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This video delivers on a promise I made in the video about lines that I recommended to make a video of cruise lines avoid and think other cruisers should too
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00:00 Start
00:31 #1 Money Talks
02:57 #2 Who's The Boss
04:32 #3 Old Loves
05:38 #4 Price Of Change
07:07 #5 Not Your Style
09:04 #6 Lost in Translation
11:16 #7 Bad Reviews
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
a while ago I made a video about the
0:02
best lines to cruise on and during that
0:04
video I said are there any lines that I
0:06
would avoid
0:07
yes
0:09
but that's a topic for another day and
0:11
another video well that day has come not
0:14
just a warning you might freak out
0:16
because I may include your favorite
0:18
Cruise Line as one to avoid but that's
0:20
less important because you're going to
0:22
discover in here that the key goal is to
0:25
help you avoid lines that really won't
0:28
work for you welcome aboard I'm Gary
0:30
bembridge the first lines I avoid are
0:33
those that I think or suspect may have
0:36
Financial issues even if they have a big
0:39
reputation now as the pandemic was
0:42
ending and I was planning my future
0:44
cruises I crossed one key line off my
0:47
wish list and that was Crystal Cruises
0:50
now why did I do that because at the
0:53
time there was chatter about how slow
0:55
they were during the pandemic to issue
0:57
refunds they were slow to respond to
1:00
queries and there were warning signs
1:02
everywhere it gave me a flashback to a
1:04
cruise that I'd booked with one ocean
1:06
Expeditions in 2019 similar things were
1:10
happening people were canceling they
1:11
weren't getting refunds responses were
1:13
slow lo and behold they had bankruptcy
1:17
problems now with Crystal Cruises many
1:19
people lost thousands of dollars when
1:21
getting Hong Kong went bust and Crystal
1:24
dream
1:25
and start cruise lines all went under if
1:29
you have any doubts avoid the cruise
1:31
line it's better to be safe than sorry
1:34
of course Financial issues are not just
1:37
about Cruise Lines going bust it's also
1:40
about the cutbacks and the onboard
1:42
experience already of course that is an
1:45
issue with many Cruise Lines because
1:47
post-pandemic they're in lots of debt
1:49
and there are things right across the
1:51
board that they are tightening up on
1:54
cutting back on so when I'm planning
1:56
into next year and the year Beyond I
1:59
focus on lines that are held by the big
2:01
Cruise corporations although they're
2:04
also in lots of debt they're incredibly
2:06
well funded and they're already carrying
2:08
up to 80 of passengers so they are big
2:11
monoliths so that includes for example
2:13
Carnival Corporation with Brands such as
2:15
Carnival princess Holland America Cunard
2:18
and Seabourn other major Cruise groups
2:21
that I look at are Royal Caribbean with
2:23
celebrity and silver sea Norwegian
2:25
Cruise Line who own Oceania Cruises
2:28
region 70s then of course there's also
2:30
the MSC cruises group I tend to avoid
2:33
independent lines unless I'm planning
2:35
really short term one big tip I've got
2:39
is I personally track and watch sites
2:41
like the crew run crew center.com and
2:45
their Facebook group because the crew
2:47
are often the very first to spot issues
2:50
for example they're not being paid on
2:52
time recruitments down or simply the way
2:55
that they're being treated the second
2:57
set of cruise lines I avoid is any line
3:00
that I fear or suspect may change
3:03
ownership especially if the rumor is
3:06
they're being taken over by a non-cruise
3:08
operator I learned this initially with
3:10
voyages to Antiquity I came back from an
3:12
amazing cruise to Iceland on their ship
3:14
at GN Odyssey it was an old but a very
3:17
characterful ship it was owned by an
3:20
elderly billionaire they started
3:22
canceling because of engine issues and
3:23
other problems and they quietly
3:25
disappeared and eventually reappeared as
3:28
Road scholar now more recently as Amara
3:31
was sold by Royal Caribbean to Sycamore
3:34
partners and I made the mistake of going
3:37
on the line too soon after return to
3:39
service and before it had properly
3:41
bettered in it just wasn't working in
3:44
the way that Azamara was before I should
3:46
have waited until it had really bedded
3:49
in there are for example rumors about
3:51
seaborne being sold by Carnival to a
3:55
Saudi Arabian Cruise Company now of
3:57
course I'm not sure how true those
