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7 JAW-DROPPING Things ONLY Select Few Get To See On Cruise Ships
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Jan 28, 2025
I show you 7 jaw-dropping things on a cruise ship that most cruisers will never get to see, but I have managed to by hook or crook. And I am NOT talking about things like rollercoasters, go-kart tracks that thousands get to see every week. BECOME A CHANNEL MEMBER AND GET ADDED PERKS: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join Links mentioned in the video/ footage credits: • Cruise With JT: https://youtu.be/07xeX3NnoDE • Cruise Doris Visits: https://youtu.be/SSXcV8vLxbI Check out one of their novels "Cruise Ship Heist": https://amzn.to/3xMjDSY • Ruslan Lysak: https://youtu.be/xKob7dDX5fQ 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
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every week thousands of cruise
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passengers get to see and experience
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mind-boggling things on cruise ships
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like go-kart tracks water shows ice
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rinks water slides and even roller
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coasters but not many have seen some of
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the things that i have
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until now i'm gary bembridge welcome
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aboard as i show you seven jaw dropping
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things only a few get to see on cruise
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ships while you may have been on one
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possibly unknowingly i've actually seen
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this being done the very first chip that
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i sailed on that had been sliced in half
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and had a new midsection added was msc
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ammonia it was so seamless and so hard
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to tell that she'd been stretched that i
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was desperate to see how it was actually
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done
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so i managed to convince silversea to
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let me go and see their silver spirit
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ship being cut in half at the fincantiri
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shipyard in palermo
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it was jaw-dropping now i actually
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arrived on day six after the ship had
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arrived in dry dock
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and i saw the final cuts being made over
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the course of just one day the shipyard
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pulled the two halves of the ship apart
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they were both resting on rollers then
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in a surprisingly rapid maneuver a
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massive pre-built 49 foot
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19 deck high section was driven into the
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gap in the ship sections were pushed
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together and she was welded up the new
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section added more passenger and crew
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cabins new restaurants and increased the
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size of the pool even
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why do lions do this well it costs
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between 500 million and a billion
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dollars to build a new ship the
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silversea edition only costs 70 million
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only 17 million versus those other eye
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watering numbers it happens more
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frequently though than you might expect
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so you may well have sailed on such a
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ship
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without even knowing that you're seeing
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it i'm often asked if i've seen famous
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people on a cruise ship so if you count
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the british royal family movie stars
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like sofia loren and singers like sarah
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brightman then absolutely yes i have
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i've seen all of them at cruise ship
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naming ceremonies
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sophie loren for msc preziosa in genoa
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sarah breitman for seabourn encore in
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singapore
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but the most memorable ones were in the
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later majesty queen elizabeth ii named
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pino britannia in southampton and the
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second was when camilla duchess of
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cornwall as she was known then named
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saga spirit of discovery in dover why
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does this happen and what exactly are
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they doing
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all those famous ladies i mentioned are
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godmothers of the ships that they named
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now new ships have always had some sort
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of ceremony to offer good luck to the
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ship and those sailing within her
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vikings for example reportedly had human
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sacrifices
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but these days it's a little less
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dramatic and ships just go as far as
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having godmothers instead it's almost
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always a woman
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who takes that title although i can
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think of one example
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where it wasn't the latin american
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rapper pitbull was given the role of
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godfather to norwegian escape in 2015.
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the crucial godmother is supposed to
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bring good luck and protection to the
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vessel but all they really do is go to
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the ship's official naming ceremony
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bless her and wish all who sail on her
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good luck
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it's now probably more kind of a
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marketing pr activity which is why they
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use big names like sofi lauren queen
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elizabeth and the duchess of cornwall
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the cruise line invites guests throws in
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some entertainment a posh meal and most
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importantly smashes a bottle of
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champagne on the side of the ship
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everyone waits patiently because if that
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bottle doesn't break it signals really
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bad luck so when you're next on a
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cruiser by the way look for a large
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framed photo
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usually somewhere near guest services to
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see who the godmother is
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other famous godmothers include oprah
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winfrey who was godmother on holland
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america's new statsondam i was on
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recently and duchess of cambridge for
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royal princess i was on last year
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on board the latter royal princess
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you'll actually find a display of the
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dress she wore for the ceremony the
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champagne bottle and other memorabilia
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talking of traditions and ceremonies of
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significance to cruise ships
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ones that even fewer people get to see
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and even more remarkable to experience
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is the keel laying ceremony this also
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date back centuries and is wrapped with
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even more superstition i've been to the
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keeling of silver sea silver muse in the
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fincantiri shipyard in genoa
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and the saga spirit of adventure in the
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maya waft shipyard in germany now this
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marks the official start of the building
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of the ship two coins are placed on a
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block and in the keel the hull of the
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ship is laid on top of those coins the
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ship is then built with those coins at
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the base of the keel
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now once the ship is complete and before
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the dry dock is filled with water so the
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ship can sell out the coins are normally
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then removed and they welded somewhere
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on board for the whole life of the ship
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centuries ago they were actually placed
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under or at the bottom of one of the
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ship masks nowadays they often tend to
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be welded around the base of the radar
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mask so next time you're on a ship see
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if you can find those coins on my recent
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viking sky for example i discovered they
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were welded by a small little glass pane
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in a very public area up on deck so
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guests can look at them
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this is the same on many many ships
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you'll find the coins in some sort of
