Which 7 cruises are not worth the money? — featuring Tips For Travellers

0:00 I’ve spent a small fortune and two  decades at sea to learn one thing:   while most cruises are brilliant unfortunately  some cruises are a waste of money. Today, I’m   sharing the seven cruises I’ll never  book again—and why you shouldn't either. Welcome aboard. I'm Gary Bembridge, and as I  pay for all my cruises at the going fares via my  

0:20 travel agent, you can always be confident my tips  and recommendations are always unbiased and frank. The first cruise that I regret  doing, and have stopped doing,   are short “taster” cruises. When I first  started cruising over two decades ago,   I thought that these short two-to-three-night  cruises would be perfect for testing out a line  

0:40 to see if they were ideal before  committing to a longer cruise. But I found in the last few years, they no  longer are. The low price and as they’re   usually run over a weekend, have turned them  into inexpensive party-focused getaways,   attracting groups of people looking  to drink and let their hair down.

0:58 They are no longer helpful for assessing a  cruise line because their typical passenger   doesn’t go on these, and the lines don't run  their usual activities program and full services. For example, the last one I did and regret doing,   was taking my Mum on a Cunard Queen Mary 2 short  taster cruise to let her experience Cunard.

1:19 It wasn't anything like Cunard. It was full of  rowdy party people, younger and not atypical   passenger mix. They didn't run the full Cunard  program of lectures, dancing, and so on. And   it really was rather overwhelming for my Mum who  was none the wiser what cruising Cunard was like.

1:38 If you do want to go on a reasonably priced  weekend party cruise, then look at these as   options. But if you want to go to find out  if a cruise line is right for you then don't. The second cruise that I regret going on,   was both my longest and most expensive cruise  I've been on, and that was a World Cruise.

1:58 I did seven weeks of a World  Cruise, that's 50 nights at sea,   on Queen Victoria sailing from  Southampton to Sydney, Australia. It looked fantastic when I looked at  the itinerary because I was going to   be transiting the Panama canal  and visit places in the Azores,   United States, South America, Hawaii,  Fuji, New Zealand and Australia.

2:19 However, once I was on it, I realised that  the problem with a World Cruise is there’s   an enormous amount of sea days, and very few  ports. In those 50 days, we only went to 12 ports.  So, on average we had three sea  days for every one port. It was   a costly and very time-consuming way  of not seeing very much of the world.

2:42 It made me decide that I would never do  a full World Cruise. Do I want to travel   around the world? Absolutely.  But if I was going to do that,   I wouldn't go on one ship all the way around  the world. I would basically pick a series   of connecting trips each of which offer  a more intensive look at each region.

3:00 I would strongly encourage you to  think very carefully about World   Cruises and look at the number of  ports versus the amount of sea days   to see whether it's really going to  show you all the world that you want. I also definitely regret going on maiden ships  and new cruise lines at or close to launch.

3:20 For example, I went on the completely new line  Explora Journeys early on after launching.   While the ship was beautiful, many things  weren’t running nor working as it should be. They were still working out how to get things to  run smoothly, crew was inexperienced and had not  

3:38 gelled and were unfamiliar with the ship and  systems. The program and entertainment weren’t   bedded in or right for the passengers. The  dining and food were erratic and inconsistent. I should have waited until it was bedded  in and sorted before spending my money. I found the same with new ships, especially on  maiden voyages, in even long-established lines.

4:04 First, because booking a maiden voyage is risky  as they often get cancelled, or supplanted. For example, I booked on Cunard’s  Queen Anne Maiden Voyage,   but it got cancelled as the ship  was running late being completed. While friends of mine had a different  issue after booking on the maiden voyage  

4:24 of Icon of the Seas and then Star of  the Seas but missed out as those ships   were ready early and cruises were run  before their supposed maiden voyages. As well as avoiding maiden voyages, I also avoid  going on ships close to entering service. I did   eventually go on Queen Anne a few cruises  after entering service. It was not great at  

4:48 all. The crew hadn't bedded in, the systems  weren’t operating properly, the food was   erratic and slow and often cold. I now only go  on new ships after they have had time to bed in. Linked to this topic, other cruises I avoid are   on ships coming out of refit or  just before they go into refit.

5:06 For example, I went on Celebrity Solstice on  a New England and Canada cruise before it went   into refit. I found the ship wasn't in great  shape, with issues left and areas shabby, as   the line and crew knew it was booked in for work  and so not worth working on fixing problem areas.

