• Dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge have reported increased use amid the coronavirus pandemic, while touting virtual dating alternatives for users instead of meeting up in person.
• Swaths of users are still encouraging matches to break quarantine to have sex and go on dates, despite social distancing guidelines and fines to comply with them.
• An illustrator on Instagram has been collecting screenshots of these situations, and told Business Insider that users will brand themselves as "badasses," dispute the effectiveness of isolating, and lash out in anger and hurl abusive language when they're rejected.
• Spokespeople for Grindr, Tinder and Bumble told Business Insider they've informed users to adhere to social-distancing guidelines, but did not respond to inquiries about actions they're taking against users in places where violating lockdown orders can be against the law.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As millions remain confined to their homes to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the desire for human contact and connection has risen dramatically and led some to search for ways to break those social distancing rules.

Popular dating apps — including Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge — have reported significant increases during the outbreak of swiping activity, matches between users, and messages exchanged. It's also led to the introduction of a breed of users who are interested in shirking lockdown orders, and are encouraging their matches to join them in doing the same.

Dating app users have shared stories across social media, and recently with Mashable, about messages they've received from matches who ask them to come over or want to hook up. Artist Samantha Rothenberg, who uses the handle @violetclair on Instagram, has been collecting these screenshots from followers, and told Business Insider she's received close to a thousand of such stories.

"Because of how common it is, I can honestly say that anyone who is on a dating app right now has dealt with this," Rothenberg told Business Insider. "People are horny, and a lot of people are putting that ahead of the risk and the danger."

For dating platforms whose end goal is inherently to bring its millions of users together in real life, the coronavirus outbreak has put them in a curious predicament. Dating apps are forced to balance a desire to keep people on their platform for the sake of business, with a moral responsibility to discourage users to engage in behavior with potential life-or-death implications.

Since the start of the outbreak, apps have rolled out in-app virtual dating options and touted ways users can go on virtual dates. However, the prevalence of users who are trying to meet up in person, as documented by Rothenberg and screenshots across social media, raise questions about whether these dating platforms are doing enough to stymie such behavior in the time of coronavirus.

Rothenberg has long collected screenshots of users' horror stories from dating app interactions, which she often will depict in illustrations she posts to her Instagram account. But ever since the pandemic led states to instill lockdown orders starting in March, nearly all of the screenshots she's received have had to do with coronavirus.

These lockdown-violating users fall into a few general categories, according to Rothenberg. There's the users who try to paint themselves as "badasses" for breaking the rules, though Rothenberg says they're more like "a--holes." There are the matches who propose meeting up and, after getting rejected, reverse course to say they're were joking or "testing" you, she says. You'll also encounter the anti-quarantine user, whose reasoning is based on claims about herd immunity and the ineffectiveness of social distancing measures.

The last group is made up of users who react to "no" with anger and verbal abuse, Rothenberg told Business Insider. Women told Mashable recently about encounters with men on dating apps who badgered and harassed them after they turned down in-person meetings, going to the point of gaslighting.

These types of users are what led Rothenberg to launch a petition on Change.org to hold dating apps responsible for enforcing social distancing guidelines during the pandemic. She's also been active about calling out dating apps in her Instagram Stories she posts with screenshots she receives.

"People are angry, they tell me, 'can you believe this, this is disgusting, this is wrong,'" Rothenberg said. "Because I have this platform, I feel I have a bit of a responsibility to put these [stories] out in the open and share, and bring some light into what's going on out there to people who may not know."

In late March, platforms sent out various messages and alerts to their users that Rothenberg documented on Instagram. A message to Bumble users from CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said: "Please don't meet your Bumble matches IRL for now." Hinge users were told to "stay safe and keep connected."

Tinder, arguably the most well-know dating app, also discouraged users to meet up in a platform-wide message sent March 26.

"We know there's a lot to stay to each other as we all do our best to stay healthy and prevent the spread of the coronavirus," the message from Tinder said. "We hope to be a place for connecting during this challenging time, but it's important to stress that now is not the time to meet IRL with your match."

