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Things We Can't Do On A Cruise This Year, But Could Last Year!
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Jun 15, 2025
I’m just back from a Sky Princess cruise to Scandinavia, and during that I realised there are a surprisingly large number of things I cannot do on cruises this year that I could last year. For example, as on last year’s Princess cruise, I bought the “Princess Plus” package. While it still includes a Drinks Package, unlike last year, this year they’ve now excluded canned sodas from that package, only allow me one drink per order, and have banned double measures. While this may seem not a huge change, it is an unwelcome change from last year and got me thinking about others. So, welcome aboard, I'm Gary Bembridge and here's eight, yes eight, big things you cannot do on a cruise this year that you could last year! For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * TeePublic Store: https://tipsfortravellers.dashery.com * Teespring Store: https://tips-for-travellers-youtube.creator-spring.com * Fourthwall: https://gary-bembridge-1-shop.fourthwall.com Book Cruise Port Excursions * Venture Ashore: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/excursions
View Video Transcript
0:00
i'm just back from a Sky Princess cruise
0:02
to Scandinavia and during that I
0:04
realized there are surprisingly large
0:06
number of things I cannot do on cruises
0:08
this year that I could last year for
0:11
example as on last year's Princess
0:13
Cruise I bought the Princess Plus
0:16
package now while it still includes a
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drinks package unlike last year this
0:20
year they've now excluded canned sodas
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from that package they only allow me one
0:25
drink per order and have banned doubled
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measures while this may not seem a huge
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change it's an unwelcome change from
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last year and it got me thinking about
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others so welcome aboard i'm Garrett
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Benbridge and here's eight yes eight big
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things you cannot do on a cruise this
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year that you could last year there are
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four items I can no longer take on a
0:45
cruise that I could take last year first
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many lines luckily for me not Princess
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yet have banned Bluetooth speakers now I
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love listening to my own music in my
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cabin and I always bring this one along
0:56
with me but on some lines like Carnival
0:59
they're now banned and confiscated at
1:01
check-in while Royal Caribbean have
1:03
banned them from their private islands
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like Perfect Day at Coco K secondly this
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year many lines have banned more
1:10
extension cords and more plug types than
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ever before for example now if I go on a
1:15
Royal Caribbean cruise this year I can
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only take extension cords or plugs that
1:19
only take USB or USBC cords they banned
1:22
any extension cords and plugs that allow
1:24
me to plug actual electric plugs into
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them thirdly much to several of my
1:29
friends annoyance unlike last year they
1:31
can now no longer take a router they
1:34
used to take these to create Wi-Fi
1:35
hotspots in their cabin so they could
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have multiple devices to connect to a
1:39
hotspot and only buy one Wi-Fi package
1:42
they report that this year on all
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Caribbean and Carnival cruises they've
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had routters confiscated at check-in the
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fourth is related but a little offbeat
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last year some passengers did take one
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but this year they cannot and that's
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their personal styling device it all
1:58
blew up when a YouTuber called Richard
2:00
Schillington of No Pants Profit channel
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took one on a Carnival Miracle Cruise to
2:05
avoid buying an expensive Wi-Fi package
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and he posted video using it lines soon
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to ban them following that another
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significant change this year versus last
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year is that some cruise lines have
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completely disappeared and so this year
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you cannot cruise on them any longer one
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major one is Piano Cruises Australia
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which has been closed and integrated
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into Carnival Cruise Line after selling
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for about 90 years Pino Cruises
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Australia is no more their Pacific
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Adventure and Pacific Encounter
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underwent some changes and they were
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rebranded as Carnival ships while the
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Pacific Explorer was sold to Resort
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World Cruisers and renamed Star Voyager
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other lines you can no longer sail on
2:46
are American Queen Voyages which ran
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four paddle wheeler ships on the
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Mississippi Columbia and Snake Rivers
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and Victory Cruise Line which sailed the
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Great Lakes hornblower that owned them
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closed them down after entering chapter
3:00
11 in the United States another change
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this year versus last is there are many
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ships you can no longer cruise on
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because they've been scrapped or they've
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been sold so even if you can go on them
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they will be in a different line perhaps
3:12
refitted and definitely renamed three of
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those American Queen Voyage ships
3:18
Duchess Queen and Countess were scrapped
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so they can no longer be sailed on at
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all the Greekbased lines Celestial
3:25
Olympia was scrapped this year as well
3:28
but many ships people loved sailing on
3:30
under certain cruise lines and names are
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no longer possible to sail with them or
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perhaps even not book with them i
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already mentioned Pacific Explorer going
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to star cruises but you can also no
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longer cruise or book on Celebrity
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Expedition or Celebrity Exploration in
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the Galapagus cuz they've been sold
3:48
norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun are
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moving across to the Indian Cordelia
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line so if you plan to book say region
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seven seas navigator this year for next
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you're severely limited because at next
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year it's being converted into a
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residential ship for a new startup
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called cresant seas as is oceania
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cruisers insignia that's going to be
