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Cruise Live Q&A: SATURDAY 12 July 2025 (5pm UK, Noon ET, 9am PT)
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Jul 12, 2025
Join me for my weekly cruise Q&A live. This week it will be on Saturday not Sunday as I will be travelling on Sunday. Cruise Live Q&A: SATURDAY 12 July 2025 (5pm UK, Noon ET, 9am PT). Set reminder and watch at https://youtube.com/live/MVdNpcVPqRU Get any cruise questions answered live! Join me for another of my weekly live cruise question and answer session. During the livestream I will answer cruising questions or discuss any cruising topic or news development that people ask me live. You can watch past episodes of the livestreams too (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4qEAiMOHL4&list=PLs3662YkgOgq_nlVQR9WYJRNKuNyeKu7Z). Get bonus videos and dedicated livestreams by becoming a YouTube Channel Member (click "join" under any video to find out more) or become a Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/TipsForTravellers You can also but my exclusive cruise T-shirts you see me wearing in the livestream and videos at these stores: https://tipsfortravellers.myspreadshop.com + http://bit.ly/TFTStore + https://tips-for-travellers.creator-spring.com #CruiseLive #cruiseQ&A #CruiseLivestream #cruisetips šļø New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! š https://streamyard.com/pal/d/6193336770101248
View Video Transcript
0:23
Heat. Heat.
0:31
Well, hello everybody and welcome to the live stream. It's a brilliantly hot day
0:36
in London. I think it's about 30 something degrees Celsius. What's that? 90 something degrees Fahrenheit. Um, and
0:43
the heat wave has been on for a couple days. Let's keep going on for a couple of days. Of course, I'm heading off uh
0:48
to Europe where it's still kind of hot, not as completely hot as here. Um, and fingers crossed. So, uh, welcome to the
0:55
live stream. In the next 60 minutes, I will try and answer as many of the questions as I possibly can. Uh, a
1:00
couple of housekeeping bits and pieces. Just a reminder, if you are here, uh, write the word question before your
1:06
question. So, in all the chat, I can make sure that I spot the question, uh, and not and not just the chat. So, the
1:14
chat, if you're watching this afterwards, thanks very much for watching it afterwards. Bear in mind, this is not a video as such, but it is a
1:20
playback of the live stream. So, thanks for those of you who join me on a Saturday. I guess it is the Wimbledon uh
1:28
ladies final at the moment. Um, so I know it's going to be a clashing with some of that. So, we will see how many
1:33
people join us today with the change of time and so on. So, let's get started
1:39
with the various questions. A couple of questions actually appeared just before I started the live stream. Um, but
1:45
they've disappeared. So, um, if you did ask a question, um, you know, ask it again if I don't answer it. Uh just
1:52
reminder by the way I'm heading off tomorrow uh which is the reason that I'm doing this today to Amsterdam. I'm actually joining the Avalon Envision for
1:59
a seven night Ryan River cruise on Tuesday and this is the route here. So we head down Cologne Rashim uh mains
2:08
pronounce it Strawburg ends uh in Bishak which I will learn how to present all
2:14
these pronounce all these much better. Um I'm really looking forward to heading back on river cruising. It's been a while
2:20
since I've done a European river cruise since 2019. Um, I've done a Meong and I've done a NA river cruise since then.
2:26
So, I'm really looking forward to getting back to uh that and updating all of my river cruising content. So, let's
2:32
get going. I will give shout outs. So, Advan,
2:39
thanks for the great reports and videos. I'm recently retired and my wife and I would like to make our first luxury cruise from Florida to Los Angeles to
2:46
San Diego. Any recommendations? So, if you're looking to do luxury, um I I'm guessing you're looking at um the small
2:54
ship luxury. So, the the sort of the more premium end as it were. So,
2:59
I just muted myself there. What's happened is they've changed they've changed the um they keep updating
3:06
StreamYard, which is what I use, and they keep changing the layout and they keep moving the buttons for everything and how you can check on certain things.
3:12
So, sorry about muting myself there. Anyway, um so I would take a look. Um Oceanania do a very nice cruise that
3:19
heads through there. Obviously you can look at Regent. They do them. Silver Sea does them. But if you want to get into
3:26
luxury and not as expensive as the ultra luxury, take a look at Oceanania for
3:31
example's a good option. Uh you know they have some very nice ships. Many more ships coming. They just took a
3:37
delivery I think of their most recent ship or they know somebody placed order for two more ships this week. um which
3:44
is the bigger 1,400 passenger size. Um but you'll find I would take a look at Oceanania. They do a very nice uh um
3:52
repositioning or Panama Canal cruise and I've done on Ocean. That's why I'm suggest that. Al or if you want to spend
3:58
a little bit more, look at Regent, they do a very good one as well. Now, if you want to do a sort of more premium but luxury side, obviously you can take a
4:05
look at Celebrity, Holland America, uh Princess for example, they also do those. The thing I would say is try and
4:11
go for the smaller of those ships. So you go through the old canals, the the old canal which is kind of the the
4:17
magical piece. Mary asked me a question which is what is the total people that can board the cruise ship. Now Mary, you
4:23
may be asking that because you think I'm on the the Avalon trip that I'm going I think it's about 150, but obviously um
4:29
the size you can go the number of people on a cruise ship can be everything from you know a couple of hundred up to seven
4:36
six 7,000 or so here which is great. Looking forward to my next cruise. I'm really looking forward to heading back on rivers and also because it looks like
4:42
it's largely going to be sunny and bright and I she needs to update a lot of my footage um because I've often go
4:48
river cruising sort of towards the end of the season and it's a lot of gray stuff or very early in the season. So,
4:55
so I'm looking forward to get some nice particularly at the moment in Europe it's blue skies uh you know so it should
5:00
be pretty good. Chris is here um as usual. Um question I'm doing the same on
5:06
Friday on the Amadante then the lower Danube on the Amverd in October. Very nice. Um I want to do Egypt cardinal 27
5:14
crazy solo prices. What has been your favorite river cruise? Um so um yes solo
5:22
pricing is crazy. It's very hard to find solo deals. Um do keep an eye out on Amma. They they may do some solo deals.
5:28
I went on Amma. Uh although the thing to point out Chris with with most of the cruisers though Viking may be a little
5:35
bit different. Um I think it's a little bit like some of the rules they have like in the US where like part of
5:40
America has to be staffed has to be a ship that's built in the US etc. in Egypt. Certainly, Amma waterways uh that
5:47
I went on was basically uh it was really an Egyptian it was Egyptian uh in every
5:53
respect, the ship, the crew, uh everything um with a little bit of kind
5:59
of ammo weaved in, but it was very much um Egyptian. So, I I I think Viking may
6:05
be a little bit different, but I think, you know, so wherever you go, bear in mind, even if you go with a named name
6:10
that it's probably not what you're used to seeing on Amma. Certainly my experience on that Amma now river cruise
6:16
was not like Amma that I've been on uh previously. You know, it wasn't as plush. Um it was the food wasn't as
6:23
good, that kind of stuff. Um so my favorite river cruise of all time is
6:29
probably a tossup between the uh the Mikong and the Nile for slightly
6:35
different reasons. The Nile because of course I just the history was just fascinating. Um, even though I had uh
6:42
like a nightmare, you make reference to it being at the back of with being really noisy at night with the the
6:48
engines. Um, and the Mikong because it was just so remote, so different. The culturally it was just fascinating. Um,
6:55
so those are probably my my my favorite river cruises in terms of favorite river in Europe. Um, I'm going back on the
7:02
Ryan because I've done quite a Danube recently and um I seem to have have very fond memories of the Ryan. So I'll tell
7:08
you whether that's the case. So, D Andrew here calling all ports. Jeff is here, which is great from Ohio. Um,
7:15
let's have a look. Greg, hi Gary. Just finished a 10-day Alaska cruise in Queens Grill on Queen Elizabeth. It's
7:21
good to hear that you had a great time because um I've had very mixed reviews.
