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Live Cruise Q&A: Sunday 21 September 2025: 9am PT/ Noon ET / 5pm UK
Get any cruise questions answered live!
** NORTIV8 SHOES GIVEAWAY ENTRY LINK:
Public: https://woobox.com/3u5gtv
** THE CRUISE GLOBE: https://www.thecruiseglobe.com
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Videos mentioned in the live:
** Saga Cruises: https://youtu.be/TPwY0UeV3IY + https://youtu.be/Jw1VYSLd_eQ + https://youtu.be/U8Q9bml3EjQ
** Nile River Cruise: https://youtu.be/zaqbCTGWujs and https://youtu.be/i6qAuzsYBYQ
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0:09
[Music] everybody and welcome to another live. It's a very sunny bright day here in
0:16
London. We had a kind of slightly bizarre 26Ā° C the other day for some
0:21
weird reason in the middle of guess autumn, but it's nice and sunny. Uh I see lots of the people saying it's not
0:26
so sunny where they are, so we'll take it while we can. Of course, in a week's time, I will be heading to very sunny,
0:32
very hot weather, heading off to uh Las Vegas, which I love, and Palm Springs,
0:37
which is another great place to be. So, more on that later, what implications it has for the live stream to come. So,
0:43
thanks everybody for joining. Lots of questions coming in, so I won't do too much housekeeping before we get in. Just
0:49
a reminder, uh I'm at mirrors. There we go. So, I'm Gary
0:55
Benbridge, Charles Tips for Travelers. Uh this is a live stream. So if you're watching this afterwards, bear in mind
1:00
that everything that you hear is based on the questions that people ask. The questions will come up. So if you are
1:06
watching afterwards, you can skip forward to the the actual questions and so on. So I can see lots of regulars
1:12
joining, which is fantastic. Um maybe I'll do a few bits of ask. Can you just remind everybody if you have a question,
1:17
write the word question, ideally in capital letters, because it helps me see those very quickly. And a couple of
1:23
people, I guess, regulars have done that. Um and um that was all. So I have
1:30
a few quick housekeeping things uh more just sort of announcements I guess than anything else. So this week I caught up
1:36
with the the guys and gals who run the cruise globe cruise maps. The reason I
1:42
want to bring this up is that they have just uh this week, in fact, the day I went in to see them to catch up and say
1:48
hello, they have just um if you use the cruise globe, which is a free resource where you can input all your cruises,
1:54
they've just now released the ability to enter cruises pre205. So, before you
2:00
could only enter cruises 2015, of course, just a reminder. So, they also have the app now, which is quite cool.
2:05
So, it's quite good. I was able to input my last cruise on. So that's the cruiseglobe.com completely free and you
2:12
can do all cruises now before 2015. If you ever do buy anything from them use the code TFT you'll get 10% off and as
2:19
you know I often try and do giveaways as people approach me with products for giveaways. So I've got these hiking some
2:25
they're not mine. You won't get mine. They're kind of brand new hiking boots shoes walking shoes. Um so the giveaways
2:33
just sort of launched. I've put a link to that in the notes of this live if you do want to enter if you're into that. uh
2:39
and that appeals to you. Um or if not uh or if you forget and don't kind of head
2:46
to remember to go to the uh the notes, if you go to my blog tips oftravers.com,
2:53
you'll see the article there with the various links to enter runs for three weeks or so. So those I think all the
2:58
announcements. So let's get stuck into the questions. Um and I'll talk a bit later about upcoming live streams. Um
3:07
just making the point it has been over pre because Emma was there you might have those with eagle eyes might have spotted there but um it was the first
3:14
time I've seen Emma who was one of the founders of the cruise globe since pre- pandemic and I think it was probably some event I think it was probably like
3:21
the wave awards which reminds me I probably should post again about the wave awards coming up. Anyway, let's get into the questions. So Michael, good to
3:28
see you there. Can you talk a bit more about trip insurance? What to look for in a policy? Have you ever needed to use
3:35
it? I remember you mentioning that you buy one policy for a year. So, Michael, I get asked about insurance quite often
3:41
and I do have it on my sort of to-do list. I'm a little bit reticent in some ways of doing a video because insurance
3:48
I'm not obviously an insurance expert um and I am looking to partner with different people but also it is
3:54
relatively u geographic from what I can see. But I will talk about some of the critical things that I always do. So
4:01
first of all, one of the things to consider is some cruise lines in some regions do require a certain level of
4:07
coverage. So for example, in the UK, if you're in the UK and booking on PO or
4:12
Kunard, they have very specific requirement for travel insurance which you have to have um and it has quite
4:18
large um limits. I think don't quote me on the exact number 2 million or something like that um to cover it. Has
4:24
to be cruise cover specific. Now, if you're booking a piano or a Qunard outside of the UK, it's highly
4:30
recommended. If you're going, say, on expeditions, they will normally require you to have insurance and give details
4:37
of the insurance. So, that's the first thing to bear in mind is to understand if the line has it, but it's quite
4:42
specific to Expedition and the UK from my understanding. The second critical thing is when you're looking at
4:48
insurance, make sure that it has cruise cover. So you'll you'll find um you know
4:55
some people think well I'm covered because I've got it with my uh credit card or whatever but check if it has
5:01
cruise cover. So when I buy my travel insurance for example which you're right it is an annual policy. Uh I have to
5:08
take out cruise cover as part of it. It's a very small additional premium. Cruise cover then ensures that you're
5:14
covered for things like medical evacuations and so on. But the other thing to then consider is um you know
5:22
what does it really cover. So you want to make sure that you have uh evacuation birth evacuation from a ship. Uh but
5:28
also you know bear in mind that if you are uh have a medical issue you know you break a bone or you damage yourself or
5:35
you have some other thing where you have to be um you know you're taken off the ship into local medical care that it's
5:41
very important that um your insurance covers that and also covers you getting
5:46
you home because the cruise line will not cover that. And it was quite interesting um Michael because when I
5:52
was in Japan recently um and I'll cover it in a video I do about cruising in Asia is they had posters in some of the
5:59
ports which were about importance of having medical insurance and it quoted the price some prices for if things
6:06
happen to you. And it was quite interesting the the the example they gave was, you know, you you're out in
6:12
port and you break something, an arm or an ankle or whatever, and you have to
6:18
then get disembarked and you have to go into Japanese medical care. You spend some time in the hospital on observation, but they were talking about
6:24
it costing like $200,000 US to have that uh treated. Um uh so you know just you
6:32
know you you want to make sure that you have a fairly sizable coverage for medical issues. Um the other thing that
6:39
you may want to look at which I get less I'm personally less concerned about but I know other people are is um I always
6:45
try to look uh if you can cancel for any reason that becomes quite important because sometimes you just want to
6:51
cancel. Most insurance policies will include things like if you fall ill or there's a death in the family or stuff
6:58
like that. But if you if you can get cancelled for any reason that's quite a good one because if you have to change
7:04
your mind or just plans or life changes um also so that becomes very important
7:09
that you take out insurance at the time that you book. That's very important as
7:14
well so that you're covered if you need to cancel. So a lot of people kind of wait closer to the time. That's advantage of having an annual policy.
