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There are a number of topics and issues that cruise lines do not want to talk about, or are reluctant to, with cruise passengers. I think these 7 things should be spoken about more, and so lift the lid on them and why lines are so coy discussing them usually
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TikTok: @garybembridge
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0:00
flicking through these cruise brochures
0:02
i'm seeing
0:03
glamorous destinations
0:05
fun packed onboard activities good food
0:10
comfy cabins but there's nothing about
0:12
some of the most important things
0:14
affecting us as cruise passengers things
0:17
i think we should be told and talking
0:19
about so i'm going to lift the lid on
0:21
the issues and topics i think the lions
0:23
should be talking about and why if
0:26
you're new here welcome aboard i'm gary
0:28
bembridge and it's my goal to make it
0:31
easier and more fun to discover plan and
0:34
enjoy unforgettable cruise vacations
0:37
many issues the lions do not draw your
0:38
attention or talk about upfront in their
0:41
brochures and sales material is the
0:43
myriad of things we agree to when we
0:46
book our cruise when we book a cruise we
0:48
agree to their cruise contract and terms
0:51
as you will see this has several areas
0:54
buried in there that the cruise lines
0:56
don't really seem keen to talk about as
0:59
i discuss them through this episode one
1:01
issue cruise lines don't really like
1:03
talking about is security arrangements
1:05
crime and the extent to which they
1:08
monitor us as guests the princess
1:10
medallion the wearable device that you
1:13
use to open your cabin door order food
1:16
and do other tasks also monitors where
1:19
we are all around the ship
1:21
based on the string of comments i got on
1:24
my channel this gets many passengers in
1:27
a total tizzy and really uptight about
1:29
that idea that the lion can track and
1:32
monitor where they are they wouldn't use
1:34
it because it's outrageous the cruise
1:35
ships are tracking them however
1:38
cruise ships are tracking us and have
1:40
been tracking us all the time and this
1:42
only goes to prove how little we as
1:44
passengers know what's actually
1:46
happening onboard a ship all over the
1:48
ship is cctv
1:50
the only place there's no cctv is in
1:53
your cabin and in private areas like
1:55
public restrooms it has really
1:57
sophisticated face recognition built in
2:00
using the photo when you check in have
2:03
you ever wondered for example how they
2:05
know which photographs are yours if you
2:07
go to the photo center and use one of
2:09
the monitors you'll find all the
2:11
photographs with you in it show up it's
2:13
because they're using that face
2:15
recognition software another use has
2:18
been contact tracing
2:20
so when there's covered issues on a ship
2:22
i've heard how lines like royal
2:24
caribbean for example have used it to
2:26
identify who is in close contact with
2:29
anybody that tested positive it also
2:32
helps them identify who's involved if
2:33
there's an issue crime or some kind of
2:36
incident in addition to agreeing to be
2:38
tracked like this
2:39
there are other things we've agreed to
2:41
for security for example we agree via
2:44
the cruise contract that our baggage
2:47
our person and our cabin can be searched
2:50
and also that we can be confined either
2:52
in our cabin or even in the brig that's
2:54
the prison on board if the captain
2:56
decides we should be also we agree that
2:59
they can disembark us if they decide
3:01
we've done anything that affects
3:03
security or are suspected of a crime
3:05
again
3:06
at the decision of the captain of the
3:08
ship now i've actually seen that happen
3:10
for example two dancers were thrown off
3:13
the ship when i was on some legs of a
3:15
cunard world cruise who'd been caught
3:17
shoplifting on land you may also have
3:19
seen the australian family that were
3:21
thrown off a carnival ship for causing
3:23
trouble and fights a couple of years ago
3:26
while we may understand why lions are a
3:28
little bit coy about talking about the
3:30
levels and how security works one thing
3:32
they definitely don't want to talk about
3:34
