another reason to forgo a drink package is that you may have excursions/beach all inclusive that supply drinks, or you may want to try the local specialties ashore

Also if choosing a balcony cabin research where the smoking areas of the ship are. If you hate smelling smoke when sitting on your balcony, like I do, you don’t want a cabin one or two decks above the smoking area.

I'm an avid cruiser, but never considered taking a photo of the port agent details. Thank you very much, Gary!

These are great tips and I wholeheartedly agree with you regarding travel insurance. My Dad suffered a massive heart attack at the port of Phu My in Vietnam a few years ago. If it had not been for our travel insurance I don’t mind telling you we would have certainly lost our house. The one tip I would add to this: take the insurance policy PDS with you. My Dad was old school and printed out a hard copy, at the time I thought it was a waste of space in the luggage etc but I quickly learned how important it would be. After he was taken to hospital I was able to study it, from that I knew exactly what he was entitled to claim, what to ask for etc, etc. The port guides were invaluable in this situation also and your tip about always having their details with you is so important.

I have spoken with Port Agents and they are the best source of how to travel on my own in port! They told me where to eat and it was a lovely conversation!

Good tip about drinks package. I also suggest waiting to buy one until you get on board. We did the maths many different ways and could not justify the cost. When we got on the ship the maitre d’ offered a buy-one-get-one package and it tipped the numbers in our favor. Thanks again, Gary.

Very, very important tips. Things happen and having cruise ship's contact info on hand while out sightseeing locally in port is very important, time and cost saving And reduce anxiety.

About the travel insurance, I'm fairly certain that if you live in Europe and you cruise in the Mediterranean, your home insurance can include travel insurance, so check that before you pay for an insurance you don't really need. My sister got sick in Cyprus one year, we're from Sweden, and the hospital visit didn't cost her anything. But again, I'm not swearing by it, so check first!

Always remember to buy into the " Burial At Sea " option.

If the Captain says to be back on the ship by 3pm, be on board by 2:30pm. We spent about $8k for our trip and had trip insurance for every dime of it.

Thanks Gary😊 for the valuable information I’ll need it when I go on my Europe cruise

Love your series, you have great insight from all of your travels. Thank you!

Great tip on taking the daily schedule with you to have those important phone numbers! My 2nd cruise is in 40 days!

The tip about choosing the right cabin is NOT something I've thought about before. Thank You!

I've been on several cruises but never thought of some of these tips. I was able to walk away with some good tips from this video. I'll be sure to take a photo of the itinerary and get travel insurance, thanks for the tips Gary.

As a former travel agent I use to know a lot of insightful tips for cruising but haven’t been on a ship for a very long time. As I like to be an informed traveler before I go in May 2020, I’m watching a few of your Cruise Tips and they are extremely informative. In this day of mega-technology where everyone wants to be their own travel agent, there’s a lot to know before you embark on one of the most beautiful and exciting vacations of ones life!! Not for everyone but a truly awesome experience it can be. Bon Voyage

Perfect to know about solo cabin alerts. Thank you, GB.

I can second your recommendation to choose the exact cabin you like. We received an upgrade from a 4 berth outside cabin to a suite on Holland America (it was a really good upgrade :) ) on an Alaska cruise and found ourselves directly below the pool. Being awoken every morning at 5 am by ship's staff dragging lounge chairs pretty much turned me off ocean cruising for quite some time.

Hi Gary!! I'm going on my first ever cruise very shortly!! These tips are really useful in knowing what to expect.

Useful and concise information, again. Thanks!

These are good tips for first time cruisers. The best thing to do is talk to the crew to see where they get free wi-fi in ports. The drink packages are great if you like to drink because they include ALL drinks, including water, soda, milkshakes, etc. And you don't have to worry about how much you're spending. Of course, if you are a person who does not drink at least 4 alcoholic beverages a day, don't buy a drink package.

I just want you to know that I really love the insightful information you share in your videos. The more I listen the more I save when cruising around the world via Royal Caribbean International Cruise Line. You are awesome!!!👑

You are a seasoned traveller. So helpful tips. Wow...keep up the good work of enlightening travellers 🙏🙏

Thank you Gary, really useful tips!

