Cruises - never been on one before and I am interested! Advice / experiences welcome!

[Afterfire]

There would be 4 of us. Me, dh, dd aged 19 and Ds aged 11.

I think initially we’d like to try a short one from Southampton. Been looking at Royal Caribbean ones, msc, and P and O… it’s quite overwhelming all the different options and “brands” - is one better than another?

How does it work if you do a longer one and fly to a different country - are transfers included?

Not a clue what I’m doing…!

You can get interconnecting cabins but it's more expensive! Ours were fine on the sofa bed.

If you use an American cruise ship, your 19 year old will not be able to drink alcohol (may not be important to them but a friend was caught out by this)

You really have to see a cruise SS a floating AI hotel. The ports visited must allow for cruise ships and are therefore limited. Your time will be too so you see next to nothing. There’s always shopping but seeing anything else is expensive and short lived. Loads of excursions get back for AI lunch!

I’ve cruised four times. Three times when DC were young and once with my DM. I’m not planning to go again. I enjoyed Norway most. Alaska had its good points but the Caribbean was soso. DC enjoyed the clubs and activities for DC. DH and me were bored. Choose where you go carefully and don’t expect anything special when it’s a knock down price.

Some people love cruising but it’s regimented. You don’t get much time to explore anywhere. Loads of people don’t even bother. We have just been back to Alaska on a small yacht. That’s heaven. A cruise ship isn’t. It’s easy to cruise because all arrangements are made for you but you really have to see the ship as a hotel. Or a prison with trips off for good behaviour!

We did all our own excursions and saw loads! We didn't go back for lunch though. I guess it depends on where you stop.

This puts me off atm. Not the isolation but not wanting to be ill on a precious holiday.
I think you have to test before departure but that's no guarantee.

you see next to nothing.
The shortest stop over is at least 6 hours. To me there is always enough time for a day out. If you find a stopover you like then you know it's somewhere to revisit properly.
For example we were blown away by Split and both DC went back there for holidays.

Have a search on google and look at taster cruises from the UK. They are normally about 4 days but can be shorter or longer depending on what you want, this will give you an insight without spending thousands. I wouldn't worry about sea sickness as all ships these days have stabilizers fitted which damp out the ship rolling. Having said that, if the sea is rough, its not the fault of the ship.

I love cruises, I just got back from a fantastic Baltic cruise. There were only 900 passengers on a mid size ship that has capacity for 2350 guests.
Like a PP said it’s a chance to get a little insight into other countries. Who knew Lithuanian would make such a perfect holiday destination and what a nice country Germany is? The sea was like a lake and it was still light at 10.45pm.
I met so many interesting people and enjoyed many excursions and some independent sightseeing, sometimes both in the same port. My head is now full of new facts about different countries and the cool things I’ve seen.
I have been on 11 cruises with my now young adult DC and three with just my DH. I like to go on a cruise every three holidays. I enjoy the evenings so much, a nice meal, a cocktail bar, watch a show, walk around the deck watching the sunset and listening to the sea and then some live music.
My new favourite addiction are the spas, laying on the heated loungers watching the sea outside and maybe a sneaky power nap!
If you have any questions then ask away.

Re the cabins - they seem to sleep up to 4, with 2 in the double bed or twin beds and 2 on a sofa bed. That’s what I’ve been finding in my
searches anyway!
Book 2 cabins it’s way better, two bathrooms, double the wardrobe space etc.

We have just come back from our 7th cruise. I love them. So for your family I would recommend Royal Carribean or MSC just for the stuff they have for kids and teens. Avoid Cunard with your children as they will find it stuffy and boring.

We have done fly cruises and ones from Southampton. If you want to delve further into the med from Southampton you will need to do a 2 week cruise. A 7 night cruise gets as far as Bilbao/La Coruna and its time to come home again! A fly cruise and the world is your oyster. I really want to do an eastbound transatlantic cruise. Fly to NY and then sail back to Southampton from there but I love sea days and I can truly relax and chill out.

Drinks packages are always devisive. Princess do a fab princess plus package that we love. RC is pricey for their packages.

Don't forget you will probably need to pay tips (some cruise lines make an all inclusive price such as p&o, celebrity) which can mount up as well.

To me it's the best holiday. I call it holiday tapas, get to explore new places, discover places I want to go back to for longer and places I don't want to go to again.

Don't be fooled by the expensive ship excursions. In 7 cruises we have only ever done 1 ship excursion. The rest we have all done ourselves using port guides.

@MeridianGrey Most lines currently will isolate you in a cabin on the isolation deck that they have or in your own cabin. If you teat positive you will not be allowed out of your cabin. They will deliver room service meals and games and stuff so you can keep yourself entertained. The covid rules are constantly changing though so it may come to a time where this doesn't happen.

Those asking about sea sickness, it all depends on the state of the sea for me. I have sailed across the bay of biscay and it be a mill pond and it be fine. A few years ago it was rough and I felt sick as a dog. Take seasickness tablets with you and you will be fine. Oh and bizarrely eating green apples also helps with it!

Try the Med in summer if you're worried about seasickness. We've always organised our own excursions off ship but time constraints are a pain. After 6 ocean cruises I wouldn't do another. River cruises are more my thing now. Just step off the boat into a town or village. No regimented on and off at certain times.
Smaller ships are fabulous (we adored Azamara,), very luxurious. Have got incredible deals on Iglu Cruises. Also if you sign up for Vacations to go newsletters, they have great reductions. You do have to organise your flights with them though

We've just been to Budapest and all the river cruise ships looked empty. Can you stay on board if you want to?

Look at the Disney Cruises if that’s your thing. We loved it and have booked again from Southampton for next year. They have adults only spaces with all the big shows and characters and a few smaller water slides.

Of course! But I can't think why you'd want to...

I'd second this! They're incredible! We leave on the new ship in the Bahamas next week and I can't bloody wait!!!! 😱😱😱

🤩🛳 So exciting!

I am going round in circles looking at all the different booking sites and I’m not sure what to do! It’s fun browsing though.

@Afterfire it is overwhelming, I agree. I was pretty set on Disney so that helped me narrow it down 🙂
I don't think you can go far wrong with most cruise lines ... You'll have a fantastic time on most of them!

@Afterfire I'd also suggest checking out some YouTube videos - so many vloggers document their holidays on there, it can be so helpful for informing your decisions 🙂

Oh I have been glued to You Tube! Dh thinks I’ve gone mad. I particularly enjoy the cruise with Ben and David videos. 😆

I do like the look of the Disney ships but Ds has autism and really hates people dressed up so sadly I think they’re “out” for us. They look so amazing though!

Cruise Ships are an environmental disaster .
foe.org/blog/cruise-ships-environmental-impact/
Better enjoy them before the planet is destroyed

🥱🥱🥱🥱🙄

I thinK a lot of people start with a med cruise or Norway one from Southampton and progress from there. I chatted to a few people when I was on a cruise recently and they’d enjoined the P&O Iona ship. The mini crises are nice as a little mini break but I think you may not get a true impression of cruising if it’s your first cruise as it can takes few days to get in the swing of it.

I have done a Norway and a Med cruise.

Loved it, DH was a bit sceptical the first time but enjoyed it so much we booked. another. He backpacked for almost two years in the 1980’s between his degrees, so was very much well I prefer authentic stuff. I told him to get over himself. I was recovering from a very serious illness so it seemed ideal and it was. They were occupied and the couple of times I had to rest I could. I joined the ships choir and did lots of lessons, we took up ballroom dancing as had some free lessons on the cruise. DS loved it and ate huge amounts of food, they went to the gym every day. We did some shared dining and sometime we had a table to ourselves.