5 Things You Won't Be Able To Do On Cruises This Year!

The cruise industry won't have to worry about overbooking soon if this keeps up. Not if they keep charging more, offering less, and cramming ships full. And now people don't even want you visiting their ports. Just disappointing what sorry shape things seem to be in.

It feels like cruising is getting worse overall. Inflation, more crowding, and cutbacks.

Whoa, whoa, hold on. So the decision was made to dump everybody in the Seychelles, to figure out how to get home on their own? Who the F do these operators think they are, that they can do business like a fleet of pirate ships, stranding passengers on any island they pass? Quick, someone tell me, oh they're allowed to do that. So that I'll know never to book a cruise, with any company, ever.

I've already booked for Jan 2026 with a good fare price and good room credits. It seems, according to my agent, that the cruise prices increase as the demand is high and the best prices are at the initial offer of the ship and its itinerary. Very different to the past when the last minute deals were available to fill the ship.

Can’t get unlimited entrees on MSC anymore - they’re charging $5 now for extra entrees! Has anyone experimented with ordering extra appetizers or entrees as appetizers to avoid the charges? I usually am good with one plate but it’s fun to be able to try 2 entrees.

Thankfully we’ve already done Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam this year on the Diamond Princess. We’ve heard that’s a route that’s never going to happen again…

If my boss expected me to be Wifi enabled for him/her on my holiday, I'd expect to be paid for every minute that it's available and the extra cost, because it's seldom included. And I'd look for a new job...
And if you don't use a web-based email (gmail, hotmail, live etc.) then you won't be picking them up, anyway.

Are cruise operators ensuring that everyone is FULLY vaccinated against the super-deadly Covid? I'd hate to board a cruise and be near any of those filthy covid deniers who are not vaccinated or even worse yet, those that are under-vaccinated and not fully-up-to-date with ALL boosters. We're in some pretty trying times with killer-covid so it's important to have all covid vaccines since they are so Safe & Effective(tm).

Great video Gary. Thank you

We were very lucky to be able to see St. Petersburg on a Viking Cruise before they took it off the itinerary!!

I was in Israel on October 7th on the Nieuw Statendam. Sadly we had just arrived that morning. We were to have 3 days there. Overnight in Haifa & a day in Ashdod. I personally had 1 hour in Nazareth before being turned around and taken back to the ship. Many with later tour times didn’t even get off the ship. It may be a long time before it’s safe to return. Praying for all caught in this conflict 🙏

Good to see Norway making the right choice.

Internet may be faster, but its still way overpriced.
Also there are plenty of other options for excursions that aren't through the ship. Usually better with smaller groups as well.

Great information!!

We are cruising the beginning of may and not heard anything about booking excursions yet is this normal?

You’ll be in my home town during your cruise in Canada (Quebec city)! I hope you’ll enjoy your time here. 💙

No reason to stop going on a cruise through Suez - just turn the cruise around at Aquaba or Shark-Al -Sheik and go back through in the other direction like cruises do in Panama

Skipping YORKTOWN, VA!! Wow! That's too bad, not much shopping to do, but the historical aspect is amazing. I went to Coast Guard Officer Training there and remember long runs along the battle fields. It was great! The Yorktown Pub is great.

WiFi - I disconnected for my last cruise and only added international service in Nassau and Freeport. That was it. I wanted to "be free!"

Gary - coming up I’very booked 3 silversea at 90% rack rate - airline employee discount - March 18 Bali to Japan Silver Muse
I booked SEABOURN Pursuit (SCUBA!) GUAM- TAHITI $7K PP 20 nites
The discounts are still there ❤

Very helpful, many thanks.

These things are cyclical - in other words, what goes around comes around. Many of us will simply find other ways and places of travel. Our first cruise was in the mid-1980's on the old Norway. All excursions had been booked and were horribly priced anyhow. Overtime, cruising was over done and the lines over-extended. That period is now to return just over the horizon and they'll be back begging travelers to return. Most of us will have found much better and more fun means and the inexperienced newbies will begin to jam those deal-driven cruises and make them even more like magic mountain. That's for the warning. But, we'd already figured cruising had already cratered.

I have never comment on your page before. But please double check your information. The rape charges for the two ladies in the Bahamas was canceled as this was a big lie by the ladies. Sex was consensual.

Vegas is doing the same thing. Skyrocketing prices and quality going down.

When I'm on holiday, work can go screw itself. My boss knows my personal email address, and never in 8 years has he contacted me when I'm on holiday.

Wait, you bid on upgrades? I thought you advocated against that.

My boss is an anti-cruiser. I’ve told him there’s no Wi-Fi unless I pay extra. I’m gonna keep telling him that! 😊😊

I have one caveat to your comment about the quality of wifi on board cruise ships: I have been on Norwegian ships twice in the last year (last one was just a few weeks ago) and the wifi was so terrible I had to complain and received a partial refund.

I have never understood why they ever fair matched. If you book early you get choice of rooms, and guarantee you get on the boat. If they lower it later because only undesirable rooms are left, I don't feel entitled to a discount

Useful info thank you. Would you mind sharing the 3 sites that you use to track the price of cruises please?

