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7 Best Things You Can Get Free On Your Cruise. If You Ask
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Jan 28, 2025
I guarantee there are loads of freebies and free stuff you, and other cruise passengers, are missing out on your cruise. Free Things you can get on a cruising vacation simply by asking for them, or just by doing something simple. No matter how often you go on a cruise ship, there will be some free cruise stuff you did not know about in this video! 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 90 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 ———————————————
View Video Transcript
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cruise brochures and websites list the
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obvious things included in our cruise
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fares but they don't list many freebies
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and free stuff i've discovered that you
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and i can get on a cruise if we simply
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ask for it or do something very simple i
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want you to know about all of them and i
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guarantee
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no matter how often you cruise there
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will be some you have no idea about if
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you're new here welcome aboard by the
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way i'm gary bembridge and it's my goal
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to make it fun and easy to discover plan
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and enjoy unforgettable cruise vacations
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so let's go get some free stuff many
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cruise lines like oceania that i was
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just on let me collect points every time
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that i take part in activities you know
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things like name the tune trivia quizzes
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deck games table tennis all sorts of
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other activities now on oceania it's
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called big o points and for every
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activity that i take part in i can
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collect points
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all of the events are highlighted in the
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daily program with that particular logo
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then i redeem the points at the end of
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the cruise for gifts and merchandise
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things like key rings caps t-shirts and
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so on now many bigger cruise ships they
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will run even bigger opportunities
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they'll run audience participation shows
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like mr misses belly flop competitions
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passenger talent shows and you'll get
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gifts or bottles of champagne for either
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taking part or for winning again free
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stuff on a recent virgin voyages cruise
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for example we could take part in
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activity we made and decorated sea
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horses we then raced them and there were
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vouchers to redeem on board for
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merchandise free stuff another easy way
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to get gifts is by going to the shopping
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advisor talks on board these talks are
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most common on alaskan and caribbean
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itineraries the line brings onboard
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shopping advisors they give talks and
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they push all sorts of products and
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stores within the various ports you're
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calling on now to incentivize people
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like you and me to come to the talks
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they almost always give away gifts like
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jewelry charms t-shirts
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caps gift certificates and so on also
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really importantly when i get off in
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those ports where they've been talking
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about them again mostly in alaska and
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caribbean regions i look out for stores
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offering similar gifts and freebies
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simply by calling in it's important to
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note however that these stores tend to
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be those promoted by shopping advisors
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and you'll find that things like fe
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diamonds international del sol color
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changing shops those kind of chains you
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find everywhere i also by the way can
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often get key amenities that i've
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forgotten to pack like combs razors
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toothbrushes you can get them for free
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from guest services or by asking your
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cabin steward now some lines don't offer
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them and they'll send me off to their
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onboard store but many cruise lines will
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offer you those free amenities also by
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the way at guest services i can usually
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get for free postcards pens stationery
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and used packs of cards in the casino
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they only use packs of cards a very
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limited amount of times and then those
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cards are normally available for guests
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like you and me you can get them free
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buy guest services or through the casino
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many of them are branded with the cruise
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line logo so they are especially cool
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free things to have now in terms of
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higher value gifts and treats the thing
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that i really like is raffles and
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there's two raffles that i always focus
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on do
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on embarkation day the spa they normally
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hold a raffle it's to encourage us to go
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and tour the spa and of course get a bit
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of a sales pitch
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i get a raffle ticket and i make sure
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i'm back at the draw time usually around
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a sail away time because you have to be
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there to win most people forget so you
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have quite a high chance of winning in
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fact i've won free massages and free
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treatments on seabourn and holland
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america before so that's a really great
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thing to do also when i'm in the spa
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they often give short sample massages or
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treatments to encourage bookings another
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great little freebie the other venue
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that does great raffles are the on-board
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shops particularly if they're launching
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something new on a cruise like
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merchandise or a jewelry line
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go to the launch event
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that if they have a raffle i've never
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won one of those raffles yet but they
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can give away charms earrings ship
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branded merchandise and much higher
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value prizes one area to get more
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freebies
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which you probably going to argue you
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don't really need more of is food but
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there is something that's really
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important so watch out for that
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i get asked a lot about things about
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food so i'm going to give those from the
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slightly more absurd to some really
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interesting ones if you do want more
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food remember you can dine at multiple
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venues one
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after the other so if for some crazy
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reason you could decide to eat in the
