Gary Bembridge’s Tips For Travellers is for travellers who want to get cruising right, by making it easy to find, plan and have incredible and memorable cruise experiences every time.
I believe that enjoyable and memorable cruise vacations don’t happen by chance. They are made and crafted through being well-informed, and then making intelligent choices at every single stage.
There are so many choices that have to be made at every stage of a cruise vacation. If you make the wrong choices, like I have done in the past, you and your family won’t have that incredible experience you are dreaming of.
Since 2005, my Tips for Travellers have been helping travellers with tips and advice drawing on my first-hand experiences from travelling every month of every year for over 25 years, and the 78 cruises I have done to date.
If you want to get cruising right, follow my channels and subscribe where you can and start making it easier to have those incredible cruise experiences you dream of.
My main channels are:
- Tips For Travellers on YouTube is the most subscribed to cruise vlogger channel on YouTube and has over 64 million all-time video views. New videos are posted every Thursday and Sunday, and I host regular Cruise Q&A livestreams.
- Tips For Travellers Blog
- Tips For Travellers on Facebook
- Tips For Travellers on Twitter
Who is Gary Bembridge?
Gary Bembridge was born in Zimabwe and been based in London since 1987. He has travelled every month of every year for 25 years. He used to be a Global Marketing Vice President for major multi-nationals like Johnson & Johnson, but since 2012 has been exclusively focusing on creating cruise travel content
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Cruises Done To Date
- P&O Aurora Europe 2004.
- P&O Aurora Mini Cruise 2004.
- QE2 Transatlantic 2004.
- P&O Arcadia Mediterranean 2005.
- Queen Mary 2 Hamburg 2006.
- P&O Aurora Europe 2007.
- P&O Arcadia Caribbean 2007.
- Queen Victoria Europe 2008.
- Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic 2009.
- Queen Mary 2 Europe 2010.
- Queen Elizabeth Europe 2011
- P&O Arcadia Europe 2011.
- P&O Arcadia Russell Watson Theme Cruise 2011.
- Queen Elizabeth Fjords 2012.
- Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic 2012.
- Queen Mary 2 Caribbean 2012/ 2013.
- MSC Preziosa Mediterranean 2013
- Silversea Baltic 2013
- Norwegian Epic Mediterranean 2013
- Holland America Mediterranean 2013
- MSC Divina Miami Caribbean Inaugural 2013
- Costa Serena Mediterranean (December 2013)
- Norwegian Getaway Inaugural Europe (January 2014)
- Queen Mary 2 World Cruise Sydney to Hong Kong (March 2014)
- Queen Mary 2 Hong Kong to Dubai (April 2014)
- Uniworld River Beatrice Danube river cruise (May 2014)
- MSC Lirica Mediterranean (June 2014)
- Crystal Cruises “European Cachet” (Rome to Southampton) (August 2014)
- Seabourn Sojourn “Autumn Isles” Mediterranean (October 2014)
- MSC Armonia (post stretching dry dock) (November 2014)
- Queen Mary 2 Bruge Christmas Market (December 2014)
- Queen Mary 2 Caribbean (December 2014)
- Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic Crossing New York – Southampton (January 2015)
- P&O Britannia Naming (March 2015)
- Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas (April 2015)
- Fred Olsen Fjords (May 2015)
- Silversea Silver Explorer Arctic (July 2015)
- P&O Britannia Caribbean Transatlantic (Oct 2015)
- Queen Victoria Southampton to Fort Lauderdale (January 2016)
- Queen Victoria Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco (February 2016)
- Queen Victoria San Francisco to Sydney (March 2016)
- Queen Elizabeth Japan (March 2016)
- CroisiEurope Loire River Cruise (July 2016)
- Emerald Waterways “Enchantment of Eastern Europe” River Cruise (September 2016)
- Windstar Star Breeze “Venetian Passageways” (October 2016)
- Fred Olsen Balmoral “Spanish Autumn Break” (November 2016)
- Oceania Insignia Eastern Caribbean (December 2016)
