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The BEST and WORST Changes In Cruising?
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Jan 28, 2025
I explore what has got better, worse and stayed the same since my first cruise in 2004 and the 100th cruise that I recently did. Looking back some of the changes surprised even me who lived through them! This is one of a series of three videos drawing on all the experience from doing 100 cruises. GET EXCLUSIVE PERKS LIKE MEMBER-ONLY BONUS VIDEOS BY BECOMING A CHANNEL MEMBER: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Links mentioned in the videos: BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTS ———————————————— * Check out my T-Shirt range at https://tipsfortravellers.myspreadshop.com , http://bit.ly/TFTStore or https://tips-for-travellers.creator-spring.com SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— * Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join * Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ * Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ
View Video Transcript
0:00
I'm just back from my 100th Cruise
0:02
aboard Regent 70s Navigator and looking
0:05
at the daily program it struck me just
0:08
how similar it was to the very first
0:09
cruise I did over 19 years ago on piano
0:13
cruises Aurora the daytime activities
0:16
were broadly the same with trivia deck
0:19
Games Richmond talks cooking demos
0:21
afternoon tea and so on and the evening
0:23
entertainment was still mostly song and
0:26
dance review shows and then perhaps the
0:28
casino it got me thinking has cruising
0:31
really changed that much since my first
0:32
voyage 19 years ago here's what I think
0:35
has stayed the same got better and worse
0:37
and why welcome aboard crew I'm Gary
0:40
bembridge and I'm going to make it fun
0:42
and easy to discover plan and joy
0:44
Unforgettable Cruise vacations other
0:46
than the daily program what's largely
0:48
remained the same over the years
0:50
something that hasn't changed is the
0:52
main regions that passengers choose to
0:55
go to 19 years ago the three big regions
0:58
with the Caribbean the Mediterranean and
1:02
Alaska today they are still where most
1:05
passengers choose to sail to
1:08
on the plus side whether you're looking
1:10
for a massive cruise ship like those
1:13
within say Carnival or Caribbean fleets
1:16
or you're looking for a smaller one like
1:17
Azamara or Windstar we can choose to go
1:20
on any of those three areas on any size
1:23
ship at any price that we want to pay of
1:27
course there has been opening up of new
1:29
places to go but the Caribbean the
1:31
Mediterranean and Alaska are still where
1:34
most people choose to cruise to the next
1:37
key thing that hasn't changed is the
1:40
enormous amount of upsell or as it's
1:42
known in many places nickel and diming
1:45
and I think that's really disappointing
1:48
that that hasn't changed Cruise Lines
1:50
still make a massive percentage of their
1:52
profits from the extras that we all buy
1:55
once we're on board I usually find that
1:58
I still have to pay gratuities on top of
2:00
the fare for Wi-Fi excursions drinks
2:04
especially dining cruise lines make a
2:07
lot of money from these extras of course
2:09
if I go on premium lines like when I was
2:12
on region Seven Seas much more is
2:14
included but of course they're way more
2:16
expensive than other lines the only real
2:19
difference now though is that many
2:21
Cruise companies are starting to kind of
2:23
repackage all those actors as bundles so
2:26
we have things like celebrity Cruisers
2:28
always included or 100 Americas have it
2:31
all and so on and so on but we continue
2:34
to spend 50 percent to 100 of our fare
2:38
once we're on board the ship and of
2:41
course the argument over gratuities is
2:43
still as divisive now with passages as
2:45
it was on my first cruise all those
2:47
years ago before I look at other
2:49
controversial things around what's
2:51
become worse
2:53
what do I think has got better one of
2:56
the most dramatic changes for the better
2:59
is that cruising is no longer mostly
3:02
catering for older couples as it was
3:04
when I first started the average age is
3:07
coming down faster in some regions like
3:09
the US for example than others but there
3:11
has been a real shift in who is cruising
3:14
I'm seeing lines catering so much more
3:17
for travelers in their 20s and their 30s
3:20
this change comes even from lines which
3:23
used to cater for a much older audience
3:25
like celebrity for example with their
3:27
new Edge class ships that offer modern
3:30
designs trendy on board venues like Eden
3:32
and the club but also of course for the
3:34