in detail is the level of crime
3:37
on a cruise ship there's no central
3:40
global database of crime on cruise ships
3:42
however we do have a sense of the scale
3:45
of crime that happens
3:47
and it's not coming from the cruise
3:48
lines directly since 2010 ships that
3:51
travel in and out of u.s ports have to
3:53
report any serious crime to the fbi
3:56
and the us department of transport then
3:58
produces a quarterly report of all of
4:02
the crime that's happened on ships that
4:05
are within u.s waters crimes like
4:08
assault sexual assault thefts of over
4:10
ten thousand dollars homicides and so on
4:13
serious crimes
4:14
looking at those reports there's usually
4:15
between 20 to 40 crimes reported per
4:19
quarter and the majority of those are
4:21
actually for sexual assault some are
4:24
crew on crew some are passenger and
4:25
passenger and so on now bear in mind
4:28
that globally 29 million people a year
4:31
cruise and the us is the biggest area
4:34
and numbers for cruising by far so it
4:36
appears the overall level of crime is
4:39
quite low and possibly the cctv and the
4:41
tracking helps keep a lid on some of
4:44
that crime however it is hard to know
4:47
globally how much crime takes place on
4:49
board cruise ships because the cruise
4:51
lines
4:52
are not public about it and they're
4:53
definitely not ready to talk about it so
4:55
it fuels doubts and fears and concerns
4:58
that it is higher and it is
5:00
under-reported
5:02
crime overall from the data and
5:03
anecdotally does appear though to be low
5:07
but i think it's a real pity that the
5:08
cruise lines aren't more upfront on this
5:11
particular issue though many of you may
5:13
know this as you found out the hard way
5:16
i do see first time cruisers get caught
5:18
out by this one as the lions do not draw
5:20
attention to or make it clear
5:23
and that is that they've built in the
5:25
right to change itineraries before a
5:27
cruise sales
5:29
during a sailing and to drop ports
5:31
without having to offer compensation or
5:34
even often allow you to cancel unless
5:37
they define it as a significant change i
5:40
get contacted often by passengers really
5:42
upset that a key port that they're
5:44
booked to cruise for is dropped or could
5:47
not be called on of course this can be
5:49
completely out of the control of the
5:50
cruise line like for example when i went
5:52
on around the uk trip on windstar and we
5:54
couldn't make it into three of the ports
5:57
due to bad weather it's not something
5:59
that the lions like to talk about or
6:01
make that clear and i think they
6:03
probably should be a little bit more
6:04
upfront particularly for first time
6:06
cruisers i need to talk about one of the
6:08
most contentious areas in cruising by
6:11
far so not surprising the lions do not
6:14
like to talk about this one and this is
6:16
what happens to auto gratuities many
6:19
cruise lines if they don't include
6:21
gratuities in the fair add auto
6:23
gratuities on board now they tell us
6:25
that it gets shared between the crew
6:27
both those that we come in contact with
6:29
and those behind the scenes
6:31
but they don't talk about or publish or
6:34
share who exactly gets it nor the
6:36
amounts collected
6:38
and shared
6:40
making it actually impossible to know
6:42
what really happens with these
6:43
gratuities they just say it all goes to
6:46
the crew now i've spoken to crew on
6:48
various crew sites on board and they
6:51
tell me that they don't believe that
6:53
they get all the gratuities other say
6:56
that they do it's impossible however to
6:57
know because the cruise lines will not
7:00
give any specific data and don't like to
7:02
talk about it this leads of course many
7:05
to believe gratuities are just used
7:07
actually just to bolster the wages for
7:08
the crew enabling the cruise lines to
7:10
pay less rather than increasing wages
7:13
above an already good decent wage paid
7:16
so the graduates become a plus
7:18
something the lions are not keen to talk
7:20
about in detail
7:22
so this adds to the belief that there's
7:24
a real big issue here another area which
7:27
cruise lines definitely don't have much
7:29
transparency or
7:31
make crystal clear is around some of the
7:33
relationships that they have and the
