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People Keep Falling For These 7 Crafty Cruise Port Tricks!
12K views
Jan 28, 2025
I expose and looks at common scams that I have seen cruisers, including my friends and even myself, fall for when in a port on their cruise so you can avoid falling for these... For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * T-Shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore * Mugs, notebooks, hoodies etc: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tipsfortravellers?ref_id=22354 My social media: --------------------------------------------------- * Blog: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com * 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
View Video Transcript
0:00
let's face it Crew sports are a perfect
0:03
place for tricks and scams as large
0:05
numbers of Cruisers pass through daily
0:06
we're only there a couple of hours
0:08
before disappearing never to return our
0:11
guard is down and the scammers and
0:13
tricksters have had time to finesse what
0:15
works to fleece us of our money until
0:17
now as I'm here to help you avoid them
0:21
recently my close friends Roger and Sue
0:22
found on their first Mexican Riviera
0:24
cruise that taxi drivers are Masters at
0:28
this game there are at least five taxi
0:31
tricks that friends and I unfortunately
0:33
have fallen for to watch out for they
0:35
got caught up by one of the oldest
0:37
tricks in the taxi driver's book as they
0:39
like to self-explore they grab a taxi in
0:41
Puerto Vallarta to head into town and
0:44
the beach they were quoted a price but
0:46
once they got there the taxi driver said
0:48
oh no no no no you have to pay double
0:49
because the price I quoted was per
0:52
person then he doubled down and stung
0:55
them with another classic trick which is
0:57
saying he didn't have any change for the
0:59
notes that they were trying to give him
1:01
and so they ended up paying even more so
1:04
as well as checking Kelly what the rate
1:05
is make sure that you have small notes
1:08
to pay for the taxi another friend of
1:10
mine Ben was instant kids last year and
1:13
asked a taxi driver to take him to a
1:15
beach and come back and fetch him at a
1:18
set time the driver said fine he asked
1:21
to be paid up front to guarantee coming
1:23
back but of course he never returned the
1:26
last time I was in St Lucia instead of
1:29
going on a cruise line Tour and as
1:31
there's not much to do around the port I
1:33
used a taxi driver offering to give a
1:35
tour of the island but he kept taking me
1:39
to shopping venues and places like a
1:41
beach with a bar and restaurant where he
1:43
clearly knew them and was getting some
1:45
sort of Kickback rather than taking me
1:48
to see the kind of must-see places that
1:50
I want to see people on my recent Nile
1:53
River Cruise had the same experience
1:55
with using a chiro taxi driver who
1:58
promised a magnificent tour and they
2:00
spend as much time according to Papyrus
2:03
shops rug shops jewelry stores as they
2:05
did at the Great Pyramids so if you're
2:08
going to get a taxi driver tour be
2:10
absolutely clear about where they're
2:12
going to take you and stress that you
2:14
don't want to go shopping link to this
2:18
is the scam that happened to me in
2:20
Cozumel where it found a great looking
2:22
and really super well-rated beach club
2:25
with restaurant online I asked a taxi
2:28
driver to take me there now he said look
2:30
I know a much nicer place I said fine he
2:34
dropped me off and going in it was clear
2:36
it was a dump and he again appeared to
2:39
be getting commissions by taking people
2:41
there so always have a good dose of
2:44
skepticism I also learned that when I
2:47
was on a cruise with a stop in Kuala
2:48
Lumpur a taxi driver taking me to
2:50
another site heard me saying I really
2:53
wanted to go up the Patronus Towers but
2:55
I hadn't booked and it was sold out he
2:58
claimed he could get get me a ticket to
3:01
a friend of his of course after paying
3:03
up for this ticket I found once I got
3:06
there that and tried to use them that it
3:08
was a fake ticket scam used to catch
3:10
lots of tourists like me so beware of
3:12
taxis if you don't use taxis I want to
3:14
hire a car or scooter on a boat watch
3:16
out for this next one on around the UK
3:19
Crews I had a car from one of the
3:20
biggest Car Hire companies when I was in
3:23
Edinburgh to go out and explore my mum's
3:25
Hometown nearby I checked it over when I
3:29
was fetching it and also when dropping
3:30
it off now when we dropped it off I had
3:32
to leave it in the parking lot as the
3:34
office was closed as agreed my credit
3:36
card though was eventually charged 700
3:38
pounds that's about 850 dollars for
3:41
supposed damage now I knew that I had
3:44
not done anything and it took months
3:47
literally months of arguing and getting
3:49
the credit card company involved before
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finally getting them to back down I've
3:54
heard of this happening in other ports
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around the world where Cruisers have
3:58
been charged for supposed damage to
4:01
higher cars scooters Wave Riders and so
4:05
on it's easy money as often fighting it
4:09
just wears you down so now what I do is
4:12
I take a video with my phone when I'm
4:14
picking up something I'm hiring and
4:15
again we're dropping it off all around
4:18
to be able to argue that one
4:19
convincingly as I mentioned I'm just
4:22
back from a Nile River Cruise when I'm
4:23
making this and I saw many of the
4:25
successful scams used in markets and
4:27
popular sites around the world here and
4:30
one of them is the free gift one
4:33
it often actually even starts on many
4:35
ships where the shopping advisor holds
4:38
talks in the handout their first free
4:41
charm which they say you can then
4:42
collect additional free ones to make up
4:45
a bracelet or a necklace at stores like
4:47
Fe or duns International of course it's
4:50
a trick to get us into stores for
4:53
well-organized pushy selling but watch
4:56
out for Market vendors like those on my
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now Crews did to Jen who kind of I I
5:01
befriended her on the trip she was
5:03
handed a bracelets hats all sorts of
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free gifts one she actually took one of
5:07
them early on she was then aggressively
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hassled and they eventually demand a
5:12
payment unless you bought something
5:13
bigger so beware people giving you free
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gifts or samples if anyone's handing out
5:19
anything do not take it now in some
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Mediterranean ports like Barcelona
