Birmingham native Lucy Southerton, 28, frequently offers tips on how guests and other crew members can make the most of their time onboard.
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In a recent video, she discussed some of the most typical mistakes that novice “cruisers” make and how to avoid them on her YouTube channel, Cruising as Crew, to which she has more than 67,000 subscribers.
Lucy started out by saying that the first error she sees novice cruisers make is that they don’t properly budget because they “treat a cruise like an all-inclusive holiday.”
She said: “If some people have solely done all-inclusive holidays, they make the mistake of thinking a cruise vacation is very similar to that.
“So a lot of people do not budget for extra expenses while they are on board because they have the misconception that most things will be free.
While some of this is true — the majority of your meals is included in the buffet and dining area — Lucy pointed out that there will be additional-cost activities and restaurants.
The nine-year cruise veteran also warned viewers of the gratuity cost, which some first-time cruisers might not be aware of, MailOnline reports.
It is crucial to budget for this so that you won’t be short on cash when your vacation is almost over, she said.
Lucy said: “With a lot of cruises, you get hit with the gratuity bill at the end, which I have also seen a lot of people not budget for.”
The cruise ship worker also said that newbie passengers tend to ignore safety briefings.
She admitted: “I think we can all have the attitude of, it’s never going to happen to me, I’m never going to be on a cruise ship that gets in an emergency.
“While I hope to God that is true for you, you just never know.
“As crew members, what we don’t want in an emergency is everyone running around panicked because they didn’t pay attention in the initial safety briefing so they don’t know where their emergency station is.”
Lucy added: “If you take nothing else from it, please just know where you have to go in the event of an emergency.”
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