3:59
rumors are but I have therefore only
4:01
planned shorter term with them just to
4:03
be on the safer side on the other hand
4:06
I've booked Paul gargan for next year
4:08
they were taken over by panand but
4:10
panont is an existing Cruise operator
4:12
and it's already the cruise line is
4:15
already well bedded into the pawn on
4:17
operation but I personally wouldn't book
4:19
Crystal under their new owners
4:21
Abercrombie in Kent because it's going
4:23
to be a completely different line it
4:26
comes back your management new crew and
4:28
I just don't know how quickly and easily
4:31
that's going to settle down the third
4:32
area of cruise lines I avoid are those
4:35
that I've Grown Apart from over time our
4:39
tastes change my very first trip was pno
4:41
Aurora and because it was my first ship
4:44
I stuck with piano Cruisers after that I
4:46
booked a Mediterranean Cruise it was
4:48
fine then I tried Cunard and I realized
4:52
what I was missing Pinot realized wasn't
4:55
actually for me anymore after a 10-year
4:58
break from piano I gave them a try again
5:00
last year all I did was remind me of why
5:04
I no longer sail with them it reassured
5:06
me that once you've had a so-so
5:08
experience and you've moved on with a
5:11
cruise line in my view it's best to keep
5:13
going and it's important to remember
5:15
that whatever category of Cruise Line
5:17
you go with you have so much choice so
5:19
in the piano category I've also got
5:21
princess Holland America celebrity
5:23
Cunard and now virgin boy we just to
5:26
choose from there's no need to stick
5:28
with the same they're all in the same
5:30
category they offer the same sort of
5:32
pricing so it's actually better I
5:34
decided to book with one of those
5:36
instead the fourth thing that I avoid is
5:39
changing a cruise line for the sake of
5:41
change particularly if I'm changing for
5:43
the worst reason of all which is price
5:46
it took my partner and I 20 years to get
5:50
his assistant husband to cruise and
5:52
finally they booked piano cruises they
5:55
absolutely loved it it felt familiar and
5:58
they enjoyed the fact that it was full
5:59
of British passengers ensured it was
6:01
everything they hoped for it wasn't for
6:02
me but it was absolutely for them they
6:05
returned home and decided to book
6:07
another Cruise
6:09
but they booked with MSC cruises because
6:11
it was so much cheaper they went and
6:14
they hated it the ship was too big
6:16
everything on board was announced in
6:18
several different languages the food was
6:20
not as they expected they also found a
6:22
lot more onboard costs like gratuities
6:25
and they admitted that they changed a
6:28
cruise line for the worst possible
6:30
reason only for price I personally
6:33
discovered the same thing when I went on
6:35
Costa many many years ago they had a
6:39
really good deal on a Mediterranean
6:41
Cruise so I walked away from Cunard and
6:44
went on Costa it was to be honest a
6:46
pretty miserable experience the was
6:48
too gaudy for me it was 95 full of
6:50
Italians with very limited English
6:53
options and I to be honest it felt like
6:55
a bit of an outsider I looked enviously
6:59
at Honda America princess and celebrity
7:01
who were also in Port and realized I'd
7:04
moved for the wrong reason price the
7:06
fifth line that I avoid is any line
7:09
that's just not for me now that might
7:12
sound really obvious but it is important
7:15
to not get this one wrong first of all
7:18
for example I avoid going on Carnival
7:20
it's not because I think that they don't
7:22
do things well it's because it's just
7:24
not for me they're fun ships they're
7:26
boisterous they're party ships high
7:27
energy they're catering for younger
7:29
couples and families who want to have a
7:32
busy time lots and lots of high energy
7:34
fun
7:36
there's drinking there's belly flop
7:38
competitions it's packed it's
7:40
action-filled it's go go go now I avoid
7:43
lines like Carnival because it's simply
7:45
not targeted to me I like enrichment I'm
7:48
very much into destinations are like
7:49
quiet spaces it's that simple it's just
7:52
not for me and that's my point choosing
7:55
a line that's right for you is
7:57
absolutely fundamental and critical
8:00
secondly for example I avoid Mega ships
8:02
from lines like Royal Caribbean and MSC
8:04
you know the five thousand six thousand
8:07
kind of plus gas ships they're busy I
8:10
don't like the busyness of getting on
8:12
and off I like it on smaller ships
8:14
because you can go into out of the way