Dating apps' responsibilities to pivot from IRL to TXT

As companies across industries adjust business to stay afloat, dating apps have transitioned to emphasize alternatives to in-person meetups. Although online dating success has long been measured by the amount of conversations that turn to real-life connections, platforms are forced to rethink their strategy as users continue turning to them en masse. A poll conducted by Hinge found that 70% of its users said they were open to going on dates on Zoom, FaceTime, and other video platforms.

Some dating brands have introduced new features amid the pandemic. Hinge launched "Date from Home" in April, where users can indicate to a match they're ready to move their conversation off-app. Plenty of Fish started rolling out a livestreaming feature in March to users in the U.S. to allow matches to go on short virtual dates. Tinder, relatively late to the game, announced this week it was launching a video chat feature by the end of June.

A spokesperson for Match Group — the parent company on Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and other dating platforms — told Business Insider that it made updates to its products "to help users better navigate stay-from-home policies and date digitally via phone or video."

Other apps that already enabled video chat and voice call, like The League and Bumble, are pushing these features to their users more than ever. 

But while users on these dating apps are swiping and messaging at new highs, the transition to virtual-only hasn't been as seamless for those on Grindr, the most popular dating app for gay men. Steve, a 26-year-old living in Washington, D.C., told Business Insider that activity on Grindr is "completely dead." He said he doesn't check the app nearly as often any more, but messages he does get on the app are largely from people who say they want to meet up despite the quarantine.

Grindr, like other apps, has attempted to pivot to virtual dating: The platform recently introduced Circles, where groups of up to 20 users can join chats centered around certain topics and interests. However, Steve said he's seen these groups largely dissolve into "all d--k pics."

"I dont think Grindr has the ability to rebrand itself honestly at this point for something other than hookups," Steve said. "They tried to take the opportunity to rebrand itself as something else, and it just right away became sexual."

A Grindr spokesperson told Business Insider it had sent in-app notifications to all users asking them to "refrain from in-person meetings right now."Nonetheless, an app-wide message sent to users — and shared by users on Twitter — made no mention of asking users to social distance. 

For users across these dating apps who encourage the violating of social distancing guidelines, it's unclear how much responsibility platforms have to keep their users' indoors. In some states under lockdown, authorities have doled out fines and even arrested residents found failing to follow at-home guidelines.

Grindr, Bumble and Match Group — the parent company of Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish and others — told Business Insider in statements they have encouraged users to adhere to coronavirus guidelines from the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control.

None of the companies responded to Business Insider's requests for comment about whether asking to violate social-distancing guidelines on the platforms is a breach of policy or would garner any ban or suspension on a user.

SEE ALSO: What you need to know about Grimes, the Canadian musician who just had a baby with tech billionaire Elon Musk

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• Facebook is taking a harder line on misinformation related to coronavirus than it has on other health topics in the past.
• This decision may increase the pressure on the company to act more decisively against other forms of harmful falsehoods that spread on its social networks.
• Facebook is banning events that promote flouting lockdown protests, and is removing the conspiracy theory video "Plandemic."
• But false claims that vaccines are dangerous still proliferate on Facebook — even though they contribute to the deaths of children.

Amid the pandemic, Facebook is taking a harder line on misinformation than it has in the past. That decision may come back to haunt it.

As coronavirus has wreaked havoc across the globe, forcing lockdowns and disrupting economies, false information and hoaxes have spread like wildfire on social media. Miracle cures, intentional disinformation about government policies, and wild claims that Bill Gates orchestrated the entire health crisis abound.

In the past, Facebook has been heavily criticised for failing to take action to stop its platform being used to facilitate the spread of misinformation. To be sure, coronavirus falsehoods are still easily found on Facebook — but the company has taken more decisive action than in previous years:

• For starters, Facebook is now displaying warning messages to people who have shared false information about COVID-19. They're imperfect — Stat reported that they may be too vague in their wording to have a major impact — but it's a step further than Facebook has taken on misinformation in the past.
• The company is also taking down event pages for events that reject mainstream science on coronavirus by calling on people to flout lockdown rules.
• And it is banning "Plandemic," a conspiratorial video about coronavirus that has been going viral on social media and contains numerous falsehoods.

