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Cruise Ship Crew Want Us To Know About This
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Jan 28, 2025
You are about to discover 6 genuinely surprising cruise tips and cruise ship watch-outs I have been told about by talking to crew members on cruise ships 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 ——————————————— TikTok: @garybembridge
View Video Transcript
0:00
while researching this a few crew
0:01
members told me that mafias
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exist on board and you really do need to
0:06
know how to work with them that
0:08
revelation completely threw me but as
0:10
you'll hear
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there's a real positive in there for us
0:13
i also discovered that taking pictures
0:15
of crew members could create really
0:17
serious problems for them and i finally
0:20
found out what the crew
0:22
really think about gratuities and what
0:24
they would like us to do you're about to
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discover
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these and some other genuinely
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surprising cruise tips i've gathered
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from talking to crew members if you're
0:32
new here by the way welcome aboard i'm
0:34
gary bembridge and it's my goal to make
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it easier and much more fun to discover
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plan and enjoy unforgettable cruise
0:41
vacations a friend of mine in the
0:42
service industry not a crew member once
0:44
said to me never be unpleasant or rude
0:46
to someone who's alone in your bathroom
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with your toothbrush or prepares and
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brings you your drinks or makes you your
0:54
food now the images that that conjured
0:56
up have never left me now i'm not saying
0:58
the crew do anything suspect along these
1:00
lines but the point my friend made is
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true too on ships i was told by every
1:07
single crew member that i spoke to that
1:09
we should be nice or nicer as one did
1:12
say to me on a recent princess cruise
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it's straightforward being nice will get
1:16
you way further than if you're rude or
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angry he kept stressing that the crew
1:20
don't set the prices they don't sell the
1:21
ship they're not paid particularly well
1:23
but as they put it they work their butts
1:25
off for every single passenger and are
1:27
expected to be super friendly while they
1:30
do that and being kind and considerate
1:32
in return
1:34
will go a really long way to enhance and
1:36
smooth your cruise is the point they're
1:38
making
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this is where the mafia i mentioned
1:41
comes in it was pointed out that crew
1:43
are incredibly interconnected and it's
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often those informal connections that
1:48
can unlock and make amazing things
1:51
happen for us as passengers
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things on a cruise ship don't just work
1:55
through the official channels using that
1:57
informal system and tapping into that
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informal system can be a real plus
2:02
the crew members roommate their friends
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the people that hang out of duty could
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be the very one to get things done for
2:08
us or solve our problems so whether it's
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a show that's sold out an excursion
2:12
we've missed out on or any other
2:14
problems that we've got they may know
2:17
just the person on board who can make it
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happen not through the usual channels
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now i found that works i you know silly
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example i once needed to fix my suitcase
2:25
i asked the guest services they said the
2:27
ship couldn't help with those kind of
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problems i spoke to my state room
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attendant he knew a handyman and they
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fixed it
2:34
the tip the crew members
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really told me is start always like i
2:37
did with your stateroom attendant if
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they don't know the answer they probably
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will know who to ask so i asked once if
2:44
my stateroom attendant knew of a great
2:46
indian restaurant in a particular port
2:48
and she checked with an indian friend
2:50
where they went to eat so if it's where
2:52
to buy something the best thing to see
2:54
the best place to hang out and
2:55
importantly where to get free wi-fi
2:57
start with your stateroom attendant they
3:00
will know or they will know through that
3:01
little system
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who does
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however
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just how far does being nice to your
3:08
crew member go they had a whole bunch of
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tips around this too i found this out
3:13
the hard way we were on a four-week
3:15
cruise on the queen mary 2 and became
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really friendly with one of the fitness
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instructors through doing so many of her
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fitness classes so we started to meet up
3:23
in the different ports we used to go out
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and have a really great time
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now she got into serious trouble because
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she was seen out with us in a bar and it
3:32
was felt she was just being too friendly
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it was reported to her manager by one of
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the more senior crew members
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nothing romantic nothing inappropriate
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was happening but she got a real big
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telling off and actually received a
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written warning now i asked numerous
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crew members about this whole area
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and they said
3:52
they had some pretty sober and some
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pretty good tips around friendships with
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the crew first of all all crew members
3:58
said it's important to get to know them
4:00
not only because they're a font of
4:01
knowledge like i said but also
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crew members like us to remember their
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names take an interest in them as
4:07
individuals and not just treat them like
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kind of anonymous service agents but
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being too friendly can be an issue as we
4:14
found out and definitely hitting on the
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crew romantically can actually cause
4:18
them really big problems
4:20
there's a strict no tolerance rule when
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it comes to relationships between crew
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and passengers many cruise lines even
4:27
have training around how to defuse any
4:29
situation of people are becoming too
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strong getting a bit too handsy
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if crew are found having inappropriate
4:36
relationships with passengers they are
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usually fired
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there's also a real fear of being
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accused of inappropriate behavior
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therefore one crew member told me that
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if passengers asked to take a picture
4:48
with him
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he resists them putting their arms
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around him and he never ever puts his
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arm or hands around the passengers he
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says he always does a thumbs up gesture
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with both hands in shot so his hands are
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always showing when he takes a photo so
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if you plan to take photos of the crew
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do it in a way that's sensitive and not
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likely to cause them any issues or make
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them feel uncomfortable
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getting to know the crew and
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understanding boundaries is key don't
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push it too far
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don't ask them to take you into crew
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only areas that's another thing that
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could get them fired
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i also discovered though another reason
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the crew are so keen for us to get to
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know them and remember their names and i
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had not appreciated why it was so
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important to them now i had never been
5:34
particularly diligent at filling out the
5:35
end of cruise questionnaire until i
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found this
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issue and thing out
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every crew member when they heard it
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didn't always fill it out begged me to
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do it and critically call out any crew
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member by name who's provided incredible
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service and getting their name right is
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so key they suggested either write their
5:56
name down or take a photograph of their
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name badge this of course has an added
6:01
effect they pointed out because it means
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that they know that you're going to
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mention them in that survey and that
