Essential Cruise Tips – Details, episodes & analysis

On my last cruise, Cunard Queen Anne, I never ate in the buffet restaurant, on a recent Holland America cruise I ate lunch in there every day and on my Royal Caribbean Symphony of Seas cruise I ate most meals there. Why? It’s because I have a set of cruise buffet rules that I've developed over time that determine when I eat in the buffet, how I use it if I do, and what I will and won’t eat in there. After talking to other regular cruisers, I found they also follow a similar approach that I want to share with you. 

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

I am frequently contacted by stressed cruise passengers at the end of their tether, seeking my help on how to get out of a costly blunder they've made. In recent weeks, several cruisers have been in touch about the same four issues that seem to keep catching people out these days. I thought I needed to warn cruisers about them. As well as telling you about them, I will suggest how to solve them if you have, or do, find yourself caught up by one.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

I recently embarked on Holland America Eurodam to host one of my group cruises with some trepidation, because I'd had past fans of Holland America telling me they were falling out of love with the line, based on three recent changes. So, I felt this would be the perfect opportunity to put these to the test, as I could tap into the thoughts of everyone on my group cruise. And, based on what we discovered, you’ll hear where we found the concerns about Holland America are right, where they are not, and why.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

Experiences on my two last cruises reminded me that just because my cruise ship is calling into a port does not mean that I can assume it's safe for me to get off and explore. In fact, even in the two most popular cruising regions, the Caribbean and Mediterranean, many of the most visited ports are amongst the riskiest. Welcome aboard, I'm Gary Bembridge and I’m going to tell you what dangerous ports in these two regions to avoid, and how to keep yourself safe if you've got a cruise booked that's going to one of them. Link mentioned in the video: Carole Copeland Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/conversations-with-carole/id218435600

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

The Indian Pacific is one of the famous and costliest train journeys in the world travelling 2,700 miles (4,352 kilometres) between Sydney and Perth Australia. So, I had very high expectations, but before we even got on board, I started to have concerns as things were going wrong which would have been fine if it was just me and my partner travelling, but we had booked two cabins in the premium Platinum class carriages to take my mother-in-law on a special once-in-a-lifetime trip for her 80th birthday. Adding even more pressure for this to be perfect. Join me as I share our experience on this famous train over the 3 nights and 4 days it takes, and if I thought it was worth it all by the end.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

One of the more frequently asked questions I see on cruise message boards is: “what can I ask my cabin steward to bring or do for me?”. As I keep seeing the same limited list of suggestions, I decided to make this as, based on my experience, I can see cruisers are missing out on many more things cabin stewards can do and bring.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

Oceania Cruises is one of my all-time favourite cruise lines, and so I was incredibly excited to try their new class of ships. Until I did. I went on Vista, the first of this new class, and despite many great things, that I will tell you about, there is (for me anyway, and some others I spoke to) one deal breaker that means I will be sticking to their older ships unless something changes.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

I’ve just returned from back-to-back Caribbean cruises on two very different ships, the massive 6,000 passenger Symphony of the Seas and the smaller 1,200 passenger Oceania Vista. And on both, despite their dramatic differences, I was amazed how many people were still getting the same five things wrong that I’ve seen on every Caribbean cruise I’ve done over the years. I want to warn you about them, so you can avoid them.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

Anyone close to cruising knows that cruise lines are incredibly involved with trains and train travel. Some even own and operate them, including some of the most famous and iconic ones, as you will hear. That’s why they really want us to do three things: book train travel before cruises, during cruises as excursions, and after the cruise.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

I told my friends not to book the cruise as it was one that I keep warning cruisers to stay well clear of as they almost always disappoint. But they insisted and sadly, three days before they were due to depart, what I feared would happen did. It was cancelled. I’m Gary Bembridge and I’m here to warn you about this and 5 cruises I suggest you NEVER book, along with tips of what to do instead - or how to reduce your risk if you really do want to do them.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers