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I was staggered when three quarters of
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Cruisers told me they were unhappy with
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one big change the cruise lines are
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making this year it was a poll of over 7
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000 cruisers on my channel in fact one
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felt so strongly they commented that
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cruising as we know it is about to
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disappear well is it well there are
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signs that it is going to be rather
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different to what we're used to welcome
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aboard I'm Gary bembridge and it's my
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goal to make it fun and easy to discover
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plan and enjoy Unforgettable Cruise
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vacations and here's six ways I think
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cruising will be very different from
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here on the reason for all that upset
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was triggered initially by the news that
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Norwegian Cruise Line are giving most
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cabin grades once a day service removing
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evening turndown reducing the numbers of
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State Room stewards and all while also
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increasing gratuities most Cruisers said
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they felt it's less service for more
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whatever you do whether you agree or not
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it does reflect some key changes that
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are underway across all lines affecting
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our cruising from here on cruise lines
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are actively looking to cut back in many
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areas and squeeze more out of us on
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board as they look to improve their
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finances that's why many lines are
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cutting cabin servicing two once a day
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like piano cruises Carnival Norwegian
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and so on all long gratuities have
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already increased by around 10 recently
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others have also said cutbacks are going
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to be made in the food bill
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the carnival group CEO announced that he
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is absolutely looking at reducing their
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food bill across the lines and I've
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started seeing that on some of the
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cruises I've been on recently I actually
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spoke about smaller menus in a recent
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Majestic Princess Cruise video on the
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Holland America conningsdam trip I'm
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just back from there were up charges for
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lobster and steak in the main dining
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room and now there were charges if I
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wanted to order an extra main course in
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the specialty dining restaurants just as
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I Was preparing this both Royal
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Caribbean and Carnival increased drinks
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packages Wi-Fi and Specialty dining
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costs another thing that I spotted with
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drinks packages is on some lines they've
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increased the price of some individual
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drinks especially Cocktails so they fall
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out of the drinks package limit for
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example on my recent Holland America
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cruise if you had the drinks package
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Cruisers I often saw had to pay the
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difference between the drink package
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maximum drink limit and the actual cost
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of a growing number of cocktails on
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board I think we should expect other
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cutbacks and up charges moving in across
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the year I do think though that despite
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these increases in cutbacks adding to
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the cost of our cruises and perhaps
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reducing the value from before cruising
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is still a good value as a vacation for
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this year and next considering what is
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still included there's also land-based
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travel is also getting much pricier too
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one-way cruising will change this year
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is a policy change as Barb a big
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follower of the channel discovered when
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her and her husband called cobid on a
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recent Queen Victoria cruise and that
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has isolate within their cabin unlike
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when shutdown ended most Cruise Lines no
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longer offer future Cruise credit for
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days that anyone must isolate on board
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nor will they cover any post Cruise
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Arrangements these days so we have to
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have our own insurance to cover this and
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we then have to claim from our own
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provider or Bob actually got was a
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letter confirming that they had covered
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and they had to go to the insurer to
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basically get compensation and so on I
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know just for example on my upcoming
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region 70s Navigator cruise to the
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Caribbean that in their terms and
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conditions they will only give future
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Cruise credit if I get covert and have
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to isolate if I have proof of an
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independent negative covert test before
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boarding so while onboard rules have
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pretty much been lifted covert may still
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affect cruising so you do need to be
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ready so for example while making this
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and preparing for this some lines
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reintroduced pre-cruise covet test
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requirements for anyone having recently
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been in China or with Chinese passports
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now that may be a thing of the past by
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the time you watch this but shows how we
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all need to be aware rules may change at
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very short notice another area that may
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affect as it's already affected to me in
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2023 our new ship delays many ships that
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were due to come into service have been
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pushed back Cunard Queen Anne which was
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due to come into service roughly at the
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end of 2023 had to cancel all their
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cruises including mine that I was booked
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on right through to May 2024 they're
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only coming to service Carnival Jubilee
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delayed from October to December 2023 I
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was booked on Norwegian Viva and that
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was delayed and I had to change all my
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cruise plans right back to November the
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supply chain and shipyard delays make it