7:26
People contacted me with very mixed reviews about their experience on uh
7:32
Queen Elizabeth in Alaska this season. And it could well be Greg as you're
7:37
pointing out the grill's experience is extremely good, but perhaps the experience in the others because the people that have contacted me were not
7:44
in the grill's experience. So in terms of the that compares I mean I've
7:49
actually got a video coming out in a couple of weeks time Greg where I'm diving into the premium category. So
7:54
Kunard operate in what's known as the premium category. So the the lines in there are Princess, Holland America,
8:02
Celebrity, Kunard, Virgin Voyages, and Disney is sort of seen as being in there. So in reality, you know, the
8:09
closest that you're going to get, I think, to Queens Grill experience, certainly when it comes to the dining is
8:16
uh on Celebrity um with the Lumini restaurant. It's probably the closest to the Grill's
8:21
experience. Uh actually the the the grill's experience their equivalent the retreat is actually much elevated uh
8:29
compared to Queen's Grill. So the lounge is really nice. The decks are very good. Now if you go I would say if you really
8:35
like the Queen's Grill uh on Queen Elizabeth, I would suggest take a look at the older ships, the Solstice class
8:41
ships for example um and their retreat experience. Now if you go on the newer ships uh the edgeclass ships which have
8:49
a even more elevated uh facilities the deck the lounge uh the restaurant is
8:54
kind of elevated in terms of size and scale but it is a much more contemporary modern ship. So if if you if you're less
9:01
keen on contemporary modern uh architecture, decor, I would tend to look a little bit
9:08
more that. The reason I'm not saying Holland America, Holland America is probably as as terms of ships and decor
9:14
passenger profile is probably the closest, but they don't really have a grill experience. So if you go on the
9:20
newer ships like the Rotterdam, the new Staten Dam, uh the Conningdam, they have
9:26
the Club Orange Restaurant which is for people in sweets. that the food is not elevated. If you go on the Rotterdam,
9:32
they they reconfigure the restaurants a little bit more like a restaurant, but it's not really as close in in reality.
9:38
If you go on the older Holland America ships, um you know, so the Vista class, the signature class, etc., you don't get
9:44
the equivalent to kind of Queen's girl. So that's that's why I'm sort of suggesting that. Um Scruffy, oh, after
9:53
being on hundreds of cruises, I've been on hundreds, I've been 124, but yes. Um, do you ever feel the same sort of buzz
9:59
or magic when you sell nowadays as you did? Absolutely. I get asked this quite a lot. I absolutely um love love
10:08
cruising and I'm very excited. So, I'm very excited uh um about uh heading off
10:14
um on this river cruise heading back. I've actually just sent travel agents. I'm not sure if T and Sarah's here
10:19
today, but I've been looking at cruise to fill in my 26 schedule um with some
10:24
changes happening. So I was just as excited choosing them, looking at them, deciding when I want to go. So yes, I I
10:31
do get a real buzz of magic. Probably the sometimes when I get the buzz, but with apprehension is when I'm going on
10:37
lines that I know are not sort of the lines that are for me as much. So you know, I'm lining up looking at next
10:43
year, for example, I'm looking at going back on some of the Norwegian ships um and a few other ships like that. um you
10:51
know I still get excited because I'm going to experience them but for different countries more from a the channel sort of perspective. So yes I
10:57
absolutely I think if I stopped getting that I would stop cruising and I would start doing the channel because I think
11:03
if you don't have that passion it would be kind of hard uh hard to to to do
11:08
that. Um so I'm going to scroll through. Let's have a look. Uh Bel Keith
11:14
Hawthorne is here. Uh Tom,
11:19
we are booked on an August 2026 region cruise from Reavik to Oslo. This will be
11:26
our first time in Oslo. Do you have recommendations as a post cruise? How many minutes activities? So Tom, I have
11:32
never done a post stay in Oslo. I've only been to Oslo certainly my cruising
11:37
days uh as a port of call and to go to Oslo for work um many many many years
11:44
ago. So I don't have any good suggestions. Now one of the things that you could consider which is was
11:51
completely left field having just come off a reovc to Oslo cruise is take a
11:56
look at um there's a very nice train trip from Bergen to Oslo which people
12:01
speak very highly of. I haven't done it. People speak very highly of as an experience um depending on where you're
12:08
where you're sailing from I guess. Sorry. So where you're flying back from I'm guessing probably from Oslo. It's
12:13
very ceiling, but also um Havalia for example do some quite interesting cruises, but you'd have to go from from
12:20
Oslo. So, I don't if anyone has better suggestions, please pop those in. One of the things I would suggest, Tom, is I
12:25
don't know if you uh couple of probably a month or two or so ago. Um I had Karen
12:31
Warl on. She's online as cruise shiparen.com. If you go to her site, she dives a lot
12:38
into things to do, places to see, etc. and I suspect she will have some good suggestions uh there. Um uh Ken goes
12:47
Cruising is here. Good to see Cherry is here. Um so let's have a look. Warren has a
12:56
question. With all the new bigger ships being put into service and existing ports limiting
13:01
access, where are the ships going to go? Well, Warren, I mean, it's interesting because what we're seeing increasingly,
13:07
of course, in the Caribbean is more and more purpose-built venues. So, we're
13:14
seeing, for example, Royal Caribbean, as you know, have bought a massive part um
13:19
of Costamaya, which they're developing, uh, you know, Carnival this week launched their celebration celebration
13:25
key. Um, you know, they're all looking at more purpose-built venues. Also, even up in Alaska, for example, Norwegian
13:31
spent a lot of money um helping develop ISIS trade point. Um so, I think we're going to see a couple of things. One of
13:37
which is more purpose-built venues uh and places. Um the second thing we're
13:43
seeing very strongly is one of the biggest trends in cruising at the moment is effectively sort of cruises to
13:50
nowhere. Now, they can't out of the US do cruises to nowhere because you're not allowed under the passenger services
13:56
act, passenger service vehicle act, or I think it's something like that. But anyway, under those um you you can't um
14:02
sell on a foreign flagged ship uh out of the US uh without going to a foreign
14:07
port. But what's growing very fast and dramatically, which is also why we've seen even some cancellations this week
14:13
and recheduling ships, is one of the hottest things in cruising at the moment is very short cruises out of Florida,
14:21
but they're also doing out of New York and other ports as well around. So, Tampa and so on. They'll go to Bermuda,
14:27
they'll go to some of the private islands, etc. But short cruises are very
14:32
big. So these big ships are effectively heading out of Florida, heading to Bermuda, heading to Nassau, heading to
14:38
the private islands and back. That's taking up a lot of the big capacity and the smaller ships are sort of being used
14:44
on more exotic venues. Now I think you're right, the challenge is what are they going to do with those bigger ships
14:49
in the European summer period when they have to come to the Mediterranean. Now the advantage of at the moment is some
14:57
of the hottest places that people want to go, excuse the pun because it's very hot in in uh in in the Med uh are the
15:04
ships going to cargo ports. So Levero, Laspetsia, Marseilles, etc. So those big ships can go in. But I think you're
15:10
right. I there does seem a trend where there's more and more ships being launched bigger and bigger and there's a
15:15
push back from from ports. But I think at the moment the big hot trend is they're using them in the Caribbean. So,
15:20
I think it's going to see what they what they do in uh in the Med. Um let's have
15:26
a look. Lots of people talking about um keen to see my feedback on um the the
15:33
river cruise. D and Andrew calling all ports leaving for French Paris on Monday with Wind. Oh
15:38
yes, of course you are very excited to follow that. We have half a day open in Moria following a morning island bust or
15:44
what you suggest self-explore ebikes lagoon outrigger. I would definitely do and Maria is a beautiful place. I would
15:50
do the ebikes thing if you can. Now, if I remember correctly, there's also, now I need to be careful I'm not getting
15:56
confused with Hani. I think No, Hani's got the big um because near where the ships where you come in the ships, there
16:04
is a massive mountain you can hike up, but I would do the ebike thing because,
16:09
you know, they're fantastic. We we did a couple of times. So, if you can get ebikes, I would definitely go off and
16:14
explore. Um you know, it's it's compact little line. It's easy to find your way around. very envious that you're doing
16:20
that. We are heading um of course Mark and I are heading there uh towards the
16:25
end not towards at the end of this year on Oceanania though so not quite as as uh as as
16:31
small and zooty Tom attending on YouTube which great just reminded the reason Tom is making this comment is that I do this
16:38
live stream obviously mostly on YouTube but I also it also goes out on Facebook on my tips for travelers page and also
16:44
goes out on LinkedIn as well. Thank you. Many people watching on LinkedIn, but I may as well do that. Okay.
