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Too Many First-Time Cruisers Still Get This Wrong
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Jan 28, 2025
When I started cruising, I made many mistakes and on every cruise I go on I see first-time cruisers still making those very same mistakes I did on their first cruising vacation. This list of the 7 most important things every first-time cruise passenger must know and what to do should help! ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 85 cruises I have done to date. BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore 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 FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA ———————————————
View Video Transcript
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when i started cruising i made loads of
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mistakes and it saddens me that when i
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go cruising today i still meet so many
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first-time cruisers making those same
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mistakes that i did that's why i've
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pulled together these seven things that
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anyone think of going on their first
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cruise needs to know to have a fantastic
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first cruise so welcome aboard i'm gary
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bembridge and it's my goal to make it
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fun and easy to discover plan and enjoy
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unforgettable cruise vacations
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i made the mistake of charging off on my
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very first cruise without thinking
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carefully about the right place to go to
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first now luckily i actually stumbled
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into going on a cruise that was right
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unlike people i met on my next cruise
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which was a crossing on queen elizabeth
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2 where they realized the first day into
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a seven day all-sea day trip that they
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found sea days boring and tedious now
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from my experience and talking to happy
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first-time cruises i recommend all
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first-timers stick to one of the three
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most popular cruising regions the
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caribbean the mediterranean and alaska
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they are popular for a reason not only
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do they call on great places but these
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regions and ports are well proven and
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geared up for cruising and the needs of
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cruise passengers including first-timers
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there'll also be a wide range of
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excursions that the lions and the ports
1:23
have found over time are what cruisers
1:25
want to do and enjoy and because these
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regions are so popular all the cruise
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lines are there which means you will
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have lots of choice which
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as i will explain next is very important
1:37
choosing the right cruise line is
1:40
critical get on the right cruise line
1:42
and you'll love it get on the wrong
1:44
cruise line and you'll hate your first
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cruise now my first cruise was on pino
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cruises a line i found too british and
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was like staying at home for a vacation
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i actually wanted to meet much more
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diverse nationalities and experience
1:59
something much more exotic than
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something i was pretty used to and
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familiar with
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i've been on many many cruises where
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people are miserable as they are on the
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wrong line which are just completely
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wrong for them so for example
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a family that loved to party booked
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themselves on a cunard trip that i was
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on out of sydney
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cunard is very formal it's heavy on
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enrichment talks it's not big on
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partying
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i had met another couple on their first
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cruise who didn't want to be with
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families and kids but they actually
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booked themselves on a royal caribbean
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cruise which is often packed full of
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families
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it can be complicated choosing the right
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cruise line as there are just so many
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cruise lines and each one is very
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carefully designed to cater for someone
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different now broadly speaking there are
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four key categories of cruise lines
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the biggest category certainly in terms
2:53
of passengers carried are the mass
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cruise lines which are very resort-like
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these are cruise lines like carnival raw
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caribbean norwegian cruise line and the
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more recent and fast growing msc cruises
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now these tend to be very large ships
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which are actually getting larger and
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larger expect many ships in this
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category to be mega ships carrying over
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3500 passengers or even more they have a
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huge range of cabins ranging from very
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inexpensive inside cabins they could
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cost you under 100 a night out of season
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through to massive and costly suites
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which could cost you eighty thousand
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dollars for a week
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but importantly these lines have lots of
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facilities and lots of choice you'll
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find many entertainment venues big
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production shows on some ships you'll
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even find go-karts and ice skating rinks
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you'll also find a myriad of different
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themed restaurants and bars it's very
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very resort-like and are therefore
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popular with families young couples and
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people that love active busy and
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high-energy resort-like vacations so if
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that's something that appeals to you
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these are the cruise lines you should
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gravitate towards
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the next category of cruise lines is
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what is generally known as premium
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cruise lines these tend to be mid-sized
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to large ships ranging from maybe just
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under 2000 to about 3400 passengers
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this category includes lines like
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princess holland america celebrity
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virgin voyages disney cruise line and
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cunard cruise line
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these lines also offer cabins ranging
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from inside to suites they tend to have
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a more classical cruise experience and
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don't usually have all of those big
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resort features
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they still have a wide choice of
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facilities like number of different
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specialty restaurants lots of bars but
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much much fewer than you'll find on the
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big resort ships these lines
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are more sedate than the resort-like
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ships and the entertainment and
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activities will be geared more to things
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like quizzes talks bingo cooking
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displays movies smaller scale production
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shows but we'll still of course have
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pool parties and other kind of events
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like that
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the next category which is very similar
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in cruise experience to those premium
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lines but just on a much smaller scale
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is the small cruise lines category which
