Costa Luminosa

[Prforone]

Never been on a cruise before and am taking DD in October half-term. It's a four-night cruise round the Med?

No idea what to expect! Are the excursions worth doing, or are we better off (or able even) to explore on our own? Do we need to change for dinner (it's okay - I know it won't be a black tie affair!).

Anyone done this cruise before, or similar? All advice/tips greatly received!

Selfishly bumping my thread.

Doesn't have to be the actual cruise ship I'm going on - any experiences of Med cruises greatly received!

We went on a Med cruise this summer, although with Royal Caribbean rather than Costa. We only went on one excursion organised by the ship; apart from the fact that they were $$$, it also meant we could be more flexible. In fact, when I booked the cruise the woman at RCL told me it was very often better to do your own thing. In a couple of places we just got a taxi to the centre and explored on our own; we also went on a hop-on hop-off bus tour in Athens, on a boat and bus tour of Santorini (far cheaper than the ship's excursion would have been), etc. I also looked up information about the ports beforehand (you can find lots of helpful advice and tips at cruisecritic.com) so that we knew a bit about what to expect.

Re getting changed for dinner - yes, we always did. DH and DS changed into long trousers and the DDs and I into dresses, but it was so hot and sticky during the day that not getting changed wouldn't really have been an option! I didn't wear anything particularly "dressy" though, even on formal nights (just a slightly smarter dress).