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while the cheapest way to go to
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Antarctica is on a regular Cruise Line
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and ship sailing past the Antarctic
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Peninsula as part of a South American
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itinery there is a huge catch making it
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way less fulfilling these Cruises Only
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sell through the region you will not
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step on the seventh continent nor will
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you experience Landings or zodiac rides
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to get close to Penguins seals Birds
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glaciers explore ancient whaling
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stations explore Huts or visit Antarctic
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research stations you may be lucky
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enough to see Welles from the ship but
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mostly you'll just be sailing past the
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landscapes for a true Antarctic
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experience an expedition cruise is the
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way to go they will do all of that stuff
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and be led by an expedition team of
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scientists historians geologists and
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marine biologists who give talks and
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will escort you on the zodiacs and when
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you do The Landings however as the cost
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of these cruises can be prohibitive to
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most I asked my friend Martin Johnson
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who runs polar Roots a dedicated
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Antarctic and Artic travel agency to
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help me identify the most budget
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friendly ways to get there welcome
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aboard I'm Gary bembridge and here's
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what I discovered plus by the way Mar
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and I have especially created document
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with a comprehensive list of lines
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prices and options for you to download
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more on that later because first I want
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to kick off with six key tips and steps
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on how to find and do an expedition
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cruise to polar regions without breaking
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the B bank first go at cheaper times of
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the year because they do exist October
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November the start of the season and
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March the end of the season tend to be
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the cheapest times to go both are
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actually though my favorite times to go
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for the following reasons now early in
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the season which is October and November
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it means pristine snow covered
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Landscapes lots of floating ice and
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icebergs as a summer Thor starts and
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because it's the start of the breeding
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season there's a lot of and very frisky
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water life on the beaches and busy and
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active Penguins all over whales are also
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returning at the end of the season in
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March there are great sunsets there's
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loads of whales there's still penguins
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and seals though they tend to be few in
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numbers you will also start to see
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floating pancake ice as the sea begins
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to refreeze so both are fantastic
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however timing is everything when you
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book too surprisingly there are several
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great times to book during the year one
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of the very best is when the Lions
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launch their new season
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which will be up to 2 years ahead now
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they usually launch them about the
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Autumn and that's when you're going to
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get the best prices possible for example
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I booked a Pont Antarctic Rossy
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Expedition Cruise the week it was
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launched and I got 30% off plus a low
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only 15% solar supplement that deal soon
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disappeared in the days that followed
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another good time to look for deals is
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January and February known as wave
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season it's a busy booking period and
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the the lines do have to have sharp
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deals to compete against the other lines
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trying to get bookings at this time it's
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also worth looking at Black Friday cyber
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Munday deals some lines to offer those
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but not as many as classic lines one tip
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that I did not expect that Martin told
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me is that summer can be a good time to
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look to book because he said and I quote
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booking polar cruises when it's hot and
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sunny is not natural for most and
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therefore sales for all lines tend to be
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slower and they're kener to secure any
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inquiries so it's worth looking then
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last minut deals by the way are way less
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common for Expedition cruises because
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people are planning way ahead due to
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cost and save up availability is fairly
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limited but they are possible however
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watch out because last minute flight
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cost could wipe out any savings you get
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from booking your cruises earlier so how
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do you stay on top of all of those
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options and not miss out do what I do
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and sign up for specialist polar cruise
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travel agent email newsletters like for
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example the one from Polar Roots as well
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as those for any Expedition Cruise Line
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that appeal to you because those are
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where you're going to see deals
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announced that's how I found out about
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panon for example next you need to focus
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on where you go to have an incredible
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experience but at a more manageable cost
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I recommend focusing on the most Classic
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itinery this is the an Arctic Peninsula
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and South shetland's Route usually
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lasting 10 nights and sailing from a
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shire it is the most affordable option
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because it has fewer days than many
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other itineries and as all lines do this
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route there is more Choice more
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competition ition and more budget
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options although they are incredible I
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recommend skipping the longer and so way
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more expensive Forkland and South
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Georgia itineries because these are
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around 3 weeks long I also recommend
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skipping the Antarctic Bridge options
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where you set you fly over Drake Passage
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and join the ship in the region because
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the flights make them quite a big
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premium also skip the subarctic Islands
