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I Put Post-Covid Cruising To The ULTIMATE Test !
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Jan 28, 2025
Can a Post-Covid Shutdown cruise be fun, or are you paying for a much reduced cruising experience and should you wait until things are fully back to normal? I have been on my first cruise (on Viking Venus) since the cruise shutdown and I test out against the 7things that make a cruise fun, enjoyable and relaxing if a post-covid cruise meets them. This is what I found out. 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 77 cruises I have done to date. BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA ——————————————— TikTok: @garybembridge
View Video Transcript
0:01
I will not cruise until cruising is fun again
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I will not waste my money on a very limited experience. That comment left on my channel got me thinking, can cruising as we return post-shutown
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post-COVID be fun, be enjoyable and be relaxing? And that's what I'm about to put to the test because I'm here on board my very first cruise
0:22
after 15 months of shutdown. I'm on Viking, Venus and I'm going to find out, can cruising
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post-shutown, be fun, be enjoyable, and be relaxing. If you're new here, I'm Gary Bembridge
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and my goal is to help make it fun and easy to discover, plan, and have unforgettable cruise
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vacations. So what exactly makes for a enjoyable and relaxing vacation? I had a list, but I went out
0:49
and asked people on the channel, and hundreds and hundreds of people replied, and everyone
0:54
came up with the same seven things that I did. So I'm going to use those seven things to test out
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about cruising post-COVID. Many of the videos that I've watched and reports that I've read on post-COVID cruising
1:06
has tended to focus very much on the restrictions, the rules, but that's not what's important
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What's important for me is what does it feel like to be back out cruising
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Does it feel the same, does it feel different, and is it magnificent
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The number one item, which everybody said universally, was key to a cruise
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being relaxing and enjoyable, was being disconnected. So that's being disconnected from work
1:34
being disconnected from your phone, being disconnected from having to do chores, walk the dog
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cook your own food. So of course, that's absolutely true of post-COVID cruising. So this is my first
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cruise in 15 months since the shutdown. And I was able to disconnect as simple and easily as I did
1:50
before. So that's definitely a tick. However, it's not entirely possible to disconnect because
1:56
there's constant reminders of the world that we live in. So let's take a look at some of the things
2:00
that were happening on this cruise. Now, I would say, though, that although they did remind you of
2:05
the world we're living in, they did actually in other ways make me feel reassured, which did help
2:10
me disconnect. So what was in place? Well, first of all, to come on the cruise, it was for vaccinated
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guests only. So certainly that reminded you that there was that restriction in place
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Unlike before when you could arrive at any time you wanted, there was very strict embalcation times
2:24
in half-hour slots. You had to show proof of your vaccination status. You had to have
2:28
temperature checks. And ultimately, you had to have a PCR test done before you could actually
2:33
happily sail. We had to do a PCR test, which is a saliva test, every single day. We had to have
2:40
our temperature taken every single day. We had to fill out a little health question, a digital
2:45
on our apps every single day. There was distancing around the ship in line with the current
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regulations in the UK where we were sailing from. Everyone also had to be a little health question. to wear one of these, which is a contact tracing device. So if there was any sort of outbreak
2:59
this would enable them to know who you'd been in close contact with so they didn't have to
3:02
lock down the whole ship. Again, a reminder of what life is like on land. I do want to talk
3:08
a little bit about wearing of masks on this cruise. So you have to wear masks on the particular
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cruise that I was on because the rules say that whether you're vaccinated or unvaccinated
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you still have to wear a mask indoors. That's the current prevailing thing. So we had to wear
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mask, we were outside of our cabin. So in all the internal areas, we didn't have to wear it
3:28
when we were outside on the decks or in the swimming pool
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Or when, for example, you were in the gym, you didn't have to wear it. But walking around inside, you did have to wear it
3:37
You could remove the mask when you were seated, particularly drinking and eating so you could take it off for that time period Also on excursions you had to wear a mask certainly on the buses If you outside you didn have to wear a mask But again under regulations if you were in some building for example you had to wear
3:53
a mask. Now, I know in other regions, that's changing. So if you're going on with the United States and cruisers linked to the United States
4:00
mask wearing is not required for vaccinated passengers, but we certainly had to wear masks
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So there are a whole layer of things that didn't entirely enable you to disconnect and
4:09
remind you of what's going back on land. However, they became, for me anyway, and other passengers I spoke to, just part of your daily routine
4:16
And actually, we soon forgot about those because the bigger disconnecting was possible
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The next area that people said was absolutely critical for an enjoyable and relaxing vacation was, and someone put it really well
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airplane mode and sea days. So switching off, disconnecting, but reminding everybody that actually going on a cruise is all about the ocean
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It's about drifting through and sailing through when the sun's rising, the sun's setting
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heading in out of port, sitting out on your balcony, perhaps having a coffee or a drink
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just watching the sea go by and unwinding. Of course, in post-COVID cruising, the ocean is still there
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We're out at sea. It reminded me a lot that one of the things that I love most about cruising is actually being out on the ocean
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This particular cruise had many sea days. We only called on two ports in seven days
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And just being out and that sense of freedom and water. and just being able to relax and disconnect from the world was really magical
