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Why Are Many Past Cruisers Reluctant To Cruise ?
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Jan 28, 2025
Why are many cruisers, including cruise lovers and regulars, saying they will not cruise on the channel and on various cruise sites and in cruising chat rooms? I explore the reasons that cruisers have been saying about why they do not want to cruise as cruising opens. What are the issues, barriers or things happening that are holding people who have been cruising before from wanting to return to cruising anytime soon as they open. I also explore what people who want to go cruising as soon as they can and why. Find out about being a Channel Member: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join Find out about being a Patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TikTok: @garybembridge Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers Instagram: http://www.instgram.com/garybembridge LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bembridge Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 77 cruises at time of making this video. 00:00 Start 01:08 Core Cruiser Concerns 02:17 New Protocols 05:48 Outbreak Uncertainty 07:00 Refusal To Board
View Video Transcript
0:00
why are travelers saying they won't
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cruise even
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cruise lovers some unexpected and rather
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surprising
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reasons beyond the obvious i'm gary
0:09
bembridge this is tips for travis i've
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been asking
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and finding out why people don't want to
0:15
cruise
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i had expected some very obvious answers
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but i've uncovered some really
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interesting
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and unexpected reasons which i want to
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share with you as cruisers have
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started up in europe the demand has not
0:27
been as great as perhaps had been
0:29
expected
0:30
ships are only allowed to sell between
0:32
60 and 70 percent full
0:34
however all the reports seem to suggest
0:36
that they are not even able to fill
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those levels and in fact just in the
0:40
last couple of days that i'm recording
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this
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msc cruisers have postponed bringing
0:44
their second ship
0:45
back into service because they are
0:47
seeing falling demand
0:48
and increased cancellation so what
0:50
exactly is going on why
0:52
are people saying they don't want to
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cruise these reasons
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are extremely interesting and i think
0:57
show a lot of the challenges that the
0:58
cruise lines and the cruise industry
1:00
are going to have to address and wrestle
1:02
with if they really want to get cruising
1:03
back and running so let's take a look
1:05
at the reasons that cruisers are saying
1:07
they do not want to cruise
1:09
first of all the biggest and most
1:12
important
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cruising audience is those people that i
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guess would classify as seniors
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so people who in their 50s 60s 70s and
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beyond
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they are an enormous and extremely
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important part of cruising and for many
1:25
cruise lines
1:26
they are absolutely key to the success
1:28
of those cruise lines
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what i'm seeing in all the comments that
1:32
i get and asking people now bear in mind
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most of you who watch my videos tend to
1:36
be in that sort of age group
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and what they're telling me is they
1:40
don't want to travel
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and they certainly don't want to go
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cruising until one of two things happens
1:45
either the whole pandemic passes by and
1:48
the virus is gone
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or secondly what most people see is more
1:50
realistic if there
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is a vaccine available and it's out and
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proven
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so certainly the older audience which of
1:56
course are the higher risk
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category are saying they do not want to
2:00
go traveling internationally and
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certainly do not want to go cruising
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until there is a vaccine in place so
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this is a massive big challenge for the
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cruise industry
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because that is a really phenomenally
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big part of the cruising audience
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and the numbers on border ship so that
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is certainly one big reason that i'm
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seeing
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the second thing which i had not really
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expected is again amongst
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people who are big lovers of cruising
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and go cruising very frequently or being
2:27
on cruises and want to go again
2:28
what those cruisers are saying is the
2:30
reason they're not keen on cruising
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is not because they don't love cruising
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is because the cruising experience
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is not what they love and they don't
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want to hand over many thousands
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of dollars to go on a cruise vacation
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for an experience based on what they're
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seeing the protocols are likely to be
2:45
so as they look at cruisers starting up
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they're seeing a couple of things that
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they just don't want to pay
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to go on vacation to do so for example
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many of the cruise lines
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have masks involved in some way or other
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with the check-in process
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when you're indoors in busy spaces when
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you're in elevators
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or out on excursions a lot of people
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saying i don't want to pay to go
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on vacation and have to wear a mask i'd
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rather wait until that's gone
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they're also saying that they have some
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reservations based on their beliefs
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around the testing protocol so there's
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different screening taking place where
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some cruise lines for example msc
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cruises
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and some of the cruise lines require
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covert 19 tests before you board
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or certainly certificates some of them
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are saying i don't want to go through
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that whole testing process i'd rather
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just wait until
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it's safe for me to go without the whole
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testing process one of the other things
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that's happening on cruises
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is temperature checking at least once a
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day has become a big
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part of the process a lot of people
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saying i don't want to go on vacation
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where i'm constantly reminded that this
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virus thing is going on
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having my temperature checked every day
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or potentially when i go off the street
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when i get back on the ship when i go to
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dining and a lot of travelers and
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cruisers saying i just don't want to do
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that
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also really fundamentally is what
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they're saying is some of the really big
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things that they like about cruising
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are being obliterated or certainly
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reduced based on the protocols
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allowing them to sell so for example
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social distancing means
