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Discover the things that smart and experienced cruise travellers have found works best to make for a stress-free, smooth and successful embarkation day. What you should do before, on the day, as soon as you are on board and on that first night to get the most of your first day boarding a cruise.
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0:00
after a particularly bad embarkation day
0:02
on a cruise a while ago i decided it was
0:04
time to sit back and think about how to
0:07
make an invocation day successful and
0:10
stress-free i spoke to a bunch of
0:12
experienced and smart cruisers i admire
0:14
to check my approach was right
0:16
i then tested out on a series of recent
0:19
cruises and i'm sure i now have come up
0:22
with the definitive way on how you can
0:24
make a massive difference to your
0:27
embarkation day setting you up for an
0:29
incredible cruise
0:31
by the way if you're new here i'm gary
0:33
bembridge and it's my goal to make it
0:36
fun and easy to discover plan and enjoy
0:39
unforgettable cruise vacations including
0:41
on how to ensure you have a totally
0:43
phenomenal embarkation day
0:51
i realized as i thought things through
0:53
that the reason that embarkation day did
0:55
not go well had all been created
0:58
by me
0:59
it's all about preparation it's not sexy
1:02
it doesn't sound fun but it absolutely
1:05
makes all the difference to embarkation
1:08
day
1:08
there are seven
1:10
key things i do before embarkation day
1:12
that made for a successful day moving
1:16
forwards first of all when booking a
1:18
cruise i schedule and budget to arrive
1:20
at least the day before and longer if
1:23
it's long haul
1:24
this has paid off frequently for me for
1:27
example on my recent oceana panama canal
1:30
cruise that i'm was recording this just
1:32
after there was a storm passing through
1:34
europe and my flight was cancelled was
1:36
just 10 hours to go before the flight as
1:40
i built in plenty of time to get there
1:42
there was time to find new flights new
1:45
routings and i still arrived the day
1:47
before boarding immediately much later
1:49
than i had planned
1:51
secondly and this is even more important
1:53
post shutdown is i book as early a time
1:56
to check in at the port as is possible
2:00
now before the whole covet shutdown most
2:03
smart cruisers just got to the port as
2:06
early as they could as the check-in and
2:08
the boarding was on a first-come
2:10
first-served basis now you either book a
2:13
time to check in or you're allocated a
2:15
time if you don't lines usually turn you
2:17
away if you arrive before your allocated
2:21
time as soon as the system allows
2:24
i go in and i book my time i've been
2:26
able to get check-in times and be on
2:28
board ships as early as 11 o'clock in
2:30
the morning giving me lots of time to
2:33
max out embarkation day thirdly i
2:35
download the cruise line app at home
2:38
while i have good wi-fi these apps have
2:40
become fundamental to cruises these days
2:44
often i have to use the app to check in
2:46
and do things like complete the
2:47
pre-boarding health checks and stuff
2:50
like that
2:51
fourthly and this is also much more
2:53
important today than ever before is well
2:55
before invocation day i go and check in
2:58
detail exactly what i'm gonna need to
3:01
have to have with me for check-in and i
3:03
make sure now that i have digital
3:05
and paper copies of all of those
3:06
documents the mistake i made a couple of
3:09
cruises ago is that all of the documents
3:11
i needed so i was well sorted but in
3:13
this case i needed things like proof of
3:15
vaccine test results country passenger
3:17
locator forms and the check-in qr code
3:22
i had them all digitally but the cruise
3:24
terminal wi-fi was terrible and they
3:27
were really hard and took ages to try
3:29
and retrieve and all became a bit
3:30
stressful so now what i do is i have
3:32
paper copies but i also put all of those
3:34
digital files in a folder that i set to
3:37
work offline now i use dropbox where you
3:39
can set it to make certain folders
3:41
offline but you can use google or even
3:43
just the file section on your phone
3:45
which you don't need to have wi-fi to
3:46
access
3:48
fifthly i pre-book everything i possibly
3:51
can drinks wi-fi especially dining
3:54
excursions the spa and whatever else
3:57
they're normally cheaper booking them in
3:59
advance and also importantly i get
4:01
exactly what i want when i want and then
4:03
it frees up time on embarkation day to
4:06
do some other really important things
4:08
that i'm going to discuss a little bit
4:09
later
4:10
next when it comes to packing there's a
4:12
couple of preparations that i have found
4:14
makes embarkation day much easier and
4:18
less stressful first of all i pack a
4:20
carry-on bag and when deciding what goes
4:22
in there i ask what do i absolutely need
4:25
or would hate to lose if i don't get my
4:29
main check-in bag for me it's medication
4:33
passport credit cards and money of
4:36
course cameras phone and the charges for
4:38
those
4:39
i could wing the rest of my cruise with
4:41
just those items because i can buy
4:43
clothes and buy toiletries and stuff
4:45
like that by the way i use the same rule
4:47
when actually flying to the cruise in
4:48
case that bag goes missing the other
4:51
