0:00
What are the 10 good reasons for staying on board a cruise ship when it's in port
0:04
I'm Gary Bemmage, this is another of my tips for travellers. I'm on a cruise, but I'm staying
0:09
on board when we're in port today. And that got me thinking, why didn't I share with you
0:12
10 reasons that I think are great ones for staying on board and not exploring the port, starting
0:19
with this one. It's important to remember that cruises are also vacation time. It's a time to relax
0:25
And if you're on a very port-intensive cruise, you could end up coming back from your trip
0:29
being pretty tired. If you're out exploring, you're coming back, you're going to eating, going to shows, drinking, dancing, staying up late. So actually taking a day out one day when the ship
0:39
is important, just relax. You can sleep in late, get up late, the ship's going to be much quieter
0:44
the elevators are going to be quieter, the ship's going to be quieter, and it's just a time
0:49
to slow down and relax and make one of your holiday vacation days a total relaxation day
0:55
because after all you're coming on a cruise to have a great time, but also to relax and unwind
1:00
So I think that's a really, really good reason for staying on board. A second good reason is if, just frankly, the port is not of interest, either because you've visited before
1:10
or you're just actually not interested in it, it doesn't look very appealing, or the weather's terrible
1:14
it's too windy, it's too rainy, it's too hot. Perhaps you've been to see all of the key sites and the secondary or tertiary sites that you can see
1:21
just are not very interesting. Stay on board and enjoy the ship
1:25
Another really good reason for staying on board is if the port is just going to be crazy busy
1:31
So often I will take a look on sites like cruise timetable and take a look at how many ships are going to be in port
1:37
So you could go to some ports where there's going to be up to 15,000 to 20,000 passengers from all different ships getting off and just making the place completely crazy
1:46
So actually it much nice to stay on board the ship in those ports where it just going to be mad busy crazy So plan in advance if you look at your schedule and you going to five or six ports take a look at a site like cruise timetables see how busy the different ports are and
2:01
perhaps pick one port which is going to be crazy busy where you're going to just enjoy time on board the ship and not have to fight all the crowds on land
2:10
The fourth reason for me for staying on board depends a lot around the type of ship that
2:15
I'm cruising on. So if it's a big resort ship which has huge amounts of facilities, ice skating rinks, climbing
2:22
rinks go-karting, 40 simulations, escape rooms, all sorts of huge amounts of activities, I will
2:30
often plan to spend one or two days on board the ship because the ship is part of the vacation
2:36
If you're out exploring ports all day, you're going to struggle to experience all of those
2:40
things that you've basically paid for within your fare. So particularly if it's a resort ship, I always like to plan time
2:46
on board rather than going to the port because after all I'm on a ship that is a resort in its
2:51
own right. If I'm on a much smaller ship with much less facilities and it may be much more than
2:55
about the ports themselves and the destinations, if you're on a ship which has lots of facilities
3:00
staying on board at least one of the days is a really good idea. Another really good reason for staying
3:06
on board is you'll find in port days there are usually a huge amount of offers. So particularly the spa
3:12
will have all sorts of discounts or two for ones, all sorts of offers which make going to the spa
3:19
much, much cheaper. You'll often find there might be happy hours, special cocktails of the day
3:23
or other activities which are at a reduced price. So actually, it's a great way to do some of
3:28
things you want to do without paying full price. I love going to the spa, but it's really, really
3:33
expensive. And going on port days is what I would normally do because you'll find you get great
3:37
prices When you on a cruise you know that finding space and time in the laundry can be quite a struggle So if you go on a port day you find that normally the laundries are quiet you can get a machine you can get a tumble dryer and do your laundry much much easier A great reason for staying on board is simply that it quiet
3:55
The facilities are not going to be busy. And that's particularly important around the pool
4:00
areas. So one of the big challenges on ships is often finding a great lounger near the pool
4:05
a great spot or being able to use the hot tubs. You'll find on port days that you're going to find
4:10
great loungers, you're going to be able to swim, you're going to be able to use the hot tubs and many of the other facilities around the ship. Restaurants are going to be much quieter
4:18
and there's going to be no lines. Afternoon tea if you want to go to that is going to be much
4:22
quieter. If you want to go and try things like flow riders or water slide rides
4:27
you're going to find you can do it multiple times without queuing up. So the ship is just much
4:31
quieter. All those things that you want to do and try are going to just be completely
4:36
either empty or free. Being able to choose that fantastic lounge, in a great location and being able to actually use the pool and the hot
4:44
tubs is a really big plus for staying on board. Another good reason for staying on
4:48
board is there's still going to be huge amounts to do so even if there are not big facilities on board the ship you'll still find the daily program has lots of
4:56
activities with its fitness class trivia craft classes talks there will always
5:01
be a full program of events ships will always make sure that they've designed things for people to do who are staying on board so they're still going to have
5:07
lots of things to do so even if you are on a smaller ship there will be a full daily program of activities. So if you're yearning to win that trivia competition
5:15
the advantage of doing it on a port day is maybe less competition and you have a great chance
5:20
of winning that trivia quiz. But definitely there is still going to be loads of things to do
5:25
when you're on board. So don't think that if you stay on board, even if it's on a smaller ship
5:29
there's going to be nothing to do. There is going to be a full daily program of events
5:33
One of the key reasons that I stay on board on port days is to get around the ship and take photographs and video of the ship when it not crowded and full of people So if you want to take great pictures of you your friends
5:46
and family, Port Days is a great day to do that because everywhere is not going to be cluttered up
5:51
and you're going to be able to take nice shots of the ship, you standing by staircases, without people
5:56
hassling you to get by. So I will stay on board at least one or two ports when I'm on a cruise
6:01
so I can take my photographs, I can do my videos of the ship, having loads of people in them. So definitely it's a great way of exploring, seeing the ship
6:09
and getting those photographs that you want to take. And really important, of course, because having photographs taken by the cruise line can be quite expensive. So this is a great
6:17
opportunity for you to get out there, take photographs, and you have time to experiment and
6:23
take lots of photographs and perhaps save some money on those cruise photographs. Staying on board
6:29
will also help with your budget. If you go out on excursions, they can cost quite a lot of money
6:34
So Cruises and Excursion, you're going to be paying $50, $100, $200 or more per person per excursion
6:40
So that can rack up a lot. Even if you go self-exploring, you still might have entry fees into museums or you have food to buy, drinks to buy, entry fees, whatever that is
6:51
So actually, it's one way of helping to manage your budget. So if you actually have a day on board the ship, you're not going to be spending money because obviously things are all included within your fare or your food and drink and entertainment
7:01
So it's a really good way of actually helping manage the budget. So perhaps if there are a couple of excursions that you really want to go on in some ports
7:08
you can perhaps splash out on those, knowing that you've got a day on board where you're actually going to sort of balance out your budget
7:13
So definitely it's one way of helping manage your cruise budget. There's a lot of good reasons for staying on board the ship when it's in port
7:22
Those are the ones that I think are really important. If you have any more, I'd love to hear of them
7:26
But meantime, if you've enjoyed this video, why don't watch another video of mine full of tips