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Secrets The Cruise Lines Don’t Like Talking About
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Jan 28, 2025
There are a number of topics and issues that cruise lines do not want to talk about, or are reluctant to, with cruise passengers. I think these 7 things should be spoken about more, and so lift the lid on them and why lines are so coy discussing them usually 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 85 cruises I have done to date. BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA ——————————————— TikTok: @garybembridge
View Video Transcript
0:00
flicking through these cruise brochures
0:02
i'm seeing
0:03
glamorous destinations
0:05
fun packed onboard activities good food
0:10
comfy cabins but there's nothing about
0:12
some of the most important things
0:14
affecting us as cruise passengers things
0:17
i think we should be told and talking
0:19
about so i'm going to lift the lid on
0:21
the issues and topics i think the lions
0:23
should be talking about and why if
0:26
you're new here welcome aboard i'm gary
0:28
bembridge and it's my goal to make it
0:31
easier and more fun to discover plan and
0:34
enjoy unforgettable cruise vacations
0:37
many issues the lions do not draw your
0:38
attention or talk about upfront in their
0:41
brochures and sales material is the
0:43
myriad of things we agree to when we
0:46
book our cruise when we book a cruise we
0:48
agree to their cruise contract and terms
0:51
as you will see this has several areas
0:54
buried in there that the cruise lines
0:56
don't really seem keen to talk about as
0:59
i discuss them through this episode one
1:01
issue cruise lines don't really like
1:03
talking about is security arrangements
1:05
crime and the extent to which they
1:08
monitor us as guests the princess
1:10
medallion the wearable device that you
1:13
use to open your cabin door order food
1:16
and do other tasks also monitors where
1:19
we are all around the ship
1:21
based on the string of comments i got on
1:24
my channel this gets many passengers in
1:27
a total tizzy and really uptight about
1:29
that idea that the lion can track and
1:32
monitor where they are they wouldn't use
1:34
it because it's outrageous the cruise
1:35
ships are tracking them however
1:38
cruise ships are tracking us and have
1:40
been tracking us all the time and this
1:42
only goes to prove how little we as
1:44
passengers know what's actually
1:46
happening onboard a ship all over the
1:48
ship is cctv
1:50
the only place there's no cctv is in
1:53
your cabin and in private areas like
1:55
public restrooms it has really
1:57
sophisticated face recognition built in
2:00
using the photo when you check in have
2:03
you ever wondered for example how they
2:05
know which photographs are yours if you
2:07
go to the photo center and use one of
2:09
the monitors you'll find all the
2:11
photographs with you in it show up it's
2:13
because they're using that face
2:15
recognition software another use has
2:18
been contact tracing
2:20
so when there's covered issues on a ship
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i've heard how lines like royal
2:24
caribbean for example have used it to
2:26
identify who is in close contact with
2:29
anybody that tested positive it also
2:32
helps them identify who's involved if
2:33
there's an issue crime or some kind of
2:36
incident in addition to agreeing to be
2:38
tracked like this
2:39
there are other things we've agreed to
2:41
for security for example we agree via
2:44
the cruise contract that our baggage
2:47
our person and our cabin can be searched
2:50
and also that we can be confined either
2:52
in our cabin or even in the brig that's
2:54
the prison on board if the captain
2:56
decides we should be also we agree that
2:59
they can disembark us if they decide
3:01
we've done anything that affects
3:03
security or are suspected of a crime
3:05
again
3:06
at the decision of the captain of the
3:08
ship now i've actually seen that happen
3:10
for example two dancers were thrown off
3:13
the ship when i was on some legs of a
3:15
cunard world cruise who'd been caught
3:17
shoplifting on land you may also have
3:19
seen the australian family that were
3:21
thrown off a carnival ship for causing
3:23
trouble and fights a couple of years ago
3:26
while we may understand why lions are a
3:28
little bit coy about talking about the
3:30
levels and how security works one thing
3:32
they definitely don't want to talk about
3:34
in detail is the level of crime
3:37
on a cruise ship there's no central
3:40
global database of crime on cruise ships
3:42
however we do have a sense of the scale
3:45
of crime that happens
3:47
and it's not coming from the cruise
3:48
lines directly since 2010 ships that
3:51
travel in and out of u.s ports have to
3:53
report any serious crime to the fbi
3:56
and the us department of transport then
3:58
produces a quarterly report of all of
4:02
the crime that's happened on ships that
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are within u.s waters crimes like
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assault sexual assault thefts of over
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ten thousand dollars homicides and so on
4:13
serious crimes
4:14
looking at those reports there's usually
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between 20 to 40 crimes reported per
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quarter and the majority of those are
4:21
actually for sexual assault some are
4:24
crew on crew some are passenger and
4:25
passenger and so on now bear in mind
4:28
that globally 29 million people a year
4:31
cruise and the us is the biggest area
4:34
and numbers for cruising by far so it
4:36
appears the overall level of crime is
4:39
quite low and possibly the cctv and the
4:41
tracking helps keep a lid on some of
4:44
that crime however it is hard to know
4:47
globally how much crime takes place on
4:49
board cruise ships because the cruise
4:51
lines
4:52
are not public about it and they're
4:53
definitely not ready to talk about it so
4:55
it fuels doubts and fears and concerns
4:58
that it is higher and it is
5:00
under-reported
5:02
crime overall from the data and
5:03
anecdotally does appear though to be low
5:07
but i think it's a real pity that the
5:08
cruise lines aren't more upfront on this
5:11
particular issue though many of you may
5:13
know this as you found out the hard way
5:16
i do see first time cruisers get caught
5:18
out by this one as the lions do not draw
5:20
attention to or make it clear
5:23
and that is that they've built in the
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right to change itineraries before a
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cruise sales
5:29
during a sailing and to drop ports
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without having to offer compensation or
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even often allow you to cancel unless
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they define it as a significant change i
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get contacted often by passengers really
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upset that a key port that they're
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booked to cruise for is dropped or could
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not be called on of course this can be
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completely out of the control of the
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cruise line like for example when i went
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on around the uk trip on windstar and we
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couldn't make it into three of the ports
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due to bad weather it's not something
5:59
that the lions like to talk about or
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make that clear and i think they
6:03
probably should be a little bit more
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upfront particularly for first time
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cruisers i need to talk about one of the
6:08
most contentious areas in cruising by
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far so not surprising the lions do not
6:14
like to talk about this one and this is
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what happens to auto gratuities many
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cruise lines if they don't include
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gratuities in the fair add auto
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gratuities on board now they tell us
6:25
that it gets shared between the crew
6:27
both those that we come in contact with
6:29
and those behind the scenes
6:31
but they don't talk about or publish or
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share who exactly gets it nor the
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amounts collected
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and shared