5:23
exotic looking Gypsy style ladies often
5:26
hand out small Bunches of lavender or
5:28
flowers to cruises and then they just
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ask for a small donation now someone on
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a tour I was on in Barcelona took it not
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realizing it was so the lady or the
5:37
suspect was more likely an accomplice
5:39
could see where they took the money from
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and how much they had with them because
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a short while later they realized they
5:46
had been pickpocketed by the way what
5:48
where you keep money if you are a
5:50
cruiser that likes to support say those
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Street vendors or give to Beggars keep
5:54
small bills or coins in a separate
5:57
pocket or place so if you ever reach for
5:59
and bring out money it's limited and
6:02
suggests you don't have a lot and
6:04
actually are a poor Target
6:06
and if your small Bill's pocket is
6:09
pickpocketed it's not a big loss to you
6:11
pickpockets especially Target crowds in
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all the big cities that Cruisers call in
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Europe because those narrower streets
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the packed sites uh you know you have
6:20
people often jostling and bumping into
6:22
another it's a perfect cover for pick
6:25
boxes by the way one odd trick that I
6:28
have seen someone try a few years back
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on an MSC cruises tour in Rome was the
6:33
classic spill trick one of the gents in
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our tour group had someone bump into
6:37
them and spill some gelato on them they
6:40
the person's doing it apologize
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profusely starts to wipe it off with
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tissues of course what they were really
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doing is shaking him down to pickpocket
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him he pushed them off and he later told
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the group that he knew about this
6:53
particular scan and so he was ready for
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it and actually kept his credit cards
6:57
the money in a money belt inside his
6:59
shirt anyway so very sensible if anyone
7:02
spills anything on you do not let them
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help which brings me to another nothing
7:08
is free and money fleecing scam that
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I've seen in popular Cruise ports the
7:13
most outrageous of these that I've seen
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is in Rome where men dressed as Roman
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centurions hang around outside the
7:20
Coliseum offering to pose with Cruisers
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and other people visiting but things can
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get nasty really quickly if you offer
7:29
them a small tip like say five euros
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that's about five US Dollars after the
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photos they will demand way more and can
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and do get really aggressive one report
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in the times UK newspaper just this past
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November reported the men allegedly
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posed for a picture with an Irish
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visitor then they marched him to a cash
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point and forced him to hand over 200
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Euros it's about 200 another Italian
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claiming offered them 40 euros and they
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wanted more and started physically
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attacking him so that's kind of extreme
8:00
but if you ever come across people in
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costume in any port agree very clearly
8:05
the price
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before you start taking the photo of
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course also be aware of people spotting
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you taking selfies and offering to take
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your photograph especially if they ask
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you to unlock your phone to do it I've
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heard of people you know getting you to
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unlock your phone then running off of
8:24
the phone because it's now unlocked and
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of value because they can do stuff with
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it instead I always ask someone else you
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know someone on the tour or something I
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recognize from the ship rather clearly
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tourists that I've seen about to take
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the photo
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Also if anyone in foreign Port confronts
8:40
you saying you took their photo without
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their approval and demands you unlock
8:45
your phone and show them don't do it for
8:48
the same reason I just mentioned in past
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videos I have spoken about my friends
8:52
Graham and Pete as they started to go
8:54
cruising and I told the story about what
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they do and I also told you how they are
8:58
big souvenir buyers when traveling and I
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keep warning them repeatedly about a
9:03
couple of cruise port
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scams when it comes to Goods obviously
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they know anyway that those are not
9:10
genuine Rolex Watches or Louis Vuitton
9:12
bags being sold by Hawkers on the street
9:15