launch of Virgin voyages and their
3:36
efforts to attract a younger crowd with
3:38
funky ships and events there's also a
3:42
really big focus on families and
3:45
multi-generational groups and that's not
3:47
just on the resort lines like Royal
3:49
Caribbean or Carnival any longer I'm
3:52
seeing more premium lines like princess
3:55
and celebrity welcome and cater so much
3:58
more for families and that was very much
4:00
the case on for example my Princess
4:02
Cruises Alaska trip and on Celebrity
4:04
Edge Mediterranean Cruises last year
4:06
loads and loads of families solo
4:09
Travelers are also starting to be
4:12
medicated for with more single cabins
4:14
and Deals now I travel solo quite often
4:16
so this is an encouraging Improvement
4:19
however
4:21
most cruise lines are still charging me
4:23
the price of two people even when I'm
4:26
traveling solo so this is something that
4:28
could be better and hopefully will be
4:31
better in time but it is improving
4:33
another key thing I think has improved
4:35
on cruises is around dress codes on my
4:37
first cruise it was Black Tie Tuxedo on
4:40
formal nights or at least dark suited
4:43
Thai and it was strictly enforced casual
4:45
nights were also rather dressy nothing
4:47
like that on my region Cruise where the
4:51
only restriction of dinner was no jeans
4:52
no shorts and you had to wear a collared
4:54
shirt much more relaxed now I'm a little
4:56
bit old school I love dressing up but I
4:59
must believe and do believe that this is
5:01
a good thing that dress codes have
5:02
relaxed because people want to dress
5:04
casually on vacation unlike when I
5:06
started cruising and it opens it up for
5:08
so many more people loose address codes
5:10
also mean there's packing which makes it
5:13
easier with Airlines and their strict
5:15
kind of baggage policies for people too
5:17
that said I do wish that one or two
5:20
lines were would keep the formal
5:22
requirements to stand apart it really is
5:25
magical or was magical going on can our
5:27
transatlantic crossings with multiple
5:29
formal nights everyone on Tuxedos and
5:31
ball gowns but even they have reduced a
5:33
number of those nights on their cruises
5:35
but I guess I'm a little bit of a
5:37
dinosaur there overall though the
5:40
relaxation of dress codes is popular and
5:43
it will get more people into cruising so
5:45
it's got to be a good thing dining has
5:48
also improved massively when I first
5:51
started cruising I only had an option of
5:53
either going to the main dining room at
5:56
a fixed time early or late sitting or to
5:59
the buffet
6:00
that has been transformed through adding
6:04
for example anytime dining and now some
6:07
lines like celebrity have even replaced
6:09
one large main dining room with a
6:12
variety of more intimate restaurants on
6:14
Celebrity Edge class for example they
6:16
have four options now Cosmopolitan
6:19
Normandy Cyprus and Tuscan there has
6:23
been an explosion of specially darling 2
6:27
which gives us much more choice of
6:29
course Skeptics say that special Aid
6:31
dining is ready just a way of getting us
6:33
to pay more once we're on board but
6:36
regardless of that there are more dining
6:38
options than ever before and certainly
6:41
when I started cruising for me another
6:44
great change has been around smoking on
6:47
board it's now restricted to a few
6:49
designated areas whereas when I started
6:52
people could smoke on their balcony for
6:54
sure and sometimes even in their cabins
6:57
nowadays on some lines like princess and
7:00
America smoking is still allowed in the
7:02
casino which I hope will stop soon
7:04
improvements in technology have really
7:07
made cruising different and better since
7:10
I started when I've started Wi-Fi on the
7:13
ship was really limited I paid by the
7:15
minute up to 75 cents to a dollar per
7:17
minute and it was incredibly slow and
7:19
you had to log in and log out back then
7:22
my ticket and luggage tags were posted
7:24
to me paper brochures Were King now of
7:27
course we check in online Wi-Fi has
7:29
improved so much it's getting even
7:30
better as most lions at the time of
7:32
recording now Carnival Corporation Royal
7:34
Caribbean group are moving or have moved
7:37
to starlink satellites which provide
7:38
faster and cheaper internet on cruises
7:41
most cruise lines have apps and
7:43
interactive TVs which enable me to do
7:45
everything on my cruise like I can see
7:48
the daily program I can make dining
7:49
reservations I can book excursions I can
7:52
review my account I can often chat to
7:54
Guest Services I can order drinks where
7:56
I am and so on ironically region Seven
7:59
Seas on my 100 Cruise that I was selling
8:01