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So absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, I think post-COVID cruising ticks that box
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Cruising is about experiencing that magical sense of being at sea, and the sailing was just magnificent
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Another really important area that people said, and I agreed with, around what makes a cruise enjoyable and relaxing
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is the ability, as someone put it, and I'm going to quote them here, they said being able to do everything or nothing just as the mood takes
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takes me. I don't feel like I have to do something or anything, but I have the opportunity to do so
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if I want, when I want. Post-COVID cruising is a mixed bag on this particular front. Now, we were
5:50
certainly sailing with 50% occupancy, so it wasn't as big an issue as occupancy grows. However
5:56
because of distancing rules, you cannot be completely spontaneous. So certainly the amount of
6:01
activities is reduced. So things like quizzes, karaoke, has been significantly reduced because they
6:07
can't run those. Anything which is kind of contact or sports like those weren't running. So the
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entertainment, although there was a lot of different kinds of opportunities, it tended to be more
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lectures or enrichment. You weren't able to do those activities where you're mixing with other
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people or where you're touching and sharing lots of things. So for example, golf and games or table
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tennis. The other key thing is when it came to actual entertainment because of a reduced capacity
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in the theatre, they had to put on more shows so everyone had an opportunity to go. You couldn't
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just be completely spontaneous and decide you want to go, for example, the fitness center or to
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use the spa because you had to book a slot because there was only, say, 10 people allowed in the
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fitness center at any one time. So whilst there was a lot of things that you could do
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there wasn't as much as you used to be able to do, and certainly some of the spontaneity was gone
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Was it completely gone? No, because you could still head off to a bar and you'd normally find a seat
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where you could sit. But it definitely wasn't as do what you want, when you want, without
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thinking about it. There was a little bit of planning that had to be in place. Did this make my
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cruise less enjoyable? For me, it didn't. It just meant I had to plan a little bit more, but I'm
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actually one of those people that like to plan things. So I don't mind planning. I'm going to go to
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a gym at a certain time. I don't mind planning what time I'm going to the show. I don't mind having
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to plan what time I wanted to eat because you did have to very carefully book in any of the main restaurants or the speciality dining However if you like to be completely spontaneous that probably is less ideal with the way that post cruising is at this point in time
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Now, the third area is much more challenging post-COVID versus pre-COVID cruising
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and that's about exploring in ports. One quote that somebody left really summed it up extremely well
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Kat Denning said, a big part of cruise enjoyment for me is port exploring, especially independent port exploration
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And Corona Guy said not being able to wander the port on your own would be the issue for me
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Now, although it is changing, certainly on this cruise for me, my first off to 15 months
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we had very few ports, but you could only get off the ship to go on a cruise line bubble excursion
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You could not break away from the excursion. you could not go and explore in any other way other than within that controlled bubble
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And again, that's part of the regulation. Now, around the world, that's evolving and that's changing
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But certainly that was key. And for many people, a bit like the mask issue, that is a no-go
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What did I find about it? Well, for me, of course, exploring ports is really, really important
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And I love to self-explore. However, for me, it didn't dampen as much because certainly we were given a wide range of excursions
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There was at least one that was included. and then there was others which were much more active and much more outdoors
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And because they're trying to control the environment, they were basically designed around not coming into contact with people
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So I went on much more active ones. I went to see a stately home, went on some walking ones
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But definitely, I would say the freedom and the ability to explore new places
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and discover things yourself definitely was different versus post. So that's kind of a mixed so-so for me anyway
9:15
Now what about meeting new people? this was another area that people were really concerned about. Going on cruising is an opportunity to
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meet with strangers, find interesting people, hear all sorts of stories, and that often happens
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by bumping into people on an excursion or meeting someone at a bar or being allocated a table
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with strangers to sit with. That is pretty different in post-COVID cruising. However, it was much
9:40
less restrictive than I thought it would be before I got on to the cruise here on Viking Venus
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So although in the bars and seating areas, the chairs have been spaced out a little bit more
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there are seats marked off where you can't sit. You're still close enough to people to be able to start and strike up a conversation
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And I found many times I'd be sitting down, for example, in the atrium, or it might be up
10:01
in the Explorer lounge, and we would just start talking to people
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Some, in fact, surprisingly large amount of people who watch my channel would say, you're Gary
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aren't you? And we'd start chatting because we were able to just chat and start talking to people