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leaving their fleet to join them too
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oshani Regata is leaving the Ocean fleet
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to go on a year-long world cruise under
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a charter to the Australian-based flight
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center group that's going to be called
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My Cruisers Explorations by Norwegian
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seabor has sold Seaborn Sojurnn to the
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Japanese Mitsoui Ocean Cruisers although
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you can still book quite a way into 2026
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as Seabor costa Fortuna is leaving their
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fleet and has been sold to
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Margaritaville at sea so several popular
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ships in cruise line fleets have
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disappeared so fans of those ships can
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no longer sell them in those guises as
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they could last year there are several
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places that we could cruise to last year
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but cannot this year of course some
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ports and places had already been
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dropped in recent years like visiting St
4:57
petersburg in Russia ports in and near
5:00
Israel cruising through the Seuss Canal
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and parts of the Red Sea due to the
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Ukraine and Gaza conflicts but this year
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there are more due to three key factors
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first of all due to politics and unrest
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last year I got to visit Royal
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Caribbean's Labodi their private island
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in Haiti now stops have been pulled this
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year due to the unrest and violence
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there so you can't visit it this year
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secondly more ports have banned or are
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restricting the size or the number of
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cruise ships that can call there this
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year versus last year for example many
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Canadian and New England cruisers had to
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drop Bar Harbor in Maine which now limit
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cruise passengers to a thousand per day
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and Belfast also in Maine have limits on
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the amount of cruise passengers that can
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call there in Europe some changes greece
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has limited the number of ships calling
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to Santorini and Mkos this year which
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meant many cruise lines had to change
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itineraries that they'd previously sold
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santorini even more so due to a series
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of earthquakes there elsewhere in Europe
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while Venice still restricts orbit small
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ships making larger ships go to Trieste
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Orana well over an hour away and debnik
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still limit ships meaning most itineries
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now go to Split this year the Boleric
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Islands have reduced our options even
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further only two ships are allowed to
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dock in a Palmer has restricted calls to
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three vessels but for next year are also
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reducing the size of ships that can go
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meaning if booking trips this year for
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next we're going to have fewer options
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for that port there are also fewer Bruge
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port calls this year because Zebuga the
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port for Bruge reduced the number of
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cruise ships docking from five down to
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two this year is a foda the third
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largest Iceland cruise port of the
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Rekavik and a Korea has limited the
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number of cruise passengers to 5,000 a
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day meaning lines have had to drop that
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port so this year fewer Iceland cruisers
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can go there than last year swallbard
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has also now only allows ships with 200
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guests maximum which has meant many
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fewer cruisers going there this year now
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the third area that while not yet
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stopping lines calling on them this year
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raises issues about what we should do or
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can do once we're there there are raised
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travel advisories due to unrest crime or
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terrorist threats this year for example
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at the time of recording the United
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States Department have raised a few
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well-known cruise ports to a level three
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which means they recommend reconsidering
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travel there these include several
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cruise ports some exotic like Papa New
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Guinea but also includes many popular
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Caribbean ports including Jamaica
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Honduras Guatemala Colombia Trinidad and
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Tobago and a little bit further fields
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Egypt cruise lines are still calling on
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these this year but versus last year
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many are suggesting we should be more
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cautious about what we do in those ports
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another big change versus last year is
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it's now impossible to visit some parts
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and ports around the world without
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getting and paying for an electronic
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travel authorization or ETA as they're
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more commonly called last year some were
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of course already in place and required
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like visitors to the United States had
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to get a USA ESTA travelers visiting
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Canada Australia and New Zealand had to
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get those countries equivalent ETAs
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before traveling but this year more
