-You're about to discover 10 unusual laws
you could unexpectedly break while cruising.
I'm Gary Bembridge, this is another of
my cruising Tips For Travellers.
I'm going to take a look at a whole bunch of laws,
which you may find you end up breaking
without even realising you're breaking
when you're going on a cruise, some of them
which can have incredibly serious consequences.
The first of these is around camouflage.
Many, many countries in the world, in fact,
about 11 countries in the world ban the wearing
of camouflage clothing in their countries.
And many of those are in the Caribbean.
So particularly if you're cruising
in the Caribbean, so you can't wear anything
that's camouflage designed or, in fact,
anything that looks like a military uniform as well.
So in the Caribbean, for example,
it's banned in Antigua, Barbados, Granada, Jamaica,
Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago.
You'll also find it's banned in some places
in Asia like in the Philippines, a lot of the countries
in the Middle East it's banned, and if you even go
on a river cruise in Africa, for example,
you'll find in Zimbabwe it is banned as well.
So camouflage, do not take with you,
leave at home if you're going on a cruise.
A second one, which a lot
of people can potentially fall foul of is
by taking either over-the-counter drugs,
which are legal in your country, so the US, the UK,
Canada, Australia, wherever, or even prescription drugs,
which are illegal and could give you a serious jail sentence
or fines if you're caught with these products out and about.
Obviously if you're on a cruise the chance is
they're going to be in your cabin, so you should be okay.
But do bear in mind there is a lot of rules
and regulations around what you can take,
and some of them are quite surprising.
The key here is that you need to focus on
if you are taking medicines with you on a cruise is
around the are of painkillers,
particularly strong painkillers like codeine,
or tramadol, sleeping pills like temazepam,
but even once you get into things like cough mixtures
or things you might think are less harmful like codeine,
for example, you'll find is banned in many countries,
including Greece, Japan, and
in some other countries in Asia.
Even some really well known brand names are also going
to get you into trouble.
Some of them include things like Sudafed, Benadryl,
in some countries even Vicks Inhaler, like in Japan,
even Tylenol Arthritis Pain capsules.
The key places to really worry about this is if
you're heading on a cruise in Japan,
parts of the Middle East, some parts of Asia,
you're going to find that you get into a lot of trouble.
The key thing I always say, if you're taking,
particularly prescription, drugs is make sure
you keep them in the original bottles
and ideally have a prescription or a little note
from your doctor.
But certainly if you're going on a cruise,
particularly somewhere a little bit exotic,
make sure that you are 100% sure
that you can take those drugs in.
Most governments have a list of the things
that you can and can't take in.
But if in doubt just search the name of
what you're taking in and the country
or countries that you're cruising to.
If you are a smoker, or even more importantly a vaper,
you may find there are very strong restrictions
on your ability to do that in some countries.
So particularly as you think about going on excursions,
really understand the rules around smoking
or vaping in the countries that you are.
There are a whole lot of countries
that actually ban vaping totally,
and actually bringing vaping equipment
into the country could get you really big fines.
For example, at the time of recording this,
it's actually banned in Brazil, Singapore, Seychelles,
Uruguay, Thailand, and India.
You can get huge big fines.
So for example, in Singapore,
the fines can be as much as $2,000,
so that's about 1,000 pounds, for possessing them.
So certainly if you're going on cruises be really clear
if vaping equipment is allowed as you head out and about.
Also smoking: increasingly countries
have become more and more strict.
So some countries, for example, banned smoking
in places like beaches.
So, for example, in Thailand you cannot smoke on the beach.
A lot of people are just used to walking
out with equipment, particularly with vaping.
Watch out, you could be breaking the law
and have really big fines.
The fourth area to think about is public shows of affection.
Now this tends to be in more strict religious countries.
So particularly if you're heading to the Middle East,
but certainly into parts of Asia,
like Indonesia, places like that.
It is actually not allowed, it's really frowned upon
and could very serious consequences.
And that's not only for LGBT couples
where there could be some issues around whether
it's even legal to have those kind of relationships,
but even for heterosexual couples it's a big issue.
I remember recently we were cruising into Dubai
and there was a big briefing around, not only clothing,
but also about discouraging and saying,
"Don't have public shows of affection,
you can get into a lot of trouble."
So bear in mind if you're heading out
you may just want to keep your shows
of affection to the cruise ship.
There are of course some also cultural areas where you need
to be careful, in Japan for example, lots of public shows
of affection is not really well thought of.
And certainly, if you're going on a cruise in the Baltics,
into Russia, I would discourage you,
if you are a same-sex couple, from having
and showing signs of affection because
of the pretty draconian approach of the Russian authorities.
The next area is even around taking photographs.
Now when you're heading out on excursions,
and particularly if you're going
with a tour guide, you can check
if there are any restrictions on taking photographs.
But generally speaking, anything to do with airports,
military, government buildings,
avoid taking photographs of those.
I have certainly been on various different excursions
in different countries where the guide has said
to us, "Don't take pictures of those buildings,
"don't take pictures of those facilities."
So just be aware and be very cautious
about what you're taking photographs of.
