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I Always Choose A Cruise Cabin On This Deck. You Should Too!
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Jan 28, 2025
Where is the best place on a cruise ship to have your cabin? I’m changing the way I choose my cruise cabin after realising I had not properly factored in the best cruise deck to be on that can improved the experience and enjoyment of my trips. I’m not changing the basics I use to find a cabin, just adding to them as I’m now convinced there is a best place to be on cruise ship. There is a best deck and place along that deck too..... 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 87 cruises I have done to date. BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA ———————————————
View Video Transcript
0:00
i'm shaking up the way i choose my
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cruise cabin after realizing i had not
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been properly considering a factor that
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could have improved the experience and
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enjoyment of my trips i want to tell you
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about this to help you also
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up your cruise enjoyment if you're new
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here welcome aboard i'm gary bembridge
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and it's my goal to make it fun and easy
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to discover plan and enjoy unforgettable
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cruise vacations i'm not changing the
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basics i use to find a cabin just adding
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to them as i'm now convinced there is a
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best place to be on a cruise ship there
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is a best deck
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there are five things i do right now
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when it comes to my cabin first i decide
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which grade inside ocean view veranda or
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suite
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everything i'm going to talk about from
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here on applies to every single one of
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those grades i personally almost always
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go for a balcony reasons i've covered it
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in another video
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second i choose a fare that allows me to
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choose my own cabin so not a guaranteed
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fare with a cruise line choose the cabin
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one where i actually get to choose the
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cabin myself third i then make sure that
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the cabin that i'm picking is surrounded
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by cabins above below either side and
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ideally opposite this means that i avoid
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being above next to or near any noisy
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venues or busy spots on the ship
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fourth i make sure there is no
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interconnecting door so the television
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arguing or noisy neighbors will not be
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heard in my cabin
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and then i tick the box saying no to an
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auto upgrade because once i've chosen a
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cabin that meets these things i do not
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want to lose it by being upgraded to a
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cabin which is perhaps worse i was
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reminded how key this last step is as
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just today in fact i got a message from
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a channel follower june where they'd
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forgotten to tick the refuse auto
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upgrade button and had been upgraded to
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a cabin which they really didn't want to
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be in and they didn't like the problem
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is you have no chance to accept or
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reject the new cabin if you have agreed
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to auto upgrade and once the line has
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moved you it's almost impossible to get
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them to reverse it however
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even going through those five things it
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leaves me often with hundreds of cabins
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around the ship and not all of those get
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me in the best place on the ship as i
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found out on my last four cruises ships
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as we know can be huge with many many
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decks for example of the four ships i
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was on recently sky princess and regal
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princess had 19 decks pinot britannia
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had 18 and celebrity silhouette had 16
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however
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ships don't have as many decks as they
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say they do because most ships actually
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skip a deck
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so for example on most us and uk ships
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they leave out deck 13 so sky princess
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and regal have for example 18 not 19
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decks
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msc the italian line these are decks 17
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not 13 because italians are more
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superstitious about the number 17. so if
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you're on deck 12 and you want to go to
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deck 14 say on skype princess it's only
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one deck up not two now this is going to
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become really important when we start
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looking at which of the decks you should
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be on
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also
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when you look at the deck plans you will
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see there are other missing decks for
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example on sky princess the deck plans
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only start from deck 5 on celebrity
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silhouette at deck 3 and so on the
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missing decks are mostly for crew
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quarters and various ship operational
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facilities
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we have really limited access to those
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for example the medical center is often
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on the lower missing decks or we might
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pass through them when we disembarking
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in some ports or going on ship tenders
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some decks are then given very specific
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names and which are consistent across
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ships and these tend normally not to
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have passenger cabins there's a
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promenade deck or main deck as it's
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sometimes called this tends to be
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and the decks above or below on bigger
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ships where
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the bars are the main dining rooms
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theater casino and a lot of the
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entertainment venues are
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there's also a lido deck where the pool
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buffet restaurant usually fitness center
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perhaps the crow's nest bar overlooking
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the bow they're all on this deck there's
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usually a sun deck at the very top of
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the ship for sunbathing
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and a sports deck which might have a
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basketball court a crazy golf or
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whatever on why am i telling you this
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and what difference does it make to
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finding the best place and deck on a
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cruise ship well because i found knowing
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the quirks and layout of the ship makes
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sure that i and you can find your
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perfect place i've learned that the key
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is to make cruise ship deck plans your
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friend and really importantly to ignore
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totally the interactive deck plans the
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lions have on their websites because in
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my view they hide and they certainly
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make it harder to spot any issues
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instead i always download a pdf copy of
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the deck plans or i use ones in the
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brochure also i make sure that that
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specific plan covers the dates of my
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crews because there are often different
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versions because when ships go into
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regular dry docks tweaks and changes
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made to layouts and venues are added or
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moved with that in mind and deck plan in
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hand here are my tips around which of
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the decks you should be on
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first as a general principle but then
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i'm also going to give you some tips
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around specific destinations because in
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some cases the deck you should be on
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changes by itinerary well first of all
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there's decks that i make sure my cabin
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is not on i avoid the deck below the
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lido deck for example this is where you
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can and i have been affected by noise
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and disruptions for much of the day and
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into the night from pool parties
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scraping chairs early morning throughout
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the day under the buffet there's often
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noise if you below the fitness center
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you can be disturbed with the pumping
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music from the fitness classes or people
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dropping weights and it does actually
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get really annoying the same with the
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sports deck where you can have people
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thumping around on there so next i then
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avoid decks above and below the
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promenade or the main deck here you've
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got the theater you've got night music
