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I Put 8 Underrated Cruise Tips To The Test! Here's What Happened
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Jun 29, 2025
I’m just back from a 7-night Sky Princess Scandinavian cruise where I challenged myself to test out eight cruise tips I think cruisers massively under-estimate, including one that I have seen totally wreck entire trips – and almost created a massive problem for me. Links mentioned in the video: ** Get at least 10% off "The Wander Club" collectible tokens of landmarks, cities and countries using https://www.TheWanderClub.com/TFT and use "TFT" at check out For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * TeePublic Store: https://tipsfortravellers.dashery.com * Teespring Store: https://tips-for-travellers-youtube.creator-spring.com * Fourthwall: https://gary-bembridge-1-shop.fourthwall.com Book Cruise Port Excursions * Venture Ashore: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/excursions * Shore Excursions Group: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/shoreexcursions
View Video Transcript
0:00
i'm just back from a seven night Sky
0:01
Princess Scandinavian cruise where I
0:03
challenged myself to test out eight
0:05
cruise tips I think cruisers massively
0:08
underestimate including one that I've
0:10
seen totally wreck entire trips and
0:12
almost created a massive problem for me
0:15
as you'll hear welcome aboard i'm Gary
0:17
Benbridge and the first underage tip is
0:20
for any of you that post about your
0:22
cruise adventures on social media a
0:24
lesson I learned the hard way the day I
0:26
boarded this trip despite having just
0:29
been reminded about the perils a week
0:32
before boarding Sky Princess I read
0:34
about Tiffany Banks from Kentucky USA
0:36
whose
0:37
$15,000 presidential sweet cruise on
0:40
Carnival Celebration was cancelled 2
0:42
days before departure she had excitedly
0:46
been posting on social media about her
0:47
cruise but inadvisably ignored the
0:50
underrated tip about never showing any
0:53
booking documentation someone spitefully
0:56
had zoomed into that noted down the
0:58
booking reference and used it to log
1:01
into the booking and cancelled the trip
1:04
tiffany lost her entire $15,000 because
1:08
Carnival would not accept any liability
1:10
because the cruise was canceled with the
1:12
correct and relevant booking number and
1:14
due to the timing meant 100% of the fair
1:17
was forfeited under the terms and
1:19
conditions i too did not fully follow
1:22
this underrated tip about not posting
1:24
personal information and it caused me a
1:27
big problem the day I boarded Sky
1:29
Princess I posted a YouTube video where
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I showed a demo of how to use an eSIM on
1:35
a mobile phone when you're on a cruise
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now having been reminded by Tiffany's
1:40
experience of the risk of sharing
1:41
personal information I had blanked out
1:43
my personal mobile phone number well I
1:47
thought I had because I'd not realized
1:49
that in the transition to one of the
1:51
shots the blurring lifted slightly just
1:53
enough to reveal my number luckily
1:57
minutes after posting a loyal follower
1:59
spotted it and messaged me using my
2:02
number that he'd seen to prove the point
2:04
and I was able though to go in and
2:06
quickly blur it out however due to the
2:08
risk that less well-meaning people had
2:10
actually seen my number I decided I
2:12
needed to change my number which has
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been I tell you a real hassle if you
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have a post about your cruise a flight a
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hotel or any travel plans an underrated
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tip is to never include any
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documentation tickets anything with
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personal information on even if you
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think or trying to cover it up it could
2:33
slip through like mine did and it could
2:35
be used to ruin your trip now on to
2:37
other underrated trips that are perhaps
2:39
a bit more positive and should
2:41
significantly improve your trip the
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second of those that I put to the test
2:45
successfully is not going to the buffet
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on imbulcation day so when I embarked
2:50
Sky Princess in Southampton it was
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packed it was busy and I knew the buffet
2:55
was going to be frantic so I looked and
2:59
checked for alternatives i saw that one
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of the main dining rooms was open
3:03
instead of the packed buffet where it
3:04
was hard to find a table at a calm tasty
3:07
and leisurely lunch making a great start
3:09
to the cruise i could also by the way
3:11
have gone to Alfredo's Pizza Restaurant
3:13
which is also less manic and frantic
3:15
looking for an alternative dining venue
3:17
to the buffet is an underrated tip in my
3:19
view for imbulcation day once underway
3:22
on the cruise I put another underrated
3:25
trip to the test also with really great
3:28
success on the Sky Princess cruise we
3:31
caught into three ports I've been to
3:32
before Christian Oslo and Copenhagen so
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I decided to use the underrated tip of
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staying on board during the last two
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because I'd been to both of them fairly
3:42
recently it meant I could have a
3:44
leisurely breakfast in the main dining
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room which was quiet because everyone
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else was rushing ashore to explore or to
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go on their tours i took advantage of
3:53
port day spa offers which had up to 50%
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off i went to the quiet fitness center
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to work out i didn't have to wait to use
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any of the equipment i managed to get a
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lounge exactly where I wanted i could
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swim in the pool alone i could use the
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hot tubs without them being full i could
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go to Al Alfredo's Pizza for lunch it's
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normally heaving on sea days it was very
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calm and great i could also enjoy other
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facilities you know I could speak to the
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future cruise team they weren't rushing
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to get through waiting guests and of
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course I saved some money by not paying
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for the excursions i It was just great
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having the ship more to myself staying
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on board on pool days is very underrated
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especially if on large ships with lots
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of facilities which are packed and hard
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to access on sea days for me another of
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the most underrated tips is being able
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to self-d disembark at the end of the
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cruise by packing smart and taking a