16:51
The the uh inevitable slashchallenging uh gratuitity question challenge. Laura,
16:59
I prepay for massage on a cruise and gratuitities included. You're right. Most uh in fact, all cruise lines will add on an 18% some a little bit higher
17:06
20% gratuitity. Do you give them a cash tip anyway if they do a good job? Is it awkward not giving extra cash tip if you
17:12
choose not to? Personally, I don't um because I feel I've already paid like 18
17:17
to 20% tip and also I know that they will then go in for the hard sale. I
17:23
find to be to be honest I find the spa quite stressful on cruise ships but I
17:28
tend to actually avoid them um because I know that at the end you're going to get the hard sale and that's because the way
17:35
that um the the massage therapists are are earn their money is they earn them
17:40
from gratuitities and they earn them from commission on selling products which is why they go for the hard sell
17:45
and I find it really stressful at the end the hard sell um trying to kind of stop people doing that so I don't do
17:52
that But you're right, they do rely very heavily on those. But I I don't because then you're paying I mean they are very
17:58
expensive. So the gratuitity is quite a good cut. Um but I don't. Um I find the
18:03
most awkward part to be honest is the um is that cell and finding a way of
18:09
shutting it down. The other thing you will note Laura is you what what often where people fall down is often if you
18:16
have to sign the slip which they often give at the end there is a space for gratuitity and people often don't forget
18:22
that the gratuitities built up in the higher in the higher part can go cruising how are the river uh levels in
18:28
Europe at the moment they were very high um at the beginning of there was there
18:33
was some issues on the Danube uh Ken um but I haven't seen any reports on the
18:39
Ryan but I been following some people on the Danube where the water levels were quite high. Um so so that uh so at the
18:46
moment it looks all um smooth sailing as they say. So we I will I will find out
18:52
but certainly um following what's been happening it's on the R it seems fine. It seems to be kind of okay at the
18:57
moment. I think the challenge we will have particularly with this being so hot it's very hot and there's not been a lot
19:04
of rain is whether later in the seasons we're going to have the the low water issues. Um,
19:10
Bob, you should be doing something at Yeah, the Christmas market cruises are
19:16
fantastic. I agree. I think that's what you're saying. I should be doing the Christmas markets. Absolutely.
19:21
Um, Bobby, as a junior executive, I sometimes catch flack for cruising off
19:26
peak when others with kids can't. Did you ever face that? How did you handle it? By the way, we're based in Mains.
19:32
Wife and I would love to meet. So Bobby, in terms of uh that I've never I've never faced that. I guess I know that's
19:39
a it's a very hot uh topic. Um indeed with uh with certainly in the UK because
19:46
um the prices, you know, for package holiday stuff rocket um and people get fined if they take their kids out of
19:53
school, but they still do it because it's cheaper. I've never had any families complaining uh about that um at
20:00
all and if anyone else has. So in mains I'll keep an eye out. I do have um some
20:06
excursions committed in Mains and I don't know how long we're there. So I will keep that in mind. Uh Boo Boys with
20:12
So thanks for that offer by the way. Booker Boys, good to see you here. By the way, thanks very much for that heads up on the Bloomberg article that you
20:18
mentioned last week I guess which I had a read of which is very interesting looking at the um at the uh occupancy
20:27
levels being so low 50% and thoughts on other things. Now I don't know if you saw uh but Will of um Trick Trendy went
20:36
back on the on Ritz cult and he gave a very negative time. We went the first time around and it was very interesting
20:42
watching his video because it was very empty the ship very empty. Recently saw an interview with General from Oceanania
20:48
corporate heed all class ships will be sold at P South Market any chance at all merged. So I mean you're right I mean
20:54
the only they haven't they they've already got rid of insignia. They've already got rid of well they haven't
20:59
gone yet. Regata is gone because that's being is about to go um next year because they've that's been chartered
21:06
off to uh the an Australian company doing a 371day trip. They've also
21:12
insignia is leaving um because it's being uh they've given it they're doing doing a deal with um
21:20
Crescent Seas. No, anyway turning into a residential. So the others I guess we're waiting for doing. Um, I don't think
21:27
they will merge with Regent because in reality they, you know, if you look at what, you know, Regent, they they have
21:33
Regent is their kind of ultra luxury, very all-inclusive, Oceanania, and then
21:39
of course they have Norwegian. What they don't have, which is very interesting, they don't have a premium line. I mean, I I think um, you know, the the reason
21:47
they also aren't really luxury is they're heading into ships that are too big. In my personal view, luxury is
21:55
ultra luxury is really around about 700. I know some of them region are pushing up to 800 and so their new ships are all
22:02
1400. Um, so they are very much more in the explorer. I suspect they're a little bit spooked maybe by explorer which is
22:09
sort of trying to blur the edges around kind of luxury. I mean that's shifting
22:14
uh away with the size a little bit. So I don't think they will do because also the ultimately the person who controls
22:22
both region and ocean is the same person. The head of both is the same person ultimately. So so they will do I
22:28
think Ocean lost its way a little bit once they got rid of Frank Del Rio. They you know they brought the new guy in. I
22:33
think they're trying to uh re rejig that. So I would be I think it's very unlikely just because it doesn't make
22:39
sense from a branding perspective and the ship size perspective and the layout
22:44
etc. Uh, Rich asking, "How safe is Paris for river cruise?" Uh, I've never had any
22:51
issues. I used to work in Paris quite a lot. I mean, it's it's the same as any big city, but it's perfectly fine. Uh,
22:59
Tix, when selling from Vancouver into Alaska, how does American customs work?
