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Cruise lines are packing their ships full these days. They're admitting that they're selling at 100% or higher capacity. So, ships are really, really full, and I've seen this firsthand on a recent cruise, like MSC Cruises, Norwegian, or Caribbean, even Princess in Alaska. So, I want to share with you proven techniques to deal with managing crowds and avoiding crowds.
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Cruise lines are packing their ships full these days. They're admitting that they're selling at 100% or higher capacity. So, ships are really, really full, and I've seen this firsthand on a recent cruise, like MSC Cruises, Norwegian, or Caribbean, even Princess in Alaska. So, I want to share with you proven techniques to deal with managing crowds and avoiding crowds.
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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 101 cruises I have done to date.
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00:00 Start
00:34 Cruise Line Add Ons
00:40 Ships-Within-Ships
01:24 Sanctuaries
01:54 Special Passes
02:54 Balconies
03:28 On Board Crowd Tips
03:39 Avoidance Techniques
04:05 Embarkation and Disembarkation
05:00 Smart Activity Plans
05:40 Dining Without Crowds
06:30 Pool Deck Tricks
08:00 Elevators
08:20 In Port Crowd Tips
08:30 Excursions
09:36 Staying On Ship
09:50 Lunchtime Tricks
11:18 Early Bird Tricks
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0:00
cruise lines are packing their ships
0:03
full these days they're admitting that
0:05
they're selling at 100 or higher
0:07
capacity now ships are really really
0:09
Fallen I've seen this first hand on a
0:11
recent Cruise like MSC cruises Norwegian
0:13
or Caribbean even princess in Alaska so
0:16
I want to share with you proven
0:17
techniques to deal with managing crowds
0:21
and avoiding crowds so let's start first
0:23
of all with the one that's not possible
0:25
for everybody and that things are the
0:26
cruise lines themselves offer us to do
0:29
these tend to come at a premium but let
0:31
me talk about them anyway one of the
0:33
most obvious ones is the ship within the
0:36
ship or the kind of special access areas
0:39
for Suites now my experiences on that
0:41
MSC cruise that I spoke about because
0:43
I'd booked the yacht club which is their
0:45
little closed-off area which has all the
0:47
kind of the Suites that has some inside
0:49
cabins in there as well it has its own
0:50
restaurant it has its own bar its own
0:52
Lounge its own pool deck its own hot
0:54
tubs and that was a great way of
0:57
escaping from that really packed busy
0:59
ship into that quiet calm area now many
1:02
many cruise lines have it you've got a
1:04
Norwegian with a Haven you've got Royal
1:06
Caribbean has an area although it's not
1:08
a shipper than a ship but they have
1:09
sweet access even lines like Holland
1:11
America and princess have dedicated
1:13
lounges and you know sometimes specific
1:16
restaurants or areas of restaurants for
1:18
their sweet guests but that of course
1:20
comes with a big premium so even if you
1:23
can't afford that big premium another
1:25
thing to think about is many Cruise
1:27
Lines will offer sanctuaries so you do
1:29
have to pay a price so on that Honda
1:31
America trip I was talking that we went
1:32
at Christmas time we booked the
1:35
sanctuary for the whole week and this is
1:37
an area which just was closed off area
1:39
you did pay to enter it but you
1:42
basically had a private Cabana it was
1:43
really quiet and calm and again you
1:45
could escape the craziness around the
1:47
swimming pool where it was packed with
1:48
families and kids and noise and bushes
1:51
so that's something that many cruise
1:52
lines are offering these days the third
1:54
thing the cruise lines are offering is
1:56
some kind of packages which help you
1:58
navigate the crowds now two of the most
2:00
just well known of those are Royal
2:02
Caribbean have the key which is you a
2:05
thing where you pay a price for and you
2:08
get Priority Access priority invocation
2:10
you get some dedicated reserved seating
2:13
in the theater kind of perks like that
2:15
Carnival has similar thing which is
2:17
called getting to the fun faster which
2:20
again helps you navigate around some of
