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What Smart Cruisers ALL Do On CRUISE DISEMBARKATION DAY
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Jan 28, 2025
I keep seeing cruise passengers making the same cruise disembarkation mistakes and have looked at what smart cruisers do to make it easier, less stressful and successful - making disembarkation more fun and not a wasted day - and these are the 7 things that they all do 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 94 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
talking to many fellow cruisers i
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spotted seven mistakes that i was and
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most of you are likely to be making on
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cruise disembarkation day making the end
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of our cruises worst than they
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absolutely should be i'm gary bembridge
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and i think i figured out what smart
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cruisers all do to make cruise system
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vacation easier
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and much more fun it's working for me so
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let's see if it can work for you too
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when planning a cruise like most cruises
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i used to focus on the cruise itself and
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pay little attention to the detail of
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disembarkation day like the time of my
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flight home smart cruisers taught me to
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factor it into my planning with as much
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care
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as the cruise itself so now
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for example if i want to get home as
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quickly as possible on disembarkation
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day i book a flight as close to noon as
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possible no earlier no later that gives
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me the greatest chance of making it
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without stress and also reduces hanging
1:00
about at airports ships usually dock
1:02
between 7am and 8am and it needs a
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factor in the ship getting cleared
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getting off the ship and to the airport
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cruise lines however often recommend or
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offer flights after 2 pm however smart
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travelers know that many many airlines
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only open their check-in desks at the
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airport two hours before a flight so
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late afternoon or early evening flight
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means sitting at the airport for many
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many hours hanging around until checking
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open i experienced that first hand after
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sitting for four and a half hours in
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athens airport for a 3 pm flight after
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seabourn greek island cruise there was
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one small cafe a mcdonald's and not
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great wi-fi to keep me occupied this
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made me change things now of course that
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mistake also by the way taught me
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something else that smart cruisers do
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when flights are only available later
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use disembarkation day to explore rather
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than sit at the airport now to solve the
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problem of what to do with my luggage
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while i explore i first see if the
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cruise line offers an airport transfer
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with city tour first as the luggage then
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travels with us on the bus
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for example i got a holland america
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cruise in barcelona last year and i did
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exactly this but these transfers do tend
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to end by early afternoon so there's
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another thing that i often look at so i
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look for luggage storage options for
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example i could store luggage in
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vancouver cruise port when i came off my
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alaska trip in miami i found places in
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south beach although i usually get an
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uber or a taxi to the airport and i
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leave my luggage in the inexpensive
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storage there and i use the fast trains
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in and out of miami that cost just a
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couple of dollars to go exploring
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whatever plans for disembarkation day
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they settle on have found that smart
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cruisers also have a luggage strategy
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they taught me to plan
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for self disembarkation even if i'm not
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planning to do it self disembarkation is
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where cruise lines let passengers leave
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the ship as soon as as it is cleared or
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at any time that you choose and all you
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have to do is carry your own bags
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unaided i invested by the way in an away
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suitcase they're really easy to maneuver
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and wheel about and i know i can take it
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myself along corridors
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i can even carry it down the stairs if
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needed so i now always only take luggage
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that i can manage to maneuver around
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myself getting off the ship can be a
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crush or it can mean lots of waiting
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around for your turn so i now almost
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always do self disembarkation it has
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transformed getting off the ship and
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freeing up the day surprisingly few
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people choose this option and so i'm
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always able to fly through any checks
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like immigration
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without any lines like i recently did
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disembarking on cunard queen mary 2 in
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new york there were no lines for
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immigration there were no lines for taxi
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it really does transform and smooth
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getting off the ship it also means that
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i am in more control of what time i get
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of the ship as that can be any time from
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when the ship is cleared to final
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disembarkation time you can choose any
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time of yourself disembarking so that's
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what i've seen smart cruisers do even
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before they join the cruise they have
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that luggage strategy
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but what about once in the cruise what
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do they do when they're on the cruise
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like most of you i'm sure i used to get
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pretty irritated that lines started
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sending stuff about disembarkation day
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early on in the cruise but smart
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cruisers taught me that they do that for
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a really good reason it's to flush out
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issues and i learned that by taking time
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to read and digest these as soon as they
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arrive is actually really important it's
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helped highlight many areas and caught
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many issues
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many many times the worst for example
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was when i noticed on a piano britannia
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caribbean cruise that they had me as an
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independent traveler and they were
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asking if i wanted to book a transfer
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and they're asking for my flight times
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now i thought that was kind of a little
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bit odd because i had a package
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booked with their charter flights back
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to the uk from barbados and it was all
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paid for having checked that i raised it
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and found the line actually had no
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return flight booked for me at all this
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early check early on the cruise meant
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they had time to resolve it by the way
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that flight was actually full and
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actually booked me an upgraded flight on
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a airline so it was a bit of a win in
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the end
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also by the way some cruise lines
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require at this stage to register for
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self-disembarkation
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and some can cap numbers not many but
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it's worth checking and registering
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early on i always check the planned
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arrival time and disembarkation start
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time
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in here too it can be different and is
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often different to what the original
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itinerary says
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and then if it has any implications on
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my plan i have plenty of time to get
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that sorted that's where having the self
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disembarkation capability has saved the
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day a couple of times i found for
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example on an msc cruise that we would
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be docking almost an hour and a half
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later than the original itinerary so i
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could easily then do self dislocation
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get off quicker and still was able to
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catch my scheduled flight on time a day
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or so before the end of the cruise the
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final disembarkation details arrive
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there are a few things in there that i
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always check carefully that smart
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cruisers have taught me first
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the disembarkation time finally
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allocated to me if i'm not doing self
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disembarkation
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by the way i've found that if the time
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that i've been allocated doesn't really