But Facebook's actions to combat COVID-19 misinformation may backfire — in the sense that it has the potential to dramatically increase pressure on the company to take stronger action against other forms of misinformation.

The company has long struggled with how to handle fake news and hoaxes; historically, its approach is not to delete them, but to try to artificially stifle their reach via algorithmic tweaks. Despite this, pseudoscience, anti-government conspiracy theories, and other falsehoods still abound on the social network.

Facebook has now demonstrated that it is willing to take more decisive action on misinformation, when the stakes are high enough. Its critics may subsequently ask why it is so reticent to combat the issue when it causes harm in other areas — particularly around other medical misinformation.

One expected defence for Facebook? That it is focused on taking down content that causes "imminent harm," and while COVID-19 misinformation falls into that category, lots of other sorts of falsehoods don't.

However, using "imminence" as the barometer of acceptability is dubious: Vaccine denialism directly results in the deaths of babies and children. That this harm isn't "imminent" doesn't make it any less dangerous — but, for now, such material is freely posted on Facebook.

Far-right conspiracy theories like Pizzagate, and more recent, Qanon, have also spread on Facebook — stoking baseless fears of shadowy cabals secretly controlling the government. These theories don't intrinsically incite harm, but have been linked to multiple acts of violence, from a Pizzagate believer firing his weapon in a pizza parlour to the Qanon-linked killing of a Gambino crime boss. (Earlier this week, Facebook did take down some popular QAnon pages — but for breaking its rules on fake profiles, rather than disinformation.)

And Facebook is still full of groups rallying against 5G technology, making evidence-free claims about its health effects (and now, sometimes linking it to coronavirus in a messy web). These posts exist on a continuum, with believers at the extreme end attempting to burn down radio towers and assault technicians; Facebook does take down such incitements to violence, but the more general fearmongering that can act as a gateway to more extreme action remains.

This week, Facebook announced the first 20 members of its Oversight Board — a "Supreme Court"-style entity that will review reports from users make rulings as to what objectionable content is and isn't allowed on Facebook and Instagram, with — in theory — the power to overrule the company. It remains to be seen whether its decisions may affect the company's approach for misinformation, and it still needs to appoint the rest of its members and get up and running.

For now, limits remain in place as to what Facebook will countenance in its fight against coronavirus-specific misinformation.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would immediately take down posts advertising dangerous false cures to COVID-19, like drinking bleach. It is "obviously going to create imminent harm," he said in March. "That is just in a completely different class of content than the back-and-forth accusations a candidate might make in an election."

But in April, President Donald Trump suggested that people might try injecting a "disinfectant" as a cure, which both has the potential to be extremely harmful, and will not cure coronavirus.

Facebook is not taking down video of his comments.

Do you work at Facebook? Contact Business Insider reporter Rob Price via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 650-636-6268), encrypted email (robaeprice@protonmail.com), standard email (rprice@businessinsider.com), Telegram/Wickr/WeChat (robaeprice), or Twitter DM (@robaeprice). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by standard email only, please.

SEE ALSO: Facebook announced the first 20 members of its oversight board that will decide what controversial content is allowed on Facebook and Instagram

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• The storied investment bank is seeing leadership shakeups under CEO David Solomon and a slew of partner departures. 
• Goldman has been moving away from high-risk businesses like trading and is making pushes into more stable areas like consumer lending, wealth management, and transaction banking. 
• There have been big cultural changes, too. Solomon is looking to create a more transparent workplace, while new tech execs are taking cues from Silicon Valley heavy-hitters. 
• At Business Insider, we are closely tracking the latest developments at Goldman. You can read all of our Goldman coverage on BI Prime.

Storied Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs is going through some massive changes under CEO David Solomon.

It's taken big steps involving transparency and inclusion to change up its culture. It has seen a slew of partner departures — many in the securities division. And it's making big pushes into businesses like wealth management and transaction banking.  

