Hi Gary, Avram here. I rarely leave comments but this video deserves one. This past January Tina and I took our first ocean Viking cruise on the Jupiter and we were surprised to find within our cabin a welcome folder containing a one-page list of every accessory in the room and it's price, should we wish to purchase a wine glass, table tray, robe, towel, tissue box container and everything else not fixed to the walls and floor. The prices per item were exorbitant and of course, we never would have bought them or even considered taking them. But at the bottom of this "catalog" price list was a message in fine print that warned us, if any of the items listed above were missing after we checked out of the room we would be charged those crazy prices, as in, $100 for water glass. We were astounded. We've had over 20 cruises on eight cruise lines and this is the first time we've ever encountered a message that says, "Don't steal anything from the room...or ESLE!" This warning has something to say about the clientele that Viking draws as their passengers and now that I'm viewing your Queen Anne video. it's apparent that even Cunard is experiencing theft on their ships. I'm not sure if this means that some people have a sense of entitlement to take what they think they bought when buying a cruise or they feel they can gain some kind of discount that they deserve by stealing something from their cabins. For whatever reasons, the world is changing Gary, and sadly very quickly. (Or maybe it's always been this way and now the cruise lines are taking a stand.) Maybe you know. LOVE your cruise lectures and videos!
I liked HAL's approach of writing in the daily guide that the price of the robes is X and if you choose to buy the one in your cabin by taking it with you, they'll happily add that cost to your room account!
Love the new editing addition with the words embedded in to video on the ships hull, etc. Very clever and surprising. Your videos are always top notch.
Yes, as a person who still writes letters on paper I would like to have some branded paper sheets. But for writing I only use ink pens, not biros as shown in the video.
Great video, Gary - I'm so relieved to hear I'm not the only one that likes to see what I can benefit from at the end of a cruise... Those little cable tidies from Windstar are absolutely GENIUS - I've never seen a cabin steward use them on a cruise before, but I LOVE them!
Here's what I can take off and no cruise line can stop me. My new tan. My weight gain from eating too much. My ALT levels from drinking too much. All the souvenirs I did not purchase on the ship. My satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the ship, the crew and the cruise experience. My dirty laundry. Myself.
On a recent Disney Cruise, I heard about these velcro cable ties that everybody raves about, so I asked my cabin attendant for a few. He left me a full pack of 100! 😱 I took out five and gave him back the rest.
The other advantage of keeping your key card is they are excellent references for your past cruises as they include the cruise line, date of cruise, cabin number and destination.
Are you _sure_ your key card includes the cabin number? IIRC, on Disney the Key to the World cards don't list the cabin number. That way, when lost, the finder (I found two on our last cruise) can't use them to break into the victim's cabin.
On Celebrity, the Retreat Lounge has wonderful glasses that are about 4-5 ounces, that are perfect as morning juice glasses! We collected a half dozen on the Apex recently from Southampton. Excellent find!
Memories, first and foremost! We're still using the Cunard note pad for our shopping lists from our Xmas cruise. We always take home the stateroom access card or medallion as they are great memory reminders. What I miss the most are the tiny fold out deck plans we used to get on our Princess cruises. We've been tempted to take home a bath towel as a memento but chose not to, my partner is very upright about not doing that sort of thing!!!
I love those fold out maps too!!! From comments people have been leaving I have been amazed how many seem to have towels "fall into their suitcase"! I would be too paranoid to take them!
I worked in motel cleaning for years, the rule of thumb was take home the shampoos and soap IF you've opened them the slippers if you used them, and the only other thing was good memories. And that is my rules too if I stay anywhere on land or sea, unless like a pen I ask if I can. I've seen guests stealing the toilet rolls, doonas and once a lamp, their room was noted and they were charged.
I am floored at the number of commenters who feel they were justified in stealing from the cruise ship! Toiletries is one thing, but robes, dishware, silverware, towels? Really? How dumb are you to think there is no cost to that or that you are entitled because you paid a lot for the cruise? The prices keep going up, in part to cover all you entitled thieves who think this is ok!
Ever since I watched the Oceans 8 movie with Sandra Bullock I've become a klepto.... They were all just so glamorous when they were pulling off those heists
Thank you, Gary, for another interesting video. I'm wondering how easy is it to transport bottles of champagne etc. post cruise. Since I worry about plastic containers with 200ml sunscreen leaking inside a suitcase I'd be a wreck trying to travel with a glass bottle or two. Looking forward to seeing and hearing more of your cruising insights.
Whenever I travel, I pack a few zip-top bags of different sizes. I use some instead of packing cubes, one as my 3-1-1 bag, others to contain things that might leak, dirty-soled shoes, damp swimsuits ... The largest bags (2 gallon in the USA) could hold a wine bottle ... this would contain any mess from breakage. Use 2 bags if you are still worrying. You can also wrap in cloth inside the bag as padding. I get my large bags at Target. I also save any extra small, extra large and odd sized zip bags I get as packaging in online orders.
