I'm Gary Bembridge and this is another of my tips for travellers. I'm going to share
with you my favourite tricks, tips and hacks that I use to get better fares, a
better cruising experience, better excursions and overall just a better
time cruising. First of these is sign up for the Cruise
Line newsletters. This might sound a really simple and basic one, however if
there's certain cruise lines that you are fans of I strongly recommend you
sign up for those newsletters. That's where they push out if they're doing any
special deals, free upgrades or free drinks packages or gratuities thrown in,
or solo traveller deals. You get alerted when there's any special
promotions. I always make sure that I'm signed up to any of the cruise lines who
I think I may want to cruise with, or I've enjoyed cruising with, so I am
alerted when there are great deals and offers. My second tip is to use a cruise
agent. Even if you've sign up for the newsletters, it doesn't necessarily mean
to book direct. Not only can their help guide you and make sure that you're
going on the right Cruise Line, or you've got the right cabin, or the right deal at
that time, they will always be able to match and often you'll find they can
beat those incredible offers. Even if you've seen a great offer on the email
newsletters that you signed up for, often the cruise agent will be able to improve
on that or it may be as simple as they have an inside track to get you
an even better cabin for the same price, which has happened to me. Cruise agents
are really really important to the Cruise Lines. It's where most of their
business comes from, so they work really closely with travel agents and cruise
agents to make sure that they have incentives and offers that will be a
really big plus for travellers. Even though I have done 67 cruises
at the time of recording this, I still use a cruise agent when I go cruising. My
third tip and trick is around cabins. How do you get a great cabin? There's two
ways of approaching it. First of all, if you want to get the best deal go for a
"guaranteed cabin". However you have no say on where that cabin is going to be, as a
guaranteed fare basically means that you choose whether you want an inside, curve
an ocean view, a balcony or a suite, and it's normally a lower price and the
cruise line decides exactly which cabin you're going to have, and you normally only
know that really close to the cruise and you have no say. The second thing,
which is what I should prefer and I recommend, is to
go for a fare where you pay a slight premium and you choose a
specific cabin. A couple of key things: first of all focus midships,
that's where you gonna have the least amount of movement, then absolutely
critical when you look at the deck plan and choose a cabin, make sure you're
surrounded on all sides by other cabins. A cabin above you, below you, to the
left and to the right of you and ideally opposite you as well.
That makes sure that you're away from any of those things that could be
creating a lot of noise. Also make sure, unless you need it, that
you don't have a interconnecting door to the next cabin because that can also be
where a lot of noise and sound and disruption comes. My next tip may not
sound very exciting, and it may sound like you're just spending more money, and
that is you should really get travel insurance - and when you get travel
insurance make sure that it also covers cruises. A lot of travel insurance
companies have specific insurance policies for cruising, because there are
lots of costs if you have to be medivacted off a ship. Ifyou do fall ill
you obviously have the onboard cost as it's quite expensive to use the
medical center onboard, and if you have something more significant the cruise
line will offload you in a port and pretty much leave you to your own
devices. So you have to think about how to get home and those
medical costs which could be many thousands of dollars. Don't take it out
just before you go on the cruise, take it out at the time of booking your cruise.
That's important because then if you have to cancel your cruise you're
not going to lose your deposit. When you pay a deposit on a cruise on pretty much
every Cruise Line it's non-refundable, so if you cancel your cruise before you go
you lose your deposit. Travel insurance should cover you for that.