2:22
the crowds fast embarkation that kind of
2:24
stuff Holland America has Club orange
2:27
which again gives you priority
2:30
embarkation disembarkation and also
2:32
access to either depending on the ship a
2:34
specific Club Orange area within the
2:36
main dining room which is much easier to
2:38
get a table or a specific dedicated Club
2:40
orange dining room if these are still
2:42
out of your budget another thing that a
2:44
lot of people tell me they do to avoid
2:46
crowds is they book a balcony cabin and
2:49
the advantage of the balcony cabin is if
2:51
you've got a busy pack day out on the
2:53
ship you have your own private balcony
2:55
you can sit out there you can order room
2:57
service you can order drinks and you can
2:58
get away from the crowds that way a
3:00
however no matter what cabin you have
3:02
whether it's inside Ocean View a suite
3:04
whatever many cruise lines now have some
3:06
really great new release movies on their
3:09
television which are included in the
3:11
fair price you can order room service
3:13
Pizza whatever in the evenings to escape
3:15
the crowds you can basically have fun in
3:18
your room having a movie night that's
3:19
actually one thing I really do actually
3:21
enjoy doing and I do I've been doing it
3:22
much more on recent cruises particularly
3:24
those big busy packed cruises so if any
3:27
of those don't appeal or even those do
3:29
appeal and you're using those there are
3:30
some on-ship tricks and tips that I use
3:34
to avoid crowds and here they are first
3:36
of all a really simple one is simply
3:39
avoid them void events where there's
3:41
going to be big crowds so for example on
3:43
that MSC cruise I was talking about
3:44
every night in the big sort of Atrium
3:47
area they would have a big party which
3:49
was packed and busy and Rowdy and I just
3:51
simply avoided that you know princess
3:53
sometimes have a big champagne Tower or
3:56
you've got some Christmas at the balloon
3:57
drop where they're encouraging crowds to
3:59
gather so other way parties are another
4:01
good example you simply could just plan
4:03
to do other things you know go to
4:05
different bars go to different places on
4:07
the ship and just basically go against
4:09
where the Crowds Are of course a really
4:12
important way to avoid crowds is plan
4:16
your embarkation and disembarkation
4:17
better so many Cruise Lines will allow
4:20
you to through the app to check in
4:22
online which means you often can skip
4:24
queuing up and you know lining up with
4:26
the big crowds and you can whisk through
4:28
so some of them are really fast and make
4:30
sure that you've checked in online and
4:32
and if that gives you any kind of quick
4:34
way around the crowds the same with
4:36
disembarkation this embarkation can be
4:38
crazy busy with crowds if you pack a
4:40
plan to self-disembark which means you
4:42
can take all your luggage off you can
4:44
get off as soon as the ship gets there I
4:46
love doing this as soon as the ship is
4:48
open cleared I can take my bags I get
4:50
off all the taxes awaiting all the
4:53
transports available there's no crowds
4:54
you can just Breeze through and get to
4:56
your flight to home whatever really
4:58
really simply and easily which leads me
5:00
to the next thing timing of your
5:03
activities
5:04
again it's about working against the
5:06
flow of where the crowds are so let me
5:08
talk about a couple of things if you've
5:09
got any Key activities you want to do so
5:11
if you're on one of those big Resort
5:12
ships and they have things like flow
5:15
riders or the North Star or go-kart
5:18
racing tracks or whatever choose to do
5:21
those When the Crowds Are busy so
5:22
lunchtime for example or dinner time is
5:25
a really good time to go and do those
5:27
activities so think about when people
5:29
are going to be busy on the ship sell
5:31
away parties those big party events try
5:34
and plan things when those are taking
5:35
place because the crowds are all those
5:37
and you'll have the events or things to
5:40
yourself I also have some key tips
5:42
around avoiding crowds when it comes to
5:44
dining generally speaking if you're an
5:46
open seated dining going early or going
5:49
late is when are you going to avoid the
5:50
crowds most people will go at 7 or 7 30
5:53