23:04
So, one of the reasons I personally avoid embarking in Vancouver is it can
23:09
be a very painful and slow process. What happens if you're boarding a cruise is
23:15
you will go through two sets of immigration. You go through the Canadians to leave and then you'll go
23:21
through the Americans to enter. And it can be very like I did it once and so I
23:27
never did it again. It was incredibly slow and very frustrating the process. But that's how it works is you go
23:33
through you go through the the Canadian and into the into the into the US uh
23:38
side is is is how it how it works. Sher's on Uni World Boutique. Uni World ships are very, very blingy. Steve
23:47
asking if I could offer any tips on cruising to Bermuda from the east coast.
23:52
Steve, I haven't done Bermuda, although in reality I've just asked Sarah to get me um some quotes and to book to go on
24:00
Norwegian Aqua out of the out of New York. Um Celebrity of Running Summit last week, Jeff and stuff were actually
24:06
on. They had gunned on Celebrity Silhouette. So, uh, there are quite a few, um, opportunities, Steve. So,
24:13
selling out of New York's often from the New Jersey site. Um, but you'll find there's normally Norwegian has ships
24:19
operating there. Um, it used to be, I think, Breakaway. Um, it's now, let's see, for next year, it's it's Aqua, so
24:26
one of the bigger, newer ships. Not bigger, but newer ships. Celebrity do stuff. Uh, Royal Caribbean have a ship
24:33
out of there. Then there are a little bit more ad hoc ones. So, for example, Oceanani that we were talking about earlier, uh they did they do some stuff
24:40
out of Bermuda, uh sorry, out of the East Coast. Um I'm assuming when you say
24:45
East Coast that you're talking New York, um because you can also do stuff out of Boston as well. Quite a few ships home
24:52
base in Boston uh during the season as well. So, again, you got Norwegian, Celebrity, uh I think America going, but
24:59
don't quote me on that. Um but there's quite a few of those options. The ones out of Boston tend to do more uh bigger
25:06
trips. But if you take a look at Celebrity, they'll do a uh you know couple of days there, overnight in
25:12
Bermuda and back. The Norwegian one I'm looking at does that as well. So those are those are the the key ones. Aaron,
25:19
I get asked along this line um quite often. So it's always a good one to revisit. I respect you always pay your
25:24
fair but you can't change your name or face. Correct. Do you think your experience is different from someone that cruise ship PR would not recognize?
25:31
In reality, you know, uh it it's I I'm not sure that it's really that
25:37
different, particularly when I go on big ships. What happens is obviously some of the crew recognize me because they watch
25:43
my channel. So, for example, the last crew I was on, quite a few uh of senior crew that I met on when I was on some
25:50
Princess uh at different venues and stuff, they go, "Oh, Gary, we watch your channel and whatever." I'm not sure that
25:56
it's that different. And I'm sure there is some aspects but because I don't keep that closely with the PR teams and I
26:03
don't I'm not on the PR team because they know that what I do. So I don't the PR team tend not to engage with these.
26:08
So for I'll give you an example. So Holland America are running well there's a program which I think is on is it on
26:15
channel four channel 5? I can't remember which channel it's on. It's called Life at Sea or something and it's it follows
26:20
Nor Holland America. And what I noticed is they send out little gift packs to a
26:25
whole lot of journalists, lots of travel bloggers, vloggers. Those that do will go on press trips, etc. But I never
26:31
receive that kind of stuff because I'm not on the PR team's radar because they know what I do. So, I've seen lots of
26:37
different uh bloggers that I know uh or posting pictures on Instagram of their
26:42
of their packages they got. I don't get sent that because they know I won't post about that even if they did send it. So,
26:48
so I'm less on that less on that radar and I think it's probably a little bit less because in reality they know that
26:55
there's not a lot that they like if if the head office PR are trying to do something there's not a lot that can
27:01
influence me because I'm not looking for free trips. I'm not looking for upgrades. I'm not looking for freebies or whatever. So, um do they know that
27:09
I'm on? Absolutely. Like when I was on some princess, there was a little card from the PR team saying, "Hope you have a nice time." But, you know, I could
27:15
tell from talking to my cabin student, he had no idea who I was. Um, so I'm sure it's inevitable partly because
27:22
people know me. Um, I think maybe I'm being a little bit naive, but I haven't noticed anything specifically different.
27:30
Except that's not quite true. There was once when I was on Regent when I boarded
27:37
and I really wanted to do a cooking class and it was completely sold out for
27:43
my cruise when I did Japan and I did know the lady uh who was on the the
27:49
excursions desk that handled it because I'd met her on a previous cruise and she knew what I did. And I went to her and
27:56
said, "Look, I know there's a wait list. I really want to do it. Um, can you make it happen for me?" and I and I got it
28:03
because I I guess uh that so so that's the only time I've leed but I'm sure probably um
28:10
you know maybe I'm being maybe I'm being naive. Um
28:15
Rick just want to write the word question so I don't miss it but I think there's a question here. Can Kunard pay
28:21
extra for a family member to book in the same cabin and why do they take so long? That was difficult. Um, so in in
28:27
reality, yes, on Qard, if you've booked a cabin, if you've already booked a cabin, by the way, and it's got a sofa
28:32
bed, uh, you they you can get a third and fourth person. Why do they take so long the phone call? Because they have
28:38
terrible customer service. They are I don't know. They're just not well staffed enough. That, by the way, Rick, is a good uh reason for actually booking
28:45
and using a travel agent. Like I use Travel Agent Sarah because Travel Agent Sarah or if you're in the US, you know,
28:51
Walter, uh Gary or some of the other people that I recommend, they would just very they would get on it and you
28:57
wouldn't have to worry about it. Uh and not having to deal with customer service is fantastic. Customer service people in
29:03
reality are sales people. So often when you get into some of the question, I mean that one they'll be able to answer.
29:09
Um Ken, okay, I've seen the follow-up part of the question. We have some onboard
29:16
credit on our forthcoming Ocean cruise. Are you aware of any experiences? The cooking classes are fantastic. Uh so if
29:23
you can, that would be a really good one, Ken, to do. Um in reality, they're
29:28
more compilation classes. So, but they're really good fun. Uh excellent
29:33
program. The people who run the ocean ones also run the run the run the regent
29:38
ones. Um they are really good. They're a good way of spending uh
29:44
the money if you can. Sorry, I realiz I just mute myself again. I got a little message there. It suggested I was my microphone had dropped, but doesn't
29:51
appear to have. Um that would be a good one. Um they also do do some sort of connoisseur tasting type stuff, you
29:57
know, cocktail making classes, that kind of stuff. Uh those would be those would be good ones to do. And can I think I'm
30:04
right in saying, but don't quote me on this. Double check this. But I feel I'm right in saying you can use onboard
30:11
credit in the casino on the machines. But double check that. But I feel like
30:17
that's what I did. But I may be getting confused because I did a Celebrity and Ocean really closely together and I know
30:24
I could use it on Celebrity. But double check that. But the cooking classes I would strongly recommend if you possibly
30:31
uh can. Karen, hi there. Uh on Facebook,
30:36
joining in from Facebook, which line would you recommend for Japan? We normally travel Kunar Princess Grill. So Karen, um depending on where you want to
30:43
go, you know, obviously you could do a Kunard Japan. They did have the Queen Elizabeth there now. Queen Elizabeth is
30:49
after in 27 is is not doing that whole kind of uh stuff anymore and being
30:55
brought and doing flight crews Mediterranean. So you might want to check if they are going to send a ship
31:00
to Japan. So for example, we did uh Queen Elizabeth Japan out of Hong Kong. They were doing more part of their world
31:07
voyage and they did a couple of Hong Kong, Japan, China trips. So just double check that. Um but certainly they were
31:14
doing they were doing uh that. Um now in terms of that Karen so there's a couple
31:19
of the direct competitors to Kunard both Holland America and Princess do very
31:25
very very good Japan itineries they have ship space there um uh and they do some great
31:33
circumnavigations of Japan they know the area very well so they're not quite you
31:39
know you're not you know so you're not going to quite get a princess girl because if you go if you were here earlier if you go like an in celebrity
31:45
in the retreat eat. It's on tends to be the smallest like Millennium stuff. You will get close to a grill experience. Um
31:52
probably it's a little bit more than Princess Grill in reality. Um but that's the closest on America. You won't quite
31:58
get that experience. You will get a dedicated part of the um of the main
32:04
dining room. You will get a little lounge and stuff like that, but um you won't get the deck and stuff like that.