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smaller suitcase if you can carry all
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your own luggage you can be the first to
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get off the ship on disembarkcation day
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instead of waiting for your allocated
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time once your luggage has been taken
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off and put in the terminal on large
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ships like Sky Princess the
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disembarkcation slots on my cruise
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stretch right the way through to 10:30
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a.m starting at 7:30 7:15 a.m i was
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reminded how valuable this was on the
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cruise because I was able to get off the
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ship when disembarkcation started for
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self disembarking i got off at 7:30 a.m
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i was in my car parked at the cruise
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terminal and I was home within two hours
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however if I had to wait for an
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allocated slot it would have been so
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much later i know some people on my
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cruise who had disembaration slots got
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caught in the morning traffic it took
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them ages to get up to London others
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were actually held on the ship way
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longer than planned because an issue
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developed getting luggage off the ship
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it delayed some of those disembarkcation
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slots towards the end by a further hour
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which meant that some passengers were
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struggling or missed their flights i
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found self-d disembarking when doing fly
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cruises even better so for example my
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next cruise which is on some Princess
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I'm going to ensure and I'm going to
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pack to be able to do selfd disembarking
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because it meant I could actually book
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an 11 a.m flight home from Naples
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instead of having to wait till the next
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one which is only in the evening i try
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and pack the minimum i use the guest
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laundry room so ships like Sky Princess
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have one so that's what I really plan to
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do but whatever you do another big
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underrated packing tip is if you're
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cruising with someone split your clothes
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between cases if you're flying to join
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the cruise so even if your case doesn't
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make your flight you both will still
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have some clothes and bits and pieces
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another underrated packing tip and one I
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did for this trip as all of them is to
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bring a personalized first aid kit it
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costs a lot of money to go to the
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medical center on Sky Princess it was
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around $100 about £75 for a visit but by
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bringing my own first aid kit often
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means avoiding any visit in mine I have
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treatments like for headaches cuts mouth
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ulcers upset stomach diarrhea all that
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kind of stuff by the way did you know
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you cannot buy antidarals like Emodium
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from the shops on board you can only get
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them from the medical center because one
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of the symptoms of that of course is
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it's a symptom of narovirus or covid so
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if you need them and you have to go to
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the medical center you're going to be
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assessed you might even be required to
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quarantine i created my first a kit by
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always buying an extra of any item I buy
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across the year to treat any ailment
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that I have so I kind of build up that
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kind of personalized kit it also means
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not having to navigateies in ports where
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English isn't a first language if I am
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missing something
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one of the more valuable items in my kit
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is a tooth repair kit it's helped me
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it's helped my partner it's helped other
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people that I've been traveling with
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when you know a crown or filling comes
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loose it ties you over until you can see
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a dentist in the next port or perhaps
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back home ships do not have dentists on
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board and the medical center will and
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can only help with perhaps pain relief
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having watched many of the 3,600
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passengers pouring of Sky Princess in
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the ports wandering about aimlessly and
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having no idea of what the city's
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offered or what to do reminded me of