8:16
ports and it's more an intimate
8:19
experience for example I don't even like
8:21
the big ships in the princess Fleet Sky
8:23
princess at 3660 passengers it's just
8:27
too big for me so I avoid those even on
8:30
Celebrity I prefer to go on the solstice
8:32
class ships which are more like 2 000
8:34
passengers
8:36
and if I'm going on Holland America I
8:39
tend to lean towards their Vista class
8:40
ships which again are more like 2 000
8:43
passengers than their bigger
8:44
pinnacle-class ships also and
8:47
importantly with those big ships they
8:50
again tend to attract more families more
8:52
kids and I like a more adult-on
8:54
experience that's why I do lean more
8:56
towards cruise lines that offer it
8:59
so really focus on what it is that's
9:02
important to you the next lines I avoid
9:04
are those that are mostly non-english
9:07
speaking with one really big exception
9:11
other than my cost experience that I
9:13
spoke about earlier I've been on other
9:15
non-english speaking lines
9:18
and I've learned a lot about what I
9:21
would avoid and importantly what I
9:23
wouldn't avoid I've been on crossy
9:25
Europe on barges where it's mostly been
9:27
French passengers I've been on Happy
9:30
Lloyd Europa 2 where the passengers are
9:33
mostly German I've been on panand to
9:35
Antarctica which is mostly French and
9:38
I've learned an enormous amount from all
9:40
those trips
9:41
on panant ninety percent of the
9:44
passengers when I was on were French
9:45
there was a group of about 20 U.S
9:47
Koreans two U.S couples and myself but
9:50
there was a sense of frustration
9:51
building across the cruise amongst the
9:54
English speakers they felt that the
9:57
French passengers were getting more
9:58
attention and much more Focus perhaps
10:01
not surprisingly because the crew were
10:03
all French as were the bulk of the
10:04
passengers food they saw also was an
10:07
issue it was too French now it is after
10:09
all a French line
10:11
but me I was probably more ready for
10:13
that I used to have a Global Marketing
10:15
job and I traveled a lot around the
10:16
world and I was perhaps more used to
10:18
being in the minority and not really
10:20
knowing the language so I was a little
10:21
bit more comfortable but you absolutely
10:24
need to be ready avoid any line in my
10:27
view that's non-english speaking unless
10:29
you're 100 ready for the differences so
10:33
I for example will go on non-english
10:35
speaking Cruise Lines when it is the
10:38
only option so for example I went across
10:41
Europe because I wanted to go on a barge
10:44
cruise through France and that was the
10:47
only or the leaving option
10:49
however I wouldn't go on across the
10:52
Europe River Cruise again which I've
10:54
done because there are many many good
10:56
English speaking options which are just
10:58
going to be so much easier but I have
11:01
booked to go on german-speaking haphag
11:03
Lloyd next year to Greenland and the
11:05
Canadian Arctic because it is the only
11:08
itinerary that covers the places that I
11:10
really want to go to so I'm prepared for
11:13
that I'm prepared to do that the other
11:15
thing people ask me about is do I avoid
11:18
lines with bad reviews now in the last
11:21
week I've had for example questions
11:23
around Azamara Cunard and style Clippers
11:26
people have seen bad reviews about all
11:29
of those so what do I say
11:31
I always say go with your gut if it
11:35
feels wrong avoid it because you're
11:36
going to be stuck in that mindset and
11:39
you're going to be attuned to issues
11:40
that's certainly my experience now I
11:43
don't necessarily avoid cruise lines
11:44
with bad reviews I just research them as
11:47
much as I can
11:49
nothing is perfect no Cruise Line is
11:52
perfect so I always try and focus on
11:54
what is important to me I've already
11:56
mentioned things like a good enrichment
11:58
quiet spaces good food out of the way
12:01
ports so those are the things being
12:03
criticized in the reviews then I'm much
12:07
more likely to avoid that line if the
12:10
things that important to me are not
12:11
being flagged up I'm less likely if all
12:14
of this is interesting I've got you
12:15
thinking about what lines you should go
12:17
on why don't you take a look at this
12:18
video where I talk about the lines that
12:21
I think are doing things well right now
12:23
starting with the one that may surprise
12:26
you in the resort Mass ship area see you
12:30
over there
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