32:10
But those are the direct commas and they do have very very good Japan opportunities. Now, if you want to with
32:16
the price you're paying for Princess Grill, do take a look at um like an Oceanania for example, um they do a good
32:23
Japan and if you really want to push it out, you know, you've got like Regent does very good and Silver do very good
32:29
ones as well. Um but those the most direct competitors would be those two and they are really really strong. Um
32:37
let's have a look. Joe, good to see you here. If I were
32:42
planning a cruise multigeneration with teenagers, middle-ag, and grandparents to Alaska, what line would you
32:48
recommend? We don't drink and I think we've grown out of Disney. Joe, I would probably take a look at um the same ones
32:55
I was mentioning there. Uh Princess or Holland America would be my first
33:00
choices. However, um the reason I'd choose those is because they they will go into um Glacia Bay Mo in most of
33:09
those which are fantastic. I'd encourage you to have a cruise that goes to Glacia Bay. Now, normally those lines tend to
33:16
be a little bit older. They tend to be a little bit more uh for couples, but I've been but in the Alaska season, it's
33:22
packed full of families. So, your teenagers and whatever will have loads of teenagers to mix with. The ship will
33:28
be very busy, very full, but at the same time, grandparents will probably appreciate uh some of the more
33:34
enrichment spin that they have. They will enjoy some of the music as well, but they will cater for the wide range.
33:40
The the other one to take a look at is Celebrity. Now, Celebrity are taking some of their newer ships there. So,
33:46
certainly the younger, you know, the teenagers, I guess middle-aged uh I
33:51
think you middle-aged adults, sorry. The teenagers will probably appreciate Celebrity a bit more. It's a bit more funky, a bit more trendy. Um, you know,
33:58
because they do take some of the apex and ageclass ships up there. Those are the ones I would focus on. Now, if you
34:05
really wanted to bias it more to the towards the teenagers, you could take a look at Norwegian and Royal Caribbean,
34:12
but then probably the grandparents will find them just a little bit bigger, a little bit busy, a little bit rowdy. Um,
34:17
so so that's kind of the good middle thing. And certainly Holland America uh especially is trying to focus a lot on
34:23
multigenerational uh as and Princess is trying to focus a lot on multigenerational. Multi Princess
34:28
actually got um voted often the best as a multi multigenerational because they do cater for all those different all
34:35
those different uh uh all those different levels. Um you should have stayed on the R. No Bob. No, not really
34:43
because I want to do it in summer. But uh Christmas markets is fantastic. I I agree with you. Um Uni World is also
34:49
great. And do you have because of Christmas cruises in terms of rivers? Not really. It's really very much the
34:56
Danube and the Ryan with the Ryan really being the best because Christmas markets is not really a phenomenon in other
35:01
parts really in reality. Um let's have a
35:07
look. Um SL has a question. Which line do you
35:13
think is the best river cruise ships? So a lot of it depends on what you mean by
35:19
best. And certainly when I do my videos around um this I will dive into this. But I do have some videos out where I
35:26
looked at what um the current the last six months no sorry last 12 months ratings with all the ships. So if you go
35:32
to my channel search river cruise you'll see what are the five best and the five worst at the moment. But basically um SL
35:40
the river cruising is similar to ocean in that you have different categories. So bear in mind first of all um that all
35:46
the ships are basically the same because they have to be so long, so wide, so high. Now Amma does have Magna on the
35:53
Danube which is double sized, but basically they're all the same size because they have to be to fit through the locks and so on. And the
36:00
configuration inside is basically the same. So you know because there's only so much you can do. So you'll have
36:05
cabins below the water, you'll have cabins in the middle, cabins on the top and sund deck at the top. You'll probably have one restaurant, one main
36:11
restaurant. Some will have a little mini gym, very small. Some don't. Um, some will have a second little lounge. Um,
36:18
some might have a little pool. Some will have a hot tub. Um, and and then you have a big bar lounge area. They do the
36:24
briefings and stuff and that's kind of it. Um, you don't, you know, so they're all basically have the same facilities.
36:30
Some will have lifts, some won't have lifts, some so on. So, so it's really around the experience, the service, the
36:36
quality, the food, the decor, uh, the riches of decor. So you basically have your sort of top end uh which is
36:42
Riverside which bought the Crystal River Cruise ships. Uni World are in there.
36:48
You could argue a little bit that Ammerst in that sort of real top end area. Then you have your sort of more
36:55
premium. So So if that was sort of your five sorry more premium side which is kind of your Avalons sorry scenic sorry
37:03
the other one that's in the top there is scenic definitely. Then you have your next sort of grouping which is Avalon
37:08
that I'm going on. Emerald is sort of in here which is a sisterhip of um Scenic
37:14
own by the same company. Viking IC is in this category as well. Um then you have
37:19
sort of the next level which is more value which is things like Crossy Europe for example uh in there and you have
37:25
some of the other lines like Arosa and uh Riviera Travel that kind of stuff. I know I've left lots of them out. Um, so
37:32
if you were looking, but you know, so if you're looking to pay real top end at the moment, probably Riverside is seen
37:38
as being the most luxurious ships, plushest, uh, and so on. Uh, Uni World
37:43
is probably strong and scenic. Those three are probably the best, uh, just in terms of the decor, the food, the
37:50
service, and very much the the price. Very much the price. River cruising is
37:56
really expensive. Uh, it's really expensive. Um Tony,
38:03
so I'm gonna have a slug of water.
38:08
With all the mainstream lines building bigger ships, do you think there's still a place in the market for company like Winstar with the much smaller vessels?
38:14
Well, I certainly hope so. And yes, I do. I think, you know, the the you know, not not everybody wants to head into
38:19
those big ships. I think the challenge that the small ship lines have is just the economics of it. So if you take a
38:25
look at WinStar, Azamara with you know Azamara has the Rclass ships which are dating very rapidly as we heard earlier
38:31
if you hear earlier you know um the the other line that has the Rclass ships is jettisoning jettisoning them. Um so
38:39
these are kind of independent companies that they don't have a lot of leverage because they're not part of a big corporation. I think the bigger challenge is just the economics of that.