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So like on other cruises, people are extremely friendly and they want to chat
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And it's not that you're completely banned from doing it. What's also really important is the rule of six applies
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So up to six people were able to dine together, even if they were from different households
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So actually, during the course of this cruise, I did have dinner with other people
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We sat with the table one evening for five of us, another night for four of us
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And there were different people that I'd met or sort of vaguely knew before I came on the cruise
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So certainly there was a chance to meet people. On the excursion, I started talking to people, we sat outside having some snacks and got a chance to get to know those people and find out about them
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So I had expected to be really restrictive. I was on this cruise by myself as a solo traveler and I was talking to loads of people at the bar, at the restaurant, all over the place at the theatre and so on
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So definitely this was a big surprise for me. It was much easier to meet people than I expected
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Were you allocated tables when you went into the restaurant? No. But you could choose to dine with people
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there was also one other critical aspect in that that did make a massive difference and I found was as good as it was pre In some ways it was actually even better
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And that is in the whole area of dining and food. Food is a phenomenally important part of cruising
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We all know that. When we go on cruises, we like to try lots of different food, probably eat too much food
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and try loads of things that still exists in post-COVID cruising. So, for example, on this particular ship that are on Viking Venus, we had the main dining room, which was open breakfast, lunch and dinner
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We had the World Cafe, which is the buffet, again, open for all those meals
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We had a pool grill where you could have hamburgers. We had two specialty dining restaurants
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We had Manfredi's, which is an Italian. We had the chef's table, which has a set menu and wine pairing
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You could have room service. You could have snacks in the Mansons or in the Explorer lounge
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So there was a wide and diverse range of food options. The only key difference was, as I mentioned earlier, you had to plan and book much more in advance
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Now, even with reduced capacity, they had to make sure that they had people spread out in the restaurants and weren't all sitting very close to each other
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So you just had to plan a bit more. But planning ahead wasn't a great, big, onerous thing to do
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And it was pretty easy to do you could do it on the app or you could go and see someone and sort it out
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But certainly I got to try a very wide and diverse range of food
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So, for example, at the chef's table, I was able to go to an Asian night
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I went to a British night. They had a California night. And so definitely trying and eating loads of different type of food, it's still there post-pandemic, and there's still probably too much of it
12:52
Another area that people said was really important in terms of making a cruise unforgettable was in the area of being stressed
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And what people meant by that was very interesting. So what they said is they didn't want to have to stress about what they wore all the time
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They didn't want to have to stress about their bill mounting up with lots of add-ons
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Now, certainly on this particular cruise on Viking, that stress wasn't there as it wasn't pre-COVID cruising
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Because Viking, for example, the cruise that I'm on had loads of inclusion. So it had, as a start, a pretty informal dress code
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You just couldn't wear jeans in the evenings. That ticked that box in terms of people worrying about that
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Wi-Fi was included. Gratuities were included. One excursion was included in every port, or especially dining was included
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wine and beer and soft drinks were included at meals, for example
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There were no photography sales. There was no casino. So certainly by choosing the right line that's going to allay your stress, you will solve that problem
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So what I realized is actually choosing the right cruise line for what you are like to be worried about or want to avoid is as important before COVID as it is after COVID
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And certainly this cruise addressed a lot of those issues for those people like me who just like to know what it's going to cost me
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me and not have to worry that I'm going to have a big bill at the end. There's a whole bunch of
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elements that make a cruise fun, make a cruise enjoyable, and make a cruise relaxing. What I
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discovered through this whole process of my first cruise post-COVID is that many of those
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still apply. There are a couple of things that remind us of what we've been through and what
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we're still going through. But actually, talking to other people, I found being back at sea
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being cruising, and meeting people who love cruising was more than enough
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to compensate for those things. So certainly my experience is can a cruise post-COVID be fun
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be enjoyable and relaxing? I would say it can. And in fact, I believe that so much so that I have
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six more cruises lined up straight after this one. If you want to find more about Viking
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which I was cruising on, take a look at this short playlist where you'll find in the first one
14:56
what makes Viking completely different to other cruise lines. So why don't you take a click on that
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and I'll see you over there. Thank you
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