5:23 However, I also found ships coming out of refit   can also be an issue and so avoid  the first few cruises after this. For example, I went on MSC Divina when it  came out of a refit heading across on a   transatlantic to its season in Miami.  As everything had not been completed,  

5:40 there were workmen on board,  several areas were closed,   there was the smell of paint all over,  and some things weren't working properly. So, I don’t book on a ship when it comes out of   refit. I wait for a while to  ensure everything is sorted. Another cruise that I avoid booking is when  there's a charter on board the ship. Again,  

6:00 a learning from a poor cruise experience. I am not talking about when there is  an entire charter of a whole ship,   things like a Star Trek, Hallmark Movie,   or other themed charter as I would be going  fully understanding what I was signed up for. But I am talking about when the cruise  has a major charter on board. This is  

6:19 not always obvious ahead of time, so I  have a tip on how to check that shortly. As an example, a cruise I regret going on  was on Regent Seven Seas Navigator in the   Caribbean. Once on board, I found that over half  of the ship was being chartered by a corporate   client. Many venues were closed off during  the trip because they had meetings or events.  

6:43 The ship and cruise lacked the usual buzz and  vibe, was not the usual Regent passenger mix,   and usual cruise highlights like the  Captain's Welcome party was sparsely attended. Of course, it could have been  an even more disruptive charter,   like people I know who found themselves on  a rowdy motorcycle club part ship charter.  

7:06 Nowadays, for all my cruises before  booking I put the name of the ship   and the dates into a simple Google search  as that usually will throw up if there   is a charter on board that ship. I also  check a site called ThemeCruiseFinder.com Another cruise I regret going on is  those with too little time in port,  

7:26 as I'm not getting to see the sights  and the towns. I have learnt to always   check the arrival and departure time by  port in the itinerary before booking. For example, I went on a Panama Canal  cruise on Holland America from Miami   to San Diego. And of course, while I was  excited to go through the Panama Canal,  

7:43 I was also excited about the new and  exotic places it was also going to. However, once on the trip, as I  had not checked before booking,   I realised that we were spending almost no  time in all those new and interesting ports. For example, in Cabo San Lucas,  Huatulco, and Puerto Vallarta,  

8:02 we only spent a morning there. So, I didn't get  time to really explore and experience the sights. In Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, we were  only there until early afternoon,   which made getting to and from the  historic and main attraction of the   city of Antigua tight and stressful,  as it's a two-hour ride away. So,  

8:22 like most people I just ended up just spending it  at the small cruise port area with market stalls. So that was a big learning.  Look very carefully at not only   the ports you're going to, but how  long you're spending in the ports. In another example, friends of mine  booked a bucket list Alaska cruise but  

8:40 made a poor choice booking a Norwegian  Bliss cruise from Seattle. They were so   disappointed as they had almost no time  at all in the ports to see the sights. In Juneau, they were only there from 2pm to 10pm  which was too late for most tours and exploring,   missing going up onto the glaciers  and going dog sledding like I had.

9:00 They were only at Icy Strait Point from  6am to 3pm, and Ketchikan from 6am to 1pm,   those early arrivals and departures severely   limiting what they could see and  do, unlike my time in those places. So, I avoid any cruise that isn't giving  me a substantial amount of time in a port.

9:19 Although this may be more limiting for you  based on your job or if you have children,   I avoid and regret going on cruises in  the major cruising regions of Caribbean,   Mediterranean and Alaska at peak  times like school and major holidays. Not only are they the most expensive time  to cruise there, but ships these days are  

9:39 now sailing over capacity at these times,  with many cabins holding 3 or 4 people,   usually families. Making the venues and ship  more crowded and frantic than at other times. After going on a Princess Cruises, which  is known for being a couples and more adult   focused cruise line, to Alaska in late June,  and having a rather un-Princess experience,  

10:03 full of families, and venues overrun, I realised  as I do not need to go in peak times I will not.   Or if I do, I go adult-only, so on a return trip  at the same time I went on Viking as was 18+. But certainly, for me, I avoid going in  the peak season and try and use shoulder  

10:19 periods because it tends to be cheaper and  less crowded on the ships and in the ports. For example, having gone to Japan once in March/  April time, which is the peak blossom period,   it was expensive and very busy, so  instead I returned next time in October,   which is not peak season and  was way cheaper and less busy.

10:39 Another cruise I wish I had  avoided, and make sure I do so now,   is those in regions at the times it is  susceptible to dramatic weather issues.   This may sound obvious but, as I discovered  is easy to get wrong. For assuming because   a cruise is running there means it is  a good time to go is a bad assumption.

10:58 For example, I went on an Oceania Riviera trip  from Sydney to Papeete Tahiti, visiting Fiji,   Tonga, and the French Polynesian Islands.  But I hadn't thought through the weather. It was in December, which is the rainy  season there, and we were chased by a   storm the whole way. For us it was a little  bit hit-and-miss. We did have some good days;  

11:16 we only missed one port and had  some rough sea stretches. However,   the trip after me returning, missed four  ports, and it rained almost all the time. Hurricanes in the Caribbean and the  Typhoon Season in Asia are very disruptive,   so I never go on cruises in those seasons because  

11:33 they can be unpredictable and subject  to cancellations and missed ports. But, while these are the cruises that  I regret doing and recommend you avoid,   what are the best and must-do  cruises that everybody should   do? Join me over in this video  to find out. See you over there.