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These Are The 6 Greatest Cruises In The World
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Jan 28, 2025
The 6 TOP GREATEST AND MUST-DO CRUISES in the world and why they are better than all the other cruise options out there. I discuss the 6 very best cruises in the world, based on the 78 cruises I have done at time of making this. Some of the more popular cruises do not make the cut, and find out why ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 77 cruises I have done to date. BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA ——————————————— TikTok: @garybembridge
View Video Transcript
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I've been on one bad cruise, lots of cruises that were good, even more that were great
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And then there have been a handful that were so eye-opening, so incredible, so stunning
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that I think of them as the greatest cruises in the world. And it's those that I want to tell you about, as I would hate for you to miss out
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at least considering these greatest cruises in your future plans. So let's get cruising
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I want to cover this particular cruise first, as with so much
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many good things in life, it comes with a problem. It's expensive, really expensive. For most people
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it will be, though, their trip of a lifetime, and that's Antarctica. No brochure, advert
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YouTube video or documentary came close to preparing me for the splendor I saw, the experiences
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I had, or for how emotional I felt when I was there. Sailing to the Antarctica Peninsula
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through Drake Passage, which can be quite a ride, was totally worth it to see massive place
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is vast fields of icebergs that have shattered off them, the myriad of wildlife penguins, whales
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seals, the ancient whale hunter compounds that are frozen literally in time, and even the
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Antarctica Research Station we called on. It really was a spectacular experience, and there was a
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myriad of ways to do it from more rough and ready working expedition ships through to five-star
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luxury ships. I went on the latter, which was Silver Seas, Silver Cloud, totally amazing. It was so
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special that as soon as I got back from Antarctica, I booked a return and started saving to go again
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definitely one of the greatest cruises ever. The next greatest cruise also comes with a challenge of
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sorts. It's an incredibly long way away and a bit of a hassle to get to. But again, it's worth
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the journey. And this is French Polynesia. It took me over 24 hours flying to get from
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Europe to Tahiti, and it takes a good eight hours flying from Los Angeles
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French Polynesia is eye-opening on so many levels. First of all, the beautiful scenery, the incredible beaches
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on all of the islands is literally breathtaking. Second, I found the people to be so kind
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so gentle and welcoming, and thirdly, observing and immersing myself into the unique culture cuisine and distinctive music was absolutely fascinating Now there are a couple of lines based in and running seasons here like Paul Gargan
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which was who I actually cruised with, Pondon, Aranui and Winstahl. They sell out of Papetti in Tahiti
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They call on islands like Bora Bura, Huani, Moria and Tihana. A cruise is absolutely the best way to explore French Polynesia, as you should
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visit as many islands as possible if you're going all the way to that particular part of the world
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as each has its own character and differences. It's one of the most beautiful, relaxing
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cruises in this series of greatest cruises I've been on. The centre of the next place is a vast
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and inhabitable wasteland with nothing much to see. And so as the towns and attractions are all
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around the coast, a cruise again is the best and easiest way to explore here too. And this
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is Iceland, the land of fire and ice. I've been there so far twice, once on voyages to antiquity
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and then with saga cruises visually. The landscape is weird, wacky, bizarre and beautiful, all
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mixed up. It's unlike anything else I've seen anywhere around the world. Like I did both times
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you have the opportunity to go on two of the most infamous and wonderful sightseeing days you
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will remember for a very long time. The first of these is the Golden Circle, this is out of Recovik
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which includes the Stokka Giza, the stunning Gulfos waterfall, Pingvella National Park
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where Iceland is slowly being pulled apart by the electronic plates below. Then on the jewels of
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the north, you will visit the even more impressive Godafos waterfall, Lake Maivatan with
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thousands of birds and the Dumabroga larva fields and the freaky sulphur-smelling, bubbling mud pits
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at Nyama Yafal. I probably pronounce those incorrectly, but they are amazing. On one trip
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we even drove up one of the vast glaciers in special design transportation right up the glacier
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where we then get out and explore. If you're concerned that all the greatest cruises so far a bit