Twice coming home from Italy, I packed bottles of wine that I was given - in my checked luggage, no less and this was before all the carry on restrictions - and somehow they made it home in perfect shape! Actually my friend traveling with me said to wrap them in your clothes... it worked but I don't think I'll ever do it again.
On Seadream, they leave you a small gift every night when they do the turn down service. On our last voyage we received silver pens, silver key rings, water bottles and other such keepsakes.
Princess allows, no, encourages, you to keep your Medallions. They don't work anywhere after the cruise (and sometimes not well even on the cruise) but they make for interesting refrigerator magnets once at home.
On royal carribean they routine say - you didn't return a pool towel.. Im like seriously... have you seen your towels... check again... Oh sorry its a mistake... :D :D
It's probably obvious, but Royal Caribbean gives crystal blocks with a picture of the ship when you reach 140 loyalty points and every 70 points thereafter. You are encouraged to take those home.
Celebrity Retreat give you free sunglasses. Okay, they're not Ray Ban or Maui Jim, but they're perfectly good for leaving in the car or for in the garden at home.
Just back from an Alaska cruise on Holland America. When we got in our room there "seemed" to be a welcome, 1/2 liter bottle of red wine waiting for us. We opened it us and enjoyed it while waiting to sail off. The next day a replacement bottle was waiting for us. I went on my app and checked, and sure enough we were charged $37 for that wine. YIKES! I saw nothing immediately that said this was not complimentary, so you are right. Do the research. Thirty-seven dollars was way too much for that half bottle of wine!
Always enjoy your videos - entertaining & informative. In this one @ about 3:25 you include Disney as a "Premium" line? Really - not my impression. Where do you place Oceania on your list?
So much stealing--what the heck?! And so many feeble justifications! Do you teach your kids and grandkids how to nick items as well? and praise them for getting away with it? All very odd....
I was just on Holland America (first time cruiser!) and wondered if the blankets in our room were meant to be taken or not. I almost asked our steward about them, but ultimately left them behind as we have so many blankets at home.
Every line has some variations of branded souvenir mugs or glasses. I always bring one home, from every cruise. Not free, but generally included in the drink price.
Not sure if anyone else noticed.. the personalized stationary for his 10-24 May 2024 Queen Anne cruise … they didn’t appear to follow his request for his name .. He shows “Gary David Bembridge” on the order form - and the stationary delivered to him looked to say “Mr Gary Bembridge”. That would “grind my gears” as Peter might say on Family Guy. :-) Good video editing Gary!
My own bit of chicanery happened on the Queen Mary 2. My wife and I were booked in the Queens Grill, our son in an inside cheapy cabin. 50 bucks to the Maitre'd got him to sit with us every meal.
I just sailed on Virgin and there’s no disembarkation letter, or any paper correspondence for that matter. Does that mean everything is free? I could use a new hammock. 😜
Pro tip from a crewmember here! The cloth hand towels found in the public restrooms on the ship are great for cleaning at home! I recommend snagging a few on your next cruise to use for dusting and cleaning!
"Here you go Mum!" "oh ... great ... more slippers ... thanks ..." Okay, say it with me: " sue-DOH-koo". "sue-DOOOOOH-koo". FWIW, do NOT take home one of the barmaids. Ask me how I know.
I always do along with my favourite photos. It's fun to look back and see what we were doing and seeing. Obviously, I don't put in something that is too large or bulky...
Don’t you have to pay duty on the alcohol? If someone from US travels to Britain and is staying for a couple weeks are they charged duty over a certain size or amount??
Call us crazy, but my wife and I were able to make out with two silver water pitchers from the old Rotterdam back a few years. Took some serious plotting, but we are so glad that we did. It wasn't long after that Holland went to using stainless steal pitchers, and they got rid of all the silver. We use them when entertaining
🤣Great click bait Gary! Shoulda known. Dad took cool-looking Moderne ashtray from our trans-Pacific P&O cruise way back in 1950s. Sure he wasn't supposed to.
Hi Gary, My wife and I are taking a Regent cruise out of NYC. We’re flying over night from the west coast and will arrive the morning of the cruise. We will arrive at the terminal early. Do you know what type of facilities are available while waiting to board for 4-5 hours? Thanks.
We had planned to fly to our last cruise the same day it departed. Our flight was to arrive at 7am and the ship left at 6pm. Due to thunderstorms on the east coast our flight was delayed 5 1/2 hours. Thanks to a terrific gate agent who was a master at shuffling flights we made it to the ship with 2 hrs to spare. Our checked bag didn’t. We had a carry-on and I told my husband to pack a couple days of clothes in his half. ( I don’t pack for him - he’s a grownup. ) He packed a few undies and a shirt, along with some other unnecessaries. We didn’t get our checked bag until 3 days later due to being at sea. Guess who’s fault it was? MINE! Because I didn’t put my foot down hard enough insisting on flying in a day early. Saying this isn’t a good idea, flights are frequently delayed, luggage is mishandled, etc wasn’t enough. I didn’t use my Veto power. So from now on, nasty controlling shrew of a wife will be reviewing all travel plans before they’re finalized.
