How To Pay NOTHING (Or Next To Nothing) To Cruise!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ธ.ค. 2023
- I'm going to show you how seven of my friends paid nothing, or next to nothing, to go on cruise vacations in the last year, and how I've been offered 11 free, or almost free, cruises in that same period too.
Some may not work for you today, but may one day, some will once you know how, but I can guarantee the last one you can do for sure.
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* www.myinterline.com
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ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 101 cruises I have done to date.
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Gary, I really appreciate that you pay for your cruises to avoid conflicts of interest, so we can trust your reviews
I worked in journalism for more than 20 years, so I applaud your policy on free cruises. No matter what they say, anyone who accepts something major from a company, the odds of being co-opted rises exponentially.
I’m very impressed that you refuse the offered free cruises. While I’ve always enjoyed and watched your content anyhow but now I am assured that you are always unbiased.
Here is another way to get a free cruise, that will not work for everyone, but if you fall into this category, you WILL get a FREE cruise trip. Last spring my wife and I went on a Princess Cruise Line Excursion and Cruise to Alsaka. On the land portion of the trip, we stayed at a couple of hotels (near Denali National Park), owned by Princess Cruise Line. We met a number of retired people who were working at the hotel for a 10 week contract over the summer. At the end of their contract, as they were working for Princess Cruise Line, they could get a free Princess Cruise of their choice! And while working, they had free employee lodging and free shuttle to get to their jobs each day. This works only for people who can commit to a 10 week block of time in the summer, so if you are retired, or maybe a teacher, this could be for you! You also have to live in Alaska for that time, but the weather was not too cold, and we only had some rain, but the late summer nights were amazing! Good Luck!
That’s one I had not heard before! Thanks for sharing that !!
Good to know.😊
Always enjoy your posts. My husband and I had booked on an interline fare (he’s retired from major US airline) on Holland summer 2023. Was to be bucket trip from Amsterdam to Norway, Iceland & Scotland. So they told us they would choose cabin not ideal but then week before sail assigned room and depart time. We planned on 3 days before in Amsterdam. As we were at airport within 30 minutes of boarding got an email that we were cancelled due to overbooking. Had to scramble to cancel all plans. They never informed us that interline was subject to this even though we booked 8 months in advance. Then were very cold about it with no offer of credits. Luckily we’re careful and all but one reservation got a full refund but still lost about $1200 in insurance cost plus profound disappointment. So beware using an interline rate and fully read terms and conditions.
We have used the credit card strategy for years. We have gotten significant onboard credit, upgrades, etc. just by using the card for everything. The trick is not to carry a balance because interest charges will quickly override any benefits.
Thanks for the kind mention. My journey to doing cruise lectures began with volunteering to run a community group to help people who thought technology had left them behind. That not only resulted in my having to create a series of presentations which I could later take onto cruise ships, but also gave me valuable experience in presenting. Volunteering to fill a knowledge gap can result in all sorts of opportunities.
Thanks, Gary, for your integrity.
It's always a debate whether to accept anything free for review/coverage. I respect your decision to avoid them, it certainly removes a lot of the bias that can be introduced. Thanks for sharing your secrets!
So interesting and helpful once more! Thank you!
Really enjoying your tips. Keep up the good work.
Great video and definitely something to bear in mind
Thank you for these great tips!
My cruise style is the exact polar opposite from yours, but I absolutely love your videos. You are filled with so much information.
I have even more respect for you Gary,well done you. I only subscribe to your cruise channel,it's the best one of all 🎉
your channel has the best tips around, I am thoroughly enjoying binge-watching your channel! I have to wrap Xmas gifts but here in front of the monitor instead 🙂
Thank you for the video!
Thanks for sharing this. I knew about all of these opportunities individually, but hadn't tied them together until now. I haven't had the opportunity to cruise for free yet, but maybe one day.
Wow! Great things to know about!
Thanks Gary.
Tony, you’re a rock star for all of us facing weight-loss or other health challenges. I’m so sorry the insurance is adding to the stress. I went without health insurance for four years when I was between a corporate job and Medicare. It was terrifying. Had to borrow money from a friend when I broke a wrist. It’s an insane system. We are the only country in the world where “medical bankruptcy” is a thing.
