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I Ignore these 7 Much-Touted Cruise Tips. Should You?
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Jan 28, 2025
l look at the 7 worst pieces of cruise advice that I hear, or see, being given to cruise passengers all the time – and what I you should do instead, and why. 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 92 cruises I have done to date. LINKS MENTIONED IN THE VIDEO: * Setting up cruise fare tracker guide: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/cruise-fare-tracking/ * Drinks Package Calculator on Cruzely: https://www.cruzely.com/cruise-line-drink-package-calculator/ * Drinks Package Calculator onCruiseMummy: https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/cruise-drinks-package-calculator/ 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
View Video Transcript
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if i'd followed these seven pieces of
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cruise advice on recent cruises i
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wouldn't have made it to one i'd have
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over paid for another i'd have booked
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the wrong cabin i'd have bought things i
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never needed and
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much worse as you'll discover welcome
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aboard i'm gary bembridge and here's
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what cruise advice you should ignore and
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why susan a first-time cruiser emailed
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me last week saying she'd booked a
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cruise directly with one of the premium
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lines only to see it much cheaper via an
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online travel agent a few days later the
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cruise line would not match that price
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when she asked them to susan had
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followed some advice she'd seen saying
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book direct as she would get the best
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price that way unlike hotels like say
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the hilton group who promised that they
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will give you a better deal when booking
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direct this is not
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true in cruising at all booking via
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travel agent will get you at worst
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the exact same fare and quite often
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cheaper with more added extras for
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example that's one reason that i always
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do it agents are extremely important to
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the cruise line for the amount of
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bookings they generate and they do not
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and never undercut them they often even
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give them special promotions to offer
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their clients only or the agents reduce
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prices or they might add extras by
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cutting into their own commissions the
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other problem with booking direct in my
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view even if you're allocated a
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so-called personal cruise advisor is in
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my experience and from the many many
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messages i get is you are in fact
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dealing with a call center whose role is
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to sell
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take and process bookings it often means
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long wait times when calling the teams
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i've found are often not well informed
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because i think they actually only get
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updates on cancellations or changes to
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protocols or new itineraries when it's
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actually just released to us the public
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at the same time i find that using a
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travel agent they can handle all your
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queries they can get accurate answers i
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don't have to call the line i don't have
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to hold on i can just leave it all up to
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my agent to sort it all out agents
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certainly in my experience seem to have
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different contacts with the lines who
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have more information and importantly
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the ability to make decisions don't
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though just move from booking direct to
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booking via an online cruise travel
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agent because that also basically means
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a call center no individual contact and
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all the same problems i work with a real
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live one person i can call like an email
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i can meet in my case it's sarah bolton
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of travel counselors many of my us
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followers use gary pluck of red travel
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but having an actual person is key and
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make sure by the way that they are
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cruisers and definitely cruise experts i
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was recently following a couple just off
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a viking river cruise who was stranded
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in amsterdam's skipper airport this
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happened when british airways had some
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bit of an it meltdown and they cancelled
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loads and loads of flights they booked
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their own flights and were now
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desperately trying to contact the
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overwhelmed airline line up in long
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customer service queues and they were
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getting really really stressed now if
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they had booked their flights by the
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cruise line then the line would have
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done all of that and found new flights
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to get home they could have sat back
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waited and left it to them now if you
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wrongly for example in my view flying on
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the day of your cruise and flight delays
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mean you miss the departure of the ship
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but again had booked flights by the line
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they will arrange to get you to join the
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ship at the first port importantly
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covering all of those costs now i used
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to book my own flights and pre-stay
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hotels but no longer if the cruise line
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flight and hotels are more costly than
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booking myself my travel agent then
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builds a package of flights and hotels
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which certainly in the uk through the
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atoll package tour rules provides that
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same protection so in my flights for
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example by amsterdam panama city to join
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oceano crews were cancelled at really
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short notice she had to find new flights
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to get me there on time for the cruise
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this ended up being by madrid and iberia
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it cost much much more but it didn't
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cost me anything more because the
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package requires them to get me there on
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time within the price i paid if i'd
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booked myself that would not have been
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the case so again check if you use an
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agent instead of the line to book your
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flights that will be the case too cabin
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choice is very personal and while your
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decision must be based on what works for
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you and your budget there is some really
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poor advice around cabins that i plead
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for you to consider if you follow the
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advice to book a guaranteed cabin in
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your chosen category inside ocean view
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balcony or suite and let the cruise line
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allocated first check if it is actually
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cheaper for example the default on
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holland america who i just booked a
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japanese cruise on is a guaranteed cabin
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however for the same price i could
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actually choose my own cabin second
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will you be okay if the cabin that's
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allocated to you is above the nightclub
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with music into the early hours or below
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the pool deck where as i found when i
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last took a guaranteed cabin i was woken
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early mornings by scraping of deck
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chairs as it was set up if those kind of
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things don't bother you then do it if