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main dining room then go to the buffet
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then order room service all in one
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evening now i'm not sure you want to do
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that but it is something you could do
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but more importantly foodie events like
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on azamara chocolate buffets seabourn
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champagne and caviar sailaways or their
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offices on deck or the oceania grand
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event brunch or white parties all those
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kind of special foodie events are
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included in the fair now many cruise
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lines you can order more than one main
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course in the main dining room i am
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seeing some cruise lines starting to
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charge a surcharge so check the menu and
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if it makes no mention of a surcharge
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it's almost
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certain that you can order more than one
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main course what i do is if there are
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two main course dishes that i really
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want and i can't make up my mind then i
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don't i simply ask if i can have smaller
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portions of both of those things and
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that will usually incur no up charge at
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all if you're an ice cream fan don't
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assume your only option is the extra
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charge gelato or ice cream shop on board
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you'll normally find tucked away in the
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lido buffet or somewhere on the pool
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deck you can almost always get
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traditional soft serve ice cream for
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free so ask if there's any free ice
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cream options don't just automatically
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you have to spend your money at the
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gelato shops they are pretty expensive
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in my opinion now whilst those food
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ideas seem a bit trivial there are a
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couple of really important tips when it
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comes to free things and food and this
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is especially important if you have any
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dietary issues or perhaps you're a fussy
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eater
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now on many lines
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you can go off menu now while more
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upscale lines and venues like say q not
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queen's grill they can let you go
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completely off menu you can order
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anything you want so when i've been in
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queens grill and i say wanted to roast
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chicken dinner one night i could have
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that i just had to ask her at lunchtime
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i could have anything that i wanted but
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importantly quite a few lines
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have allowed me to go off menu not when
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it's as upscale as that
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and it's particularly if i want
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something that perhaps is on the lunch
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menu or is on one of the other
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restaurants but not on the menu in my
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restaurant most lines also have standard
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dishes available which may or may not be
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on the menu things like steak chicken or
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salmon so you don't get charged to have
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those
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if you're vegan
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vegetarian gluten free or have any other
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dietary needs or quirks
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talk to the maitre d at the very
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beginning of the cruise they will work
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with you on options if for example you
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find on your cruise line there's only
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one vegan or vegetarian option is the
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norm
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ask because often i've found for no
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extra charge
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they will plan and work with you to have
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other choices the other thing which i
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love as a freebie is afternoon tea i'm a
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massive big fan of afternoon tea now
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some lions have a free one and are paid
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for one so for example on piano cruises
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and on princess they often have a free
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one in the main dining room and a
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fancier one
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either in the restaurant or the lobby
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which you pay for so make sure that you
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go for the free afternoon tea but
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seriously have afternoon tea it's a
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great freebie i often see people in the
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morning heading up to the lido to get a
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cup of coffee or a cup of tea and
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heading back to their cabin if room
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service is free
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i use that because i get a much better
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quality cup of tea or coffee and it
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means i don't have to head all the way
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up to the leader and back this all leads
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me on to the next area of drink
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there's a lot of opportunities on
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cruises for free drinks now if you want
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alcoholic drinks there's at least five
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or six key places i've found where you
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can get yourself some free drinks number
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one
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go to the captain's welcome and farewell
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parties or if there's any formal
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organized receptions
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two if you're invited to go on a hosted
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table by an officer or one of the
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entertainment team or one of the crew
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the drinks and wine will be covered by
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them three
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if you're a member of the cruise line
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loyalty club they will almost always
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host a cocktail party with free drinks
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fourthly there's usually free champagne
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at the art auctions you have to buy art
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but you'll get free champagne fifthly
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the onboard shops they usually have a
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drinks event at those launch events i
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was talking about with the raffle
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earlier so that's another great
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opportunity
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and sixthly the cruise critic meets and
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mingle events now you have to sign up
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these before the cruise on the cruise
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critic website they always have free
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drinks and free snacks you can always
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get free tea free coffee free juices
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iced tea in the lido buffet that's
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normally available 24 hours a day
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without any need to pay at all i don't
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always feel that i need to go to that
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premium speciality coffee shop
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particularly if i don't have a drinks
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package i will go up there now the other
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thing although not everyone's keen on
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that is the water on board ships is fine
