First time cruise......any suggestions ? Where best to search on ?

[BookWorm45]

We are thinking about booking a cruise, but haven't done anything like this before.

This would be a no-fly cruise, for 2 adults, and during school term times,

What's the best way to search on cruise offerings ? Especially as we might be more interested in the smaller ships / shorter duration items ? Is there any particular website that's the do-it-all-in-one-go place to look, like the equivalent of Amazon ?

Any suggestions welcome !

There's a website called Cruise Critic which can be helpful.

If you have plenty of spare time read the forum boards on Cruise Critic. You can search by cruise line and ship, people can literally tell you which exact cabin to book, what to wear, which excursions are best...it's endless.

If you want a no fly cruise you are limiting the ships you can go on. Have a look at cruise specialists like 1st Cruise or Bolsover (do not use Igloo, the after sales service is terrible).

Thanks to everyone for replies,

Is it still the case that it's expected / mandated to change into smart / formal clothes in the evenings, on a cruise ? Or is this now out dated ? Would men have to wear a jacket / collar /tie for example ?

I have no problem with other people wanting to dress up but don't particularly want to do it myself.

There's good Information on youtube. Emma cruises for budget and Tips for travelers for more luxury.

P and o still require formal wear at dinner. Royal caribbean not so but most like to make effort.

To sail from Southhampton look at P&O, NCL and MSC. Avoid Cunard and Fred Olsen as they'll be the most formal. Marella would be your best bet but you'll need to fly.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Celebrity and Princess yet? They do some Southampton sailings and are my favourite cruise lines for ambiance (chilled, not too formal or 'in your face'), activities and service. Both have formal/chic dress up nights but anything goes really. Do shop around - we saved a few £££ doing this for our last booking.

Be aware that many ports are not near the intended interest point. For example the port for Rome is Civitavecchua which is 89km from Rome. So you either take a tour from the ship or do it yourself by walking to the train station etc. The tours tend to be very expensive.

Their are various websites where you can get all the info eg https://www.whatsinport.com/

The other thing I would say, I know it's obvious, but with cruising it really is worth paying more. The ship and food will be better and you do get very differing passenger demographics on different cruise lines.

Personally I will never have an inside room again, once you've had a veranda there's no going back. I was surprised how much we used it. If you are drinkers a drinks package is probably worth it but this can also depend on how many 'at sea' days you have and will therefore be 'getting your monies worth!'.

thanks all, I feel there is a whole world to understand / think about and I'm definitely in the know-nothing group right now !

Ambassador - smaller ships and all are no fly cruises (I’ve been on the round Britain cruise as well as the Fjords) and enjoyed them both. Very good value for money! They also do a round the world trip starting at Tilbury! They do a few ‘dressing up’ nights - but only if you want to!

I am going on another U.K. round trip next year starting off from Liverpool!

Enjoy!

One piece of advice I always post on cruise threads, don't take 23 pairs of shoes for a five night cruise, you will only end up wearing 3 pairs.

We always use Seascanner to book cruises as they have good prices.

P and O have eateries on board that don't require formal dress, even on formal nights.
They do a good range of cruises that sail to and from Southampton, their website is easy to use and book everything.

Try a river cruise down the Danube! Wonderful experience and gorgeous scenery. We did Uniworld, which is great if you don’t mind Americans which I think some Brits do.

My parents have just finished their 16th cruise. They are total experts. I feel like I know so much about cruises as it's all they talk about. They LOVE it.

They have been everywhere and for 2-3 months at a time. Good luck with your research.

What's your budget?
What sort of environment do you want - small, boutique, large with lots going on? What sort of entertainment do you fancy etc?
What sort of holiday/ accomodation would you usually choose?
Sun? Scenery? Beaches?
Time of year?
No fly is very restrictive as it is mainly UK based lines. We prefer the American owned lines as they feel more like going on holiday due to fewer Brits if that makes sense! It also restricts you to long cruises, heading north (cold but pretty), or just the start of the Med with cold at the start and end.

Thanks so much everyone for suggestions.

I think we might look at Fred Olsen - from reading some bits on Cruise Critic, I can see there are some cruise lines which won't suit us so much, but Fred seems to be looking good !

A river cruise sounds wonderful but of those I've seen, way too pricey at present.

We've been on a cruise for the first time this year - Fred Olsen, Norwegian fjords from Rosyth.

We enjoyed it, I'm not sure we'd go on one again if it wasn't somewhere like the fjords where a boat is really the only way to do it.

I think you might characterise FO as being the Best Western of cruise lines - a bit staid and middle of the road. There were a couple of formal dinners, but we wanted to be looking at the scenery on those evenings and DH has no desire to wear a jacket let alone a tie on holiday. We just used the buffet restaurant on those evenings instead. 'Formal wear' spanned a wide range, from not much more than smart casual up to quite a few blokes resplendent in highland dress - due to the starting point there were a lot of Scots.

Thank you ErrolTheD, that is really useful to get your viewpoint

The main features of Fred for me:

• it is a good solid, traditional line. The cabins, food and service are reliably good quality.
• it has a older, almost solely British, clientele and has a more formal than average dress code. Both of these points could be pros or cons depending on your perspective!