but I do want them if they're buying
9:17
expensive items in stores watch out for
9:19
two scams and tricks I know people
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who've got caught up by stores relying
9:24
on the fact that Cruisers are leaving
9:26
port and cannot get back to them Simon a
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follower of the channel recently sent me
9:31
a message saying he bought a fancy watch
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in a small store in Jamaica once he was
9:36
back at the ship he found it just wasn't
9:38
working because it was close to
9:40
departure time he called the store they
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kind of fogged him off and as he
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couldn't get back to the store they
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actually refused to refund him it was a
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faulty watch and there was very little
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that he could do I heard Ilana from the
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life well cruised YouTube channel
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talking in a video recently about buying
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a handbag in one of the stores when she
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was in Turkey the store owner was very
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chatty and actually distracted her while
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someone else in this store packed up her
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purchase once she got back to the ship
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she realized they had switched the bag
10:09
it was not the high quality bag that she
10:12
had bought so watch out for that I
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always stress to Graham and Pete to be
10:17
wary of market and Beach vendors they
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didn't listen Graham found out the hard
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way buying supposedly real Cuban cigars
10:25
from the beach vendor in the Caribbean
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to take back to a connoisseur friend of
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theirs back home of course the friend
10:31
told them they were absolutely not my
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friends Roger and Sue on the Mexican
10:35
Riviera Cruz told me about this charming
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Old Gentleman going around the beach
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telling everybody about his handcrafted
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sculptures in his home handmade jewelry
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which people were loving and buying back
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in town they realized all the cheap
10:50
souvenir stores were full of exactly the
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same items they were all mass produced
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I'm personally always skeptical of stall
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holders pointing out really unique and
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rare items because there is no way of
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verifying in my view is if I love it I
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like the price I'll buy it for that
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reason because that's what it's worth to
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me not because it's some mystical value
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and when buying there is one expensive
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scam though that I fell for
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but I will never again because it cost
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me so much I got caught up by this when
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I was in Buenos Aires shortly after
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arriving there on a South American
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cruise not so long ago I saw some really
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nice shirts that I really liked in a
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small clothes shop when I was out and
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about now I went in they told me the
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price of the two sheds and it was quite
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expensive it was going to be about 250
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US dollars but I thought okay fine I'm
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gonna do it now they told me it was
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going to convert to that I was a bit
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embarrassed I wasn't quite up on the
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exchange rates I didn't want to seem
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untrusting by taking my phone to check
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the rate so I took them at face value
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and I paid with my credit card when the
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bill came a few weeks later they had put
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through what was almost 700 and of
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course because I had just gone with it
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put my pin in that was it so now I check
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any purchases using a currency exchange
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app I use an app called XE and I do that
12:06
before buying to avoid that one I don't
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want to be caught out again I'm
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wondering whether you've fallen for
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scams like I have in a cruise port if
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you have leave a comment to help warn
12:16
others but before you do that why don't
12:18
you watch this video when I talk about
12:20
cruises like my good friend Helen and
12:23
how she was tricked before she even left
12:25
home see you over there
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