Overrated Tips Every Sensible Cruiser Should Stop Using – RIGHT NOW!

Overrated Tips Every Sensible Cruiser Should Stop Using – RIGHT NOW!

I’m just back from a cruise on Explora Journeys 
Explora 2, and was disappointed how many   passengers I met on there are still following 
cruise tips that frankly I know are overrated   and out-of-date. Tips that many cruising articles 
and videos are still recommending cruisers use. Welcome aboard. I’m Gary Bembridge, and 
I want to tell you about four overrated   cruise tips I think you should ditch overboard and 
(importantly) what you should be doing instead. I meet many cruise passengers on 
cruises who proudly talk about the   loyalty status level they’ve built with the line. Many cruise pundits encourage building loyalty,   remarking on the added perks and discounts 
you can build up. I disagree. Why? First, it takes a lot of cruises to get to 
a significant tier with reasonable perks. For example, to get to a level on Royal 
Caribbean like Diamond with meaningful   perks like access to a special lounge 
with all day snacks and happy hour,   priority embarkation and disembarkation, 
and four drinks vouchers per day, even   if you book a seven-night cruise every year, 
it’ll take you 12 years to reach that level. Second, if you focus on one line to build loyalty,   you’re limited by where they’re going, what 
ports they call on, what ships they have,   and when they’re going. So, you very often 
will be compromising on the itinerary. Let me give you some examples. Say you’ve got a   cruise line you’re building loyalty 
with, and you want to go to Alaska. If it’s not one of the few cruise lines 
with a licence to go into Glacier Bay,   you miss out on one of the best parts of 
Alaska. But if you’d gone with another line,   you’d have an even more incredible experience. If you’re cruising in the Mediterranean or Asia,   many ports are far away from the 
key towns and sights. Unless you   go on a cruise line with smaller ships 
that can dock within the actual city. For example, lines like Azamara with smaller 
ships dock in the centre of Marseilles France,   while larger ships are way out in a container 
port. The same for example if visiting Shanghai   China where I went on Crystal and was right 
in town while bigger ships were miles out. Third, by switching between 
lines instead of staying loyal,   you can get deals that way exceeds 
any perks from being loyal. For example, years ago I used to be loyal 
to Cunard and so am at their highest tier,   but I booked a Holland America South 
American cruise instead of theirs for   roughly the same fare. I have very 
limited status on Holland America,   but the deal at the time included 
their “Have It All” package. So, I got Wi-Fi, drinks, gratuities, 
dining and excursion credits,   which not only are way above any of the 
limited perks I would get on Cunard but   would have been add on costs of well 
over $2,000 if I’d gone on Cunard. While some lines do offer a free cruise 
or nights for high status, you’re going   to have to spend hundreds of nights on board and 
spend a fortune. But, by jumping between lines   to find the best itinerary at the best price I 
know you will spend less and get more overall. Many fellow passengers, cruise writers, 
bloggers and vloggers encourage cruisers   to use cruise line excursions, mostly 
as the line says the ship will wait if   any of their excursions are delayed 
getting back before sailaway time. While this is a plus, I do think using cruise line 
excursions is an overrated tip these days. Why? First, cruise line excursions are usually 
the costliest way of exploring any port. Cruise lines do not run their excursions, they 
contract them in most cases to third-party   companies like Intercruises who then source 
and hire local providers to run them. So, as well as the line marking 
the excursion cost up there may   also be a middleman cost already marking them up. This makes cruise line tours expensive.   You can often be paying as much as twice as if 
you were doing the same tour by a local provider. Second, most cruise lines offer a limited 
choice. They focus on a few key excursions   they know will sell well as they need to fill 
busses, and they need to hit sales targets. So,   if you have a more niche or specialist interest 
or want to do something a little bit different,   you’re probably not going to find 
it on a cruise line excursion. Third, most cruise line excursions are 
larger group sizes with full bus loads. Fourth, they tend to be designed to tick 