packing rule to make embarkation day
4:52
smooth is i make sure that i'm not
4:55
including in my bags anything that that
4:57
particular line does not allow me to
5:00
take
5:01
now i've got a whole video around what
5:02
you can and can't bring on a board of
5:04
ship however it actually is two really
5:07
simple things where i see most people
5:09
falling foul they pack extension cords
5:12
which most lines do not allow anymore
5:14
and they pack more alcohol than they're
5:16
allowed to bring on
5:18
for me by the way it's around checking
5:19
if i can bring my drone or not because
5:21
many lines won't permit them anymore if
5:24
you've got prohibited items
5:26
picked up in your luggage when it's
5:28
screened going on board you're going to
5:30
be called to security and it's going to
5:31
disrupt and put a bit of a damp
5:34
on your embarkation day with all this
5:36
preparation in place getting on board is
5:38
now smooth and it's stress free
5:42
but then once i'm bored is where i still
5:45
see so many people slipping up i used to
5:47
slip up so what should you do once you
5:50
get on board
5:55
early on in my cruising life i would
5:57
rush around the ship with great
5:58
excitement until i discovered that i was
6:01
missing out on putting things in place
6:03
and setting up the rest of my cruise
6:07
perfectly
6:08
this is actually what i find works best
6:11
and in this order surprisingly
6:13
first i go to my cabin immediately to
6:16
check everything and do a few key tasks
6:19
now if i booked a guaranteed cabin of
6:21
course i checked that i'm okay with the
6:23
location is it all okay if i've got a
6:26
balcony i go out there and check if
6:27
there's anything that's like to cause
6:29
disruptions like obstructed views or
6:33
noisy areas
6:34
i make sure that the beds are exactly in
6:36
the right layout i also check that
6:38
everything works the lights the safe and
6:41
the air conditioning
6:43
then i see if the cabin is set up for my
6:45
quirks now for me i check the pillows
6:48
because i like feather pillows and i
6:50
also check what's in the mini bar if
6:52
that's included in the fair or the deal
6:55
only drink alcohol free drinks caffeine
6:58
free drinks and no sugar drinks so now i
7:01
know what i'm going to ask to be
7:03
adjusted fetched fixed or changed
7:06
and that's important for when i see my
7:07
cabin student or understanding if i need
7:10
to go to guest services so the next
7:12
thing obviously based on that is to meet
7:14
the cabin student they normally will be
7:15
around and come pretty quickly when they
7:17
know you're there i then ask them to
7:19
correct any of those things before they
7:20
get busy and swamped with all the other
7:23
guests now if i'm unhappy with the cabin
7:26
it also means that i can actually get to
7:28
guest services really early on before
7:30
the inevitable long embarkation day
7:32
lines build i've also at this stage put
7:35
all my valuables in the safe i also take
7:38
photos and video clips of the cabin
7:40
while it's at its neatest and it's
7:43
tidiest that it's ever going to be
7:45
i quickly check the daily program to see
7:46
what restaurants are open for lunch and
7:49
that's important because i avoid the
7:51
buffet for embarkation lunch first of
7:53
all because it's the busiest venue and
7:55
secondly because as you're going to see
7:58
i can get done some other things that
7:59
are essential to do on this day and i
8:01
can do those in either the main dining
8:03
room or one of the specialty restaurants
8:05
and i can't do them in the buffet
8:07
now before leaving the cabin
8:10
i watched the e-master video on the
8:11
television and then go to my master
8:13
station
8:15
very very few lines now do the
8:17
old-fashioned set time group master
8:20
drill for most of those you just have to
8:21
watch a video go and report in
8:24
to your station so i get all of this
8:27
over and done with i go and do that and
8:29
then i head off to the restaurant for
8:31
lunch now over lunch there's some
8:34
important things that you can get out of
8:36
the way and i get out of the way now as
8:38
i mentioned i usually go for lunch in
8:40
the main dining room partly because if
8:42
i'm on fixed dining i can then go and
8:44
look at and check my allocated table if
8:46
i'm unhappy with it i can really early
8:48
on ask the matrid to change it because
8:50
they've still got flexibility before
8:51
everyone else has asked them
8:53
also this doesn't apply to me but if you
8:55
have any dietary issues or concerns you
8:57
can talk to them about these you know
8:59
vegan vegetarian gluten-free whatever
9:02
and they can then agree with you a plan
9:04
or how it's going to be addressed or if
9:06
it's already has been addressed and
9:07
again you're doing that early on
9:09
while at lunch i then put my phone into
9:12
airplane mode to avoid the huge roaming
9:14
costs if the phone connects to the ship
9:16
satellite service when selling you do it
9:18
once i had a bill of over 300
9:21
because i didn't do that years ago so
9:23
now i always do that i also set the time
9:25
zone on my phone manually so i can
9:27
adjust myself the time and stay on
9:30
official ship time so i make sure that i
9:32
do that and don't let the phone set time
9:34
itself i log on to the ship wi-fi open
9:37
the app so i can access things like the
9:39
daily program i complete any dining
9:42