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in southern Antarctica the Ross seies
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from New Zealand because they're also
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long about 3 weeks there's very few
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options and they cost a lot of money
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with those General tips for finding
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polar Expedition Cruisers in mind I want
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to turn attention to specifics on
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finding the right line and the right
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cabin within a budget the good news is
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there are many options many more than
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I'd appreciated as I'd fall into the
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Trap of thinking mostly of lines
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familiar to me from regular
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cruising so things like the Expedition
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wings of lines like Silvera Seaborn and
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however there are 21 Expedition lines
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that Martin recommends considering and
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he split them into four categories
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budget premium luxury and Ultra Luxury
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all of these are listed in that document
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we've developed along with more
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information on each including things
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like Fair inclusions the size of the
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Expedition team and entry level pricing
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I'm going to give you a download link
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for that at the end of this however
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before getting into the lines in each
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category I must warn you that even
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budget Expedition cruising is
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unfortunately still pretty costly polar
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Expeditions will cost at least $600 it's
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about £480 per person per day so you're
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looking at a minimum of $6,000 £4,800
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for a standard 10day cruise and F can go
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up to four or five times that based on
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the cruise line but remember that price
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includes many things that regular
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cruises do not all Landings and
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excursions talks a 15 to 20 person
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Expedition team sometimes some of the
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gear you need and so on
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in our Expedition lines document you
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will see budget lines actually include
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several single ship or small fleets and
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some of the smallest Expedition ships
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including surprisingly an 8 person
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sailing ship budget lines include antar
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G Adventures oceanwide and kot and fairs
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are from about $600 per person per day
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next up are the premium lines like a
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Expeditions Albatross and Artica 21
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Heritage HX which is H grutin lindblad
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National Geographic polar latitudes and
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Quark with faes from about $800 per
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person per day then there are the luxury
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lines like Atlas ocean haac Lloyd Swan
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helenic and Viking fairs for these are
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about $11,000 per person per day at the
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top of the path from a luxurious point
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of view are the Ultra Luxury lines like
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Pont Seaborn silver sea and Scenic the
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fairs here start from around
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$1,200 per person per day but even once
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you choose the best category of line to
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make your Expedition Cruise meet your
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budget there are some tricks and tips of
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cabins that I can give you to help your
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budget first many budget lines have
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cabins for up to four people of the same
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sex to share which can significantly
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lower the fair if you're happy to share
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some of the premium lines also offer
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sharing options details in that document
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next focus on older ships within a fleet
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because they can also be cheaper for
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example quark's older ships World
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Explorer and Ocean Explorer are quite a
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bit less expensive than the newer
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ultramarine ship similarly silver SE
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older ships Silver Cloud and silver wind
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actually have Ocean View Cabins while
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their newest silver Endeavor only has
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more costly balcony cabins and up which
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of course cost way more there is another
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booking option that could drive down
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costs that you should consider it's one
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that very few people think of and that
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is to look for groups and group
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discounts as they can be below any
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advertised rate that I've spoken about
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for example polar Roots offer hosted
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departures on some lines and sailings
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these have lower fairs but also have
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group perks like extra onboard credit
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complimentary dinners in special
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restaurants cocktail parties Captain's
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dinner behind the scene tours and all of
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these are hosted by a member of his team
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so look out for those and of course
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others that similar agencies may be
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offering friends of mine have also been
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on a group organized by the University
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alumni Society they had a discounted
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rate so look out for other groups that
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you may be linked to that may offer
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those too or you could actually organize
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your own group too now Martin told me
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that polar Roots can often negotiate
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discounts with cruise lines if you have
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five or six people wanting to book the
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same sailing and if you can arrange a
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larger group say 12 or more you can
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often not only get discounts but often a
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free birth or two now some lines it
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needs to be 16 people or more before
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Lions can offer that so of course you
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could look at forming some sort of group
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of course you can approach the line
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direct to if you want to arrange a group
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and not work through a travel agent like
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polar Roots exploring Antarctica on an
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expedition cruise is as you're hearing
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pretty costly but it can be done without
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totally breaking the bank with careful
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planning and using these tips now to get
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that download with all the 21 lines go
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to tips for travelers.com
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poolar and join me over in this video
10:03
where I show you what day byday is like
10:06
cruising an Artica to get you even more
10:08
excited see you over there
