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Who Should Do A River Cruise? (And Who Will Hate It?)
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Jan 28, 2025
I have found that a river cruise is not for everyone, but it is a great option for some. So let me explain who I believe it is and isn’t for. It could save you a lot of money, or lead you to one of your best vacations ever 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 88 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
i found a river cruise is not for
0:02
everyone but it is an option for some so
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let me explain who i believe it is and
0:07
isn't for this could save you a lot of
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money or perhaps lead you to one of your
0:12
best vacations ever if you're new here
0:15
welcome aboard i'm gary bembridge and
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it's my goal to make it fun and easy to
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discover plan and enjoy unforgettable
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cruise vacations river cruise is a great
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way of seeing a region in an immersive
0:26
and intensive way whether that's europe
0:28
vietnam cambodia the nile or parts of
0:31
the united states but this comes with
0:33
some catches river cruises do not travel
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large distances across the day slowly
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they work their way along the river when
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i'm on ocean cruise i usually travel
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many hundreds of miles every day and
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visit multiple countries river cruises
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i've been on often travel just 20 to 50
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miles a day stopping frequently at
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places along the way and often i've
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called in at multiple places in one day
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unlike on an ocean cruise river ships
1:01
are always close to land the banks are
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just a few meters away so i get to
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observe for every minute of the cruise
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the landscapes the towns the sites the
1:10
lifestyle along the route thus giving me
1:12
a much more intensive in-depth look at a
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country or region for example
1:17
my rhine river cruises have explored
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various areas of germany with iconic
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castles historic towns and cities like
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cologne passau urushima heidelberg my
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classic danube river cruises have
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immersed me into austrian history
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visiting places like linz krems and then
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three capital cities vienna bratislava
1:36
and slovakia and budapest hungary
1:39
when i wanted to explore french
1:40
countryside and chateaus my loire river
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cruise did that for me my mekong river
1:45
crews showed me vietnam and cambodian
1:48
both rural and city life it remains one
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of the most fascinating cruises i've
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ever done as i said the distances
1:55
traveled on river cruises are not vast
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and you get to explore in a more
1:59
intensive way than you would ever on an
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ocean cruise those they tend to flip
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quickly from place to place each day
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often calling on a new country or island
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every single day broad and brief
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tastes of a wide geography is what ocean
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cruises are much more about but what's
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important to note is that river cruise
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programs tend to focus on four key
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aspects of each region the history
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religious side culture and food and
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drink they also do it at a gentler pace
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once they call into a stop with
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panoramic bus and leisurely walking
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tours though some are now offering more
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active bike and hiking options so
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there's some other things that you need
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to consider particularly this one river
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cruise is a great idea if you want to go
2:40
on a vacation which is totally and
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utterly organized with very few
2:45
decisions or options that you yourself
2:47
have to juggle all you need to do is
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decide when you want to go broadly where
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you want to go which cruise line you
2:53
want to go with and then everything else
2:55
is done for you the great thing about a
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river cruise is it's very stress and
3:00
hassle free because you don't have to
3:02
make lots of decisions it's all done for
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you the excursions dining drinks
3:06
entertainment and so on it's all curated
3:08
and sorted you don't have to make lots
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of decisions once you go on a river
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cruise in my experience river cruising
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is by nature much closer to an escorted
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tour than it is to an ocean cruise the
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daily activities and program are tightly
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organized with no or much fewer choices
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than you would have on an ocean cruise
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for example it's a much more curated
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experience and everyone on the trip has
3:32
the same shared program and experience
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and do the same things at the same time
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you don't necessarily have to go on all
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the included excursions but you should
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expect less choice and options and a
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less individually tailored cruise
3:47
experience than when ocean cruising
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which of course prides itself on the
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increasingly wide range of choice
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available if having a shared communal
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experience with everyone on the trip and
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the ability to just go with the flow and
4:00
not have to make decisions and wrestle
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with choices and options appeals then
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river cruising is for you if you like a
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more individually tailored freewheeling
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and independent cruise experience then
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consider this option much more
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cautiously
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unless of course you have the next
4:19
overriding issue and concern that trumps
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this totally river cruising is a great
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idea if you're concerned in any way
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about motion sickness as it's pretty
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much impossible to emotion sick on a
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river
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though that too comes with a catch as i
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will explain shortly i've been on river
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cruises with people who get seasick and
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even the thought of going on a rowboat
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on a lake like my father-in-law but
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seriously the chance of getting seasick
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honor of a cruise is pretty much
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impossible it's smooth sailing literally
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your biggest water related concern about
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a river cruise is not about being
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seasick it's about water levels
5:01
and that is one of the key risks with
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river cruise
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there may be too much water so the ships
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can't get under the bridges and
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therefore get trapped in a certain
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section of the river or the other
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extreme the water levels are too low and
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the ships can't travel further and
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further down the river
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i've been on various cruises where both
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of these things has actually happened to
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me for example on one danube cruise we
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ended up only being able to travel as
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far as vienna because the ships couldn't
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get any further down towards budapest
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because of higher water levels we ended
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up having to go on various bus
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excursions because we couldn't go any
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further on the ship meanwhile on my
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mekong river cruise the tunnel sap lake
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was too low for the ship to go so we had
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to be driven many many hours around the
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lake to get us to our end of cruise