off and do as much as possible in a port. So, they tend to be pretty rushed around 
things because they want people to be   able to tick off lots of things that they 
saw or did. If you talk to a tour guide,   you will see they have a very detailed schedule 
of where they need to be, and time is very tight. Fifth, cruise line excursions keep 
you within the cruise bubble. You’re   not experiencing and interacting 
much with the local population,   nor usually dining locally, and seeing 
a more authentic side to a port. So, I think using cruise line 
excursions is an overrated   cruise tip. I suggest trying something different. Look at using independent providers. They 
usually offer more diverse excursions,   smaller groups and almost always are cheaper. Plus, most guarantee to get you back to 
the ship as they use local tour guides   used to working with cruise passengers, 
and if for some reason they do not,   they will make all arrangements and cover 
any cost to get to the ship at the next port. One I recommend and use is called Shore Excursions 
Group. I like them as I can input my cruise line,   the cruise ship and the dates, and 
that brings up all the tours by port. They only show tours that will work with the 
times my ship is scheduled to be in port,   have that return to ship guarantee, and 
vet local tour providers constantly. If you look at using them, you can 
get 5% off every tour using my link   TipsForTravellers.com/ShoreExcursions 
and enter the code “TFT5” at check out.   Link also in the notes of this. That’s 
TipsForTravellers.com/ShoreExcursions   and the code is “TFT5” If they don’t appeal other good ones 
include Viator.com and VentureAshore.com. Because of the way things were, most writers,   bloggers and vloggers – including me – would 
strongly stress the importance of switching   your mobile phone off or onto “Airplane mode” 
when on a cruise to avoid costly roaming charges. If it connects to the ship 
satellite phone services,   and your phone starts downloading 
emails, updating apps and so on,   or you make or receive a call, the costs are 
absolutely astronomical. Like $6 a minute upwards. Until now, your only option was to buy rather 
costly cruise line Wi-Fi to stay connected. These days this tip is fast heading to being an 
overrated one, as there are fast emerging options   and packages from some mobile phone providers 
and eSim companies that work when cruising. For example, AT&T users in the United States 
can add a cruise package, which allows 1   gigabyte of data, talk and unlimited text on 
175 cruise ships at the time of recording. This worked for US AT&T users on that Explora 
Journeys trip I mentioned at the start of this. More providers are starting to offer this but 
check the exact offer and capability carefully. For example, I looked at some 
other providers, like T-Mobile,   which show that theoretically you could connect,   but on some ships, it was still $6 a minute 
but on others included in the cruise package. There is another option available to 
everyone and is what I tested out and   used on that Explora Journeys trip, which is 
a cruise package eSim. I used one from GigSky. GigSky is an e-SIM, so I didn’t have to change 
the Sim in my phone. It can be used on, at time   of recording, 220 cruise ships, and they then 
connect to Starlink or Satellite at Sea services. The advantage of this is it’s perfect for people 
who don’t want to be connected all the time,   so avoids buying a costly Wi-Fi package. Ideal for 
cruisers that want to occasionally check email,   do a bit of online browsing, and the 
occasional WhatsApp or FaceTime call home. So, for example, 3 gigabytes data for that 
Explora Journey trip cost me US $60, and I   could do web browsing, email, voice calls 
and even downloaded some Netflix shows to   watch. I did not use all the data, so if trying I 
suggest buy a smaller package as easy to add on. If you try any of these out, do still 
remember to check carefully and see if   you need to put your phone into Airplane 
Mode, with GigSky I had to switch off my   regular phone provider off, which was simple to 
do, so that did not connect to ship services. Find out more about GigSky 
and get 10% off any purchase   by visiting TipsForTravellers.com/GigSky 
and using the code “TFT10” at check out,   that’s TipsForTravellers.com/GigSky and the 
code “TFT10”. Link in the notes of this too. Another thing that I see many writers, bloggers,   and vloggers recommend as a tip 