Always so informative. Thank you!

Very useful and helpful information. I had no idea that one of my credit cards charges a 3 % surcharge on purchases made in the Caribbean, while another one of my credit cards has no surcharge at all. Your video saved me money on my upcoming; January 2020 Caribbean and Panama Canal Cruise. Great video! Thanks for sharing this information...Ed

Gary when you say "Solo cabins" it sounds a LOT like "Solar cabins". I actually googled it thinking it was something about solar-powered and would cost less in electricity or so :)

I try to watch all of your videos you give the best information thank you in the city

Those were fantastic tips, and personally I hadn't considered the exchange rates! I'm going to purchase one of those prepaid cards, and hopefully that will save me some money.

Thank you for your video, I learned a lot

I'm very glad I watched this. I'm leaving to go on a cruise tomorrow and am glad I watched the port agent tip now, so it's fresh.

Great tips Gary, thanks!

Thank you for the Tips👍

Good tips, Gary, thank you! :-)

Love that first tip because many of our clients don't think they need travel insurance but it's so important!

Re paying for a cruise, I booked a cruise, payment was in US$. I have a NZ$ a/c, also. UK Pound account. I Compared the currency conversion charges before I paid up. UK Pound charged 2.9%, NZ$ charged 1.8 %, it made a very big saving by paying from my NZ$ a/c. It pays to do a bit of research!

very good advice...thank you

Thank you good advice

Great video Gary.

As always, Gary, this was valuable information presented concisely! Travel insurance saved me thousands of dollars when I fell ill just prior to an Alaska cruise.

Thank you Gary . I just completed a lengthy cruise and all your points were spot on. I sailed with Princess and arranged for them to show my final account balance in Australian dollars. They charged a small fee but I knew exactly how much would be charged to my debit card before I disembarked. I think you would be great at giving port lectures while on the cruise ships.

Great point on exchange rate. Always do a quick math check before hitting that green OK button at an ATM. 2 weeks ago at FRA airport, took 200 Euros out at $1 USD = 0.90 Euro. A few days later in Sorrento, Italy, that ATM's exchange rate was $1 USD = 0.80 Euro. Tourist trap indeed!

I love the drink packages. On Royal Caribbean you can also get bottled water, fancy coffee, fresh juice, smoothies, as well as alcoholic drinks. Watch for specials as the cruise line will often do a random discount. Do the math.

Never book a cabin below the waterline. If you do, don't open the port hole. If you agree to help row the ship, don't forget to tip the Whipper.

Good tips

Personally, I would love seeing Gary Bembridge officiate a belly flop competition on a fun cruise.

Good tip about taking a photo of the phone numbers for the ship

You point out that it's important to choose the correct cruise line. So I'd be grateful if you were brave enough to make a video explaining which line is best for which demographic. You don't need to be quite so blunt as to say this line caters to the old and rich while that line is for the young and drunk, but a more subtle breakdown of which line is best for particular people would be great. Thanks.

6:07 is why I always take the cruise line excursions!!

take buses, switch off wifi, does your ship include wifi? don't buy a drinks package. manually set your time on phone...be on ship time and make sure you know the all aboard time. take a photograph on your phone of the port info details and numbers to contact. wash your hands alot to avoid neurovirus. choosing the wrong cruise line...choosing the right cabin.

As the daughter of a former travel agent, I have to agree on just about all of these. I always choose my own cabin, no matter which price point. I also say no to upgrades. I have found that my version of an upgrade and the cruise lines are not always the same. I have a yearly travel insurance policy that covers all trips throughout the year. It includes my pre-existing conditions and I paid extra to cover COVID related illness. The piece of mind that came with it was free, and allows me to enjoy my trip where ever it may be. I usually don't purchase the drink package on a port intensive cruise. Spending more time off the ship provides less available hours that it is needed. Also, being a solo traveler, I can bring my own collapsible water bottle and fill it at the buffet, fitness center, and other locations on the ship. It folds up, to save space in my suitcase. Lastly, if I am going on a excursion, I want be certain that the ship will wait if we are late, so I only book through them. I have no desire to become a pier runner!