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things like you have to book to go into
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certain venues or use
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the gym or use the swimming pool or have
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access to some of the shows
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are restricted and you have to book
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people saying i don't want to go on
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vacation have to worry about booking
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every last
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little thing that i do also social
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distancing often means that you have to
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only dine for example
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and interact in those kind of social
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occasions only with the people you're
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traveling with a lot of people go on
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cruises
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because they like to interact meet lots
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of people sit at different
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people's tables and meet loads of people
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and socialize
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and what they're worried about is with
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many of these protocols that are being
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required
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that's going to be wiped out the way and
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that's one of the key reasons they go
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cruising
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that's especially important for solo
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travelers because they're saying
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they go solo traveling and they want to
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go on a cruise because they can meet
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loads and loads of people another key
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thing that's putting a lot of people off
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is if there is a requirement which is
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certainly the case on some of the
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cruises that started up
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where you have to go on a cruise line
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excursion now the reason for that
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makes sense because what they want to do
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particularly they call on different
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countries
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is they want to protect both the people
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in the port from being infected
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potentially
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and certainly their guests from being
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infected when they're out and about
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people saying when i go on a cruise i
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don't necessarily want the extra cost
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of excursion so it's at a cost i don't
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want to pay
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or in fact they like to just go out and
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self-explore and find their own way
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around and do their own thing
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so what people are saying is a whole lot
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of the protocols which are great because
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they're allowing cruisers to resume
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are actually meaning a lot of people are
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not going to go on cruises because it
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gets rid of the very things
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about cruising that they like this again
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is a massive challenge
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when cruisers start up against how
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cruise lines can find a way of creating
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a vacation experience
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that both meets the needs of the health
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authorities and protect
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the passengers but also are appealing
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enough for passengers to want to come on
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board
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that's a big issue i believe another key
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reason
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is one which i certainly understand and
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resonates
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with me as a person who loves cruising
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and this is the fear
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of going on a cruise and something
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happens and you find
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two things happen first of all your
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cruise gets curtailed and you have to
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head back to port because of some sort
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of outbreak or risk of outbreak
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and secondly you then get quarantined on
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board the ship for an extended period of
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time
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which kind of as you know quarantine
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tends to be up to two weeks although
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with some testing can be reduced to five
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days
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this is what happened of course when
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people saw it happen when the lockdown
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first started and certainly a lot of
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people are nervous about stepping on
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border ship
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in case that happens and certainly as
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cruisers start up again a little bit of
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that happen so we saw
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with both paul gargan with sea dream
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we saw where there was either a past
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passenger
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or someone on board was identified as
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having tested for the virus
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so what happened is the cruise was
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curtailed that headed back to port
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everyone was tested everyone's put into
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quarantine
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people saying i don't want to spend
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money when i know that there is a risk
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or
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there is a risk of me having my trip cut
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short
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and being quarantined on board the ship
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or even on land and that is again
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another big challenge just the whole
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protocol
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understanding how that protocol is going
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to work that's holding a lot of people
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back
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from committing to cruising another
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thing that's holding people back from
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committing to cruising is understanding
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what is going to happen if either they
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fall ill or have to self-isolate before
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the cruise or they arrive at the port
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and they are refused
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embarkation on the ship the cruise lines
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have been relatively koi so far
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certainly in my attempts to find out
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so what actually happens if you are
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refused embarking the ship
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or during the cruise something happens
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people really understand what is the
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cancellation policy
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who pays for what and that's something i
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think the cruise line is going to be
