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4 Critical Things You Need To Do BEFORE Cruising in 2022
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Jan 28, 2025
If you are planning, or wondering if you should, cruise this year in 2022 with everything going on and all the uncertainty and changes, I have 4 essential questions and tips to help you navigate cruising this year. Including some key advice I have based on things that went well and less well for me as I tried cruising this year 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
the cruise lines are telling wall street
0:01
that 2022 bookings are weakening
0:04
significantly which is not a surprise to
0:06
me as i've been asked all the time by
0:08
potential cruisers if they should go
0:10
cruising anytime soon or importantly
0:13
even this year at all now i've been
0:15
cruising fairly regularly since the end
0:17
of lockdown and through these variant
0:19
surges but found many challenges issues
0:21
and things to consider i've managed to
0:23
boil it all down to four big questions
0:26
that i suggest everybody needs to ask
0:29
before considering cruising this year
0:31
and more importantly through those
0:33
mistakes and experiences i have very
0:35
specific actions and things you must do
0:38
if after these questions you want to go
0:40
cruising by the way if you're new here
0:42
welcome aboard i'm gary bembridge and
0:45
it's my goal to make it fun and easy to
0:47
discover plan and enjoy unforgettable
0:50
cruise vacations first you need to ask
0:52
if you are able and more importantly
0:55
willing to keep on top of the constantly
0:58
changing rules and of course be willing
1:01
to adapt and change plans constantly as
1:04
the rules change often
1:06
during the trip without getting stressed
1:08
out and that's really really important
1:10
for example just two days before i left
1:13
for panama to join a cruise on oceania
1:16
panama changed the rules around
1:17
vaccination this then required three
1:20
doses to avoid any of the restrictions
1:22
and the quarantining which could have
1:24
thrown up any chances of getting on the
1:26
ship whilst on my panant antarctica trip
1:29
the uk changed the type of test that i
1:32
was required to do for my return which
1:34
meant scrabbling around finding a new
1:35
test center before my flight home on the
1:38
cruise i'm just back from in the
1:40
caribbean as i record this ports were
1:42
constantly changing import restrictions
1:45
which we would often only discover the
1:48
night before or even on the day after
1:51
we'd docked saint lucia barbados and
1:53
saint kitts decided for example we could
1:56
only go on cruise line bubble excursions
1:58
or we could use government-approved
2:00
taxis to a smallest of
2:02
government-approved locations we were
2:04
only aware of that often the day before
2:06
as i said getting into those ports and
2:08
then how to make plans based on that so
2:10
if you decide you are happy to travel
2:13
with these changing rules like i am
2:15
what should you do to make this easier
2:18
and definitely less stressful well first
2:21
of all get someone else to do much of
2:23
the work i book all my cruises through a
2:25
travel agent sarah bolton of travel
2:26
counsellors now i know and trust her and
2:30
she's proven herself to be up to date
2:32
and very proactive in terms of tracking
2:34
and letting me know of rule changes and
2:36
helping me make the changes i need to
2:38
make
2:39
her agency very importantly also has a
2:42
24-hour helpline that i can contact by
2:45
phone but really importantly i can
2:47
contact them by email this is really key
2:49
when you're on the ship and of course
2:50
you have sea days and can't use the
2:52
phone
2:53
second i make sure i read every single
2:56
document that the cruise lines send me
2:59
in detail for example from both hundred
3:01
american oceanic cruises i've just done
3:04
almost every single day in the run-up to
3:06
these cruises there were emails
3:08
announcing
3:09
reinforcing or changing rules and there
3:12
were many many changes
3:14
make sure you read every single one of
3:16
them because i know that if i don't do
3:18
the actions and i miss anything the
3:20
lines could refuse and will refuse me
3:22
boarding and any refusal of boarding is
3:25
at my own expense
3:27
the third critical thing is i found that
3:30
travellers need to be tech savvy to
3:33
navigate all of this
3:34
you need to be good with a smartphone or
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a tablet people without these
3:38
i saw getting really stressed out and
3:40
struggling because they had to complete
3:43
these various country and cruise line
3:45
forms online they had to change
3:46
arrangements online you need to be able
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to access emails you need a device to to
3:51
pull up because there's various forms of
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qr codes you have to scan and basically
3:55
to stay in touch with any changes you
3:57
need to be tech savvy also once you're
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on board nowadays the cruise lines have
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shifted many many of the cruise
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materials and bookings onto their
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smartphone app i watched the new mustard
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drill process on the app i reviewed the
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daily program on the app i booked dinner
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times i booked a slot at some events and
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venues and i reserved excursions on the
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apps they've become fundamental to the
4:20
cruise experience of course you can get
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help in person from the crew to do many
4:25
of these things
4:26
as well
4:27
and you won't be excluded but i've
4:29
definitely seen less tech savvy
4:31
passengers get really stressed and it's
4:33
been pretty fraught on many of these
4:35
trips i've done because they're starting
4:36
to navigate these changes and the
4:38
country and line and port requirements
4:40
and all the forms however there's an
4:42
even more
4:43
fundamental question to ask that could
4:45
be the killer one on whether you should
4:47
cruise or not will you be comfortable
4:49
with whatever protocols the cruise lines
4:52
will have in place when you cruise
4:55
really really important
4:57
we will not know exactly what those
5:00
protocols will be until the time of the
5:04
cruise now this really struck home to me
5:05
when i received an email just the other
5:07
day for one of the followers of the
5:09
channel saying their wife had said that
5:11
she refused to go on their cruise if she
5:15
had to wear a mask now they've got a
5:16
cruise booked in seven months and he
