I was reminded of the need to be on the watch
for cruise rip-offs when I got one cruise line to give me back $1,800 of the fare I'd paid
when I saw what they were doing. I'm going to show you how I spotted it, what I did, and
nine other rip-offs to watch out for these days. Welcome aboard, I'm Gary Bembridge and it’s
my goal to make it fun and easy to discover, plan and enjoy incredible cruise vacations. Now more than ever, cruise lines want to get
us to pay as much possible for our cabin, and they have departments and clever
computer dynamic pricing to make this happen. This is where I feel I'm
often ripped off, as I book early. They often penalise me by later
charging people much less for the same cabin if the cruise isn’t selling that fast. So, what do I do? I track fares and
ask for a price reduction, upgrade, or on-board credit to match the new lower
fare. It’s easy to do on cruisewatch.com where I input my cruise and they alert me
when fares change. I also sometimes use Cruise Critic because Cruisewatch.com doesn't
cover all lines, particularly UK-based lines. That’s how I got $1,800 back on my
Azamara Quest Mediterranean as I saw the fare had dropped as they’d scrapped
the solo supplement I’d been charged. On my recent Viking Sky Adriatic
and Oceania Marina Panama trips, I was upgraded from a balcony cabin to
a suite when alerted to fares changes. I’ve suggested this in other videos,
have instructions on how to do it on my blog and I get messages every week from
passengers around the world it has worked for. I get messages every single week from passengers
all around the world that this has worked for. While this is a big one, I found more
rip-offs happen once I am on board. Many lines have introduced
all-inclusive add-on bundles with supposedly large discounts of up to
50% versus buying the items separately. Most bundle three on-board costs items such as
Wi-Fi, gratuities, drinks, excursion discounts, or speciality dining. And come with names
like Celebrity's Always Included, Holland America Have-It-All, Princess Plus, Princess
Premier, and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Free at Sea. But I think they’re misleading and a rip
off as they don't really work for anyone. For me as they only include basic Wi-Fi,
I end up paying to upgrade to streaming level. I don't drink alcohol,
so the drinks package is wasted. Talking to passengers who drink, these bundles
often fall short for them as they are usually the basic drinks package and have many limits,
like only cover drinks up to $15, or exclude many brands or use house spirits, beers, or wines. Most
seem to upgrade to a better package in the end. I believe lines introduced these because they've
worked out that they make more money this way. So, what do I do? I don't
buy the packages any longer. I just buy the things I need and know I will use, like better Wi-Fi. And I often buy it
online before the trip if they offer discounts. I found I am spending less
now than buying the bundled package. If going that package route, or on lines like
Carnival and Royal Caribbean that do not have those all-inclusive bundled deals, watch
out for a rip-off around drinks packages. Again, remember cruise lines have worked out
that drinks packages make them more money. Drinks packages on Royal Caribbean or
Carnival can cost between $400 and $600 per person for a seven-night cruise. And that
is the price before they add an 18% gratuity, require everyone over 21 in your cabin to also
buy that package usually, and have small print terms and conditions that limit number of
drinks or cost of drinks that are included. Before buying one, use an online drinks package calculator. The best I find are on
Cruzely.com and CruiseMummy.co.uk You choose your line, input how many drinks
you think you're going to have per day and it calculates if it's worth buying the package
or not. Most people doing that tell me they find that it's normally not – especially
if you have a very port intensive cruise. Talking of ports, another rip-off in
my view are cruise line excursions. Cruise lines try scare you and me with the risk
factors of not using them. First, they say if a cruise line excursion is delayed getting
back to the ship they will wait for it, but not anyone else. Second, they have
screened operators and third the convenience. However, I pay a premium for these benefits.
The cruise lines don't run excursions, they contract those out to local companies,
and they are making a markup which can range, talking to insiders, anything up to 300%. Also, I am limited to what they have. So, it's a bit of a rip-off because there's
many more things that I could do in port. Here’s what I do. First, I look at self-exploring. If there's
something the line offers that I want to do, I check how close it is to the port or if
it’s easy to get to. For example, in Bergen, instead of doing a costly cruise line excursion
to go on the Floibanen funicular to the top of Mount Fløyen, I found it was a 10-minute
walk from the ship and costs almost nothing. I also look at hop-on hop-off buses.
