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What You Need To Know BEFORE Considering River Cruising!
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Jan 28, 2025
I am often asked about river cruising and find many people do not fully understand what it is and is not, and this are the 6 things that I have come to appreciate about river cruising around the world that people need to know before they consider one 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: --------------------------------------------------- * T-Shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore * Mugs, notebooks, hoodies etc: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tipsfortravellers?ref_id=22354 My social media: --------------------------------------------------- * Blog: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge * Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers * Instagram: http://www.instgram.com/garybembridge * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bembridge
View Video Transcript
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based on my experiences I'm totally
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convinced that River cruising is only
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for some Travelers and here is why I've
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been on numerous River cruises in Europe
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Asia and Africa but found they work best
0:13
when I want to visit a region or country
0:15
that has one of two key issues first of
0:19
all where I worry about the language the
0:22
culture the currency the logistics of
0:24
getting around I worry that it'll be
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complex challenging or stressful to deal
0:29
with doing it any other way for me for
0:31
example that was Vietnam and Cambodia
0:34
both of which absolutely fascinated me
0:36
but looked daunting to travel through
0:38
but taking a river cruise as I found out
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made it easy and simple because the line
0:43
handled all of it with my cross Europe
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ship actually ended up being my moving
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Hotel I lost no time commuting from
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place to place and that became Scenic
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cruising however I don't find traveling
0:55
around Western Europe as daunting
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because I know it well and so I found my
0:59
River Cruiser here we're okay but not
1:01
amazing but speaking to others on board
1:04
many were coming to Europe for the first
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time and they said actually touring
1:08
Europe looked horribly complex to them
1:10
due to things like the different
1:12
languages culture currency and moving by
1:16
train or planes between all different
1:17
countries to see everything and so a
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river cruise worked so well for them by
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simplifying it all you know a river
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cruise drifting through multiple
1:26
European countries for example on a
1:28
classic Danube Cruise meant them and I
1:31
saw a slice of Germany Austria Slovakia
1:34
and Hungary in as I said earlier a less
1:37
stressful way that's why when I wanted
1:40
to tour Eastern Europe I went on an
1:42
emerald waterways Enchantment of Eastern
1:45
Europe Cruise between Bucharest and
1:47
Budapest and that then ended up taking
1:49
me to Romania Bulgaria Serbia Croatia
1:52
and Hungary in just eight nights the
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second time that River cruising has
1:58
worked well for me is when I've been
2:00
nervous about visiting a regional
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country due to safety and health
2:04
concerns so for example I've always
2:07
wanted to see the pyramids and the
2:10
ancient sites in Egypt but I was totally
2:12
put off by security safety fears health
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concerns the stories are being harassed
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reports of even easily falling foul of
2:20
authorities by doing something simple
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like taking photographs of the wrong
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thing
2:26
and also because the things I wanted to
2:28
see were very spread out because you
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know the pyramids are in Cairo the
2:32
ancient Egyptian sites are in Luxor and
2:34
Aswan the logistics and complexity just
2:37
looked so challenging doing it
2:39
independently but and now River Cruise
2:41
solved all of that for me I also learned
2:44
through this that even if those two
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factors are not an issue for any
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traveler that doesn't want or like
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getting into the nitty-gritty planning
2:53
of the details and all the logistics of
2:55
their vacation you know like how to get
2:57
around where to stay where to eat what
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the musty places are and the best
3:02
excursions to actually go and see them
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then if you're like that a river cruise
3:06
is absolutely brilliant because they
3:09
handle all of that I actually found
3:11
another time River cruising works is
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when my vacation time is really limited
3:15
and I still in a week can get a really
3:18
intense overview of musty sites or
3:20
cities in a region now that's simply
3:23
because River Cruises unlike Ocean
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Cruise cover relatively short distances
3:28
and they focus on exploring a relatively
3:31
small section of a river often also
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calling into two places a day unlike an
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ocean cruise no let me give some
3:38
examples my last classic European Danube
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cruise on Viking covered just 330 miles
3:45
in a week that's about 47 miles a day
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however on that cruise I got a taste of
3:50
Germany Austria Slovakia and Hungary and
3:52
visited three capital cities Vienna
3:55
Bratislava and Budapest in fact the
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distances were so close that the tour
4:00
buses followed our trip and were the
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same every single day as actually where
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the buses on my Nile trip where I got to
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see all the major sites in a week
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including Valley of the Kings Valley of
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the Queens abusin Bell the Temple of
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Horace and ED view connect temple in
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Luxor the philai temple in Aswan and so
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much more when I was on the Mekong as
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well as cruising through remarkable
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rural sites I got to tick off all the
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major cities of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi
4:29
and Vietnam Phnom Penh and Cambodia and
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even got to see the famous Angkor Wat
4:34
Temple so it's a great way of doing a
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really kind of Deep dive in a short
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space of time however this is also where
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for me it has several downsides that I
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came to realize first of all these are
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very controlled and carefully managed
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Explorations there's a tightly scheduled
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program and very limited downtime now
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people I meet on River Cruises used to
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Ocean cruising often find this is a big
5:00
challenge because while ocean is all
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about Choice with kind of a range of
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suggested things to do at any one time
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you know a daily program on river is so
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much more directive and very much more
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limited it is in my view like going on
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an escorted tour with you know much more
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shared experience that everyone follows
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the program is tight often with early
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starts has a packed itinerary of
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specific time allocated for meals then
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to excursions onto talks daily briefings
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and it does require much more compliance
5:33
and attention because also the schedule