- Titan Serenade European River Cruise (March 2017)
- Silversea Silver Muse (April 2017)
- Princess Cruises British Isles (May 2017)
- Windstar Star Pride Gaelic Explorers (June 2017)
- Avalon Romantic Rhine River Cruise (Basel to Amsterdam) (Nov 2017)
- Queen Victoria Hamburg mini-cruise (March 2018)
- CroisiEurope Seine River Cruise (April 2018)
- Royal Princess British Isles (May 2018)
- Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam Alaska (May 2018)
- Hapag-Lloyd Europa 2 Med (July 2018)
- Voyages to Antiquity Iceland (Aug 2018)
- Azamara Pursuit Launch (Aug 2018)
- Azamara Greek Isles (Oct 2018)
- AmaWaterways Rhine (Nov 2018)
- Holland America Statendam (Dec 2018)
- Cunard Queen Elizabeth Mini-cruise (Dec 2018)
- Celebrity Equinox Western Caribbean (Jan 2019)
- Silversea Silver Cloud Antarctica (Feb 2019)
- Viking Vilhjalm Danube River Cruise (Apr 2019)
- Paul Gauguin Society Islands French Polynesia (Jun 2019)
- Saga Discovery Pre-Naming Cruise (July 2019)
- Saga Sapphire Iceland (July 2019)
- CroisiEurope Loire Canal Barge (Aug 2019)
- Seabourn Encore Mediterranean (Sep 2019)
- Saga Spirit of Discovery France (Oct 2019)
- Sky Princess Cruises (Oct 2019)
- Norwegian Encore (Oct 2019)
- MSC Grandiosa (Nov 2019)
- Oceania Insignia Western Caribbean (Nov 2019)
- CroisiEurope Mekong River Cruise (Jan 2020)
- Holland America Zuiderdam Caribbean / Panama Canal (Mar 2020)
- Viking Venus 7-Night Scenic British Isles (June 2021)
To be done:
- Saga Spirit of Discovery 6-Night Scotland Highlands and Islands (June 2021)
- P&O Britannia 4-Night Scenic Cruising (July 2021)
- Cunard Queen Elizabeth 3-Night UK Scenic (July 2021)
- Princess Cruises Regal Princess 4-Night Seacation (August 2021)
- Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady 4-Night Uk Summer WeekDaze (August 2021) – Press Trip
- Celebrity Silhouette 7-Night UK Scenic (Inverness, Kirkwall, Glasgow) (August 2021)
- Sky Princess 5-Night UK Seacation (September 2021)
- Celestyal Cruises (Idyllic Aegean) (October 2021) – Press Trip
- Ponant Antarctica (Nov 2021)
- Virgin Valiant Lady Caribbean (Jan 2022)
- Oceania Sirena 10-Night Panama Canal (February 2022)
- Viking 7-Night Venice to Athens Mediterranean (March 2022)
- Cunard Queen Mary 2 Crossing (May 2022)
- Majestic Princess Alaska (June 2022)
- Holland America Nieuw Statendam Baltic 10-Night (July 2022)
- Celebrity Edge Italy, France and Spain 7-Night (August 2022)
- Disney Magic 7-Night Norwegian Fjords (September 2022)
Travel By Year By Month
My Travel 2020
Jun: Newcastle
My Travel 2020
Jan: CroisiEurope Mekong River Cruise
Feb: Glasgow. Virgin Voyages Preview Dover
Mar: Holland America Zuiderdam Caribbean / Panama Canal
My Travel 2019
Jan: Celebrity Equinox Western Caribbean
Feb: Silversea Silver Cloud Antarctica
Mar:
April: Viking River Cruise
May: York
Jun: Paul Gauguin Tahiti & Society Islands, Las Vegas
Jul: Saga Discovery, Saga Iceland
Aug: CroisiEurope France Canal
Sep: Helsinki, Seabourn Encore Mediterranean
Oct: Saga France, Princess Cruises
Nov: Oceania Insignia Cuba
Dec: Western Australia (Perth)
My Travel 2018
Jan:
Feb: Orlando Florida
Mar: Silversea Silver Spirit Palermo & Queen Victoria Hamburg
Apr: CroisiEurope Seine Cruise and Tampa (Florida)
May: Royal Princess British isles and Holland America Alaska Cruise
Jun: North East Wales
Jul: Hapag-Lloyd Europa 2 Med
Aug: Voyages to Antiquity Iceland and Azamara Pursuit
Sep:
Oct: Azamara Greek Isles
Nov: AmaWaterways Rhine
Dec: Perth & Western Australia
My Travel 2017
Jan: Singapore
Feb: Cardiff, Bath
Mar: Hastings, Jerusalem, Titan Serenade European River Cruise
Apr: Silver Muse Europe Cruise, Princess Cruises British Isles Cruise
May: Tanzania
June: Barcelona (Visiting Holland America Westerdam), Windstar Cruises Gaelic Explorers (Edinburgh to Dublin)
July: Turku (Finland) for the Tall Ships Race
Sep: Hamburg (Cruise Days)
Oct: Germany Rhine Valley
