First cruise as a couple - suggestions with good food - short d

[Chocolatey1234]

Any recommendations for a first cruise newly empty nesters (destinations, duration, cruise liner, package), with good food (one of us is also gluten intolerant). I am thinking not too full on and manic so would do adults only or outside of main school holiday period and high summer temperatures.

Any recommendations please? What cabin is best I am thinking maybe a small window would feel less claustrophobic. Also how big are the beds are they standard doubles or king?

Or anything to avoid and why. Visited a travel agent and she was pushing us down a very expensive cruise route saying one company is like travel lodge/premier inn etc.

Also please mention in comments if it is full on dressing up at all meals or some meals or how dressed up (is it evening dress black tie for men or just smart casual) on an evening.

Thanks

We've always enjoyed NCL - it's very relaxed, no formal nights (but you are always welcome to dress up if you want), no table sharing (unless you want to), no fixed dining times, you just turn up when you want. The entertainment is very good, but not too 'in your face'.

Food is generally very good, and excellent in the speciality restaurants. You can upgrade to to include a drinks package, some wi-fi, a couple of meals in the speciality restaurants, and some credit towards excursions, for about £200 for a week, which we find to be great value .

We just find it suits the type of holiday we want, it's very relaxing.

Saw a pp mentioned organising your own excursions and we do that sometimes too but be aware, if you are delayed on a privately arranged excursion, the ship will leave without you 😱 They will tend to wait if it’s a tour they have arranged.

Dh & I have come back from Sourh Africa on a Regent cruise. Much older age group 60's-80's. Food was very good but any intolerances are difficult when it's buffet style dining at lunch.. though you do also have the option of seated dining.

All the cabins have good sized balconies and they make you dress up for dinner ie no jeans which I found annoying.. I don't want to be told what to wear on holiday. Our room attendant was the best we've ever had.

It's smaller than most of the others and quieter. The art on the boat is fabulous. Wasn't very impressed with some of the excursions though.

Just to add we usually find a driver for the day and organise our own excursions but were told it wasn't safe to in SA.

Cruises come in all shapes and sizes. We liked Azamara because:

• The ships are small (200m long), so (a) you aren't walking miles every day and (b) it docks close to town. When we arrived at Gdansk we moored right under the war memorial, whereas MSC had to park up at Gdynia container port and everyone took a half-hour bus ride.
• The food is fabulous, including the buffet. In fact some people eat at the buffet most of the time because it's so good. Everything is served in small dishes so nothing hangs around getting "buffet-lamped". The gluten-free and vegan options are very clearly marked and the chef is available at all times to explain what's in everything. There is always at least one Indian option on the buffet at lunchtime and I used to grab that every day, whatever else I was eating.
• There is no dress code, other than "no shorts in the main sit-down restaurant in the evening". This is a big deal for us as we hate dressing up. There is a White Night party but you can come how you like to that.
• Decent-quality alcoholic drinks are included, as well as nice "premium" coffees.
• There are almost no children (because there is nothing laid on for them).
• The beds are fabulous. King size, super linens, you'll be asleep in no time.
• No tipping is needed (although we gave our cabin boy a tip because he was sooooo good, and I normally hate tipping). The price you see on the website is the price you pay, total. Of course, you can pay for vintage champagne if you want, but you don't need to spend a penny more.
• Almost all of the cabins have a window, because the ship is not wide enough to have more than a couple of inside cabins. But you won't be spending much time in your cabin anyway. There are lots of nice lounge areas with big picture windows, and we also like to lie on loungers on the outer decks and watch the sea go past, even if it's not very hot. There are blankets and towels on every one.

Overall it feels like a floating 4½* boutique hotel. The downsides are:

• The cabin showers are very small. The cruise director may well make jokes about this. We showered in the gym/spa area every day before going to dinner.
• The entertainment is quite modest because the team is small. No big Broadway-style musical productions. But some of the musicians are pretty talented.
• It's not cheap — but sometimes there are big discounts. The excursions are a bit expensive (even more than most cruise lines, and they're never cheap), but we explored the ports under our own steam, which is easy in Europe, maybe a bit trickier in Brazil.