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every day and the Rhythm every day is
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very different because it's varied
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selling times each day and also unlike
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ocean cruising where usually cruise
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ships are in Port for the entire day and
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selling at night this is less likely
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when River cruising the selling schedule
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is much more varied so for example there
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may be a stop in one place in the
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morning then selling to another to
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explore another place in the afternoon
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but the next day could be totally
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different there is often in my
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experience little time to self-explore
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builds into a program you know to go and
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try local restaurants or Bars by
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yourself or actually just meet and
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interact freely with the locals now
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people often criticize me when I talk
6:16
about River cruising for saying there is
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little chance to self-explore on River
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Cruises of course it is possible but
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generally only by missing the daily
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including excursions which are bundled
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into the fair and so it comes at a cost
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because if I skip them those included
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excursions I do not get refunded for
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them so I would effectively be paying a
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premium to bingo off and self-explore on
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the plus side though you know often
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there are overnight stays on River
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Cruisers so for example my Danube and
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River European cruises we often moored
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for all or some of the evenings and so
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in the evening after dinner I could pop
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out you know or even actually go and eat
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in town on my Mekong River Cruise in
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Phnom Penh for example I was able to go
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out after dinner and stroll into a night
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market close by and on my Nile cruise we
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actually docked six of the seven nights
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of the actual Cruise while some European
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river Cruisers have some Choice within
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in those included excursions it's also
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important note that that's not always
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the case on my Mekong and Naya ones
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there was only one Excursion each stop
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so it is important at looking at what
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those sort of excursions that are
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included because many people joke
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particularly on European river cruises
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but by the end they are simply tired of
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seeing Cathedrals because it's Cathedral
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after Cathedral every day I do find
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River cruising overall pretty
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restrictive way to travel you know
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because personally I like to have more
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flexibility and so that is again
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something to consider by the way while
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the brochures and promotional videos
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show a solitary beautiful river cruise
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ship cruising along the river in my
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experience that is not the case I find
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most of the rivers that I've been on are
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very busy especially in Europe and the
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Nile with many many ships about and this
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has big implications that you need to
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understand all of the ships are calling
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on the same key places and there are
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limited spots to dock at them now I've
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found multiple ships in most locations
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on most of my River Cruises The Most
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Extreme I found on my now cruise with up
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to 50 ships crammed in and docked in one
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place at any one time now while it's not
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as packed in Europe I usually find there
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will be several ships at each stop this
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not only means the sights and places are
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busy because you've got tour groups
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heading off on each of the ships but the
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ship's stock in Rose side by side
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so this means that I'm having to walk
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through or over the top of multiple
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ships to get onto the dark side it also
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means that even if I've splashed out on
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a cabin with a nice beautiful floor to
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ceiling window I often have another ship
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docks right slap bang up against that
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literally a few feet away making it kind
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of dark and I'm literally staring into
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another cabin it also means when that
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happens at venues like the lounge or the
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dining room can be a little bit dark and
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that's quite a shock for many Travelers
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another big plus though is River
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cruising is generally all-inclusive and
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so I know before I go what my trip will
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cost in its entirety and I usually just
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have a tiny little bill at the end
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however my watch out is the definition
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of all-inclusive varies line by line now
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most include accommodation food
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excursions and entry fees transfers to
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and from the ship Wi-Fi and some drinks
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some you know included bunch of dinner
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only others all the time and the main
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added cost you'll find usually is just
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gratuities now river cruise ships are
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small and they have to be to fit under
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the bridges or through the various locks
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which of course makes them more costly
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to run because they're smaller than that
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many people so in Europe I find the
