As I don’t want to waste my precious time and money on a European river cruise line that isn’t on top of their game, I've been diving into the latest cruise reviews and ratings, to see what lines are doing well and, maybe more importantly, what lines we might need to approach with more caution. There are 5 lines you should be wary of and they include some of the best-known names on the rivers of Europe. I was surprised about the first of the lines on the lower-scoring list as I had expected them to be rated better.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

I decided to see how today’s travellers spending their own hard-earned money river cruising in Europe are rating the lines on review sites. I quickly discovered the rankings were not as I expected them to be and were different to those of the magazines and sites. So, I let you in on the top 8 traveller best rated river cruise lines right now, and why.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

It is a great time to be cruising if you are a family with kids. But if you’re looking for kid-free cruising it is getting harder than I have ever known it to be. In this video I talk about guaranteed adult-only cruise lines and ships, how to minimise your chance of having kids on a cruise on non-adult only lines, and if you're on a cruise line with lots of kids, what can you do if you want a more adult-only experience.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

I look at 5 things that no-one, including cruise lines don't like to talk about, when it comes to cruise ship cabins - and why and how it is affecting the way passengers like you cruise and ingenious ways that the choices cruise lines are making on cabins means people are paying more to go cruising.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

It feels to me like the world is getting smaller for cruise passengers. I keep seeing reports of yet another port banning, reducing how many ships or the size of ships that can call there. And even in ports without cruise restrictions, more locals seem to be protesting about cruise passengers being there once we get off the ship. As the news of these developments tends to be sporadic and not many are aware of the total picture, I decided to pull together what's happening so you can consider these when planning your upcoming and future cruises.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

On my last cruise, Cunard Queen Anne, I never ate in the buffet restaurant, on a recent Holland America cruise I ate lunch in there every day and on my Royal Caribbean Symphony of Seas cruise I ate most meals there. Why? It’s because I have a set of cruise buffet rules that I've developed over time that determine when I eat in the buffet, how I use it if I do, and what I will and won’t eat in there. After talking to other regular cruisers, I found they also follow a similar approach that I want to share with you. 

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

I am frequently contacted by stressed cruise passengers at the end of their tether, seeking my help on how to get out of a costly blunder they've made. In recent weeks, several cruisers have been in touch about the same four issues that seem to keep catching people out these days. I thought I needed to warn cruisers about them. As well as telling you about them, I will suggest how to solve them if you have, or do, find yourself caught up by one.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

When I told friends, family, and followers online that I was headed off on a Viking Ocean cruise to Alaska, I was struck by how much misunderstanding and myths they all had about what it's really like to go on a Viking Ocean cruise. Because it had been a while since I'd last been on a Viking Ocean cruise, I also had many questions on what it was like these days and how and what had changed or was different. This is what I discovered it is like going on a Viking Ocean Cruise today.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

Reports of an incident of passengers breaking cruise rules with costly consequences, got me thinking about what cruise rules I see being broken often. It struck me that some rule breaking bothered me and some did not, for while they might have nasty consequences for those involved many do not directly affect my cruising experience. I wondered if everyone felt the same. So, I did a poll of cruisers and discovered there’s 6 key rules that when broken drive cruisers crazy more than any others, and in this video I reveal what they are and why they drive other cruise passengers crazy.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers

While there's been many reviews about cruising on Cunard's new Queen Anne, there's not been much about what it's like to travel in their costly first-class Grills “ship-within-a-ship” on it. I spent 14 nights testing that out and having also been in it on every ship in their fleet too, I think I’m well positioned to report back on what they’ve changed, got right and frankly not got right at all.

• Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams
• Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers