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10 Things You Shouldn’t Do On A European River Cruise. And Why
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Feb 22, 2025
Here are some European River Cruise Tips and big river cruise no-nos, and things to avoid, based on the river cruises in Europe that I have done. These are the 10 things you really should not do when on a Europe River Cruise. I found out the hard way, so you do not have to. ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 77 cruises I have done to date. BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA ——————————————— TikTok: @garybembridge
View Video Transcript
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here are a couple of things i always
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tell people heading off on a european
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river cruise to watch out for some of
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these
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i did learn the painful way so you won't
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have to by the way
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if you're new to my channel i'm gary
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bembridge and i'm here to help you
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make it easier to find plan and have
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those amazing cruise vacations
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you're dreaming of so with that in mind
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let's get going
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first off never assume that your
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itinerary will run
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as advertised and like clockwork water
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levels
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are the bane of river cruises too high
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or too low
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affects these cruisers in all sorts of
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ways and in most seasons they're
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affected for some
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or all of the year to some degree so if
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water levels are too high perhaps from
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heavy rain
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or heavy winter snow actually melting
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and overfilling rivers
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ships simply can't pass under some of
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the bridges if it's too low
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from drought or low into snow it makes
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it impossible to sail
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as there's not enough depth underneath
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the ship so this could mean
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that you might stay docked in one place
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and be bust to go on excursions which
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could be some distance away
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or you may even have to pack up
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completely and change onto a ship
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further down the river these have
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happened to me
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quite a few times actually so keep an
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eye on water levels if you are going on
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a european river cruise and check and
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ask
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what the arrangements will actually be
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now this next one will be something that
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some of you will disagree with
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because i'm actually telling you to
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spend more money however don't go on
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those
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cabins that are right at the bottom of
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the ship because three quarters of them
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are below water you have a long window
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close to the ceiling
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and it can feel pretty claustrophobic it
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gets dark you're missing out the scenery
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but there's a much bigger issue it's
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around noise especially on the danube
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and the rhine where there's lots of
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locks and in the evenings there'll be
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bumps and water noise
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and it can really disturb your sleep i
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really don't like those lower cabins so
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much
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that i've actually not gone on sailings
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when those are the only ones available
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because i really think
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it diminishes the overall experience and
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it's not a great feeling
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now bear in mind of course if you do
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have a cabin higher up which does have
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those floor-to-ceiling windows or a
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balcony
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you might actually not have a lot to
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look at when you're moored because
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on the european rivers the ships in
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different ports
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are moored next to each other rather
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than
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you know side by side so actually you
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could be opening your
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window and staring straight into another
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cabin
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now unlike ocean cruise ships river
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cruise boats
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actually have very few facilities and
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very few options and they do actually
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differ
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ship by ship so it's really important
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before you go on a river cruise to see
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exactly what facilities your ship has
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you know does it have a plunge pool some
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do
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does it have a workout room where they
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do classes does it have a hairdresser
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very few do
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and also one of the dining options most
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just have one is their laundry room do
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they have bikes to use
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because that's really going to determine
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what you're going to bring what you're
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going to pack and what you're going to
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plan for also really importantly
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check and don't assume that it's
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accessible friendly
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does it have a lift does it have ramps
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what are the excursion options not many
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river cruise ships are that accessible
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friendly also they will not
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have a medical center but they are able
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to connect you
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with a doctor or a pharmacy or whatever
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if you need one don't be shy to ask i've
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been on
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trips where i've needed to see a doctor
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and they've been absolutely brilliant
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at finding a local one that speaks
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english and is really helpful
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and not that expensive to go and see now
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you will be doing a lot of walking
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on a european river cruise because
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almost all of the excursions
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are walking tours they go to historic
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towns places cathedrals whatever
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you can easily do 10 000 to 20 000 steps
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a day so make sure
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that you have comfy worn-in shoes to
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walk in that's
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absolutely critical there's also four
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other packing tips that i do have
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for river cruising first of all don't
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take too much luggage because cabins are
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pretty small and you don't want that
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space taken up with big suitcases
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layering is really important it can get
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chilly a waterproof outer layer is a
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really good idea affordable umbrellas a
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great idea
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have a little backpack to carry stuff
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out your excursions
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and having a european adapter is really
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important
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and the fourth one is take euros with
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you that is going to be the key currency
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to have with you the next thing is
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don't plan on having a lot of downtime
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european river cruises are very
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scheduled they're very packed
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you know i often joke to people you're
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not going on a european river cruise for
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a vacation
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you're going to go and do things see
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things it's really really packed
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you're going to be woken up early maybe
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seven o'clock most mornings you're gonna
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have breakfast