Thanks mate 🙂

For some of us, NOT buying the drink package can be a costly mistake. It's easy to lose track of how much you're spending especially on sea days when you're bored and hanging out at the bar all day. I got a very unpleasant surprise bill. I ended up spending about double the cost of the drink package!

Good tips Gary, but I always use my debit card when abroad, both to pay for food etc and for withdrawing cash. There is a foreign transaction charge, but overall the exchange rate is always much better than you can get by using a foreign currency service. With my bank the exchange rate is a commercial one rather than a tourist one and that can make quite a difference.

The cruise insurance contracts are full of pitfalls. You think you are covered, but you are not. Read the fine print. They have many disclaimers.

Thanks for the great tips

Plus sometimes the drink package have rules. So you might not be able to get drinks.

We always take excursions from cruise line. Yes it costs more. But I feel myself much safer and alway sure that we will be back on time. Especially when excursion takes place on 1 hour driving from the ship like, for example, Rome from Chivitaveccia.

lots of great tips... Thank you. I'm not so sure about the don't use your credit card in a foreign country because of the exchange rate? My understanding is that Visa/MC give you the exact current rate to the penny instead of the local merchant rounding it to 18 or 20 to 1 or whatever.

Another important tip on exchanging money is to avoid getting money at currency exchange booths in airports, go to a local bank in that country where you will get the going rate of exchange for your money, which will save you a lot of money.

@ 1:49 what's the ship that is making Symphony of the Seas look small?

hello friends I see that you agree that silence is golden. I also want a quiet cabin not next to the fitness center or disco or swimming pool.

If WiFi is a concern ask the employees where they at the next stop get WiFi or for that matter store goods. They all know. 😀😎 hope that helps. Also on a side note the ship excursions as far as I know wait for you if something happens along the way.

Gary, which ship were you on? The solo cabin was very nice.

Do you know anything about cruises that offer dialysis for passengers anD what is offered for handicapped passengers, ( those in wheelchairs). Thanks

first costly mistake is not budgeting for excursions. cant stress enough, ocean cruises will not take you to berlin, london, paris, granada, figueres, cordoba, seville, rome, florence, milano, brussels.....

What about the price of buying ticket how can it be lower? What month is best to book ? Were is the best in prices? Also there is a lots of cruise that dont have rooms for 5 people 🙁🤔

This is a very good well thought out list.

On my last cruise to New Caledonia I took some French Pacific Francs. Used a ball park exchange of 500xpf=$A5 and 1000xpf=$10A, Not exact, but if someone wanted to charge me 1000xpf for a cup of coffee I knew they were too dear

Is it extra money to work with an agent? Or is there commission included in what you pay for your cruise trip?

Wife and going on our first cruise. Picked R. Carribean enchantment/seas. 5 night Western Caribbean. Offered on the phone with RC rep was drink package of $335 p/p I declined thinking maybe something better offered later. Is it best just for me only? Or where do they offer potentially lower drink package prices? One friend told me to sign up once onboard.... Suggestions,?

Yes, insurance is important, but it is also important to know what insurance you are buying. Say you fall and break your leg on board, you go to the clinic and have it treated by the ship doctor. The medical office will charge it to your shipboard account, and you pay it with the credit card on file. what happen to the insurance you bought? They will tell you to call the insurance company to file the claim for reimbursement. Then, the insurance company will ask who is your primary insurance company. File the claim with the primary insurance first, then they will cover the remainder. In other words, travel insurance is a secondary insurance. It only covers what the primary insurance does not cover. So, what do you do? Check your primary insurance first. Not all insurance policies are created equal. If you have a very good health insurance, chances are you may not need a travel insurance at all. Travel insurance does cover expenses strictly related to travel and not health related. So, you should understand what you are buying.

How do you think Starlink will change access to the internet on future cruises?

What travel insurance agency do you suggest?

My wife and I are cruising with P&O next year on the IONA and like this year back in May on the Britannia we had to provide proof of travel insurance before we could board and all UK Travel companies and Airlines insist you have insurance either theirs or comparable cover from elsewhere and you have proof of that . Is that not the same in the US?