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will probably help even up the level of
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service taking the name badge photos
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struck me as a genius tip
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because after my last cruise i only got
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around to doing the questionnaire a week
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later and i couldn't
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properly remember everyone's name and
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how to spell it and i felt really bad
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because they'd given amazing service and
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it wasn't going to be properly recorded
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in that questionnaire those end of the
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cruise questionnaires are really
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important because the overall score in
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an area often affects incentives or
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rewards but much more importantly the
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names of those people called out go to
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the managers and it genuinely they tell
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me effects ability to get promotions and
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advancement fill out the cruise
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questionnaire and make sure you've
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recorded crew names to get them right
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this is one tip on how to help the crew
6:54
but what about
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the most contentious topic of all what
6:58
tips do the crew have on that on a
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couple of the lines a number of crew
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told me that they see
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a list of passengers that have taken off
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or reduced auto gratuities so they know
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who's done it now i don't know if that's
7:12
true because i've never seen any list
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but consider that if you do take off
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auto gratuities the crew may know that
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you've done it gratuities is one of the
7:20
most divisive topics in cruising
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and so i was keen to see what the crew
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had to say about what they thought we
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should be doing or confirm that auto
7:28
gratuities which is now the common
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approach if not included in the fair
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they go into a pool and that's split up
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between a wide range of people behind
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the scenes and passenger facing the crew
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asks not surprisingly that we don't take
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them off as they are a key key part of
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their remuneration
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now it's a separate discussion about
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whether cruise lines should be paying
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higher base wages but today crew rely on
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gratuities to bolster their pay to a
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certain level crew don't own big
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salaries and they pointed out also that
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not everything on the ship is included
8:00
in their wages so for example the reason
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you see so many crew hanging around free
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wi-fi spots in town or in a port
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is because many cruise lines actually
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charge the crew to use the wi-fi
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so to stay connected with their family
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there's actually a cost for them to do
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that the other tips they had that was
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first of course they appreciate extra
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tips for amazing service or extra things
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they do but if you are going to do that
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which is very nice
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remember that cash is king i know some
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passengers as i get asked this quite
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often like the idea of giving little
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gifts from home to the crew whilst of
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course that's appreciated nothing beats
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cash many people on board are actually
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collecting and sending money home to
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their family their kids their parents
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their grandparents so cash is always
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going to be really king for them and
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talking of money
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there's another big tip they had on this
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too the costs involved can be enormous
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and crew told me they do see passengers
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racking up scary personal bills
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occasionally all of which could be
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avoided if those passengers had taken
8:59
out and ensured it was the right travel
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insurance which includes medical and
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specifically looking to see that it
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covers the costs from the medical center
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crew told me that some of the travel
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insurance policies which i hadn't really
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thought about do not cover ship medical
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costs which can be expensive you know
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seeing the doctor prescriptions and that
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kind of stuff
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of course if you get medivac off the
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ship or disembarked for medical reasons
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into a local hospital those costs can
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mount fast and be eye-watering so having
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insurance is really important but making
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sure that it covers everything was the
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tip that they had for for us now when i
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first asked crew for tips they start off
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by saying there are three things
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they see passengers do on every cruise i
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thought i should include those as it
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seems we're still not getting these
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right even though i certainly have
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mentioned them many times as well people
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forget to put their phones into airplane
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mode and ramp up crazy costs on every
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cruise many passengers forget to set
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their watch clock or phone onto ship
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time and survive early or late for
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breakfast
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get excursion meeting times wrong they
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do or almost miss the ship this is
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pretty common when passing through time
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zones
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the third area is that passengers are
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not booking everything early
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particularly on big ships where there
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are lots of options and they get sold
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out quickly the crew said they really
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stress use that pre-cruise online planet
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to book dining excursions activities spa
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treatments and so on because they end up
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spending so much time with passengers
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frustrated that things are sold out they
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said if you don't do it before on
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embarkation day the minute you get on
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board go and book with one of the
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quickest ways via the interactive
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television or the app which means you
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don't have to line up and you often get
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those slots that are still available
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really quickly the crew have these tips
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but there are more tips that you can
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learn from in this video where i look at
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seven things that smart cruisers do
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starting with how they ignore the advice
10:50
that you'll find in many cruise articles
10:52
blogs and videos so i'll see you over
10:54
there
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