Nov: Avalon Romantic Rhine River Cruise (Basel to Amsterdam)
Dec:
My Travel 2016
Jan: Azores, Cape Canaveral, Miami, Aruba, Cartagena (Columbia), Panama Canal
Feb: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hawaii, Samoa, Auckland, Christchurch
Mar: Sydney, Noosa (Australia), Hong Kong, Shanghai, South Korea, Japan
Apr: Macau, Devon
May: Florida
Jun: Las Vegas, Palm Springs
Jul: France CroisiEurope Loire River Cruise
Aug: Finland
Sep: Emerald Waterways “Enchantment of Eastern Europe” River Cruise
Oct: Windstar Star Breeze “Venetian Passageways”, Venice
Nov: Fred Olsen Balmoral “Spanish Autumn Break”
Dec: Houston, Oceania Insignia Eastern Caribbean Cruise, Miami
My Travel 2015
Jan: Barbados, St. Kitts
Feb:
Mar: Devon
Apr: Venice and Northern Italy, Costa Brava (Spain)
May: Norwegian Fjords (Stavanger, Bergen)
Jun: British Columbia Canada, (Vancouver, Victoria, Knight Inlet), Harz (Germany)
Jul: Rocky Mountains and Arctic Circle (Norway)
Aug: New York
Sep: Jordan
Oct: St Maarten, St Lucia
Nov: Dominica, Grenada, Barbados
Dec: Amsterdam, Genoa
My Travel 2014
Jan: Las Vegas/ Grand Canyon
Feb: Sydney, Great Barrier Reef, Gold Coast
Mar: Darwin,The Ghan, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, Kota Kinabalu, Shanghai
Apr: Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Langkwai, Colombo, Dubai
May: Budapest, Vienna, Linz, Passau, Calais
June: Marseille, Palma de Mallorca, Valletta (Malta), Trapani (Sicily), Civitavecchia/ Rome, La Spezia (Italy)
July: Cornwall
August: Porto Venere (Italy), Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Oporto
September: Bordeaux (Bassens, Le Verdon)
October: Flanders (Belgium), Doha (Qatar) Athens, Kusadasi (Turkey), Bodrum (Turkey), Souda Bay (Greece), Katakolon (Greece), Kerkira (Corfu), Crotone (Italy), Bastia (Corsica), Florence
November: Vienna, Genoa, Marseilles
December: Bruges, New York, St. Thomas, Dominica, St. Lucia
My Travel 2013
Jan: St. Thomas. St. Maarten. New York
Feb: Berlin
Mar: Rotterdam. Genoa. Capri. Taormina. Tunis. Edinburgh
Apr: New York. Niagara Falls. Toronto
May: Portsmouth
Jun:
Jul: Stockholm. Tallinn. St Petersburg. Helsinki.
Aug: Las Vegas
Sep: Los Angeles. Dublin.
Oct: Barcelona. Naples (Pompeii & Herculaneum). Palermo. Livorno. Toulon. Kristiansand (Norway)
Nov: Miami.
Dec: Barcelona. Las Vegas.
Greetings! I saw both your videos for Princeton Hyatt and Westin Princeton and I must agree, not very impressed. Next time you visit Princeton, I would love to have you as my guest and for you to assist me with this same type of video. I feel we are offering a much better room for 1/2 the cost and I would like to share this with you and your service provided. I hope to hear from you soon. Safe Travels!
Tony Morreale
General Manager
Hampton Inn Princeton
Thanks for taking the time to watch the videos and comment.
I will most certainly take you up on your offer when I am next your way. I used to be in the area about once a month but less so now!
Gary
Hi Gary,
I enjoy your podcast very much. However, I as a NYC resident, I believe that your recent podcast on New York could have offered more thoughtful suggestions. Some examples that I think are always worth mentioning as suggestions to tourists: visiting some of the many wonderful parks (especially Riverside Park and Fort Tryon park instead of the heavily travelled Central Park), seeing an Off-Broadway show (as a cost effective alternative to a Broadway show), also – TKTS often has much better deals on plays rather than musicals, visiting the food court in the basement of the Plaza Hotel – amazing food and reasonable prices, eating at a classic NY Jewish Deli such as 2nd Ave Deli, a visit to Chinatown for dim sum, a walk to Brooklyn and back over the Brooklyn Bridge (great views, great exercise, and it’s free!), viewing the store windows at Bergdorf Goodman’s department store (iconic institution and some of the most artfully crafted store windows you’ll ever see).
