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CRUISE UPDATE: These Unavoidable, Inevitable Changes Now On The Way..
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Jan 28, 2025
In this cruise update, I look at a series of inevitable and unavoidable changes that are about to happen in the world of cruising. Things that will affect you and me as a travellers and cruisers in ways we may not entirely be ready for. Join me as I explore these, and look at the impact they will have on when, how, where and with what restrictions we will be able to go cruising. 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 Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers
View Video Transcript
0:00
a series of inevitable and unavoidable
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changes are about to happen in the world
0:04
of cruising things
0:05
that will affect you and me as
0:07
travellers and cruisers
0:09
in ways we may not entirely be ready for
0:11
join me
0:12
as i explore these and look at what
0:13
impact they will have on when
0:16
how where and with what restrictions we
0:18
will be able to go cruising
0:20
anytime soon one thing i'm asked pretty
0:23
much
0:24
every day is around if we will need
0:26
vaccines to cruise and i want to discuss
0:28
what is looking increasingly inevitable
0:31
on this particular topic there are four
0:32
developments
0:33
that you need to know about that make
0:35
the direction of traffic
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clearer and clearer certainly in my view
0:38
and be good to know what you think
0:40
first as you know some lines have
0:41
already confirmed they will require
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vaccines
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before you can cruise how many more will
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join that we
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actually don't know at this time but it
0:49
seems to me very unlikely
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it will just be crystal cruisers who've
0:53
actually just announced it
0:55
joining saga cruisers in the uk and
0:57
american steamboat and victory cruises
0:59
in the usa many more are likely to come
1:03
what is important though is there has
1:05
been no challenge there's been no ruling
1:07
there has been nothing saying that lines
1:09
like saga and so on
1:11
cannot do this certainly in the u.s and
1:12
the uk now this must be noted by
1:14
other lines considering this there's
1:16
been no challenges and it's been
1:17
allowed secondly even if lions do not
1:21
make it required
1:22
some are already adding vaccines as one
1:25
of the three
1:25
options cruisers have to comply with
1:28
before sailing with them so for example
1:29
avalon waterways
1:30
which is part of the globus group and
1:32
they've done that for all of their
1:33
land-based trips too
1:34
they now say you will have to prove one
1:36
of three things
1:38
either first of all that you've had both
1:40
of your vaccine jabs at least 14 days
1:42
before sailing
1:43
or secondly proof of a negative full pcr
1:47
or antigen test less than 72 hours
1:49
before or thirdly proof of recovery from
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a confirmed covert 19 diagnosis within
1:55
three months of travel
1:56
so even if not required we're seeing
1:58
proof of vaccination is creeping in
2:01
as part of the layers and the options
2:03
for the return
2:04
to cruise protocols the third
2:06
development and one that is developing
2:08
really fast and looks like it could
2:09
become an industry standard
2:11
is that all crew are going to be
2:13
vaccinated before they can work
2:15
on cruise ships this is really important
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to note norwegian group
2:19
has said it royal caribbean group they
2:21
wrote to all their crew
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saying and i'm going to quote what they
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said because i think it's important
2:26
we expect vaccinations will be required
2:28
for our crew
2:29
as part of our plan for your return to
2:31
working
2:32
on our ships really important note the
2:35
wording in that letter because to me it
2:36
suggests that the thinking is that the
2:38
authorities were required it's not just
2:40
a royal caribbean
2:41
thinking another line to go public on
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the crew issue is the british cruise
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line swan hellenic
2:47
they specialize in expedition cruises
2:49
and they confirmed again that they will
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require
2:51
all their crew members to receive the
2:53
vaccine
2:54
before they're able to start work on
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board the three big questions for me on
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cruise vaccinations is first
3:00
how it's going to be possible within the
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current systems and the pace of rollout
3:04
second is around what it means for the
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timing for the return of cruising
3:08
as it will suggest it delays it later
3:10
later into 2001 because even in
3:12
countries
3:13
ahead in the vaccine process they are
3:15
not going to be getting to the age
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groups that cover most of the crew
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until well into the second half of the
3:20
year of course many of the crew come
3:21
from
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third-world countries which are even
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slower vaccines from my understanding
3:26
and i might be wrong in this but
3:27
my understanding they can't be bought by
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private companies to circumvent those
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state rollouts so that leads on to the
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third question
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for me is should we really expect lions
3:37
are going to insist or crew vaccinated
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but then not have the same requirement
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for guests as well so that's
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something i wonder about can be used to
3:45
know what you think
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now the fourth aspect on vaccines as a
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requirement
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is probably one of the biggest and i
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genuinely believe that it increasingly
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looks like countries
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are going to force cruise lines hand and
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drive this
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as a requirement anyway irrespective of
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what they may or may not
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think we're seeing more and more
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countries especially those
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that rely on tourism they're encouraging
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global standards for a digital vaccine
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passport
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and they want it to be able to open for
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visitors without having all the
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quarantine
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requirements and giving travelers much
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more freedom to move about
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and of course spend more time touring
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when they're there
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so for example greece cyprus and israel
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they've just agreed that once travel
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opens once flights resume residents
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who can prove they've been vaccinated
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will be allowed to travel freely
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to and from each other without any
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requirements including testing
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and quarantining at all now very
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interestingly
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the cypresses tourism minister deputy
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tourism minister
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savas parados i hope i've pronounced
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that correctly he mentioned
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in the briefing on this he mentioned
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that over 40 000 israeli residents come
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to the area each year on cruises so it
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does seem to suggest that cruising
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is on their radar because we're
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specifically mentioned
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another country doing this is spain they
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of course
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have the major embarkation port of
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barcelona and many other ports of call
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on many of the mediterranean cruises the
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tourism ministry
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has said again i quote it we support the
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vaccination
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certificate they see it as being
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absolute key to being able to open for
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tourists to enter
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spain they're actually proposing a
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combination of testing pre-arrival
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and a vaccine certificate as a way of
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being able to open and let people come
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in and out of the country
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all of this has a massive implication
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for cruises in and out of spain
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greece and other eu countries
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even countries against having them for
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domestic use to open the economy so for
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example
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uk prime minister boris johnson he
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doesn't see them as being something he
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wants to use within the country
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but he said he sees them as being
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inevitable for international
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cross-border travel of course there's a
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lot of precedent which he even quoted
