Anyone been in a cruise and how was it?

[Tinatheterror]

We are thinking of a Mediterranean cruise to save flying.
Probably be seeing Spain and France mostly.
Just wondering if anyone had been before?

Absolutely and just about to embark on one again very soon! Amazing experiences, amazing food and entertainment. But very costly! However, we do fly to the destination (palma) and then embark the ship.

Is that with Marella Discovery 2 by any chance?

Hi, no not that one, although very are still deciding when to go and who with
But thanks for replying.

No, why? @tinytemper66

I am about to do this one and just wondered.

Oh right, no, haven’t been on a Marella cruise but would be interested to know what it’s like! Thanks and enjoy!

Take two suitcases, one with evening dresses and the other with packets of Imodium.

Marella Cruises and it was amazing! I’d love to go again. Such a brilliant way to see lots of different places without the hassle of flying, taking the train or driving between them!

Watching with interest.

Have considered a mini cruise but put off by prospect of catching a bug with so many people in a confined space for a prolonged time.

we always thought cruising was for older people with loads of money and a bit lar-de-dar.

then my SIL said they cruised all the time, and they are anything but old, wealthy and posh so we thought we would give it a go.

we loved it so much, we've never had a land holiday since! we've done both marella and p&o.

don't get me wrong, there are some old timers who turn their nose at the new age passengers but to be honest we didn't care.

dress up, dress down, do what you want, you have basically paid the exact same amount of money as they have.

Being confined on a small ship for a long period of time would be my idea of hell. But I understand lots of other people enjoy it and that's fine.

we've done many cruises now... and never once have we come back with any kind of bug or upset tummy.

as for evening dresses.... nah.. just the 1!

We did one last year with MSC. Overall a good holiday but there were aspects that we didn't like. The ship was huge, though there was always somewhere quiet to sit as long as you didn't want to be anywhere near the pools. Formal dining was at set times which we found quite restrictive but the food at them was excellent. We were disappointed with the buffets, food not good and not hot (could have been just our ship as I've spoken to others that have loved the buffets on their cruises) Lots of bars to chose from and we spent a lot of time in the champagne bar trying out all the champagne cocktails. It was a great way to see lots of Europe and though you only get a short time it meant you could see places that you might choose to go back to - we loved Rome and we will definitely go back. Being large cruise ships they often dock some distance from the sights so that adds to the cost (taxis etc) if you are not doing an organised trip. As mentioned before it can be quite expensive - you have the cost of the cruise plus the cost of trips/sightseeing/food and drinks. We wouldn't rush to do one again but do fancy the idea of a river cruise - smaller ships that dock more centrally so a great way to see lots of sights in one holiday.

We’ve been on several, Celebrity was by far the best. If you don’t like formal dining the buffet is amazing. I wouldn’t go without a balcony though, we loved having room service breakfast on the balcony each morning.

I've done many and all the cruise lines have a different vibe so carefully pick the cruise line.

This is my preference in order

Princess
NCL
MSC yacht club only
RCI
P and O
Marella

They all have their pluses and minuses
We like an all inclusive cruise so Princess and NCL are best for that. NCL food is the best bet far

RCI I've only done one and the shop had a funny layout that did t appeal to me - cruise as awesome though (new York to Canada)

Me and DH are 40s no kids and pretty sporty. We love exploring and food . Tend not to do the big shows. Love cocktails and martinis!

Was not keen on Marella but I think I just prefer American cruise lines.

I've not done celebrity and will try and book that next.

Just finishing a 2 week Med cruise on the P&O Arvia, we dock at Southampton tomorrow.

We go every year and love it.

The only thing we didn't like was having to dress up on a couple of nights in order to eat in the main restaurants but P&O have changed that so that you can eat in one of the restaurants and get the special menu without dressing up.

I could have written this post! Did an MSC cruise last month and found very similar!
We are doing a Marella adults only next year - the ship is smaller than MSC and much older so it will be interesting to compare the cruise lines.

The best thing is waking up somewhere different each day.

I'm about to go on my first cruise in two weeks and very excited but also very nervous.

We’re just back from a cruise - Princess. We did fly to Florida and have a hol there and departed from Fort Lauderdale. We loved it- the food was so nice and the entertainment was brilliant! We don’t really drink, so isn’t bother with the packages, which kept the price very reasonable.

Most of the modern ships are enormous.

The modern ships are bigger than my local town! You don’t really get to meet anyone. We took dc because they liked the kids club but DH and me decided it wasn’t great for us.

Depends on what you think about food but it’s ok. It really is not a very high standard. If you are a foodie it’s not great! Entertainment is good and we’ve enjoyed comedians. Improv was brilliant on one.

Excursions - how deep are your pockets? Short trips because everyone gets back for lunch and very limited for huge expense. I did DIY when I could.

Cruisimg isn’t up market or la-di-da. It’s down to earth and the very rich don’t use big ships. Small ship cruising is their bag or expedition ships. So everyone is pretty similar.

I prefer getting to see places properly. On a huge cruise ship you won’t. Some are 6000 people and you are cooped up. Like a big floating block of flats. So we tried it but never again. We’ve savoured amazing places since and seen the cruise ships sail by. If you are curious about the world, it’s very superficial.

They can be costly but there are some that are also fab value for money.
P & O from Southampton are good value about £400 per person for a 4 or 5 night cruise, which is a good starter to see if you like them!

A week to Norway is about £800 ish. Bear in mind this is all inclusive apart from drinks. The drinks are actually not crazy expensive - I've paid more in 'nice' pubs in the UK for a glass of wine. The drinks packages are an absolute rip off - there's no way you'd be able to drink enough to get your money's worth.
Food is pretty good and you can pay a little extra to dine out in some of the on ship restaurants - they are about £20 per couple for a meal to not a lot at all.
They also have some incredible shows and nightlife.

Give it a go! The mini cruises are great value for money. I've been on a few and no ill effects. Hand sanitiser was easy to find and everywhere was very clean (P & O). I was also quite unsure when I went on my first cruise but now I'm hooked like most people - got 2 booked for next year!

Tizer, that’s interesting about the food.
My parents love cruises. They love eating, but don’t have any interest in food / nice restaurants / good wine. Suits them!

We have done some great cruises with P&O from Southampton. They also do fly cruises with flights and transfers included in the price if you want to go further afield. We cruised to Norway last year and are going to France and Spain this summer.

I used to think cruises were for old people and were a bit fussy until my friend went on one and raved about it. The things we liked are:

No flights and going straight from Southampton so park the car, get on the ship and the holiday has started.

Very similar price or cheaper than going to a bog standard all inclusive and you get to see a variety of places.

Plenty of dining options included on the ship including more formal restaurants, poolside pizza, buffet, fish and chips takeaway etc so lots of variety and something for everyone.

Excellent kids club and P&O work to UK childcare ratios etc. DDs absolutely loved going to the kids club and therefore DH and I got time to chill out in the hot tubs or go to a bar together etc.

Not at all stuffy. If you want to dress up that's fine but if you don't that's fine too.

The quality of the shows and entertainment is usually really good.

Overall we find it a very relaxing type of holiday.