I doubt they will offer me a free cruise for the boring job I retired from with the fire department but maybe my second career as a fire inspector for a major hotel company. But I think I deserve one for being an awesome granddad 😊
Very good thank you
Carnival doesn't offer free cruises through their loyalty program, but certain milestone cruises offer free OBC if asked for - 25th cruise on Carnival gets 25% of base fare in OBC, 50th gets 50%, 75th gets 75%, and the 100th is free with some limitations.
Thank you for your video. The casino free cruises you still need to paid the port charges and tip. I will look into the dancing hack since I enjoy cruising and dancing and I'm retired. I can talked your ear off but I don't know if I can do it formally.
On Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady this week - they only ship with a live, onboard poker room at sea (WPT At Sea); they are running a tournament where the first prize is a free balcony cabin cruise. Agree there are lots of ways to make this happen … thanks for posting this video!
Wow! You are the #1 cruising channel! Congrats! I know it might be helping the competition BUT it would be interesting if you did a video why you think you are #1.😁
I have been drafting something on that, as also are tips and things I suggest to people when they ask how to build their channel. So, will do!
G’day Gary, we’ll in 7 months I’m going on a P&O Cruise from Sydney to Cairns & back after not having a holiday for 6 years & I’m stoked. Long live cruises & thanks for you video’s mate
Have great trip! Let me know how it goes
Thanks Gary, great info. Our friends won a free cruise on Deal or No Deal in September ok the Apex & just booked it. They got 13 nights transatlantic with a mini suite & only paid $1300 in total to upgrade the room. Amazing 🤩 isn’t it?
I used to be associated with a cruise line. We could get outstanding lecturers etc. on the cheap. You'd be shocked at how far up the celebrity food chain you could go with a lousy 😁 free cruise. This is for a small boutique line operating primarily in the Med. 'Small boutique' is a euphemism for 'expensive'.
A variation of the speaker/lecturer, many cruises want religious personnel for cruises that coincide with religious holidays. On a Cunard cruise for Chanukah/Xmas, we met a Rabbi and his wife who had done multiple “free” cruises as talent.
I gamble at casinos in Rhode Island and Connecticut. They often have Casino at Sea promotions (usually NCL) offering free cruise fare for certain itineraries for two . We pay taxes, fees, gratuities and excursions. My spring 7 day cruise should have cost about 1300 but we had future cruise credits from the covid years of 1100. We're paying about 220 plus 300 in excursions!
I view my “taxes and fees only” comped cruises on Carnival and Princess as a discounted cruise, not a “free” one. I set my gambling budget at what I would have paid retail for the cruise. I have never lost the entire amount and several times I have come out significantly ahead.
I did wonder how long it would take for the word 'casino' to be mentioned on here! I recently cruised with MSC, and the number they were widely advertising around the ship (I think it was about 10,000 points in the casino) seemed SO unrealistic, but I'll be intrigued to see if my recent activity on a few Carnival Corp ships could prompt any discounted cruises - watch this space...
Great video as always, sir!
I get Wyndham diamond status through hotel stays and a Barclays Bank Wyndham credit card this gives me Caesars Diamond status which has a lot of benefits. That has gotten me offers of free stays at that large resort in the Bahamas as well as casino offers of heavily discounted rcabins with Carnival. In addition, I get a few free nights with Wyndham which I use to pay for cruise port stays before and after cruises. And my gambling is minimal.
I have a "free" cruise on MSC coming up in May that was "earned" by hotel/casino status matching. In my case it was Hyatt->MGM->Hard Rock->Ocean (Atlantic City). My cost was traveling to Atlantic City to get the Ocean status card, which I then used with MSC to book the cruise. Booking required a $400 non-refundable deposit that is converted to onboard spend. This method is reusable every 2 years.
I have two friends with specialist skills who have been given free cruises to run daily activity courses. One is a genealogist, and the other makes beautiful scale miniatures. The down side is the cruise line tends to work you very hard, and you don’t get a great room. It’s not crew quarters, but it’s not glamorous either.
How many classes/speaking events did your friends have to do per cruise?
Gary, I appreciate the fact that you do not take the free cruises and do not do videos to promote the various cruise lines. I do NOT hold it against those who do as long as they disclose their financial interests and sponsors. I have seen too many travel vlogs that are little more than advertisements.
