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I've Found THE Absolute Best Cruises For Your Bucket List
31K views
Jan 28, 2025
I've been on 100 cruises and found that there are 11 that are so remarkable, memorable, and enjoyable that I suggest you beg, steal, borrow or more sensibly (like me) scrimp and save to do as many of these as you can! Spoiler: 2 of the most popular are not in the best list! GET EXCLUSIVE PERKS LIKE MEMBER-ONLY BONUS VIDEOS BY BECOMING A CHANNEL MEMBER: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Links mentioned in the videos: BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTS ———————————————— * Check out my T-Shirt range at https://tipsfortravellers.myspreadshop.com , http://bit.ly/TFTStore or https://tips-for-travellers.creator-spring.com 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
View Video Transcript
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get ready there are some surprises to
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come including the fact that neither of
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the two most popular cruises that you
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and I do nor the port where I've had the
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world's best sailing and Sail Out been
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good enough to make it to my top 11 list
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welcome aboard I'm Gary brimage I've
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cruised at the time of making this 100
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times and I've found there are just 11
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that are so remarkable memorable and
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enjoyable that I think you should beg
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steal borrow or like me scrimp and save
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to do but certainly before you die and
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while you can
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let's start with the one in position 11.
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it's the third most popular cruising
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region in the world Alaska the
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Landscapes are dramatic glacier's
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imposing and Wildlife magnificent and on
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my trips I've seen it has huge appeal
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for all ages so it's definitely one that
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made the list the highlights for me are
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Hubbard Glacier where I saw carving of
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glaciers in Skagway going on the white
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past and Yukon train in Juneau going
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walking on glaciers dog slaying and the
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Tramway up to the top of the mountain to
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see the amazing scenery in Ketchikan
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going to the Great Alaskan lumberjack
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show if you do consider Alaska there is
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a huge choice because almost every
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single cruise line goes there but note
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that the season is quite short running
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from April to around about October I'm
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always asked which is better Alaska or
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the Norwegian fjords the latter only
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slightly Pips Alaska which is why it's
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in position number 10. it's rugged with
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high mount beautiful fjords and it's
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going to become much harder to go to
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because from 2025 Norway say they will
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only allow total non-emission ships in
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two UNESCO world heritage fjords now the
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highlights in the fjords for me are
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visiting tiny towns deeper than the
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fjores like scolden either Fjord nor the
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feudide then the bigger towns with
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Gorgeous old buildings like flam Bergen
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and Stavanger I love the wide range of
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things to do like the train and flan RI
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bees or boats going deep into the fjords
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and Hikes to places like the pilgrim
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rock my big considerations like Alaska
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it has a main short season also April to
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October if you want to see the Northern
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Lights you must go far north and at the
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end of the season or you can even go in
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Winter there's also an enormous amount
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of choice with most Cruise Lines going
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there but do look at the local lines of
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huttigruten or havalia voyages next for
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me on the list is a Mekong River Cruise
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through Vietnam and Cambodia this Cruise
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exceeded All my expectations such a
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different culture to what you and I know
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and traveling on the river revealed how
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both the rural and urban people lived I
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was exposed to fascinating but rather
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disturbing history about the Vietnam War
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and the Khmer Russian Cambodia stunning
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temples and three amazing cities Ho Chi
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Minh City Vietnam's biggest city Phnom
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Penh the Cambodian Capital with
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jaw-dropping raw compound and seem reap
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the gateway to Anchor what Angkor Wat oh
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my goodness this is worth going on the
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trip by itself the most incredible
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sprawling ancient complex I also loved
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all the local crafts people doing brick
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making silver work silk weaving and
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Olive markets there are many well-known
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European river cruise lines operating
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there like Viking across Europe and Emma
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waterways and watch out because like all
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River Cruisers so at certain times of
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the year It suffers from water level
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disruptions now I've done various
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European river cruises and the Danube is
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the one to do and the one that makes the
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list
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I love experiencing the range of
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countries the history the cultures now a
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classic Danube Cruise normally includes
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Germany Austria Slovakia and Hungary for
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me the key highlights are the beautiful
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European towns and cities along the
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river now my trips this is usually
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included Pasar or Nuremberg linths with
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excursions to the Czech Republic's
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chesky kromolov Vienna branislava and
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magical Budapest other highlights are
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going through the locks and the
