027: Saving money on excursions - hop-on hop-off bus tours
Release Date: 06/15/2014
I Put The Highest Rated European River Cruise Line To The Test (podcast #465)
Essential Cruise Tips
After a five-year break, I returned to river cruising in Europe to see how the experience compared to my past trips. I chose the European River Cruise line with the highest ratings by recent passengers and boarded with high expectations. This video shares my thoughts on what they did both well and less well, and if I felt they deserve the ratings they are getting Links mentioned in the podcast: Avalon Food and Bar menus + Daily Programs: Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: ...
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6 Things River Cruises Do Better Than Ocean. And 3 They Don't! (podcast #464)
Essential Cruise Tips
Their fans paint river cruising as an idyllic, perfectly paced and immersive way to travel, but few talk about what you lose by choosing one. Having done 12 European river cruises and over 100 ocean ones, I've found the differences are bigger than most people think or expect. Some things river cruises absolutely do way better than ocean ships. But some things? They don’t. here's what river cruises and ocean cruises each do better than the other, and why. Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams Visit my Tips For Travellers...
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Don’t Pick The Wrong "Premium" Cruise Line! Here’s What You Need To Know (Podcast #463)
Essential Cruise Tips
I've recently revisited and cruised on all five of what the industry calls “Premium” cruise lines, as I keep getting asked which is the best these days as so many cruisers are confused by all the recent changes in the fleets, new on-board offerings, tweaks to inclusions and exclusions, and the seeming push by all to attract a different passenger type. Welcome aboard, I'm Gary Bembridge, and I'm going to compare each line including what they're best known for, good at, what they're less good at, and who I think should cruise with them right now – and why. I revisited the premium cruise...
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7 Big Mistakes I See Too Many Mediterranean Cruisers Make! (podcast #462)
Essential Cruise Tips
I am just back from a Mediterranean cruise on Sun Princess from Barcelona to Naples. As on all my cruises, I was delighted to chat to followers of my channel and new travellers I met, unfortunately not all of whom were having the perfect cruise. Why? Because too many had made mistakes that I have seen time and time again on the 25 Mediterranean cruises I've been on to date. So, I decided to put this together to help anyone planning a Mediterranean cruise to as avoid these traps and mistakes. Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams...
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I Tried the Fancy Sanctuary Collection on Sun Princess. Here’s What I Found! (Podcast #461)
Essential Cruise Tips
I cruised on Sun Princess to experience snd test out the new Princess Cruises SANCTUARY COLLECTION. This video shares my thoughts on if the SANCTUARY SUITE , Sanctuary Club deck, Sanctuary Restaurant and other perks and benefits included in the fare to see if it was all worth it. Here's my verdict and thoughts Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: Offers: Get 10% any order of The Cruise Maps who you visit the site using this link: Get up to 30% off collectible tokens of place...
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I Tried the New Princess Megaship and Here’s What Happened! (Podcast
Essential Cruise Tips
Princess Cruises have entered mega-ship cruising with the launch of their 4,300-passenger Sphere Class ships, Sun and Star Princess. Hearing it was totally different to their other ships, reading very divided reviews, and seeing many asking if Princess were abandoning loyal guests to attract a different type of passenger, I had to test it out for myself. And this is the good and bad news I found. And I will reveal, as past frequent Princess cruiser, if I will I cruise on these ships again….or not Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and...
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More Cruisers Are Being BUMPED From Cruises Than Ever. Here's Why! (Podcast #459)
Essential Cruise Tips
I decided I should investigate why so many cruisers are being bumped of cruises right now after seeing in just one day, it happening to so many. Including Carnival bumping many passengers off several up-coming Carnival Conquest sailings, upset people in a Seabourn Facebook group reporting being bumped off one of three back-to-back cruises they had booked, and P&O Cruises cancelling and bumping thousands off a 35-night sailing to the Caribbean In this I am exploring seven reasons it’s happening more these days, what you should watch out for, and how to protect yourself. Become a Tips For...
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I Cruised Princess Cruises Despite Saying Never Again! (Podcast #458)
Essential Cruise Tips
It's been three years since I was last on Princess Cruises, when I vowed to never return after going on three underwhelming cruises in the space of 12 months: Sky and Regal Princess in Europe and Majestic Princess in Alaska. I felt Princess had lost its way, and they had slipped behind their competition in the premium category. In fact, I made a video after those cruises, which is entitled “My Last Time? Issues I Have With Princess” about my feelings. But I relented because I wanted to go on a Group Cruise hosted by my vlogger friends “Paul and Carol Love To Travel” which was on Sky...
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I Put 8 Underrated Cruise Tips To The Test! Here's What Happened (Podcast #457)
Essential Cruise Tips
I’m just back from a 7-night Sky Princess Scandinavian cruise where I challenged myself to test out eight cruise tips I think cruisers massively under-estimate, including one that I have seen totally wreck entire trips – and almost created a massive problem for me. Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: Offers: Get 10% any order of The Cruise Maps who you visit the site using this link: Get up to 30% off collectible tokens of place you’ve visited using the link: ...
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Things We Can't Do On A Cruise This Year, But Could Last Year! (Podcast #456)
Essential Cruise Tips
I’m just back from a Sky Princess cruise to Scandinavia, and during that I realised there are a surprisingly large number of things I cannot do on cruises this year that I could last year. For example, as on last year’s Princess cruise, I bought the “Princess Plus” package. While it still includes a Drinks Package, unlike last year, this year they’ve now excluded canned sodas from that package, only allow me one drink per order, and have banned double measures. While this may seem not a huge change, it is an unwelcome change from last year and got me thinking about others. So,...
info_outlineGary Bembridge author of "The Cruise Traveler's Handbook" provides another 60-Second Cruise Tips. For more visit http://www.60secondcruisetips.com and http://www.tipsfortravellers.com/cruise-travelers-handbook
Excursions will add significant amounts to your cruise budget. A family of four can easily spend over $200 a day on cruse line excursions. With even basic three-hour coach-based tours around a port of call costing about $50 per person, cruisers always ask me for ways to save money without missing out on seeing the best that a port has to offer.
I use and recommend taking the local hop-on hop-off bus tour. Virtually every port I have been to has one of these. Most seem to be run by global operators like “City Sightseeing” and “Big Bus Tours” with reliable standards, quality and good prices.
Hop-on Hop-off buses usually stop at, or close to, the port and sell tickets as you disembark the ship. The tours provide a helpful map of the city, take you to the key sights, provide multi-lingual recorded commentary and run frequent schedules - enabling you to hop off at the sights you want to without worrying about long waits for the next bus.
Visit city-sightseeing.com and bigbustours.com to check if your ports are covered before cruising.