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because some countries today already
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require vaccine proof for things like
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yellow fever so it's definitely a
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precedent when it comes to travel
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i believe a willingness to open ports
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for cruise ships and let people get off
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in
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to local communities to explore to mix
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it seems
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highly likely to come linked with proof
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of vaccination
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vaccine proof increasingly feels like
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it's becoming inevitable
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to be able to travel across borders
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which of course will hugely
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affect cruising something that has been
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missed or glossed over by many cruise
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commentators
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is that the lions have started to
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quietly update their cruise terms
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and conditions and their contracts for
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both existing
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and new cruises you're going to be bound
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to them whether you've got an existing
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cruise or you make
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a new booking this is another inevitable
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move
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it's an absolute trend that's going to
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accelerate
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and it's really really important because
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it has a huge impact
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on all of your future cruises you need
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to watch what is being added
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and absolutely make sure you're
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comfortable with what you are
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agreeing to by default now when you book
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a cruise
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as part of that whole process you're
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obliged to and you're actually
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consenting
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to the cruise lines terms and conditions
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and contract
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there's a right in there for them to
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change and update them
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as they want to and you are accepting
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them once you make that booking
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and pay your final balance i've got a
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dedicated video coming into much more
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detail because it's quite complex
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on what is and isn't being added but
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this
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is inevitably going to be coming your
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contract we've seen
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a whole bunch of things issued so far by
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the royal caribbean group for their
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lines
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in updated contracts and you're now
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accepting
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and agreeing to comply with all of the
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new covert protocols
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they're now being put into the contracts
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and you're doing things like you're
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agreeing to multiple
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testing and temperature checks to wear a
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mask when outside your cabin
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to go on cruise line only excursions to
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limits on numbers in venues
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and they need to book to attend various
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venues which could include the swimming
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pool
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required hand washing and sanitizing
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being required to quarantine or be
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confined to your cabin
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if requested itineraries being changed
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if the captain
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and the lion decides ports pose a risk
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due to kind of rising levels of
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infections
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being disembarked without compensation
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for breaking any of the rules
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and so on so you're actually agreeing to
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all of these things
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so it's really important for that reason
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but it's also important because it
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starts to cover what happens
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and what the line will and won't cover
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if there's an outbreak on board
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it is inevitable the contracts are going
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to change to reflect the new reality of
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cruising and all the new protocols
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so make sure you ask for and keep up to
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date
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on what you've agreed to whether it's a
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new or an existing booking it will keep
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changing
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so you need to also be on top of it so
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watch out for that more in-depth video
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where i'll talk about in more detail the
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actual changes
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and what they mean for you i want to
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discuss a significant
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new approach the cruise lines are now
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taking for voyages
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that actually look unlikely to run but
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are not yet cancelled it's a
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really marked and noticeable change and
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it also starts to flag
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when they really see cruising resuming
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versus what they currently
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have on sale and it's pretty interesting
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what's happening some lines
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like the norwegian group they've just
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cancelled all may sailings for their
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main line oceania region 70
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they're being vague about the likely
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length of the continued
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shutdown however other lines are for the
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very first time
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actually signaling what they are really
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thinking about the return
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to service timing and they're doing that
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before
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their inevitable cancellations you know
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we're all expecting those
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and the good news about that is by the
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time these cancellations come they
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normally feel pretty overdue and late so
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this change is a really good
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move there definitely seems to be a
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shift towards giving us
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much more notice much more time and many
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more options to be able to replan
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our travels before all those
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cancellations are announced this year
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now this is a great move as it should
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absolutely help reduce
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or even remove the frustrations that
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many many of us have
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knowing our trips almost certainly will
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not run but of course we've still seen
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the lines
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promoting encouraging people to book
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chasing final balances
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and all that kind of stuff that's going
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on so what are
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the four things that i'm seeing all of
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which point to
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an inevitable outcome i think anyway so
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see if you agree