38:46
Even WinStar, you know, they're launching some new builds uh because, you know, they have obviously the old
38:51
Seaborn ships that are pretty old in data and I guess less less efficient. So, just in terms of the whole uh you
38:57
know, technology efficiency, I think there is because I think there's going to be an increasing demand for small you
39:04
out of the way places and particularly if more and more places do have restrictions. So, you know, if you take
39:10
a look at, you know, Andrew and Dina from calling a portal talking about going to French Polynesia, you have to
39:16
go on a small ship like Winstar or Borgan because most of the islands will not allow ships of over 1,200,
39:24
500 passengers go there. So, you can go to certain things. You can go to Tahiti
39:30
and you can go to um Mor Mara or Hini. I can't remember which ones you can go to,
39:36
but there you can go to. But to truly see that you have to go on these smaller ships. So I think there is the economics
39:42
becomes quite challenging. Um of course uh what I find disappointing and again I
39:47
think it's an economics thing as I mentioned earlier is you've got Oceanania shifting up from 12 they would
39:52
did have lots of ships which are 700 they had others which are 1200 with the and even when they the Vista ships but
40:00
now they're going to 1400. Uh some of the new regions ships are going to 800. some of the the the silver seips of
40:08
getting even kind of in relative terms bigger. Bob, short answer is no. I've never used
40:14
the bags home. Um I see a lot of people use them and speak really highly of them. I can't remember the names of
40:20
them, but the ones that affiliated with luggage forward, I think it's the one people speak very highly of them. I've
40:26
never I've never I've never I've never used them. Thomas asking, I haven't booked any solo clips cruisers. Um, it
40:34
hasn't really appealed to me. I did talk about this before. I know people are very excited about
40:40
solar eclipse and I probably should ask myself why I'm not excited. I I remember being in a total eclipse when I was a
40:46
kid and that was amazing. So maybe my problem is I've done it and I I don't
40:52
know why I don't do it again, but anyway. Um, so no, but there are um there they are very popular uh and very
40:59
expensive. And if you want to go on them, make sure that you've booked because they are extremely popular and
41:04
selling out. Hopefully uh Denmark, you've um heard some of the these. We've only cru America. What your
41:11
recommendation? This is really great. All these questions are fantastic. Um particles as a theme, but also I have
41:16
actually made a video which it needs to be finished editing where I dive into those premium class ships in detail,
41:23
those five of them. I don't cover Disney because I feel it's part of the category. So if you wait maybe a four
41:28
weeks demo a video will come out where I break them down in much more detail but um similar hope you heard it earlier
41:36
Kunard Princess Celebrity Virgin obviously is very different um so
41:41
hopefully you heard that thing that I answered uh earlier Joe I don't I know of them I haven't cruised on them um
41:49
they are I've looked at them particularly for Great Lakes for example uh trips um but they and they do quite
41:57
nice itineries, but I haven't cruised on them yet. Barbara, I get asked this also quite a
42:03
lot and I would love to do Havalia. Um, for those who don't know, Havalia is the
42:09
competitor, it's Norwegian competitor to Hudritin. Hutritin was the one that had
42:14
the contracts, I think this is 1800s, to basically take freight, cargo, people
42:20
uh, up and down the coast of Norway. Um they call in pretty much every little port along the way, but you can either
42:26
go as a ferry service or you can book it as a cruise and do it as a cruise. They did have a expedition uh company which
42:33
was split off. It's now completely separate companies now called HX Expeditions, separate ownership, etc. Um
42:40
Havalia is very modern technology, so lots of hybrid electric ships. Um and I
42:47
haven't been on it, but I know Emma Cruisers was on it for a couple of days. Um, cruise with Amber has done some
42:53
dives into it. I would love to go and I just haven't quite scheduled it yet. I would really keen on it. Um, it's very
43:00
important how you book Havalia because if you book it one a certain way, it ends up being a ferry and you don't have food included. You need to book it
43:06
slightly longer trips and stuff. The itineraries are great. I would really definitely do it. Viking Alaska could
43:12
enjoy. I did that. It was uh it was uh it was great. Um,
43:20
TBS, have you heard from Carnival Cruisers as to whether they plan to continue cruising with Carnival start in
43:25
June 2026? My Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. I I know what this is about. So, for those
43:30
of you who don't know what this is about is what Tosh is asking is Carnival have revamped their uh loyalty program and
43:40
they're shifting in a couple of ways. One of which is you don't have once you hit a status you don't have it forever.
43:47
So most uh maybe all cruise line don't think there's any that don't most cruise
43:52
line programs uh you basically build up status over years and years and years and years and years and you never lose
43:58
your status. They're shifting to where you can lose your status. So if you don't keep cruising with them you lose your status. They're also shifting as
44:04
many uh airlines have done which they're shifting away from a a nights uh per
44:10
nights uh to get you to different levels to a spend. So a lot of the airlines have changed that um and Delta American
44:18
and the US British Airways have shifted that um and what's generally happened is
44:23
is um Tibos is everybody says then they're going to boycott. For example,
44:28
people said it was American, they said with Delta and they said British I'm going to stop going on British Airways
44:33
and it didn't happen. Everyone kept going with them. Very few people left and if they did they came back because
44:39
people are choosing British Airways for example because you can fly direct to most places from Heathrow. People
44:45
choosing American for whatever reason and so on. So um and actually what they found if they did have status it was
44:52
even more appealing. So one of the reasons the airlines did it for example and the reason Connival are doing it is there it's just too many people's
44:58
status. So the lounges for example the airline lounges were too full. What Connor was saying is they could have
45:03
sometimes like 1,200 people at the top tier which meant they couldn't actually run the programs and give the perks. So
45:09
they would they had a choice of either do we water down perks uh or whatever. So I I haven't actually seen anything
45:16
and Carnival just released their state results. I haven't seen anything that suggests that bookings are impacted of
45:24
any large degree. Now, you obviously have a very different perspective, but
45:29
the data so far doesn't say it. Now, we will see, of course, once the dust settles. The second thing, of course, to
45:35
bear in mind is that cruise lines are all uh sailing over capacity at the
45:42
moment. So actually if one was uh skeptical or whatever is even if they
45:49
lose some loyal people like yourself there's loads of people coming through
45:55
that they can sweep up who for the for them they will that will be the only program they know. Um so you're right
46:02
it's they've taken quite a brutal decision. I will be really interested to
46:07
see how many other cruise lines shift their way. I personally now because I'm
46:13
not it's probably not true that I'm not big on loyalty because I love the fact that with the Royal Caribbean group is
46:20
you can use your Royal Caribbean celebrity now Silver days to help your status on the line. So I loved it when I
46:26
went on Royal Caribbean because I'd been on Celebrity a lot. I was straight in at um uh Platinum was it? Yeah, Plat
46:34
Platinum. So I got the four drinks vouchers. I could get into the lounge stuff like that. But they were already restricting the lounge because there was
46:40
too many people on the cruise I was on. They already started restricting the lounge because there was too many diamond people on. But anyway, so so I
46:45
like the fact that you could combine it and and stuff. So I've lost my track thought my train of thought there. So I
46:51
think it would be very interesting to see. I suspect if it works for Carnival and there's no sign in the bookings that
46:56
people are walking away from them. Uh they I think we may see other lines
47:02
doing it. I personally I I suspect it will not have a huge impact. I suspect
47:09
uh if people love Carnival, if they love British Airways that they will keep going. Now I know that's very very
47:16
contrary to what everyone is thinking and clear you're thinking. So I I I will watch the data with huge interest. Roxy,
47:23
thank you very much as that popped up. Uh super sticker. Thanks very much for that. I think it's going the whole
47:29
loyalty thing is is really really really interesting. So that's a that's a great question and we will definitely see
47:36
uh be interested to know I guess for some where I guess the bond particular if you're saying Florida there's a lot
47:42
of choice so that's going to be interesting to see whether people jump and whether they like the experience uh
47:48
you know if you go from Carnival to Norwegian or Caribbean MSC whether people like that experience that's the
47:54
clencher I think if people try start being promiscuous trying other things and realize they like it more that's the
48:00
big risk I for for Carnival. Jenny, is a cruise from Fiji? Is a cruise from Fiji from
48:07
Australian fun? I'm thinking about Well, I certainly hope so because we're we're we're doing that. Um uh so I I think it
48:14
looks great. There are amazing beautiful out of the way islands, lots of very exciting excursions, beautiful scenery.