7:21
Um, but you want to see if it's got cancelled for any reason. That's a big plus. You also want to see whether it
7:26
covers you for missed ports. So, often the cruise lines will not compensate you for missing ports, but some travel
7:32
insurance policies will give you some compensation if you're missing if you're kind of missing ports. When it comes to
7:39
cancellation, one of the things that I probably didn't do very well was looking at how much they'll cover. So you know
7:46
particular if you're going on you know expensive trips you need to have quite a high level of cancellation coverage. So
7:51
I have recently upped that. So if I do cancel trip it is largely kind of uh is
7:57
it is largely covered. Um so and the other critical thing of course is making sure that you declare all of your
8:04
pre-existing conditions because one of the loopholes I guess for uh travel
8:09
insurance policies is um uh finding that you haven't declared something. So I use
8:15
more specialist providers because I have pre-existing conditions with my being in remission from cancer and and so on. Now
8:22
I have seen and I don't know the answer to this but I have seen some discussions in the press recently about if one is on
8:31
um you know mangaro zmp those kind of things is whether you need to declare
8:36
that now some people obviously on it for more medical reasons some people are more just as part of a weight loss
8:41
program but also it's important to understand if you if you are on that um you know that that's you remember to
8:47
declare things like that so if you're on statins or whatever So, um I think those
8:52
are the the main uh the main things. The reason I'm raising the majority issues, some people had had claims turned down
8:59
because they hadn't declared it with some policy holders. Hopefully, that helps a bit. Um and I probably should do
9:05
a video on insurance because they do get asked a lot. I'm just kind of nervous about it, I guess. Um people often ask
9:11
you, by the way, for specific recommendations and you'll find that um travel
9:16
um companies are quite local. So know in the US a lot of people are very speak very highly of alian for example. I'm
9:23
not sure where you're based. Michael Claudia good to see you here. Considering ditching ship Wi-Fi for gig
9:30
sky on my celebrity India Sri Lanka Thailand uh in November good idea
9:36
glitchy want browsing social media posting audiobook podcast stream
9:41
ability. Claudia, first of all, I would double check that it is available on Celebrity, which I think it is because I
9:46
ran when I did my uh tests, it it was available. Um I I found it pretty okay,
9:53
but bear in mind they will they connect they they will connect either through Starlink or they will connect through
10:00
the whatever the the satellite system is. So it is a little bit reliant also on the ship itself having good
10:05
technology. So it is piggybacking on that technology. I would certainly give it a go. I would perhaps buy not a huge
10:12
um package and um you know so you haven't committed too much money because it's very easy to top up and see and see
10:20
how it goes. Obviously I have an experience in that part of the world but I'm assuming you know celebrity with Starlink I'm assuming they're going to
10:26
back on on the back of that. Um but definitely Gigstein. Now Claudia the other thing is you know there are a
10:33
couple of US um providers like AT&T and a few like that that also offer kind of
10:38
packages as well but gigite definitely I would look look take consider but don't
10:44
go all in if you like good to see you here Andrew I'm planning
10:49
ahead have you done any videos on saga cruisers not wishing to be rude but I think you are old enough been old enough for saga for a long time for those I
10:56
guess everybody knows sagas is you have to be 50 years or older to go on or you need to be traveling with someone 50 or
11:02
older. And I think you still have to be over 40 even if you're traveling with someone. So Andrew, yes, I have done videos on Saga. Not for a while. Um, but
11:09
I have done videos on Saga. I have done some on their older ships which are less relevant now because they're out of
11:15
service, but I've done some around Spirit of uh Discovery. I haven't been on Spirit of Adventure. Very nice ships.
11:22
Um, the average age tends to be older. Like I would still be a youngster. uh
11:28
certainly on the ones that I've been on tends to skew kind of older 70 and so it's kind of I guess it's probably
11:34
average age because obviously with their they collect you at home they bu bundle in travel insurance that's a real door
11:40
too ships are very nice food is very good entertainment was pretty good from what I recall nice afternoon tea very
11:47
nice uh cabins they have lots of solo cabins um but it's quite pricey but I'm
11:52
sure you've probably looked at so if you if you search if you go to my channel I'll maybe try and leave let me make a
11:58
note Andrew um I'll try if I try and remember at the end of this I will try and add some links in the show notes
12:04
after so if you wait 10 or so minutes but if you go to the channel my channel and you search 50 because I think the
12:11
video title is something like things I learned and lessons I learned from over from going over 50 but also if you
12:16
search saga there's a couple of ship tours if I remember correctly on on the ship there as well so that's uh that
12:23
that's hopefully that that helps um but thank you was suggesting they already just scraped in to be a saga person. So,
12:30
Hik's here, Dabetic's here, Jeff is here, which is great. Um, Jeff joined us yesterday on the Captain Zoom, which was
12:36
great. Uh, let's have let's have a look. Um,
12:42
uh, Moren asking one of those hot button questions. Dress code and gratuitities
12:48
are always the hot button questions. So in terms of gratuitities, I personally moren prepaid gratuitities if they are
12:55
not included in the fair um to get them out of the way because I like to kind of get on a ship um and know that I my bill
13:02
afterwards is going to be not that great in reality because gratuitities um I
13:08
mean gratuitities is is is a misnomer because then in fact very few lines call them gratuitities these days. I guess
13:13
they call them service charge or crew appreciation because pretends that they're actually for service above and
13:19
beyond is kind of gone. Even the cruise lines admit that it's not anymore. But so I do tend to prepay them because then
13:25
I don't have to worry about that. I do Moren though um I will not always for
13:31
everybody but if I've had an incredible cabin steward or something like that I will sometimes tip on a little bit on
13:38
top of that but not universally. Um so I do prepay them. So all the cruises coming up um I will prepay them. I also
13:46
tend even though it probably doesn't make a lot of sense financially for me in a in reality I often will buy some of
13:52
those packages like the have it all package on Holland America or you know
13:57
the always included on Celebrity uh free at sea on Norwegian just because it means that I've covered everything. Now
14:04
I've become a little bit sharper at it. So uh you know because the problem is if you buy have it all and stuff they tend
14:10
to have the alcoholic package. So for example for a celebrity cruise just using celebrity coming up next year on
14:16
on silhouette. I've bought some of the other packages because it because it fit
14:22
me be better. But it means that once I'm on board there's very little that I will have to do unless I decide to tip on top
14:28
of the tips if that makes sense. So, so it's a long way of answering your question, but yes, I just like to get it out the way um rather than have them
14:35
ramping up once once I'm once I'm on on board. Mity Crafts with friends, good to
14:41
see you here again. Do you do much land travel? When would you choose a cruise versus land? On land, do you do tour
14:49
groups or independent travel, hotels, activities booked in advance by travel agents? So, this is actually very nice timely question um because the answer to
14:56
it is yes. So next weekend um in fact we will where are we today? Confusing the
15:02
day Sunday. I will be in Las Vegas this time next week and heading on Monday then to Palm Springs uh for for just
15:10
around about 10 days. We actually doing a day or two in Los Angeles between back to Palm Springs back to Vegas at home.
15:16
So yes I uh I do do land travel. Not a lot of land travel. So when do so um
15:22
when when and when do I choose a cruise versus land? So, one of the good things about choosing a land trip uh Mitsy
15:28
Crafts is uh I can't I can't it forces me in a way
15:34
to to switch off a little bit. So, I sometimes try and intersperse it with with non-cruise stuff because even when
15:40
I go on a cruise for uh a vacation, if I'm going with Mark, for example, um I
15:47
you know, I'll give you an example. Last Christmas, we booked a cruise, a Panama Canal cruise, and was like, "Okay, this is a holiday. I'm not going to record.