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publicly accessible areas so go take a
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look for them
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only a few people actually get to see a
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keeling ceremony though the ones i've
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attended were small in numbers there's
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maybe just 20 of us in total
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standing in the shipyard down in the dry
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dock seeing the creation of a cruise
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ship is
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mind-boggling so i'm talking about
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cruise ship ceremonies there is one that
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many more do get to see like i did on
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queen mary 2 sailing between sydney and
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dubai and on queen victoria sailing
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between hawaii and sydney and that's the
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crossing the line ceremony
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there is another long-standing tradition
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it started in the navy which celebrates
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the very first time that a sailor
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crosses the equator
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so sailors and guests like me who've
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crossed the equator are known as trusty
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shellbacks
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those who've not previously crossed the
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line are slimy pollywogs
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so as the cruise ship crosses the
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equator
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neptune who's the god of the sea and his
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queen they arrive on board they arrive
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with a judge who holds court along with
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the ship's senior officers so volunteer
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poliwogs from the guests those who
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haven't crossed the equator are then
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paraded before them and they're each
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charged with various offenses for for
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example of eating too much or dressing
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so badly now if they're found guilty
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which they
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all are they then have to kiss a fish
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before being covered in slimy goop and
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thrown into the swimming pool crew who
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are pollywogs go through the same
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process
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no one is safe at a crossing the line
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ceremony
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now whilst this whole event may not be i
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guess as jaw-droppingly amazing as maybe
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go-kart track or a roller coaster on a
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ship the event is so memorable it feels
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so significant and important and it's
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also a lot of fun and a great laugh and
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i hope you get to see that one day now
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something though that i kind of hope you
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don't get to see
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but is at the same time quite a
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spectacle
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is when a passenger or crew member is
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airlifted off the ship
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now most new cruise ships have a
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helicopter pad either for a helicopter
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to land on or hover above
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this is so they're able to winch people
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off in a medical emergency so many facts
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happen if someone on board needs urgent
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medical attention but the nearest port
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or rescue vessel is much too far away
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and it's the only options often
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unfortunately when a person is
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critically ill now i've been on several
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cruise ships where this has happened the
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most recent one was last year on piano
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cruises britannia just off the coast of
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the uk
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now when it happens guests you normally
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have to stay inside you have to stay
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away from the side that the helicopter
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is approaching from
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the crew prepare the helicopter pad you
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know removing any barriers that may be
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there the helicopter sweeps in and lands
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or as i mentioned more usually lowers a
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winch and lifts the person
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needing medical attention up onto the
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helicopter
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now it is quite a spectacle and it's a
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really difficult maneuver for the pilots
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and for the ship although of course we
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must always remember and we almost
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always be respectful of the individual
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because they're there
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for a reason that is pretty distressing
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for them but it still remains
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one of the most impressive things that
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i've seen on a cruise ship if you've
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seen pictures of cruise ships going
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through the panama canal
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you'll know there are places in the
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world where larger ships have to squeeze
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through various lock systems or narrow
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beds of water i've actually seen this
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firsthand on america's connings dam
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cunard's queen victoria and oceania
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cruises marina however
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this experience like in the panama canal
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was completely elevated when i got to
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sail through the corinth canal in greece
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this tiny canal is only 70 feet wide
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26 feet deep and the sides rise 300 feet
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and it's four miles long it's such a
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tight space that very few cruise ships
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can actually fit through and even those
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cruise lines with ships that can make it
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through often prefer not to risk it
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sailing the long way around instead
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i had the jaw-dropping and tense
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experience of seeing it happen on
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windstar cruises star breeze which just
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slid literally her way through it was
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incredible seeing the ship squeeze
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through this tiny little space it's
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something that very few people will ever
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get to do because there are so few ships
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that can do it but i hope you get a
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chance to do that another activity which
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more people do get to see whilst on
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cruise ships but it's still quite
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eye-catching and a bit dangerous is
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something i've seen in the arctic
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and antarctica now personally i've never
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done it because i think it's absolutely
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crazy in fact on my last antarctica trip
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on panant they didn't do it at all
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because they too think it's just too
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risky and this
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is the polar plunge passengers and crew
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jump into the icy cult arctic or
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antarctica waters normally off the ship
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it's become a kind of badge of honor and
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tradition so on a silversea arctic
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cruise that i went on over half the
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guests on the ship did it though now my
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partner mark did it in the arctic he
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said the problem with jumping off the
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side of the ship is he went in rather
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deep so he was under freezing cold water
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for longer than he wanted to be now
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you'll notice how fast people are
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rushing to get out imagine kind of usain
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bolt but of the swimming world i've
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never seen people move quite so fast if
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you found this interesting why not watch
11:20
this video of things i've found lurking
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around cruise ships in plain sight that
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i and you probably have missed starting
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with one thing i discovered due to an
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incident on a ship i was on recently
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see you over there
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