7:35
deals that they're getting
7:37
now some functions on the ship are
7:39
contracted out
7:40
and in the cruise contract the line will
7:42
say that they will not accept liability
7:44
for those contractors activities it's
7:47
not always clear or easy to tell which
7:50
things on a ship are contracted out the
7:52
most common of these though tend to be
7:54
the spa and fitness
7:55
the photography center the shops and
7:58
even on some cruise lines the medical
8:00
center
8:02
you've probably been on cruises with
8:04
shopping advisors on board who give
8:05
talks hand out shopping maps coupons and
8:08
provide kind of personal shopping in the
8:10
ports it's not made clear and openly
8:14
spoken about that the shops themselves
8:16
have to pay to be recommended
8:19
nor do the lions talk much about
8:21
what the lines then receive in fees
8:24
to be in the program and the level of
8:26
commissions they also get from sales by
8:29
directing passengers there studies by
8:31
reporters including one i saw recently
8:33
on huffington post calculated that the
8:35
fees are in the hundreds of thousands of
8:37
dollars and then there's commissions on
8:39
top of that
8:40
the lions have also started to buy up
8:42
popular attractions for example carnival
8:44
corporation bought the very popular
8:46
skagway yukon and white pass railway
8:49
some like princess and holo america they
8:50
own trains buses and lodges that are
8:53
used in pre and post-cruise trips in
8:55
alaska this kind of integration and
8:58
directing of passengers to company-owned
9:01
places or relationships that they
9:04
receive incentives from is not something
9:06
that i've certainly seen cruise lines
9:08
talking openly about and it's actually
9:11
played down in some areas by the cruise
9:13
lines again leading to some concerns by
9:15
passengers that there's
9:17
more to it than meets the eye maybe it's
9:19
not surprising that lions aren't
9:21
particularly upfront about this next one
9:23
but whenever i've been on behind the
9:25
scene tours which includes the medical
9:26
center this gets asked about and
9:29
passengers definitely want to know and
9:30
they want the cruise lines to talk about
9:31
it more cruise lines are surprisingly
9:34
less keen to talk about it and this is
9:36
around how many people actually go
9:38
missing or die on a cruise ship now the
9:40
data shows that between 19 to 25 people
9:44
every year go overboard or go missing on
9:46
a cruise ship that's 19 to 25 out of 29
9:50
million passengers that cruise every
9:52
year and there's about 300 000 crew on
9:54
ships around the world anytime sadly
9:57
those that do go overboard unfortunately
10:00
have chosen to
10:01
do that rather than have accidentally
10:03
fallen off the ship separate to that
10:05
data suggests around 200 people a year
10:07
die on board a cruise ship and it's
10:10
almost entirely of natural causes and
10:12
mostly elderly passengers such as the
10:14
famous broadcaster david frost who had a
10:16
heart attack when he was on a speaking
10:18
engagement on cunard's queen elizabeth
10:20
ship
10:21
although the lions are reluctant to
10:23
discuss this as i guess it sounds pretty
10:25
ghoulish and i guess they fear it has
10:27
the wrong connotations ships actually do
10:29
have a morgue on board and are required
10:32
under the various maritime laws to carry
10:34
body bags it's kind of just sensible
10:37
don't believe any of those kind of crazy
10:39
stories going around that ships empty
10:41
out the ice cream store whatever to
10:43
store a body if someone unfortunately
10:44
dies on board if you ever hear
10:47
operation rising star over the public
10:50
address system that indicates being a
10:52
death onboard and triggers various
10:53
protocols what is and is not put in the
10:56
ocean by ships is something that cruise
10:57
lines don't talk about as much as they
11:00
should in my view partly as i suspect if
11:02
they did it would cause even more debate
11:04
and more issues for them but let's take
11:06
a look at what does and doesn't go into
11:09
the ocean from cruise ships food waste
11:11
it does after it's been ground down into
11:13
kind of a liquid form and if the ship is
11:15
out in international water that
11:17
effectively is can be released and
