I was reminded of the need to be on the watch for cruise rip-offs when I got one cruise line
to give me back $1,800 of the fare I'd paid when I saw what they were doing. I'm going
to show you how I spotted it, what I did, and nine other rip-offs to watch out for these days.
Welcome aboard, I'm Gary Bembridge and it’s my goal to make it fun and easy to discover,
plan and enjoy incredible cruise vacations.
Now more than ever, cruise lines want to get us to pay as much possible for our cabin,
and they have departments and clever computer dynamic pricing to make this
happen. This is where I feel I'm often ripped off, as I book early.
They often penalise me by later charging people much less for the
same cabin if the cruise isn’t selling that fast.
So, what do I do? I track fares and ask for a price reduction, upgrade,
or on-board credit to match the new lower fare. It’s easy to do on cruisewatch.com
where I input my cruise and they alert me when fares change. I also sometimes use
Cruise Critic because Cruisewatch.com doesn't cover all lines, particularly UK-based lines.
That’s how I got $1,800 back on my Azamara Quest Mediterranean as I saw
the fare had dropped as they’d scrapped the solo supplement I’d been charged.
On my recent Viking Sky Adriatic and Oceania Marina Panama trips,
I was upgraded from a balcony cabin to a suite when alerted to fares changes.
I’ve suggested this in other videos, have instructions on how to do it on
my blog and I get messages every week from passengers around the world it has worked for.
I get messages every single week from passengers all around the world that this has worked for.
While this is a big one, I found more rip-offs happen once I am on board.
Many lines have introduced all-inclusive add-on bundles
with supposedly large discounts of up to 50% versus buying the items separately.
Most bundle three on-board costs items such as Wi-Fi, gratuities, drinks, excursion discounts,
or speciality dining. And come with names like Celebrity's Always Included, Holland
America Have-It-All, Princess Plus, Princess Premier, and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Free at Sea.
But I think they’re misleading and a rip off as they don't really work for anyone.
For me as they only include basic Wi-Fi, I end up paying to upgrade to streaming
level. I don't drink alcohol, so the drinks package is wasted.
Talking to passengers who drink, these bundles often fall short for them as they are usually
the basic drinks package and have many limits, like only cover drinks up to $15, or exclude many
brands or use house spirits, beers, or wines. Most seem to upgrade to a better package in the end.
I believe lines introduced these because they've worked out that they make more money this way.
So, what do I do? I don't buy the packages any longer.
I just buy the things I need and know I will use,
like better Wi-Fi. And I often buy it online before the trip if they offer
discounts. I found I am spending less now than buying the bundled package.
If going that package route, or on lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean that do not have
those all-inclusive bundled deals, watch out for a rip-off around drinks packages.
Again, remember cruise lines have worked out that drinks packages make them more money.
Drinks packages on Royal Caribbean or Carnival can cost between $400 and $600
per person for a seven-night cruise. And that is the price before they add an 18% gratuity,
require everyone over 21 in your cabin to also buy that package usually, and have small print
terms and conditions that limit number of drinks or cost of drinks that are included.
Before buying one, use an online drinks package
calculator. The best I find are on Cruzely.com and CruiseMummy.co.uk
You choose your line, input how many drinks you think you're going to have per day and it
calculates if it's worth buying the package or not. Most people doing that tell me they
find that it's normally not – especially if you have a very port intensive cruise.
Talking of ports, another rip-off in my view are cruise line excursions.
Cruise lines try scare you and me with the risk factors of not using them. First, they say if a
cruise line excursion is delayed getting back to the ship they will wait for it,
but not anyone else. Second, they have screened operators and third the convenience.
However, I pay a premium for these benefits. The cruise lines don't run excursions,
they contract those out to local companies, and they are making a markup which can range,
talking to insiders, anything up to 300%.
Also, I am limited to what they have. So,
it's a bit of a rip-off because there's many more things that I could do in port.
Here’s what I do.
First, I look at self-exploring. If there's something the line offers that I want to do,
I check how close it is to the port or if it’s easy to get to. For example, in Bergen,
instead of doing a costly cruise line excursion to go on the Floibanen funicular to the top
of Mount Fløyen, I found it was a 10-minute walk from the ship and costs almost nothing.
I also look at hop-on hop-off buses. They normally go to all the main sites,
leave from the port, and they're more flexible and cheaper,
especially if you are the sort of person who likes panoramic coach tours.
In the Caribbean instead of booking a cruise line beach excursion I use
a site called ResortPass.com For example, for an upcoming
Koningsdam Mexico trip they had stunning resorts in Puerto Vallarta for way less.
