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I booked my cruise with Virgin on the Brilliant Lady from the California port using your travel link. This will be my first Virgin cruise. I'm so excited 👍
I'm so sorry for your loss. I am a member of a jewelry group on facebook and we always advise new wedding ring wearers to buy an inexpensive not-too-attractive ring to wear when they go on trips. It's really cheap to get a silicone band and nobody on earth is going to want to take it.
My nephew recently got engaged and gave his fiancé an enormous ring. Like embarrassingly enormous. I worry for her if she isn’t careful where she wears it.
I'm a big guy. 6'2" and about 230 lbs with a fog horn voice. I was standing in a square in Barcelona Spain. Someone slapped on of those spring bracelets onto my wrist. I immediately ripped it off, threw it onto the ground and locked eyes angrily. I was about to bellow "Get the f* away from me!" When she retreated. When I am dealing with scammers, or just rude or pushy vendors imposing on me, I have every intention of making a scene.
This is such an old scam. Happened to me in Mexico in the 70’s. Thankfully my sister stepped in and said “good, call the police and frisk her! If she took it, then we’ll let the officials deal with it.” That was it. They dropped it and kicked us out of their store.
They do this all over the world; in Morocco girls will approach and attempt to henna exposed arms or legs then demand compensation. I just kept moving, kept my arms and legs covered and did not engage in speaking; I was busy and had places to go Just smile and keep walking
Lesson learned the hard way😮😮 When we were in Cozumel, we took a taxi, and he wanted $80pp, and CLEARLY he took the scenic route and we were almost late getting back to the ship. I was too annoyed to even enjoy the island. And I learned another lesson at Nassau when we booked an excursions tour on site as we got to the port. I was pissed!! The driver picked up more people than his little van would provide. We didn't even have time to go to all the places we wanted because he kept stopping like we were on a Greyhound🙄 We only had what felt like only a few minutes to spend at Atlantis. I've NEVER done it again!! Great tips Jay😊
If you're the type that wants all the extras when you go out at home look at booking some of the extra charge offerings before your cruise. There's more than enough included in the base price and if you are not extra at home you'll be happy. Have fun!
On my first trip to Rome in 2017 I had a young man walk up to me say hello and said he had a gift and handed me a little wooden carved turtle. He proceeded to tell me that his sister had a baby and he’s selling things for money to send to the baby. He appeared to be South African, and was very sweet. I just giggled and gave him a couple euros. The little turtle is sitting on my shelf with all of my travel souvenirs. It reminds me of a unique experience. I’m a lot wiser now 😊
You covered all of the scams that I know of due to traveling a lot. I used to book excursions at the port but since the pandemic, I book through the cruiseline. For me, an island is an island now that I have cruised the carribean so much and all of the souvenir stands have the same stuff. I used to buy shot glasses or cups/saucers, mugs now I buy refrigerator magnets because they are easy to carry and pack. Yes, please do more of these reviews and tips. Very enlightening. Happy travels Jay.
Bro, how did you not mention the army of people selling skincare products on every island. They sit next to most recommended jewelry stores and are ruthless AF.
IKR? We were staying in the Bahamas, not on a cruise, in July. Went down to straw market a cpl days and one of those places is right next to it. I said no and kept walking. But, they follow right behind, nipping at my heels, trying to hand me their “free” sample. Moral of story is never take anything anyone tries to hand you in a touristy area. Or anywhere, really.
The first scam mentioned reminds me of one time in Cabo. Wife was looking for a neckless for her daughter in law. The store offered free shots of Tequila. After looking for a while, wife saw a neckless she liked but was too expensive. More free shots, I'm a light weight when coming to drinks, but the Wife is a pro. After 3 shots I stopped, she was on 5 or 6 and the price kept coming down till they said No Lower. We said thanks for the drinks, when they asked what would your offer be? Wife told them as we were leaving. Then they ran out and said "OK", wife looked at them and said "If that cheap, it ain't worth it" and we left.