The latest people moves

• Goldman Sachs just hired Kurt Hoffman, an expert in distressed situations and bankruptcy, to join a trading unit known for some of the bank's most lucrative deals
• Goldman Sachs' top tech exec explains how a fresh slew of senior hires are transforming the bank's approach to building products
• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs just sent naming 4 execs to lead its private-equity investments across the merchant-banking division

Culture and talent

• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs just sent to staff announcing its new head of regulatory affairs. The former White House counsel will be tasked with helping clean up the bank's 1MDB drama.
• Goldman Sachs just hired 2 senior recruiting execs focused on luring top talent from other firms —and it's a huge departure from the firm's traditional promote-from-within mentality
• Read the full memo David Solomon just sent to 38,000 Goldman Sachs employees explaining why he's moving his management team out of stuffy offices and into open seating
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and his management team are ditching their stuffy offices and moving to an open floor plan closer to the people so they can feel the buzz of New York headquarters
• Goldman Sachs just unveiled a new gender pronouns initiative as part of a broader inclusion push at the Wall Street firm
• Read the memo Goldman Sachs just sent to its employees unveiling a new pronouns initiative

Coronavirus response

• Inside a 38,000-person remote work rollout at Goldman Sachs: sleepless nights, assembly lines, and an Amazon-like hub on a Manhattan trading floor
• How a massive New York hospital secured 130,000 N95 masks from China with help from a senior partner at Goldman Sachs, private jets, and a call to Warren Buffett
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon just sent a firm-wide voicemail about the coronavirus crisis. Here's what he told employees.
• Goldman Sachs and Bank of America just updated their WFH policies — again. Here's what they're telling employees about the latest steps aimed at combating the spread of coronavirus.
• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs top brass just sent detailing the firm's coronavirus contingency plans, including separating employees into 'blue' and 'white' teams to alternate working from the office and home

Consumer push, transaction banking, wealth management

• Goldman Sachs just announced its first partnership for transaction banking as it looks to build a new $1 billion business moving money around the world
• Goldman Sachs is sending much less mail to potential Marcus customers. A senior exec lays out the reason why.
• A Goldman Sachs exec explains why the bank isn't sweating concerns over the Apple Card's profitability
• A Wall Street firm crunched the numbers around how much Apple will make from its new credit card with Goldman Sachs
• Here's why Goldman Sachs just did its biggest deal in nearly 20 years as part of a pivot to less wealthy clients
• Goldman Sachs execs are opening up about their plans for Marcus, and they think it can do to banking what iTunes did to the music industry
• Goldman Sachs' partnership with Apple could move it a step closer to being 'a bank branch in your pocket'
• Human resources is the next battleground for Wall Street wealth advisers as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs jockey over new turf
• Goldman Sachs has a novel method for predicting the next economic slump, and it's at the heart of its hot new business

Technology

• JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are finally beginning to embrace fintech startups. Here's how they test the waters before committing to working with them.
• We talked to the execs behind Bloomberg's new data partnership with Goldman Sachs. Here's why they think it's a sign of Wall Street's future.
• Goldman Sachs is putting its own Marquee app on Amazon's cloud in a pitch to lure more fintech developers
• Goldman Sachs is embracing open-source code and its chief data officer says it's part of a "new world" of software
• Read the memo the new Goldman tech chief sent to the firm's 9,000-plus engineers where he urges them to ditch presentations in favor of Amazon's famous narratives
• A new Goldman Sachs tech exec hired from Amazon is taking a page from the Jeff Bezos playbook by urging engineers to ditch PowerPoint and write memos
• Goldman Sachs' new CTO shares his strategy for attracting outside developers to work more closely with the bank, giving a glimpse into the future of how Wall Street will work
• A Verizon executive is joining Goldman Sachs as chief technology officer as the Wall Street bank reshuffles its ranks
• Marty Chavez is retiring from Goldman Sachs. We chatted with him about the bank's tech transformation, why now is the right time for him to step down, and what he's planning next.
• Goldman Sachs tech guru Marty Chavez is retiring from the bank
• Goldman Sachs' CEO just warned that the bank's big tech bets might not pay off as quickly as people hope
• Goldman Sachs is scrapping a homegrown email app it once touted — and it's a sign the bank is moving away from building tech in house
• Goldman Sachs is exploring plans to create a Netflix for data, and it marks a new frontier for Wall Street
• Goldman Sachs' internal idea factory hatched a plan for the Google of Wall Street, and it's now looking for the next big thing to disrupt the bank
• Goldman Sachs' big bet on the future of Wall Street had a rocky start. Here's the inside story of the bank's struggle to grow its next business and an exclusive look at its plans

