Which 7 cruises should you avoid booking? — featuring Tips For Travellers

0:00 Some cruises look perfect on paper. The itinerary,  ship, and price appear great. But harsh reality   can hit once on board. I've done enough cruises,  over 130 and counting, to have learnt there are   seven specific cruises to stay clear of – or  to only book under very specific conditions.

0:17 Starting with this one. European River Cruises. While many people love them, for the way  I like to travel, possibly the way you do,   the negatives often outweigh the positives,  especially if you love ocean cruising. European river cruising is expensive per day  versus ocean cruising, particularly for what  

0:38 you get on board. The ships are small, facilities  limited, cabins compact, entertainment modest,   and the experience is more scheduled and closer  to a tightly organised tour on a moving hotel. The other issue is repetition. I found having been  on several river cruises on the Rhine and Danube  

0:56 they are very repetitive. They all go to  the same places, visit the same sights,   with a lot of cathedral visits. And come with two issues. First, water levels. If too high or too low as  often happens, it is impossible for the ship   to sail the planned itinerary. Meaning changing  ship or long bus rides to and from sights instead.

1:19 Second, river cruise ships often dock side  by side, which means the beautiful river   view cabin you booked is just staring  straight into someone else's cabin. But if you are a traveller that prefers  everything to be organised for you,   gentle cultural-focused walking tours, small ships  with few passengers, no risk of motion sickness,  

1:41 and seeing European countries and landscapes  without the hassle of constantly changing trains,   hotels, transfers and constant  repacking, then they could be for you. The next cruise I won’t book again  is a sailing ship cruise. Here’s why. I thought it would be different and more  thrilling than regular cruise ship cruising,  

2:04 with unique ships and billowing sails. But having tried it, I found it did not quite  deliver - especially versus the premium cost.  First, as while it was exciting seeing the  sails come out, they played a limited role. On Windstar Wind Surf, we sailed under  power all the time to meet the itinerary  

2:26 and the schedule. The sails  often were out more for show,   to increase speed, or reduce fuel usage.  That combined with stabilisers meant the   sailing experience did not feel different  to regular small cruise ships I’ve been on. The fares were high and of course as sailing  ships are smaller, there were fewer venues,  

2:48 less choice, smaller cabins,  and limited entertainment. I also found that while sailing ships promise  to have more unique itineraries, whilst we did   often dock outside towns while bigger ships were  way out in working ports, once you're off that   small sailing ship experience, I was in towns  packed with land and other cruise passengers.

3:10 So, the value for me versus small ship  regular cruise ships wasn't there. However, I met many on the trip that liked  the 300-passenger size and valued that more   than having more choice, loved the water sport  marina at the back, the uniqueness of a sailing   ship versus regular cruise ship, and the more  destination focused and low sea day itineraries.

3:35 Another cruise that I avoid booking  are foreign language cruise lines. Foreign Language Cruise Lines I've had mixed experiences by going on  cruise lines from different countries.   I've been on Germany's Hapag-Lloyd,  both expedition and regular,   French Ponant, Italian Costa, and on various river  and barge cruises on the French CroisiEurope.

3:56 The issue always is the uncertainty  of the experience based on how many   fellow English-speaker passengers there  are. I have been sometimes where there   were only two other English speakers on  board to a sizeable group of around 20. Personally, I did find the trips a bit draining  coping with not fully understanding everything,  

4:19 and the greater challenge to just strike up  conversations and meet fellow passengers. While   cruise lines do try to accommodate international  guests, it varies based on the numbers on board. This means some don't always work like the  entertainment program, on expedition trips I found  

4:37 the lectures sometimes were just live translated  into an earpiece and sometimes run by language.   I saw frustration from English-speaking  passengers from it being obvious that in   the local language the detail in announcements had  more information than we got as English speakers.

4:57 Of course, dining, customs, queuing  styles, smoking habits, dress   and socialising follows the country norms. However, foreign language lines can  offer a different and varied experience   to what we are used to. For those that speak the language,  want to step out of their comfort zone,  

5:15 are confident independent travellers,  and want to be immersed in a different   passenger experience then they are  used to, they could be worth trying. For me, I now avoid them unless the foreign  language line offers a unique itinerary   or are likely to do it better. For example,  

5:35 I have booked a Ponant trip to the Ross Sea  Ice Shelf in Antarctica because they are   one of the few lines that have permits to go  there and have lots of experience there too. The next cruise I avoid is on the most popular  way to cruise in terms of passenger numbers. I also stay away from giant mega  ship resort cruises, largely  

5:58 because I am driven more by ports than by  having an on-ship mega resort experience,   but also because the numbers  and bustle is also not for me. These new mega ships are marvels. They have huge  restaurant and bar choice, water parks, incredible   shows and entertainment programs, thrill rides,  Kids’ clubs and more. They're often ideal when  

6:19 seeing the ship as a destination, but for me,  ports are way more important than all of that. As they're so big, they are limited to ports  that can cope with the scale and numbers.   This means largely repetitive itineraries  calling on the same few ports.   Increasingly with cruise line islands  and beach clubs playing a major part too.  