48:20
So we're doing that at Christmas. So I certainly hope I certainly hope so. Um
48:27
lots of questions around this topic today, which is interesting. Um Mo, we are limited with Kunard as to
48:33
where we can go for just a week. One of the lines sell from the UK have the same sort of perks. Mo, hope you heard that earlier. The closest I would say is
48:39
Celebrity, which is has ships based. They have the uh Apex based out of the
48:45
UK during the season. Uh if you go in the retreat, it's pretty pricey, but if
48:51
you go in Queens Grill, the pricing will be fine. That's the closest that you will find. I personally think in some
48:57
ways the overall experience is better. food on Queens probably still nudges because you can do much more, you know,
49:02
much more overt off menu. You can order caviar, that sort of stuff which you don't get in luminari, but that's the
49:07
closest. So, I would I would definitely do that. So, Jacob's actually doing that aqua next month in Bermuda. So, that's
49:12
the one that I'm looking at doing next year. Um, let's have a look. Bill liking
49:18
my approach on lines. Hopefully, I've just answered Barbara's question. Uh
49:25
Michelle, I cook all the time. I haven't done other people doing cook class. It's actually interesting, Michelle, because
49:30
um I do I cook at home all the time as well. I just found it really good fun
49:36
because it's kind of very social and you don't really cook. They It's all prepared for you. Do a bit of mixing
49:42
around and stuff and they teach you some kind of interesting. What's quite interesting, they they just kind of teach you stuff on the menu and tell you
49:48
stories about so it's it's kind of like a social thing. But I get your point. It's if you were a big serious cook,
49:53
you're not going to learn earthshattering cooking experiences from that. Definitely. Um,
50:00
let's have a look. Uh,
50:07
what do you think of Virgin Voyages? They're fantastic. I understand that expected attract a young customer, but it's the average age. So, the average
50:13
age according to interviews I've seen is is sort of 50s in reality. So, it's not quite 60s, it's 50s. Um I'd be
50:20
interested to know when in the med if it's different but but certainly in interviews I've seen the average age is 50. I mean I think when they launched
50:27
the impression they gave is they were looking for a younger crowd. They then before they launched though um me if
50:34
that I pronounce your name they shifted from young to young at heart and they
50:40
they shifted it to start showing uh people of all ages. Um but so I think
50:45
there's there is a sense of you're kind of young at heart a little bit more looking for a more vibrant party. Not
50:51
it's not it's party is not massly party. The thing about Virgin Voices and again I'm going to plug for that video coming.
50:56
I dive into Virgin. Virgin what was interesting with Virgin is people got hooked onto this youth thing. But what
51:03
Virgin actually did is they focused on the food. The food is excellent on Virgin Voyages. As you probably know
51:09
they don't have a main dining room. They have what effectively on other ships, especially dining, you just have to be
51:15
really quick when you book to make sure that you actually have tied up booking at the time you want because it can get
51:20
really hard to find the times. They don't have a main uh you know a buffet as such. They have more of like a food
51:27
hall kind of concept which you'll find things on explore journeys and stuff are sort of copying or emulating whatever
51:33
you word you want to use. So they're pretty good. Um they do have much more quirky entertainment. So, if you find
51:40
normal cruise fair a little bit dull because you don't like the sort of production shows, they have much more quirky stuff, more sort of not quite so
51:47
to slay, more acrobatic. Um, some of the more way out stuff they've sort of drifted a little bit away from. Um, but
51:53
it's it's a good it's fun. It's not as party much party. If you want to party, you can. Very good. If you're into
52:00
wellness, the gym is enormous. The classes are included in the fair. Big, you know, big class classes. Uh the
52:08
swimming pool is tiny and a little bit rubbish. Um but uh and the problem with them is they're very limited itineries.
52:13
So although they are with Brilliant Lady going to be heading around doing a little bit of West Coast doing Alaska, I'm not sure that ship's great for
52:18
Alaska. But basically you're doing shortish med cruises and shortish Caribbean cruises. Not very interesting
52:26
places to go. No unique places. Once you've done that, you've done the itinerary. Um so that's the that's the
52:31
downside a little bit is is itineraries. Um, Andrew, good to see you here,
52:37
Andrew. Um, I've assumed that Christmas cruises are all family couples. Are they that have solos? Kuna for instance. So,
52:44
Andrew, you're right. Those Christmas cruises tend to be very family focused. Um, so you know, I have been Mark and I
52:51
have been on Queenary 2 over Christmas uh twice or three times. Uh, lots and lots
52:57
of families. I think there was 550 kids on board. Uh, around about the 500 on
53:03
both of those. So very family focused. Um although to be honest we didn't see a lot of them. It was quite port
53:08
intensive. The kids they put in programs because the kid clubs aren't big enough but they had programs for the kids. Um
53:15
you know I've been on America which was a nightmare um out of the west coast but I think we realized because it was
53:20
relatively little choice. We of course went on regent for Christmas last year. There was there was a couple of teens
53:26
and it was probably boring for them because there's no other teens on board. But you're right, if you're talking about those sort of mainstream lines,
53:33
uh, the Princess, the Holland Americas, if you go on a Holland America trip that's out of, uh, Florida, for example,
53:40
Caribbean, because there's so much choice, there will be families, but not to the same degree as we discovered on
53:45
the West Coast. Um, but in terms of solos, um, there's none really extra
53:50
focused on solos, Christmas cruises for solos, other than the normal things they do. You know, they all had the normal
53:56
stuff. Um, we did, so we did we did that region. We
54:02
actually doing region again next Christmas. Uh, we're doing Oceanania over Christmas. What we tend to do,
54:08
Andrew, is what I've found is the longer the cruise, you're less likely to have families on. So, we did it was a 16
54:14
night. The other one we're doing again, I think it's a 17 night. Uh, so it tends to be a little bit less family because
54:20
obviously it's quite expensive taking that it's quite a long time to be away. Um so um I'm not sure it really helped
54:28
you particularly but um I haven't seen any really with good focus on solo. Um
54:34
you're right that what's quite a nice trip but it it's a big trip you know is um because you know crosses it does a
54:41
12niter from the 22nd to the 4th Caribbean and crosses and what we've done is we've booked that and then added
54:48
on the the the crossing because they discount the crossing like crazy because it's winter crossing to go. So, we've
54:54
never done the crossing both ways around either way. That that ends up being quite good. And I guess if you moved far enough ahead, you would get a solo cabin
55:01
for that. Um, but after doing your big world cruise and gum, you maybe had enough of enough of them. But if you do
55:07
the Canary Island, other ones that do Christmas, they are very very family. Um,
55:14
the short answer to this is no, but let me answer the let me read the question. So, Sophia's asking on luxury cruise.
