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I Took This Cruiser Back On A Line He HATED First Time!
2K views
Jan 28, 2025
I took my partner (Mark) back on a cruise line he is not a fan of at all based on our Alaska trip 4 years ago, hoping he will like the changes they've made since then so I don't always have to cruise solo on them! Here's how it went - and what I learnt about Holland America and taking cruisers back on lines they've not fans of! GET EXCLUSIVE PERKS LIKE MEMBER-ONLY BONUS VIDEOS BY BECOMING A CHANNEL MEMBER: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Links mentioned in the videos: BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTS ———————————————— * Check out my T-Shirt range at https://tipsfortravellers.myspreadshop.com , http://bit.ly/TFTStore or https://tips-for-travellers.creator-spring.com SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— * Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join * Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ * Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ
View Video Transcript
0:00
I decided to take a risk five years ago
0:03
I took my partner mark on a cruise line
0:05
which she was not a fan of by the end so
0:07
since then I've had to go solo on them
0:09
because I really do like them now as
0:12
they've changed in those five years I
0:14
decided I would try to get mark back on
0:17
board even though he's adamant that he
0:19
would prefer we use his limited vacation
0:21
time to only go on his favorite line
0:24
Cunard when we're cruising together but
0:27
I felt if I could get him to like this
0:28
line it would unlock so many more
0:31
exciting places to go because they have
0:33
way more varied and much more
0:35
interesting itineraries than you get on
0:38
Cunard welcome aboard I'm Gary bembridge
0:40
join me as I explain how it went but
0:43
importantly what I learned about going
0:45
back on a line you weren't impressed
0:47
with the first time round the first
0:50
challenge was convincing Mark to go back
0:53
on the line which is Holland America
0:55
first I found a cruise that was heading
0:58
out of San Diego to Sunny Mexico for
1:01
Christmas so we could Escape cold London
1:03
on the conning stand it's one of their
1:05
new pinnacle-class ships it's bigger and
1:08
with better facilities versus the Vista
1:10
class New Amsterdam he'd been on before
1:13
it's also the class and the template
1:15
that the new Cunard Queen Anne is being
1:18
used to be built so that of course
1:20
peaked his Interest next I pointed out
1:22
that we could get a suite for 30 percent
1:25
less than the one we usually go in
1:27
cunard's Queen Grill and like with
1:29
Queen's Grill we would have a dedicated
1:31
restaurant called Club orange also I
1:34
pushed the entertainment versus Cunard
1:36
like the now expanded music walk area
1:38
with live music rotating every night
1:40
between Rolling Stone Rock Room Lincoln
1:43
Center Stage BB Kings and billboard
1:46
onboard plus they've ditched the
1:49
standard cruised themed song and dance
1:51
review shows that he found really dull
1:53
then and they replacing with the one
1:55
step dance company in a modern high-tech
1:57
World Stage Theater also so importantly
2:01
for him the cell was it had a big busy
2:03
casino and I promised him many blackjack
2:06
tables with low table minimums
2:08
the final cell I guess was the retreat
2:11
an exclusive area with a group of
2:13
Cabanas that we could hire for the
2:14
entire cruise which was way better and
2:17
quieter than the busier and rather
2:19
uninspiring I think anyway Queen's cruel
2:21
decks on Cunard now he loves the food in
2:24
Cunard Queen's Grill he sees it as the
2:26
best at Sea and he had found it not
2:29
great when he we're on that 100 America
2:31
trip but I told him the food is way
2:33
better because they revamped it all I
2:35
found through a culinary Council which
2:38
was led by the chef Rudy soderman I also
2:41
pointed out that we'd have more
2:43
specialty dining options on Cunard we
2:45
just have The Veranda but on the
2:48
pinnacle-class ships on Holland America
2:49
you got Pinnacle Grill Steakhouse
2:51
Tamarind Asian Ami Sushi Rudy saldameer
2:55
seafood and the Italian caneleta all of
2:58
this together clinched it and it was a
3:01
go however the next challenge I faced
3:03
was once he was on board as not
3:05
everything I'd sold him worked out or
3:08
was exactly to his liking but through
3:11
this whole process I hit on a really big
3:13
aha that will help you if you plan on
3:15
going back on or you want someone to go
3:18
back with you onto a line that they
3:19
haven't had a great experience with and
3:21
that is really understanding what makes
3:24
or breaks a cruise for you or for them
3:27
now during this trip I realized more
3:29
than I had perhaps realized before what
3:32
really makes or breaks a cruise for Mark
3:34
and what things just basically needed to
3:37