6:43 They don’t offer the variety and new ports  I am looking for when booking a cruise. Also, for me, it’s a bit louder, rather  frantic, too busy, overly party-like,   and has more kids and families than I enjoy. Of course, for anyone looking for  that resort experience they are ideal,  

7:01 especially for families,  multi-generational groups,   and even friend groups as they offer  things for everyone to do on one ship. But saying that ports are key to what I will book,   there is a port issue that  drives me to avoid some cruises I will not book cruises that are tender  port heavy ones on larger ships. This is  

7:23 where the ship anchors offshore and passengers  are ferried to and from land on tender boats. Tender port cruises can look appealing on paper  with great options in places like the less-visited   Greek islands, South Pacific and French  Polynesian islands, smaller Mediterranean ports,  

7:40 some out-of-the-way Caribbean islands,  and even remote parts of Scotland. But tendering adds risks and downsides. Windy weather and the swell  leads to ports being cancelled,   frequently as I found on my round Scotland  cruise on Windstar where we lost most ports. But on bigger ships, even mid-sized ships like  Holland America Oosterdam at 1,900 passengers  

8:06 that I was on recently, it takes a lot of time   to get off and back to the ship,  slashing time to explore in port. If docked I can be off the  ship as soon as it is cleared,   but on a larger ship like Oosterdam if not in  a suite or on an excursion getting priority,   I found I often waited hours before  getting a tender place to get off.

8:29 As I like to do independent excursions not cruise  line ones, on bigger ships in tender ports it's   hard to predict when I can get on land and so  they are harder and riskier to arrange and do. Tender port cruises work best on small ships,   like French Polynesia on ships  like Paul Gauguin or Windstar.

8:49 There is another cruise I now avoid  based in the ship, and issues it has. I avoid cruise ships where I know they  have known cabin noise and design issues   based on my own experience or  from people I trust, or where I   have booked where I can't book and  choose a cabin guaranteeing low noise.

9:11 I want a quiet cabin without much  noise when cruising. This is probably   one of my stricter rules when booking a cruise. I've experienced cabin issues and noise, including  vibration, slamming doors, poor soundproofing,   and other design problems on a several  ships. And I never book on those ships again.

9:31 For example, I avoid Oceania Allura class,   having had and met many people with between cabin  soundproof issues when I was on Oceania Vista.   I book other Oceania ship classes, having had  good experience on those with soundproofing. I also avoid Seabourn Ovation and Encore  having experienced poor soundproofing  

9:53 in the regular veranda cabins, and certain  grades on the Silversea Nova class too. When choosing a ship if I see many negative  reports about sound and noise, I avoid those. Also, I will not book a cruise unless I can  choose a cabin that is going to meet my noise   needs. So, it's surrounded by other  cabins, it's away from noisy venues,  

10:19 I can make sure it's not opposite potentially  noisy areas like crew access doors, and so on. If they are not available, I do not book.  For example, I want to do a circumnavigation   of Australia. There's a perfect cruise by  Holland America for when I want to do it,   but there's only cabins under the pool  deck and near some other noisy areas  

10:44 left. I'd rather not take the risk. And so  have not booked, looking for other options. I know many think my approach is mad,   and for people less noise sensitive  and easier going than I am on this,   this opens more opportunities. But I still caution  on this as I get many messages from people saying  

11:06 they used to think I was overly picky, until  they had a cruise affected by cabin noise. I will also not book one of the new  ultra luxury hotel branded yachts. Why? Here I mean lines like Ritz-Carlton,  Four Seasons, and Orient Express. I have a wait-and-see approach  as they are incredibly expensive  

11:29 and would have to deliver a phenomenal experience  way above existing ultra-luxury lines, but in   that regard, they have mixed reviews. They're sold on the power of a hotel brand,  and the cruise operation is still bedding in. I do have some question marks  around their viability too,  

11:48 and so don’t want to commit for further out. For example, the Ritz-Carlton Yachts  has reportedly low occupancy rates,   is building up losses, and have had their  financial arrangements reorganised a few times,   including very recently various  financial papers report. These lines are mostly franchising the name and  

12:09 are not really part of the  hotel groups it would seem. I do not think being an  early adopter at those prices   is for me and will let them bed in and reassess. Of course, if you have the budget, and want  to try small, very upmarket yacht ships   and the traditional larger ultra-luxury  cruise lines do not appeal, then they are  

12:33 worth trying. I'm going to stick to the proven  ultra luxury small ship lines like Regent,   Silversea, Seabourn, Crystal, Explora Journeys,  and perhaps the more established Scenic Yachts. Another cruise that I will avoid booking is one  where I can't guarantee a more adult experience,  

12:52 which is more difficult these days  with traditionally more adult lines   chasing more families. If that is something you  seek too, I have tips on how to ensure that.   Join me over in this video to find  out what they are. See you over there.