There have been, for example in the Middle East,
plane spotters, enthusiasts, who've been
out taking pictures of aeroplanes and found
themselves actually in prison for days
and days on end and being treated as spies.
So be really cautious about where
you're taking photographs, and very sensitive.
Anything that's government, anything that's military,
avoid taking pictures of.
And also very importantly, of military people,
or even things like monks, people like that.
Again, be very cautious about taking photographs,
and even if you're unsure, ask, don't just take pictures.
So, for example, I'm just back from a cruise in Vietnam
and Cambodia, and we were told very strongly,
"Don't just take pictures of monks,
you need to approach them and ask them
if you can take pictures it's seen as very offensive
to do that otherwise."
The next area is around drones.
Now taking a drone on a cruise ship is pretty much
of a nightmare anyway.
Most cruise lines ban the use of drones completely.
Royal Caribbean and Carnival are pretty much,
at the time of recording, the only cruise lines
that will even let you take a drone on board.
You can't actually use it when you're on board.
They will let you take it out into the port
and bring it back, but actually taking a drone
on a cruise is probably a bad idea anyway
because it's banned, plus I already struggle
with when I can take my drone.
But there are lots of countries
that have not only severe restrictions
but some total bans on using a drone.
Of course, there are some very highly publicised
things where some bloggers got caught
in places like Iran flying drones.
So be really cautious about going drone.
If you do own a drone make sure you've got the licence.
You'll often find, in many places,
you have to apply for permits before you go.
So be really, really cautious.
Of course if you use a drone, you know there's lots of apps
where you can check, but drone flying, really big issue.
There's also a lot of laws where you can get yourself
into a lot of trouble around the clothing that you wear.
A lot of places have introduced restrictions
around going shirtless, for example,
or wearing swimming trunks off the beaches into the towns.
So even places like in Turkey there's some restrictions,
Spain there's been some restrictions.
So places that you would think were quite liberal
because they're quite beach-focused have some abilities
to basically spot fine you if you wear
that sort of clothing off the beach.
Also, for example, in Croatia, in Dubrovnik,
going shirtless in a town could get you in a lot
of trouble, you could get spot fines as well.
So, again, keep your clothes on unless
you're on the beach is the key rule.
Although it's not illegal, as such,
you're not going to break any laws, bear in mind
if you're going to religious places, particularly as
you head into Asia or even in fairly holy places
in parts of Europe, you need to have your shoulders
and your upper arms covered, and you need
to have long pants or certainly cover your knees.
So lots of restrictions around there.
It's not illegal but you are going to have problems
if you don't follow those rules.
One of the most serious laws that you could break,
that you could find yourself in prison for up to 10 years,
is if you ever cruise to Thailand.
Criticising the Royal Family and people overhearing
you or standing even on a note
which has the Royal Family on it
could get you into a lot of trouble.
There's very, very strict laws around defaming
the Royal Family, and they are really,
really rigorous at doing that.
So bear in mind also, when you head into any country,
very cautious and don't criticise the government
or leaders in public spaces because
you could find yourself in a lot of, lot of trouble.
There's also surprisingly a lot of rules
and regulations about eating and drinking in public.
Now in some countries it's culturally seen as unacceptable
but more and more places are starting to introduce laws
and regulations, sometimes just
by local towns or municipalities,
where you can actually get some quite big fines.
So, in Europe for example, there's quite a lot
of restrictions on eating and drinking
in some public spaces, particularly
around religious sites or holy sites.
So, for example, you'll find in Florence
and Venice it's an offence to eat
and drink near churches, historic monuments,
public buildings.
And there's a recent story about some backpackers
that were fined almost 1,000 Euros for brewing
and making coffee near the Rialto Bridge.
So there are increasingly really strict rules
and regulations.
In some places there's lots of rules and regulations
around drinking in public or on public transport.
So be aware and check those regulations.
In Singapore, for example, chewing gum is a real big no-no,
and particularly the disposing of chewing gum.
So if you're in Singapore stay well away from chewing gum.
Linked to the whole food and drink thing
there's even a very bizarre rule,
which you can come across in Singapore,
whereas if you do not flush the public lavatory,
you could potentially have a spot fine.
So bear in mind there are unusual and strange laws
that you could stumble across and quite innocently break.
So just think about being really disciplined
about where you eat, where you drink, and just check.
What I often do if I'm unsure in a country is look around
and see what the locals are doing.
If the locals aren't walking around eating a sandwich,
or drinking, or whatever, you probably know
it's not appropriate, and it's possibly a law,
if certainly not a cultural issue.
As you can see from any of these rules,
regulations, and laws that could land you
in trouble are things that we could quite innocently do
at home but they could land you in a lot of trouble
when you're on a cruise in a foreign place.
So really be overcautious when you're heading out there.
As I said, watch what locals are doing,
ask the guest services, and certainly
if you're on a tour check with the tour guide
if there's any little quirks and things
that you're likely to break.
Hope you found that helpful.
Hope you found that interesting.
I have loads more videos packed full
of tips, advice about cruising.
So why don't you watch another one of those right now.