I think that TravelTouristVideos should be on your list of tip 100 cruise vloggers as they do some great work documenting the food on the various cruise lines.
We are relatively new to cruising…we’ve taken 7 over the last 12 years. however, we are gamblers…on our september ‘23 alaskan cruise we gambled and were offered a free cruise which we are taking in Feb24, 9 days aruba and Curaçao…last year we took a quick pre christmas trip to bermuda (from nyc) on Norwegian, gambled there as well and Norwegian offered us a free cruise on which we leave next saturday, same exact cruise. my feeling is that I would be spending my gambling $$ in a casino anyway…why not just take the same money and go on a lovely free cruise? there are things to consider tho…airfare, upgrades (almost all free cruises start out as inside room offers) so there are some costs to consider. as we near retirement however, this is a very nice way to have some fun instead of the OhMyGod fully self-planned exhaustive trips that we’ve taken in the past.
Haha - I’m the only one without the connections to cruise at reduced rates!!!
My brother worked as a cruise ship musician for several years. He performed at all the venues, from the big production shows to the poolside band, but he had a lot of free time. That was years ago so I don't know if that job has changed much.
Excellent that you pay your own way:)
I have enough points on my Royal Caribbean credit card for a free cruise, though it seems the process of redeeming it is complicated. I've put it off for now as I have a full schedule for 2024, but eventually I'll find the time and get something booked. I don't think I can use my travel agent as I don't think they'd get paid for it.
Hi Gary
Great advice, but I don’t work in travel, nor do my relatives-and I don’t have any skills that would work for a cruise line!
That is a pity as the rates they offer are amazing... they did talk at one time of considering travel writers, TH-camrs, bloggers as counting but nothing has come of that (yet!)
I won a free cruise on a NCL with a bingo draw win Iwas excited, bjt that soon turned to. disappointment with it since it was for a cruise to the Bahama's or Bermuda ( not handy when you are from Europe and won it in the Med), a ship that did a lot of those trips waa excluded and a llt of dates and you vould not combine it with offers, had to be the catalogue price. It felt it was not very good 'gift' and the sad part was I could not gift it to someone else. It would have made more sense to adjust the price to a broader audience/ area.
Where would I find out more about being a crafts teacher on a cruise?
For about 15 years, I have taught a somewhat unusual craft, and am a published author on it. I would love to put together a short course on that craft in exchange for a cruise.
My only credit card is with American Airlines. That’s how I get to the cruise port. I pay for my cruise. It works. I charge everything I can and then it’s auto pay from my checking account. I pay no interest. Free flights!!
My Princess Visa use to give free Cruises but since covid they stopped. I'm hoping they will bring back a free cruise,
I just booked a free cruise on NCL. I received the offer from my local casino in the mail. I just went up to the casino and picked up the cruise certificate. There were a couple ncl employees there to answer questions. There were several cruise itineraries to choose from including Australia, Alaska, Rome. I called ncl and booked it, no hassle at all. We opted for 7 night carribean cruise. My gambling wasn't enough to earn a balcony, but that is ok. We dont care. We could have upgraded but inside is fine. It's free but it's not really free. Our cost is taxes, port fees, and free at sea package gratuities. Came out to $559 per person. If it wasn't "free", it would have been $1368 per person.
Illegal in Australia to offer inducements to gamble. Its harmful.
I only want a "free" cruise if it's on a small ship (no more than a handful of people) with no kids, I have one of the best cabins and I get to choose where we go. I guess I want my own yacht!
Gary, just curious and I'm not certain you'll know the answer or would be willing to comment. There are at least two other cruise channels vlogging from a river cruise this week. I know that you mentioned that you pay for all of your cruises. River cruises tend to be expensive and I'm wondering if the lines offer social media influencers expensive cruises and if you think some channels point out only positives about the cruise and ignore any negatives since it's a comped cruise.
I have been very fortunate to discover cruising first by receiving a free cruise from Caesars in Las Vegas on Norwegian, then Carnival offered $100 balcony cruises. Holland America offers came next, and now a Virgin offer. This year 7-day Virgin for $101 per person fare and taxes; 7-day HAL Canada-New England $450 per person fare and taxes; and finally 14-day Hawaiian on Carnival $175 per person. All are balcony cabins. We gamble a minimal amount of time, nothing big, The cost is getting from Michigan to the cruise ports
So the gambling requirement to earn a free cruise is based on the time spent at the casino and not the amount of money spent there?