I could name numerous other activities, all free or very inexpensive, which I believe are incredibly gratifying and give folks a taste of the “real” New York. I hope that you’ll consider including these alternatives the next time you cover our great city.
Many thanks,
Jeff Marder
Jeff. First of all, a huge thanks for listening to the podcast. Secondly, an even bigger thanks for the great suggestions. I am back in NYC at the end of August and was thinking of finding a different angle than the recent podcast which (as you say) was very much focused on the expected and usual tourist places to visit. I love your suggestions, not all of which I have done on my many trips there. If you have more then please add them and I will look at how to see and cover as many as I can in a more “insider” and “off the usual tourist track” podcast for later this year. I think it will a very popular one! Gary
Hello Gary,
Great tips you have very interesting reading. Can you please advise regarding a med Cunard cruise (I know onboard it is $) but is it best to take cash euros or would you advice a prepaid card? Thanks
Thanks. Glad you found them helpful. I usually take Euros in cash especially if booked excursions as little additional spend in port. I tend to take too much as only costs are tip, drinks, food and any purchases which key be at markets. Everyone says prepaid cards are better if buy at the right time and can use them to draw out cash from machines. Safe if loose it
Hi Gary,
I came across your Celebrity Eclipse Review page (https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/celebrity-eclipse-my-thoughts-based-on-a-tour-of-the-ship/) today while searching for travel resources. There’s a lot of great content on there – thanks for taking the time to put it together.
Thanks again,
Phoebe
Hi Gary,
First of all – awesome podcast and tips for travellers, definitely useful so keep on traveling and recording!
Second, I am hugely surprised you have not been in Poland yet apparently. This is without a doubt one of the most beautiful country in Europe (having been myself also in England, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Germany can confirm that). It has basically everything that travelers need. Long beaches at Baltic Sea coast with multiple beautiful lighthouses and the land of 1000 lakes (Mazury) which was finalist of new 7 nature wonders in 2011 on the north side of the country. On the south side two types of mountain ranges, first shared with Czech Republic ‘Karkonosze’ that are not so tall (highest peak is Sniezka 1600m) and you can easily navigate, walk tens of kilometers and view spectacular sights, and second much more impressive but also demanding mountains called ‘Tatry’ with highest peak Rysy around 2500m above see level. There are plenty of guided walks on both of them.
There are also many really nice historical cities with Gdansk – the main port city, Warsaw – rebuild capital after 2nd world war, Krakow – main cultural city and Wroclaw.
And then there are people, most of young people (below 35years old) speak English so you would not have troubles with any requests or questions.
I would recommend visiting Poland especially in the summer (June-August).
Hopefully will see one day podcast from that country, would be curious of your opinion.
Thanks for the message and kind words. Glad you enjoy the podcast. I have not seen much of Poland and would love to. I have been to Warsaw twice many years ago for work but did not get to see much. I must plan to come!!!
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Hi Gary
I was wondering if you could recommend a luxury way to see India for the first time. I would like to see it but don’t want to rough it. Can you help me get started? I trust your judgement.
David
David. India is one place I have never been and so don’t have any good tips I am afraid!!! Gary
Hey Gary, how are you!
First off love your podcasts they are informative and very helpful, so cheers to you!
My name is Kyra and I’m with Courconnect, a Spanish language and cultural immersion company, from your podcasts its clear that we share a love of culture and travel as a way to truly connect with the places you visit.We collaborate with hundres of schools and offer affordable prices to students and assist on destinations and what courses to choose from. We would love to speak to you further about a proposal so let us know!
Thanks. contact me at gary(at)tipsfortravellers.com
Gary I’ve been watching your videos and they are amazing thank you but I noticed it looks like your lymph glad in your neck is swollen if you have not already I would have it looked at!!! I was trying to find another way to message you but this was all I could find.
Thanks for watching and the message. Yes I have had it checked out and do regularly. I did have lymph cancer a few years back but this is a fat deposit / collection thing but they monitor as part of my regular check ups. Thanks for your concern and message. G
Kia ora/Hello
If you do postings of free activities that cruise passengers could do while in Wellington, please look at my website (no ads) that describes the scores of outdoor staircases in the CBD and throughout the city. It’s also a geographic and historical guide.
Please have a look at
WellingtonSteps.com
Cheers
Alana Bowman