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probably a little bit more luxury than
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the premium lines just because of their
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size so these include lines like oceania
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viking azamara saga cruises and windstar
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they carry between 600 and say 1 200
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passengers this is probably my favorite
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category of all to be honest they of
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course have less choice because they're
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smaller
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they have a traditional cruise
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experience
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and many will still offer though inside
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through to sweet kind of cabin choice
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then there is the ultra luxury or the
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six star category as it's sometimes
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known these are mostly all sweet ships
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often with only 600 or fewer guests they
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have a lot of things included in their
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fares they have a very high passenger to
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crew ratio so very very high on the
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service level and this category includes
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lines like seabourn
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silver sea
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region seven seas the new ritz carlton
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yacht
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panant and hapagloid the european lines
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are also in this category rarely so as
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you can see there is a lot of choice but
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how do you choose which of all of those
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is right for you write a list of what's
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important to you on a vacation so for
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example my partner likes big production
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shows a big casino with lots of gaming
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options a big gym with lots of fitness
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classes to do
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you perhaps want a relaxed dress code
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you want to be adult only you want
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ballroom dancing or late night partying
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or so on so basically decide what's
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really important to you and then use
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that
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to find the cruise line that meets that
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list the closest
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if you're doing the caribbean the
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mediterranean or alaska as i suggest
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your chosen line is almost certainly
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going to be cruising in that region
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but you then have an even more key
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decision once you've decided the cruise
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line that you have to make
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people said to me before my first cruise
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don't worry about your cabin you're not
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going to spend a lot of time in there
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you're going to be out
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enjoying the ship
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i wish i had ignored that advice as the
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cabin i had was above the fitness center
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and we were woken up early every single
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morning with a thumping bass noise of
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the classes which then recurred
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throughout the day and even in the early
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evenings we had that thumping noise
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disturbing us
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i learned on that very first cruise that
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if you have a cabin that is noisy
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or in the wrong location it can badly
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affect or even ruin your trip when it
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comes to booking a cruise you'll be
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given two
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options
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cruise lines will offer you a guaranteed
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fare and this means that you choose a
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specific category inside
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ocean view
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balcony or a suite but you don't get to
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choose a specific cabin they will
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allocate one to you
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you have another option
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where you get to choose your specific
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cabin some cruise lines charge a slight
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premium for that others don't
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i always go with choosing
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my own cabin fare and there's a simple
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rule once you do that that you should
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follow choose a cabin which is
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surrounded by other cabins on all sides
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the left the right above below and also
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opposite you this is going to mean that
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you're less likely to be near a noisy or
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a busy venue or in a high traffic area
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that's likely to cause any kind of
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disturbance
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other than making an error on choosing a
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cabin there is another area that trips
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up many first-time cruises including me
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budgeting
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on my first cruise i was totally shocked
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to find that i spent over half of what
9:13
we paid for the cruise
9:16
once we were on board again
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there were so many extras and so many
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costs we had not thought about or
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budgeted property for when it comes to
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cruising do not focus only on the fare
9:28
that you see advertised focus on the
9:30
concept of door
9:32
to door
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many studies have confirmed by the way
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what i found on that first cruise is
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that cruise passengers will spend
9:38
between
9:39
half and a hundred percent of the fare
9:41
that they've paid once they get on board
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every single cruise line has different
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inclusions and exclusions within their
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fare which makes them more complicated
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and also
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what they do have included an excluded
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keeps changing
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now generally speaking the mass market
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lines have lots of exclusions
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so of course you'll have your meals
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included and the basic entertainment
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included
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but you'll then find there will be lots
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of added items now the key things to
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watch out for and to focus on are
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obviously getting to and from the ship
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but then gratuities
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wi-fi
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drinks
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excursions and speciality dining of
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course you need to think about things
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like the spa or the laundry or the
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casino or or shopping or whatever
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the premium and the small ship lines so
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that's like princess oceania and so on
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they tend to have many extra costs on
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board as well although some of those are
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moving to more all-inclusive fares so
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that's something to look out for if you
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go ultra luxury you're going to find
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that many of those things that i've
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mentioned are already included so when
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looking at your cruise don't just focus
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on the fare and go for the lowest fare
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understand what you're going to have to
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pay
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for
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extra
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i have two other tips though around
