Fly and cruise

[the80sweregreat]

Has anyone done these types of trips?
Was thinking of the Caribbean , but we have to fly from the Uk ( probably Gatwick I suppose ) then pick up the cruise liner in Barbados. Is it a case if staying one night overnight? Is it worth it? What are the cons of going on a cruise ?
I only know people who have gone from a UK port.

My parents went on a Caribbean cruise. They didn't love it. I think they prefer staying somewhere and getting 'immersed' in that culture rather than just daily sightseeing. I can imagine it wouldn't be my kind of thing either.

I would do a shorter, more local cruise first, to see if you like the cruise experience - before doing such an expensive one.

I’ve been on 35 cruises and most of them I’ve flown to. You usually stay the night before especially for long haul, or sometimes I’ve stayed up to a week somewhere and then gone on the cruise. I have done a few packages where I’ve flown short haul and got on the ship the same day.
I can’t think of any disadvantages.

If you look at p&o, they offen run charter flights so all passengers on that flight are cruise passengers and you are then shuttled as a big group to your ship. If your not sure cruising is for you, consider a cruise from southampton to try cruising first.

We’ve been with Marella and P&O on their own charter flights. The ship waits for all passengers to arrive so no need to fly the day before. Barbados, Antigua, Dominican Republic are common starting ports.
If you travel independently the advice is to fly in at least one day earlier, so you don’t risk missing the ship.

Thanks for the replies. Dh is keen to try this kind of holiday , but Im not too sure. Won’t be for a while as need to save up for it too.

We just book ourselves/ fly into Miami or Orlando a couple of days before then board the cruise.

Thank you !