15:54
By the time I boarded, that was all gone out the window and I just ended up doing it. So, I choose a partly um as a way of
16:01
making sure that I switch off and do take more of a break. And I choose cruises of land if it beach. So, it's
16:09
really around seeing you actually relaxing going to the beach. So, um you
16:14
know, for example, we did actually do when we went to French Polynesia, we did a land portion on that. Um we have been
16:20
to Australia. We used to go to pre- pandemic most Christmas we go to Australia I so we go to Australia um for
16:27
landbased stuff which again was about escaping the cold uh of Europe the UK
16:32
heading down to the southern hemisphere and having sort of kind of warmth and stuff. So it's really about uh relaxing
16:39
kind of stuff. So in terms of on land um I do very much independent travel. So I
16:44
don't uh you know I will I sort out land myself hotels travel tours and stuff.
16:50
Like for example, I'll just use this Palm Springs um vacation that we're going on. I kind of know what we want to
16:56
do and we've booked those all separately. Um so we want to go to like Sunnylands. We want to go to Pioneer
17:03
Town. Uh we want to go to um Joshua Tree. We've just planned all that
17:08
ourselves with high car. We actually going to go take because we're taking my mother-in-law. So on Los Angeles, we're
17:13
going to drive to Los Angeles, do a helicopter ride so she can see the Hollywood thing, going to Warner Brothers tour. So that I would all do
17:20
kind of uh myself. Now if I was going somewhere more exotic um you know if you
17:25
know I might do that more. So my one big land holiday I did a couple of year well actually quite a few years ago was to
17:32
Tanzania and a safari that I did through a Titan travel for example uh which
17:38
which they had a a guide you know because it was all very organized and it was quite complicated and stuff. So so I
17:44
did that. So, it's a little bit if I'm going somewhere like that, I might look at buying more of a package. So, hopefully that helps. Um, it was
17:50
actually really great just before I do lay one because I had a good good a good thing. Okay, Tom. Um, I'm going to
17:57
slightly deflect this one, but I will I will sort of answer it. What is your current rating and rankings of the ultra
18:04
luxury cruise line? So, I'm working on a video which uh which I've just got tightened down the edit of uh the
18:10
script. Um, so that'll be out in a couple of weeks time. So what I'm doing is I've doing each of the categories. So
18:17
already out on the channel is the premium ships one where I look at those. Um I have done the mass resort one
18:24
that's ready that's going to um that that just hasn't been released yet. I think that's released the week after next. Um and the next one to come out
18:30
will be ultra luxury and then I will do the luxury small ship uh ones. Um uh so that's sort of based on both a
18:37
combination of what people are currently rating them at and also I've been back on all of them in the last couple of uh
18:44
years obviously just back from from Silver Sea. Um so I will dive into in
18:49
much more detail. So my next cruise is actually back on Regent where I want to
18:54
just kind of double check a few things. So I mean it depends a lot as I talk about in that video as you'll see quite
19:00
a lot of it talks about again what are you looking for? Um, so and they are
19:05
very close with differences. I mean, probably, uh, Crystal is probably still king of
19:11
the crop, that makes sense. Um, you know, their ships are a bit older. They're a little bit more old-fashioned
19:16
if you like in some ways. They're very nicely looked after and revamped. But, you know, in ter when it comes to service and food is just fantastic.
19:24
Probably I would say region is the next there. Uh, region is now more all inclinus of all of them since silvery
19:31
has adjusted. It's um it's it's introduced different fair structures
19:37
which has caused lots of arguments amongst diehard silvery passengers. I think actually I quite like the change.
19:43
They've stripped out excursions which I think is actually a plus. Um because excursions I think were becoming weaker
19:49
and weaker and when a certain went on silvery half the ports end up buying excursions. Um I think the on the plus
19:56
side though silver sea is very strong if you want you know so region is probably a little bit more traditional although
20:02
you know the dress codes are very traditional but it is a little bit more traditional in in many ways. Uh silver
20:07
sea is if you want they have very huge range of of within their fleet from the
20:14
very modern you know nova and raid to the sort of older whisper and stuff but they have they probably have the most
20:20
innovative and veridex uh destination. So if you want kind of slightly more unusual uh cruises, I think Silver Sea
20:27
probably edged people out. And of course they have a very very strong and very good expedition with kind of varied sort
20:34
of stuff uh uh you know you know kind of within it. And then Seabour of course they have a shrinking fleet um with uh
20:42
Sojun going soon. So they've reduced capacity. It is probably the most relaxed but has a very more informal
20:49
kind of uh kind of thing. But um but I will dive into much more structure around that. So just watch out watch out
20:55
for for for that one. Echo Bravo. Uh I just saw the travel agent Sarah here
21:01
who's been going a little bit crazy trying to sort out ultra she there's a reposition cruise on silvery that we've
21:07
been trying to lock down and poor Sarah's having a nightmare kind of locking it down and they keep chopping and changing stuff. So even today on a
21:13
Sunday um Sarah was uh battling away trying to solve that uh for me. Um so
21:18
thanks Sarah. Thanks for joining. Um, Echo brother question. Took our first Kuno cruise on Queen Anne and loved it.
21:25
We've already booked uh Queen Elizabeth's trip to the Eastern Mediterranean. Will we have a different experience? Well, Echo, not really. Um,
21:34
if anything, you'll probably have a more uh cun experience in a way because Queen
21:40
Anne decor is quite different as you probably know to like a Queen Elizabeth,
21:46
Queen Victoria. Personally, I will prefer uh Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria, and of course, Queen Mary 2,
21:52
which is distinctive. I actually prefer that as ship. I feels to me it's just more cun. It's more traditional, the heavy sort of art deco look, but the
21:59
fundamental structure will be the same. Now, I'm not sure if you're in Bratannia, Princess or or Queens Grill,
22:05
but certainly I think the Britannia uh you know, dining room is way grander,
22:10
way more kind of magnificent in in a way if you like. Um but you know the actual
22:16
stuff will be very similar. So you actually the queen's room is way better. Some of the facilities are better as
22:21
well. Um but you will still have you know your four uh you know enrichment speakers. You will have the afternoon
22:27
tea thing. You will have uh you know the the the dancing at night, the borum
22:33
dancing etc etc etc. So you'll find it very very similar indeed. Um I think you
22:39
might if you really liked Kunard I think you might find it even nicer. It's a smaller ship, fewer people, and I think
22:46
that's also a plus as a plus as well. Personally, um for me on Kunard, um I I
22:52
for me it's all about Queen Mary too. So, the next Kunard I've got is only is next year transatlantic. Um and um I I
23:01
think it's going to be interesting to see where Ko they're still wrestling about what they want to do. Do they want
23:06
to dial back the dress code? Don't they want to dial back the dress code? And so on. Um,
23:12
Donna W. Have you been to North Norway at the end of October?
23:18
At the end of October. I'm trying to think the latest in the season that I've been. No, I haven't been that late. Four
23:24
weeks to my first ever cruise. Fantastic. Wondering about clothing. So, certainly, you know, uh, October will
23:29
start to be get chilly. I mean, Europe's becoming quite rapidly more chilly. So, the key thing I would say is layers,
23:35
layers, layers. Make sure you've got a good uh, you know, good layers. um you
23:40
know, hat probably, gloves, scarf, nice good puffy coat. Um but have it as
23:46
layers because if you do get sort of less seasonally, less seasonal uh weather, but it's it's pretty it's
23:52
starting to get really chilly. I mean, I was saying it's kind of sunny, but it's kind of a little bit cool out here, but certainly of course being much north. Um
23:59
so, you know, prepare kind of for chilly, cold, kind of very autuminal
24:06
kind of sort of weather. Um, that would be my that would be my key.
