It's been almost a year since most of us have cruised and you want to have the
best time possible on your next cruise. So we put together all of our biggest cruise hacks
just for 2021. So you can have the best time possible.
Ahoy there, we are ben and david. Before we begin these cruise hacks make sure you
click the subscribe button. It's completely free to subscribe and it really helps us out.
So let's go do hack number one. Oh so we've just boarded our cruise and we're all feeling
very giddy. One of the first things we do is go to the main dining room to check our table that we've
been assigned. You can usually do this by checking your cruise card. It usually gives the name of the
restaurant and the table number. So we're eating in the Le Cerisier restaurant at table 701. So we
head to the main dining room take a look at our table 701, it's usually on the table, just to
check that it's okay. Is it a table for two like we requested? Is it next door, window or is it in
a busy location by the trolleys where it's going to be noisy and hectic? All you need to do is to
find the maître d'hôtel of the main dining rooms. You'll usually find her or him in the main dining
room after the time of boarding. And you can just request a moving table. And if they can move you
they will do. Especially during these times where ships capacities are a little bit lower, it should
be a little bit easier. But it's definitely one of the best tips that we've had and we do it every
time. It's always great to have an amazing table in the main dining room. Oh, so tip number two is
all about when you're feeling a little bit woozy on a cruise ship. Yes, seasickness. First of all,
there are a few natural remedies. Green foods, so things like apples and ginger, also made a
picture up there. Feeling very teacher-like today. Get rid of those for now. But you can also try
medication as well. So things like Dramamine and Bonine. But they can make you feel a little bit
woozy. So they might not be the best things during the day. You can also get bands for your arms
and stickers with medication behind your neck as well. They really work as well. But before getting
on the cruise there are a few different things you can do to stop seasickness from being too bad.
Do you love our beautiful picture of our gorgeous ship there? Well, we recommend booking a cabin
in the centre of the ship because here there's going to be less movement. And the further down
you are as well the better because there's going to be less momentum and roll from the ship. And
whilst we're here we'll give you a little bit of a lingo that you might hear on cruise ships but you
might not be familiar with. Well, the front of the ship is called the forward of the ship. The
centre of the ship is called the midship and the back of the ship is called the aft. You might hear
crew directing you to these different areas and be thinking; aft what are they talking about? And
then we've got a picture from above as well from a cruise ship. The right-hand side of the ship
is called starboard and the left-hand side of the ship is called port. It's easy to remember because
left and port have the same amount of letters in them. So that's a good tip to stop seasickness.
So booking a cruise. I'm just doing some cruise window shopping here. Most cruises when they
first return are more expensive than we saw in 2019. But we have seen some great deals and
cruises are a lot cheaper later in the year and especially into 2022. Where we've seen
some great bargains. Also if you are a little worried about what the cruise will be like when
it first returns with the temperature checks, the mask-wearing and the social distancing,
book a cruise in 2022 or even into 2023 when things will get a little bit more back to
normal. And hopefully, things like masks and social distancing will be a thing of the past.
Number four is to make some cash with you. Now, while you may be using your card for most things
some shops such as souvenir shops or taxis may not take card and will require cash. You can find
ATMs in the port. But sometimes it's difficult to find them and also the ATMs on the ship are really
expensive. So take cash. Also, we recommend taking smaller bills such as one-dollar bills. This is
for tipping. For tipping in the port, for tipping on the ship as well. So if you get room service,
you want to tip usually one dollar per plate. And you may be tipping the people that carry your bags
in the port and you don't want to be having to have big bills. So you want to take smaller bills
with you. If you're on a ship in the Caribbean, we always recommend tipping in us dollars and if
you're in Europe we always recommend tipping in euros. But either way or whatever you tip
with I'm pretty sure that the person will be really grateful. So tip number five. Room
service. Sir. Well, thank you gaston. It's all about room service. We recommend that you avoid
room service. Especially on lines that are now charging for it. This includes Norwegian Cruise
Line, MSC and Royal Caribbean. Just to name a few. Personally, we have found the room service to be
not very good. Actually and it's easier and usually quicker just to nip up to the buffet,
grab yourself a couple of plates of food, and bring it back down to your cabin. There are
absolutely no rules against that. Alternatively, why not go to the pizza restaurant? Particularly
like Sorrento's, for example, on Royal Caribbean. You can actually ask for a full-sized freshly
baked pizza for yourself. Now, you will have to wait for it sometimes, 15 minutes or 10 minute,s
but they will do that for you and you can take it back to your room. And best of all it's completely
free. Unlike the pizza that gets delivered to your room which they will charge you for. Some cruise
lines such as princess cruises and Holland America do have free room service but be careful because
there are some upcharges on certain items. Right, time for lunch. So tip number six are some cabin
tips. When you get into your cabin make sure you make use of all of the room. If you didn't know
you can put big things like suitcases underneath your bed. There's plenty of storage there as well.