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wants to know what should he do
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now my point to him was we have no idea
5:24
what the protocols will be throughout
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this year and neither do the cruise
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lines
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there are some key protocols which i'm
5:31
assuming are going to stay for a while
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if not for much of the year and i
5:35
recommend you work on this basis first
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vaccinations
5:39
i think if you can't have or don't want
5:42
to have a vaccine or soon a booster then
5:45
cruising as a vacation option i think
5:48
is going to be impossible or extremely
5:51
restricted and basically i wouldn't
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change a one to be honest the cruise
5:54
lines are extending their vaccine
5:56
mandates further into the year
5:58
and the requirement for fully vaccinated
6:01
to mean you have to have had a booster
6:03
is gaining speed rapidly
6:06
i received emails in just the two days
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before i recorded this from three lines
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that i've got bookings with this year
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silversea
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viking and azamara they've all advised
6:16
that i must have a booster to be able to
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cruise and basically board with them
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piano and cunard in the uk as i'm
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recording this they've already required
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boosters for the cruisers that are
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operating at the moment
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even carnival cruise line
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they said that they will follow whatever
6:34
rules the us cdc have and they are
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indicating the cdcr that they're likely
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to change the definition of fully
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vaccinated to include boosters which may
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have happened even by the time that you
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watch this and other governments around
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the world are saying the same thing
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growing number of countries that
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cruisers call on like panama as i've
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already mentioned
6:53
are requiring boosters or vaccines
6:55
within a certain time frame to happen
6:59
before people can enter the country i
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can't even enter the united states at
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the moment without being vaccinated to
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join a cruise because the us only let
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vaccinated travelers in
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the cruise lines will have to keep
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vaccines i believe as part of the
7:14
protocols because basically so many
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countries require a vaccine before you
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can even enter so they're going to just
7:21
have to do it if they want to do their
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itineraries the second protocol is
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around mask now mask wearing mandates
7:27
will likely have a time diminish or be
7:29
reduced less clear to me though is
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around lower capacity social distancing
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on ships and how quickly they will be
7:35
able to build back or decide to build
7:37
back to higher load levels this brings
7:40
me though to a related question one that
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i personally am really wrestling with
7:45
how comfortable will you be if they lift
7:48
all the protocols if the lines say we're
7:50
now selling with full ships no social
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distancing no masks or even lifting the
7:54
vaccine rules how comfortable will you
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be getting on a ship on that basis i
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think there's many
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who will not be comfortable with that
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change once they all think about it and
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i'm a little bit in that camp to be
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honest i've been on quite a few cruises
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now since shut down all at very reduced
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capacity my holland american new staten
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down was around 30
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other cruises i've been on including
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celebrity princess viking and even
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antarctica we had only 50 capacity on
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all those cruises i'm now used to space
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no crowds no busy places on board it is
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very reassuring i noticed for example
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when i was on my last cruise that people
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were already informally socially
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distancing in the theater with no rules
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and if a stranger came and sat down next
8:43
to someone
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people would get up and move to build
8:46
space in between them and the new
8:48
arrivals so even though that wasn't part
8:51
of the rules people clearly are
8:53
feeling the need for space so how
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comfortable will i and you
8:58
be with full theaters full excursion
9:00
buses full ships and so on if you're not
9:04
comfortable to cruise
9:05