24:12
Orin, my wife and I booked our first Silversey cruise from Seward to Japan. So, that's basically what I've just
24:18
recently done. Do you have any recommendations for the company to enhance experience given Oh, you don't
24:24
know that. Do you have any recommendations for the company to enhance experience given your recent trip? Okay. Um I'm not quite sure Orin
24:32
if I understand that but I'm guessing um you you mean just generally in terms of that the thing I would say Orurin is you
24:38
know when you book Silver Sea now depending on when you booked it because these new fairs have come in and so
24:44
they're all after a certain date so I'm guessing you've probably booked it before the fairs came in because they've only just come in. So one of the things
24:50
I say is when you book you can go in from the minute you book and choose your included excursions. I would strongly
24:57
encourage you to go in and do that if you've got the fair where you've got the included excursions and lock those lock
25:02
those down um and look at at the ones you know doing the included and
25:08
excluded. What I would also strongly encourage is if it's a similar to what I've done where you've got the eight Japanese ports is try to make sure that
25:16
you build in diversity of excursions. Some of the mistake that people make when they go to Japan is they end up
25:22
basically just going to look at um temples and it becomes a bit repetitive. Um so do try and build a bit of
25:28
diversity which probably means you're going to have to book some additional uh charge excursions. Now if you're on the
25:35
new new system that's even easier because um if you're on the all inclusive plus you've got some credit for shore excursions. If you're on the
25:41
inclusive you just you just buy those. The other thing to bear in mind, Orin, is that in most of the ports, um, no,
25:48
sorry, in all of the ports, uh, they have done, Japan has done a very good job at making self-exploring much
25:55
easier. So, you'll find incredibly good, uh, tourist desks at every port, very
26:02
well man. So even in some we went to uh uh one port and my mind's gone blank on
26:08
it which wasn't a normal port for people to call in but even there they had a little a stall there with with help. Um
26:14
so you could explore a little bit more uh if you wanted to so that you know they will give you make sure and the
26:20
ship will give you as well on the daily program they'll have the name of the portant in Japanese. Um you can obviously use fantastic things like the
26:26
the Google Translate app is fantastic. uh you know you just hold up the camera
26:32
um and it will translate what things mean. Um you can also do audio stuff. So
26:37
even if you do that but you know so don't be scared necessarily of self-exploring. So I did one or two self-exploring ports. The other thing
26:44
that I would say is if you're doing this similar to me you had this sort of C days but then it was port po port. So
26:50
also just think about pacing yourself. You might decide one or two days just do some kind of selfexploring or give
26:57
yourself kind of a day off. So, the other thing to do is when um when make a note of when dining becomes available
27:04
and jump in when it does, particularly if you like to eat at peak times. Uh
27:10
that's what that's you know that's that's really important. Um the other thing I would say if you are on Silver Nova or Silver Ray if you're doing that
27:16
same thing is bear in mind that there are quite there was a number of extra charge uh dining but I would focus like
27:24
on kaiseki which is the Asian restaurant go at lunchtime because you don't pay if you go at night it's $80. Um the the
27:31
program is fairly repetitive so I I sort of made a joke and I will in the video that comes out about this because I will
27:37
I'm making a video about this so that will come. So um uh you know I sort of
27:43
knew certainly on those C days exactly what was happening every day. So it's not a hugely diverse thing but people
27:49
you know trivia was rammed full bingo was rammed full um the speakers you know
27:54
obviously varying based on that they've got on um but also when you get on board
27:59
although I believe now that they're doing it in advance is if have a look at if you can book the salt kitchen uh
28:06
classes uh online. And I did read somewhere that you they've started to do that. Now for me, you couldn't you could
28:12
only do it on board, but when you get on board kind of lock those in because they don't charge them and people sort of
28:17
lock in and lock them all all in. Um the seas can be rather bumpy um when you
28:24
cross uh the bearing sea. Uh so uh make sure that if you do not wild about
28:31
motion or you do prone a little bit prone to motion sickness for those couple of days that you've done whatever
28:36
you need to do. So, I probably got better things, particularly in the video. Hopefully, I will cover I will
28:42
cover those as well. Cruising engineer, hi, good to see you
28:48
there from New Mexico. Any updates on the 2026 Panama Cal can Panama Canal
28:55
group cruise? Um, there's not a lot of updates. What I'm going to wait for, what I will be doing is, uh, as you
29:01
probably know, the the final payments for the group cruise are on the I think it's the 9th of October, something like
29:07
that. So once I'm back from this trip, I will do more updates, but we have been working. Uh we must I've been asking
29:13
Sarah who's been liazing with Holland America. We've we've been um we put in a
29:19
lot of requests for all of the stuff, the program that we want to do with uh
29:24
you know the meetups, uh the afternoon tea event, the evening drinks, um the
29:30
dining arrangements, all that sort of stuff. So we we put all those requests in um complicated spreadsheets and all
29:38
sorts of stuff. Um we so we put all those requests in. Some of them they can't confirm till closer to the time.
29:44
Uh the one thing which they said an absolute no to which I can't remember who I I did post about. We had asked
29:49
because they've reintroduced those fantastic behindthe-scene tours. They're quite expensive. We were trying to get one dedicated for our group but that was
29:56
a no-go. So things like that when people get on board they have to zoo in. So, I will do more updates uh closer to, you
30:04
know, once we we get the final numbers in. At the moment, we have because it's
30:09
all closed now. Um and we've actually booked more than we had originally planned to book. Uh as of today, we have
30:16
82 people, I think, um with a couple of cancellations coming, maybe a few more
30:21
before final payments. And um 25% of the
30:27
group will be solos. Um I know you won't be solo but there's quite a big solo group there. So there will be some
30:33
updates coming certainly um once we get past that and as we get more stuff in and then we'll I'll do things like we'll
30:39
start to launch um like the WhatsApp group and I will start to get into kind
30:45
of really regular updates as we as we head in. So hopefully that answered
30:51
that. Don't need to slug a tea. Uh, travel agent Sarah
30:57
is heading off Silver Endeavor, which I'm very envious of, on an expedition voyage, the Chilling for Silver is just
31:03
absolutely gorgeous. Um, so I'm that's why I'm driving her slightly crazy at the moment with all my plans for 27 and
31:11
stuff going on. But, um, and she's having lots of lots of fun doing that, I'm sure. So, let's have a look.