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venues night club bars main dining room
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and things like the kitchens i then
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avoid any decks where people can walk or
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stand in front of my cabin now on
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classic cruise ships this is pretty
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unusual though some new ships like piano
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iona does have actually balcony cabins
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on the promenade deck which people can
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walk past and look into your room or
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watch you sitting on the balcony i've
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been on smaller ships and particularly
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on expedition ships where which have
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public decks outside my cabin people
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tend to congregate there to view the
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scenery
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watch the wildlife and it can actually
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be pretty disruptive and a little bit
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annoying now most of those decks i was
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already actually discounting by working
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through my existing five steps to find a
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cabin so where did i find on top of this
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i now also need to focus this is where
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the learning i made on those recent
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trips has come into play well first of
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all i learnt a lesson from my experience
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on regal princess compared to that on
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sky princess both with the same number
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of decks on regal
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i was on a lower level deck and found
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multiple times a day i had the long trek
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to get up to the buffet to go back to
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the fitness center to go up to the pool
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and then back down again it was made
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worse because the number of people
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allowed to use the elevators at that
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time was restricted because i was on a
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cruise just after shutdown so i found
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myself having to track up and down at
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least six stacks multiple times a day to
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do those different activities
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now of course as limits on using
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elevators eases i'm not sure i am
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perhaps you i'm that comfortable being
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crammed into lifts like we used to be
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with lots of people but anyway
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second to that though if you have
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mobility issues this
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actually becomes a really big issue it
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just adds to all your hassle so i
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realize the key
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is to think about where i spend most of
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the time on any particular cruise and it
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tends to be the lower decks like the
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promenade main deck you know going to
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the main dining room guest services the
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theater the casino the bars it's where
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most of the evening activities take
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place the other place i spend a lot of
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time on is the upper decks like i
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mentioned the lido buffet gym pools hot
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tubs sail away and other deck parties
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i and i'm sure you spend most of the
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time then at the top and the bottom of
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the ship so simply i now aim to be on
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the deck absolutely midway between those
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again remembering there is that missing
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deck so checking with the exact middle
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deck
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is
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the absolute key in that process so if
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i'm heading up from my cabin to the
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joomla pool i only have a few decks to
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go
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up if i'm heading down from my cabin to
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go to the theater again i only have a
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few decks to go up and down i'm actually
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comparing my phone tracker the number of
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steps and stairs i worked on regal
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princess on a lower deck versus sky
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princess whereas on a more middle deck
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it was dramatically different it was
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just so much less hassle and time
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however
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being on the right deck is not the only
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consideration wear on that deck is also
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key i used to always choose midships
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as it means less movement
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but there's more to consider as i found
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on piano britannia for example where
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being midships meant i was some distance
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from the stairs and the lifts because
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they only had one set of stairs and
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lifts at the front of the ship and
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another near the rear of the ship
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so that's a consideration now to ensure
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that i'm closer to a set of stairs and
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lifts because it just makes life so much
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easier on britannia it was a big
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distance either way now some vloggers
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and cruise commentators argue that being
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at the end of the corridor is advised
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because there's less traffic less people
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walking by and so it'll be quieter
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because there are few people walking
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past your cabin i have a different view
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if you like the view over the bow of the
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ship or like the view of the wake of the
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ship at the rear that's the reason to do
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that not the other reason i don't think
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that traffic is a big issue in deciding
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where you should be on a particular deck
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however there may be some other
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considerations
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where on the deck you should be for
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example being at the rear of the ship
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means you're closer and have more direct
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access to the buffet and the main dining
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rooms because these are usually towards
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the rear the back of the ship if you're
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very into fitness and the spa you may
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want to be the front of the ship as they
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tend to be there and so again easier to
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access if you are worried about
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seasickness the rules on best deck
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actually still apply in my view you can
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go low close to the waterline and middle
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of the ship as is the most common advice
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but they tend to be inside or ocean view
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cabins and normally actually under the
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main or the promenade deck
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i would still though if you're worried
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about sea sickness go for a balcony
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cabin in a more middle deck and be
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midships on that particular deck because
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easy access to fresh air and seeing and
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watching the horizon are also great ways
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of dealing with seasickness if you're
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worried about that the only time a low
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deck may be ideal and i would go low
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is on
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cruises where you've got guaranteed
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rough seas so for example drake passage
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heading to antarctic peninsula or
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perhaps a winter transatlantic crossing
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on queen mary 2. but does being in the
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middle deck rather than
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higher up mean that i'm actually giving
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up the best views on a cruise in my
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experience on all the scenic cruises
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i've been on i can see that you get
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fantastic views on the middle deck in
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alaska it's more eye level with the
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glaciers going through the panama canal
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it's closer to the wars and the mules
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that help guide the ship through you're
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perfectly close enough high enough to
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get fantastic views you don't have to go
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totally high up and again you've got
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which will be a big plus the the
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convenience of heading up or down to the
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activities on the ship if the scenic
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cruising often you might want to be
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right at the top of the ship anyway or
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you might want to be out on the
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promenade deck despite all of this
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though there are still bad cameras on a
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ship so watch this video where i start
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talking about the worst cabin on a
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cruise ship to avoid
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see you over there
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