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constantly changing local Cuisine and
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entertainment that they offer and bring
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on board the season is also short from
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April to October time but there are some
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Christmas Market cruises there is an
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enormous choice of lines I've been on
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biking Emma waterways Avalon and emerald
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but there's probably about oh at least
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another 15. now water levels can be a
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big issue some years on one cruise we
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couldn't sell past Vienna to Budapest
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because the water levels were just too
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low next is a Queen Mary 2 transatlantic
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between Southampton and New York I've
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done this five times now because it's
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the only true ocean liner saying today
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it's a truly unique experience harking
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back to the Glory Days of Crossing
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before you airplanes made it quicker and
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easier no other line or ship replicates
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this the highlights for me are the
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dressing up and the balls or the
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dressing up on Q note is much less of a
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thing than it used to be incredible
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enrichment lecturers often with famous
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authors politicians or actors afternoon
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tea which is a big exciting ceremony and
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of course the opportunity to unwind and
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finally sailing into New York now on
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that point I much prefer going from
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Southampton to New York because you have
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25 hour days for five days as you adjust
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with the time and bear in mind though
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that there are three classes on
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Britannia princess Grill and queen
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school and the restaurant you've eaten
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depends on which you're in however
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probably about 90 of the ship is
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actually open to everybody it's not as
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class based as other lines and it's not
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that class based other than the
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restaurants you can also by the way take
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your dog or cat but that's very
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expensive cruising I found is a a great
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and an easy way to see this historic and
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gracious country where English and
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foreign tourism in many areas is not
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that developed Japan culturally and
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historically was an even bigger
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Revelation than I expected for me the
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key highlights because I like history
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were Hiroshima and Nagasaki and so
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seeing and hearing the impact of this
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awful second world war nuclear bombs
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seeing things like Mount Fuji but the
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biggest for me was going to Osaka which
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is an interesting place but it was the
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Gateway into Kyoto and the Magnificent
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temples like the golden temple amazing
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place I found doing a dedicated round
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Japan cruise is best out of Tokyo and
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several Lions do it like region Seven
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Seas on America Cunard Oceania although
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most of the lines tend to go in the
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Autumn to Spring season with April May
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time though being the Spring Blossom
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time very popular and a little bit more
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costly Iceland takes the next spot I've
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Cruise Iceland twice now it's wild weird
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and fascinating it really is an island
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of Fire and Ice it's an expensive
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country really expensive to do a land
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trip and so going on a cruise is a great
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alternative especially because the key
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sites are around the coast and the
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interior is kind of largely sort of a
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lava desert the highlights for me are
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first the Golden Circle this is out of
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Reykjavik and across one day there is
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golfos the golden Falls the Giza
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geothermal area Stroker and the
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thinkvelia national park where two tonic
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plates are pulling apart
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the other is What's called the jewels of
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the north normally out of acar a and
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this includes God of us waterfall
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namaskar bubbling mud pools like
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maivatan and the strookster deer
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hopefully pronounce that correctly
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craters the dumburga lava Fields
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Everyone likes Reykjavik and the Blue
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Lagoon although I think that particular
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attraction is rather overrated there's
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much less choice of cruise lines here
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and July and August are the most popular
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but crazy busy but it's still worth it
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next for me is the Tahiti and French
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Polynesian Islands it's possibly the
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most beautiful place of all of these
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cruises now Mark my partner says it's
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the most beautiful place and the best
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cruise that he's he has ever been on
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every island is more stunning than the
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next the Highlight is the island hopping
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and many lines by the way have either
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private beaches or their own private
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islands most of the time on this cruise
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is about enjoying beaches maybe going
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hiking going out on the water or doing
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things like cycling which we did quite a
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lot of Bora Bora of course is the big
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highlight but watch out because they