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ships tend to be between sort of 100 150
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passengers on the Nile it was around 70
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and I'll make on my ship only carried 60
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people so this makes them River cruising
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a pretty costly trip especially if
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you're used to Ocean cruising it is not
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a cheap vacation option here's an
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indication of cruise only costs looking
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at a week-long cruise of the Danube in
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June next year even a value line like
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across Europe starts from 290 that's 227
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pounds per person per night a mid-range
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on like Avalon waterways from 440 350
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pounds per person per night on a Luxury
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Line like you know what it's a
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staggering 700 trillion dollars or 565
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pounds per person per night I could get
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a Mediterranean Ocean Cruise out in
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Barcelona at the same time from a
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hundred dollars that's about 78 pounds
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per person on Carnival Legend or about
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170 137 pounds on MSC Sea View that
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again is per person per night so it's
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really really expensive the small size
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of ship has two other big implications
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that I've seen again come as a shock to
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some Travelers again especially those
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used to Ocean cruising first of all the
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small number of passages means you
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cannot be anonymous soon everybody knows
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who you are and pretty inevitably knows
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your name so if you are a social person
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you are going to absolutely love it if
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you prefer to kind of lay low just hide
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away in your little corner that is going
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to be much much more challenging now
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it may come as a surprise but I'm not a
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highly social person and I actually find
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River cruising a little bit more wearing
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because of all that much more social
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aspected and dining is always at shared
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tables and so you always have to be
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sharing with people all the time the
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other implication of size is choice on
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the river ships is limited for example
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most ships only have two types of cabin
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these are those below the water level
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with the window you cannot open about
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three quarters way up and those on high
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levels which have floor to ceiling
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windows or perhaps a Juliet or small
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balcony a couple that do have kind of
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bigger suites these days as well in
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terms of facilities most ships I've been
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on just have one dining room usually
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with buffet breakfast and lunch and a
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served dinner only a few say like ammo
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waterways have a second dining venue
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they will have a lounge kambar for
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briefings and any entertainment a sun
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deck where some will actually have a
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plunge pool some also have a small
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fitness center and massage room don't
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have things like a medical center or a
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casino for example entertainment too is
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pretty limited with usually a Pianist
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and they perhaps bring some local
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entertainers brought on a couple of the
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nights now despite what lions say in my
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experience I also learned that River
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cruising is still mostly set up for and
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Catering to older Travelers or in fact
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those who do prefer a more curated and
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organized way to travel as I explained
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at Uber earlier now some lines are
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definitely trying to shift a little bit
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more to attract families with more like
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interconnecting cabins more family
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activities and Scholars but based on
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itineraries based on the tours I'm still
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not get convinced it's a family vacation
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also because of that price it can be
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difficult I think for solo Travelers too
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which I've done most of mine on by the
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way there are a few solar cabins few
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solar deals no solar programs and on
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most trips I find it's couples or groups
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of friends are actually breaking into
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these can be a little bit difficult and
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I often find I feel I'm trying to kind
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of edge my way onto table dinner with
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others for the evening meal kind of
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having a little bit like a spare wheel
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to be honest at times
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I also feel it's not ideal for travelers
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with mobility issues not all ships have
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elevators to all levels excursions are
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mostly walking you know bike tours you
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as I mentioned earlier you might be
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walking over or through ships to get to
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land they're docking places that have
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challenges you know in Europe it's kind
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of steep ramps to get on land cobbled
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streets in Egypt it was Dusty paths
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steps uneven Services enemy Kong the
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same and in fact it was about getting in
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and out of small boats because we didn't
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actually dock in many places if I've
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sparked your enthusiasm and River
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cruising does sound ideal for you watch
14:08
this video where I talk about the six
14:10
best River Cruisers in the world
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starting with my favorite of all time
14:14
see you over there
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