They normally go to all the main sites, leave from the port, and they're
more flexible and cheaper, especially if you are the sort of
person who likes panoramic coach tours. In the Caribbean instead of booking
a cruise line beach excursion I use a site called ResortPass.com
For example, for an upcoming Koningsdam Mexico trip they had stunning
resorts in Puerto Vallarta for way less. However, if I don't want to self-explore,
my go to alternative is using a third-party provider like VentureAshore.com
and ShoreExcursionsGroup.com. I input my cruise line, ship, and departure date,
and it brings up all the excursions for my ports. They’re usually much cheaper than the cruise
line option and has more variety of tours. Excursions are not the only area
I feel are rips offs where the line has contracted them out. There
are things on board that I assumed were run by the cruise line but are
contracted out that are rips off too. #5 Spa The Spa is run by contractors, and in
my view horribly overpriced. Perhaps as the contractor needs to make a profit as
well as the cruise line on top of that. There three things that add to the rip off. First, the high price rockets up after the treatment as
there’s an auto added gratuity of 18%. Second, many miss that as the slip you sign at the end
has a blank line for gratuity and many add it. Third, the therapists are trained, incentivized, and required to push treatment
series and sell products. My partner Mark often falls for this
rip off despite my best efforts, often buying a series of treatments for a
supposed issue identified in his first massage, like dry skin or tight back,
and he too buys costly products. Here's what I do: I either only go to the
spa if I've got leftover on board credit and go a port day. There are big reductions
on port days because it's less busy. Most cruise lines also contract
out the photography department. Personally, I think is a big rip-off, as photos have remained incredibly
costly despite the shift to digital. It was going to cost me $40 for just 2 I
had taken on my recent Disney Magic cruise. Although I spoke to several parents, and they
were happy paying around $300 for the photographic package as they had around 200 photographs taken
of their kids posing with all the characters. So, they were saying, "It's only costing a
couple of dollars per digital photograph." But on most lines, it is still working
out at $20 - $30 per photograph. What do I do? I never buy photographs.
I keep an eye out on the locations where they're taking the photographs as they know
the best locations and may use that when the ship is quiet to take or get another passenger to
take a photograph with my camera or smartphone. One thing that baffles me, and experts seem to
agree is a rip off, are the art auctions and sale. This is another contracted-out service, and it’s
normally either Park West or Clarendon Fine Art. The art auctions and sales
are pitched as an investment, with free champagne-hosted auctions
and prize draws to entice people in. Many of the art are prints or limited
series, and I feel unlikely to be investment or collector grade. To avoid being
ripped off don't go into it thinking that it is an investment but if you like something
pay what you feel it’s worth to you to have. What do I do? I don't buy art, but as many
people who run the gallery and auctions are knowledgeable on art and art history if,
like in my recent Cunard Queen Elizabeth Western Mediterranean trip, they give enrichment
talks about well-known artists I do go to those. I get asked a lot about cruise line insurance, particularly cruise line trip
protection, and if this is a rip off. I am not an expert on finance, so I'm
giving you my personal perspective. I found cruise line trip insurance
policies don't usually give me the same, or as good cover, as I can get
from a third-party specialist insurer. They also don’t always
cover my pre-existing conditions I found medical cover limits are often
lower and coverage starts and ends with the cruise and so if I'm doing flights,
pre- or post-stays, I’m not covered. And if the line goes under
the policy seems to go too. What do I do? I never buy cruise line cover
and use a third-party travel insurance provider. I take out an annual policy, so I
am always covered if I must cancel a booking. I use a company in the UK called
AllClear, I'm not recommending it, I'm just telling you who I use. In the
US, I hear lots of people using Allianz or tripinsurance.com to price compare. So,
while I can't recommend any specific insurer, I would recommend at least comparing
that to the cruise line one. I cannot talk about rip offs without
mentioning one that affects me a lot as 9 out of my 10 trips are solo. And
it's really the struggle with the large supplements. I often pay the same as I would
if my partner Mark was also coming along. It’s quite a complicated area and
so I have a whole video around this, called “Here's How I Cruise
Better, Cheaper and Smarter” where I go into this much more detail.
So, if that affects you check that out. I also think the on-board shopping advisors are
a rip off. I mostly find them on my Alaska and Caribbean cruises, where they hold events
recommending shops, deals and incentives. As all the stores in the program have paid
fees to be in there, and the advisors are funded ultimately by the shops through
fees and commissions, I remain sceptical. They recommend the same old chains, Diamonds
International, Effy, Del Sol and so on. But bear in mind that there is a hidden agenda
and money changing hands and I feel they are not necessarily going to direct me towards
the shops that perhaps have the best deals. What do I do? Go to the talks
to be entertained and for the freebies often handed out, and make sure
anyone I am with are at least checking the prices online if they do want to
buy anything in the port shop area. If you found this interesting and want to
know 7 things that I found smart cruisers do, watch this video which starts with
the one thing that transformed all my cruises for the better. See you over there.