be good enough
3:38
three things I found really make a
3:40
crucial Mark and I suspect these may be
3:42
for you too first of all the evenings
3:45
are absolutely key for him that means
3:47
good dinner
3:49
great entertainment and a very active
3:51
Casino dinner as I mentioned for him the
3:54
gold standard is Cunard Queen's Grill
3:56
open seated dining the same table for
3:58
breakfast lunch and dinner the same
4:00
waiting staff and being able to if you
4:03
want to order off Menu Club orange
4:04
unfortunately didn't offer any of that
4:07
it had the same menu as the main dining
4:09
room with one little extra it was only
4:11
open for breakfast and dinner we didn't
4:13
have the same waiting stuff but you know
4:14
it's kind of small venue so we got to
4:16
know mostly pretty well even though we
4:18
weren't at the same table for every
4:20
single meal Club orange was a bit of a
4:23
hit and miss as although it was open
4:25
seeded dining which he likes the ship
4:26
was really busy and to guarantee a table
4:28
was available when we arrived we found
4:31
we were starting to time our meals
4:33
around what we thought was availability
4:35
versus what were our ideal times but on
4:38
the plus side we always always got a
4:40
table for two the food on the plus side
4:43
too he agreed was way better than it was
4:45
before so that was good to know it was
4:47
also good enough that he didn't feel the
4:49
need that we should Splash out on
4:51
special edged restaurants we did
4:52
actually go to Italian caneleta and
4:54
Tamarind the Asian because we actually
4:55
had some onboard credits to go to them
4:58
when it came to entertainment while I
5:00
had pushed the strength and the
5:01
difference of how America being the
5:03
music walk venues it was not of interest
5:06
to him once he was on board he didn't
5:07
really go to them at all I loved going
5:10
there every night I think it's great but
5:12
if it's not your thing then the evening
5:13
options I guess if you don't want the
5:15
music are perhaps a little bit more
5:17
limited than I had really estimated he
5:19
enjoyed the One Step Dance Company show
5:21
and the theater well the first one he
5:24
thought it was fresh new and exciting
5:26
however he went to the second show and
5:29
he said it was just too similar just
5:31
with different music and he skipped the
5:32
rest of their shows he probably had a
5:34
point that the evening shows lacked
5:36
variety they were all kind of just
5:37
permutations of the same old thing they
5:40
did have another Honda America staple
5:42
when we were on board BBC planet Earth
5:44
show where the onboard musicians play
5:46
Live to scenes from the show and that
5:48
was not of interest to him at all though
5:51
I could see many passengers absolutely
5:53
loved it the bigger Casino though was a
5:56
big hit he played longer her than he has
5:59
ever played on any of the 30 plus
6:01
cruises that I've been on with them so
6:03
in terms of the evening being make or
6:05
break the dinner entertainment and
6:08
casino was a bit more mixed than I had
6:11
expected it to be
6:12
however the other make or break cruise
6:15
thing for him is ports and put immersion
6:19
this was mixed but it laid down an
6:21
important factor in Holland America's
6:24
favor as you're about to see he
6:27
absolutely loved that we went to Ports
6:29
that neither of us have been to Cabos
6:31
and Lucas Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta
6:34
however one critical thing that was
6:37
missing was Mark and I prefer
6:39
self-exploring but there was not that
6:42
much Port immersion provided on this
6:44
Cruise there was one talk around the
6:46
ports by the Excursion team but that was
6:47
mostly around selling the excursions
6:49
there were no Port guides available in
6:52
paper or on the app and there was no
6:54
transfer bus into the towns when we were
6:57
docked further away Mark doesn't want to
6:59
do research he wants to be given just
7:01
good information on board to be able to
7:03
go and explore now he compared that with
7:05
Cunard who usually have really good put
7:07
immersion talks great Port guides and I
7:10
was kind of surprised that we didn't
7:11
have it on this trip because on most
7:13
Highland America trips that's normally
7:15
the case so this may have been an
7:17
exception I'm going to be watching out
7:18
for that on my next trip which is to
7:19
South America the third key thing that
7:22
makes or breaks his cruise is the
7:24
ability to chill and relax he has a very
7:26
stressful job crazy long hours so on
7:29
vacation he basically wants to unwind
7:32
now on America delivered big time here
7:35
because we had a couple of C days but
7:37
the really critical thing that made it
7:39
for him was the retreat especially
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because the ship was so full for
7:43
Christmas the retreat was a quiet area
7:44
with great service we had Raymond Clyde