whatever if you're happy to eat at 6 6
5:55
30 or towards the end of the sitting you
5:57
will find it's much easier to get a
5:59
table size you want it's much less crazy
6:01
much less busy and service will be much
6:03
quicker so you if you're a big fan of
6:05
afternoon tea which I am again if you're
6:07
going to go early go really really early
6:09
so you're in the queue but it's much
6:10
better to go towards the end of the
6:11
service if you're on Cunard and doing
6:13
that big Queen's room afternoon tea
6:15
service it's much better to go later
6:17
than earlier on Viking or any of these
6:19
lines that is really important the
6:22
second thing that I do that I really
6:23
really love to avoid crowds is I use the
6:25
main dining room for both breakfast and
6:28
if it's open for lunch people tend to
6:30
use the buffet the crowds use the buffet
6:32
for breakfast and lunch and you can have
6:34
a very civilized still fast and great
6:37
service in the main dining room for
6:38
breakfast and lunch I absolutely love it
6:39
and that's what I always always do if
6:42
you're on a cruise particularly a warm
6:44
cruise on a sea day one of the things I
6:46
do is avoid the main swimming pools
6:49
people are going to hang around the main
6:50
swimming pools the crowd's going to be
6:51
there it's going to be packed as often
6:53
activities you know whether it's dancing
6:55
or competitions or whatever going on so
6:58
I would tend to avoid going to the pool
7:00
on those sea days and try and find the
7:02
quiet out of the way spaces and there
7:05
are always places like that on board
7:07
ships and you'll find them often really
7:09
high up on the ship to sort of way up in
7:11
the kind of the Sky Deck often have a
7:13
look perhaps where the sport deck is or
7:16
look on the deck plans before you go or
7:18
even ask your cabin student there are
7:20
always spaces on a ship which people
7:22
just don't really know they're there
7:23
because they're a little bit kind of in
7:24
the design tucked away another great
7:26
place to look although they're becoming
7:28
much fewer on ships is at the rear of
7:30
the ship now many cruise lines are
7:32
starting to put cabins on the back of
7:34
ships because they're so popular but
7:35
you'll often find interesting little
7:37
Decks at the back of ships they're also
7:39
on the sea day on those sort of ships I
7:41
will also tend to do things indoors so
7:44
you'll find the lounges the bars all the
7:47
facilities on those sort of sea days
7:49
during the day will be much quieter so
7:51
again that's the way of avoiding the
7:52
crowds is plan to spend those days more
7:54
indoor and use your Port days as perhaps
7:57
days when you're going to be out there
7:59
one of the really important tip to avoid
8:01
the crowds and actually avoid getting
8:03
less frustrated is use the stairs not
8:06
the elevators now on these big ships of
8:07
course it's a lot of stairs so that can
8:10
be a little bit challenging but it's
8:11
also great to help balance out all those
8:13
extra desserts that you might be having
8:15
but elevators crowds big problem I want
8:19
to now talk about some of the tips that
8:21
I have about avoiding crowds in the port
8:24
and these are some of my favorite things
8:25
to do because I love exploring ports so
8:27
what do I do first of all I use a site
8:30
called cruise timetables.com and in
8:33
there I can look at my itinerary and
8:35
then I can look Port by Port just how
8:37
busy it's going to be so I can see how
8:39
many ships are going to be in there and
8:40
roughly it tells you how many people are
8:42
there so I know if there's going to be a
8:43
lot of big ships in a port that I need
8:45
to plan to do something different and
8:47
you'll find that particularly true in
8:48
places like the Caribbean and the
8:50
Mediterranean where you could have four
8:51
or five Mega ships you could have
8:53
fifteen thousand twenty thousand people
8:55
pouring out so I will often choose to do
8:59
something like stay on board not go out
9:02
at all or I'll choose a Excursion which
9:06
is going much further afield so it's not
9:09
in that place so it's taking me to
9:11
somewhere really unusual so for example
9:13
if you're in a place in Europe sailor
9:16
activity where most people charge off to
9:19
Rome and Rome is always busy and packed