31:19
Kelly, I'm not sure I can actually answer this question unfortunately, but maybe someone else can. So, Kelly is
31:25
selling from Pereus. So, that's for those who don't know the port for Athens. My hotel is I can never
31:30
pronounce this correctly. Is it Cint Mag Saint Tagma Square, which I know where that is. I'm mobile with my spinner bag
31:37
is taking the metro entry to the last stop and then a taxi to the cruise terminal. A decent plan. Kenny, I have
31:42
never taken the metro to the uh port. I've always got a taxi or booked
31:49
transfer. So, if anyone has a better if anyone's done this route um uh let me
31:56
know because you're right, it's quite it's quite a long trek um down there and often I've done it I think it's been
32:03
more linked in a package or I've done it through the cruise line or stuff. I can't really
32:08
remember. So, I haven't done that. So, if anyone has I'd love to know because it's good to know for for also for me
32:14
for future reference. Lucy mom saying wishing you good luck on the wave awards. Um I only two nuts. So um the
32:21
wave awards as you probably know is a voted four thing. I have been a finalist in the wave awards. I think I've counted
32:28
at least six years or something and I've never won it. Um part of the thing is because it is a voting one. So you have
32:34
to kind of cajol and keep asking people to vote and I haven't really done that. I do one post at the beginning. Um but I
32:40
will do another post. I just came up with my to-do list. Do another post. So I I will I will do that. But thank you
32:46
very much for that and enjoy your thing. Moren, another question. Is annual cruise insurance policy worth of many
32:52
cruising locally as well as more worldwide only two to three times a year? Moren, for me certainly it it it
32:59
always worth looking at the the the the price because sometimes you'll find if you're buying them individually um
33:05
certainly I'm guessing you're in but I don't know why I'm assuming that US. Uh some telling isn't spelling but anyway.
33:12
So, um, for me it works out better. Now, obviously I cruise quite a lot, but you'll often find if you're doing it a
33:17
couple of times a year, it does. So, for example, Mark, um, you know, because he's working full-time and he travels
33:22
maybe two or three times a year max, and it fin it worked out cheaper to get an
33:28
annual policy than buying them ad hoc. And the advantage was that if he did add any things or cancel any things, it was
33:33
kind of all-encompassing. You didn't have to worry about juggling juggling to and fro.
33:39
Um, Elizabeth Hurley, I always like that. I was sure I always joke about I'm sure Elizabeth Hurley uh with that name
33:46
um gets lots of doors opened hopefully. Becky, what activities are good for 18
33:52
to 25 year olds on Enchanted Princess for New England, Canada in October?
33:59
H Becca, there's not anything really specific laid on uh for that age group.
34:06
Um but Princess is pretty um these days they daily program of sort of all those
34:12
premium lines is normally the most chalk a block. So there's certainly a lot going on but it is very much around quiz
34:19
shows uh trivia there's lots of that going on. Um you know the movies uh on
34:25
the deck uh is also a good option. um they will tend to depending on they'll
34:30
show quite recent movies or they'll skew a little bit based on the kind of the the age profile on board. Um there will
34:38
be sort of karaoke nights, you know, in Princess Live if they're into that. There will be a couple of dance party
34:45
kind of stuff. You know, there's late night uh dancing in kind of the Vista Lounge, but it is probably not necessary
34:53
their kind of music kind of uh age. So it but it is quite a busy program. So if
34:59
they're happy to get down and uh you know trivia and quizzes and that sort of stuff there is quite a lot going. It's
35:05
quite packed and it does tend to run a little bit later into the evening. So you will find there's people up and about and it's kind of an energy around
35:11
it. So I think I think that would I think that would uh that would that would that would be good. Uh Sarah just
35:17
stressing the point about the weight loss drugs. Oh, okay. Elizabeth, what is
35:23
the difference between a cabin stewward and a butler and what are the different requests you can ask of each? So,
35:29
Elizabeth, um let's talk we'll talk about it. So, let's assume I'm assuming you're asking if you're on a line which
35:35
has both uh where you have a butler and you have a cabin stew. So, if you're on
35:40
one of the if you're on Silvery for example, you'll have both or if you're in um on Kuno Grills, Queens Grill or
35:48
whatever. So basically the cabin steward in large on in that situation where you have both cabin stewart's real job is to
35:55
keep the cabin clean. So their job is effectively cleaning the cabin. So you
36:00
know refreshing the towels uh sorting out the bed uh making the bed uh you
36:05
know so that's really their job. They won't do any of those kind of tasks um
36:10
uh that you know they won't do things. So what let me talk about what the butler will do. So what the butler's job
36:16
is to really kind of look more after your kind of specific needs. So they will do things like for example laundry.
36:22
So when you put your laundry out, it's the butler that would normally uh deal with taking the laundry away. You know, if you're on a ship without a without
36:28
that, the cabin stew would normally do that. The butler will if you want to on some lines on most lines would
36:34
theoretically pack and unpack for you. Um some people use that. I I don't know
36:40
why because I'm have my own system. Um they will also sort out normally things like your mini bar. So because if you're
36:46
on a line often if you've got a you know often drinks are included. So if you're on kunard drinks aren't included but you
36:52
can choose certain things in your mini bar at a setup at the beginning. Uh also
36:57
you know the other lines I think on some on some of the princess if you've got um
37:02
no quite I don't know. So they will sort out kind of your mini bar your drinks. Also, normally what will happen is if
37:07
you order room service and you have a butler, it's the butler that will bring the room service and set it up. So, you
37:14
might phone room service, but the butler will actually do it. Um, also, what you can get the butler to do often is set up
37:21
if you got the kind of little quirky things. So, for example, I know on Silvery, I didn't do it, but people did,
37:26
is they would say like every day, you know, uh, can you make sure I've got such and such or when I'm out on
37:31
excursion, when I come back, I want a sandwich and a ginger ale or something. I don't know. Or or um what I did um
37:38
because you could order if you can are done by request. So I could say the butler could I have canabase today um or
37:46
could I have caviar today or or or or whatever. Um the butler will normally also then sort out your reservation. So
37:53
if you want a spa reservation, a dining reservation, or could even, you know, leers and sort out your shore
37:59
excursions. because these days now that everything's kind of on the app, um you normally just do it on the app anyway,
38:04
but they would so they kind of look after those kinds of things. Now, in some lines, you can also ask them to do
38:10
some zuti, set your bubble bath or something like that. Um but they're really going to look after your kind of
38:16
your needs and your bookings and that sort of stuff. Now, if you go on if you're on a line,
38:22
so for example, when I was on Seaborn and I went on their um uh expedition
38:29
ship pursuit, we actually had two cabin stewards. There were a senior cabin and junior cabin steward and the cabin
38:35
steward did some of those things like they would sort out the mini bar, sort out the lawn laundry, but they wouldn't
38:40
do those kind of bookings things that you had to sort out yourself. Elizabeth, hopefully that helps. I keep I have a
38:46
video very old video based on what butlers do uh from some interviews I did
38:51
with the butler um and observations and I have in my notes to keep updating it but I haven't really done it. One of the
38:58
things that was was very helpful when we were on Kunard I think it was in Queen Anne I
39:04
think it was on Kunard they had a little little document which uh said what they
39:10
did and didn't do. So maybe I'll I should probably dig that out and post that somewhere. Hopefully that hopefully that answers uh hopefully that answers
39:17
your uh question. Um
39:23
Melanie saying that um the genetics preconditions I I would that may be true
39:30
but it's unusual if that's true because um normally you you have to so again I
39:37
guess the point is always check if you have to declare them. Brenda, I'm booked
39:42
on the Viking fairs and permits cruise for Thanksgiving week. Any crucial tips I should be aware of before my trip? So,
39:49
Brenda, what I would say, my biggest tip is watch my videos about the Nile River Rift Cruise. I didn't do Viking, I did ammo waterways. So, if you go to the
39:55
channel and just search Nile and I have two videos there. Uh, one of which is specifically about the experience I had,
40:01
another is diving into tips. So, that will really talk in detail about those tips and there's quite a lot of them to
40:08
be honest. So, um I think you'll find that very helpful because I do talk through a little bit about um you know,
40:14
eating and dining to make sure you avoid getting um you know the the sort of
40:20
reputation that Egypt has. It's things like always making sure that you're using bottled water that you always have
40:25
it's you checking that the caps are always sealed. So, don't buy waters from vendors or stuff. You know, kind of
40:31
focus on the ship. Obviously, stay hydrated. Uh I I actually avoided salads
40:36
and things because they often washed with water which is very unusual for me to avoid salad. Um then uh there's more
40:42
things about you know sort of um there there are quite you have to be quite cautious about uh depending where you're
40:49
going but Viking will stay in the right direction what you're taking pictures or not taking pictures of you'll go through various security uh armed forces and
40:57
military and stuff and and you need to be careful that you're not seen as taking pictures of them or taking
41:03
pictures of what could be seen as security issues that's more an issue perhaps when you're in car your carro a bit around that but Viking will will
41:10
guide you on on on that. Um, I'm sure there's loads more. So, my
41:15
biggest tip would watch those videos. Again, what I'll try and do, Brenda, is I will try and put it when this is
41:21
finished at the end. I'll try and put links to my now videos in that in that note. Uh, below me asking me um cancel.
