I have a fjord trip booked with p and o for June 2025 . Anda Bahamas cruise in March 3025. And an MSc christmass market cruise for November. I love cruises. Please ignore people in here that are saying p and o are like Butlins, it's really not 😂. The issue is that people all believe that cruises, ALL cruises are naturally incredibly posh but they aren't. Each line has its own benefits and each do especially well in different ways.
P and o - great value line with very reasonably priced holidays. Family oriented in lots of way. They do a beige kids buffet on board lots of ships, they don't over subscribe the kids clubs. Drinks are very reasonable prices in that they are similar to the Highstreet pubs and you can take your own 1l bottle of spirits and mixers on board with you to drink in your cabin. Juice/tea and coffee is available in the buffet at breakfast and you have a kettle in your room so if you were on a tight a budget you could get away without buying any drinks at all should you choose. If you subscribe to mailers/3rd party emails then you can get the chance to bid for upgrades of they are available.
Msc- this line has rolling embarkations instead of collecting all passengers on day 1 and then dropping them back off on day 7. So pretty much every port stop has different nationalities getting on and off. This means the food is much more European in nature. The kids clubs are sponsored by Lego and the entire fleet feels more glitzy. The biggest ship is euriba and has multiple water slides and high ropes course etc but even the older ones like preziosa are still packed with kids stuff and a water slide. Again, you can get the chance to upgrade if available. The cheapest time by FAR to book all inclusive drinks is at the time of booking. We booked the 29th November European cruise a few darts ago and for 2 adults and 2 kids with all inclusive premium drinks it was £1400 for a week. That's including champagne by the glass, cocktails, beer, spirits and soft drinks and unlimited soft serve ice cream.
Ambassador- an older, less multi generational customer base. More expensive right across the board and less choice as what they do, they do well. I don't think a 12yo would enjoy these as much as the MSc or p and o. Drinks are expensive .
There are lots and lots of videos in YouTube. If you find a cruise you like, see what ship it OSS then search it on YouTube for reviews. Lots of groups on Facebook as well that are filled with very experienced cruisers and bloggers that are happy to answer questions.
Don't forget to factor in cruise specific travel insurance. You will be denied boarding without it and if you have any pre existing health issues it can get to be very expensive.