I love rowdy parties!!!

Great Tips ~ in particular your # 1 tip ~ Travel Insurence ! I notice lots of travelers/cruisers do not heed this advice. Please evaluate your thought process to this idea. Look at Travel Insurance the same exact way that you view your HOME FIRE EXTINGUISHERS. I hope that I never need either of these items however if I need these safeguards ~ They immediataly become my Most Prized Possession.

Some really great tips in this, and some I have abided by for some time now... I am a big QM2 fan and am doing a B2B to NY next year for my 40th. Sadly, as a solo, that is the one thing Cunard never seem to offer at a lesser rate... But, I have learned to go with specific cabin numbers, chose carefully and I also go along with the "NO UPGRADE" option. If the upgrade was simply to a suite, then that would be fine. But, there are so many sub categories within, say, the balcony cabins, that you might end up with something that you personally don't think it a better cabin, but the cruise line have put in a higher category etc. Also with Drinks packages. I don't do them any more. I don't drink enough to make them worthwhile. Some days I just don't fancy anything, and don't want to feel like I am having to force myself to drink, jut because I have already paid for it. I have never come to the end of a sailing and been shocked by the bill... I am petty good at keeping a rough idea in my head as to how much I am spending, and as I don't drink a lot, then its nothing to worry about! Great video, as always! :)

I swear my family is the poster child for trip insurance. We’ve had multiple incidents where someone has ended up in hospital during a vacation. The cruise situation was pretty terrible. My dad went into diabetic shock. He had a blood sugar over 600 which for those of you in Europe (or who don’t know) is extremely high. Our goal is to be around 120 2 hours after a meal. Basically what amounted to about 24 to 36 hours worth of care was over $4000 and they do not take your health insurance on board the ship. At this point our cruise ship docked in Saint Thomas. We were disembarked and my father was taken by ambulance to the local hospital. Being disembarked in Saint Thomas was good for us because it was American soil and they took his health insurance at the hospital. We still had a serious co-pay. We also had the cost of my hotel room at $159 a night. Air flight home once dad was released. Food for me and for dad once he was released, etc. by the point that we disembarked our accounts had been tapped out by the cruise line. So one of my brothers wired me $1000 and my other brother bought the plane tickets home. That was another $800. Thankfully he got some kind of discount either military or emergent travel. Now all this said it wasn’t our choice to go without trip insurance because of an incident where my mother broke her leg in China when she was alive. The trip was it self my dad’s bosses’ idea of a Christmas party. They found a really great deal for a seven day cruise and said then let’s do this. Why they thought my father should cruise without trip insurance I don’t know. The worst part in all of this is that we found out I was diabetic on the cruise but I refused to go to the medical unit. Just to go see the medical unit to get a bottle of insulin and some syringe is to hold me over until we got somewhere where I could be treated like Saint Thomas or home was over $500. I did get treatment for my diabetes once I was back at home. By the way ladies and gentlemen a cruise ship is not where you want to find out you are diabetic

What's a good currency app that doesn't use data?

What so you think about restaurant packages or water packages? Would love to hear your opinion/experience on these.

Help. I need your advise. How can we connect. Thank you.

About data charges on your phone, even with unlimited data plans, it may be best to contact your carrier and inquire about using data internationally. Only 5.5 years ago, I worked on the Verizon project through a company that handled customer service, and I was asked and I offered to initiate this feature so that data was less expensive when a customer was about to travel internationally. Just inquire.

Gary you nailed it. And don't start a diet the day before you embark. And stay away from the casinos.

hi...im interested in more info about travelling solo...any tips you have would be great

Luckily I have Tmobile which lets me roam in Mexico for no extra cost! When I arrive in Port my phone comes on other than that its off or in airplane mode!

Have you heard anything about the the new Norwegian Encore. If do any tips etc? I hear there is a lot of things that are extra!

I have checked the solo cabins out. At the end of the day, I saved $1.

I’m glad you mentioned about choosing the right cruise line, because when I went to Carnival it was the most scummiest people on earth.

#8: we all know how to wash our hands properly now!

