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Cruise line glossy brochures and their enticing adverts promise a carefree and trouble-free vacation, BUT they don’t tell the whole story. There are several important things that can and do significantly impact us as passengers that the lines seem reluctant to talk about or be upfront about.
Welcome aboard, I'm Gary Bembridge and join me as I unmask five unspoken things that directly affect us all, and why I believe you need to know more about them.
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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 101 cruises I have done to date.
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00:00 Start
00:27 Hidden Operators
04:45 Being Watched
06:30 Man Overboard
07:28 Not All Countries Equal
09:02 Hidden Cruise Contract Issues
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0:00
Cruise Line glossy brochures and their
0:02
adverts promise a carefree and
0:04
trouble-free vacation but they don't
0:07
tell the whole story there are several
0:09
important things that can and do
0:11
significantly impact us as passengers
0:13
that the lines seem reluctant to talk
0:15
about or be upfront about welcome aboard
0:18
I'm Gary bambridge and join me as I
0:20
unmask five unspoken things that
0:23
directly affect us all and why I believe
0:25
you need to know more about them most
0:28
passengers assume that everything on the
0:29
ship is operated by the cruise line
0:31
itself however this is far from the
0:33
truth several high-profile onboard
0:36
facilities and activities are run by
0:38
thirdparty contractors this has
0:41
significant implications for us
0:43
passengers because bu deep in the cruise
0:45
contract cruise lines say they will not
0:47
accept liability for those contractors
0:49
activities even if we have serious
0:52
issues with them one that surprises many
0:54
is that on several lines the medical
0:56
centers are run by Third parties while
1:00
that are part of the carnival
1:01
Corporation Norwegian Cruise group and
1:03
Royal Caribbean group appear to have
1:05
their own Cruise Line operated medical
1:08
centers some other major lines have them
1:10
staffed and run by external companies
1:13
like vicand vanta Cruise health services
1:16
and Marine Medical Solutions at the time
1:18
of recording lines including Viking
1:20
virgin voyagers Ritz Carlton Saga
1:23
Azamara Crystal Disney WinStar and
1:26
seedream are some of those listed as
1:28
clients of those companies almost all
1:31
Cruise Lines contract out their spas and
1:33
fitness centers and most to a company
1:35
called one Spa world based on the
1:37
website they currently operate Spar for
1:39
21 Cruise Lines this includes Carnival
1:43
celebrity Crystal kunard Holland America
1:45
Norwegian Cruise Line Oceania Princess
1:48
Royal Caribbean Seaborn and so on
1:50
despite the unique branding of each line
1:52
Spa such as Lotus Spar on Princess and
1:55
Mandara Spar on Norwegian they are all
1:58
run by that same company
2:00
the spa staff who do not work with the
2:02
cruise line rely heavily on commissions
2:04
from selling products and upselling
2:06
services to us passengers hence that
2:09
heavy sell at the end of every treatment
2:11
and the constant push to buy treatment
2:14
packages in one of her posts about her
2:16
time working as a massage and Beauty
2:18
therapist in ship Spar Lucy who runs
2:21
cruising as crew YouTube channel and
2:23
blog said it is very sales-driven you'll
2:26
be given targets and expected to hit
2:28
them this comes from the expectation
2:31
that you will sell something to every
2:34
guest that you have other than MC
2:36
cruises it seems the shops on most
2:38
cruise ships are not operated by the
2:40
lines themselves instead thirdparty
2:43
companies run them too the two main ones
2:47
are lvmh's starboard crew services that
2:50
run shops for 15 lines including
2:52
celebrity carnival Holland America Royal
2:54
Caribbean and virgin voyages the other
2:57
is the uk-based Harding plus which runs
3:00
shops for 14 lines including kunard
3:02
fedelon Oceania Princess P cruises and
3:05
Regent this means that the staff in
3:07
their shops are not employed by the
3:09
cruise line but by those companies and
3:12
their salary is largely commission based
3:14
this explains the frequent promotions
3:17
and constant sale events on board
3:19
additionally those Port shopping
3:21
advisers on Caribbean Alaska and
3:23
