Cruise recommendations

[winter8090]

Total newbie to cruising and hoping to do a med cruise in early summer.

Any tips or recommendations for cruise company?

We’re a couple, looking for more luxury and good food than partying.

i honestly don’t know where to start looking. Any tips sooo welcome.

I can recommend two or three cruise companies. We like Seabourn and have done very many with them.
Did a med cruise last year, loved it.
Nice lot of people, sort of country club casual with dressing up in the evening. Staff are so lovely. Food is really good.
Let me know if you go down this route, I can possibly get you some onboard credit!

Thank you. That’s very kind of you. I’ll be sure to go and check them out ☺️

What is your budget they vary a lot!

you also need to decide whether you want to sail from the U.K. or fly in, then if flying whether you want east or west med.

from the U.K. p&o and Cunard definitely sail as far as Rome, no fly and typically the package includes port parking or bus pick up from throughout the U.K. Flying in you have more options from luxury smaller ships to big vessels with 6000 on board. We prefer mid sized around 2000 and make sure the base price includes a few eating options (some ships advertise multiple restaurants but they are all extra), we also tend to pick all inclusive as it means we have no bill to pay onboard. Food quality does seem to vary and is definitely not as good as it was but we enjoyed a trip with marella recently that ticked all the boxes, whereas our latest trip with Cunard was a bit disappointing on the food quality front, not enough choice and too many surcharges including adding tips (was great pre 2020). Entertainment varies with the likes of royal Caribbean being more focussed on shows, I was happier with just a few musicians myself

Virgin everytime for me. Relaxed don’t have to dress up if you don’t want too, fabulous restaurant offerings, do an overnight stay on most med cruises so you get to see more of the destination. Have to have an open mind for the entertainment but there’s plenty to do if that’s not your thing.

Celebrity. I’ve been to the Norwegian Fiords and a short one to Bruge and Amsterdam. I’ve also been on P&O to Honfluer and Amsterdam and they were terrible by comparison.
The staff are always lovely (on both cruise lines) and we had lunch with a member of the Celebrity crew (he worked in their IT system and they could go on excursions) and he said they were one of the better employers.
We never went to any of the onboard shows as I felt they were a bit cheesy, and as I was with my younger teen kids didn’t do the cocktail or casino things. But the excursions aré important and we went on one every day we could - do not know why anyone would choose to stay on board while in port. Do not bother with a drink package unless you drink like a fish.
I’d avoid any trip that looks like a hen/stag party on sea.

Another vote for Celebrity here, or maybe Azamara

Budget would be around 1500 each for a week.

How old are you both? It's another important distinction - I'd recommend Fred Olsen but I'm 66 and go with friends in their eighties.

Also, spend time watching cruise reviews on YouTube. I like Gary Bembridge but others rate EmmaCruises. There's loads of stuff out there.

I am going to sound awful here but you aren’t going to get luxury on a high end ship/cruise line for £1500 each. You will likely get a cheaper week on royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Marella, Princess etc. Stay away from school holidays and you may get a balcony but you may only get an inside cabin if you want extras such as drinks packages, wifi and include tips etc.

What is important to you? What ports do you want to see and do you want port intensive or plenty of sea days.

50
i thought the budget was realistic! 🤦🏻‍♀️
how do the tips work?

id like to see Italy and Rome and maybe Ibiza.

For a week you would have to fly cruise as all the UK sailings to take in Rome etc.... are minimum of 14 days.

I would say for your budget celebrity or virgin. I like Princess but it is a step down from Celebrity.

In my experience, Celebrity are a wonderful choice. Please avoid Marella, not good,.

I was going to say Regent but probably not for that budget. However they include almost everything.

All drinks, excursions, tips, WiFi, speciality restaurants. When you add it all up probably not that dissimilar and we were very lucky with a deal we got. We were very impressed but it was a bit too sedate for us.

Really liked Cunard Queen Anne, but back to celebrity later on this year.

https://www.pocruises.com/find-a-cruise/A625/A625.cabin

For your first cruise and being 7 days this is an example of a cruise in your budget.

You don’t want a lot of sea days for 7 days so a fly cruise is your best option.

Cruise companies have different brands which meet different needs of their customers Family friendly, adult only, younger or older demographics, £ to £££££.

Avoid school holidays.

This Virgin voyages is another option. https://www.virginvoyages.com/book/voyage-planner/fullCruiseDetails?currencyCode=GBP&dateFrom=2026-06-01&dateTo=2026-07-31&durations=6-8&packageCode=7NBB3&selectedRegions=EUROPE

My advice is to search for a few cruises then use YouTube for a walk through the ship videos. This gives you a good idea of the vibe onboard.

We've got 3 teen boys.
We've done 4 Cruises. 2 with royal caribbean, 1 with MSC and 1 with Princess.
Wouldn't go on MSC again was awful.
RC are fab. So much to do.
Princess aimed at older market, but food is amazing and my boys loved the ship.

We like NCL, mostly for their relaxed atmosphere, anytime dining, no formal nights, and price point. If you upgrade to Free at Sea, you also get some speciality dining, excellent drinks package, some wi-if etc .

It's not the luxury end of the market, but the price reflects that, and it is a good, decent quality cruise. There are some parties etc, but these are easily avoided if you don't want them, and there are always quiet areas to sit if you want peace and quiet.

Unfortunately your budget is unlikely to get anything in the luxury cruise bracket, but should stretch to an inside or outside cabin on a mid-range cruise line - which are usually perfectly good, with a range of entertainment, choice of restaurants, buffets etc.

We are doing our first cruise - one week- this June. Sailing from Malta, stops are Sicily, Dubrovnik, Corfu town, Taranto and back to Malta. Going on P&O Azura. Balcony cabin. We paid £3400 for 2 adults.. booked it last March. Looking forward to it 🙂

For your budget I would be looking at P and O.

I did Princess last year and personally wouldn’t travel with them again.

Celebrity

Not sure the op will be getting luxury or good food on P&O. On celebrity which is more expensive we tend to do suites or at least speciality restaurants when not in a suite.

Did my first cruise on P&O in November and it was fantastic. Would recommend, it was just brilliant and I’d thought I’d hate cruising. I didn’t, I loved it 🥰

Rubbish! Luxury maybe not but we are going on P&O cruises this year and the food is superb.

I have never had an issue with the food on P and O.

I done a Princess cruise out of Athens; mid price range not too many kids and ship sizes are not too large so doesn’t feel overcrowded.

That’s good to know; as the people I know who’ve been on celebrity and P&O have found celebrity to be better. Off to check it out as I love sailing from Southampton.