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able to easily resolve
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as we move forward but certainly the
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uncertainty around what happens
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is putting a lot of people off
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committing to cruising right now
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one of the most obvious and most
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important
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reasons for people not wanting to cruise
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is the perception of cruising now
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certainly
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during the whole process in the build up
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to the lockdown that
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terminology floating petri dish sort of
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entered the general kind of lexicon if
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that's the right word
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around the world certainly around the
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western world and cruise ships became
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identified as these floating petri
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dishes
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the media pushed the point and every
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article you read about cruising
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certainly since february march time
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right through the whole
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period so far that is constantly
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referred to the sense that stepping on a
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cruise ship is extremely risky
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and that is really heightened and locked
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people's perception of cruising if they
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go on board a cruise it's very risky and
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there's a lot of peer pressure
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from friends from family from everybody
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else if you talk about going on a cruise
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people talk about how unsafe it is now
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of course
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there is lots of evidence that against
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that but certainly it's
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the belief very strongly that there's
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high risk that of course is reinforced
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because bear in mind
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a lot of what people are being advised
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in their countries is you know the risk
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of going
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to nightclubs going to theaters going to
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big public events
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a lot of those have a lot of controls of
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course on board a ship you have bars
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you have nightclubs you have theaters
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you have people in enclosed spaces
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interacting so a lot of the things that
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people have been warned about and told
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to avoid
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on land of course are a fundamental part
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of the cruising experience
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so there is that whole perception
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uncertainty still which
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still has to be overcome and addressed
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before our people are going to be
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prepared to cruise again so certainly
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that's the thing holding
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the vast bulk of people who either
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haven't tried cruising before but we're
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thinking about it or perhaps to try one
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or two cruises the sense that actually
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stepping up ordership
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is just a risk too far and it's better
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to stick to
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land and that's again going to be a big
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challenge i think for the cruise
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industry the cruise lines
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as they work through these protocols and
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it's probably going to take some
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cruising
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and some successful months of cruising
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before that's going to unlock
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a lot of people's comfort zone in terms
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of stepping
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back on board a cruise and that i think
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is one of the most fundamental things
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for the big
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mass of people going cruising again what
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about people who are saying this is
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a lot of nonsense and i want to step on
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board a cruise today
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there's two real common things that i'm
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seeing for those people who are going
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i want to cruise around the cruise now
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first of all they are the absolute
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die-hard cruisers who see cruising
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as the ship and experience itself
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they're almost not bothered about where
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they go
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so they're very comfortable to do things
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like cruises to nowhere
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they're very comfortable to cruise
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around their own country because it's
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about the cruising experience
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those people are keen to get on board
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they know ships they trust the whole
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protocols
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and the other group of people are also
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people who believe that the
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worst of the pandemic is over i'm seeing
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lots of comments on the channel around
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people saying this is overhyped
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we need to live our lives and just get
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on with it and
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the risk is being really overplayed of
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course the health authorities
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are taking a different view and they're
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not letting those people do
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as they wish to do at that point in time
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as i looked at why
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people don't want to cruise there are
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some quite surprising and some for me
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some
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unexpected reasons for not cruising i'd
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love to know what your
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thoughts are about what is holding you
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back from cruising if you are in fact
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feeling that you don't want to step on a
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cruise ship anytime soon which i know on
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many many people
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who watch the channel i know a lot of
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you are big fans of cruising because you
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obviously watch
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the things that i do but are holding
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back and not wanting to cruise
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what is your reason love to hear so
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leave your comments and let me know what
10:58
you think remember i have loads more
11:00
videos packed full of tips advice
11:01
updates around everything cruising so
11:03
why don't you watch another one of those
11:05
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