41:31
Yes, I am in remission. I've been in remission much to my consultants surprise uh since 2012. Um, and I have
41:38
six monthly checkups um with them and and so on.
41:43
Uh, Rhonda, we're doing a transatlantic crossing with Explorer. Very nice. Do you know if they have detergent in their
41:48
laundry room? They don't have free laundry for pendues like other cruise lines. Rhonda, I don't um I can't
41:56
remember. I could probably have a look on my video clips of the laundry uh and
42:02
to see whether it had it in there. I I can't I don't know because I didn't use the laundry when I was on um uh I didn't
42:10
go to the law I didn't put laundry through the laundry room when I was on trying to think what I did because I was on for 10 days. Maybe I took enough
42:16
clothes or did I use the laundry? I didn't I didn't go to the laundry room. I'm trying to remember if I sent away
42:21
laundry. So I don't know, but if anyone does know, um I would assume that they do, but I will I will try and see if I
42:28
can pick that up from my video clips. Uh if if that if that helps. Um,
42:38
uh, let's have a look. Um, Heidi, I don't know the question off hand. Which ships can't go to Santorini? We had a
42:45
princess cruise booked, but I've heard this princess someone's not allowed to go there. So, we changed on celebrity clips. Is this ship good? Heidi, I don't
42:51
know. Um, but you're right. There are restrictions on the I don't think it's probably less about the number of
42:59
specific ships, but there what happens? It's the itinerary that becomes key because there is a cap on how many
43:05
people can go per day. So, um, you know, so, so if you know, Celebrity Eclipse is
43:14
due to go on a day where there's a lot of other ships due to go, they may be the one that get bumped or decide to get
43:19
bumped. So, it's not ship specific. U, it's it's um, how many ships did you go
43:25
there? So what I would do Heidi is one of the ways of having a look is first of all obviously keep an eye on the
43:30
itinerary but if you go to a site called cruise timetables.com
43:37
and go to Santorini and have a look at the date that you're due to be there and
43:43
have a look how many other ships are currently scheduled to be there. That's probably the best way of getting a sense
43:49
of is is a lot of ships due to go there. But my understanding and if anyone knows
43:54
anything better um then please do shout. I mean Sarah might know the answer to that but I I feel like it's um uh that
44:02
that's right from what I remember. So Emma Cruises here as I mentioned earlier hadn't seen Sarah for a very long time. Good to see Emma on here. Um
44:12
Boka Boys eager to see large luxury comparison video. Yes I Yes. Hopefully we do. They have a
44:18
different ranking and that's always the great thing is people have different kind of uh rankings. Uh silver sea is number one. I know you're big fans of
44:25
silver. I wouldn't put silver is number one but anyway I'll dive into that more in the in in the video. So um but I know
44:32
for a lot of people silver is absolutely number one and they are they actually are the biggest in terms of I mean
44:38
ultraux is very small as a percentage less than 1% of passengers actually on it but they are the largest alo they
44:43
have the largest fleet and the most diverse fleet for sure. Um
44:49
let's have a look. Uh yes, Seaborn is is is uh is uh definitely kind of
44:57
challenging. Gary um considering offseason cruise to
45:03
Turkey choices in November, December and January. Okay. Options of Viking or
45:09
Ocean U allura. Any comments? So Gary, a lot of it is around what do you want to get from the experience in Turkey? So,
45:17
um, if you want to get a really deep dive into the history and the sort of
45:25
cultural side of Turkey, I would lean towards Viking on the basis that they
45:32
have on all their cruises, they'll have a resident historian, they'll have another speaker. They will really deep
45:37
dive into the region. They will and very high quality speakers. So if you really
45:43
if that's really important to you that would that would be key. Again obviously other things you know it's 18 only you
45:49
probably at that time of year probably not going to get many families. I mean December time I mean it is school
45:55
holiday time but I'm guessing probably Turkey out of season is probably not going to be high on families list but if
46:01
that's important to you that's a consideration guaranteed. Um none none there. Um so so if that's really
46:08
important to you I mean in terms of ocean and allura obviously you have the attraction that it's a new ship uh they
46:14
have more dining uh options than Viking do generally speaking you know probably
46:21
the food is a little bit more elevated but certainly more choice um uh you have more passengers so Viking is a smaller
46:27
ship it's 930 if I remember correctly is 1,200 so you do have a slightly more
46:33
intimate experience certainly if I was going offseason in Turkey cuz I'm guess you're not going for beaches and sun and
46:38
whatever. You're going for more of the cultural side. I personally would probably lean a little bit more towards
46:44
uh towards Viking. Uh for that I generally out of out of season.
46:49
Becky asked me how old do you need to be going on one of your group cruises? Uh old enough to to cruise. So I guess
46:54
there are rules and if if I don't know what the the rules I know there's some rules in the in the some of the cruise
47:01
lines changed rules where you had to be you couldn't be traveling by yourself unless you were 21 or something whatever
47:07
but but there's no specific uh age uh limit uh at the bottom end or the or the
47:13
top end uh for that um uh so let's have a look. So Alan throwing a few bits of
47:20
um uh Japanese tips in which is great. Uh Stein Vault Matt Chen, how was the
47:28
sea condition and Wi-Fi coverage for your transport crossing? Do you recommend your ship or something bigger?