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countries including the UK and South
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Korea have introduced them europe was
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due to introduce their ETA called ETS
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but that's been delayed into 2026 they
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are though introducing a more ownorous
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entry system this year the EES the
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European entry exit system which is
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expected to significantly slow down
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entering Europe if flying in to join a
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cruise because they now need to take our
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photograph and our fingerprints on our
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first entry on other trips this year
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I've also found new requirements to
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enter some countries that I didn't have
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last year for example in Japan there's
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now an app to speed up and complete
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customs requirements to send to the
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Philippines i have to do an online entry
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and exit authorization on an app to get
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a QR code to show to immigration all of
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this changes constantly so it's really
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important to check with your local
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government travel advisory site before
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cruising to see if any ETAs or digital
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entry requirements are in place so
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things like the United States State
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Department travel advisory site the UK
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foreign office travel advice site that
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particular site has saved me on a couple
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of travels this year for example knowing
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about the Philippines change so always
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do check another thing that's changed
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this year is additional costs when
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visiting some ports and places who have
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introduced new fees one of the most
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publicized is the city of Venice so
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after a test last year they've now
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introduced a day tripper entry fee which
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applies to cruise passengers so if you
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go on a cruise on excursion to Venice
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it's usually included in the cost of
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that excursion increasing the price this
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year however if you're heading into
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Venice to explore on your own on a
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cruise stop you must pay this Venice
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entry tax it applies to everyone over
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the age of 14 it costs €5 if you pay at
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least 4 days before arrival and €10 if
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paid less than 3 days in advance but do
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check if it applies to your dates
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because confusingly it's only due for 54
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days on different periods in April May
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June and July constantly changing so
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keep checking other countries have
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introduced specific charges on cruise
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passengers this year too which means the
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lines are either adding them to our
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onboard account this year or increasing
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fairs to cover them these include
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Iceland who have introduced a rather
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hefty 2,500 Icelandic crona it's about
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$19 per passenger per day in port so for
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a five-day itinary that's going to add
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to $100 in fees to each person in your
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party so this year some cruise lines
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like MSE cruises have actually cut back
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on stops on planned trips while others
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are changing their plans so if you're
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booking an Iceland cruise for next year
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you will see higher fairs or perhaps
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fewer ports in Europe Santorini and Mkos
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have introduced fees which are between
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$15 and $20 in the peak season and
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Mexico is also introducing a fee which
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is reduced from the original plan of $42
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to $5 per passenger this year but
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increasing each year so we're having to
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pay more this year to go to all of these
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ports than we did last year another key
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change versus last year is cabin door
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decorations the most commented change
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was when Carnival banned putting upside
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down pineapple decorations on cabin
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doors upside down paniples being a sign
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of a swinger lifestyle but last in that
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discussion was they had stricter
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guidelines saying that all decorations
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must be made with fire retardant
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materials norwegian Cruise Line went a
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step further and actually banned door
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decorations entirely for safety reasons
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due to their flammable risk most other
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cruise lines like Princess followed
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Carnival updating guidelines for door
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decorations to only use fire retardant
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materials and I did see those around the
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ship now if you want to know how smart
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cruisers are navigating all of these
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changes and getting more from cruising
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right now join me over in this video
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where I look at what all are doing and
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the one thing they are all arguing about
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this year see you over there
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