Cruising for first timers!

[leticiajones88]

Hi!

Me and my other half have been thinking about looking in to a cruise for just the two of us now our kids are in their older teen years (we would still get a family member to stay with them).

We've always wanted to go on a cruise, we just have absolutely no idea where!
Looking for any suggestions or ideas if possible please as we are complete newbies. We would be looking to spend up to £2k each, happy to be up to 14 nights. Okay to fly to get to port if not from S'ton.
We aren't particularly erm, dressy let's say haha so ones which have a very strict black tie dress code would be a nono for us. The dressiest thing my fella has is jeans lol. We love to explore new places but also chill too.
We're just under 40 so not quite saga ready, but also don't feel like we want a kid filled break if we're not taking our own with us!

If anyone can help pull anything out of the bag I would be eternally grateful xo

Have a look at Marella for a relaxed cruise line where drinks and tips are included.

If you want more upmarket I’d suggest checking out Celebrity, they do have formal nights but you can eat in the buffet if you don’t want to dress up. Drinks & tips are extra but there are various drinks packages you can purchase if you don’t want to pay as you go.

At the other end of the scale is Azamara, a bit pricier but there are some deals to be had and they have smaller ships that can get into ports that the larger vessels can’t. No formal nights here.

When are you thinking of going?

We did a Marella cruise around the Adriatic, as Jellifer said, it isn’t super formal (not formal at all) and some fabulous locations. Nice calm sea too!

Don’t just look at the headline prices, see what the price gets you; a cruise that includes a drinks package, gratuities, even complimentary shuttle bus from ship to town, for example, can be better value in the long run.

i would go for a med cruise first off, ideally one with no tendering, and a stop every day, so if you’re really not enjoying the onboard experience, you can escape. Also, your mobile phone allowances might well be valid in Europe, although not while you’re at sea - onboard WiFi can be quite pricey, but again, you might find a package that includes some time.

Watch out for stops that have something in brackets, such as Rome (Civitivecchia) - the place in brackets will be the docking point; it will generally be a long way from the highlighted destination, and in the worst case scenario, might be a container port with nothing to do.

I’d strongly second @Jellifer‘s recommendation of Azamara, plenty included in the price, their ships really can get you into the thick of things, and their service has always been brilliant when we’ve sailed with them. It’s casual, no formal nights, and very relaxed on board.

Also, Saga was deeply disappointing. Avoid.

Join Cruise critic on the net It is free they have reviews of every cruise down to the size of the peanuts more or less

We cruise from Southampton with P&O, yes they have formal nights, 1 or 2 each week depending on which ship. The newer ships Iona and Arvia only have 1 formal night each week, but if you don’t want to dress formally, there is the buffet where you don’t need to dress up. Our first cruise was a 14 night cruise around the Mediterranean. For your budget you should be able to get a balcony cabin and go for mid deck with cabins above and below. Cruise ships are just floating hotels, yes it takes a while to get used to where everything is, but we love waking up somewhere different nearly every day, having lovely food and entertainment all covered in the price.

Thank you so much for all of these amazing suggestions! Marella seems to be a highly recommended choice so I'll have a good look at this!
We would probably avoid an inside cabin as I get headaches really randomly so I'd like to be able to get fresh air if possible when I need to.
We wouldn't mind going somewhere freezing cold or boiling hot, we are honestly so open to exploring. We just want to make sure the cruise we are on is lovely.
We literally have no clue when to go either, we are quite open. He could book time off with about three weeks notice, I'm self employed so could juggle stuff quite easily.

I personally would steer clear of Marella, but it's personal opinion.

I have cruised Royal Carribean, P&O, Princess and Cunard.

For what you want I would book Princess out of school holidays. Possible June or early May. For 2 weeks from Southampton your best bet would be a med cruise. You get some 2 weeks to the fjords in summer but most are 7 days. If you wanted winter sun P&O do some 2 week cruises to the canaries, some depart from Sothampton on Iona, others are a fly cruise flying to Tenerife and then cruising from there. P&O (and Cunard) cruise prices include the flights, where as a lot of other cruise lines you need to add the flights on top of the cruise price.

I think you wed to decide where you want to go first and then work it out.

Do you want to see places or stay on board. A friend always books one with a good few sea days - ie just cruising not at a port.

So: Baltic, Fjords, Med - east, Med - west, Florida / Caribbean.

Agree with a pp there can be lost of hidden costs. We did drinks package and gratuities included, plus wifi for one device. We still tipped the cabin steward.