I believe that all cruise RU-vidrs should put this alert in at least every year to six months. Don’t give me wrong. I know there’s a lot of scamps out there and I’ve heard my fair share from Vegas to Chicago to Miami. New cruisers have no clue what to look out for. I have not heard of all the scams that you had said. I do know you do NOT take something that’s FREE no matter what. Thank you, J
Jay I feel like I need to point out something you said about shite excursions, the ship excursions are not double or triple the price. I often times will look at third party & what the ship is offering and in most cases it’s about a 15% to 20% difference and depending on when you book the excursions and sometimes the ships excursion can even be cheaper. I have a cruise coming up in a couple of weeks so I wanted to double check what I paid. Almost all of the ones I paid for were actually cheaper than what I can find on reputable third party sites.
If you book third party, yes the prices will be comparable to the cruise ship. Sites like Viator and GetYourGuide are aggregators for the most part. So they will have a markup to cover their costs, but you can find some unique things there. What you want to do is book direct with an operator. Have to do the research, of course, but you will save money relative to what the ship offers. Still, sometimes it's worth paying the markup to go with the ship's excursion (e.g. anything that requires you to take the ferry to Playa del Carmen in Cozumel)
I got caught by the "hand you a rose" scam. When he wouldn't take it back I should have just dropped it on the ground. Instead I said thanks and started walking. He followed, cussing me the 2 blocks to my hotel, then retreated quickly when I entered. I was with my 6'3 powerlifter son, but it was still a stupid thing to do. He was with a group and we could have been jumped
Jay. All I can say is 18 cruises and countless destinations and gratefully have never been scammed. I guess being a New Yorker my guard is always up. We only do independent excursions if it’s a group of us like 4-11 ppl. If by myself or me and hubby then a ship excursion or whatever’s available at the port.
Mr Sanchos Beach 🏖️ is so much fun . It was free when I was there but the 2nd time I went it was like $55 to get into the beach . Cozumel has always been on of my favorite places to visit. 😊However I have gotten offered free things , mini massages, food etc. I let them do what they do, listen to the videos and/ or speeches then when it’s time for their sales pitch , with a smile on my face I tell them thanks but I can’t afford it, and walk away😂😂😂
Ooof - the sound jump to the intro music @00:40 is really extreme in comparison to your verbal intro at the very beginning. While I know you can't fix that now (RU-vid being persnickety about editing uploads), I just wanted to let you know and warn others on headsets.
Oh the excursion scam! I love shops but I will not be forced to buy against my own inclinations! Thank you for the video. Scooters and Mopeds! They melt people’s brains!! Thank you for the video
Thank you for the super informative video! One I saw in the Bahama's quite a bit at Nassau was the free souvenir scam. I was walking back to the ship from senior frogs to the ship when a woman came up and started welcoming me to the Bahama's. She told me I had been selected at random to receive a free gift on behalf of the government to make the trip more memorable. She slipped the bracelet on me and then as I was walking away she said, "But you have to make a donation." I was so tipsy I didn't really care and I wanted to get back to the ship so I paid $20 USD in cash to get out of there. I wonder if this has happened to anyone else.
No. They pushed that “free” skin care sample, though. I knew enough to lift my hands up and back away as if it were a snake. Still didnt get the hint. Going to Paris for Christmas. The Eiffel Tower website warns about those ppl and not to take anything ppl try and hand you.
I had spent months and months doing research before our first cruise, and by the time we got to our first port, I was prepared. I did not talk to anybody, I walked right past, and I navigated my way through the port shops back to the ship. I spent less than $20 and I only used cash. I felt like a pro!
In Cozumel I once had a lady in a store tell me because I walked into her store I couldn't leave without buying something and made it sound like a threat. I called over my friends husband who is 6'4" 4 350lbs and she backed off real quick, I was like I am not the one lady and all of my friends that were with me in there together put down whatever was in their hands and all 6 of us walked out. She hadn't realized I was with the "big group" that came in. It kinda felt like a Pretty Woman moment.
Very interesting and great to know this ahead of time before cruising on my next cruise 🚢 soon. You should make more videos like this. Helps the first time cruisers as well!
