Cruise-but-not-cruise?

[GnomeMoreTears]

Our three older DC are all doing their own thing this summer for the first time, so it will just be me, DH and 15yo DS.

For the last 20 years, we’ve tended to do camping and latterly villa holidays in France and Spain, in more rural/low key areas and quite often with a city break tacked on at the beginning or the end. That’s still the kind of holiday I like best, but we’ve decided that trying to recreate summer holidays of old as a group of 3 and not 6 runs the risk of feeling a bit flat.

Cruises have never appealed - and as a family of 6 would have been way out of budget! - but I’m wondering now if they might be worth exploring as something completely different.

So, clever people of mumsnet, can you recommend any ideas? Are there cruise companies that do tours in the Med on boats which aren’t the huge floating hotel-type (we’re absolutely not fussed about entertainment or lots of facilities on board) but aren’t adult only?

Thank you!

We took our daughter at 15 on the tall sailing ship star clipper.

Not many other young people but she absolutely loved it.

What about a Sunsail holiday or Mark Warner.

Agree, I immediately thought Windstar or Star Clippers for the OP. Quite likely 0 kids on board - would she be ok with that?

Or a gulet cruise or one of the tiny ships in the Adriatic, stopping in Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro?

Thanks all, will take a look at these ideas.

DS would be fine being the only “child”, although we’d want to make sure it isn’t too grown up overall (not sure that makes sense, but I know what I mean!)

MSc are large enough to find nice intimate bars and entertainment as well as big theatre shows etc. Many dining options and not too stuffy

Why don't you just do a few nights in a few different cities.
Connect by train.

But they are absolutely huge, tower block like ships which OP expressly didn't want.

@GnomeMoreTears budget is a key factor as is cabin type.

With just one DC are you planning to share as a 3 or have two cabins?
Do you want a balcony or an inside - one of each might be an option?

I would definitely look at Turkish gulets if you are ok with heat - the boat movement and frequent swim stops should help with that. Make sure it’s air conditioned, I believe most are.

There are also some small sail boats that go round Greek islands

Would any of these appeal?

Nothing wrong with a large hotel cruise ship with a teen, try NCL for all-age activities and much more informal overall than others, multiple restaurants and more crucially get off at each port / focus on activities at each port - but cost will rack up of course.

Nile cruise is fantastic. Small boats, incredible excursions. So interesting.

Budget (which I think will immediately rule us out of a lot of the suggestions I’ve had a quick look at) of £2k pp at the outside. Fully expecting to need to share a cabin for that.

Fine with heat, and we’re definitely thinking Med rather than eg Norway.

We did wonder about a rail holiday but to be honest it’s just too much hard work this year - DH and I are knackered and would like a week where we don’t have to “do”. Plus I have an hour each way rail commute 3x week and it would feel a bit of a busman’s holiday I think.

Really not fussed about luxury, high quality dining etc - my ideal (which I suspect exists only in my head) would be the equivalent of a clean, comfortable, quiet B&B and we spend our time on board sleeping or reading on deck but most of waking hours on land visiting towns, cities or beaches.

@GnomeMoreTears My advice is do a fly cruise to the med. Opt for a port intensive itinerary this means you can choose to go ashore most days - useful if you feel seasick or just want to get away from the ship,

Ideally choose a cabin that has cabins on the decks above and below and both sides. This reduces the chance of noise from the entertainment venues, deck chairs being moved etc. When you find a cruise Google the name of the ship followed by “deck plan pdf” this lets you see the full layout.

I would suggest Marella Cruises, P & O, Royal Caribbean type of price range. Marella have ships of less than 2000 passengers, P and O have a range of sizes, Royal Caribbean are big ships and massive ones.

Make sure you look at the whole package cost e.g. daily gratuities, drink prices, pay restaurants. These can add substantially to the base cost.

To give you a start look at P & O Azura https://www.pocruises.com/cruise-ships/azura/overview. She sails out of Malta, 5 ports in 7 days, P & O don’t charge gratuities, drinks are pub prices, there are pay restaurants and it’s GBP onboard.

