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 was a bit sniffy tbh - there’s someone on another thread that described P&O as Butlins on sea. Admittedly I thought it might have been like that before I went, but it wasn’t at all. The food was lovely, the ship was gorgeous, the crew were friendly and the organisation of the cruise was top notch. It was a fantastic price too. I like nice holidays and nice things, and it was all that so don’t write it off as the prices are often fantastic

My biggest issue on Princess was that they allowed smoking in the casino and then left the doors open so the smell hit the whole of the deck. (We also had issues with dining and faults in the accessible cabin too)

That’s what we really like about celebrity it’s non smoking any where inside.

p and o is the same. I was amazed when I got on board last year and realised they still allowed it but would check before trying any other line now

Thank you. I’ll cross Princess off!

This was us a year ago.

We went on a Marella cruise to Western Med - two ports each in Spain, France and Italy - last May. Weather was perfect.

I've just looked up our invoice and it was £4190 for both of us. This included the premium drinks package, a junior balcony suite, coach trips to Rome and Florence, coach and entry Sagrada Familia (all with guides), and flight supplement from Heathrow (£800 ouch).

We didn't spend anything extra on board, and were really happy with the food in the main dining room. There was nothing about the ship that we didn't like.

Taking out the Heathrow supplement, it's not far off from what you would like to spend, so gives an idea of where this fits in your idea of luxury.

I have done a lot of P & O cruises and have more planned. I also have been on several Cunard Cruises. Cunard is an elevated experience compared to P & O and I suspect Celebrity is more like Cunard.

To me it’s about managing expectations, 5 star hotels are not the same as 3 star hotels but if you know you are staying at and paying for 3 you are not likely to be disappointed. If I could afford it I would be on 6 star cruises like Regent, Explora etc. but I can’t. I know what to expect with P & O and for the price I have a lovely holiday and know how to avoid most of the crowds.

Edited - sorry I used * as a star and forgot that if you use two it bolds the text. 😂

We went on Regent and we were a bit bored tbh. Lectures were not as good as celebrity or Cunard whereas I thought they’d be better. We do our own excursions cheaper so I wasn’t fussed about them being AI. The drinks and proper champagne on tap now that I liked.

We sail retreat in celebrity but didn’t feel the need in the equivalent of Cunard.

We're going on the Celebrity Apex in August. We're sailing from Southampton, and going round the Med, it has around 2,500 passengers so not a huge ship.

It looks amazing and the food looks exceptional.

We looked at Cunard but we thought the 18 year olds would be bored.

P&O and Royal Caribbean were too big for us.

You won’t be disappointed. If you can splash out go to eat at Eden. Best food we have ever had at sea. If you are doing the more expensive one (we do the cheaper one) have both menus so you can try each dish. We’ve done it a couple of times so now opt for the cheaper one. PM me for any questions you may have. Back on Apex in June for 2 weeks. Can’t wait!!

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It massively depends. For what it is worth, and other posters have far more experience, I have done 4 "short and fairly cheap" cruises in the last 18 months around the med. Three with MSC, one with Costa, full drinks package and balcony room on all. I haven't got the experience that others have of other companies, but I think I won't be going with Costa again. After saying that, the food on Costa was better than MSC. Ports matter, Marseille is beyond dreadful, Hamburg is miles out. No issue with Southampton, Genoa (neither are pretty but they do the job) Valencia was nice.

I think if you want the best food and luxury for that budget I'd also be looking at Celebrity.
It's more upmarket and more adult focused than PO, Marcella, Royal Caribbean, NCL and Princess. Virgin is more party and entertainment based.
I dont think you'd get Cunard, reagent or seaborne for the budget.