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to drink
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but even better nowadays because cruise
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lines are accelerating they move away
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from single-use plastic water bottles
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they're starting to install free
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refillable water stations with much much
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better tasting water than you're going
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to get from your bathroom tap on that
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oceania cruise i was referring to
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earlier they actually gave us refillable
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bottles to use but i always take a
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refillable water bottle along with me on
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a cruise now to make sure that i can get
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good quality drinking water for free i
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don't have to buy water to take out on
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tour or even when i'm around the ship
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for example a really great way i found
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to get freebies is when i'm cruising
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during a life event a birthday an
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anniversary or your honeymoon
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make sure that the cruise line knows
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that you're going to be traveling during
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that time
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make sure the travel agent lets them
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know and make sure that your cabin
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steward knows we are upgraded for
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example to a penthouse suite on a queen
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mary 2 transatlantic on my honeymoon the
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travel agent told cunard and asked if
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they could do anything and it came up
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trump's
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tell the restaurant you're dining in on
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your birthday or your anniversary night
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because they almost certainly
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will make a fuss with a cake or some
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kind of fancy dessert or maybe even a
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glass of something another slightly
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strange freebie area and with some watch
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out is around the area of medication
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and medical treatment if you're feeling
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seasick cruise lines will give you free
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c-sec medication
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if you have stomach upsets you can also
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get free medical attention
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and medication if you have covert
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symptoms the same however you may find
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yourself being quarantined if the
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stomach upset is thought to be norovirus
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as i discovered or of course if you do
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have covid the other thing that i see as
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an important free thing to get by asking
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is improving and even upgrading my cabin
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if i find the bed too soft too hard i
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don't like the pillows i find the duvet
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too thick too thin i get too cold too
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warm i always speak to the cabin steward
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there are many many things that they can
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do and it won't cost you anything they
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can bring a mattress protector to make
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the beds softer for example i'm obsessed
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with feather pillows i finally get
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headaches if i use others so i always
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ask for a feather pillow and even on
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cruise lines which don't have any sort
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of fancy pillow concierge services
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they'll normally track down that for me
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so if there's anything in your cabin
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that falls short bear in mind they can
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sort it out and it's not going to cost
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you anything
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now if i have genuine issues with my
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cabin like some really bad noise that's
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coming from something or something like
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the air conditioning is not working
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properly i don't just live with it i
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raise it with my cabin steward
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when they couldn't get it fixed
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i found they escalated to their
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supervisor they checked the problem they
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escalated to the hotel director and
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quite a few times i've received a free
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upgrade there's been a genuine problem
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that everyone agrees is an issue one
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area i personally have fallen short in
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the past was by being too timid to ask
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for what free benefits i'm actually
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entitled to
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a really good example is loyalty
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benefits
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you know i've never been handed a list
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of what i'm entitled to when i get on a
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cruise so i try and check before i go on
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a cruise or even easier what i do is
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all cruise lines have somebody allocated
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to look after their loyalty club
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passengers on board so i simply go to
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them and ask them what benefits
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perks or freebies i can get on this
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particular cruise based on my status
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level on a recent cruise it included
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discounts in shops but i also discovered
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i could get free specialty dining a tote
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bag some laundry and so on things i
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hadn't realized i was able to have and
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they were completely and utterly free if
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i'd splashed out for a high grade cabin
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like a mini suite or a suite i know
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there are many perks and freebies but
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again there's no list supplied on
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boarding there's no list in your cabin
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so again i try and check online i ask my
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agent but what i do is when i get on
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board i ask the cabin steward or if they
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have one at butler what am i entitled to
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what are the freebies what are the perks
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i discovered things like i could order a
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range of canapes every day i could ask
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for certain premium drinks i could have
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a cocktail party with snacks in my cabin
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for free i could dine in any restaurant
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i wanted to on any day for no charge and
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so on a really simple thing to do
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is because cruise lines want us to do
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the end of the cruise questionnaire
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whilst we're still on board they now
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have introduced prize draws on most
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cruises for everyone who does it on
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board so for example on oceania recently
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they were offering 300
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onboard credit as a
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draw prize for anyone that had filled
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out the
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end of the cruise questionnaire now if
15:15
you want to know more things that smart
15:17
cruisers always do on a cruise to get
15:19
more and elevate their cruise watch this
15:22
video of seven things they always do
15:24
starting with the one thing that
15:27
absolutely transformed cruising for me
15:29
forever see you over there
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