Trading

• Bank of America is shaking up its global markets division and poached a Goldman Sachs exec to fill a key new role
• Goldman Sachs' massive quant business now rivals AQR and Two Sigma. We talked to the bank's top quant about asset growth, finding data sources, and why critics of computerized trading are wrong.
• Goldman Sachs' CEO tells us the bank is winning over quant clients. That helped it outpace rivals like JPMorgan last quarter.
• Goldman Sachs is cutting about 5% of sales and trading staff after senior equities leaders delivered a tough town-hall talk
• Goldman Sachs is moving away from a tool championed by its former CFO as it pushes its traders to see clients where they once saw quick wins
• Goldman Sachs is shuffling its top stock trading executives as the business tries to claw back market share from Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan
• Goldman Sachs's bond trading unit is still trying to find its way — and it represents a key challenge for new CEO David Solomon

Alternatives

• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs just sent naming 4 execs to lead its private-equity investments across the merchant-banking division
• Goldman Sachs is making targeted hires for a 'storefront' for alternative investments that's modeled after firms like KKR and Blackstone
• Goldman Sachs' push into private equity is ruffling feathers at Blackstone — and it might be a sign of big client skirmishes to come
• Goldman Sachs execs are jockeying for control of the firm's lucrative private investing units after a plan to merge it — and the stakes couldn't be higher
• Meet the Goldman Sachs execs tasked with building the firms' new Blackstone-esque private-investing unit — and pumping up the bank's flagging stock price
• 'It's good to be Rich': Meet the Goldman Sachs banker who has built a private investing empire that goes head-to-head with Blackstone — and you've probably never heard of him
• Goldman Sachs is considering a shakeup of its alternative investing units as part of a plan to simplify the bank's strategy

Deals

• Goldman Sachs is assembling a team of senior bankers focused on middle-market private equity. Here are the key hires and the playbook they'll use to land new clients.
• Goldman Sachs unloaded some of its WeWork shares before its investment bankers pitched investors on what it once considered a $60 billion-plus IPO
• Goldman Sachs just revealed it sold part of its Uber stake to SoftBank and it helped boost a $4.5 billion business
• A senior Goldman Sachs fintech banker was about to join JPMorgan — but then got lured back —and it's another sign of the fierce battle for M&A talent
• Goldman just promoted a star tech banker close to Tesla and Microsoft to co-head one of its most profitable businesses, as incoming CEO Solomon makes his mark
• Goldman Sachs just announced a shakeup of its leadership — and it signals the rise of bankers over traders
• A tug-of-war between Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan over a top banker highlights Wall Street's $1 trillion battleground

Investor day 2020

• Inside Goldman Sachs' first investor day, where avocado toast and crab apples were served with tech talk, 3-year plans, and a surprising trading mea culpa
• Goldman Sachs just revealed a new wealth brand at its first-ever investor day. It shows how the bank is trying to reshape its strategy — and image.
• Goldman Sachs just unveiled hundreds of slides laying out the future of the company. Here are the 10 crucial slides that show how it plans to transform into a bank for everyone.
• Goldman Sachs is rethinking how it makes private-equity bets with its own money – and one analyst thinks that shift will be a big driver of its stock price