The food is good generally and there is lots to do on board.

In case you don't know the term (I didn't) tendering is where the ship docks away from the port and you are brought ashore on small boards.

Don't expect to be able to open the window in an outside cabin! They don't open as it would be a safety issue at sea.

Place marking!

DH is 40 in early 2025 and thinking of booking one but no idea where to start. (I do know most places aren't open for 2025 bookings yet).

There's been lots of really useful advice here.

We did our for cruise earlier this year, P&O fly cruise for 7 nights.

It was the most amazing holiday. Even the formal nights were fab and I never dress up! We just decided to embrace it all and now have 3 cruises booked for 2024. 2 are fly cruises and one from Southampton.

We had a balcony and now can’t face an inside cabin🤣 We loved the outdoor space, the amazing views. Watching the sunrise from our balcony.

It’s a great way to see different places.

I am interested in Marcella and will probably give them a go soon.

I have never done a cruise either. Endless dithering and no knowing what to do. I want a balcony cabin with gratuities included. I don’t want kids running around or naff entertainment. Interested in Norway or the Med . Is it best to book close to departure or not? Directly or through an agent? It’s a minefield. I also get very seasick.

If budget allows, go for a balcony; the difference is night and day - sometimes literally, given that inside cabins have no natural light. A room with a balcony can be a real haven.

We usually book through an agent, and have them arrange flights, transfers and the like; some people enjoy all the planning, but not me. Also, agents generally offer sweeteners such as tips and some drinks included.

Re kids, generally the boutique lines (sorry, their description) such as Regent, Azamara or Oceania allow kids, but don’t provide any activities or amenities, so ime, families tend to steer clear, probably in favour of Royal Caribbean, Carnival or Disney.

I forgot to say, organised excursions tend to be really expensive, but have the advantage of the ship waiting for you if you’re delayed. Regent, unusually, includes excursions, but of course has a price tag to reflect.

You may struggle if you get very seasick. The bigger ships are more stable but I do not get very seasick (just very nauseous) and that's on a rough crossing. If you get very seasick I would steer clear or stick to river cruising.

Marella is very downmarket, it's Tui. DH booked it without realising.

We had a lot of problems, e.g. noise in the cabin from the disco at 01.00, sending back 4 meals in a week - I could go on.

I went on a marella cruise in September and we loved it! I would say very informal, cheap and cheerful, lots of port days, we have booked to go again next year. We had a balcony cabin and upgraded our drinks package. I'm guessing @Georgyporky expected five star luxury for cheap 😂 😂

I went on Marella cruise in June and it was like a floating retirement home. DH and I were the youngest on board and we are in our 50’s. I felt seasick most days. It was loud, brash and noisy and I wouldn’t recommend it. The actual places we visited were fabulous though, Greek islands and the Adriatic Riviera.

Far from it ! We knew from the price that it would be low-class, but still expected better than we got.
There's nothing "cheerful" about being kept awake because of loud music affecting your cabin, or being served inedible food - how can chicken breasts be so tough the knife won't go through them?

For balance, we didn’t have any of this on our Marella cruise. Also for balance, it cost £10k for 5 of us, which I wouldn’t describe as cheap and cheerful! We had two balcony cabins though, which I would highly recommend.

Marella for us was Blackpool at sea and I wouldn’t sail with them again.

I also wouldn’t sail from the UK as personally, I don’t like many days at sea. If there are sea days, I’d rather be somewhere with warmer weather to enjoy time on deck or, on our balcony. Sailing out the UK doesn’t often provide that.

Cruise Critic is a good place to start.

I think you need an idea on where you’d like to visit and then find what cruise lines go there. Basically work back.

I would recommend the Baltic and Scandinavia as a destination. Princess have a couple from S'ton next year.
Princess are lovely. Quite relaxed and not too formal.
Celebrity is lovely too. Their formal nights are now called 'chic' where anything goes. It wasn't particularly dressy.

I've been with several, most recently in your price with Marella - not posh, can wear smarter shorts in main dining room, one semi formal (dress to impress) but optional. We do cruise and stay, one week on ship, one in resort and it's all ai, flights from local airport.

Food is good, better than most med hotels, entertainment variable, we stuck to the live music which was good - though when dd travels with us she drags me to bingo. Age range on the adult only vessel was 18-80+ quite a lot of families with young adult kids, plenty in 30's and 40's too including a couple who had just married before boarding and had arranged for the first night meal to be their reception complete with champagne for all (not normally included!) and the biggest wedding cake I've seen again to share.