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work
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going and nicely asking guest services
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to change it usually works i've never
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been refused a change of time earlier or
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later
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if not doing self-disembarkation i also
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check what time
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the packed suitcase must be outside the
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cabin and then i work at home and fit
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that around whatever evening plans i've
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got next really importantly look at the
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dining options listed for disembarkation
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day most lines will not allow room
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service on disembarkation day i can then
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again plan my disembarkation morning and
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plans knowing what dining time is what
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time i'm leaving the ship and get that
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all sorted ahead of time
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i also then check what time i must be
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out of the cabin on most cruise lines
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it's by as early as 8 am again you can
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factor that into your plans
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one absolutely key thing to review is
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anything required by the ports all the
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countries it's got much more complicated
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post covert shutdown with more
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documentation proof of vaccines or
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questionnaires apps like canada's
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arrived can to be done or whatever now
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although this is easing and things are
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changing it's still smart to double
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check if there's anything in there that
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says that you need to have ready i
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discovered it the hard way by not
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checking many years ago i
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got a reminder that i had to have an
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esther as a uk passenger to enter the us
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and i was yeah yeah i've got that but
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what i didn't double check was that my
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esther had actually expired and so when
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i got to immigration i had a big issue
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because i had no esta it got resolved
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after much delay being hauled into a
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side room almost making me late for my
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flight and now in fact there's a pretty
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hefty fine associated with that there
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are several packing mistakes that the
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cruise lines see repeatedly on every
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cruise and here's some smart cruiser
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tricks that i've picked up to avoid
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those
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if you're putting your suitcase out the
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night before
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absolutely make sure that you have in
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fact left suitable clothes for leaving
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the ship
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i have seen several times passengers
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embarrassed scurrying off the ship in a
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cruise line dressing gown because they
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forgot to leave some or all of their
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clothes out or often they're in slippers
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because they forgot to leave shoes also
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the smart thing to do is triple check
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every single space when packing cabins
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have many many storage places and if
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you're anything like me you've popped
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things in different drawers or storage
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units over the cruise i must admit
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before i did this i've left behind
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camera sd cards i left behind some
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christopher which i value very highly i
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left behind charges and so on on my last
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cruise because people hadn't done that
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when i arrived in the cabin i found
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drawers with items jammed and then the
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previous guests had forgotten in fact
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rather embarrassingly the cabin student
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had not picked that up and removed them
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pack all your valuables and all your
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medication in your hand baggage not in
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the bags that you put out to be
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collected and taken off the ship for you
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the other thing to make sure you do is
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clear the safe before leaving you could
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leave yourself a note for example but
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what many smart cruisers suggest
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although some people have told me they
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think it's not very hygienic or very
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appropriate but actually putting one of
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your shoes in the safe or something that
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you're going to absolutely need in the
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morning to remind you to empty it when
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you're getting dressed in the morning
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the shoe thing actually works pretty
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well
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also if you're putting your luggage out
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keep one of the tear tags off the
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luggage label that will both remind you
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what
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slots you've been advocated and also
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some cruise lines will require you to
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show your luggage tag color to let you
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off the ship at your allocated time to
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basically stop everyone rushing off when
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they want to finally when packing don't
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pack cruise line umbrella dressing gown
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binoculars or any other bits and pieces
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around the cabin you will be charged for
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those and often at a higher amount than
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if you simply requested to buy one
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during the cruise a very very smart
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thing before disembarking is to check
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your statement
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really really carefully although
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increasingly fewer lines are doing it a
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statement is usually left overnight for
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you to check although on my recent
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america and princess cruises the only
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option i had was to check it on the app
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or on the television it's absolutely
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essential to check that everything is
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right because once you're off the ship
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you'll find it impossible to correct or
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change any errors on your statement i
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did for example find out my last
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princess cruise a whole bunch of drinks
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charges on the last night that weren't
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mine and i was able to go and get those
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removed before leaving the ship if i
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hadn't done that i really wouldn't have
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been able to get that sorted especially
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check final night charges is a tip from
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smart cruisers who've been burnt on that
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another really smart thing to do is not
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throw money away so during the cruise i
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like to check what is refundable and
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non-refundable on-board credits now if i
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have refundable onboard credit
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there's no need for me to spend it at
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all because it will be refunded to my
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credit card at the end of the cruise but
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if i have non-refundable on-board credit
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i make sure i've used all of that up
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before the last night so i'm not wasting
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it there are a few smart things i
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learned about getting off the ship on
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disembarkation day that people do fall
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over and make mistakes around
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if the elevators are busy and full of
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other guests
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leaving which they often are
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i go to a different elevator area now
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disembarkation is often midship so if i
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go to the elevators that are forwards or
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aft i normally find they're surprisingly
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quiet and definitely not as busy so
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easier to get down to disembarkation
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level
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and if it is actually really really busy
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and taking too much time actually get in
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and go up with the elevator to then come
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back down
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make sure of course you've got your
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cruise card or if you're on princess or
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medallion because you absolutely need
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that to get off it's not like in a hotel
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where you can just kind of leave your
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keys in your room make sure you've got
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your passport and that luggage tag color
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that you've needed i have been on many
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trips where people have got to transfer
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they've got to the airport and realize
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their passport is still back on the ship
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if you find this helpful why not find
12:59
out the smart things to do on
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imbalcation day in this video here where
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i start by talking about the single
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biggest mistake and blunder that people
13:08
make on embarkation day see you over
13:10
there
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