55:20
So, you're talking your region, Seab Borns, etc. premium alcoholic drinks already included in the fair. But as a
55:25
person does not alcohol, can you get a discount? No, they don't offer any discount for that. Um it's, you know, I
55:31
guess you win and you lose. I guess the view is you you kind of win and and lose those as as it were. Um now I've got
55:40
asked this question a little bit. So Bon Bryon, do you find the sound of the
55:46
Queen differ at all? We have experienced two ships, Queen Elizabeth and Queen, and we found one significant better than the other. Many thanks, Brian.
55:52
Certainly, I haven't. Brian Bri, sorry. Uh, I haven't really seen that, but I
55:57
think, you know, I think obviously things fluctuate based on who's the executive chef on board a little bit,
56:03
but theoretically not. So, we certainly found across I've been on all of them
56:08
now. Um, on Queen Anne, it was a little bit more mixed, but partly because we
56:14
went on relatively early. we actually on the second fair paying
56:20
trip and there was still some kind of hiccups um there but I didn't find it
56:25
but I have had some people talking about how they find it varies and it does seem to vary a little bit about I guess who's
56:31
on board and and whatnot but generally speaking I haven't so I'm assuming you found Queen Anne less good unless you
56:39
were on Queen Elizabeth lots had lots of complaints I seem to earlier late earlier about very mixed views around
56:45
the Queen Elizabeth experience in Alaska. Josh, hope you heard my question there.
56:51
I mean, Kunard do go into Glacia Bay on many of their trips. Um, so, uh, you
56:58
America have been there longest, Princess being the second longest. If you're going in the grills experience
57:03
and the grills important to you, then Kunard is a good option. Um, but if you're not in the grills experience,
57:08
then I think the others are perfectly as good. However, Kunard will have more
57:14
general enrichment than those other two lines would do. So, if enrichment is really important to you and you like
57:19
those four speakers on board, I would definitely go with with the with with the Kunard one. Um,
57:31
Roxy asking the question, I'll answer the second question secondly in a bit.
57:37
lean for Amsterdam to Norway in a week then around the British house for two weeks and the weather keeps changing. How do we pack and still have the
57:43
suitcase? Well, at the moment, generally speaking, or maybe I don't know what ahead, but certainly across Europe,
57:49
generally speaking, it's pretty warm. Um, but I'm guessing I don't I haven't been looking at the the weather Norway,
57:54
which is very unpredictable. The secret really is is is layers. So, I think you
58:00
could probably get away with packing pretty much for summer cuz the weather at the moment is pretty like in the 20s
58:05
to 30s. Um, and uh I would just do some layering. So, couple of sweatshirts and
58:13
out of stuff obviously particularly waterproof. That's how I would that's how that's how I would do it. I don't
58:19
use packing cubes. I know lots of people I follow lots of people with packing cubes. I bought packing cubes. I never
58:25
got into packing cubes. Um, and I probably missed the point of packing cubes. I I don't I don't use packing
58:31
cubes. I probably should try them again. I have them all sitting there. I tried them once and I gave I gave up on on
58:36
them and I missed missed the magic of uh of packing cubes.
58:43
Uh, Harit Yan, hope that's um correct. Viking or explorer journeys for now or
58:50
which ultra luxury river cruise would you recommend? Explorers also start Egypt and Jordan ocean cruise line
58:56
shortly. Well, they are with their new ships. They're going to be sailing some of those uh there. Um and they are
59:03
showing them um on their website for uh 27 even some of the 26 27. I mean it's
59:09
going to be interesting to see how this whole thing settles down with the howies again on the Red Sea part ramping up and
59:16
stuff. Um so we will see how that settles um down. I did look at some of the itineraries
59:21
and I I really want to only do that that part when you can go back through the Seuss Canal. So I haven't been looking
59:26
at them that seriously. So okay. So let me ask you a question. Viking or explorer journeys for now. So um harsh
59:33
in reality they're quite different in in in a way. So obviously Viking is adult
59:39
only. So if you're interested in adult only whereas explorer journeys are much more overtly targeting families. Now
59:47
obviously depending on the sailing, the time of the year etc. will depending on how many families on board but they are
59:52
making very clear that they are targeting families. They have discounts for kids uh and so on they have kids
59:58
clubs whatever. So depending on the time of the year um you you may say if I want an adult any cruise Viking if you don't
1:00:06
mind families or you want to go with your family for example explorer journeys but I would certainly personally be much more cautious going
1:00:12
on explorer journeys you know July August or Christmas or whatever because I think you'll see a lot of families I
1:00:17
was there on wasn't even school holidays and there was quite a lot of kids on board um so so not masses but quite a
1:00:24
lot um but and very young toddler age so explorer is definitely a little bit more luxurious curious in many ways. They
1:00:31
have um more especially dining options. Uh they have uh do they have more
1:00:37
inclusions? Not really. More inclusions. Not really because the the extras are
1:00:43
the extras. The ships are probably a little bit more plush. You know, Viking is the more scander. I find the explore
1:00:48
journeys kind of cabins more plush, the ship more plush. Viking is obviously it's that much more scander almost
1:00:54
severe kind of look. If you like that scan looks I like the look. I like the look of explore journeys. Um, explore
1:01:02
journeys has better food than Viking. Viking has good solid food, but explore journeys definitely more. Viking has
1:01:08
significantly more enrichment. Explorer has really good port talks. So, in fact, who was mentioning Karen Warl that I met
1:01:15
on there talks on there a lot. They have very good port talks. Viking is more
1:01:20
sort of immersion stuff out of luxury river cruise line that Riverside is the one that's very hot at the moment. I
1:01:26
haven't done them, but I've done Uni Worlds. Um so those are those and as I mentioned best is depend on many many
1:01:32
factors as somebody said so we have churned through the time so uh we've
1:01:37
kind of run out of time now it's extremely unlikely that I will be doing a um a live next week I will be on my
1:01:44
Avalon River cruise um and the timing of this probably clashes with things like
1:01:50
the briefing stuff but I will if I'm going to do a live stream I will post as usual so keep out for that I will be
1:01:55
posting on Instagram So, if you follow me on Instagram, I'm Gary Benbridge on Instagram. I'll be posting little uh
1:02:02
video stories. If you want even more behind the scenes on the go, then certainly um if you would consider
1:02:09
becoming a patron or channel member, I do post sort of unfiltered kind of behind the scenes stuff before I do my
1:02:14
main videos for the channel. So, if you go to Patreon and look for tips for travelers, for example, I will definitely be doing stuff um there. So,
1:02:22
uh thanks very much for joining me. As I said, I may or may not be back next week. Um, but so keep an eye out for that. Have a great time. I'm going to go
1:02:29
enjoy the rest of the sunshine, finish my packing, and I'm heading off tomorrow. So, thanks very much. Uh, and,
1:02:35
uh, take care.