on actually didn't have an app at the
8:03
time of recording ironically the
8:05
downside though of course is it's
8:07
getting to where you almost need a
8:09
smartphone to go on a cruise which of
8:11
course isn't particularly inclusive and
8:13
appealing to everyone this was the case
8:14
on a recent Disney Magic cruise where
8:17
everything had to be done on your phone
8:19
you had to have a phone to really kind
8:21
of survive on the cruise but of course
8:23
better technology it produces both costs
8:26
and the cruise Industries environmental
8:29
impact as Printing and so on these got
8:31
to be good changes what about things
8:34
which have got worse since my first
8:37
cruise firstly for me
8:39
it's the size of the ships we're seeing
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ships getting bigger and bigger and
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bigger even in the small and luxury
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category we're seeing the same thing too
8:50
last year Disney announced a ship or
8:52
bordership which could actually carry
8:53
theoretically 9 000 passengers beating
8:55
out Royal Caribbean's icon of the Seas
8:57
with a maximum of 7 000 passengers Pinot
9:00
cruises which I did my first cruise on
9:02
only had smaller ships now they have a
9:05
river and Iona which can carry 5 200
9:08
passengers for about three or four times
9:10
what the ships were when I started
9:11
sailing with them even Ultra Luxury
9:13
lines like Seabourn whose ships Who Sold
9:15
200 to 300 people when I started
9:17
cruising now carry 600 people this all
9:20
means that ports are getting more
9:22
crowded than when I started because of
9:24
course there's also many more ships as
9:25
well as bigger ships as a result places
9:28
like Barcelona Venice Dubrovnik have
9:31
either introduced extra fees to control
9:33
numbers or are looking at how they
9:36
restrict cores of cruise lines and some
9:39
care being in European ports there are
9:41
sometimes fifteen thousand to twenty
9:43
thousand people to some parking per day
9:45
now making them incredibly busy so with
9:48
ports either overcrowded or too small to
9:51
accommodate these larger and larger
9:53
vessels cruise lines have started to
9:55
make their own protocol since I started
9:58
cruising and that's a definite change in
10:01
the Caribbean Lions have been creating
10:03
their own Island destinations like
10:06
horned America's Half Moon Key
10:09
Norwegians Harvest key Royal Caribbean's
10:11
perfect date cocoa key these are
10:14
beautiful
10:15
but they're not really particularly
10:17
authentic Caribbean experiences I feel
10:19
it also means that we're not putting
10:21
money into local communities as much by
10:23
calling there instead of into Port Towns
10:25
or Islands so that's a downside I think
10:28
personally another thing which I think
10:30
many see as a negative development is
10:33
the re-emergence of the class system
10:35
since I started cruising back in the
10:38
very very days of cruising ships used to
10:40
have first second and third class and
10:42
that was kind of swept away and didn't
10:44
exist on most lines when I started
10:46
cruising back in 2004. I think I'm right
10:49
in saying that Cunard used to be the
10:52
only Cruise Line keeping a three-tiered
10:55
system with Queen's Grill princess Grill
10:57
and Britannia but in recent years I have
11:00
seen a rapid
11:02
class-based cruising system re-emerge
11:05
even Masters or cruise lines like MSC
11:08
has its Yacht Club ship within a Ship
11:11
Norwegian has the Haven these are
11:13
exclusive areas with a restaurant a pool
11:15
deck other facilities only for premium
11:18
suite guests in the premium category
11:21
Regent has the retreat which includes a
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private deck as well as a dedicated
11:25
lounge and a restaurant now while for
11:28
those that can afford it it's great to
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escape the crowds on these now bigger
11:31
ships and of course it's luxurious it
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does mean increasing space on ships are
11:35
being closed to other passengers which
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wasn't the case when I first started
11:39
cruising if you found all this
11:40
interesting why not watch this video
11:42
where I talk about what I think are the
11:44
best 11 cruises in the world based on
11:47
the 100 I've done today I start by the
11:49
way talking about two that most people
11:51
are doing that I don't count as the best
11:53
Cruisers see you over there
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