First time cruise recommendations

[holidayhelp456]

Which cruise company would you recommend for a first time cruise?

Would be 2 couples and 2 older teens.

Do you want a posh formal cruise or informal / relaxed?
We went on a few Marella cruises when DC were late teens. No having to dress up, all inclusive so no tipping. Very British feel. It suited the DC as they socialised with others their age after we had gone to bed

I think more relaxed would be better for the group

Just looked and marella dont sail from the UK. Trying to avoid flying as thats one of the reasons my DD wants to do a cruise as she has a fear of flying

We went on a Norweign Cruise last August around the med and loved it. We traveled whit out 9 and 13 year old and none of us had a single bad thing to say about it! It is a very relaxed style of cruising (exactly what we was looking for) 😊

We took our older teens on Celebrity and we all loved it. Excellent food (unlike Disney), beautiful public areas and drinks were included.

We're not die-hard cruise fans so were pleasantly surprised.

P and O are good. All tipping included, if you buy the alcohol drinks package for you and dh, they get the soft drinks package for free. There are formal/black tie nights, but if you don't want to dress up you can go in smart casual on those nights and eat in the buffet. Dress code only applies to main restaurant and 2 of the bars. Teen clubs are good if they want to go.

Thank you for the suggestions, will look these up.

@Highdales @blue345 with both of these, do you have to dress up for dinner and what is the tipping like for both?

I think as we havent been on a cruise before im not 100% sure on what we need to check and look out for. We want a room with a balcony at least as my DD loves a balcony. Not sure if I need to book 2 rooms as some seem to allow me to select 1 cabin for 4 but all the rooms only seem to have 1 bed, but it will be me, my DH, our DD and her friend, so not sure if we need to book 2 cabins.

The other things I want to check are any dress code and tipping rules. Anything else recommended to check before booking?

We were looking at p&o and seen a couple options, did see comments that they are quite busy and lots of queues for everything including toilets. Did you find this?

Eurostar to Amsterdam and them board a river cruise. There are loads of them in Europe.

The other things I want to check are any dress code and tipping rules. Anything else recommended to check before booking?

No dress code (which was one of the reasons behind our choice). Some people dressed up, we didn't (beyond jeans and a top). I think tips were included but I'd have to double check.

Both the Disney and Celebrity standard balcony rooms could sleep four. We usually share one room to save money but went for two rooms both times as cruise bedrooms aren't the biggest in terms of size and storage. Particularly if you have a friend coming.

Celebrity

Or a cheaper option NCL.

if you can afford it then go for two staterooms.

The advice I'd give is looking at how near ports are to the city - places like Rome and Florence were nowhere near the port whereas Cannes and Dubrovnik were very easy. Book your own excursions - there's so many third party operators, they're usually cheaper and you can tailor your own itinerary.

Also sea days are really nice. If I went again, I wouldn't feel I had to get off at each port. Days of back to back sightseeing get quite tiring and i had to drag the kids out of bed as they stayed up later at night with the new friends they'd made.

I did a Norwegian cruise at the end of October and I loved it. Especially the whippy ice creams. Very clean ship.

Celebrity

Or a cheaper option NCL.

if you can afford it then go for two staterooms.

The unlimited whippy ice creams are the best!!

NCL had no particular dress code, they are a very family friendly oriented cruise line and I found there was a mixture of dress codes. They have some speciality restaurants you might want to get a bit dressed up for but even in these there was a mixture of dress codes so no pressure.

Also regarding tipping - a lot of people might be against this and might not agree with me but we personally removed all gratuities when we got on (super easy to do at the main desk and no judgement made) and paid tips in cash (which the staff said they much preferred) to the members of staff who went above and beyond.

It can be a little busy waiting for drinks, and if you have the freedom dining (where you can go for dinner any time) you might have to wait but they give you a pager so you are not waiting there. Other than that, no problem.

Cabins are smaller than a standard hotel room so unless you would be happy to squeeze four in one room I'd book two rooms if you possibly can.

We are going on a P&O cruise to Norway on Iona with slightly younger teenagers in August. There is no dress code for children. Seems like there is one formal night per 7 day cruise but dressing up is optional. There are places to eat if you prefer smart casual dining. Teenagers club and after you book join your cruise group on Facebook there is usually a teen chat group set up so kids can chat before they go
See if you can get an adjoining cabin with interconnecting door but there aren’t many. Some people get a balcony cabin with inside cabin opposite if travelling as family so 2 bathrooms 2 TV’s but cheaper than 2 balcony cabins. Depending on age of children you might have to book as 1 adult 1 child in each cabin though

Look at p&o if you want a U.K. departure, Cunard also have them but is posher (not that posh whatever done of their fans try to claim!). Both have one or two dress up nights. Not sure who else is regularly sailing from the U.K. - Disney is in the summer but they are pretty expensive!

The great thing about marella is that they use their network of TUI flights from smaller airports often, a much easier experience for nervous flyers.

Look at planet cruise website and search for Southampton departure no fly cruise, see what's available

And a tip to keep costs down a bit, book a balcony cabin for you and a twin inside cabin for them but allow them to use your balcony in the daytime.

P&o dining room is trousers (not jeans) shirts, closed shoes for men, dresses and sandals are fine for women. On formal night a suit and tie for men and smarter dress for women but they aren't that strict on styles any more, not even on Cunard I should add.

Dress code is not as strict nowdays, Ive been on most of the major lines.
I would book 2 cabins if you can the suggestion that you can fit 4 into 1 cabin would be for a family with young kids.
There is usually a large double bed or can be made into 2 singles then pull down beds close to ceiling or a bed settee so would be a squash unless v young children. You could get an inside cabin for then and balcony for you and husband.
All lines are great but for teens you'd be better with the big ones like Norwegian ( an American line so dont worry about the name) or Royal Caribbean , these ships usually have lots of stuff going on for teens. The others will too but these ships have all the bells and whistles for youngsters.
I like Celebrity but I would say its more adult focused P and O are good too, obvs British. I've only done fly cruises my OH likes to get to the sun quickly! But usually lots of choice on the Med from Southampton!
Be warned once you've done one its hard not to want to go back! Have a look at Cruise Critic website and somethink like the Greek islands are good as mainly you just get off and the town is close by, other ports like Rome or Florence are a long way from the ship. You can either DIY to travel to them or get expensive cruise tours but dont miss the ship as its won't wait for you!

Just back from a P&O cruise (flew to Valetta, went to Greece) I heard ship was full but we always got a sun bed! No queues in loos. Brodies bar busy for football on big screens or quizzes so we didn’t get a seat. We were on “freedom dining” which was a wait (they always said 35-40 minutes but it was anything from 4-20mins) Would go with P&O again - this was first fly cruise with them. Went smoothly. Cruises with them from Southampton also easy.

What do the teens like to do? If they want lots of activities look at Royal Carribean with all the ice skating, rock climbing walls, dodgems and water slides etc......

If they are not in to that, look at NCL for a slightly more sedate experience than RC.

Princess are also good but no bells and whistles for teenagers.

Avoid Cunard with teens. It's so formal and they will not enjoy it.

We've just done MSC
The ships was fabulous, lots of families, teen areas, gym, spa etc
The restaurants were also great for teens (tepanyaki, tacos)

I'm not a fan of cruising but if I were to take my dc this would definitely be a good choice