not knowing what the protocols will be
9:07
in place
9:08
when you cruise
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i've got some really key actions and
9:11
tips that i think you should take first
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look at delaying or pushing back your
9:15
cruise now if you're not comfortable
9:18
with whatever the protocol is going to
9:19
be but even if you are happy to go
9:21
without clarity on protocols
9:24
still understand the rules the key
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decision dates and what flexibility your
9:28
fare in your line is offering in case
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the protocols when it gets close to the
9:32
cruise are not suitable for you
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check if the line is offering you a
9:36
cruise with confidence fare or your fair
9:39
falls within that because that will
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allow you even once you've paid final
9:42
balance to cancel or postpone your
9:44
cruise i made a mistake of not checking
9:46
that on my last cruise and realized too
9:48
late that i could only cancel 30 days
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before departure with no penalty and
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only thought about it afterwards so if
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booking a new cruise go for a refundable
9:57
deposit or a very low one for example i
10:00
recently booked a christmas 2022 cruise
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on westerdam it only has about 120
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pounds about 170 deposit so if i have to
10:08
lose that it's not a catastrophic
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financial hit but if you have any
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reservations
10:14
about protocols do not pay your final
10:16
balance and move your cruise because
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once you've paid your final balance even
10:21
if you delay you'll only get a future
10:23
cruise credit and you'll have all that
10:24
money tied up with the cruise line that
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you can't move around to other
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opportunities but there is another thing
10:30
to consider based on the type of cruise
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that you are doing and another question
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you should ask is the cruise you doing
10:37
or planning a bucket list cruise perhaps
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one that you've always wanted to do and
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may only do once in your life or maybe
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there's a destination a port or activity
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in a port
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that's fundamental to why you're going
10:51
on that particular cruise
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there's no certainty on when lines and
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ports are going to be able to deliver
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everything
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so are you willing to pay a full fare
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and not get that experience that you
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have as your big must-do list i got no
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compensation for a change of port from
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martinique to grenada or a council
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thomas call on my caribbean cruise and
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neither have other people i've spoken to
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who've had even more port cancellations
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now i was happy and definitely happy to
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go to the caribbean knowing that the
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ports could chop and change because
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basically all of them were offering what
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i wanted to do i wanted to escape
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european winter i wanted to get some sun
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i wanted to go to the beach i wanted to
11:31
swim in the sea so whether i was doing
11:32
that in grenada or martinique or saint
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thomas was much less important to me it
11:37
was going to the caribbean and
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experience and that that was important
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but if martinique had been fundamental
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to my going this would have been a very
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different
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thought and idea about that cruise
11:49
now for example i've got a baltic cruise
11:51
this summer and knowing that i will get
11:54
to saint petersburg is essential to that
11:56
cruise so for this particular cruise i
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bought cancellation insurance that i can
12:01
cancel for any reason because i couldn't
12:03
get that cruise with confidence fair but
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also linked to this ask if there are
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specific things that you want to do
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onboard the ship or in a port that's
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fundamental to the experience if you're
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doing a cruise where the itinerary
12:17
or onboard activities are absolutely key
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to you then i do have a couple of tips
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around what you should be doing first if
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you have an absolute must-do must go to
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place look at your options now to move
12:31
and if you don't move it at least know
12:33
the key decision dates where you can
12:34
shift without penalties you know if
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you're doing a bucket list cruise you
12:38
want to make sure you go when it's going
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to happen second if you're making a new
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booking for that bucket list cruise look
