Would we like a cruise???

We sail Retreat and it really is an excellent product. Love having the lounge and restaurant with a good vibe in the rest of the ship. Not particularly child centred though. If prepared to up your budget, I think you may like Regent but I’m not sure about your 6 year old.

I think you just have to give it a try. For us, it’s always matching destinations with our preferred cruise line. With the kids Royal Caribbean worked well because of the activities. We now prefer Princess or Celebrity as they are more relaxed and not so ‘in your face’. There are still things to do but it is easier to find quiet spaces.

I agree that this might work well, or perhaps Haven on NCL - a bit more luxury for you, and still all the whistles and bells for DD.

I suggest Retreat on Celebrity, the food and beverages are excellent if you are upping your budget and there is stuff for your DC to do. A suite is around 4k a week each for your DH and yourself.

Well, yes, but you said your budget was £3K, and I was just pointing out that you won't get the luxury end of the cruise market for that.

If you are prepared to up the budget to similar to the amount that you pay for the hotel, then you will get a much more luxurious cruse, with probably all the things that you are looking for.

So would you up your 3k cruise budget?

We did a short Disney one as a bit of a test. I decided that even if I hated it DD would love it so it didn't matter.

Whilst I didn't love the intensity of the Disney cruise the actual cruise experience I enjoyed. The ship was huge with so much to do. The restaurants were crowded at times but we did room service and just went for lunch early or late to avoid the rush. We got off at each port stop which was lovely and chilled.

We're doing a Royal Caribbean cruise this year so will see what that is like.

Pleasure.. the kids club won’t be as big as on other lines but at 6 you can get away with it and he can meet others there. The boats are owned by the two Italian billionaire brothers who own the MSC line. They were designed to emulate their own personal yachts and as designed in Italy. Should be a nice European professional crowd in summer with some Americans.

First of all, they don’t ’belch Smoke’. The port cities benefit financially from having cruise ships dock there even if the passengers spend little.
You sound like an utter snob

I don’t fit into any of the scathing boxes this poster used, and absolutely loved my fjords P+O cruise last year.

Scenic are incredible too for river and ocean cruises.

Afraid I forget the name of the ship but it went round all the Canary Islands, I think about ten days, sorry a bit hazy now. Loved it. The excursions were wonderful. Goat farms, olive oil farms, sea salt mining, all interesting and so little leg work that you need to do.

Lots of different spaces on board. Different bars/ restaurants. Sushi , Italian etc. We didn't go in the pool on the ship but lots of people did . all sorts of activities for kids. I really do think you'd enjoy it.

Don't go for too long a trip the first time, that's all I'd say. Don't do a fortnight.

As I say, I think the first one you do could be the best. Hard to explain. Perhaps it's just me. My husband keeps asking if I'd do one to see the northern lights but for me, it's all about getting to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin so I keep saying no..and he'll ask me again a bit later . I won't change my mind ..

They do look lovely, but in a different league price wise - probably 3 or 4 times your budget of £3K. Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that you get what you pay for - much as it does for land-based holidays. Presumably you pay more for high end all inclusives that you do for Riu, the same applies to cruises.

Cruises are not all equal.. if you prefer high end, look up Explora cruises. This is the first one I’ve actually enjoyed. It’s like being in a 6 star hotel, the food and service are excellent, and if you go somewhere exciting it really is a wonderful holiday.

I've just done the one cruise and I loved it. If you have a 6 year old, I expect it would be great for you and hubby because there's so much family - based activities..

I have a feeling the first cruise you do ( unless it's a short / moderately priced one to start with), will generally be the best one you ever do..

We absolutely loved it.. waking up in amazing news places, what's not to love ?.

Can't think of any drawbacks. Possibly we felt a bit sad for the staff who do seem a bit of an underclass in a way..But maybe you can't escape that side of it.

Good call on the family friendly…the island windjammers do have age restrictions and I remembered the OP mentioning a child after I posted. I think some of the other ones are family friendly but I haven’t looked at them in a while. The second link has all different kinds of trips so the prices run the gamut.

We sail Azamara, mainly British, American, Canadian, Australian and some Europeans. Never seen bad behaviour either. We don’t sail from Southampton either. Apart from anything else, arriving back in dreary, probably rainy Southampton when you’ve been sailing foreign climes is the pits.

We sail Marella, which is 99% British. We've never seen bad behaviour.

I'm glad I read this. I'm scared of heights, and it never occurred to me that this could be an issue on a ship.

I went on a short cruise years ago (4 days, Venice and the islands), but it was a pretty small ship (passenger capacity was only just over 100) and that was fine.

I enjoyed it. It was informal (no dressing for dinner), we met some really interesting people, the food was great, the cabin was quite spacious and beds really comfy, and the service was excellent. The bar wasn't especially expensive either.