9:21
anyway you might choose an Excursion
9:23
which takes you somewhere slightly
9:24
different or in livono for example where
9:26
most people charge off to Florence which
9:27
again is packed there'll be other
9:29
excursions which are going to other
9:30
different places which will be less
9:32
packed one of the best things to do
9:34
though is stay on the ship
9:37
if you're going to be in a really busy
9:39
packed port or simply you want to avoid
9:41
the crowds staying on the ship on a port
9:43
day is one fantastic way of winning the
9:46
crowds pretty much everybody will get
9:48
off the pool be quiet the spa will be
9:50
quiet all those attractions and things
9:52
you want to use will be quiet
9:54
if you do though want to explore in a
9:56
port and you don't want to stay all day
9:57
what I would do is then at lunch time
10:01
and in the afternoon is when I would go
10:03
and explore you'll find on cruises most
10:05
people will do the Excursion in the
10:07
morning and they will all come piling
10:09
back on the ship for lunch they don't
10:11
want to spend money on lunch out so head
10:14
out at lunchtime in the afternoon so
10:15
what you can do for example is avoid
10:18
going on a cruise line Excursion because
10:19
I'll mostly in the morning and take a
10:21
look at two Alternatives one there are
10:24
providers which will provide tours
10:27
they're called things like
10:28
ventureshow.com shore excursions
10:31
group.com or Viator where you can get
10:34
excursions very similar to The Cruise
10:35
Line ones but there'll be smaller groups
10:37
so you're avoiding the crowd and also
10:39
they will often do them say in the
10:40
afternoon so against the time when the
10:43
cruise lines are pumping out all their
10:45
passengers or even better is to look for
10:49
a local guide who will do something for
10:51
you so there's sites like
10:53
toursbylocals.com for example or you can
10:56
go into the roll call for your cruise on
10:58
something like Cruise Critic and just
11:00
ask for tips and advice and people will
11:01
always have suggestions of local guides
11:03
that way you can then they know the area
11:06
incredibly well you can go in the
11:07
afternoon when it's less busy less
11:10
packed and they'll know how to work
11:11
against and away from the crowds
11:13
although I've said it's really important
11:15
to head out at lunch time or in the
11:17
afternoon if that doesn't appeal to you
11:20
the other
11:21
thing that you can do to avoid crowds is
11:23
get out super super early so actually
11:27
you'll find mostly excursions will tend
11:29
to go an hour or so after the ship has
11:31
arrived most people uh just you know
11:34
getting themselves organized and up and
11:36
about will sort of head out an hour or
11:37
so after the ship is cleared but what
11:40
I'll do if there's some things I really
11:41
want to go that I know are going to be
11:43
really really popular I will get up and
11:45
be ready as soon as the ship is cleared
11:47
so for example on that MSC cruise that I
11:49
was talking about we were going to
11:51
Norway and in Alden I wanted to go up
11:54
the low end Skylift which is just a
11:56
phenomenal beautiful
11:58
you know amazing scenery but I knew it'd
12:00
be packed all day so the minute this
12:02
year was kid I got out got on the
12:04
shuttle bus got to the walk a minute
12:06
opened and I had no waiting went up
12:08
there by the time I came back down there
12:10
was an enormous line when I got back to
12:13
the port the line was hundreds of people
12:16
waiting to get the shuttle bus there so
12:17
the other thing is you get out if
12:18
there's one very specific thing you want
12:20
to do get out get it done and get back
12:22
and then enjoy the ship for the rest of
12:24
the day I'm sure there's other great
12:26
tips for avoiding crowds that you have
12:29
so leave those in the comments to let
12:31
other people know but before you do that
12:33
if you want to know a little bit more
12:34
what it's actually like cruising on one
12:35
of those ship with the ships that I used
12:37
to escape crowds take a look at this
12:39
video where I dive into the pros the
12:41
cons and the big surprises I had
12:43
cruising in a ship within a ship see you
12:46
over there
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