11:19
becomes food for the fishes gray water
11:22
which is what comes from your basin and
11:24
your shower and other places
11:26
like say where dishes are washed that
11:29
also goes through a treatment process
11:30
and is allowed to be put into the ocean
11:32
once it's been through that process
11:34
black water or as we call it sewage is a
11:38
much more complicated situation the
11:41
malpole 4 convention covering all crews
11:43
and freight ships allows raw sewerage to
11:46
be released into the ocean when a ship
11:49
is over 12 miles from land and cruising
11:51
at 4 knots between 3 and 12 miles only
11:53
treated sewerage can be released and
11:56
under that no
11:58
sewage can be released
12:00
into the ocean at all so cruise ships
12:02
could release untreated sewerage into
12:04
the ocean
12:06
now bear in mind there's something like
12:07
300 cruise ships sailing at any point in
12:10
time some of them are extremely large as
12:12
we know carrying many thousands of
12:14
passengers and crew that's a lot of
12:16
sewage that could be going into the
12:18
ocean however
12:20
the lines have all agreed through clear
12:22
that's the global cruise line
12:24
association that they will not follow
12:27
that protocol and they've all agreed
12:29
they will only release sewage into the
12:31
ocean once it's been through a detailed
12:34
four-stage treatment which is to make
12:37
the basic the
12:39
waste and the water
12:40
safe and compatible to be released so
12:42
that's what they do
12:44
glass plastics
12:46
paper tin that's all sorted and it's
12:49
prepared for sale to recycling companies
12:51
and it's then disembarked in ports now
12:53
some cruise ships actually incinerate
12:55
some of the rubbish but again they're
12:58
not allowed to put the ash from that
13:00
that's generated for that incineration
13:02
into the ocean it's only allowed to be
13:04
taken off in port ingredients like
13:06
chemicals that are used for example for
13:08
processing photographs or oils from
13:11
cooking
13:12
those types of ingredients again have to
13:14
be stored and are only allowed to be
13:17
disembarked in port they cannot be put
13:19
into the ocean
13:20
cruise lines are starting to talk more
13:22
about what they're doing on the carbon
13:24
footprint front such as launching ships
13:27
that use lng liquefied natural gas
13:29
hybrid ships the ability to plug ships
13:32
into electrical power and ports kind of
13:34
cutting missions when they're in port
13:37
but there's still a long way to go in
13:39
this area and so while the lions talk
13:41
about it a bit
13:43
it's not that much in reality because i
13:45
suspect
13:46
it will just create more and more issues
13:48
but i think cruise lines are going to
13:50
have to start talking about the solar
13:51
area much more than they do currently
13:54
there's a couple of other surprising
13:56
things the lions don't talk about and do
13:58
not draw our attention to in the cruise
14:01
contract that i do want to highlight as
14:03
i've seen some of them causing some
14:06
problems first of all
14:08
cancellation policies
14:10
now those are in the really small print
14:13
but they're really really strict
14:15
after 90 days before your cruise after
14:17
final payment you could lose pretty much
14:20
all of your money if you have to cancel
14:22
it's a really tough policy secondly some
14:25
of the lines say that they can take
14:27
photographs and video images of you and
14:29
they could even use them in marketing or
14:30
advertising material without paying you
14:33
a penny a cent to use it but at the same
14:35
time
14:36
some will say that they will can stop or
14:38
restrict you taking photographs or
14:40
videos on the ships and i actually know
14:42
some vloggers that have been stopped
14:44
filming on a couple of cruise lines some
14:47
even say in their contract that they can
14:49
require you to take down any images that
14:52
you've posted on social media or blogs
14:54
or somewhere else if you want to know
14:56
about some things that appear to make no
14:58
sense on a cruise ship like this why not
15:00
watch this video where i start with
15:02
something that baffled me totally
15:05
see you over there
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