Awesome video Justin. Because of you, last March when my family went on a cruise we decided to go to Mr. Sancho's. It was fantastic! I would like to go again when we cruise next March again. This December my 94 year old mom is taking me on the Celebrity Reflection but since it's just the 2 of us that week I doubt I will get off the ship.
When in Amber Cove the taxi guy told us $20 to take us downtown and show us around. We got back to the port and he tried to double to price. I pulled out my phone and said I recorded you and you said $20. I did give him the original tip I was Gona give him of a few dollars but not the extra he was trying to scam me for.
@the shiplife My second and last cruise was with Carnival Venesia. The room had three straight quiet nights where I was able to sleep without being woken up by the bagging of the crew underneath me. It sounded like they were making another ship all together. The shower drainage smelled horrible for three nights. I called for service of the shower. A man came in and as I was watching him he closed the door. I heard banging and clanging. I truly believe he did nothing. A woman came by and did the same as well. My room qas on the second level. The best thing I had was a first time balcony. Truly terrified of going on excursion because i fear being left behind by the ship.
One scam I’ve seen a lot is taking pictures with an animal. In some ports it’s not so bad by the ship but others it is. People have trained animals(usually monkeys) to climb on your shoulder and then they take a picture of you and demand you pay them. I’ve seen people charge $10 but others were demanding $30-40
Cruise prices can be pretty scammy too. One time i booked a cruise for $3800 3 days later it was $1200 and rc wouldn't refund because it was past 48hrs. Luckily my credit card company charged back.
If you talk about North Africa, don't show a city from the most southern point in Africa, Cape Town. A taxi scam we were caught with. The Taxi was a 'legit" taxi at the port, noted a credit card sign on the window and we were fine they took the credit card. On arrival at the destination, cash was demanded saying the card reader was broken. Check before you start the trip.
Per taking a taxi- I Always snap a photo of the ‘cab number’ and/ or license plate number. Discretely of course. This way, should something go awry or if you leave something behind you can track it
One has to know their limitations. And mine is that I would probably crumble under the pressure tactics of timeshare vendors. Love using other people's timeshares, hate the idea of getting roped into one.
1. is correct this happenend to me in jamaica they gave me one thing said it was free then said i owe then owe a donation THEN proceeded to tell me it spiritually has a twin and it should be for my girlfriend but i had to BUY that one. Mind you he engraves the first one so he cant take it back. 5 minutes later we saw another guy with the EXACT same would trinkets doing it to another couple
i got scammed twice in morocco.first at the airport where there were no atm`s.i was dumb enough to pay for some kind of visa card which i couldn`t use everywhere.later i met a guy who showed me around at a market and demanded lots of money for a five minute tour.some other guy showed up at the same time and also demanded me to pay the money.an obvious setup.and let`s not forget the guy in rome who gave me a gift and then tricked me into buying a few more of those gifts.
I agree and disagree on booking an excursion through the cruise ship. We took an excursion in Belize and the excursion was 8 hours long and it ran late and if we hadn’t booked it through the cruise ship we would have been left behind.
I guess I'm just so used to scammers in my own city that when I encounter them when I'm on vacation, I just brush them off the exact same way. Only time one of them didn't get the hint was in Cuba, some guy kept following me around trying to get me to exchange 3 convertible pesos (CUC) for a 3 Cuban peso (CUP) coin. The problem is that the CUC is 1:1 with the USD, and the CUP is like 25:1 with the USD, so a 3 Cuban peso coin is only worth $0.12, not $3.00. I knew of this scam in advance, so I offered the guy a single convertible peso (CUC) for it, which was still worth way more than the coin, just to get rid of him, and he got angry and started yelling at me. I tried walking away and he kept tailing me for a while until a cop showed up and the guy bolted (harassing tourists in Cuba is a great way to spend a month in jail).
If you are being threatened or feel unsafe and you think if you buy something, they will let you move on, which is something that has happened to people I have been on a cruise with, then they only win with intimidation. Not just commen sense.
some think the cruise is a scam. They certainly can run their over priced attractions and 3x the price things you could buy at a discount retailer on shore. well a fool and their $ are soon parted .
