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Smart Cruisers Stay On Board On Port Days More Than Ever. Here’s Why
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Jan 28, 2025
I noticed that more cruisers than ever are staying on board their cruise ship rather than getting off in ports to self-explore or go on excursions. With many changes in ports and on ships in recent years, I too have started remaining on board in more ports too. There were even two cruises in the last year where I did not get off the ship in any port at all! What is going on? And why and when should you also make the smart choice to stay on board in port? 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
View Video Transcript
0:00
I noticed that more Cruisers than ever
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are staying on board their cruise ship
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rather than getting off Imports to
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self-explore or go on excursions with
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many changes in both ports and on ships
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in recent years I too have started
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remaining on board in more ports than
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ever before there were even two Cruisers
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in the last year where I did not get off
0:23
the ship in any port at all so what is
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going on and why and when should you
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also make the smart choice to stay on
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board in Port welcome aboard I'm Gary
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bembridge and here's what I think
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starting with four port related factors
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that affect my decisions I never assume
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that just because my cruise ship is
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calling somewhere that the port itself
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is actually safe in recent years some
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ports have become less safe as tourism
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has grown and related crime has two with
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affluent passengers visiting these ports
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often seen as easy targets every time I
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go on a cruise now particularly if
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places I Haven been to I check the
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latest travel advice on the UK foreign
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office site which is easy to do by
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typing the portal country name and FCO
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into Google in the United States the
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state department offers that advice to
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USA Cruisers too for example on a recent
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Caribbean cruise I discovered that kmal
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that I usually am very comfortable with
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and always feel safe in had a raised
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warning because there had been some Gang
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Related murders and safety problems near
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the port there is cautionary advice
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about about highrisk crime at the time
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of recording in the Caribbean for places
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like Jamaica Bahamas Honduras and Biz
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while across in the Mediterranean there
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are warnings about pickpocketing and
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muggings in cities like Barcelona Rome
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Venice Athens Florence and Pisa so I
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tend to stay on board if I think the
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port is dangerous risky or there's
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warnings for example about uncomfortable
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harassment of cruises by locals another
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reason I often stay on board is Imports
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that have little to our without a lot of
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cost and a lot of time to get to the
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sites with more and even bigger cruise
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ships they increasingly dock far away
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from the Town Center in industrial and
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container working ports I can't just
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step off in a picturesque town and go
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exploring for example on a Western
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Mediterranean Cruise calling into
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Marseilles when I went there on a big
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Ship Norwegian Viva we were miles out in
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a busy working Port as I would have had
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to line up and wait for a 30 to 40
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minute shuttle bus into and back from
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town I avoided all that Hassle and
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stayed on board and enjoyed the large
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ship however when I then went there on
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Azamara Quest being a small ship we
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docked right in the city center so I
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could step off and explore the cathedral
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the castle the marina which were all
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within a short walking distance so
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here's my top tip when planning to see
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if a port will be worth staying on board
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I use what's important port.com as that
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tells me exactly where cruise ship stock
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by Port if it's an industrial port and
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if sites are close by or not it also
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saved me for example from an unpleasant
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day staying on board on a recent silver
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SE South African Cruise it told me
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Richards Bay Port was industrial and had
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nowhere close by to walk to but it also
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warned me that it was a port that loaded
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coal onto Freighters and visiting ships
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get covered in cold dust and so sitting
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by the pool out of deck was a no go so I
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knew to book an Excursion and not to
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stay on board I often choose to stay on
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board if the port is a long way from the
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sites worth seeing and will cost a lot
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of money time I'll hassle to get to and
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especially of course if I've been to
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them before now these ports are pretty
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common in Europe in Asia for example
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ports like laav are up to 2 hours from
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Paris lerno can be one and a half hours
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to Florence Chiva about that to Rome
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laspia about the same to get to chin and
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so on now my top tip is if your
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itinerary has the name of a famous city
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like say Florence but in Brackets after
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it has another name like say LNO or say
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it has Venice with either Rena or triest
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after it that means the ship is docked
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far away and so costly 7 to 10 hour
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Excursion is often needed to see these
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places but even if the sites are close
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to the ship there's another time I
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decide to stay on board and this is if I
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know that the ports are going to be
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overwhelmed and packed making getting
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off way less appealing with the numbers
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of ships especially Mega ships calling
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on the same ports as only some can
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handle them these days many ports are
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extremely busy and crowded especially in
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the Caribbean and the Mediterranean and
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in places like say the Greek Islands
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Barcelona leala and so on my tip is I
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check my itinerary on the website Cru
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tim.com because that tells me how many
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ships and which ships will be in that
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port at the same time if there's a port
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with many large ships meaning 15,000 or
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more Cruisers will be crowding the town
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and sites I plan to stay on board often
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let me give you an example I did two
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back-to-back Caribbean cruises earlier
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in the year one was on the circus 6000
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passenger Symphony Of The Seas followed
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by the 1,200 passenger Oceania Vista
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both calling to NASA in the Bahamas now
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after looking at Cru tims.com I actually
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made plans to get off on the Symphony of
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the sea stop because there would be only
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two other relatively small ships in town
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but when I was there on oion Vista I
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could see there would be five Mega ships
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in as many thousands of cruise
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passengers packing out the town the
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beaches and the sites there is a fast
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emerging development in some Cruise
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ports now that I factor into my decision