My next tip is make sure that you get to the port where you're joining a cruise
the day before the cruise. Don't aim to arrive the day that your cruise departs as
anything could disrupt your travel. If you miss the cruise leaving it's going to
be at your own costs, and stress and hassle, to join the ship later on. My next
trick is around excursions. If you go on excursions through the Cruise Line, it
could add a huge amount of money onto your cruise fare. What I like to do is
look at alternatives. Most cruise lines will have Port guides, they might have a
library which has travel guides in, a lot of them will give talks which often
while trying to sell excursions will often give you a lot of tips and
advice around the port themselves. Many Cruise Lines bring on board
representatives from the port and when you get off a ship most ports nowadays
will have a representative from the tourist board, or even just different
tour guides offering alternatives. One thing I really recommend you do is take
a look at these and plan to do self touring. One of the great things is hop-
on hop-off buses. These are very popular with cruise passengers. I love them and
they are a really inexpensive way of seeing a place and getting around, because
you'll have commentary on board and you will find that many of those hop-on hop-off
buses will start and end at the port, so you're
right by the ship. It's a really inexpensive way of seeing a particular
port. If you are one of those people that does prefer to go on a more organised
excursions, obviously look at the cruise excursions
but then compare them to independent providers. There's lots of companies have
set up and offer excursions in every port. You'll normally find
they're similar to the ones the cruise line are doing
but with small groups and
cheaper. The reason that most passengers like to do the cruise line
excursion is the cruise line guarantees that if any of their excursions are running
late, or there's problems, the ship will wait until all of their excursions are
back on board before they depart. If you're an independent traveller or going
with one of those independent providers, they do not have that guarantee - so a lot
of people do prefer to go with the cruise line. So, if you're kind of a
or nervous traveller and you want that reassurance then stick with the cruise
line excursions because it's going to give you that reassurance - but seriously
do take a look at some of those alternatives as it could save you a lot of
money and you could actually see more and different things. The next thing I'd
like to talk about is a couple of tips around packing. First of all, look at the
dress code and what you have to wear to
meals, particularly dinner, and make sure you bring those. You don't want to find that
you can't go to the dining room because you don't have the
right dress code. Linked to that, also have a look if there's any themed parties, like
White Nights, Scarlet Nights, 70s Nights etc, that you want to bring some gear
with so you can get into the whole spirit of those. Think about the
excursions you're going on and if you are going to need any specific
equipment, for example if you're going cycling or hiking. When you're packing, put anything
that's valuable and anything that you'd hate to lose in your carry-on. Obviously
also things like passport, money and credit cards and if you've got expensive
cameras. Also medications, make sure that those are in your carry-on. Another really
important thing that I recommend you pack is your own little personalized
first-aid kit and in here put all the little treatments that you use around
the home to deal with anything from headache and stomach upsets. Take a look in
your bathroom cabinet and bring a little personalised kit, because it can be very
expensive if you have to go to the medical centre on board to get it or it can
be quite difficult to navigate the pharmacy in ports with different brand names,
products and language. Also in that kit make sure you bring a tooth repair kit.
Cruise ships do not have dentists and so bring a tooth repair kit so
if you have a filling fall out or crown come off ,you can deal with that - either
hold you over to the next port or even for the whole cruise. The last thing on
packing is make sure you bring the right adapters and all the charges for all
your gear. Luckily, most cruise ships now have USB charges, but not all of them,
some of them have USA-style plugs and some have Euro-style plugs, so check what your
cruise ship has and make sure you bring the right adapters.
Next I have a couple of tips around saving money on board. First of all, check
what allowance you have for bringing on board alcohol, soft drinks and whatever and
consider bringing that on board, because that's going to save you money
when it comes to drink. Secondly, when you embark the ship there will be loads of
offers going (the spa, drinks packages, dining packages excursions) and
you'll find there are loads of offers. You'll find incredible packages,
particularly on Wi-Fi as well. If you are planning to do shopping on board at their
the shops, wait till the very end of the cruise before you do that because you'll
find that there's often discounts or special promotions, particularly based on how
cruise lines are hitting or not hitting their targets for that particular cruise.
Always shop towards the end of the cruise onboard. If you want to use the
spa, use it on port days as you'll find the cheapest time to use the spa is
on port days. A couple of easy tips to save some money when you're on board . If
you want to avoid putting on a lot of weight on a cruise, there's a couple
things you can do that will mean that you still can party have a great time. First
of all, use the stairs not the lifts or elevators. It also means you're not waiting
around. All of the ships are really huge and you'll burn a lot of calories just
walking around the ship and using the stairs. Secondly, most cruise lines will
have a spa menu and take a look at the spa menu because you'll often find
starter, main course and dessert and you could have great food but it's not
going to have huge amounts of calories. The third thing is look at are for
excursions which have perhaps more exercise involved, even if it's walking,
hiking or cycling. With those activities you're going to see the sights,
have a great time but you are again going to be burning calories. Consider
really carefully if you want to take the drinks package. Drinks packages are
relatively expensive, and they enable you to have a lot of drink and of course
there's a lot of calories packed in drinks particularly cocktails. You'll
find if you do the couple of these things you'll come back from your cruise
not only having had a great time but also not having to go on that post
vacation diet to try and shift all those pounds. I hope you found this helpful. I have
loads more videos with loads of cruise tips and advice which I'd love you to watch
right now.