However, if I don't want to self-explore, my go to alternative is using a third-party
provider like VentureAshore.com and ShoreExcursionsGroup.com.
I input my cruise line, ship, and departure date, and it brings up all the excursions for my ports.
They’re usually much cheaper than the cruise line option and has more variety of tours.
Excursions are not the only area I feel are rips offs where the
line has contracted them out. There are things on board that I assumed
were run by the cruise line but are contracted out that are rips off too.
#5 Spa
The Spa is run by contractors, and in my view horribly overpriced. Perhaps as
the contractor needs to make a profit as well as the cruise line on top of that.
There three things that add to the rip off. First,
the high price rockets up after the treatment as there’s an auto added gratuity of 18%. Second,
many miss that as the slip you sign at the end has a blank line for gratuity and many add it.
Third, the therapists are trained, incentivized,
and required to push treatment series and sell products.
My partner Mark often falls for this rip off despite my best efforts,
often buying a series of treatments for a supposed issue identified in his first massage,
like dry skin or tight back, and he too buys costly products.
Here's what I do: I either only go to the spa if I've got leftover on board credit
and go a port day. There are big reductions on port days because it's less busy.
Most cruise lines also contract out the photography department.
Personally, I think is a big rip-off,
as photos have remained incredibly costly despite the shift to digital.
It was going to cost me $40 for just 2 I had taken on my recent Disney Magic cruise.
Although I spoke to several parents, and they were happy paying around $300 for the photographic
package as they had around 200 photographs taken of their kids posing with all the characters. So,
they were saying, "It's only costing a couple of dollars per digital photograph."
But on most lines, it is still working out at $20 - $30 per photograph.
What do I do? I never buy photographs. I keep an eye out on the locations where
they're taking the photographs as they know the best locations and may use that when the
ship is quiet to take or get another passenger to take a photograph with my camera or smartphone.
One thing that baffles me, and experts seem to agree is a rip off, are the art auctions and sale.
This is another contracted-out service, and it’s normally either Park West or Clarendon Fine Art.
The art auctions and sales are pitched as an investment,
with free champagne-hosted auctions and prize draws to entice people in.
Many of the art are prints or limited series, and I feel unlikely to be
investment or collector grade. To avoid being ripped off don't go into it thinking that it
is an investment but if you like something pay what you feel it’s worth to you to have.
What do I do? I don't buy art, but as many people who run the gallery and auctions are
knowledgeable on art and art history if, like in my recent Cunard Queen Elizabeth
Western Mediterranean trip, they give enrichment talks about well-known artists I do go to those.
I get asked a lot about cruise line insurance,
particularly cruise line trip protection, and if this is a rip off.
I am not an expert on finance, so I'm giving you my personal perspective.
I found cruise line trip insurance policies don't usually give me the same,
or as good cover, as I can get from a third-party specialist
insurer. They also don’t always cover my pre-existing conditions
I found medical cover limits are often lower and coverage starts and ends with
the cruise and so if I'm doing flights, pre- or post-stays, I’m not covered.
And if the line goes under the policy seems to go too.
What do I do? I never buy cruise line cover and use a third-party travel insurance
provider. I take out an annual policy, so I am always covered if I must cancel a booking.
I use a company in the UK called AllClear, I'm not recommending it,
I'm just telling you who I use. In the US, I hear lots of people using Allianz
or tripinsurance.com to price compare. So, while I can't recommend any specific insurer,
I would recommend at least comparing that to the cruise line one.
I cannot talk about rip offs without mentioning one that affects me a lot
as 9 out of my 10 trips are solo. And it's really the struggle with the large
supplements. I often pay the same as I would if my partner Mark was also coming along.
It’s quite a complicated area and so I have a whole video around this,
called “Here's How I Cruise Better, Cheaper and Smarter”
where I go into this much more detail. So, if that affects you check that out.
I also think the on-board shopping advisors are a rip off. I mostly find them on my Alaska and
Caribbean cruises, where they hold events recommending shops, deals and incentives.
As all the stores in the program have paid fees to be in there, and the advisors are
funded ultimately by the shops through fees and commissions, I remain sceptical.
They recommend the same old chains, Diamonds International, Effy, Del Sol and so on. But
bear in mind that there is a hidden agenda and money changing hands and I feel they
are not necessarily going to direct me towards the shops that perhaps have the best deals.
What do I do? Go to the talks to be entertained and for the
freebies often handed out, and make sure anyone I am with are at least checking
the prices online if they do want to buy anything in the port shop area.
If you found this interesting and want to know 7 things that I found smart cruisers do,
watch this video which starts with the one thing that transformed all
my cruises for the better. See you over there.