it's Bruce here with traveling with Bruce welcome to today's video it's all
about secrets the cruise lines kind of don't want you to know um we'll talk
about that in one sec thank you everybody for being here subscribing to
my channel giving me a thumbs up so I love those hit the bell notification
icon also thank you to Amber and travel we have put together a group cruise for
the twb family members we're going on a cruise December 2020 on the harmony of
the Seas come and join us one and all just hit the link down below for all the
info and the folks in amber and travel we'll take good care of you all right
let's talk secrets about cruise lines there are a bunch of them and I thought
I'd give you about 10 or so today did you know that did you know that your
cruise line will cancel your cruise even after you've paid for it for example
let's say you booked the cruise with a year to go uh you booked already paid
for it in a in advance did you know that they can cancel that on you even with
say seven or eight months to go if they charter the cruise ship the actual ship
to another group let's say a rock-and-roll cruise or something like
that they'll contact you and dump you like a hot potato they'll just send you
back your money and say sorry folks can't help ya we'll put you on another
cruise ship come you know give us a call we'll set you up it's happened and it
happens from time to time a surprise surprise so be careful out there if
you're banking on that to holiday of all time
you never know things can change at a moment's notice did you know that cruise
lines will show you photos and videos about how great your cruise is gonna be
but that the images you're looking at aren't actually the accommodations
you're gonna get or the food services you're gonna get it's likely that you're
looking at advertisements from the cruise line for their first-class
passengers the passengers that are paying top dollar to be there you're not
gonna get anything like that at all number three cruise ships are becoming
more and more segregated more and more no go zone
are being installed on these large cruise ships where the average Cruiser
cannot go to certain parts of the ship and these areas are getting larger not
smaller on the Royal Caribbean they have the Suites on Celebrity they have a
class of cabins known as the aqua class on Norwegian they have an area called
The Haven you can't go up there you're barred from getting up there at all
other items secret items free offers are not actually free the cruise line is
offering you free drinks free specialty dining they're not telling you one
little thing at the very beginning they'll fine they'll tell you eventually
but what they're not telling you upfront is we give you a free drink package or
free specialty dining package you are expected to pay in cash the tips
included with the packages so for example on Norwegian you get a $100 a
day drink package for you and a $100 a day drink package for your traveling
companion per day you're looking at a $20 per day per person tip charge
that'll be added to your room account automatically and at the end of the
cruise you're on the hook for $280 in tips no matter how much or how little
you actually did drink on that free package just a little heads up for you
shore excursions a number of cruise lines are starting to offer a perk
called shore excursion credits this is where they'll offer you say $50 short
excursion credit for every stop the ship makes on its seven-day cruise or 10-day
cruise or whatever it is so if you're gonna get say 3 stops in the Caribbean
you'll get a $50 credit for each stop here's the catch though for two people
to go on an excursion you're looking at anywhere from two hundred to five
hundred dollars per stop depending on the shore excursion you choose so the
$50 that barely touches some of their margins their markups but just be aware
of that the cheaper the cruise line you booked on the more onboard hustling
you're going to endure it is not uncommon where you'll go on a
cruise and it was a such a bargain deal you're so happy and then for the entire
week you're on the ship you're being hustled at every turn it
starts with the drink packages then it comes over to the specialty dining deals
then it comes in to the spa packages then you're gonna hear the announcements
on the PA system non-stop drives some people crazy just a heads up did you
know that onboard sales staff in the shops on board the cruise ships are paid
a very small wage but are usually paid most of their earnings in commissions
and that these folks are under relentless pressure from their managers
on the ship and off the ship back at head office to hit daily sales quotas I
don't know if you know that but these folks are under unbearable pressure to
sell sell sell also did you know that the cruise line could well be the
landlord of the duty-free shops that you visit in the ports you visit for example
get off the ship and you go through a gated area they're a bunch of duty-free
shops it is not uncommon for those shops to be owned and operated and leased by
the actual cruise lines to entrepreneurs from that country a lot of these shops
are chain stores you see them everywhere you go and the folks in those stores are
under unbearable pressure to move product it's quite quite difficult for
some of these folks crew members crew members generally do not fall off of
cruise ships don't be fooled when cruise crew members fall off a cruise ship it
means that they jumped on purpose hoping not to be found
it's a sad tale it's a truce it's a true story a lot of crew members commit
suicide over the years off of cruise ships hard hard life if a crew member
survives a jump they are brought back on board immediately fired and are
removed from the Cruise Lines employment a.s.a.p
just so you know last thing to mention to you cruise lines are constantly
trying to reduce the cost of their food with that budget of theirs by acquiring
cheaper cuts of meat or fewer varieties of foods or say cheaper style of foods
you may have noticed if you're a frequent Cruiser over the last 15 years
the quality of the food has gone down in certain areas of the ship in particular
the buffet area gone are the days where you're gonna find lobster tails and
tenderloin or prime rib at the buffet you can forget about it
you're now beginning almost not to be able you're almost not gonna find that
now in the main dining room the only way you're gonna get it in the main dining
room is if you agree to pay an extra surcharge for this food you go to
specialty dining restaurants even there they are beginning to start offering
lower quality food depending on how much you pay it used to be you only pay 10
bucks extra to go to a special dining restaurant now
you're paying twenty to fifty dollars in some cases it's upwards of a hundred
dollars for the high-end steak houses you might as well just eat at home
because those are the kinds of prices you get charged in your own hometown
anyway there you go there's a bunch of cruise line secrets that they don't
really want to talk to you about it Nick in a public gun away but these are facts
this is happening it's still a great bargain cruising is still a fun way to
go but just be mindful of some of these secrets the next time you go on a cruise
hope you enjoyed the video if you did give it a thumbs up thanks for joining
me today please subscribe to my channel and this is Bruce with traveling with
Bruce saying we'll see you next time bye for now