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making it actually impossible to know
6:42
what really happens with these
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gratuities they just say it all goes to
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the crew now i've spoken to crew on
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various crew sites on board and they
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tell me that they don't believe that
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they get all the gratuities other say
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that they do it's impossible however to
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know because the cruise lines will not
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give any specific data and don't like to
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talk about it this leads of course many
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to believe gratuities are just used
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actually just to bolster the wages for
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the crew enabling the cruise lines to
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pay less rather than increasing wages
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above an already good decent wage paid
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so the graduates become a plus
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something the lions are not keen to talk
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about in detail
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so this adds to the belief that there's
7:24
a real big issue here another area which
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cruise lines definitely don't have much
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transparency or
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make crystal clear is around some of the
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relationships that they have and the
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deals that they're getting
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now some functions on the ship are
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contracted out
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and in the cruise contract the line will
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say that they will not accept liability
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for those contractors activities it's
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not always clear or easy to tell which
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things on a ship are contracted out the
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most common of these though tend to be
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the spa and fitness
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the photography center the shops and
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even on some cruise lines the medical
8:00
center
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you've probably been on cruises with
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shopping advisors on board who give
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talks hand out shopping maps coupons and
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provide kind of personal shopping in the
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ports it's not made clear and openly
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spoken about that the shops themselves
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have to pay to be recommended
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nor do the lions talk much about
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what the lines then receive in fees
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to be in the program and the level of
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commissions they also get from sales by
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directing passengers there studies by
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reporters including one i saw recently
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on huffington post calculated that the
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fees are in the hundreds of thousands of
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dollars and then there's commissions on
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top of that
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the lions have also started to buy up
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popular attractions for example carnival
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corporation bought the very popular
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skagway yukon and white pass railway
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some like princess and holo america they
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own trains buses and lodges that are
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used in pre and post-cruise trips in
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alaska this kind of integration and
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directing of passengers to company-owned
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places or relationships that they
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receive incentives from is not something
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that i've certainly seen cruise lines
9:08
talking openly about and it's actually
9:11
played down in some areas by the cruise
9:13
lines again leading to some concerns by
9:15
passengers that there's
9:17
more to it than meets the eye maybe it's
9:19
not surprising that lions aren't
9:21
particularly upfront about this next one
9:23
but whenever i've been on behind the
9:25
scene tours which includes the medical
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center this gets asked about and
9:29
passengers definitely want to know and
9:30
they want the cruise lines to talk about
9:31
it more cruise lines are surprisingly
9:34
less keen to talk about it and this is
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around how many people actually go
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missing or die on a cruise ship now the
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data shows that between 19 to 25 people
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every year go overboard or go missing on
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a cruise ship that's 19 to 25 out of 29
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million passengers that cruise every
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year and there's about 300 000 crew on
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ships around the world anytime sadly
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those that do go overboard unfortunately
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have chosen to
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do that rather than have accidentally
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fallen off the ship separate to that
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data suggests around 200 people a year
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die on board a cruise ship and it's
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almost entirely of natural causes and
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mostly elderly passengers such as the
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famous broadcaster david frost who had a
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heart attack when he was on a speaking
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engagement on cunard's queen elizabeth
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ship
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although the lions are reluctant to
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discuss this as i guess it sounds pretty
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ghoulish and i guess they fear it has
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the wrong connotations ships actually do
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have a morgue on board and are required
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under the various maritime laws to carry
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body bags it's kind of just sensible
10:37
don't believe any of those kind of crazy
10:39
stories going around that ships empty
10:41
out the ice cream store whatever to
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store a body if someone unfortunately
10:44
dies on board if you ever hear
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operation rising star over the public
