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?

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

Where are you cruising?!

I’ve always been fascinated by them. My worry would be seasickness (had a miserable sailing home from France once and swore never again) even though people have told me that it’s completely different to a ferry sailing, but also worried that I wouldn’t like being so enclosed

Been on several marella and they are good, very easy as it's ai, flights and transfers all TUI, not posh but decent if you like food, bit of entertainment and visiting ports.

If you don't want to fly there are options but won't be ai, p&o is fairly affordable with others more expensive.

Ship sizes vary, I prefer the 2 - 2.5k people size myself

I cruised as a kid and loved it. It was quite a luxurious, special experience.
Did a Disney Cruise in the Caribbean around 10 years ago too...fantastic,
really special.

Went on P&O Iona for a med cruise and it was hell...Butlins at Sea...overcrowded...drunk rowdy teens who security couldn't handle, fights breaking out in the family disco...it was really rough. I felt like I was in Blackpool or Skegness. We avoid the buffet and ate in the dining rooms or paid for speciality dining to avoid a lot of the crowds and poor behaviour. Stops in ports weren't really long enough for a decent explore...often you needed to be back on board for 4 after not getting off until 10. Then of course, something I didn't realise, was how awful these mega ships are for some of the places we visited...they all dock at once meaning an extra 10-20 thousand people in quite small towns for one day. It made me realise we had contributed to a big problem that I find quite unethical now I'd never cruise again.

If I'd have looked at the reviews on Trip Advisor I'd never have went as so many people have had the same problems and not going would have been the right thing to do for our family. We couldn't wait to get off that hell hole and were looking at options for flying home early from a port. So...that would be my advice, do your research carefully into the ship.

You might love it however, you just don't really know until you try it. There were a LOT of complaints on our cruise but still some people who saw it as the best holiday they'd ever had.

I have to say the staff were wonderful and we've stayed in touch with some.

@SoSoller I believe there are medical facilities on board that can give an injection if struggling with sea sickness. There are short 4 day cruises around the UK or nearby European ports if you wanted to give it a try.

Have been on a few and really enjoyed it. Celebrity is probably my favourite line. Food is always excellent and the entertainment too. Might be some queuing at ports but they generally have it all very well organised. I didn't think that it would be our thing but there's a reason they are so popular. It always amazes me that often the people who don't like them have never been.

I have done a few P and O cruises and this time next year will be on a Princess Cruise. Love them, just the right way to do holidays for my family

Thought that I'd mention that I've never seen anyone actually drunk!

We've cruised with Costa,NCL and MSC. Going with P and O at the end of August. We love cruising and so do the kids. Lots to do, can be on the go all day or relaxing doing very little! I find them quite good value but we book cruise only and arrange our own flights separately.

Absolutely love cruising, there’s so much to do, entertainment is great, wake up in new destinations each day, and unpack once! Great value for money. Older children can have more freedom onboard with making friends and kids club etc than they might get on a land holiday.

Just back from a cunard mini cruise. I am 31 and i have discovered that I love cruising, it's my favourite way to travel.

Loved it. I even liked dressing up for dinner which I didn't expect. Food was amazing and I enjoyed the silent disco. Even had a shabbat service lol.. People were really friendly.

My DH found it a little boring as he didn't enjoy the sea day but I found it relaxing. Other than the two ports we were at, we visited skagen and has effectively 8 hours to explore. If I redid it I would allocate more time at our starting port prior to the cruise (fly in 2 days earlier)so we could see it and surrounding areas properly as you are too busy on the first day with getting on the ship.

You have to pay for WiFi unless you are at port (then you can use data as per the conditions of your service provider), which can be expensive but isn't too bad cos you would be at port most days.

I packed 4 cocktail/evening dresses and wore them all.

We recently cruised with royal caribbean on anthem of the seas from southampton. Our first time, and we loved it. Excellent food and entertainment. Beautiful ship. If you want to dress up on a formal night then do, if not then casual dress is fine. Can't wait to cruise again.