Most of the guests are Americans, which may or may not be to your taste.

Check out "emmacruises" on YouTube, she did a video on Azamara which perfectly summed up our experience.

I’d recommend Celebrity cruise line to and either the Med or the Adriatic. I like the mix of nationalities and ages on Celebrity.

I avoid P&O as nearly all Brits and a bit cheap and cheerful.

Scenic is really good but expensive and it’s probably not good to start at the high end in case you don’t like cruising or if you do you’ll be comparing it to cheaper cruises.

I think a balcony is worth it but again for the first cruise you won’t know what you’re missing so you could get a porthole (outside) stateroom.

Has anyone heard anything about this company? Thanks

So much conflicting advice everywhere my head is mulch.

We don’t need a kids club or kids activities and don’t want to eat a buffet every night or junk food. Also don’t want to be hit with a lot of hidden charges or have a tiny bed or tiny bathroom/shower room.

Because of where we live in the north we think maybe a Fly cruise as will use less AL and will see more places maybe around May or early June around the med 7 to 14 days.

Any more advice or top tips please?

Oh I did this with my daughter for our first cruise! Loved it!!!

We don’t need a kids club or kids activities and don’t want to eat a buffet every night or junk food. Also don’t want to be hit with a lot of hidden charges or have a tiny bed or tiny bathroom/shower room.

I have been on 24 cruises and every one has offered a variety of waiter service restaurants and most a buffet also in the evening. The beds have all been super king size or you can choose to have them separated. All my staterooms have been a decent size, inside staterooms are smaller but the bed will be good. Bathrooms can be small but honestly it’s not a thing.

Imagine Cruising are a fairly big player.

Princess are a mid range US line, some children but not overly child friendly so not too many. Probably more Brits than usual on this one because of the SCD connection.
Princess offer a 'plus' package, I think it is usually £50pppd (not certain) which I would take if you like a glass of wine (drinks are ££ on US ships) and don't want to get hit with extras.

No ship offers buffet only or much junk food.

Thanks Chewbacca thats a possibility then.

Princess Cruises prices and ships layouts are very similar to P&O, but with Princess you get a variety of nationalities, whereas P&O is mainly British so entertainment is aimed for the British.

Op, if you don’t mind some kids then any cruise that is in term time will suitable for you. They tend to be rammed with kids in school holidays.

if you are looking for budget options then p and o is great and they have an amazing selection of very affordable fly cruises. Formal nights are not compulsory and you don’t HAVE to eat in the main dining room, the buffet is always an option if you prefer it. I like p and o, it’s affordable and good value. MSC cruise ships are ( in my opinion) even better value if you book at the right time. They are glitzy and feel more upmarket and if you take the drinks package at the time of booking it’s brilliant value. We did the Northern Europe Christmas market cruise last month and it was fab! And even better it was just £1400 all inclusive with premium drinks for two adults and two kids. You can join an MSC cruise from any pretty much any port in the itinerary so you could always fly to X place and join it there instead of travelling to Southampton.

Viking is adults only, average age 40 to 60 I think, they are smaller, more relaxed, all inclusive including economy flights, you could start off with the European or Italian ones, we really enjoy them and get the balcony room.

I found MSC really big, noisy, full on, with lots of queuing and wouldn't really recommend it to OP. Yacht Club was nice but £££.

Virgin voyages is lovely food and no under 18.

Did you book your holiday direct with P&O?

Yes we did 😏

You might not say that if you are a man 6ft 5 with long arms and not built like a bean pole. Small showers can be a pain to navigate.