@@valshiro515 I honestly don't know what the criteria is for getting casino offers. From my experiences I never spend a lot of time in the casino; usually when I can't find anything else to do on the ship. Then hopefully win something or get into a give and take situation where I win some and lose some, and come close to breaking even so in the end I really don't have a serious out-of-pocket expense..
Hi now I understood why is always going impossible for me to go on a cruise being almost every day more and more expensive: there are LOT of people not paying for it!!!!!
The biggest joke in travel is branded credit cards. Except for the initial bonus. After that, for airlines, hotels or cruises, you make a measly 1%. 1% that MUST be used for the branded service. Get a cash back card with 2% CASH BACK. Apply it to any travel expense or anything else. At least airlines give priority boarding and free checked bag. Cruise cards give you NO PERKS WHATSOEVER.
How many people really work in travel!!
Interesting that a retired cabin crew person gets Interline fares. I was in the travel industry for over 30 years and as soon as I retired we get nothing. Even when I was a travel agent Fam trips were rare as hen’s teeth as all the bosses take the ones offered or the top sellers. I never had a cruise one. I do miss getting a fare less commission though. These perks have been dramatically been reduced by about 80% here in Canada.
My husband was able to win the entire cost of our cruise and a little extra at the casino that we just got back from ... it cannot be your aim though when you go to gamble you will loose big
Those cruise line credit cards give awful value. You could do way better with a Simple Travel Hacking strategy
Travel hacking strategy???🤨
Agreed. Even a basic cash back card would be better
11:07 A gigolo?
Even with a tiny TH-cam channel you can still get a free cruise like I did.
This is perfect as I can still give an honest review because I’m not reliant on cruise lines to pay my mortgage!
yes!!
You should to keep in mind that you may owe income tax on the value of your free cruise (at least in the U.S).
On a cruise chat group, we recently had a person who is sailing for "taxes and port fees only" on a casino rate....so the cruise cost him about $200, whining because his casino rate doesn't qualify him for some of the perks that people who paid real money can get. DUH.....True, not all "deals" can be combined, but complaining because his essentially free cruise didn't also come with onboard credit and drinks that those of us who paid thousands were getting????
I would gladly swap with them because I don’t drink alcohol
@@ZStitchDisneyFan Yes, we don't drink alcohol and won't use nearly the "value" of the drinks on smoothies, mocktails, or whatever. But I'm paying more about 10 times what he is for the cruise...couldn't believe he was whining because he'll only get "free" drinks while in the casino while many of the rest of us had a drink deal included in our reservation.
I don’t know what “perks” you are talking about that he is complaining about not getting. I get 5 free drinks a day on RC because I’m Diamond Plus. I also get unlimited free drinks in the casino and free Wi-Fi because I’m Signature (25,000+ points), but you also get that perk at Prime (2,500 points). I’ve done over 20 cruises since November 2022, and I’ve never paid anything other than taxes and port fees for any of them.
@@bisho1pBy gambling?
@@bisho1p The guy was cruising on Virgin, which is currently offering $300/$600 bar tab free (amount depends on length of cruise), but it is not able to be combined with the casino fare. Likewise, they offer a rebooking on board benefit that includes onboard credit--again, can't combine with casino fare.
Why are dance hosts diminishing?🧐
Fewer and were ships having ballroom dancing to bands every evening is the main reason. It sounds like even Cunard going to be cutting the dance hosts to only be on the QM2 transatlantic and not on full fleet all the time
Yeah, the CC. Only for entitled US population. Or am I wrong? Unless one has an official address in the USA and this SSN, you ain’t going to get any CC from any of the leading American cruise lines.
I got a free cruise from a timeshare presentation.
I don’t gamble much but have more offers for free cruises than I could possibly take.
Great to hear. It does seem once on the lines radar the offers do keep coming in
So other passengers are subbing people who work in the travel industry
So that's why fares are so expensive now. I have to make up for others free or discounted fares
To “sell to you and me”, not “you and I”. Come on Gary you went to a school in English!
Please stop using "I" as a direct or indirect object. Use "me" instead.