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in my view really important to avoid
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booking Maiden voyages as a really
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sensible choice because chances of delay
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are high I'm also avoiding choosing
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dates close to launch because so far
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ships that are coming to Service as
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often is the case on Maiden voyages are
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just not fully ready when they sell for
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example piano Arriva set sail on their
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maiden voyage just before Christmas it
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was Is Not Great from reports as they
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couldn't cope with the dining and on
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Christmas Day passengers who were booked
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for seven o'clock were only getting into
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the dining room at 10 o'clock at night I
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of course were following various
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Travelers and vloggers on things like
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the carnival celebration made in Voyage
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Crossing Atlantic having lots of issues
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there Royal Caribbean one of the Seas
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many issues as with Norwegian Prima and
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so on so I recommend big cautious like
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me about booking new ships for 2023 and
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into 2024 and maybe stick with those
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that are already in service one thing
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for certain is expect much full of ships
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ahead as I found out it's a big shock if
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you've cruised in 2021 or 2022 when many
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ships were only 50 to 60 percent full
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I've seen Carnival Corporation Royal
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Caribbean group and Norwegian groups all
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saying they expect in summer they will
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run at 100 and often above 100 capacity
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ships can sell over 100 percent because
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the weight capacity is measured is based
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on the number of fixed beds so
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particularly if you have families on
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board with three or four per cabin that
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shows as over capacity the cruise lines
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are focusing very heavily on filling
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ships this year and next and this will
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be the case especially in the Caribbean
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Alaska and in the Mediterranean Carnival
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and other lines have said that they're
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increasing now their marketing spent to
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get more people on board and this leads
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me to my next key point of a critical
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thing to expect I think we will all see
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an evolution who is on board our
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favorite lines this coming year and
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certainly into the next one
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cruise lines are going heavily with that
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new spend after new to cruise and I'm
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also seeing many more families even on
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lines which traditionally have not been
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targeted at nor had many families I've
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had that on Celebrity in the
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Mediterranean Princess Cruises in Alaska
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and even Holland America in the
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Caribbean recently so if you are looking
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for a more adult or couples experience
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you should choose adult only lines like
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Viking or virgin voyages or cruise out
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of those key holiday periods and on
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longer or more exotic cruises another
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impact I'm seeing is that as ships fill
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up fairs are increasing and deals are
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likely to be less easy to get by waiting
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for close to departure deals I've seen a
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big shift in fares through 2023 and even
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more so heading into 2024.
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I've been comparing Cruisers and fairs
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so for example I'm Cunard I did two
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trips with them in 202 Queen Mary 2
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crossing and Queen Elizabeth
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Mediterranean I'm actively looking at
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doing a Crossing with them in 2023 and
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I'm already booked on Queen Anne for
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2024 and I'm seeing fares for the same
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grade and basically the same trips have
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increased in that period by up to 30 so
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that's 30 from 2022 to 2024. now no
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doubt this is due to Growing demand
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which means the Lions Dynamic pricing
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systems which increase fares as the ship
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fills up are kicking in but also of
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course projections on fuel costs and
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inflation this of course means you and I
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need to track fares more than ever using
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sites like cruisewatch.com or
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cruiseline.com in case we can claw back
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some money if they fall if the fares
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fall but I'm already I'm seeing alerts
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of prices going up on cruises I book for
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2023 like this one I just got a big
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change from the constant alerts saying
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prices were going down for those cruises
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that I had in 2022 when I actually got
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money back a couple of times I think
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we're also less likely to get deals by
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waiting and booking later in the year
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and next year so I'm planning much
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further ahead than ever for this and
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certainly for next year and I'm nabbing
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now attractive deals at the launch of
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itineraries before it looks like fares
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are just going to keep drifting upwards
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one positive upside this year and next
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is world is opening again to cruising so
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even places like Japan are back on and
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World Cruisers are running again and so
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excitedly my cruise around Japan is back
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on which I'm very excited about and some
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of the more exotic cruises I've got
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planned are also going to be going now
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though of course Baltic Cruisers look
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set to exclude Russia for at least 2023
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and I think likely Beyond we can go to
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many more places than we had perhaps
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hoped we would do as we look ahead if
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you found this interesting why not watch
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this video and get some Cruise Insider
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tips on how to book getting the best
10:13
fare possible these days which as I said
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is becoming more difficult see you over
