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The 12 Most Overrated Cruise Experiences. Says You!
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Jan 28, 2025
What are the 12 Most OVER-RATED CRUISE EXPERIENCES, based on what cruisers told me? I asked cruise passengers what they saw as being over rated cruise and cruising experiences. These are the 12 things that regular and experienced cruisers see as not being as good as the hype, or are simply just over rated cruise experiences, including things to do with cabins, upgrades, facilities, entertainment and more SUPPORT THE CHANNEL BY: Buying my Cruise T-shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore Booking your next cruise with CRUISEDIRECT.COM: http://bit.ly/TFTBookCruise WATCH THESE POPULAR RECENT VIDEOS: 10 Cabins to Avoid: https://youtu.be/PgTGLma919A European River Cruise Watch-Outs: https://youtu.be/oqhz54wStyk 5 Cruises To Avoid: https://youtu.be/CNiPzK4IRWA Alaska Cruise Need-to-Knows: https://youtu.be/Tn7dpNw5kSI Things Cruise Lines Don’t Want You to Know: https://youtu.be/cs5UKha9ALc Rules Passengers Break Most: https://youtu.be/djZLZ3XV_f0 Things You Can’t Do On A Cruise Any More: https://youtu.be/zas6F4wMD0Q Should You Pay Cruise Gratuities: https://youtu.be/QBYzqxXjEXQ 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. Follow Tips For Travellers on:
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what are the most overrated cruise
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experiences out there today I'm Gary
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beverage this is another of my cruising
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tips for Travis
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I asked viewers of my videos
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what were the cruise experiences they
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found completely overrated
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I collected all those together compared
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them with mine and I've drawn up a list
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of what I think are the most overrated
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cruise experiences starting with this
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one now this one could be a little bit
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of a surprise actually in the video
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about this one and that's cruise
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upgrades that can be really overrated
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the reason for that is when you're
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upgraded which one gets very excited
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about you could actually end up in a
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cabin which you really don't like
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because the cruise line will upgrade you
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to a cabin of their choice you have no
0:44
say in the upgrade so you could find
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yourself in a strangely shed cabin or
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one that's in a really noisy area
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underneath the or light disco or the
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theater or in the front of the ship or
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near the both bow thrusters or whatever
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it is so one of the things that I always
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do is I like to choose my cabin I don't
1:02
go for guaranteed cabin I like to choose
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my cabin and I say no to auto upgrades
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because I really like to have a cabin in
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a certain place I like to be surrounded
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on all sides by cabins so it's nice and
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quiet and I know I'm gonna have a good
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night's sleep other people I know they
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think I'm crazy and it doesn't worry
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them
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but cabin upgrades could actually be
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very overrated because you could go from
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a great cabin into the unknown so they
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are really overrated I've had lots of
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people contacting me saying you know
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they went with upgrade they're really
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excited and it actually wasn't a great
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choice
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it's very overrated choose your cabin
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decide where you want to be and go with
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it to get the cruise experience that you
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want the second overrated cruise
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experience was one that I found quite a
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surprise and that's one that gets a lot
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of discussion and debate and that's
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about canoe cabins a lot of people said
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to me I think the balcony cabins are
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overrated if they cost you more money
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than an inside or an ocean view you
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don't really use them even when you go
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to places like Alaska you want to hit up
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out on deck to be able to look at the
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landscape and the glaciers so actually
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you spending money and you're not really
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using the balcony now I love a balcony
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cabin personally and I really love you
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know going out there and when you're at
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sea I love going out there in and out of
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Port but a lot of people said for the
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amount of money it's you
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it's really overrated and actually you
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could go in a low-grade cabin and cruise
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more often so definitely there's all
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discussion around whether it's overrated
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I love going in a balcony I would always
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choose about me for me it's not
2:24
overrated but I was surprised just how
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many people said balcony is very
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overrated the third overrated experience
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was specialty dining no there was a lot
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of discussion around the pros and cons
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of special dining
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however the feeling was that actually
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crew stars are really using special
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dining of course to give you more choice
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but actually to make more money because
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you already paying within your fare to
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have food in the main dining room buffet
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room service often and those are
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pressure to you then eat in different
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venues and those are concerned actually
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that they for the amount of money you're
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paying you could be paying 30 40 50 or
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even more dollars per person to eat an
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especially dining restaurant so it's
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very overrated because in fact you're
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not really getting it always a huge big
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step change and there's just a lot of
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pressure to eat there and also the
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concern that as they encourage you to
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eat more and more in specially dining
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that actually they were making the
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choice and availability in the main
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dining room the buffet actually less to
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encourage people to go to specially
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dining and the sense that actually it
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was very overrated
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now some people of course love specialty
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dining they build into the budgets and
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they don't see it as overrated
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personally I'm not a massive fan of
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special dining I will do a little bit
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especially dining or just to check it
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out to report back on it but I do think
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it's very overrated and pushed a lot
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the next area was quite an interesting
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one and that was the big resort
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attraction so you know I'm big ships now
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you've got go-karts courses you've got a
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laser tag you might have a roller
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coaster
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rock climbing rope courses big water
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parks water slides all sorts of big
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features being built on ships largely on
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the outside decks not of people felt
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these are overrated because in fact they
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appeal to only a subset of people
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cruising but they take up a lot of space
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on a cruise ship and it means that
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around the pools it can be quite cramped
