly environmentally unsung these
2:24
days because it's basically creating
2:25
unnecessary additional laundry which
2:28
when you're magnified around the number
2:30
of these made it's crazy they argue that
2:33
you know if you're really into
2:34
interested some lines around classes on
2:36
how to make them and just leave it at
2:38
that make your own as it were so where
2:40
do you stand on this kind of long cruise
2:43
tradition I like them but this is one
2:45
where with crew I feel under so much
2:46
more pressure I now generally tell my
2:49
students to skip making them for me am I
2:52
just being a bit scroogy another topic
2:54
where my view is definitely evolving is
2:57
around dress codes but not around
2:58
whether there should or shouldn't be a
3:00
dress code but more importantly the
3:02
enforcement of dress codes if there is
3:05
one now on that one stock Cruise
3:07
enforcement wasn't an issue at all
3:09
because there really wasn't really a
3:11
dress code other than there was kind of
3:13
a request you know don't wear shorts
3:15
distressed jeans or scruffy trainers to
3:18
the main dining but it wasn't a rule as
3:20
such so you kind of could do what you
3:22
want and people did what they did
3:23
however when I was on Cunard recently
3:26
lack of enforcement created a lot of
3:28
tension and a lot of angst now Q not do
3:31
have a really clear dress code and it's
3:34
reason that many people choose that line
3:36
because they want the gala knights with
3:38
a ship full of mandras and tuxedos or
3:40
black suit and tie and my ladies and
3:42
fancy dresses they choose it for the
3:44
evenings when the whole ship is kind of
3:46
transformed into this kind of glamorous
3:48
day of ocean liners you know of the past
3:51
now in the past Cunard strictly enforced
3:54
the code you know when I've been on
3:56
before they would turn people away from
3:57
the restaurants if they weren't
3:58
following the code but in my last two
3:59
cruises on kill it it definitely was not
4:02
strictly enforced and so Gala Knights
4:04
across the ship was much more kind of
4:05
mixed dress and people in a wide range
4:08
of things including even shots and I
4:10
could see those people that had chosen
4:12
the line for getting dressed up were
4:14
getting really wound up now if I look at
4:16
Facebook groups for luxury lines such as
4:19
silver sea and Seabourn I can see many
4:22
posts with lots of people frustrated
4:24
that the smart dress code that those
4:25
lines have isn't being enforced they
4:28
argue they chose those lines because
4:30
they want a certain like I guess
4:32
sophisticated dress experience in the
4:34
evenings now that people just basically
4:35
say you know get over it people have
4:37
paid the same as you for the trip they
4:39
should be able to dress as they want on
4:41
their vacation and how is somebody else
4:44
addressing a certain way affecting how
4:46
you enjoy your meal so where do you
4:48
stand on enforcement of dress codes
4:51
should dress codes be enforced if they
4:53
have one or not now as someone who likes
4:56
the dressing up I'm thinking if there is
4:58
a dress code
4:59
enforce it or if you don't want to
5:01
enforce it then basically do what
5:03
WinStar do and just have a suggested
5:05
attire and just let people get on with
5:07
it what do you think a recent video of
5:10
mine I knew would and did get a lot of
5:13
comments and very divided views as this
5:16
is a really hot topic these days because
5:17
more and more lines are creating and
5:21
introducing these I went on an MSC
5:24
virtuosa Norwegian fjords Cruise a
5:27
couple of weeks ago and I booked in the
5:29
yacht club which is their premium ship
5:31
within a ship this is a controlled key
5:34
you know you use your car to get in
5:36
there it's a controlled area it has the
5:38
Suites a dedicated lounge and bar it's
5:40
got its own restaurant a concierge Guest
5:43
Services desk a beautiful Deck with a
5:45
swimming pool hot tubs a Buffet Grill
5:47
out there and it took up quite a big
5:49
part of the ship I've also been on
5:51
Celebrity Edge and silhouette where
5:53
they've got the retreat which is similar
5:55
you know close-off area with all of this
5:57
again for sweet guests many lines
5:59
including Norwegian Royal Caribbean and
6:02
even now princess with their new class
6:04
of ships also have these kind of ship
6:06
within a ship areas some Cruisers
6:09
absolutely love them because they say
6:10
they can pay you know extra they can
6:13
then tap into the bars the facilities
6:15
the show's a big chip offers they but
6:18
then they have a place to retreat and
6:20
get away from the bustle the lines the
6:22
noise and the crowds which to be honest
6:24
on a ship like MSC virtuoso which
6:26
carries 6 000 people it absolutely did
6:29
that however
6:31
detractors for your lines are basically
6:33
bringing back the old class system you
6:36
know first second and steerage and
6:39
they're treating regular Fair paint
6:41
passengers really poorly because they're
6:42
closing off increasingly large and
6:44
larger parts of the ship to guess and
6:46
they're cramming regular gas regular
6:49
Fair gas into progressively smaller
6:51
General access areas now some of the new
6:54
Ships coming out like Norwegian Prima
6:57
and Viva it does look like a significant
6:59
part of the ship is being closed off for
7:01
the Haven kind of facilities so where do
7:04
you stand on the ship within a ship now
7:07
I must admit I have really liked it when
7:10
I've been able to afford them but I do
7:13
have a real sense that I'm missing out
7:15
and being a little bit short-changed
7:17
when I'm not the next big one I want to
7:19
talk about is muster drills this topic
7:22
really only became divisive post the
7:25
shutdown because when cruising was kind
7:28
of starting up devoid creating crowds
7:30
many mustard shifted from being done in
7:33
person you know us all together and
7:35
shifted into us watching the safety
7:37
video on our smartphone or tablet or the
7:39
television the cabin and then in our own
7:41
Leisure we could go and check in at our
7:43
allocated muster station several Cruise
7:45
Lines including Disney at the time of
7:47
recording have now moved back to the
7:49
full in-person muster now the style of
7:51
muster divides cruises these days yeah
7:55
and people feel a really really strong
7:57
views about these and a few months back
8:00
when I was on a region Seven Seas cruise
8:02
they actually dropped the e-master for
8:03
my cruise and moved to an in-person
8:05
master and I have to say it was pretty
8:06
shambolic it was very drawn out and it
8:09
didn't flow very well which did get me
8:10
kind of wondering if it kind of
8:13
confirmed the point that those that are
8:15
against the e-master and four in-person
8:18
Master make that it's you need these
8:20
because the current passengers really
8:22
need to know how it all works and if you
8:24
want to keep ships safe you need to go
8:27
back to this in person muster now those
8:29
who are against it and argue for the
8:31
emaster say of course it's quicker it's
8:33
simpler you can get on with your
8:35
vacation the minute you get on board and
8:37
you still have done enough to know the
8:39
process including you do have to know
8:41
where your master session is so if
8:43
there's an emergency you know where to
8:45
go so where do you stand on this one I
8:47
have to say I personally prefer the new
8:49
approach I find it easy I find it
8:50
convenient and I kind of feel that I do
8:53
know where our Master station is and
8:55
that should be enough but am I being too
8:58
blase on this one in the comments let me
9:00
know how you feel about any of these
9:02
topics and importantly if there's other
9:03
things that you think I've left out that
9:06
are very divisive at the moment now
9:08
while you think about that once you
9:10
watch this video where I talk about
9:12
unnecessary costs that we can all avoid
9:14
starting with the biggest cost we should
9:17
all probably skip see you over there
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