First time cruiser

[brownbeauty]

Looking to book a 'no expenses spared once in a lifetime' cruise.
Husbands birthday gift February 2022
What should I look out for?
What grade room is the best?
What are gratuities?
Will we get bored if nothing onboard is for us?
Outfits?
Extra charges for anything?
Do we have to leave ship at every port?
Looking towards Dubai Arabia etc etc for the heat.

I will have saved £7k to use for this by sept this year so will have time to search and book or time to save more for something better.

Please share what you have experienced and also things you wish you would have known before sailing.

1. get a room with a balcony
2. Gratuities are tips - they're mainly on the American cruise lines and they're basically part of the cost of the holiday, same as when tipping in restaurants in America.
3. Boredom - make sure your ship is going to ports that you're really interested in. There are usually shows on every evening, a casino, you can sit and chill on your balcony with a book to read.
4. Even though I'm not into dressing up, I loved the formal evenings - it was a chance to wear a proper full length evening dress. When else do you get a chance to wear them? I still dressed smart casual on other nights as well if we were eating in the main restaurant, but some nights we just went up to the buffet restaurant, in which case we wore shorts & T-shirt or whatever.
5. You don't have to leave any port at all if you don't want to.
6. The only extra charges I can think of, besides the gratuities, is excursions. One big tip from me though, would be to only go on an excursion offered by the cruise ship if there's really no other way of seeing what you want to see. Obviously, all the ports are on the coast, so there's nearly always a nice beach within walking distance. it's easy to get taxis/public transport to get to most places and there are lots of local companies that you can book excursions with - you can do this online in advance, although make sure you do your homework and check you're not being scammed.

Look at Cunard.

Gratuities are a rip off, we paid them all upfront.

There's generally loads to do on the ship. We didn't bother on the formal night but a few people did.

Get a cabin with a balcony.

There's extra charges for alcohol. We got the drinks package and it was worth the money. It includes soft drinks, fancy coffee, pure orange and bottled water for trips.

Some charge extra if you chose to go on their excursions.

Good advice above. I recommend you have a look at the forums on the cruise critic website. They will tell you everything you need to know.

When it comes to picking your cabin, Google the cabin number and ship before you go to check out other peoples experiences of that exact location.

I mean before you commit to that particular cabin

Wifi was an extra charge on our cruise.

Definitely get a balcony.

I disagree with a PP about the drinks packages. Every cruise I've been on have had free tea/coffee, soft drinks anyway. The drinks packages are really for alcohol. We don't drink much alcohol and worked out that the package would have cost us a lot more money than we ever would have drank. We only drank 2 bottles of wine between us over a 10 day cruise. But if you're big drinkers, it would be worth it.

My favourite so far has been Celebrity - it felt so posh and extravagant and the ports we went to were all amazing (Rome, Sicily, Naples, Greek Islands, one port in Turkey).

@astuz we're not massive drinkers but we worked out it was worth I for us. But I agree look at the prices and see if it's worth it for you.

Start with ports and se if these are places you want to visit. Then look at the cruise lines that go there and research them on cruise critic. When we plan, we base it on ports we want to see. I’d rather have decent ports than poor ones just to get heat.

I agree. Go with a balcony cabin if you can.

You don’t have to dress up on formal nights. We never did. Just ate in the buffet in those nights.

You don’t have to get off on port days.

We sail Royal Caribbean usually and go for the drinks package as it includes bottled water of which I drink a lot. Freshly squeezed orange juice, freshly ground coffee and the coffee shop (rather than the mass produced stuff), plus alcohol. I waited for good deals on the drinks package and booked it. Worthwhile for us.

I have no experience of an actual cruise yet! But we've recently booked with Celebrity, just a 4 nighter to Bruges. We want to go on a 2 or 3 week cruise but thought we should probably test it out first, in case it's not for us.

The only tip I have is to haggle when booking. We started off at £749 per person for an inside cabin, which was the advertised price. 2 days later, ended up with an unobstructed balcony room with the full (alcohol) drinks package thrown in for £519 pp!

The best part is that we weren't even trying to haggle 😂 When we were uhmming and ahhing on the phone about whether it was a bit pricey and we'd have a think and call back, we were entirely genuine...but after the sales rep had already committed an hour or so to us I think she was determined she wouldn't lose the deal...i assume they work on commission.

So there's definitely wriggle room in the price ime which I never expected.

What I wish I had known? Not to go. These ships are sailing towns. Very impersonal. You get next to no time in port. Every visit is rushed and mega expensive. Honestly, go for a decent hotel somewhere wonderful. Do a bit of exploration and enjoy what you see. You rarely get this luxury on a cruise.

Get a balcony room, sheltered balcony gives shade, obstructed balcony means by the lifeboats (my preference ).

Look at the itineraries, choosing a cruise line depends on personal preferences eg do you want old school posh with opportunities to dress up (Cunard) similar but a little less formal (p&o) or exciting with lots of activities (royal Caribbean) just as examples. I'm booked with Cunard currently but have done others, I quite liked Marella (TUI) as all inclusive including tips and transport was hassle free on their own planes, not as posh but had one dress up night.