Mediterranean sailings who give talks
3:25
with prize draws for attending free
3:27
gifts Collectibles and also provide
3:29
shopping maps of the recommended shops
3:31
in Port are also not employed by the
3:34
cruise line they work for companies like
3:37
lvmh's onboard media and PPI selling at
3:41
C and the cruise lines receive
3:43
significant fees for those arrangements
3:45
from the stores that PID to take part
3:47
and then commissions from the sales
3:50
surprisingly many lines do not hire
3:52
their own photographers nor run their
3:54
own photoshops and these are also run by
3:57
contractors on many lines hence again
3:59
while photographers are often pretty
4:01
pushy about taking off photographs
4:03
because they're very reliant on
4:04
generating sales speaking to onboard
4:08
photographers they confirm to me that
4:10
they earn a small basic salary and most
4:12
of their earnings come from taking loads
4:14
of photos of us and encouraging us to
4:17
buy them and of course selling us photo
4:20
packages I think many passengers do
4:22
realize that cruise lines do not run the
4:24
art auctions and sales on board as the
4:26
Twan companies running them do make it
4:28
pretty clear that they're not part of
4:30
the cruise line these are Park West that
4:33
are most lines and the uk-based claran
4:36
Fine Art which is on qod and P but again
4:40
as with the others it means you're not
4:42
dealing with the cruise line if you have
4:44
any issues most Cruisers don't
4:46
appreciate that they're being recorded
4:48
and can be tracked constantly cruise
4:51
ships are equipped with extensive
4:53
surveillance systems including CCTV
4:55
cameras in every public area all the
4:58
corridors the only on most ships not
5:01
covered by cameras are inside the cabins
5:03
inside restrooms and of course Spa
5:05
changing rooms most lines also use
5:07
sophisticated facial recognition
5:09
technology to identify passengers the
5:13
photo that we take at check-in or the
5:15
one that we submit when checking in
5:17
online is used by this to make the
5:20
system work it does then everything from
5:22
identifying Us in photos that the ship
5:24
photographer takes so we can basically
5:26
find any photos by entering our cabin
5:28
number on those screens in the photos
5:29
Center it does things like identifying
5:31
individuals involved in or witness to an
5:34
incident and in some cases it's used for
5:36
checking passengers on and off the ship
5:39
some cruise lines like princess Cruisers
5:41
have taken tracking a step further with
5:43
their wearable princess Medallion device
5:46
this not only opens the cabin door
5:49
allows us to order and charge drinks and
5:51
onboard purchases to our cabin but also
5:54
tracks our location around the ship and
5:56
enables crew to address Us by name
5:58
because it flashes up the picture and
6:00
our name on their devices or at the
6:02
restaurant check-in desk when we
6:04
approach it on your next cruise I
6:06
encourage you to look up and around and
6:08
you'll be surprised just how many CCTV
6:11
cameras you see everywhere and remember
6:14
that while they may not be on your
6:16
balcony CCTV cameras do have visibility
6:20
on them something you should consider if
6:21
you're thinking of any adult or new
6:23
sunbathing activity out on your balcony
6:26
there is though one surveillance
6:27
technology that most cruise ships do not
6:30
have but many feel they should it
6:33
appears that very few ships have Man
6:35
Overboard detection systems these
6:38
systems which use thermal cameras and
6:40
micro Radars are designed to detect when
6:42
someone has gone overboard they cost
6:44
around $200,000 per ship to install
6:47
according to one of the companies that
6:48
makes them the Mars's motronic system
6:52
cruise lines are reluctant to comment or
6:55
say how many ships do have them but the
6:57
most recent reports I could find Claim
6:59
that only 30 ships or from Carnival and
7:02
Disney have these systems installed
7:04
there are over 300 cruise ships sailing
7:08
data from clear the cruise line
7:09
International Association reports that
7:11
between 19 and 25 people do go overboard
7:15
every year so without these systems
7:17
cruise lines can only confirm and react
7:19
after being notified of a Man Overboard
7:22
incident and then of course confirming
7:23
by reviewing CCTV footage and of course
7:26
anyone citing incidents passengers from
7:28
different countries countries often
7:30