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address system that indicates being a
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death onboard and triggers various
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protocols what is and is not put in the
10:56
ocean by ships is something that cruise
10:57
lines don't talk about as much as they
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should in my view partly as i suspect if
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they did it would cause even more debate
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and more issues for them but let's take
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a look at what does and doesn't go into
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the ocean from cruise ships food waste
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it does after it's been ground down into
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kind of a liquid form and if the ship is
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out in international water that
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effectively is can be released and
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becomes food for the fishes gray water
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which is what comes from your basin and
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your shower and other places
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like say where dishes are washed that
11:29
also goes through a treatment process
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and is allowed to be put into the ocean
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once it's been through that process
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black water or as we call it sewage is a
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much more complicated situation the
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malpole 4 convention covering all crews
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and freight ships allows raw sewerage to
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be released into the ocean when a ship
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is over 12 miles from land and cruising
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at 4 knots between 3 and 12 miles only
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treated sewerage can be released and
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under that no
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sewage can be released
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into the ocean at all so cruise ships
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could release untreated sewerage into
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the ocean
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now bear in mind there's something like
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300 cruise ships sailing at any point in
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time some of them are extremely large as
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we know carrying many thousands of
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passengers and crew that's a lot of
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sewage that could be going into the
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ocean however
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the lines have all agreed through clear
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that's the global cruise line
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association that they will not follow
12:27
that protocol and they've all agreed
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they will only release sewage into the
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ocean once it's been through a detailed
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four-stage treatment which is to make
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the basic the
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waste and the water
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safe and compatible to be released so
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that's what they do
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glass plastics
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paper tin that's all sorted and it's
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prepared for sale to recycling companies
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and it's then disembarked in ports now
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some cruise ships actually incinerate
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some of the rubbish but again they're
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not allowed to put the ash from that
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that's generated for that incineration
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into the ocean it's only allowed to be
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taken off in port ingredients like
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chemicals that are used for example for
13:08
processing photographs or oils from
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cooking
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those types of ingredients again have to
13:14
be stored and are only allowed to be
13:17
disembarked in port they cannot be put
13:19
into the ocean
13:20
cruise lines are starting to talk more
13:22
about what they're doing on the carbon
13:24
footprint front such as launching ships
13:27
that use lng liquefied natural gas
13:29
hybrid ships the ability to plug ships
13:32
into electrical power and ports kind of
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cutting missions when they're in port
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but there's still a long way to go in
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this area and so while the lions talk
13:41
about it a bit
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it's not that much in reality because i
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suspect
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it will just create more and more issues
13:48
but i think cruise lines are going to
13:50
have to start talking about the solar
13:51
area much more than they do currently
13:54
there's a couple of other surprising
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things the lions don't talk about and do
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not draw our attention to in the cruise
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contract that i do want to highlight as
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i've seen some of them causing some
14:06
problems first of all
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cancellation policies
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now those are in the really small print
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but they're really really strict
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after 90 days before your cruise after
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final payment you could lose pretty much
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all of your money if you have to cancel
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it's a really tough policy secondly some
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of the lines say that they can take
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photographs and video images of you and
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they could even use them in marketing or
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advertising material without paying you
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a penny a cent to use it but at the same
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time
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some will say that they will can stop or
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restrict you taking photographs or
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videos on the ships and i actually know
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some vloggers that have been stopped
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filming on a couple of cruise lines some
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even say in their contract that they can
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require you to take down any images that
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you've posted on social media or blogs
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or somewhere else if you want to know
14:56
about some things that appear to make no
14:58
sense on a cruise ship like this why not
15:00
watch this video where i start with
15:02
something that baffled me totally
15:05
see you over there
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