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for a fair that offers changes close to
12:46
the cruise or with low financial risk
12:49
like that christmas cruise that i've
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mentioned with only that 175 deposits so
12:53
you're not locking in potentially using
12:55
a lot of money there's one question
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though that few people seem to ask which
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in my view is one of the most essential
13:02
because it could make a huge difference
13:04
to how your trip plays out and the costs
13:07
involved this is asking exactly what
13:10
happens if you test positive for covert
13:12
or a close contact of someone who tests
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positive on board and importantly who's
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going to cover any costs of isolation
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quarantining and any medical care if you
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need it i found the cruise lines have
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not made it that easy to find out what
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all of these things will be
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although interestingly on my most recent
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cruise on oceania they were the first to
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send me in detail in a pre cruise email
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and i'm prompted what happens if i test
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positive so for example testing positive
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in the pre-boarding test
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would mean five days quarantining in a
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hotel in panama arranged and covered by
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oceania
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testing positive and symptomatic would
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mean 10 days quarantine on board if the
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cruise ends before that time is up then
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i would have to be disembarked into a
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hotel which again was arranged and
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covered by them until the 10 days was up
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if i was asymptomatic and had been in
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quarantine for at least five days when
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the cruise ended i would be allowed to
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disembark as planned and travel home
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this is the first time i had
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detailed information without prompting
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most lines i've been on positive
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passengers by the way are moved from
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their cabins to dedicated cabins in a
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secure restricted area on the ship
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but close contacts are usually
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quarantined in the cabin they've booked
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now these rules actually differ by
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region as well which is why it's
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important you ask in the caribbean
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isolated passengers and crew are kept on
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the ship or sometimes transferred to a
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separate dedicated quarantining ship
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however in europe
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positive and close contact guests are
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not kept on the ship they're usually
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removed from the ship for their
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isolation and in all these cases the
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cruise lines was covering the costs the
14:58
transfers home was arranged costs were
15:00
covered but it's important to understand
15:02
what happens and with units down the
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ship will be disembarked and when now
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this is what i do and what i recommend
15:09
around this area
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if you have any concerns which i think
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you should have first
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get your travel agent or the line to
15:16
confirm
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what will happen at all stages and who
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will be covering the costs including if
15:22
you will be refunded any of your fare
15:25
while you put in isolation
15:27
second have insurance that covers covert
15:29
issues like quarantining returning home
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and medical i make sure i've got
15:33
insurance that covers that thirdly and
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very importantly if you're traveling to
15:37
a foreign country to catch crews like
15:38
i've been doing time it so you can do
15:41
the required cruise line pcr antigen
15:43
test for boarding the line at home
15:46
before you fly so you don't have to do
15:48
it once you get there so if you test
15:50
positive then you don't have to sort out
15:52
and pay for your quarantine and miss the
15:54
cruise in a foreign country
15:56
fundamental to this whole thing
16:00
and cruising now is flexibility if
16:02
you're flexible and you know that you
16:04
will not get stressed by some of this
16:06
uncertainty some of things i've been
16:07
talking about then keep going but why
16:10
not find out more about what it's like
16:12
to cruise right now during the current
16:14
situation take a look at this video
16:16
where i show you in detail exactly what
16:18
it's like starting with one of the
16:19
things that i probably thought was going
16:21
to be a massive issue but turned out not
16:23
to be and one that caught and completely
16:26
blindsided me
16:28
see you over there
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