Try an Emerald yacht cruise for the Suez Canal this year. The itinerary goes from the med to the red sea, a few days around the top of the red sea, and back to the med. That does not go anywhere near Yemen so it is possible Emerald are still running it. It's expensive though.

Most bogus yet is this year Princess force at least 2 people per cabin to buy a drink package. Does not work for us as wifey does not drink. Most Princess packages are going as bundled including wifi and drinks. Not working for me. I will buy wifi for 3 units and go Ala carte for drinks. My average cruise drink bill is $50 per day. why pay $80 x 2 for a package?

This was a new one for us: We are leaving soon on our first Oceania cruise and it is Japan. We booked in August and I went online in January to choose excursions. Little did I expect that most would already be full! My queries and complaints to corporate eventually resulted in this statement from the Supervisor of Guest Services: "We are only the cruise line and offer tours as a convenience ...." He went on to talk about the allotment each cruise line gets and extended his apologies. That's all. I'm astounded that a more luxury line than we have used before (Princess, Holland America, Celebrity) doesn't provide sufficient excursions 3 months from sailing. In most ports there were NO open excursion options. As a result, we booked independent tours at 7 ports from a company we've never heard of with payments that are non-refundable. It's obvious that Japan doesn't have enough tour operators, but Oceania didn't even offer an explanation or apology until I pestered corporate several times. We are now just hoping that the tour people show up at each port and get us back to the ship on time! I should add that I was in contact with other people on the Cruise Critic Roll Call who were scrambling to find excursions as well.

Ty for these updates. Wd love to cruise again but the nitpicking with cruise lines is sad. Glad I cruised early 2000s to South Pacific, Mediterranean, Greece at a fraction of cost and airfare included. The food was awesome. HAL and lobster nite was my fav.

Yeah for my 40th birthday I wanted to do an Avalon river cruise. Was monitoring prices and within a few months they doubled. A 4-6k cruise for two is now over 10k I still have another year but idk for that big of a jump

But the starlink was welcome for us. We are big techies lol

All inclusive packages should be locked in with the benefits offered at the time of booking. We're not allowed to get onboard and say, "I agreed to $900 for this package, but I've had 2nd thoughts on the flight over, you need to reduce it to $750."

Hi Gary,

Curious when your Group Cruise dates are, from Boston to Quebec, stopping in Halifax/Sydney/Charlottetown?!

Can’t get back to your video on Silver Nova. But wanted to comment on it. You mentioned the cost to go to La Dame and Kaiseki. $80 and $40. We did the Rio to Barbados leg of the 71 day World Cruise Rio to Barbados. Prices were exactly double. For $160 La Dame wasn’t worth the price. The Japanese for lunch was included but dinner $80. Want was the difference? Portion size. Didn’t notice much change between lunch and dinner. The bath products in the cabin were inferior in our opinion from past experience. We asked if they still had the better products and they did. We forgot about the caviar service until another passenger mentioned it, so we took advantage of it a couple days. No beach bag or binoculars in the cabin anymore. We could have used the binoculars on the Amazon. Speaking with another passenger who was a travel agent and she commented we were on a small Royal Caribbean ship. We expected some cutbacks and noticed them. Many we spoke to were planning to explore the other luxury lines as they were disenchanted with the new SilverSea. RC paid a lot to jump into the luxury market. They shouldn’t try and destroy its reputation so quickly.

I don't pay for the Wifi and any employer that wants you to, tell them you can't afford it.

I have a P&O cruise booked Nov ‘25 and one of the stops is Jamaica and know I will not be getting off the ship. It has been unsafe for over 10 years, it’s not going to change by 2025. Shame about the Suez Canal. Our Mediterranean cruise this May had a change of itinerary with Dubrovnik and Hvar being replaced - they are also cutting down on the number of cruise ships coming into port.

Great video Gary! I just got off Virgin Scarlet Lady, which was not quite full and I was able to secure another cabin after finding out I was directly under the free weights section of the gym and the men there kept dropping their weights on the ground and eventually giving me a terrible headache. However, I understand from people I met who cruise more that this ship was not nearly as crowded as others they had been on. Virgin remains amazing though and I have no complaints about how I cruise with them!

You also won't be able to cruise from Baltimore this summer.

I hate to say it but once you put it out on your blog how to save money there are those who work for the cruise lines who are trying to make money for their bosses so they watch your videos and make it impossible for everybody else, but I see it in the near future when less people are going on their cruises that they might meet everyone halfway 😢😢😢

I am very envious of all these trips you manage to do. Another excellent video.

If reading booking prices correctly
Non refundable deposits seems to be the norm

Possible deasth is preferable than missing a "bucket list" item? OK, If that is your preference. But, you certainly do not speak for the cruise lines. They believe in saving their ships and their passengers. (You pick the order of their interests. But, know that both concepts allign with and preserve your occasional pompous view of your own significance).

Lots of Adia cruises with Taiwan. So if China decides to invade you can kiss the Asian and Transpacific cruises goodbye as well.

There is nothing about these observations and experiences that make me want to go on a cruise