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have limited the size of ships that can
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actually sail into there now now in
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terms of cruise lines Paul gargan and
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aranui they're based there they sell all
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year round Windstar home bases for a big
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part of the year but many of the big
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lines like Holland America and so on
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they actually pass through two the next
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is high on the list because it's so
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unique
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the Galapagos it has distinctive
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Wildlife mostly comfortable with humans
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because we've not been a big historic
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Predator it's a wild volcanic based set
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of islands not quite as dramatic as
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Iceland but it's pretty unusual the
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Highlight for me was the wildlife though
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iguanas Galapagos sea lions birds like
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the red-footed and blue-footed boobies
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figure Birds Galapagos penguins and of
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course the giant tortoises snorkeling
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was a really big highlight because I got
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to see underwater sea lions sharks rays
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and turtles but it's incredibly
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expensive to go there and while it's
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rated so highly on my list only go there
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if you're a big nature lover it's a very
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long way to get there it took me 25
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hours coming from Europe there's only
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around 90 boats that are allowed to
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operate in the area most of them are
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pretty small with around 50 or fewer
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guests the biggest hold a hundred like
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silver origin that it was on and
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celebrity Flora right you may be
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surprised by this next one being so high
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on my list
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it's the Panama Canal it is the most
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remarkable man-made Maritime structure
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that exists in my view so while the Suez
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Canal is impressive the Panama Canal is
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phenomenal it's an iconic ship that I
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think every single Cruiser should do the
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original Canal opened in 1914 and a new
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bigger Canal opened alongside in 2016.
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to pass the 50 miles from one side of
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Panama to the other side the ship you're
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in is raised up 85 feet that's 26 meters
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in a series of locks it sells to the
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man-made Gatton Lake along the calibra
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or galliard Channel that's cut into the
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countryside and then the ships load back
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down to sea level by another series of
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locks it takes a whole day to do this
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I've done the full Transit both ways and
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at a partial Transit out of the
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Caribbean up to the gas and lake and
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back down there are many many lines that
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do it they're mostly do it when they
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reposition the ships to and from the
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Caribbean and Alaska because they have
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to go through there to get there many
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world Cruisers included and then lions
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like Holland America and I think
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celebrity they run those kind of partial
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transits as well it's so memorable it's
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so special that's why it's so high on my
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list so what is number one the best
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cruises I have ever done by far is in
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the polar regions but specifically to
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Antarctica while seeing polar bears in
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the Arctic was incredible Antarctica
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still wins it's remote it's special and
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everyone talks about Antarctica having
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changed them and it absolutely does it's
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way better than anything
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that I've ever had imagined it to be the
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highlights for me were going to South
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Georgia which has great history but the
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scale of the wildlife is incredible for
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example on Salisbury Plain I saw over
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400
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000 Penguins dozens of elephant seals
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and many more animals the Antarctica
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Peninsula with ice snow icebergs
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penguins and whales mind-blowing it's
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crazily costly even though it ranges
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from supposedly more affordable
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Expedition lines through to Super luxury
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Seaborn silver sea Vikings But whichever
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way you do it is expensive but if you
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ever can find the money it will be an
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investment in your life I really really
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believe that so why on Earth is the
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Caribbean and the Mediterranean not in
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my list of top cruises now these are
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fantastic places to cruise to but then
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offer me as much bucket list
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life-changing experiences they're places
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I love to go and go there frequently and
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they are great value vacations to be had
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also the most amazing
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surprisingly emotional place to sell in
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and out of is Sydney Harbor it's
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incredible for sure but the others on my
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list pipped cruising out of Sydney and
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Australia in the end for me now if you
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find this interesting watch this video
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when I look at the seven things that
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I've learned doing my first hundred
13:05
cruises starting with the biggest thing
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that changed my cruising experience and
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my cruising life forever see you over
13:12
there
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