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so it's quite hard to find deck space
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because more and more of these big
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attractions are taking over on the big
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cruise ships and what a lot of people
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feel is they're overrated because
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they're really used to get excitement PR
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hook people into booked but actually
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once you're on a cruise you're out
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import you're kind of busy and you
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you're not using them they're very very
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overrated and the other big concern that
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we will have is a lot of them are
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outside so if you're cruising where the
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weather's not good or it's raining all
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of those are closed they can't be used a
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lot of the time and therefore you've got
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all the space that's being cluttered up
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with these big attractions and you can't
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use them and more people are kind of
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crammed inside the ship and less space
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so what people think they're very
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overrated and they only really cater for
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a smaller part or subset of the cruising
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population on board the ships so again
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some people of course love them but a
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lot of people said to me they're very
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overrated they take a lot of space that
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could be used for just more regular
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cruising activities like sitting around
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at the pool or having more deck space
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for a lot of people hot tubs are also
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overrated and often there's not enough
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of them really mixed views and hot tubs
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a lot of people in there cruising like
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hot tubs whether it's cold whether it's
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warm and they really like them a lot of
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people have concerns about hot tubs and
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they're warm enough and they therefore
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are perhaps not as hygienic as they
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could be and if that's true or not
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on a big hot tub user and also one of
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the concerns is lots of kids pile into
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the hot clubs it's not really regulated
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and kids are allowed to kind of use
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those as a playground so it is a
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becoming a very overrated experience
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because you expect a hot tub sit there
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with a glass of champagne as you're
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sailing along having a really good time
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but actually that there's just kids
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jumping in and out and using them as a
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kind of a bit of entertainment so hot
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tubs again a very mixed bag people like
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the idea of them but feel that actually
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the actual experience itself is very
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overrated one of the things that a lot
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of people have said to me they think are
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overrated although it's becoming a big
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trend in cruising is the cruise line
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owned islands so this is really
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particularly true in the Caribbean where
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all of the cruise lines are starting to
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have their own private island and on all
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the cruises they will stop in there at
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those islands which they control and
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they control the whole experience now
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bear in mind these islands actually
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created so Normand of small islands and
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what they've done is they're then
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created experiences on them so some
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beach areas I might have ziplines they
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might have a bit of snorkeling they
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might have some cycle stuff they might
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have very luxurious cabanas we can go
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and relax but these are really created
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they're not you're not actually seeing
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Carol you're not seeing authentic
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islands and what the crew zones have
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done has really created kind of a
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captive audience where they can sell you
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more stuff and there's a real concern
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this is an
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underwhelming experience now there's
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some great things so you've got like
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real Caribbean have opened at an amazing
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place where you've got big water slides
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water parks and really big attractions
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so there are something to make them much
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more packed full of features and
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benefits and all sorts of things going
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on but the sense of actually if you're
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cruising in a region you're not getting
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to see an authentic island and the
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culture and the people and the history
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of the place so a lot of people say they
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are also becoming very similar so
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they're all kind of a much of a muchness
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and the distinctiveness is getting out
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of the ports you're calling so you're
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going to Caribbean but you're not really
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calling on authentic genuine ports so
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people feel that that whole experience
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of cruise line created islands and
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destinations is very very overrated as
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an experienced cruise transfers tuned
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from airports at various ports are seen
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as being very overrated partly because
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they're very expensive and can be quite
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a slow process facility if you're an
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airport you could be hanging around for
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quite a long time before the everyone's
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arrived from their flights to get on the
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bus the same when you're leaving you
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kind of hang around waiting for people
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when actually you'll find often for less
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money you can have a private transfer
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whether it's you know over some of these
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ride-hailing services or even there may
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be some independent bus transfers it can
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be cheaper easier and quicker to
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actually avoid the cruise line transfers
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because they can be quite long slow and
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can be very expensive so they are seen
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as pretty overrated obviously the
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security of knowing that you're
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connecting with the cruise line in the
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cruise lines managing it but they can be
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seen is pretty expensive and pretty
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underwhelming definitely one of the
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areas that is seen as very overrated is
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the spineless bars on cruise ships are
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taking over more and more space so today
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a lot of people are using them but they
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can be very expensive so when I compare
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the cost of treatments to what I can get
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back in in big cities like London or New
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York or wherever they are pretty
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expensive and then there's the big cross
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sell so you have a treatment and then