Careers 

• Goldman Sachs is now hiring high-school graduates for roles in Salt Lake City, one of the company's 'high value' locations
• Goldman Sachs has lost at least 54 partners since David Solomon became CEO. We're keeping a running list — and compiling details from insiders about how the exits are being celebrated.
• Read the full memo Goldman Sachs' top brass just sent to staff announcing 2 heads of the bank's private-investing arm are out as it's gearing up to raise billions
• 2 coheads of Goldman Sachs' private-investing business are retiring, in a blow to David Solomon's fundraising plans
• A Goldman Sachs partner who just resigned is leaving behind a job overseeing $2 billion for a London VC with a leading stake in neobank Revolut
• Read the memo announcing the departure of Adam Korn, the Goldman Sachs exec who was 'instrumental in building and championing' innovations like the bank's Marquee platform
• Another Goldman Sachs partner is out. HR chief Dane Holmes is the latest key player to leave the Wall Street bank in a matter of days.
• Goldman Sachs is offering buyouts to encourage partners to leave as CEO David Solomon works to shrink one of the most elite clubs on Wall Street
• Goldman Sachs is making renewable energy a big priority based on its hiring strategy. It's a sign that its ideas incubator is working.
• The David Solomon era at Goldman Sachs kicked off with 43 words Lloyd Blankfein would never say
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon shares his best leadership advice
• Goldman Sachs is shaking up the way it stocks one of the most elite clubs on Wall Street — and it shows how banks are back to making money again
• Goldman Sachs' 1MDB problems are eating into employee morale, and insiders worry the firm will use its legal woes as an excuse to scrimp on bonuses
• Goldman Sachs is about to move dozens of jobs out of pricey New York to Utah as Wall Street turns to cheaper cities

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A cleaning expert reveals her 3-step method for cleaning your entire home quickly

The 30-year fixed-rate average moved slightly higher this week, increasing to 3.26 percent.

In an emotional interview with TMZ, the comedian said she canceled her show there because of the state's attempt to, in effect, ban abortion.

The former first lady and her A-list friends triumphed over late-night host James Corden and his squad.

The native of Barbados apparently doesn't like Trump's immigration policies.

The former president is living his best life on Lake Como.

Several Hollywood A-listers gave a reading of select parts of the report in New York.

The small town mayor is raking in some cash from A-list donors.

The rapper was arrested earlier this month after an altercation in Stockholm.

The Pences' middle child shared the happy news on Instagram: "I said 'yes.' "

The rapper has been a supporter of the Democratic presidential candidate, and says she wants to help "a movement of young people to transform this country."

The president wants the rapper, who is accused of assault, returned to the United States.

The “Saved by the Bell” star later apologized for stirring controversy in a resurfaced interview with conservative Candace Owens.

The NBC personality introduced baby Henry Harold to the world on Monday.

The musician pointed out that she hails from Texas and is familiar with hunting and gun culture, but she said the recent tragedies deserve a different response.

You know about Beto O'Rourke on the guitar, of course, but what about Bernie Sanders's spoken-word album?

The "notorious" Supreme Court justice posed for pictures with the actress, who was attending a performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" in New York.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren embraced her latest celebrity endorsements. "Looking forward to the day @chrissyteigen doesn't have to fight with the president of the United States on Twitter," she said.

During a somewhat combative episode, Megan McCain asked the president's son about the "pain" his family has caused.

The host made news of his own with questionable jokes, an eye roll and whispers of another wrong winner.

A discussion about the impeachment hearings turned into a showdown between the co-hosts.

The Republican congressman chastised entertainment culture for being "divisive."

Famous supporters flocked to social media as Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his presidential campaign.

Two new books critical of the president -- one from the left, one from the right -- imagine a path beyond our current divisions.

Discover the (sometimes surprising!) things you can no longer do on a cruise and cruise ship. How many of these did you know about? Got any to add that I missed? I look forward to you listening (or watching the video version: https://youtu.be/zas6F4wMD0Q )

Discover 12 habits and things cruisers do on a cruise that annoy other cruise passengers the most. Things I have seen on my many cruises, watch cruise fans discussing on cruising forums and reading complaints about. 12 common practices, habits and things cruise guests do that drive other passengers crazy. Are you guilty of any of these? Do some or all of these drive you crazy? Or, do you not see why they upset other cruise guests?

People often tell me their cruise cabin is not important as its just a place to sleep and get ready, until they have a bad experience of a noisy cabin that disrupts and affects enjoyment of their cruising vacation. I share 5 key steps to finding and ensuring you get a great cruise cabin on a cruise ship. Discover how to find the best cruise staterooms and exactly how to choose a cruise ship cabin. Also watch my video about cruise upgrades: https://youtu.be/id160Wqmrj0

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Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 60+ cruises.

