Cruise starter tips

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Would love to do a 7 day Europe cruise, Italy especially. No idea where to start, saw marella cruises with Tui but some not good reviews, saying it was butlins at sea.

Just me and partner, would consider taking our late teens if we think it would work for them.

I booked my first cruise via igloo. They helped me get the exact deal that i wanted

We did a 7 day Mediterranean cruise with Princess. It was good if it's your thing. The restaurant food was very good, the drinks package was nice to have, the entertainment was good. Mostly Americans "doing Europe" so the buffet food was very American.
To me, hell on earth was around the main pools but there was a nice quiet adults only pool.

Call a specialist cruise company, tell them how many nights you are thinking of, when you'd like to go, roughly where you'd like to go, your budget and let them do the work. When you've got it narrowed down to a few you can look at options for adding on the teens and decide if you want to do that.

They will organise flights, add extra nights in hotels at either end of the holiday, sort transfers - whatever you need them to do.

There's Emma SomethingOrOther on YouTube/FB who does lots of cruising videos. I don't cruise but she's interesting. Lots of tips.

Emma Cruises is the name.

How old are you? Marella is definitely Butlins at sea ! We're in our 50s and not long cruised with Fred Olsen to Norway. I was expecting it to be full of old people but a good mix of ages. Food and service was fabulous. Last year we went with Princess for the first time and really liked it. A fantastic ship and again excellent service snd food . Even though they're big ships there's always quiet places. Always used to go with P&O but that's heading towards Butlins at sea sadly and after the last one in May we won't be using them again. My cousin has just come back from his first cruise and booked 2 more he's hooked !

The cost is a fairly good guide to the quality. You’ve got your cheap and cheerful like Marella, MSC, Costa, then moving to higher quality through P&O, Princess, Celebrity, up to luxury like Seabourn, Silversea, Viking.

There’s also some cruise lines which have specific USPs: Royal Caribbean for mega ships with theme-park rides and climbing walls and spectacular shows; Disney (needs no explanation); Virgin for young adults and a slightly risqué vibe.

Also be aware that a lot of the ships have what they call a “ship within a ship” where if you pay more, you get better cabins and service and dining rooms than the hoi-polloi.

You need to do some really thorough research to find the cruise line that’s going to fit what you like. Try here:

cruisecritic.co.uk

Unless you faint with horror at the sight of people enjoying pizza and chips from the buffet, I would suggest that you start with a cheaper cruise and see how it works for you. Then you can go as far upmarket as you want next time. A lot of the details that the various cruising review sites and YouTubers go into don't make a lot of sense until you have been on at least one cruise.

We have been on 7 or 8 cruises, including a couple of times with a near-high-end line (Azamara). We had a cheeky discounted week in the Med with MSC this January. It was 75% less expensive than Azamara but not 75% less good. The experience when you're sitting on the pool deck with your eyes closed with a rum and Coke is pretty similar on any ship.

Marella is awful - certainly cheap but not cheerful.
We sent back dinners in the main restaurant 4 days out of 7.
Tours were very badly organised.
Entertainment was OK if you like Bingo & Pop Music.
Loud music was everywhere until after midnight. When we complained we were given earplugs.
Alcohol was included in the price, but I wouldn't even cook with the wine .

We've just done a cruise with Royal Caribbean - it was absolutely fantastic, can't fault them at all and are looking to book again

I've tried several cruise lines but always prefer Norwegian cruises. They do an all at sea package. I got it on a brilliant discount for £99. It included all alcoholic drinks, internet at sea, specially dinners x 3 including a bottle of wine and £50 off of each excursion. The speciality dinners were superb. The after dinner shows and entertainment was excellent too.

TUI is definitely butlins at sea. Contrary to another poster, P&O is definitely not an upmarket cruise, they are very much the lower end along with MSC and Costa. Good lines for teens would be royal Caribbean and Norwegian or maybe even Disney, although they can be expensive! If not taking the teens then celebrity/virgin/princess are all good.

All really helpful, thank you.
I'm late 40s, sounds like Marella wouldn't be my cup of tea, I'm not a snob, I'm just not keen on the forced fun of bingo etc.

I'll check out those sites, I fancy a river cruise , Norway looks fabulous too

We did a Royal Carribean cruise last year to Italy, turkey and Greece. I’d do another in a heartbeat!

it was definitely a lovely cruise but not forced fun and bingo 😉 there really was something for everyone and the ship was large enough for there to be quiet spaces too.

MSC are a bit Butlins at sea unless you go Yacht Club which is P and O/Cunard/Celebrity price point for a slightly enhanced experience on those brands. It's a best of both worlds situation - you have the high energy massive ship with a quiet retreat and nicer restaurants as well.

We have been thinking about doing a cruise so I started research watching You Tube videos.
I can recommend Cruising with Ben and David.
They have sailed many times including river cruises and give honest reviews

I don't think there are river cruises inI Italy, but there are some great trips elsewhere.
I prefer river to sea cruises - I get bored on sea days. Think I've done about 15.

I would recommend Norway for a first cruise, such a lovely place and difficult to go to if you’re not in a cruise as it is so expensive.

P&O are a good option, they cater for the British market. I have enjoyed other cruise lines, NCL for example are good value. Some of the others are way more expensive .

I always book direct.

Do a cruise that's adults only if you don't have children.

Virgin are superb.

The food is amazing.

The overall experience is so good you find yourself not wanting to leave the ship.

Itinerary varies, lots of choice.

Virgin cruises spoiled me forever, I can't go back to other brands of cruising.

Another vote for P&O. I've been several times (with and without kids) and love it. Nothing like Butlins at sea!

Generally the shorter the cruise, the younger the passengers (only the rich & unemployed / retired can go on 2+ week cruises).

P&O do fly cruises to Malta, and then Cruise around the med / Italy / Croatia. It's a good itinerary to look at. If you like it and want something more fancy, you can upscale.

If you don't have kids that are tied to school holidays, definitely avoid any school holiday. There can be tons of kids & large families onboard

We just did a Marella, adults only cruise. Really enjoyed it. I'd definitely do another cruise at some point. The itinerary was excellent, enjoyed every stop and would return to a few for a longer holiday.

I've done Disney and Celebrity. Celebrity was in a different league, particularly for food.

Tips would be to look at how far the ports are from the cities (the Italian ones were quite a way), book your own excursions and sea days are good as you start to get a bit knackered sightseeing every day.

And my older teens loved Celebrity and met lots of people.

I have to say I disagree about Marella. I have always enjoyed the food and I am fairly fussy. We did go with Celebrity last year and also can recommend them.