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the therapists are incentivized to
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really cross sell you on buying lots and
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lots of products so it's a it's quite as
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in some ways a stressful experience I do
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fun going to the spa coz wrestler party
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because it's stressful on the bank
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balance but also you know the end you're
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going to have to fight off the cross
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selling the upselling of products so
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it's not as a relaxing experience as it
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could be but definitely the sparse
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no people feel that they're very
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overrated as an expense saying that this
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clearly is a huge amount of people who
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love the spa because they're always busy
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and always packed out and which is why I
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guess they're getting bigger and bigger
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shopping shopping shopping is definitely
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seen as being something that's over
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rated one of the challenges you have
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particularly in places like the
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Caribbean Alaska the cruise ships have
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shopping advisors because they're
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incentivized to drive people into a lot
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of the chain stores when you get off and
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they love those ports it's basic generic
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it's all the same stores Diamond
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international those kind of things you
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know the cruise line is getting
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incentives for sending you there I guess
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they're getting some kind of commission
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and there's that big focus on shopping
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you almost feel that you're going to
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some of these places and shopping is the
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most important thing to do and it the
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really sense of feeling that this is
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very overrated shopping is not why
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you're in this place also because
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they're you're buying a lot of time very
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generic products that you can buy
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anywhere else
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also I'm bored it's seen it's very
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overrated it can be relatively expensive
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I think stuff on board is quite
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expensive although Cruise Lines would
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disagree with that and you've constantly
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got all these various promotions that
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you know the tables out selling of
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inches of gold chains and watches and
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bags and stuff and the sense that
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actually shopping has become a big part
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of what happens around cruising but it's
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really kind of overrated versus not
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about authentic genuine stuff is really
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linked to the region in place that
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you're cruising in drinks packages are
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another area that is seen as being very
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overrated drinks packages I think are
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really expensive I'm not a big drinker
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myself but I look at the cost of drinks
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packages and these seem really costly
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even bearing in mind that some of them
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you you could care to some of your
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drinks you know specialty coffees or I
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guess some sodas but they are pretty
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expensive you do have to drink quite a
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lot to make them worthwhile in the sense
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that actually they're very overrated
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because the cruise line is pushing and
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pushing and pushing you to buy drinks
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packages and I always ask myself if the
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cruise line and people are selling
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something so aggressively it's
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presumably because they're making good
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margin and money out of them so I always
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prefer personally not to ever drinks
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package unless I've bought it as part of
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an overall kind of cruise package and
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it's bundled in and tend to despite
10:56
drinks more ad hoc because I found that
10:58
actually it's very overrated the drinks
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packages and I do spend much less money
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and I'll probably don't go quite as
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crazy which I guess some people like
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drinks packages for I think that I think
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is overrated is buying art on a cruise
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ship a lot of cruise lines have caught
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up space for an art gallery and they do
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art auctions and I guess it works a lot
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of people buy art when I talk to other
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people who bought art they feel that
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it's again it's overrated and actually I
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probably could have got it at sharper
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prices on land when they've got more
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time to think about it consider it
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compare prices but art auctions I think
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are definitely overrated and the whole
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art concept of buying on a cruise ship I
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just personally don't understand a lot
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of people raise that as an issue what
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people go to the art auctions by the way
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because you often get a free glass of
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champagne and so that's quite a big
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appeal for some people but I do think
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there are an overrated part of cruising
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now one of things that I do like to do
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when I go on a cruise ship I do like the
11:55
casino I like to play bingo and all
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those kind of things however a lot of
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people don't and the casinos do take up
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quite a lot of space there's often
12:04
smoking or the casinos and actually the
12:07
odds are people would argue on cruise
12:08
ship is not as good as say going to
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place like Las Vegas or whatever I like
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to do it I never really won much money
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doing that size obviously that as it
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cost a lot of people think the whole
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focus on gambling casino is very
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overrated and it's not really something
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that cruise line should be focusing on
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as much because there are other things
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they could do the space one that's very
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interesting because a couple of cruise
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lines like Azamara for example I started
12:31
to take because you know how to use it
12:33
for more spaces for stuff around the
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shore excursions the destinations more
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places to drink and eat and that kind of
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stuff so they decided actually getting
12:42
rid of because you know is something
12:45
that's gonna add to the cruise
12:46
experience overall I get some bigger
12:48
ships that's less of an issue and they
12:49
want to give more diversity and choice
12:51
but a lot of people said a whole
12:53
gambling thing is very overrated and
12:54
actually it's something that I end up
12:56
spending money on and there's things
12:58
like where we could spend more money on
12:59
but I guess that's something about
13:01
self-control and getting stuck in
13:02
yourself and doing that I do like to
13:05
have a bit of a flutter on a cruise and
13:06
seen as part of the fun experience but a
13:09
lot of people say very very overrated
13:11
there are lots of wonderful things about
13:13
cruising and as I've said some of these
13:15
things that people raised over rated
13:17
other people think are a real
13:19
plus those are things talking to people
13:21
they saw is the most overrated cruise
13:23
experiences if you find that helpful
13:25
interesting why don't you watch another
13:26
one of my many cruisin tips and advice
13:29
videos once you watch another one of
13:30
those right now
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