Celebrity Edge is the third class, or type, of ship in the Celebrity Cruises Fleet. The first ship was Celebrity Edge in 2018, followed by Celebrity Apex in 2020. After spending time on the ship, and talking to cruise passengers, I review this new class of ship and discuss what is new and different, and what is good or poor about the ship - and who I think it is best for. This should help you decide if the Celebrity Edge ships are right for your cruising vacation.

Get my Cruise T-shirts at my store at https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/store

Get a great Cruise deals via CRUISEDIRECT.COM at https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/CruiseDirectYT

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Should you cruise to Iceland? If you want to visit Iceland what are the pros and cons of cruising over doing a land-based visit. There are many good things about taking a cruise, and I explore the 6 best pros of cruising to Iceland before looking at the 3 top things you need to consider that may make a land-based trip a better option for you.

Note: I travelled as a guest of Saga Cruises on a round Iceland cruise when making this video. A lot of the footage and tips also draw on my Voyages To Antiquity cruise to Iceland last year too.

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** UK Cruisers get great cruise deals with CRUISE.CO.UK: http://bit.ly/BookCruiseUK

Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 60+ cruises.

Follow Tips For Travellers on:
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/garybembridge
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How can you get free things on your next cruise, and get much more bang for your cruising bucks? I discuss the 6 main areas of cruise freebies that are available, if you go and ask for them or seek them out. They are not things that cruise brochures and websites usually reveal, or talk about. I tell you the things to focus on and how to get as many free things as you possibly can, including drinks, special food, gifts, spa treatments, better and improved cabins and more.

** Buy my Cruise T-shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore
** USA cruisers get great cruise deals CRUISEDIRECT.COM: http://bit.ly/TFTBookCruise
** UK Cruisers get great cruise deals with CRUISE.CO.UK: http://bit.ly/BookCruiseUK

Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 60+ cruises.

Follow Tips For Travellers on:
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Is a hotel barge cruise better than a river cruise in Europe? I explore 5 times, and types of travellers, where a European barge hotel cruise is likely to be the best way to cruise through Europe. River cruising in Europe has become very popular, but less travellers know there is an alternative way to cruise the European Waterways - hotel barges that cruise the canals and rivers of Europe. Discover if they are a better option for your European vacation

Note: I travelled as a guest of CroisiEurope on a 6-night French cruise on their Deborah hotel barge along the Yonne and Seine from Sens to Paris. The cost of the cabin would have been £2043 / $2500 per person sharing. CroisiEurope had no input on the content or opinions expressed in this video.

** Buy my Cruise T-shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore
** USA cruisers get great cruise deals CRUISEDIRECT.COM: http://bit.ly/TFTBookCruise
** UK Cruisers get great cruise deals with CRUISE.CO.UK: http://bit.ly/BookCruiseUK

Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 60+ cruises.

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Cruise drinks packages are becoming increasingly popular. Most cruise lines offer them, and actively promote and encourage cruising passengers to buy one. However, is a drinks package right for you? I explore 8 reasons and times that a drinks package on a cruise ship is probably not worth buying. Cruise lines often have different levels and types of drinks packages, such as lines like Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line and Celebrity, and what should you be thinking about if deciding between these. Discover if a drinks package is right for you, and the watch-outs and things to consider.

Watch my video about the unusual ways cruisers smuggle alcohol on a cruise: https://youtu.be/xTICZTwMYkY

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** USA cruisers get great cruise deals CRUISEDIRECT.COM: http://bit.ly/TFTBookCruise
** UK Cruisers get great cruise deals with CRUISE.CO.UK: http://bit.ly/BookCruiseUK

Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 60+ cruises.

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What are the main differences between a European canal hotel barge cruise and a river cruise? I think there are 8 key things you need to know that makes a canal cruise different to a river cruise. By understanding how they differ you can better decide is a river cruise or canal hotel barge cruise is best for your next European river cruising vacation

Note: I travelled as a guest of CroisiEurope on a 6-night hotel barge cruise in France before making this video Croisieurope had no input into the opinions or content of this video.