47:33
How this cost? So, um hopefully you probably heard me talk about it was a little bit bumpy, quite windy, so some
47:40
days, you know, some of the decks were sort of closed. Uh you know, uh you couldn't really go outside. We did have
47:46
some quite foggy days, some quite rainy days, uh sort of in that middle stretch as you crossing there. So, it's kind of
47:53
it was quite bumpy. I I of course love that. Um it was interest because a lot of the crew kept saying how how uh how
47:59
are you coping? It's like I'm loving it. Um but I guess they were checking on how people were doing. Um and that um so
48:06
that was a little bit bumpy but only that for a couple of days. Wi-Fi coverage with Starlink was very good. Um
48:13
so it was it was good. I paid for the streaming package and I was able to do
48:19
the video calls the streaming. Silver did this bizarre thing which I don't really understand uh and it really
48:24
annoys people but they they you know Wi-Fi is included but they restricted
48:31
what when they introduce Starling they've restricted what you can do so theory you can't do video calls and stuff like that you have to buy the
48:37
streaming package but I was able to stream um I actually uploaded a patron video when I was in the middle of the
48:44
the you know the middle of the sea days and that was all fine um so do I
48:49
recommend or something bigger halist. So I I um Is that because you're concerned
48:55
about the movement or whatever? So I think um I like the smaller ships. So
49:01
that was a 700 passenger. I think we had 600 something. It wasn't completely full. Um I thought it was great. But you
49:06
do you're right. You have six or seven or some of them I've looked at actually eight C days. So you need to be sure that you're going to be comfortable on
49:12
the ship. There's going to be enough for you to do or you're going to be able to occupied. The advantage I guess of the Vista class a little bit bigger. there's
49:17
going to be more venues, probably more entertainment, uh more choice of music venues and stuff like that, bigger
49:24
shows, uh stuff like that. So, I think it's probably more a combination around because the C is going to bounce you
49:30
around a bit anyway, whether you're bigger or not. um in reality. So it's more around I think if you know from an
49:37
attend perspective on Silver Nova it was very much you know talks bingo trivia
49:44
and sort of song and dance because bear in mind that the the cruise is too long for the number of production shows. So
49:50
they got production some of the production singers to do their own cabaret and stuff to kind of fill the gaps as it were. The same would be true
49:57
on on on the halves class. they only have so many production shows they can they have within their repertoire. So,
50:03
it's a little bit around I think what what what what you want what what you want um as it were.
50:11
Um let's have a look. Oh, is Walter's here which is great. Uh that's one of
50:16
the travel agents I recommend in the US. Um oh good point. Walt's making the
50:22
point that Viking has no casinos. If you're the casino is really important to you, do not go on Viking on the Turkey
50:28
thing. That's that's that's that's a really good point. Um Martin, uh yes, um
50:33
I have a video coming out as well around reposition cruises. I get asked about a lot. I do have an older video, but I'm
50:39
red. That's when I'm just finalizing this week, getting the edit done, but there is a site called repositioning
50:46
cruise.com. It's run by vacations to go. It's a spin-off site. It's it's pretty
50:53
comprehensive but not massively comprehensive. It doesn't cover all of the lines which is kind of interesting
50:58
because on vacations to go it is but the simplest one is to go to repositioning
51:03
cruise.com. It's a good starting point of course. Then if you just look um you
51:09
can even search on vacations go if you search in kind of April time you know March April and you search sort of
51:15
September October November time or October November time you and you put it you know a thing around 10 days or more
51:24
that will basically flag up most of the repositioning cruisers. Some of the lines do have repositioning pages like
51:29
celebrity if you're really specific about celebrity for example and some you will see if you if you say you want to
51:35
go on celebrity you'll find one of the dropown options is uh repositionings or transpacific transatlantics or
51:41
reposition what they call it but you'll find some cruise lines will give that as as a as an option. Um,
51:50
Boka Boys, um, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the transatlantic versus trans-pacific, aside from the obvious.
51:56
We've done the translating twice a love, our third book. So, it's it's interesting. I mean, I I I personally
52:03
uh lean towards the trans-pacific. So, I although saying that next year I have two reposition cruises, but
52:09
transatlantic. So the trans just for me which is probably linked to one of the obvious just because of the exotic side
52:17
of it. So um I loved in fact one I've booked I've actually booked for 27
52:23
spends more time in Alaska and more time in Japan um as well. So because for me
52:29
those are two kind of iconic places that I really want to see. So you you do have more sea days. So one of them I think
52:35
it's like seven or eight sea days. So obviously versus transatlantic it's longer. So, of course, it's more time
52:42
commitment. Um, you definitely probably have more bumpy seas than you have on trans and transatlantic, depending where
52:48
you go, can be a little bit the beginning or end, depending which way you're going, can be a little bit bumpy. Um, but but it is kind of a more
52:54
elongated sea days. Things the trips are longer, so they are a longer commitment, both time and money. Um and and as we
53:02
mentioned a little bit, you know, could be a little bit repetitive with uh the daily program and stuff, but I you know,
53:08
but obviously the cost is a bigger consideration because for most people, you've got long haul flight, say to Ala,
53:14
you know, to Alaska, you've got a long haul flight back from Japan. Um it is quite I it didn't bother me as much, but
53:21
the time difference is quite big. you know, you you've already changed say to get to Alaska like going from settle
53:26
you've already changed it 1 hour but then there was a 7h hour 7 hours had to change uh because you lose a day or so
53:34
with the international date line going that way so from Alaska that way. So a
53:39
lot of people were struggling because in the space of seven days, you know, you went um you know, so people were waking
53:45
up really early because they put the clock back and so people were like people was kind of rattling on the doors at of uh Labandanda uh you know at at
53:54
before the the buffet open because people have been up so long. So some people struggle a bit with the the day. If you're in the other way, it's pretty
54:00
tiring because you're losing an hour every day. Whereas obviously on the transatlantic you got the five hours. So
54:05
you sort of got that there. Um but um uh I I think you know I think that's
54:12
probably the key difference. They're both great. They're both absolutely fantastic. Uh absolutely fantastic. Um
54:18
so I think you should give that a go. I think you should give that a whirl and certainly on Silvery do do them really well as as as you mentioned earlier. Um
54:29
Colin Johnson um we're taking the train from Chicago to Seattle next week and back came after the cruise. Do you have
54:36
any advice for long train trips? So, I've only done long long train trips. I've done Colin. There's only those more
54:42
scenic ones like Roberts Rail in South Africa and the Ghana in Australia in the
54:49
Pacific. So, those are are broken up. You know, you do have stops. So, I've never done
54:55
except when I was a kid where we did a three-day train from Harrari all the way down to to Duran. I think it was three
55:01
nights on the train and that was literally just the train going. Um, so I don't have any other than maybe load up
55:08
your your iPad with Netflix and um, Amazon Prime and you know just use it a
55:14
chance to kind of unwind. But if people have better tips than I do or more experience with that, I'm just trying to
55:21
think because Trek trendy will he does a lot of train stuff. Um,
55:27
but he's never done specific tips one I don't think. So that was probably a bit rubbish. So, if anyone has better tips
55:34
than I did, then then please uh please put those put those put those in. Um
55:43
Tom, we're on Crystal Symphony leaving Lisbon two weeks. Fantastic. So, I guess you're on before the refit. I was met
55:50
someone else. In fact, you might be on the same on Friday. I did a video. I did
55:55
a podcast. I was on a podcast recording for the sellway magazine guys and Ritzie
56:01
Travel Guide. Um, Bill was on that and he's on Crystal Symphony. I feel like he might be on your sailing as well. Um, so
56:09
that boy knows it's pre-re because they're refitting Crystal Symphony quite soon where they're taking the fountain out, playing around with the bar,
56:16
updating some of the decor, redoing some of the cabs that haven't been redone, and a lot of back office stuff. So, any
56:22
special items we should plan? Um, why party? I forgot to take stuff for
56:28
the Y party. have is probably the only thing, but I don't think there's anything specific. Um, because
56:35
presumably you've got your reservations kind of locked in. Uh, bear in mind that
56:40
you can uh go to the Nou to the sushi thing without reservations if you get in
56:46
there early. Um, but I think it's really just making sure you've locked down those kind of video. Is that how you
56:52
pronounce it? Um and your Nou uh umi um
56:58
um umi uma uh stuff but no uh dress code is not particularly strict or anything
57:05
on that. Very envious. That'll be fantastic. That'll be really fantastic. Um
57:12
let's have a look.