Bit boring. Treated like royalty though

I've been on many cruises and never got ill

I've been in a couple. One Celebrity - brilliant. One on P&O - never again.
Celebrity was to the Norwegian Fjords. Food was great, ship was fine (we didn't do much in board).
P&O was to Amsterdam and Honfluer. The ports were fine but the ship was awful - poor food, messy, just bad.
Do your research.

Cruising is my favourite holiday. I really didn't want to go on my first ...2 days in I was booking the next.

Try it.

I did a Norwegian fjords cruise with P&O.
Norway was stunning but cruising wasn't for me.
The food and service on Iona was pretty poor, I wouldn't go with them again.

I could have written this myself. I was exactly the same and now I bloody LOVE cruises! I've been fortunate to have some other amazing holidays too and for my family of mixed generations (now teens late 40s and elderly grandparents) it works just so well! We love the food and everything else! We have only done Royal Caribbean so far x

Went on a free cruise with Cunard - can’t fault the quality of the cruise. But stuck on a boat with 1000s of people is not my idea of fun. Not much time at each stop - just scraping the surface of the place. Plus the impact of thousands getting off at one time. Monday it’s Tenerife - maybe I don’t want to do that today perhaps tomorrow but it’s another stop tomorrow. Plus all the boasting … oh this is my millionth cruise with Cunard - oh ffs who cares

I've been on five cruises (four times as a solo cruiser): four with Marella and one Celebrity. I loved them all, though Celebrity has the edge for food and style. I've dipped in and out of activities and excursions, and made good use of the gym classes and spa. I prefer having a balcony, as I love sitting watching the sun set and waking up to see new scenery. My favourite itineraries (so far) are the Adriatic and Scandinavia. I've visited some great cities, and been hiking in some wonderful countryside. I love cruising!

I'm off on a river cruise for the first time in a couple of weeks, and really looking forward to it.

I know some lines now do solo prices but it’s just so expensive as a single person…. I am fed up if flying and love the idea of a cruise but I also want less people and a chance to chill out so the mega ships are not for me. I unfortunately have taste for the more “educational” lines rather than entertainment and that comes at a price! I’m not too fussed about excursions - I’m not really a stuck in a coach person.

I like the idea of leisure, balcony, room service… watching the world glide by

I found the tory boomers really interesting to talk to lol. A bit like watching the bbc series boomers but irl lol

We will go when we are too elderly to travel about independently. Trips give a tiny snapshot of what there is to see in a place and are very expensive. But fine when you can't manage it independently any more. There is a reason they are popular with elderly people.

We have done 5 now, all with p and o and love them.

We always get the drinks package as you only need to drink 6-7 drinks a day to spend the £40 something per day cost. Which is easily doable if you like a drink. Even going out at the ports, we get back and have a couple of cocktails, wine with dinner and a few more drinks over the course of an evening. They dont monitor it so you can go over their "limit" but we might only do that on sea days.

We did a 5 day cruise to Amsterdam, which the crew all referred to as a booze cruise or party cruise but there was no trouble at all.

We might try a different company next time, but I dont fly so will only go from UK board and its why cruising works for us.

I've been on two short p&o cruises on smallish ships, both child free. I'd totally go again.

We had very basic cabins, no window, reasoning we would only be heading back to sleep so why pay for more!

Generally avoided buffets, just in case.

Really liked the freedom dining choice when you could go to dinner when you wanted and not be sat with the same people. Pleased with the food.

Only did a few excursions - pricey and basically coach trips. I preferred the stops where you could just get off and walk about.

Hugely impressed by the entertainment. Mega professionals, doing several shows in a week in repertoire. Also you'd see them doing singing duos, playing piano, solo singing on other nights.

There was lots to do; library, beauty salon, gym, cinema, lectures, exercise classes, dancing class, jewellery demos.

And if you like lounging quietly with a cappuccino or a cocktail and a book, which I DO, lots of places to relax.

Several swimming pools, I preferred the little one that few people seemed to discover.

I loved the dressing up black tie nights!

One of the shops had a glamorous foyer with resident harpist.

I want to go again now ...