Cruises! May half term. I’m clueless.

[Sharkyfan]

Can anyone advise? It’s a big birthday for next year and I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise.
dH isn’t interested and may not be on the scene next year anyway.

I’ve had a quick browse but find it a b overwhelming.

Does anyone know if it would be feasible to do a 5 or 7 night no fly cruise (we’re not too far from Southampton) at May half term 2021, for me and 3 kids aged 5, 9 and 13?
I guess Mediterranean or Norwegian fjords?

Lots to do on the ship with a few interesting stops too?
I guess we’d need a family room or two interconnecting doubles.

Oh, and is there such a thing as an environmentally responsible cruise!

I could probably persuade my 70 yr old parents to come too which would help with the adult-child ratio!

We have done 14, kids love them and have a great time. Going from Southampton limits the choice and the weather can be bad. Norway is fantastic, but not really sunny.
5 nights is two short as you will be a day getting to Europe 2 days to the med
Personally I would avoid P&O as its grubby and not a patch on others Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, Holland America etc are much better.
Go on Cruise critic forum as loads of help, plan every port and do the trips your self, we where quoted £600 for a trip via the ship did it our selves for £100.
Its ideal for the OAP's we take the inlays they love it. Interconnecting rooms are hard to get, most rooms are 2 or 4 berth, We often just get the cheapest as we only sleep in it, we once had a suite and it was fantastic but at £4000 each not worth it, we got a free upgrade as we had two rooms so they swapped the two for the suite as they needed more rooms, just lucky, it was like a James Bond set!
The cost of fuel etc makes the cruises quite environmentally friendly, we have been behind the scenes few times and its very good what they do to recycle, the last one had an incinerator to burn the poo instead of dumping it in the sea! If you ask politely when on board they may take you and show you just how they Make water and deal with waste etc

Norwegian fjords is the ideal distance for a week long cruise from Southampton as long as you are ok with the fact it’s unlikely to be hot and might be rainy. Might only be worth going in the Med direction if you can spare a few more days.
I’d research the ships carefully- you can’t really say all ‘p and o’ are grubby as most lines have newer ships which tend to be bigger with better facilities and older ships which are getting run down but some prefer as more intimate. Having kids you’d probably want to pick one of the bigger family friendly ones so that your DCs have lots of other kids to socialise with. They nearly all have clubs, cinema, pools, unlimited food - what’s not to like?

Thanks guys, lots to think about.
Did have a quick look online and saw P&O Oceana from Southampton may half term 2021, 7 nights Spain & Portugal.
About £4500 for a suite sleeping 4.
All the balcony rooms were already sold out which I can’t believe so far in advance!
I think I would like to have a balcony at leash the first time I go as one thing i am worried About is feeling like I can’t get away from people. Plus youngest will only be 5 so may want to be able to put her to bed then sit outside (not that she’s ever happy to go to bed first!)
No idea if that’s good value or not, never normally would spend that much on an holiday!

We do P and O and it’s perfect for us. We don’t want all the entertainment that comes with others (but appreciate many do)

Ships are limited to how many children they can carry in each age group due to maritime law so ideally book as soon as you can. (We now need child place and adapted cabin so end up booking 2 years in advance when itinaroes are released)

I love cruises. I'd say a week is a bit too short for med from Southampton but you could do fjords or continental Europe. Personally I found p&o not so great for kids, but I really rate Royal Caribbean, Princess and MSC for a family holiday.

I’ve taken my DC on 11 cruises so have lots of cruise experience. One May half term we did a fab 6 night cruise on independence of the seas which is a Royal Caribbean ship to Norway. It was such a lovely holiday, so much to do on the ship, we particularly enjoyed the ice skating and ice shows. The Norway ports were very enjoyable. We booked 2 interconnecting cabins for our family if 4.

I recommend Iglu Cruise, the website is very good. You can put where and when you want
to go in the search and it will show you lots of options. You can then research the ship and ports of call further. Their prices are competitive too. I recently booked a 9 night NCL (another possibility for you) Baltic cruise and paid £600 less than on the NCL website.