And we recommend bringing some magnets as well. Not these ones but some strong
hook magnets. If you didn't know already cabin walls and cabins, in general, are all metal. So
you can stick magnets to the wall. They're great for sticking documents to the wall for hanging
bags or shoes and things like that. It just gives you some more storage. We also recommend bringing
some wipes as well. So some Dettol wipes or some Lysol wipes if you're in the USA. And give your
cabin a good little clean. Just to make sure it's got no cover there. Make sure you get all
of the knobs. We like a good cleaning of a knob don't we. So make sure you get all of the knobs
and get them nice and clean. We also recommend bringing some hand sanitiser as well. So you can
keep sanitizing your hands around the ship. And make sure you bring plenty of replaceable masks.
We recommend disposable ones. Just because they're so light so cheap and if they get
wet or sweaty or get makeup on them you just chuck them out and get another one. So nice and simple.
You also want to bring some air freshener as well. Because the toilets onboard are quite small and
compact. Especially if you're in an indoor cabin or ocean view cabin with no access to fresh air.
You don't want any of those nasty smells, do you? So tip number seven is to always arrive in advance
when flying. We always arrive in the port the day before especially during these times when flights
are being cancelled and things have been messed up all of the time. You just want to get there a
day early. Even when we're not flying in a port. In the UK, we always go down the night before
and stay in a hotel. Just so we can relax and know that we're by the port so nothing can go wrong.
No traffic, nothing like that. It's great. Absolutely and a bonus is it start your vacation
a day earlier. So it's an extra day. How exciting is that! An extra day to your vacation which is
awesome. So always arrive the day before. It honestly makes things so much smoother and so
much easier. You can go for some nice breakfast in the morning and then literally get to the cruise
port nice and early. So there'll be no delays. Tip number eight. You don't just have to eat breakfast
and lunch in the buffet. You can actually enjoy it in the main dining room. We prefer this.
It's a much more relaxed and civilized experience. You can sit down and your food is cooked to order.
And one of the amazing crew will come and serve it to you at your table. Also during these times,
we expect the lines in the buffet to be much longer. As the crew are now serving and plating
up the food rather than passengers helping themselves. So it means they're going to be long
lines. This means that the food is probably going to be colder, it's going to be a lot more chaotic.
We think it's just much nicer in the main dining room. The food's nicer and it feels fresher.
So our next tip is all about cruise insurance and this is a really important one. During coronavirus
times there are just a few different things you need to do when you're buying cruise insurance.
We usually do it here on our computer. The first one is to make sure that it covers the cruise.
This might be an obvious one but lots of insurance companies don't even cover cruise
or have an extra premium on top. The next one is to make sure it covers all of the different
destinations you're going to be visiting. So it might be you're visiting two places
in Europe but then go out of Europe so you need worldwide cover. It's really important to make
sure your insurance covers all of the different places you're going to be going to. Next one
is to make sure you have enhanced insurance. That covers things like cancellations on your cruise.
This is really important because you don't want to be left out of pocket if something does go
wrong and your cruise is cancelled. Or you need to buy an extra flight or something like this
and next make sure you've got cover for emergency evacuations and most importantly medical cover for
covid 19. As well lots of cruise lines now even requiring evidence when you check in to show that
you have all of this correct cruise insurance. But if in doubt just ask the cruise line what
they will require when you log in. But it's a really important one. Make sure you get that
cruise insurance. Just in case in the unlikely event something goes wrong you'll be covered.
And finally, tip number 10 is to have patience and just really enjoy it all. There's going to
be extra checks at ports. There's going to be changes on your cruise. But just most of all just
be thankful that you're going to be on a cruise. It's been so long since we've all cruised and
it's going to be fantastic. You're going to have that fresh sea air through your hair. If you've
got hair. Thanks! And you're going to have such a fantastic time. Just take things easy. Don't worry
about getting everything done on the first day. Take your time taking as much as you can and just
enjoy the cruise. Absolutely. After the year that we've had, we want to look at things with a glass
half full. And be flexible because. We know that things will eventually get back to normal. But
they're not quite at the moment. So we're just thankful that we can cruise and travel. Yeah.
Just take all of the changes into your stride. We've hopefully prepared you for most of that
on our channel as well. So you'll know exactly what to expect. But just enjoy it. Enjoy that
amazing fresh air. All of the passengers on board are going to be super excited to be on board.
The crew are going to be really enthusiastic as well and so excited to be back as well.
We're going to be excited. The atmosphere onboard is going to be amazing. So just enjoy it. Enjoy
every moment and I think everybody will do because it's been so long and everybody's been stuck at
home. Not going on vacation or holiday. So I think everybody's just gonna have such a good
time when cruising is back. So that's it for this episode. Thank you so much for watching. We really
appreciate it. Please do hit that subscribes button. We've got eight cruises coming up this
summer. So you've got plenty to tune in for. And thank you so much to all of our patrons as
well. You guys are amazing in supporting us. We bring you to zoom live shows. We bring you extra
footage and extra episodes as well as postcards from all of our cruises. And our captains of the
week are Tristan and Justin. So ahoy Tristan and Justin. That's it till next time. Happy cruising.