This Cunard Regular Puts Their Brand-New Ship To The Test (Podcast #416)
Essential Cruise Tips
I believe I can bring a unique take on Cunard's new Queen Anne as I’ve been on 23 Cunard cruises and spent 210 nights across all their fleet, including most recently 14 nights on board Queen Anne, which gave me ample time to fully test out their latest cruise ship. I was keen to discover if, as some believe, Cunard is trying to chase people like me away from Cunard with their new ship and replace me with new and younger cruisers, or whether they're just trying to offer another ship for me as a regular Cunard cruiser to experience. Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get exclusive...
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9 Things You Can Take From A Cruise Without Getting Into Trouble (Podcast #415)
Essential Cruise Tips
What can you take home from your cruise without any fear you're doing the wrong thing, either morally or legally? This question hit me while I was packing at the end of a recent Cunard Queen Anne Cruise, as in the disembarkation letter a section was highlighted with a list of items that I was not allowed to take home, warning that if I did there would be penalties. I did a double take, as it included items I often take home from a cruise. It got me questioning what we can take from a cruise these days without any fear of getting into trouble. Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get...
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9 Reasons More Cruisers Than Ever Are Denied Boarding (Podcast #414)
Essential Cruise Tips
As all the passengers you will hear about discovered, being denied boarding for a cruise, not only turned their dream vacation into complete disarray, but lost them a fortune as cruise lines do not refund guests who they deny boarding to, arguing it's up to us as passengers to pay close attention to any rules and requirements, whether it's the cruise lines or the countries being called upon. After seeing reports of more people being caught out these days, I want to make it easier for you to avoid the things that could get you denied boarding. Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and...
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5 Sure Fire Ways To Get A Cruise Cabin Upgrade in 2024 (Podcast #413)
Essential Cruise Tips
With ships sailing full, and all the major cruise lines saying that on average they're sailing at 104% capacity, the techniques that I used to use and spoke about in the past, even as recently as this video from two years ago, to get cruise cabin upgrades no longer work. But after some rethinking, I’ve successfully cracked how to still get upgrades today. I know you can score upgrades like I have, as I’ve just helped people booking on one of my future group cruises land upgrades on that one too. Links mentioned in the video: Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get exclusive...
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Not Telling Your Cruise Line These 6 Things Could Sink Your Cruise! (Podcast #412)
Essential Cruise Tips
I was driven to make this after I saw a series of issues blow up on cruise ships after people did not come clean with their cruise line, sometimes intentionally but more often because they hadn’t realised they needed to. The consequences of some were so severe that I’ve seen cruisers banned for life, refused embarkation, or being kicked off their ship during the cruise. In this video I help you to get cruising right by knowing what you should never hide from the cruise line, and why. Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and...
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3 Issues Driving Holland America Cruisers Crazy This Year (podcast #411)
Essential Cruise Tips
I recently embarked on Holland America Eurodam to host one of my group cruises with some trepidation, because I'd had past fans of Holland America telling me they were falling out of love with the line, based on three recent changes. So, I felt this would be the perfect opportunity to put these to the test, as I could tap into the thoughts of everyone on my group cruise. And, based on what we discovered, you’ll hear where we found the concerns about Holland America are right, where they are not, and why. Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads...
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Dangerous Cruise Ports To Stay Far, Far Away From (Podcast #410)
Essential Cruise Tips
Experiences on my two last cruises reminded me that just because my cruise ship is calling into a port does not mean that I can assume it's safe for me to get off and explore. In fact, even in the two most popular cruising regions, the Caribbean and Mediterranean, many of the most visited ports are amongst the riskiest. Welcome aboard, I'm Gary Bembridge and I’m going to tell you what dangerous ports in these two regions to avoid, and how to keep yourself safe if you've got a cruise booked that's going to one of them. Link mentioned in the video: Carole Copeland Podcast: Become a Tips For...
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I Put Indian Pacific Platinum "First Class" To The Test (Podcast #409)
Essential Cruise Tips
The Indian Pacific is one of the famous and costliest train journeys in the world travelling 2,700 miles (4,352 kilometres) between Sydney and Perth Australia. So, I had very high expectations, but before we even got on board, I started to have concerns as things were going wrong which would have been fine if it was just me and my partner travelling, but we had booked two cabins in the premium Platinum class carriages to take my mother-in-law on a special once-in-a-lifetime trip for her 80th birthday. Adding even more pressure for this to be perfect. Join me as I share our experience on this...
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Cruisers Don't Know Cabin Stewards Can Get All This For You (Podcast 408)
Essential Cruise Tips
One of the more frequently asked questions I see on cruise message boards is: “what can I ask my cabin steward to bring or do for me?”. As I keep seeing the same limited list of suggestions, I decided to make this as, based on my experience, I can see cruisers are missing out on many more things cabin stewards can do and bring. 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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I Test Oceania's New Ship To See Why Cruisers Are So Unhappy (Podcast #407)
Essential Cruise Tips
Oceania Cruises is one of my all-time favourite cruise lines, and so I was incredibly excited to try their new class of ships. Until I did. I went on Vista, the first of this new class, and despite many great things, that I will tell you about, there is (for me anyway, and some others I spoke to) one deal breaker that means I will be sticking to their older ships unless something changes. Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube:
info_outlineIn another episode of 60-Second Cruise Tips, Gary Bembridge, author of "The Cruise Traveler's Handbook", "Essential Cruise Tips" and "River Cruising Essential Tips and Tricks" shares another cruise tip. This time it is:
How to avoid missing the ship in Port
Watching your ship head off into the distance standing on the quay in a foreign port is a vacation experience you should avoid. Though it does happen.
Here is how to ensure you do not get into that situation, and what to do if you do:
- Make 100% sure you know the all aboard time. This is the latest time you have to be back on the ship. Double check as it is often different by port.
- Go on cruise line excursions, as the ship will always wait for these to return - even if delayed.
- If you self-tour then before you do so check with the excursion team the best travel arrangements to get back to the ship, and build in extra time for traffic delays or incidents.
- If you go on a tour with an independent provider, make sure they include a guarantee to get you back to the ship on time and will make all the arrangements and cover the cost to meet up with the ship at the next port off they do not.
- Take the daily program with you, or take a photo of the contact details of the local agent details on your SmartPhone. This is who you contact if you are running late or have any issues.
- Take identification and a credit card with you when off the ship. This enables you to make and pay for arrangements if you need to.
The safest way to avoid missing the ship is to stick with cruise line excursions, but do not let the fear of missing the ship get in the way of seeing a destination how you would like to.
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