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to stay on board or not as well and that
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ports where the locals do not welcome or
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don't want us as visitors there there is
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actually a growing Trend more so in
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Europe of some hostility and protests
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towards tourist and cruise passengers
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including cities like Barcelona Venice
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cevil uh Palma and in parts of Norway
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for example in Barcelona locals sprayed
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visitors recently with water guns while
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they were eating out on the ramblas
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which is near the cruise terminals in
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parts of Norway like Tanga and Bergen
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there were stickers and posters up
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saying Cruise passengers were not
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welcome this past season so if I find
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that there's going to be protests
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growing or there's protests expected I
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consider using that as a day to stay on
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board many of these reasons for staying
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on board in Port are new and emerging
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developments but now I want to move from
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port side factors to ship Le reasons for
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me staying on board when in Port I to
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stay on board these days to get the
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greatest value from those ever more
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costly packages or add-ons that I've
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bought these can add a lot to my cruise
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cost so of course I want to get my
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money's worth let me give you a couple
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of examples when on Holland America I
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like to book one of their Retreat
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Cabanas on warm weather cruises they're
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in a secluded area with a private
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covered space with lounges and I can
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order and have drinks and lunch served
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there but they must be booked for the
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entire cruise it cost me for example
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over $400 on a recent 7 night Mexico
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cruise on the conning Dam as it was even
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quieter when people were off exploring
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we decided to stay on import days to use
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it and get Great Value from that
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purchase on a recent qod Queen and
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Canary Islands Cruise we' bought a
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costly twoe pass for the thermal Suite
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so on some poor days we spent time
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hanging around the even quieter than
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usual thermal Suite to get of course
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more of a money's worth of course these
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days Cruise Lines encourage us to buy
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various packages and add-ons ranging
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from drinks and Wi-Fi packages to ones
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that bundle things like drinks Wi-Fi
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gratuities and Specialty or casual
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dining like celebrity always included
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Honda America have it all princess plus
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and Princess Premier and Norwegian free
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at Sea the advantage of staying on
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boarding Port is not only you can get
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reservations for things like the dining
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easier for daytimes but also you can
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make the most of these packages for
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example if you've got a drinks package
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and you're out in Port most days you're
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not getting your value and money's worth
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from it now not that I'm advocating that
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you should be drinking loads but even I
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get more from my soft drinks package
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because because I don't drink alcohol
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but I get more coffees juices mocktails
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and sodas of course by staying on board
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plus of course if you're out in Port
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even on many Cruise Line private islands
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drinking food is often going to cost you
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but if you're staying on board your food
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is included as or drinks if you have
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that drinks package although Wi-Fi has
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become much better with the roll out of
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starlink the most affordable packages
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often don't usually include streaming
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but I do find though that I get much
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better bandwidth and speed when of
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course most passengers are out in Port
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but staying on board can also help
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control Cruise costs too and there's two
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key things that I want to talk about one
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of which is I love staying on board
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because I can take advantage of Port Day
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deals I really enjoy having a massage
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but personally I find cruise prices so
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expensive but every line always has
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deals in the spa and Port days plus I
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can get appointments at times that suit
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me the best specially dining is also
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usually cheaper at lunchtime than for
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dinner on most ships so I can try
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speciality dining for Less by staying on
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board also it means avoiding the costs
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of excursions by staying on board some
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days excursions can easily add hundreds
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of dollars a day to any Cruise of course
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one of the key reasons for staying on
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board is to enjoy the ship and make the
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ship the destination itself on many
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cruises the main reason I stay on board
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is to get time to try and do everything
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and use venues like the pools hot tubs
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gym and even buffet for lunch without
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crowds or lines this is especially
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appeeling if there are ports I've been
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to before now those two Cruisers I
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mentioned at the start where I never got
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off the ship at all were both Mega
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Resort style ships where I saw the ship
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as my destination more more so than the
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ports one was a 7even night Royal
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Caribbean Symphony Of The Seas Western
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Mediterranean cruise and the other a 10-
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night Norwegian Viva cruise from Rome to
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Lisbon there was so much to do on both
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and I just couldn't get to do it all on
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the limited C days especially with the
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lines of people who' been out in ports
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now of course trying to pack everything
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in as well so on Symphony Of The Seas I
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was able to do the water slides on
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repeat with no waiting I could try the
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Flow Rider without lots of people
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watching me stumbling and falling off
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and embarrassing myself I could try the
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monster slide try all the different
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dining venues which would be impossible
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to do if I was focusing just on doing
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them at night and on The Limited C days
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I could do the trivia shows when people
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are out of course because that gave me a
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greater chance of winning because it
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wasn't so busy on Viva I did the same
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like the go-karts the water slide ride
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and even went to the afternoon tea thing
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they did without all the crowds on cay
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at the beginning of this video I
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mentioned that there are ports that are
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increasingly more dangerous to go to
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currently join me over in this video
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where I talk about them in much more
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detail but more importantly what you
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should do if you get off in any of those
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ports see you over there
#Cruises & Charters