57:18
Michael, I noticed you recommend getting the best deal on cruise when they're first announced. Absolutely. What about
57:23
booking your next cruise while on board recommended? Yes. So what I do for example, Michael, so um uh one of the
57:30
things I did for example what Silvery were doing is they I didn't they're releasing their new itineraries in
57:36
October. So, what you could do when you're on board is you could pay uh so it was Ā£500
57:43
or in my case was Ā£300 and that would lock in the extra 5% discount uh plus
57:50
the ability to also um I think change at least cruise once without penalty for
57:56
example. So, I bought that with the idea that when the new itineries are released that I would be able to then jump on
58:03
that. In reality, what I've done, as I mentioned earlier, is I just found there's actually repositioning from
58:09
Pabete to Vancouver, which was very nicely and sharply priced at the moment
58:14
because they were doing a 30% off promotion. Uh, so actually I'm using it for that. Um, because repositionings
58:22
tend to be hard to sell because of those C days. So yes, but what you can do, Michael, is sometimes what you can do
58:28
what what you can do is definitely book because you're going to get 5%. In fact, at the beginning of the cruise on Silver, they're offering 10% off which
58:35
is very high and that's 10% on top of any other deals. So uh you know and I know one of the clients of Welter who
58:42
was on board uh she had booked a very nice trip um by be able to combine uh
58:48
you know the deep discounts and the uh promotions and get a very attractive
58:53
deal. So, it's is worth doing, but particularly if they're going to be releasing new stuff. So, I booked, for example, um talking transatlantics a bit
59:00
earlier. So, when I was on board Crystal, I went to see the future cruise people because I want to do
59:06
transatlantic and um a repositioning, sorry. And reposition you can normally get deals on, but on board, they were
59:11
able to bundle a whole bunch of things. There was a promotion running which was you could book a cabin and get an upgrade. So, I could book a regular
59:18
cabin and get a suite, but they then had other things they were offering on board. they were offering some pre-stay
59:24
night or some credit that extra discount that had a so no solar supplement. So they can sometimes kind of offers that
59:30
are bundled on on there but particularly what's interesting is most of them will sell you a certificate. So if you know
59:37
that um uh you know they're going to be releasing uh uh any sailings coming up,
59:43
buying that certificate is is a good way of then kind of double double dipping if if if that's um grate your take on
59:51
gratuitities that fing the guild's economy. I'm not quite sure what you mean. You mean by tipping on top?
59:59
Tipping is always uh was always we even had a chat yesterday on dress codes that
1:00:05
was got us kind of uh uh into a whole another mindset as well. So I don't know
1:00:12
if I quite understood your point about hopefully hopefully I have. Debbie, any
1:00:18
tips for Alaska? All the trips look all the trips look very touristy. Would like to something more authentic. Yes,
1:00:23
Debbie. So, what you can do is there is um a couple of options. There is a cruise line called Uncruise. So, their
1:00:30
ships are a little bit more rustic, I guess you could argue, but they don't tend to call on those more touristy
1:00:37
places. They're very small ships. Uh there's a little bit more wildlife focused. Uh quite small. I can't
1:00:43
remember the numbers. It's quite small. But also then you'll find um Huchin for example. No, sorry, not called HX
1:00:50
Expeditions. they run a more expedition focused Alaska trip where they don't
1:00:56
call on um the you know the big ports they they're very it's more zodiac stuff
1:01:03
and it's um more wildlife focused. So those are two that that kind of come to
1:01:09
mind. I think also Victory might go there as well if I remember correctly but those are the two that I know and I know people who have done the uncruise
1:01:15
they loved it. Um you know it's not as uh it's not your traditional cruise line. Um, so those are the two that I
1:01:22
would I would certainly have a look at. I feel like feel like possibly Seabour
1:01:28
are taking some of their expedition ships there, but I might be getting my wires uh wires a bit wires a bit crossed
1:01:35
there. Um, let's let's have a look. We're wrapping
1:01:40
out of time, but let me just see if I can quickly get some other questions in before I wrap up. Um, have you been on a
1:01:46
ship prior? been taken off service thinking of booking on region navigator which I believe is its last setting. I haven't but um the the you know
1:01:55
particularly if a ship is being sold off or whatever uh there is a risk that there's kind of starting to do stuff. I
1:02:01
mean what's interesting with Navigator? Navigator for those who don't know is becoming part of Crescent Seas. It's going to be converted into a residential
1:02:07
ship. So um I was due to be on Navigator in October. I actually canceled that for other reasons um and doing a different
1:02:14
routing. Um but uh often it's a big celebration. So when I've spoken to people being on it's often a big because
1:02:21
end of a a a experience now navigator is going to then go and have a major refit and being converted. So I I I would be
1:02:28
surprised if they're going to be starting to strip stuff out. There's a small risk they are but it's normally going to be a celebration. I would have
1:02:33
thought region are going to you know make a big deal of that but I have not I've not uh not been on that. Um
1:02:42
I haven't Meline I haven't made Miami tonight prior to your 30th January
1:02:48
cruise. Any suggestions or will I or will do that what I have in past
1:02:53
cruise? Oh Sarah's asking I guess about hotels are quite expensive that night.
1:02:58
So I normally say kind of the intercontinental is obscenely price. Um there see some stuff going on. So um
1:03:06
Sarah had I think made some suggest maybe what we'll do when we send some updates just after closes we'll have a
1:03:13
look at make some some suggestions on hotels and stuff around that. So I I
1:03:19
have sort of penciled in saying Intercontinental uh with my sister's coming on the group cruise so we both booked in there but the price is just
1:03:26
crazy. I know Sarah um has booked more on South Beach stuff. Um, so we maybe
1:03:32
we'll have a look and try and and have a look at those. Uh, people talking about Kempton. I said the Kimton before
1:03:38
because I try to say Intercontinental because of keeping status. Uh, Walter's got some suggestions. Um, I'm trying to
1:03:45
think there was an interesting one which um, uh,
1:03:52
Lolita Locus stayed at. I'm trying to remember the name of that. It's quite small but quite quite quite interesting
1:03:58
as well. But we will maybe make some more some more suggestions uh there. Um
1:04:03
so uh let me wrap up because we're ch turn churning through. Richard asking does have thin wall noises? Um I don't
1:04:10
know yet. I guess the ship's just coming into service, but hopefully they have uh they have addressed that. So um lots of
1:04:17
tips coming on for the hotel. So thanks for that as well. Thanks for joining me. Now let's talk a little bit about next week. So next week I will be traveling
1:04:24
uh on Sunday in uh on Saturday. Sunday. I think um in Las Vegas with we've got
1:04:30
some plans in the morning. So, I probably will not do one on Sunday. So, keep an eye out. What I'm thinking of doing is actually experimenting with
1:04:36
doing a early week one. So, possibly on the Tuesday of next week, but the week
1:04:42
after that, um we'll definitely be doing one, but it'll be on Saturday. So, keep an eye out for it. I will post about
1:04:47
that, but I might experiment, as I said, with the week after next. So, definitely not next weekend because I'll be
1:04:53
traveling. I won't be able to do that. But keep an eye out for and we'll experiment and see how a weekday one
1:04:58
goes. I'll probably shift a little bit later. So, um you know, understand that people may be working and so on. So,
1:05:04
thanks for joining me. Thanks for all the fantastic questions. Um have a great rest of the weekend, whatever you're
1:05:09
doing. Uh and see you soon hopefully.
1:05:21
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