excursion or spa bookings that i didn't
9:43
do before
9:45
but another reason for going to the main
9:47
dining room talking about that is if
9:48
you've not booked any speciality or
9:50
anytime dining slots or you want to
9:52
change your plans or even you find that
9:54
the app doesn't allow you
9:56
you'll find in the main dining room or
9:57
especially dining restaurants they are
9:59
usually able to access all the venues
10:02
and do all of your dining bookings or if
10:05
not there's normally a desk outside
10:07
those venues or close by which is set up
10:09
to do exactly that so you're in the
10:11
right place by the way one of my big
10:12
tips for embarkation day is i book a
10:14
specialty restaurant for the first night
10:17
because it's normally much cheaper up to
10:18
50 percent less
10:20
and they are much quieter on embarkation
10:22
night now if you've got kids is one
10:24
thing that you should do straight after
10:25
lunch and that's to go and register them
10:27
at the kids club register them plus if
10:29
you want to book any extra services if
10:31
they're available like babysitting you
10:33
should do it now while there's lots of
10:36
bookings open
10:37
now finally with all of that admin out
10:39
the way is when i go and explore the
10:41
ship now i recommend really strongly
10:44
that you use the map that's often in the
10:45
cruise card holder or perhaps the map on
10:48
the app or even go on one of the tours
10:50
that are run by the ship
10:52
and the reason for that is there's some
10:53
structure and importantly it means that
10:55
you won't
10:56
miss the hidden and the hard to find
10:59
spots now i've been on a couple of
11:00
cruises like for example celebrity
11:02
silhouette where i didn't even get to
11:04
see the amazing sky lounge because i
11:07
hadn't used the map properly
11:08
until halfway through the cruise and it
11:10
was a great venue that i had missed out
11:12
on
11:13
when i was on virgin scarlet lady with
11:14
some friends i missed some tucked away
11:17
lounges which they loved and some quiet
11:19
deck spaces that they found where you
11:21
could relax and chill with very few
11:22
people because again i didn't do a
11:24
systematic way of touring i just kind of
11:25
ran around the ship looking at things
11:28
also when i do the tour i ensure that i
11:29
go and look at things that i may want to
11:32
sign up for like the retreat or the
11:33
sanctuary area which have a fee to use
11:36
or perhaps the sparring with the
11:38
bubbling baths and all that kind of
11:39
stuff now all of these things are open
11:41
on embarkation day to explore but after
11:43
that free access is closed so you don't
11:46
really know what they are what they like
11:48
and whether it's worth paying to access
11:50
those things by the way i also take
11:51
photos of the ship now because it's
11:53
usually still pretty quiet and you get
11:54
good pictures as i'm touring the ship i
11:57
keep an eye out for embarkation day
11:59
deals and offers and this is a really
12:01
important one the area i focus on by the
12:03
way is the spa
12:05
they usually have a raffle draw on
12:06
invocation day where they have a whole
12:08
bunch of free treatments that they're
12:10
offering so you must be there for the
12:12
draw so check what time you need to be
12:14
back now twice now i've won that draw
12:16
and i've had fantastic free massages and
12:18
free treatments
12:20
now this whole process may sound a bit
12:22
regimented approach to embarkation day
12:23
once on board but i've really found that
12:26
doing things these ways sets you up
12:28
fantastically for the rest of the cruise
12:31
however
12:32
what do you do to make that first
12:34
evening and the rest of the day really
12:36
great once you've done all that stuff
12:38
and you set sail
12:45
go to the sail away party i love
12:46
celebrate parties because they're
12:48
exciting you feel the trip has really
12:49
begun leaving port looks fantastic and i
12:52
get a sense of the other people on the
12:53
cruise who are my fellow passengers you
12:55
also get to see the entertainment team
12:56
for the very first time but importantly
12:58
i often meet people that will become
13:00
friends or certainly familiar faces
13:02
across the whole cruise it's often where
13:04
i get to meet many people who follow the
13:06
channel they come up and introduce
13:07
themselves and it's great to start
13:09
making some of those kind of connections
13:12
to make the most of my first evening as
13:14
i mentioned i go to the specialty
13:15
restaurant and usually early so that
13:17
i've then got time to check out what
13:19
venues are happening popular and buzzing
13:22
it also means that i've got time to go
13:25
to the introductory show in the theater
13:26
this is a great show because it
13:28
showcases the different entertainments
13:30
what's going to be going on and what to
13:31
expect so i know what things that i
13:33
really am likely to want to make sure
13:35
that i do do and go and see over the
13:37
course of the cruise
13:40
that's how to get embarkation day right
13:42
if you want to know how to get
13:43
disembarkation day right and learn about
13:46
one of the big mistakes that most people
13:49
make take a look at this video where i
13:51
do start with that really big mistake
13:53
see you over there
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