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budgeting
11:00
that i think you should think about when
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booking that very first cruise the best
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times to book a cruiser either when
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cruisers first go on sale as this is
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actually when cruise lines tend to have
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fantastic deals and offers because they
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want to sell them early on and the next
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period is within 90 days of a cruise
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departing final balances generally have
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to be paid 90 days before a cruise
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departs so the cruise line at that point
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knows how much capacity they've got left
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and they then work really hard to
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discard and get every single cabin
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filled because cruise lines want to sell
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full because they make all that money
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once we're on board now the other tip
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i've got around budgeting is always
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track your fare because if your fare
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goes down you can go back to the cruise
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line and ask them to reduce that fare
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the cruise lines generally won't come to
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you and tell you that the fare has gone
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down
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i had an email just today as i was
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preparing this from someone on the
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channel who told me that they had got
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800
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off their cruise fare by tracking the
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fare following this advice now they
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attracted on a site called cruise watch
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but there are other sites you can track
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fares pretty easily like on cruise
12:11
critic for example they then called the
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cruise line which was actually norwegian
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cruise line and got eight hundred
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dollars taken off their fare so really
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really key budgeting tip now i mentioned
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excursions is one of the big add-on
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costs so is there any way to cut back
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here
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perhaps
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but with one big watch out which i
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really do need to explain
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on my first cruise as i had lots of
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travel experience i thought i would do
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my own thing in the ports rather than
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book cruise line excursions
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so in our very first port which was
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actually barcelona i headed off and
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started exploring
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but i actually found it all a bit
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stressful because i kept worrying about
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going too far away from the port in case
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i got lost and not having enough time to
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get back to the ship in time for
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departing so i never quite relaxed and
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enjoyed the port and limited what i
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actually ended up doing in barcelona
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which is crazy
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when it comes to excursions for a
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first-time cruise i strongly recommend
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that you stick with as much as possible
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the cruise line excursions certainly for
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that very first cruise that you're doing
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i actually did that for the rest of the
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ports that i did on my first cruise it
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was much more relaxing and i really
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enjoyed all of the ports i did after
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that barcelona one the reason for doing
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cruise line excursions is partly because
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cruise lines have a range always of very
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well proven excursions for each port
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that they've got proven over time but
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much more importantly they guarantee
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that the ship will wait past any
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scheduled departure time if any of their
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excursions are delayed for any reason
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but people who've gone on independent
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tours or perhaps self-explored as we had
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in barcelona they will not wait for you
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if you are late the ship will leave
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without you so as a first time cruiser
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going on a cruise line excursion is a
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great idea because it just gives you
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that sense of reassurance
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now of course as you build up experience
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as you learn how to understand how
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things work then start looking at doing
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your own thing so for your next cruise
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you can then be a little bit more
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adventurous but if you really really
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don't want to go on a cruise line
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excursion
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i recommend using one of the either
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explore on your own transfers into the
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closest town because that counts as an
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excursion it costs very little and they
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will wait for those on your own tours to
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come back or use the hop on hop or fuss
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if one calls into the port now many
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cruise ports have these buses they
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synchronize the timetables with the ship
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schedule and you can normally make sure
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that you know the timing to get back in
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time before the ship departs
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one big watch out for a first-time
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cruiser
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is that we are agreeing lots of things
15:00
that we may not realize the significance
15:03
of when you book a cruise let me explain
15:05
i really realized this when on our first
15:07
cruise one of the ports of core was
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monte carlo it was cancelled on the
15:11
morning
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because the weather made docking or even
15:14
mooring outside and tendering of the
15:16
ship to land just impossible or too
15:18
risky so we just had a sea day there was
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no compensation offered or any other
15:23
gesture was made the cruise contract
15:26
that we agreed to simply by booking a
15:28
cruise line has many many conditions for
15:30
example as i learned we must accept and
15:33
we agree that the line can change the
15:35
itinerary or the portal core basically
15:37
at will
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and we have to accept it without the
15:41
right to compensation or often even the
15:43
ability to cancel a cruise even if a
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port that we really wanted to go to and
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book the trip for is dropped off the
15:50
itinerary
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they also usually have really strict
15:54
cancellation terms which even won't
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allow you to change the name of the
15:57
person you're cruising with so if
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someone drops out and you want to bring
16:00
someone else they count that as a full
16:01
cancellation you need to check that you
16:04
need to take time to understand what
16:06
you're agreeing to
16:07
and look carefully at the terms and
16:09
conditions this
16:11
in my view has become even more
16:13
important because as we saw as cruising
16:16
resumed after the shutdown
16:18
we probably want much more flexibility
16:20
the ability to change or cancel if the
16:22
protocols that the cruise lines are
16:23
putting in place on board change and are
16:26
not to our liking you know sudden or
16:28
constant changes to vaccination rules
16:30
testing masks or whatever and as we move
16:33
forward how that evolves and what the
16:35
protocol is going to be for cruising for
16:37
the here moving forward so we don't
16:39
really know so ask and be clear what
16:42
your options are if you want to change
16:45
or cancel your cruise really understand
16:46
that really really important to find out
16:49
more in-depth tips on each of these
16:51
areas i put together this short playlist
16:53
of five videos starting with how to
16:55
overcome the biggest challenge that
16:57
you'll face when it comes to choosing
16:59
and booking that very first cruise see
17:01
you over there
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