Once onboard unless you are AI drinks are extra, tips are calculated daily but you can do your own, then there's excursions - I book my own independently or just wait until I get off the ship (there's always people offering trips and cheaper than the cruise line) or you can book in advance. I would allow a decent chunk of your budget for these rather than just the fare.

I booked through Planet Cruise this time but have also used Iglu cruise. They can recommend what's right for your circumstances

@PresentingPercy

Personally I didn't feel rushed and all my excursions were cheap because I booked independently (Europe so easy) it's as expensive as you make it. I normally take road trips and hate staying in one place ... personal preference

How exciting!
You have had really good advice. Absolutely start with an idea of where you fancy visiting and then explore which cruiselines go there.
Regarding excursions, it really depends on the destinations. Many ports are walkable/within a bus or taxi ride to the centre of the destination so you can very much do your own thing with planning and the help of Google.
It pays to plan ahead though as in some ports there are many many options of things to do.

I think for a once in a lifetime trip it’s worth getting a drinks package or choose a cruise line that includes them. Then you can order pre dinner cocktails, wine with lunch and dinner etc and really relax knowing you won’t have a large bill. I’m a big fan of booking excursions but I know lots of people do their own thing. I like to do about half to two thirds excursions as can get to see more places that are perhaps a bit further away and not have to worry about getting back to the ship on time.
Also for a special holiday I think it’s worth booking some of the speciality restaurants that do have a charge but I’ve always found they were my best evenings.
I’ve been on 11 cruises and have never once been bored, there’s so much to do. I love the sea days and the days on port. One of my favourite things is the sunsets and also arriving into the ports.
Don’t worry too much about outfits, you will have the opportunity to dress up if you want but you don’t need to go mad if you don’t want to. I’ve bought a few dresses cheap on eBay that are a bit more dressy than I’d normally wear and wear those on the more formal nights. You could wear a dress say from Next or something you’d wear out to dinner and you’ll be fine. One tip is to pack more day trip clothes than you would for a beach holiday and definitely some comfy shoes or trainers. Plus some covered up clothes for visiting churches and mosques etc.
Happy planning!

MSC’s Yacht Club is nice.

@PresentingPercy

What I wish I had known? Not to go. These ships are sailing towns. Very impersonal. You get next to no time in port. Every visit is rushed and mega expensive. Honestly, go for a decent hotel somewhere wonderful. Do a bit of exploration and enjoy what you see. You rarely get this luxury on a cruise.

I’ve never felt rushed at all.

That’s why we research ports well in advance.

Our last 7 night cruise had one sea day and the rest were in port including Portofino, Barcelona, Monte Carlo. All day in each. You don’t get an overnight but still full days. Ports are as expensive or as cheap as you want. Organised ship excursions usually are expensive but that’s why you research a lot in advance.

I have been of 4 cruises and can highly recommend celebrity as great mix of all the major ones. Cunard are fab if you are 50+ and very classy, but celebrity are great all rounders.

PresentingPercy what company did you cruise with at where did you go?

@SwimBaby

PresentingPercy what company did you cruise with at where did you go?

I bet it was one of the 'cheaper ones'.

We never felt rushed in port. We did our own thing every time. They're all geared up for tourists arriving. We did a bit of research on each one and decided what we wanted to do. Only bummer was Palma as we did a bus tour and it was sweltering.

Don’t do it. They are dreadful for the environment,.

Love cruising, although we have done all the major lines it’s been mainly Europe and Caribbean so can’t help with Dubai, but my tips would be,
book a balcony, we have also had outside window cabins in the past but after COVID I’d always now book a balcony.
Do your research, cruise critic has a forum. This is really helpful to look at ports see if you can do them on your own which is easy in Europe but might not be elsewhere.
You can stay on board if you want ship is much quieter on port days as most people go off, its sometimes really nice to chill from all the sightseeing.
I’ve never been bored but if your worried the bigger ships RCI or Norwegian have lots going on, so that might be better for you. Celebrity lines are more sedate entertainment but food is better. You get a daily newsletter with all the different entertainment for the day.
Never bother with speciality restaurants usually but you can book when onboard if you want a change.
Love dressing up at night, especially after this year of joggers!
Can’t wait to go back!

You don't have to get off the boat, but you will probably want to!
Think hard about the ports of call; do you really want to go there, is there much to see? If you do your own thing, remember that the ship won't wait if you are late back.
You might not spend much time in your cabin, but choose carefully.
Inside cabins are cheap, but not cheerful.
Look at the deck plan; you will not want to be close to noisy venues either near you,or above/below -unless you are a late-night party animal.

Pick an itinerary with stops at places that interest you. We've done Venice, Split, Dubrovnik, Monte Carlo, Barcelona etc. Wondering why Dubai? Are there places in the middle east you've always wanted to visit?
I don't think hot weather is that important on a cruise, if you just want to flop by a pool all day then there are better holidays to suit that.
A cabin with a balcony.
Drinks package only worth it if heavily discounted or you drink a lot. We took DC when they were 18 + so four adults drinking wine with meals and drinks in the evening and the bill was quite reasonable. Drinks packages also exclude some drinks.