I fell in love with the Retreat class towels on Celebrity with the palm leaf embroidery. Just had to take a few home! We pay enough for the Retreat that they won't be missed! Love them!
@@rordanha8552 In the Retreat pool area they serve wine in polycarbonate wine glasses (basically like a plastic glass but heavier) and they are great for using on the patio at home! They say Retreat on them with the palm leaf! Just make sure you don't take home one of the ones that are all scratched up. Wait until you get a nice one, and then snitch it!
On my last NCL cruise I bought a couple of ceramic Tiki mug souvenirs at one of the bars. I had no room for them in my suitcase or carry on backpack but I did have a packable tote bag. I stole a hand towel and a washcloth to wrap the mugs for protection before putting them in the bag.
I've pilfered a set of one-dozen Celebrity ice cream dishes from Scoops on my last cruise. I needed to collect a few specific colors, so I just asked the waitress for them and she was happy to hunt them down for me. They are great!
Not a fan of these clickbaity titles and thumbnails since they don’t reflect what’s actually in the video. I enjoyed this video but I often skip videos that look like pure clickbait, so I might just as well have never seen this. You’d serve your audience better - and show that you respect their intelligence - if your video titles and thumbnails were truthful indicators of what was actually in the video.
Not exactly cruise related, but United Airlines has the best champagne flutes in Polaris business class! I usually order a few glasses over the course of the flight from different flight attendants, and always put the glass in my purse so they don't take it away! They are the stemless kind, and they even say United on the bottom in etching!
First. Love the series Gary.. Big fan.. Second you must have a houseful of absolute tat collected from every ship you have been on.. Fortunately you mustn't spend much time at home because your always away somewhere and don't notice the mountain of recyclable garbage you bring off ship... I was hoping to hear of you winching a bed over the balcony rails and you got away with it.... Maybe next time ?
If you have a spa treatment, they usually give you a robe to use. If you walk out of the spa with it, and don't change back into your clothes, you can easily take it home with you. We have been able to get several free robes with way. It's a nice way to justify the high prices in the spa
Not one of the most enticing videos, in the past Gary you have avoided titles that are too banal, unlike some other cruise bloggers - hopefully Bembridge quality will be restored!
We have a lovely Silversea ice bucket on our home bar in the basement. All we had to do was also room service to bring us a bucket of ice, and then popped it into the suitcase! It's a great accent piece!
It sounds like Cunard is getting a little chintzy.... I can't believe they installed those cheap anti-theft clothes hangers in the closets on the new Queen Anne; they are so annoying to use..... And now they publish a list of things you can't take home in the Daily Program? Where's the class?
The big refillable shampoo bottles are fun. I sometimes take empty bottles on vacations, and fill them up from the big pump bottles -- it's better shampoo than I buy for myself.
I stole a great set of Holland America coffee cups, the ones with the colored rims. They are perfect for dinner parties. As far as I'm concerned I'm doing the cruise line a favor, because my friends always ask where they are from, and then they say they want to go on HAL to get their own
I had always wanted one of the round escargot dishes in the dining room that have the 6 holes in them. I was able to convince my wife to steal one for me She lined her purser with a big plastic bag, and that night we ordered a slew of appetizers all at once so that the table would be full of plates. First thing to be eaten was the escargot, and then was swiftly whisked in her purse, never to be seen or spoken of ever again
Gary I think you need to stop posting for a while and refocus your brand. It seems that lately you've been decreasing the quality of your videos to chase numbers. These clickbaity titles are just the tip of the iceberg of a bigger problem. I feel like you risk alienating your most loyal following just out of the self imposed pressure to maintain a fixed posting schedule.
Well, it may be rude to say, but if you boil the Video down it says "You can take free things like Pens, but don't steel pillows and such", which is indeed rather dull...
These things need to be said. There are far too many people, even wealthy ones, who think their cruise fare includes everything that's not nailed down. Towels and robes are the least of it ... I once knew a man whose Christmas gift to his girlfriend was an entire china service for 8 and serving pieces from the very high end foreign restaurant he worked at ... probably over $2,000 of stuff. I would ask my steward what things the line allows me to take home. I assume any dated paper is ok, or any tiny bottles of toiletries, but beyond that, I would ask. I'd never take the towels, though ... I have better ones at home.
The title of the streaming channel is "Tips for Travelers" and this video is inline with the title, it is "tips". If you prefer to be "entertained" instead of being "informed" then you should seek your entertainment elsewhere. If you do not like the quality of the videos why are you watching them?
We always find something to take home. I'm guilt of taking home a lot of silverware roll ups from the lido. I know the silverware is a bit heavy, but I love having a set at home that I know are from a cruise!