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destination at seam rep to be able to
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visit the incredible anchor watt ruins
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if you look online discussions about
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river cruises water levels are one of
6:00
the main things that has disappointed
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river cruise passengers
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because they've been stuck in one place
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and bust on excursions or even had to
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pack up and move to a different ship
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further up or down the river
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of course it doesn't happen every year
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but when planning keep an eye on water
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levels in any season to make sure you
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are going to make the most of your river
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cruise and know what to expect
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but consider
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though there is another big upside
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despite all of this that may make this
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particular risk worthwhile if you find
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big ocean ships turn off or even smaller
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ocean ships a turn off for that matter
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river cruising is much more likely to be
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for you
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river cruise ships will have under 200
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guests on board in fact many will be
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much much smaller and closer to a
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hundred guests that's certainly possible
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in europe it's true in the mekong going
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down the mississippi or the now it's a
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much more intimate experience
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if you like the idea of traveling with
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much fewer people you want to be
7:00
in a much more intimate experience this
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is for you
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you want to get to know the passengers
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you're cruising with it becomes much
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easier because you're mixing with the
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same people all the time river cruising
7:11
is then a great idea if this appeals to
7:14
you of course that intimate experience
7:16
comes with some compromise
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on a river cruise ship you will have
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limited options
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and definitely fewer facilities
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usually there's only one restaurant and
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one key lounge kind of bar area some
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will have a small plunge pool some might
7:32
have a hot tub
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not all have a gym on board you're going
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to have much of your grades of cabins to
7:39
choose from and so on but
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you will have a much more intimate
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experience and you will have good food a
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friendly lounge to mix with guests and a
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good comfortable cabin and an open
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sundeck to enjoy the scenery and to
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relax as you go cruising
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if you won't miss all the bells and
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whistles and attractions ocean cruising
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serves up because a more intimate
8:03
experience is more important to you then
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river cruising is something that you
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should absolutely consider especially
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if another feature of ocean cruising
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drives you crazy like it does me if
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you're like me and want to know when you
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book a cruise what it's going to cost
8:19
you in its entirety and not have lots of
8:22
add-ons and nickel and diming then this
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could also be for you river cruising is
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a much
8:28
more all-inclusive experience there are
8:30
a few examples where some river cruise
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lines are breaking out from this but
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largely speaking today river cruising is
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an all included vacation
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all your food is included all your
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excursions are included wi-fi is
8:43
included and some or all your drinks are
8:45
thrown in and our many gratuities are
8:47
also included transfers are also often
8:50
included to and from the airport i found
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it's really really difficult to spend
8:54
money when i'm on board a river cruise
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because everything on the cruise has
8:58
been covered for me the only things that
9:00
i've been out of pocket for is if i
9:03
perhaps give any extra gratuities or if
9:05
i bought things along the way in the
9:06
various different stops that we've been
9:08
on it's important to note though that
9:10
river cruising is a more expensive
9:13
option per day
9:15
than ocean cruising is partly because so
9:17
much more is included and also it's a
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smaller ship
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one thing to consider
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is as i said most lines include
9:24
excursions in the fare and if you want
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to be more independent and you don't
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want to go on the included excursions
9:29
and you want to head off out on your own
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you are paying a premium for something
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that you will not be using
9:36
there is some hope though for you if you
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want to go river cruising and you're
9:40
this type of traveler because some
9:41
cruise lines on the rivers are moving
9:44
away from this to give a slightly more
9:46
fluid approach not many but for example
9:48
across europe is offering packages in
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some countries which do not include
9:52
excursions and you can then buy the
9:54
excursions as a package add-on or ad hoc
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as you want them one by one but overall
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if you like to know once you've paid for
10:01
your vacation that everything's included
10:03
river cruising is definitely a really
10:06
great option but is it really really
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limited when it comes to your various
10:11
vacation options although on border
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river cruise there is relatively limited
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choice of facilities there is a huge
10:18
choice in terms of the number of rivers
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you can cruise on and areas of the world
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you can do too and also in the number of
10:26
cruise lines that you can choose to go
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cruising with europe is probably the
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most developed in terms of river
10:32
cruising and across continental europe
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there is an enormous enormous choice of
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rivers the most popular include the
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rhine the rhone the danube the duara the
10:41
seine the loire the elb the mizell
10:44
volga and on and on in the united states
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there's less choice with the great lakes
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area and mississippi being the key areas
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in africa you're going to be able to go
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down the nile and there's some limited
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river cruising in southern africa around
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that includes the kariba dam in asia
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there is opportunity to cruise through
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india the yangtze river in china and
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vietnam and cambodia along the mekong
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river cruising is constantly expanding
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and going to be more and more places
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coming on board so there is a lot of
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choice now and there's going to be more
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choice to come there's also an enormous
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range of cruise lines the largest choice
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is again within europe and there are
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dozens of cruise lines those that cater
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mostly for english speakers there's
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probably about 20 that i've counted and
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then maybe more that i because i've
11:29
missed some you've got everything from
11:30
the ultra luxury lines like crystal and
11:32
uniworld five-star lines like ammo
11:34
waterways scenic viking talc four-star
11:37
lines like avalon emerald apt three-star
11:40
lines like crossy europe nico if you're
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a non-english speaker and you speak
11:45
french or german you have even more
11:47
choice because there are even more lines
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on top of that like a rosa collettes
11:51
crucimondo
11:53
luftna
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as you can see just so many cruise lines
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if you think a river cruise is for you
11:59
and want to know which cruise to start
12:00
with then watch this video where i give
12:02
you the best river cruises to do and why
12:05
starting with the absolute must do first
12:08
time river cruise see you over there
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