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another key underrated tip this is the
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importance of researching every port
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before boarding and knowing the best
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things to do and importantly how to do
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them be that cruise excursions
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independent ones hop on a bus or just
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walking to the sites and once you're on
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board go into the port talks if they
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have them like they did on Sky Princess
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which were given by an independent
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speaker also check if your cruise line
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offers port guides some lines like
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Princess had very good port guides on
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board and in the app it's just so much
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better than just getting off the ship
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with no idea relying on a local tourist
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authority who often like in those ports
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that we called on they did have a small
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stand they had a couple of maps my go-to
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site to sound out options before a
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cruise it is what's inport.com they have
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a good overview but I also search on
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YouTube for port overviews i use that a
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lot and you'll find some fantastic port
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overview videos on YouTube before the
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next underrated tip which are about how
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I managed to cruise for less like on the
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sky princess trip a word about the
9:00
sponsor of this particular video the
9:02
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9:04
commemorate and remember all the
9:06
landmarks cities and countries I visit
9:08
the Wonder Club have fantastic
9:10
collectible tokens for each of those i
9:13
can also even personalize them on the
9:15
back with for example the dates I
9:17
visited i can also create personalized
9:19
tokens like I did for my Sky Princess
9:22
trip to commemorate it the Wonder Club
9:25
also sells a range of token holders to
9:27
add and collect my tokens too find out
9:30
more and get up to 30% off by visiting
9:33
the
9:35
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9:39
checkout now for those two underrated
9:41
cruise tips that can help you cruise for
9:44
less the first didn't work out for me on
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this particular Sky Princess cruise but
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that is an underrated tip to cruise from
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regional or non- major ports because
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fairs will usually be lower than the big
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cruise hub ports this guy Princess Cruz
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departed from Southampton the biggest
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and busiest port in the UK but close to
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me from London are Tilbury Portsmith and
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Dova southampton is a really busy port
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and the day we left MSE Virtuosa
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Celebrity Apex and Piano Iona all
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massive ships were also leaving and so
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as well as fairs being higher staying
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the night before in Southampton was
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really expensive because the hotels were
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ran full and booked out and traffic on
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the day made getting to the cruise
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terminal slow and very frustrating but
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in regional ports not only are the fairs
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usually lower pre- or postay hotels are
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cheaper it's less busy it's more
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hassle-free getting in and out of the
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port in the USA the good news is cruise
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lines are constantly adding new regional
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ports to sell from all around the
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country and they're worth looking at
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versus the major Miami Port Everglades
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and Port Canaveral ports which are
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really busy and frantic but this Sky
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Princess cruise did allow me to test out
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the other underrated cost-saving tip and
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that is cruising in shoulder periods
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this cruise took place in May so that's
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many weeks after the April school
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holidays where cruises were full and
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more costly because of those kind of
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Easter holidays it was also before the
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school halftterm holidays because demand
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and fairs ramp up and of course this
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cruise was well before the peak summer
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holiday months of July and August
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shoulder periods are at the start and
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the end of any cruise season in the
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region so for example that's May and
11:24
September in Alaska and the
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Mediterranean it's sort of more out sort
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of November March time in the Caribbean
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these always usually mean the weather is
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pretty good but fairs are always lower
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than those peak periods i have eight
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overrated cruise tips I think you should
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stop doing over in this video starting
11:41
with the one that absolutely changed my
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cruise experience when I stopped doing
11:45
it see you over there
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