** Buy my Cruise T-shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore
** USA cruisers get great cruise deals CRUISEDIRECT.COM: http://bit.ly/TFTBookCruise
** UK Cruisers get great cruise deals with CRUISE.CO.UK: http://bit.ly/BookCruiseUK

Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 60+ cruises.

Follow Tips For Travellers on:
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/garybembridge
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge

Discover the 10 biggest cruise rip offs that you need to watch out for, and tips on how to avoid or overcome them. There are a number of things that, if you are not careful, you could find you are being ripped off and spending too much on. These are the 10 main rip offs that I have seen and watch out for when I go cruising.

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL BY:
Buying my Cruise T-shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore
Booking your next cruise with CRUISEDIRECT.COM: http://bit.ly/TFTBookCruise

Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 74 cruises to date.

Follow Tips For Travellers on:
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/garybembridge
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge

You're about to discover eight services that I think could change the way you cruise forever! In this, I talk about eight amazing, innovative and sometimes unusual services that I think could help travellers think about and cruise very differently . Some will help people cruise when they thought they could not.

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL BY: Buying my Cruise T-shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore and Booking your next cruise with CRUISEDIRECT.COM: http://bit.ly/TFTBookCruise

Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 60+ cruises.

Follow Tips For Travellers on: Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/garybembridge - Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers - Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge

Netgem announced that Sure has partnered with Netgem to launch a new hybrid IPTV service for its customers in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

By working with Netgem, Sure has been able to make use of its broadband network to deliver Over the Top live and non-linear content to a hybrid STB. This means the operator can now add premium TV to its bouquet of services and offer its customers triple and quad play packages.

The new service is powered by Netgem's N8200 hybrid PVR integrating its nCloud middleware; subscribers will benefit from a brand-new TV experience that supplements UK DVB-T2 free-to-air channels for popular non-linear entertainment content and a fluid and consistent user interface.

Orange Slovensko the leading telco operator on the market uses the nangu.TV Media Platform for IPTV and OTT delivery. "With the growing demand for interactive television and more viewing possibilities, Orange sought a proven solution to bring to the market," says Product Manager at Orange, Martin Hainzl.

Orange offers their customers TV with value added features, which gives them more options and comfort than classic live TV. The VoD selection stores 50 movie titles, accessible on multiple screens: TV, PC, Smartphone or tablet. The TV Archive allows playback of content up to 7 days in the past. Customers can utilize the time shift feature to browse content already aired and watch it at their leisure with pause, play and star t over commands. They have flexibility in watching television on the go with the newly released applications for both iOS and Android devices. The nangu.TV solution allows operators to stay ahead of competition by giving cutomers the chance to be in control of how they watch TV.

Netgem has joined the Wireless Broadband Alliance in October 2012. Founded in 2003, one of the aims of the WBA is to enable seamless data Offload for operators. The WBA and its industry leading members are dedicated to delivering high quality user experiences through technology innovation, interoperability and robust security.

Netgem strengthens its commitment to the WBA by announcing the launch of QUATTUOR, the first LTE mobile router with embedded Wi-Fi Offload. Netgem's next generation mobile router will be available in 2013 and has been developed for mobile operators that wish to differentiate their service offering and to maintain full control over their wireless connectivity manager. QUATTUOR will automatically choose the best available connection from 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi networks, placing the device firmly in line with the WBA's objectives. Based on a fully customised platform, QUATTUOR is designed to improve operators' data service profitability.

She has apparently tricked the president into thinking she supports his fiscal ideas. Her actual ideas are worse.

The president has had some experience with poorly run companies and excuse-making.

They have big dreams, but the plans aren’t backed up.

He just took out two birds with one proclamation.

Somehow they’ve “tricked” him into saying and doing racist and corrupt things, in public and on camera.

How best for the party to get its message across to voters.

Come hell or high crimes, they always truckle to Trump. And they’re the true risk to our democracy.

Public officials today could take a lesson from the former Federal Reserve chair.