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so first of all the lines are taking
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cruisers off sale
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much much earlier when they think they
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will not run they're not cancelling them
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right away but they
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are stopping selling trips unfairly to
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people
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who of course assume because they're on
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sale the chances of them going are high
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so for example
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disney cruises took all of may off sale
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many many weeks ago
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and way before norwegian and others
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started cancelling their cruises
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into june so we're seeing that happening
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much more now
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now all the lions of course as you
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probably know
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stopped selling alaska and canada as
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soon as the bank came out
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while they figure out all the different
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options cunard has joined all the other
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lines stopping trips and crossings over
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seven nights
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due to the cdc rules and so on so
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they're taking them off sale
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much earlier it's important note though
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that lions don't always
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flag that they've done that so keep a
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watch on the website
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is actually the best way to follow this
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it acts as a very early indicator of
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where they're thinking but secondly
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uh much more recent and very welcome
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development is the lines
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are now making it clear that advertised
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cruises are unlikely to happen until
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after july
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and are starting to offer you options
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now borders are firmly closed around the
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world
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countries are fearing you know importing
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all those new more infectious covert
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variants
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there's still high levels of infections
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still a level of deaths
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you know the vaccines are still rolling
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out there's a long way to go but there's
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little sign of movement
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or even enthusiasm by authorities like
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the cdc
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in all those major crews in balkan
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countries you're doing the us you're
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doing uk
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canada of course spain australia and so
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on and so on there's just no enthusiasm
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to open for international travel of any
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kind
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less alone approving cruise resumptions
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so everybody knows
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also that there's little sign of borders
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opening for travelers
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and definitely opening to cruises to be
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able to even sell
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between and in and out of ports so
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although most cruise lines show
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may or now june increasingly you know as
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the hopeful return date around the world
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it's clear this will not happen
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and we're starting to see more ports as
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well in public saying they're not
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expecting ships
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until much later in the year tampa for
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example has just come out
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saying at best they're expecting ships
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in the last quarter this year port
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canaveral as i've mentioned before are
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indicating
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the earliest they see is july and
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onwards
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but what we are now seeing is this new
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development
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coming from the cruise lines which are
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signaling that so although they're still
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selling cruises they're signaling
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something else is going along
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and they're giving a completely new
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approach to give travelers like you and
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me
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who've got cruises booked until the
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middle of the year chance to cancel them
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and actually go for a full refund and
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not just future cruise credit the most
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recent of these
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was an announcement by carnival cruise
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line which again
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pretty much flagged that regular
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cruising out of the u.s is
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definitely not expected to resume until
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at least after july but separate to that
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what's really important
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is they are now allowing anyone who's
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got a cruise
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that's due to depart before the 31st of
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july
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they're giving you the ability to cancel
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and get a full cash refund
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if you do that before the end of march
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you can hold on to the booking and
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they'll incentivize you
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with a hundred dollar bonus on board
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credit now in the announcement they
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pretty much said that and all the
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advertised cruises and the advertised
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return date is not going to happen
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because progress
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on that cdc framework will not have
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progressed very much
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and they pretty much start the
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announcement with that
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of course when it comes to alaska lines
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including royal caribbean
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and others are starting to offer a lift
13:42
and shift where you can take your trip
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in 2021 move to 2022
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hold the price hold the office if you
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move it to the same ship
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and roughly the same date as you had in
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2021.
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now all these moves are flagging what
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many of us see is inevitable that there
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will
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be another wave of you know lines
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announcing
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cancellations we're starting to see that
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momentum going and they're starting to
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push it into june
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and increasingly into july but what's
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great is the lines are starting to offer
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options now before those cancellations
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so
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what i'd recommend is why don't you
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start planning on that basis because it
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seems
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pretty much inevitable you know look at
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moving your cruises into the last
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quarter it seems
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like that is the most sensible thing
14:24
to do if you found this update helpful i
14:27
have hundreds more episodes
14:28
packed full of updates tips and advice
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