receive very different treatment when
7:31
booking cruises this includes fairs Fair
7:34
inclusions and exclusion booking terms
7:37
deposits and final payment terms this is
7:40
largely driven by different rules
7:42
regulations cultural differences and
7:44
market and competitive Norms or even
7:46
focused by the cruise lines for example
7:49
USA residents have the option of
7:50
refundable deposits but UK residents
7:53
booking the UK never have that option us
7:56
residents booking a qot queen's Grill
7:58
suite for example at the time of making
8:00
this has the drinks package including in
8:01
the fair but any of the country resident
8:03
does not have to buy a separate drinks
8:05
package but on the other hand UK
8:06
residents booking a viking Crews have
8:08
normal 90-day final balance payments
8:11
while in the United States it appears
8:13
they usually have to be paid up to a
8:15
year before the cruise Australians
8:17
booking a cruise will have gratuities
8:19
included in the fair because tipping is
8:22
not part of their culture I could go on
8:24
and quote many many more examples
8:26
because there's so many cases where the
8:27
Lions have different perks terms and
8:30
conditions and fairs based on the
8:32
country you reside in now most lines
8:34
will also only allow us to book a cruise
8:37
with an agent in the country that we
8:39
reside in and even if say due to
8:41
exchange rate changes we can see a fair
8:43
for a cruise that we want to book is
8:44
more attractive to book another country
8:47
cruise lines will not allow us to do
8:49
this when we book a cruise we
8:51
automatically accept the cruise line
8:53
terms and conditions in their Cruise
8:55
contract but few of us ever read the
8:57
small print which if you do you
8:59
discovered contains some rather
9:01
surprising things they keep hidden for
9:04
example we agree the cruise line can
9:06
search our baggage person and cabin at
9:08
any time they want they can confine us
9:10
to our cabin or in the ship's Brig which
9:12
is the onboard prison with no
9:14
compensation for a range of reasons you
9:16
know suspect norovirus Co or of course
9:18
in the case of the brg disruptive or
9:21
criminal Behavior we also agree that we
9:23
can be disembarked at our own cost if
9:25
the captain decides we should for any
9:27
reason importantly they also say that
9:30
they can change itineries or not call on
9:32
advertised ports if they deem it
9:34
necessary for any reason again without
9:37
compensation I get contacted frequently
9:40
by upset passengers that a key port they
9:42
booked the cruise for is dropped or
9:44
could not be called on of course this
9:47
can be out of the control of the cruise
9:48
line due to severe weather or as in the
9:52
case as I make this lines can't stop
9:54
into San Juan due to unplanned peer
9:57
repairs but it could also be for sudden
9:59
Financial other reasons that happen so
10:01
for example as I record this lines are
10:03
abruptly dropping According to some
10:05
Icelandic ports following a sudden
10:07
addition of new fees some lines say that
10:10
they can take photographs and video
10:12
images of us and they even use them in
10:14
marketing or advertising material
10:16
without paying us but at the same time
10:19
some say that they can stop or restrict
10:21
us taking photographs or videos on their
10:24
ships this actually happens not often
10:27
but it does for example the Vlog AUST
10:29
Ben and David of Cru with Ben and David
10:31
have spoken in the past about being
10:33
stopped filming on MSC cruises some
10:36
lines even say they can require us to
10:38
take down images or posts that we've
10:41
placed on social media or on blogs now
10:43
my friend Sarah was once asked to take a
10:45
post down much to a shock after she'
10:48
posted some issues on a maiden voyage
10:50
that she was on there is one area that
10:53
is full of surprises and things the lies
10:55
do not talk about much when it comes to
10:58
the cruise ship sh crew for example I
11:00
was shocked to discover from a senior
11:02
officer on a recent cruise that on many
11:04
lines people doing the same job on a
11:07
ship get paid different salaries based
11:09
on which country they come from and the
11:11
prevailing wages in those countries to
11:14
find out more about this and other
11:15
things you probably don't know about
11:17
cruise ship crew join me over in this
11:19
video see you over there
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