I’m currently with P&O sailing on Britannia . We flew into Barbados on the 22nd and honestly it’s been fabulous.

we have an interior room, the cheapest possible. We paid £2190 for both of us. The room is perfect tbh, the bed is a full 6 ft wide and very comfortable ( two singles zipped together that can be separated at your request). It’s far far from a premier in our “Butlin’s at sea” and we have had a brilliant time. There was 3 formal nights over the 13 nights and we didn’t attend a single one as that’s just not for us. it was lovely seeing prople all dressed up though but for every person dressed up, there was two that chose not to.

We ate all breakfast in the buffet but we could have gone to two other sit down restaurants if we had chosen to. We had lunch in the more formal sit down restaurant several days and also visited the pool bar for burgers/pizzas/fried chicken. We ate in the buffet in the evenings and the food was fine. Today for lunch in the buffet I had chicken noodle soup and bread and then fish, chips and mushy peas. They also have a daily carvery and more “global” choices like jambalaya, goan curry, noodles and a full cold cuts and salad bar. Lots of pudding options too. Breakfast in the buffet is plentiful, full fry up and a choice of cereal, fruits, yogurts, miss, porridge etc. tea and coffee is available in the buffet 24/7. Juice is only available for breakfast. We didn’t get a drinks package and I’m glad we didn’t. Drinks are high street prices. Lager is £5.70-7 , wine is £7+ a glass. Including internet we have spent £640 over 13 days and I’m fine with that. We also did our own day trips by researching “what’s in port”.

the entertainment has been brilliant, much much better than expected. I went to a series of three talks/lectures by a clinical psychologist talking about her experience working with serial killers during the prison system. It was absolutely fascinating. Also a series of talks by a female veteran and her experience of war and dealing with PTSD and fitting into civilian life. Lots of quizzes, craft groups, dance classes . I didn’t do any dance classes but watched some and the teachers were great and plenty of people took part. This trip they have lots of entertainers, but they rotate regularly…. they have a street busker, a pianist, Caribbean band and various other singers. When I get home I can share some of my programs to give you some examples but it’s a full schedule and you can do as little or as much as you want.

Most of our cruises have been with Marella.

They are medium-sized ships, so not too overwhelming if you don't know what to do. And British.

I’ve tried a few out and a lot is down to what you enjoy. All cruises cater for gluten free including for afternoon tea if applicable so don’t worry about that though some ask you to choose your menu the day before.

you need to consider ship size - the bigger the ship the more variety of entertainment venues and food options will exist (though some will be extra cost) but they will be more hectic and need you to book your meals etc. smaller vessels are more intimate but can me eating of the changing menu in the main dining room mostly. And less choices in the evening entertainment wise.

Cunard is one option that is definitely a little more classy though fairly affordable, they have talks each day, classical recitals but also contemporary music (excellent band when I was onboard). Cheaper but same parent company is p&o, more aimed at the British market, drinks are cheaper and tips included. The American lines tend to be snazzier and more brash but have things like climbing walls and water slides (ncl was moored next to our Cunard ship and dh was jealous of the slide!) also the shows have more razzmatazz if you like a singing, dancing and acts type production. Our preferred line for last minute cheap breaks is Marella owned by TUI who are all inclusive, your price includes airfares, transfers and drinks onboard, you can literally spend nothing more than- but being not as big ships as the huge lines they often more right in towns or at least are public transport accessible, they also package one week cruises with a few days - week in resort. I have booked as late as 4 days before leaving for excellent pricing.

@Chocolatey1234 When posters say ships are small, they really are not. We have been with Noble Caledonia on Hebridean Sky and they take around 110 passengers. It’s much nicer than any huge floating town. You need to have fairly deep pockets but there’s no extras unless you drink a lot! They get very booked up but you might be a bit young. We’ve been on larger ships when dc were younger (they liked the activities) but I know what I prefer! Small is so much nicer!

@TizerorFizz that ship looks fab but sadly out of our price range but the smaller ship makes sense and DH and I don’t need big fancy waterslides these days.

Any other smaller ships you might recommend for us.