7:46
and Annika who fetched breakfast lunch
7:49
drinks and even bought us chocolate
7:51
covered strawberries in the afternoon
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however
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this did come at a cost of a few hundred
7:58
dollars but it was absolutely worth that
8:00
cost
8:01
I also came to realize through this
8:03
whole process that there were things
8:04
that I thought were going to be make or
8:06
break but for Mark just had to be good
8:08
enough to make a cruise for him
8:09
something I think may also be helpful
8:11
for you as you think about taking people
8:13
on cruises as well the biggest of these
8:16
was the cabin I'm obsessed about cabins
8:18
and their location but for Mark why he
8:20
really liked the suite and made the
8:23
point that the Neptune Suite is bigger
8:24
than the ones we usually afford to book
8:26
on Cunard Queen's Grill he didn't see
8:28
that as a big make or break unlike me
8:31
though of course the category going in a
8:34
suite was a big plus factor for him he
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realized though that he didn't miss
8:39
having the buck you get on Q note but he
8:40
did Rave about the Neptune Lounge the
8:42
ability through the day to call in and
8:44
get cake pops cookies coffees but more
8:46
importantly about Vinnie who was the
8:48
concierge in there Vinnie was helpful he
8:51
added to Mark's trip with tips and
8:53
advice and importantly he sorted out the
8:55
retreat booking which had been showing
8:57
his fully booked before the trip that
9:00
alone mehd Vinny ahira but that having
9:03
Vinnie was a big big plus interestingly
9:06
and maybe not a typical it's the other
9:08
thing that he felt only has to be good
9:10
enough on the cruise was the daily
9:13
program now while he felt that the
9:15
Holland America daily program was a
9:17
little light I pointed out the
9:18
comparison with Cunard is always
9:20
difficult because they have one of the
9:22
most packed daily programs of any I have
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ever seen I think it's a hangover from
9:26
their transatlantic experiences the
9:28
program on Honda America was basically
9:30
the same as most premium lines with
9:32
trivia deck games dance classes the odd
9:35
cooking demonstration and so on but the
9:37
reality is Mark never ever does much on
9:40
the program other than enrichment talks
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he really enjoys these and it's hard to
9:46
beat Cunard to have three to four
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speakers on every selling hot in America
9:49
were rarely light on enrichment this
9:52
time there are a few of the standard
9:54
pre-prepared talks they do with audio
9:56
visual effects they're given by the
9:57
cruise director they do these on all of
10:00
the ships they included things like
10:01
color America origin story they used to
10:03
have board games but they're not the
10:05
same as the genuine authentic specialist
10:07
in Richmond lectures he didn't find any
10:09
of these appealing the other thing he
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pointed out there was a lot of promotion
10:13
on board and in the daily program it's
10:15
on America's Credit in the daily program
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they were clearly marked what were
10:19
promotional activities in the program
10:21
but it did some days seem half or more
10:24
of the activities during the day were
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promotions including the inevitable Port
10:28
shopping talk and events to see where he
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felt after all of this I decided to ask
10:33
him at the end of the cruise if he had
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the choice of us booking seven nights on
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Cunard or 10 nights on Holland America
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because that would roughly equate at the
10:42
same cost saying the Mediterranean or
10:44
Caribbean and roughly the same ports
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which would he choose seven Knights
10:49
Cunard 10 nights on home America he
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chose the seven Knights on Cunard but
10:53
agreed that Holland America would be a
10:56
great option if the itinerary was unique
10:58
and Cunard didn't do it like the one we
11:00
did in Mexico so Hunter America is back
11:03
on his list so some success just needs
11:05
to look for those itineraries if you
11:07
find this interesting watch this video
11:09
to find out why in more detail Mark
11:11
likes Q not so much starting with the
11:13
one thing they do that no other line
11:15
does see you over there
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