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they do then don't and next be sure you
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do not mind where on the ship you are
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for example if you are prone to
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seasickness it may be better to book and
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choose a cabin midship rather than at
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the front or rear with more movement
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which you may get if you look a
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guaranteed cabin now many people advise
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accepting the auto upgrade option when
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booking if you've chosen your cabin like
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i do i don't because i usually don't
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have the option to say yes or no to any
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upgrade silver for example messaged me
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recently she'd not opted out of auto
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upgrade and was moved from her carefully
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chosen midship cabin on norwegian into a
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mini suite above a late night music
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venue in front of the ship she didn't
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have a great time because two of her
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fears came true noise
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and motion now i mentioned earlier
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booking a japanese cruise it is for 18
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months time this breaks one frequent
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piece of advice to book late to get the
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lowest fare the best advice is to book a
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cruise at the right time and that
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depends on which itinerary you're doing
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and how flexible you're willing to be if
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you're going on a caribbean or
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mediterranean cruise the two biggest
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cruising regions booking late often does
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mean getting a lower fare almost every
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cruise line sells in both every year the
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itineraries and ports almost identical
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and so there's lots of choice and lots
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of capacity if you are flexible in these
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two regions on which line when which
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cabin grade and ports of call then
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booking late to grab one of the fares to
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ensure the ship sales full is great
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advice alaska can sometimes offer good
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late deals but it's much less certain
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i've found for more exotic itineraries
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with less choice and short seasons like
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japan and definitely for new ships i
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book when they come on sale or as far
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ahead as possible because that's when
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fares are best because they edge upwards
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as a ship fills however no matter when
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you book track the fare by setting track
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alerts on sites like cruisewatch.com or
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cruisecritic.com and if it falls below
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your price contact the line and ask for
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yours to be lowered too in the notes
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there's a link to a blog post on how to
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do this i got an email from john asking
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if he should follow the advice he kept
7:18
seeing to buy a drinks package i told
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him first check what drinks are included
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in the fair more lines are now including
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some drinks packages in their fares like
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celebrity always included or some lines
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offer fares that include them bundled
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with other add-ons at lower costs like
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for example holland america have at all
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fairs and princess plus fares also many
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lines include non-alcoholic cocktails
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like for example on oceania i was on
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recently so no need to buy a drinks
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package if you're buying it for
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non-alcoholic cocktails and then as
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drinks packages can add a lot for
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example on royal caribbean the deluxe
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drinks package starts at 63
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per day and everyone in the cabin must
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buy it if one person does instead start
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by using an online drinks package
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calculator to see if it's cheaper or not
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to buy a drinks package the two best
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ones i've found are at cruiseless.com
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and on cruisemummy.com
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after norwegian escape was grounded
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leaving the dominican republic in march
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2022 passengers had to be flown home to
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the united states where the crews had
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started unfortunately many had followed
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advice to travel without a passport and
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to use other identification this is
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possible for u.s citizens on caribbean
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cruises that start and end in the united
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states however for them their return was
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really delayed because the u.s embassy
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then had to work on getting them
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emergency passports adding a lot of
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stress upsets and delays you never know
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what can happen you or one of your party
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may fall ill or you perhaps need to get
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back home from one of the islands during
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a cruise because of some issue at home
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my advice is to get passports or take
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them if you have them now in the us a
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passport card for example allowing
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return to the us by land or sea from
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canada mexico bermuda and the caribbean
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currently only costs 30 us dollars a
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full passport for first timers is 130
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i have never touched wood being seasick
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on a cruise despite the many many
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cruises that i've done even in rough
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seas crossing the atlantic and winter on
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the queen mary 2 and on drake passage on
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the penance lyrial that's because i
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ignore the advice to not worry about
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getting motion sickness a lot of people
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say don't worry about it because the
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risk is low on modern ships but before
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every cruise i bring and take for me
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dramamine so that's motion sickness
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prevention before we set sail i always
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choose a midship cabin where i possibly
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can because movement is the least there
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and i also know that the medical center
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can offer me a much more powerful
9:48
solution through an injection if i do
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get c6 that gives me added reassurance
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so while newer and bigger ships do move
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about less in many ocean conditions due
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to their size and improved technology
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they still can
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move about a lot in rough seas and that
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can happen anytime on any itinerary so
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if you are prone to motion sickness or
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are concerned my best advice is to book
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a cabin as low down as you can in the
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middle of the ship and take either
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medication or the behind the ear
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medicated patches that are available
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normally from pharmacies some of them do
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have to be prescribed i have never used
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them but what i would say is the doctor
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all the crew and the expedition team on
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my antarctica trip did and they sell the
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roughest seas in the world for four
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months of the year so that probably says
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everything about what works if you found
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this interesting i want to know seven
10:38
more things that other smart cruisers do
10:40
watch this video where i start with the
10:43
most helpful thing i learned from them
10:46
see you over there
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