Help please, first time cruiser looking for advice for a cruise around the med

[Monr0e]

As the title states, I have never been on a cruise before and have no idea where to begin. DM has come in to a little bit of money. She has always wanted to go on a cruise and has said she wants to take myself and DD who will be just turned 15.

We are looking at going around May / June 2025 and she would like to do around 7-10 days around the Meditterean, or similar.

I'm just looking for advice on pretty much everything! Would we go for a family room or could we have 2 joining? Is that a thing! is May / June a good time to go? Who is best to book with? She doesn't want the biggest ship going but would like to enjoy the stereotypical things such as good food and lots of places to visit. Any cruise, help/advice/tips would be great, thank you

TUI and Royal Caribbean do Med cruises with loads of different itineraries. In fact just yesterday I was looking at cruises around Italy and Croatia, so basically the Adriatic. Absolutely stunning!

4 berth cabins may be a available but there's not a lot of room, then again you won't be in the cabin for a lot of the time. If you go from Southampton you obviously won't need to fly but will spend more days at sea. Equally if you don't fly you can take as much luggage as you want. There are online forums where you can ask questions. Have a look at Cruise Critic for example. I would definitely make sure you get a balcony and don't miss out on the shows!

You need to decide if you want to leave from the UK (Southampton probably) or fly to your ship. That will eliminate certain cruise companies as they don't all depart from Southampton. Southampton ships tend to be PO, some Princess and some Celebrity.

It's usually cheaper to get one large Suite or Family Cabin than 2 smaller cabins. I'm guessing you be going from a week at half term at the end of May unless you're taking your DD out of school? In which case you will probably need to fly to Barcelona to do a cruise in the Med for one week.

Have a look at an online cruise travel agent, where you can see all the different options in once place. I use Vivavoyage, as it's easy to use, and generally a bit cheaper than most out there.

You can search by area/date/cruiselines, so can check several options out at one time. Once you find some itineraries/ships you are interested in, then you can check the individual ships/cruise lines to see if they offer what you need.

For instance, we like NCL, as the included drinks/speciality meals is great, and wouldn't sail without a drinks package. We like to have a few drinks each day, and they really do add up without a package. We also like the freedom to eat where and when we want, and on our own - no table sharing or fixed dining times on NCL - I'm quite antisocial on holiday, and would hate to have to share a table with the same people each night. However, NCL does add on a service charge each day, so take that into account.

Would you DD want a kids club, or lots of activities on board? Our 3 teens didn't join the kids club as they were happy to hang with us, going off to do the odd activity such as the waterslides, table tennis, mini-golf ropes course. But if your DD is on her own, she may want to make friends to hang out with, and a teen club really helps with this, especially if you are on a smaller ship with not so many activities for kids.

Depending on how close you are with your DM, you should be fine with one cabin, but check the square footage - some cabins are larger than others, and a few extra feet can really make a difference. That said, we managed fine with me, DH, and 3 teens in one cabin. You do need a little patience though. The problem with 2 cabins is that many cruise lines will charge full price for a double cabin, even if there's only one person in it.

May/ June is a good time for a med cruise. Not too hot and fewer crowds.
Your choice of cruise line depends a lot on what you are looking for in a holiday. Your choice can make or break your cruise if it’s the wrong line for you.
First, do you want to go from Southampton, or fly/ cruise? Going from Southampton is convenient, but you will have a couple of sea days before you get anywhere. Bay of Biscay can be choppy.
Whats your budget?
Do you want a British vibe or more international?
Do you want to dress up a bit? Or would you prefer a casual cruise?
Do you want big shows and entertainment? A water park?
What sort of teen is your 15 year old? Will she want a teen club, or to hang out with you?
Would you like sea days? Or more days in port? Are there any particular places you’d like to see?
Do you want all inclusive?
Good reliable cruise lines like Celebrity or Princess are mid budget, lovely ships, quite classy.
Royal Caribbean, MSC and Norwegian are more family orientated, and bigger. .
Cunard and P and O are more ‘British’ .
Azamara, Oceania tend to be smaller, more adult focussed. And more expensive.
Most cabins will fit three comfortably if you all get on well, unless you have a bathroom obsessed teen.
Have a think about what you want from a cruise, and maybe go to a travel agent that specialises in cruising.
Have a trawl through Cruise Critic as well.

I've done a few so here's my twopenneth:

Firstly choose if you want to sail in and out of Southampton or fly to pick up the ship already in the Med. Advantage of Southampton is no flying, no luggage limits, advantage of flying is you don't need to spend 2-3 days each way getting to the med so can get more warm holiday in.

The easiest option for fly cruises I find is Marella because it's TUI owned, flights are included from local airports, transfers are included to the port and it's super easy. They are all inclusive ships with tips included so you really can spend nothing if you want, most port stops either have things to do in walking distance or you can pick up public transport to nearby towns, and their trips are quite reasonable too.