Cruise Critic has a lot of info and an extensive forum for Q&A.

I meant to add if you want to sit and read in quiet a balcony is ideal.

https://www.panachecruises.com/en-gb/cruise-itineraries/11-night-adriatic-and-aegean-voyage_azamara-onward_11_nights_2025-07-26_1AAAO250726

How about this one? In budget. Azamara are lovely, cabins are small (bathrooms especially) but it is a small ship - 680 - and includes drinks & tips & has a nice atmosphere. Not sure what the 3rd person pricing is, often much less than the first 2.

I was going to say about marella. Their ships are small and not stuffy.
We never thought we’d enjoy this as our family holidays were camping all over Europe, but we loved the marella one.

We went for the first time with our ds when he was 15. And it was exactly like your ideal. He loved it. We went round the Med but didn’t do any excursions, just explored the cities ourselves. So for example, Naples the port is in the city so we just walked off the boat and explored. Think vintage shops rather than ruins! We had one sea day which gave us the opportunity to completely relax. And ds visited the gym. It was so relaxing not having to plan much. Food wise we would eat dinner in the restaurant but ds then would go and have a second one in the buffet.

Mumsnet has always said how good cruising is for teens. I didn’t really believe it until we went.

Take a look at river cruises, dozens to choose from & there will be a lot within your budget.

I’d opt for any of the mid sized vessels, 2000 people give or take, they will have choices for food, a variety of evening venues so you can have a quiet drink, many do movies on deck by the pool (spent a couple of lovely evening lying on sun loungers on Marella ships watching movies, they bring out blankets, popcorn and hot chocolate!) and see how you like it. Opt for a balcony so you have your own private space to spend time. Many cabins sleep up to 4 people but will be tighter. During the day they dock (check itinerary, some companies have more sea days than others) and we use public transport to explore wherever this is.

I do recommend the Marella ship out of Mallorca, a couple of the vessels are 18+ but not all, as it includes Naples for pompei, Toulon, which is fully walkable from the ship and Rome (we used local train booked on the train line app!) but the itineraries do change and it was a while ago I did that one. Ai so no issues with teen wanting more food or (soft) drinks. The shows are completely optional and the ship is surprisingly spacious I always find, lots of quiet spots if you want them, sat in the library area playing downfall and connect 4 last time!

@DressAwareThis made me laugh as DS is fully in his hollow-legs era!
Would you mind sharing which cruise you did?

We went with MSC on the Divina, but only because we got an amazing deal and we were limited with dates. MSC is Italian so there were very few Brits. Think about where you want to visit. I love the look of the P&O one a pp linked to and it’s much easier if you get the flights included. We had to sort ours separately which was a little stressful but it did mean we could tag city breaks on either end.

I’ve been on a few MSc cruises with my teen DS as well OP… totally agree with @DressAwarethat I hadn’t expected it to be soooo good for teens. DS loves it, gave him a choice of Japan or Med cruise this year and he’s chosen the cruise again 😅
We were on quite large ships, but we always found a quiet spot to swim, or read or have a drink. Like @DressAwaremy DS loved the buffet! The range of food is pretty impressive and it’s pretty much 18 hours a day. And there are speciality restaurants that honestly are amazing. We booked the steak house and the teppanyaki last year and both were top class!

The entertainment was excellent as well OP, we generally go to something every night and it’s always been a laugh, seeing DS chilled out enough to dance with Mom to Abba was a highlight! 🥰😅 There’s lovely quiet bars where we’ve sat and played board games in the evening as well.

Do keep us updated on what you go for, would love to hear how the 3 of you get on! x

That made me smile as I never would be able to get ds to watch a show at home. But we went every night on the cruise!

Friends took their older DC on Marella and didn’t see them often as they made friends and enjoyed all the facilities whilst the parents relaxed with a book/snoozed.