Hi Gary. I'm UK based. I would love to take my 8 year old son on a cruise. This would most likely be a one off as we aren't wealthy. Which cruise line, destination and type of room would you recommend? I'm in my mid 50s and we are pretty sociable.

Do you think being a loyal customer to a cruise line is a real benefit to the cruiser?

*BOOZE* is very expensive...good thing I never drink it

Tip five has a simple answer, just ask the crew when will the ship leave. 👍 ☺🙂😉😎🕰 🚢 🛳

$80 a day in drinks at cruise prices? That’s easy. The average drink runs 8-15.

I watched this video with bemused interest. No way am I interested in a cruise of any shape or form - too organised for me and much too slow.! I just want to get on my motorbike and hit the roads...(Suzuki GIXR 1000K3) How ever, the thought and work that went into your video was massive for those who are not too sure about cruises and how they work. That's about it, broom broom, I'm off..................................

"ad hoc" is "for this purpose only"....

It's an additional $300 for me to choosr my own cabin... 😢

OK, let's cover each point: 1) NOT HAVING TRAVEL INSURANCE. Pretty much spot on, although in most cases you won't make use of it. On my last cruise, the only reason I needed travel insurance for was because the gorillas at the departure dock in NYC threw mt luggage around with so much carelessness that they smashed my camera inside. It was well protected yet still the way they handled it smashed the screen on the back. I was able to pick up a replacement camera in St. Marten, a professional model AND a lens at half the price I could have gotten state side. BUT JUST REMEMBER THE CRUISE LINE WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING! They wanted nothing to do with my claim about the smashed camera. 2) EXCURSIONS. In most cases just as costly (relatively speaking) as the cruise itself. 3) WI-FI AND ROAMING. Really, if you are THAT addicted to your cellphone that you can't go on a cruise without using it constantly, you deserve any costs incurred. Put the damn thing away for the duration, unless of course it's your only medium to use for taking snapshots. But come on, do you REALLY have to be texting? The only reason I am even bringing a phone is for a possible emergency driving to the dock and back home. Once I'm out of the car, it gets turned off and put away. 4) DRINKS PACKAGES. It seems like the cost between buying drinks and a drinks package is close to being the same. With drinks costing $10 - $20 per drink, it doesn't take all that long for the cost to reach the package level. Even soda (pop) costing between $5 - $10 for a single 12 oz can, you're going to spend a lot of money on drinks either way. 5) ALL-ABOARD TIME. Buy a cheap watch, set it to the proper time and forget about it. Again, it's the need of people to rely on their cell phones to make their lives work that can easily be by-passed. And it's much quicker and easier than dealing with a phone, accessing the settings, changing the time, etc. 6) PORT AGENT DETAILS. Again, just take it with you. Why go through all the nonsense of taking a photo of it and bringing your cellphone along? You KNOW you're not going to be able to read it without lots of finger swipes to enlarge the screen and then pushing the image around to find the portion of the photo you want to observe. If you're with a spouse, BOTH of you bring one. 7) SOLO SURCHARGES. Most likely correct on all points here. 8) HAND WASHING. Good points. 9) RIGHT CRUISE LINE. Unless you're 100% completely made of disposable money, you're usually going to book with the line that offers the biggest bang for the buck and departs from an accessible location. Spending an extra $1000+ on airline flights to destination cities is not an option to all. So in most cases your cruise line choices are limited. Getting familiar with specific cruise lines and how they operate and what kinds of customers they attract involves tens of thousands of dollars spent over the years. Not many people can afford that, either. And unless you know people who have cruised before, and can give you their personal accounts of their trip, you're on your own to find the info you're looking for. No cruise line is going to advertise that they host several parties a day with drunken and disrespectful louts at all hours of the day and night. 10) THE RIGHT CABIN. Pretty much spot on. 11) CURRENCY. If your whole idea behind a cruise was to go shopping, why worry about the currency and exchange rate? You've already plopped down thousands of dollars for a boat ride to the store or shop, and now you're concerned about not spending more than you should? Really now.

I’m never going on a cruise. It looks a nightmare and a money trap