is buying packages to save money. Things like those all-inclusive packages, 
such as Norwegian’s “More At Sea”,   Celebrity “Always Included”, Holland 
America “Have it All”, and Princess Plus,   or on lines without bundled packages then drinks, 
Wi-Fi, Speciality Dining, and Photo packages. But I think this tip is overrated too. Why? Do you really believe that cruise 
lines are going to offer packages   so we save money? Of course not! 
They have created and sell packages   because it means that we are going to 
spend more money on board – not less. Onboard spending is key to cruise lines 
profits, especially for value cruise   lines. They have low fares to get people 
on board and then it’s sell, sell, sell. They want us to buy and spend on board, 
and they’ve clearly found that packages   are a successful way of driving up 
the amount of money we spend on board. To confirm this, I do see in the reports that the 
cruise lines make every quarter to Wall Street,   all reporting how the amount that we spend 
per head on board is going up and up. Those reports also show that most passengers 
spend between another 50% and 100% of the fare   paid once on board. So, these packages 
are a significant part of that spend,   and I believe for most passengers buying 
things more ad hoc is likely to cost less. So, while I think the tip to buy 
packages is overrated for that reason,   I do concede that it’s not overrated as 
a tip in the following two situations. First, if like I do sometimes, I just want the 
convenience of buying a package. Knowing I’ve   paid for everything before I get on the ship 
can make the trip more enjoyable sometimes.   I don’t have to think about, 
nor track, what I’m spending. Second, they work when I have 
spent time to calculate if   will save me money based on my cruise habits. For many cruises, I will look at each of the 
packages and calculate if they are a saving. For example, premium and streaming 
Wi-Fi is important to me because I   always work on board and need to upload 
and download video files, and I like to   download or stream TV shows to keep up with them. So, in most cases the all-inclusive 
packages do not work at all as they   don’t include premium streaming Wi-Fi. 
So, it’s silly to buy a package which   includes Wi-Fi when I’m going to 
have to pay for what I really need. When it comes to drinks package, while I don’t 
drink alcohol, I do drink speciality coffees,   sodas, and alcohol-free beers so I compare 
buying ad hoc to what a package would cost   using easy-to-use online drinks 
package calculators like those   on Cruzely.com and CruiseMummy.co.uk 
sites. I have put links in the notes. Again, I find many of those all-inclusive packages   don’t work for me because they are 
including a big drinks package. But for alcohol drinkers, the drinks packages 
are based on and priced at including up to   15 drinks a day. So, consider if you are 
really going to drink that much every day,   or would ad hoc work out much cheaper. So, my tip is work out if the 
packages are really saving you   money do not assume they are a great deal I also think that there are many overrated 
tips when it comes to cruise cabins. So,   why don’t you join me over in this video where 
I talk about what I’m seeing smart cruisers do   these days when it comes to cabins and 
why you should too. See you over there.

I’m just back from a cruise on Explora Journeys Explora 2, and was disappointed how many passengers I met on there are still following cruise tips that frankly I know are overrated and out-of-date. Tips that many cruising articles and videos are still recommending cruisers use. I’m Gary Bembridge, and I want to tell you about four overrated cruise tips I think you should ditch overboard and (importantly) what you should be doing instead.

Links mentioned in the video – and savings on cruise products
* eSim by GigSky: Get 10% off using https://www.TipsForTravellers.com/GigSky and code “TFT10” at check out.
* 10% off any your personalised “The Cruise Maps” using https://www.TheCruiseMaps.com/TFT
* At least 10% of collectible landmark, city and country tokens and token holder using https://www.TheWanderClub.com/TFT and “TFT” at check out
* Save 5% off shore excursions at https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/shoreexcursions and “TFT5” at check out

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00:00 Start
00:27 Overrated Tip 1
03:15 Overrated Tip 2
06:28 Overrated Tip 3
09:58 Overrated Tip 4