For sailing out of Southampton P&O is your best bet, unlike Marella you do need to budget for drinks on top but they are pretty reasonable. Both companies offer rooms that can accommodate you all saving a lot, though interconnecting cabins are available on some ships.

Deals can be had with all companies and it's worth looking at a cruise broker, just remember that the American cruise lines will be a lot more expensive for drinks generally when considering the overall cost. All lines do have teen activities in school holidays, as I've mostly travelled in term time it's hard to say whether they have lots of teens on board but my recent Marella trip had quite a few 20's and 30's, far more than I was expecting.

Another thought is how smart you want to dress, Cunard is much dressier (and expensive) but deals are out there, if you dare to wait, you can get very cheap trips!

Amazing, thank you

It now looks like it will just be me and DM so kids clubs not a priority!

I'm guessing DM would enjoy the shows but we definitely don't want Butlins at sea, but also, we're not very high brow so nothing too fancy.

I would probably prefer to go from Southampton but not sure if that will limit us on the cruises available from there so will keep an open mind on that.

I had a bit if a look before, and if I'm honest, gor overwhelmed very quickly! All the additional packages, no clue what we would need and what is and isn't included, not clear if flights were included.

Place marking as I am also interested. What would you suggest for a more international, more dressy-uppy type of cruise? We'd probably fly then cruise for more warm days.

If no teen with you, Cunard from Southampton is great. Reasonable prices on early bird, interesting shows and fabulous food. The new ship launches soon, so maybe book a cruise on her? The QM2 is probably in need of a refit, especially the pool areas.

We love Royal Caribbean and done a few from Southampton. We loved visiting Lisbon, Barcelona and Rome. I had heard the bigger P&O ones can be a bit tacky and packed with people acting like they’re on an all inclusive/ big drinking culture.

MSC in one of their Yacht Club cabins.

Cunard, Celebrity, Princess or if you have ££££ Seabourn, Silversea, Regent Seven Seas or Ponant all look lovely.

There are good videos on YouTube.

@Monr0e the shows are 45-50 minutes long on P & O & Cunard. There are also lots of other options e.g. bars & lounges with live singers.

If you are maxing out at 10 days I would look for a fly cruise. 12 days to the canaries is the minimum I would do from Southampton. The exception is 7 days to Norway.

@Mallani Definitely Celebrity, it’s classy and passenger mix is good in terms of age/ nationalities. Really beautiful ships with great food, bars, aesthetics and solarium.

NCL is also pretty good but more relaxed and younger, more party type crowd. Still classy though and good food/ entertainment.

I disliked P&O- too ‘Brits abroad’ for my liking. Food was the worst I’ve had on a cruise, drinks were cheap though and the ship was beautiful. I wouldn’t book it again due to the passenger skew. I probably wouldn’t like Carnival for heavy skew to US crowd either.

I liked Costa for value for money- Italian/ Spanish passenger skew. Excellent food and spotlessly clean but the entertainment was dire and passengers very casual.

Cunard is quite a serious and very smart line- entertainment is more classical music/ ballroom in nature and passenger skew towards older Brits, so I have avoided as prefer a younger, international crowd. I think Princess falls somewhere between P&O and Celebrity, but I’ve not sailed with them.

If money was not an issue I would book Celebrity again. If taking kids I would opt for Royal Caribbean, which is the ultimate choice for activities and family fun.

I would avoid departure from Southampton unless doing the Norwegian Fjords. It takes too long to get to warmer ports. But it’s good call for 2/3 taster cruisers to see if you would enjoy a longer cruise.

I suggest stay away from tui/marella. Butlins at sea.

when we cruise we decide what ports we would like to see and then work out what cruise ships go there and if dates work. We don’t like a lot of sea days and prefer port intensive cruises. I prefer to fly to somewhere like Barcelona and meet the ship there. Cruises from Southampton involve too many sea days and that first day or so at sea choppy.

I would second departure from Barcelona as it’s the easiest to travel to- it’s only 20 minutes in a taxi from El Prat airport and very close to the city centre if you want to stay overnight (at bottom of Las Ramblas …although accommodation is expensive in BCN). Whereas Rome’s port is a good hour away. Those are the busiest ports in Europe with most choice of sailings.

Other popular options for departure are Athens, Naples, Genoa, Venice. I think Valletta Malta is the most spectacular port of all in Europe.

Another vote against Tui/Marella. We had a Med, cruise with them a few years ago, & so many things were wrong with it.

P&O is only marginally better, but also best avoided.

We did P&O as first time cruisers round the med and it was amazing! Most relaxing holiday ever😎

The entertainment was great, lovely way to meet people, good food, lovely to wake up in different locations. Great way to holiday.

We did fly cruise and are doing another this month. We are then doing one from Southampton in the summer but that’s longer, 2 weeks.

OP as it’s for you and your DM I would recommend Celebrity.

Is Virgin very Brits abroad / Club 18-30 ish? The liners look lovely but the tattoo parlours etc speak another language!