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you then gonna head out on tours from
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eight o'clock or nine o'clock you then
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might
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come back from a tour for lunch or then
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you might sail to the next stop
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do another tour you might have free time
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to go and explore that place
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then you're gonna be back at six o'clock
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you can have a briefing seven o'clock
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you're gonna have dinner
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then you're gonna have some maybe insane
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real talk then you're gonna go to bed
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and it all starts over again so it's
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really really packed so don't assume
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you can have lots of downtime now unlike
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ocean cruising
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which has a much more predictable
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schedule import so you kind of you know
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arrive at eight o'clock in the morning
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you leave it sort of five o'clock or so
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but every day and every stop on a
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european river cruise will be very
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different so you need to really watch
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very carefully what's happening that day
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to avoid getting left behind or messing
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up
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the whole itinerary and plans really
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important if you go
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self-exploring in the evening the ship
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might stay in the place until late in
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the evening
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and then leave or even during the day a
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ship might actually change where it
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moors
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while you're out so it might drop you in
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one spot move to a different spot
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where you rejoin because of the traffic
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or the flow of the river
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so it's really important to make sure
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you know what this the schedule is
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attend the briefing every evening take
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the daily program out with you
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and really important make sure you have
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the ship phone number and they have
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yours so make sure you've got that in
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your phone
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also check in and out some you know you
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leave your key behind somebody to scan
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out because then they know that you
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are or aren't on the ship all european
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river cruise lines they offer menus they
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offer meals
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they offer drinks kind of inspired by
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the specific region you're selling
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through but
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bear in mind it's not the real thing
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it's an interpretation of it
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and if you only drink and eat on the
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ship you're not experiencing europe so i
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do
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strongly strongly recommend that you do
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find time to eat and drink
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within the towns and places you're
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visiting maybe skip lunch
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when the ship's more than a place get
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out and meet the locals spend your money
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there
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don't just stay in a bubble of your
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fellow americans british
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australians whatever they are the ship
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will also often
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be in a certain place in the early
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evening and so much late in the evening
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so maybe
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if you don't want to go out and eat
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maybe pop out for a drink afterwards you
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know things will be open in europe
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because it does have a late evening
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culture but don't just eat and drink
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the whole time on the ship the next
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thing is river cruise lines
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say that fares are all inclusive but
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every single line has different
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interpretations of what all-inclusive
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means
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so make sure exactly what is included
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and
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isn't because you may end up paying much
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more than you expect
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most lines include all their meals most
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of them will include wine and beer with
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dinner
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wi-fi is included excursions in each
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port are included
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um they have normally at least one
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choice but then some have
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drinks at all times included so crystal
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uniworld they'll have all drinks while
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others
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might just have non-premium drinks like
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across europe while others have none you
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have to pay
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extra you know most will offer various
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additional
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optional excursions which you will pay
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extra
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beyond the included ones some won't
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they'll just have everything included
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most will expect gratuities
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and you have to pay that in cash in
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euros others
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will have it included so really make
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sure you understand what is
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actually all inclusive on your
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particular cruise line
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now this one may offend people they may
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find it not
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something they agree with but don't take
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kids you know although
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some of the cruise lines are trying to
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attract more families they run special
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cruises with activities in school
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holidays river cruising
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is not really a kid activity in my view
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it goes along the rivers it goes to
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historic towns there's lots of
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excursions involving history
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cathedrals the whole dining approach the
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ambiance
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and most of the clientele on board is
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not kind of family focused
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so if you do want to go with kids take a
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look at perhaps something like an ammo
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waterways
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or other lines like that which are
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running very specific family activities
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and programs during the holidays across
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europe is another good example of that
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one really really important thing that
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you should never do
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on a european river coos is ignore the
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safety warnings you're often going to be
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going under low bridges
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so when the crew tells you to stay off
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the top deck absolutely stealth the top
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deck
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you know when you're going through
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things like a lock you're going to be
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really like
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close to the walls you know don't hold
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out your hand don't touch onto objects
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as
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the ship is moving you will get damaged
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and hurt
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but really really important follow those
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safety briefings particularly
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when you're on the top deck because it
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can be pretty risky
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if you want more help on choosing
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planning and making the most of the
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european river cruise
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i've put together a playlist of three
8:56
videos you can watch it right now
8:59
by clicking here so why don't you go and
9:00
watch those right now to find out more
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