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more on the exotic side for your tastes and are likely heavier on the budget and time side then I hope these next few will address that concern And the first of those is Alaska The classic Alaskan cruise is the inside passage Like many this was my first choice for my very first time there
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All of the Alaska cruisers are designed to easily add on a land-based extension to see a fuller and more diverse site Alaska
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Most of the lines offer these and some like Holland America that I went on the first time and Princess on the second time
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They even own their own railway services, buses and lodges which connect with all of the cruises
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And really, honestly, to get the true Alaskan experience, you need to do that
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A cruise only shows you one side of Alaska. The key cities on Alaska cruise that you call on, as I did, are Skagway, one of my favorites
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where I went on the historic Gold Rush, Yukon and White Pass
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Railway runs right up into the mountains. Do you know where I flew my helicopter right up high onto a glacier and when dog sled
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and thenliner, and then Ketchikan, where I went to see the famous Alaskan Lumberjack show
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Of course, there's many other things you can do there, but that's what I did on those ones. Alaska is definitely one of the greatest cruises in the world, as the scenery is beautiful
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but especially if, like me, you pick a cruise that includes Glacier Bay
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then that is the most incredible part of Alaska, in my view, to see
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Another much more easy to go on cruise, and one of the more eye-opening and fascinating cruises is the Panama
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C. The key decision you'll have to make on this is whether you want to do a full or a partial
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transit. Now ever since I was a small kid, I read about the Panama C and the minute I did
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I wanted to go through it. So I was kind of worried that all the decades of waiting would
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disappoint. I first did a full Panama C transit on Queen Victoria when I was
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traveling as part of a world cruise segment from Florida right the way through to California
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and then I did it many years later on Holland America Zadadam, which was part of a Caribbean cruise out of Miami and did a partial c transit
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Neither disappointed and both were equally thrilling. They're both amazing, but of course a full transit is the absolute best
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because you get to see the full Panama C and go through all the various locks
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The Panama C is one of the most important maritime constructions and experiences in the world
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And it was truly astonishing to see up close this over 100 year old c still operating and the way that your massive cruise ship that you on just fits in and moves through it is just completely mind
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It's such a significant part of cruising, so memorable, so moving, it has to be on the list
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of the greatest cruises in the world and one that you should really consider
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You may have spotted that all these greatest cruisers in the world are ones that either only
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can be done on a cruise ship or are best. done as a cruise and from a ship. So if you don't like sea days, you might not think that this next
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one is a remarkable experience, but trust me, it is. This is a transatlantic crossing on Kuhnaud's
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Queen Mary 2. I've done it actually five times now. It's so remarkable. And it's one of the true
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great cruise experiences. Queen Mary 2 is the only ocean line in the world. Every other ship
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taking passengers are cruise ships. It's the only passenger ship in the world that's specifically designed to handle the North Atlantic
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The ship is one of a kind. It's a very specific design. It harks back to the glamorous, the glory
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days of I guess the 30s, 40s, 50s and the early 60s when sailing was your only option to cross
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the Atlantic. Now with its art to deco inspired decor, the seven days at sea fly by because there is
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so much to do. Kuhnaud are absolute masters having done these crossings for basically over a century
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as a company. On board, you feel like you are part of something historic, something special
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and that's why it's one of the greatest cruises in the world. Now, some of you may be asking
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why on earth are the two biggest cruising regions, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, not come
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up yet in detail on my list. Now, I've had many highly enjoyable, really fun cruises to both
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whether it's those seeing historic sites or famous cities, Barcelona, Rome, Florence, Venice
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in the Mediterranean, or going to the first. fabulous beaches in the Caribbean. Why have they not so far appeared? Well, however great these
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cruises are as a vacation, and I really do enjoy doing them, they don't quite tip into the
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greatest cruises in the world in my view. They are fantastic vacations, but they're not the
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greatest cruises. Am I wrong about that? While you ponder that, why not find out more about the
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greatest cruises I have covered in this playlist that I've put up here for you to watch right now. Enjoy
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