How to book a cruise

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I’m keen to do a cruise but feel overwhelmed by the different liners and get the impression fly/cruises from the uk are expensive when adding in tips etc. Are there any websites you use rather than the individual cruise liner’s own? Any tips, recommendations please

I have been on quite a few . Ive booked direct through tui shops and inline . Ive booked P and O and MSC through iglu , cruise nation and directly . Claire Holmes and Bolsover cruise club both on facebook are also good .

Not all cruise lines add tips and some you can prepay. The key is to look at the overall package and not just the initial headline price. Drinks packages are usually not worth it. Get an eSIM rather than buying onboard WiFi.

I personally book direct with the cruise lines but there are good specialist cruise travel agents. Cruise critic https://boards.cruisecritic.com/?&_fromLogin=1 can help you work out which line you might like.

Then use YouTube to look at specific cruise lines/ships. There are several popular channels that give you a good idea of the different options. The vibe on ships/lines can be very different and the size of ships can very enormously,

Fly cruises can be more expensive as flights add to the cost. Repositioning cruises, where a ship starts in one location e.g. the Caribbean and end in another e.g. UK/Europe, can be cheaper but may have a lot of sea days.

I always suggest a 7 day Fjord cruise at the end of May/ June is a good starter cruise. They usually have 4 port days and most of the time you are sailing in the flat water in Fjords rather than out at sea. It gives you a good idea of what you like/dislike and are not too expensive. The one thing you can’t guarantee is the weather.

Budget will be a big factor in determining which cruise line/cruise ship you select.

If you can give an idea of what type of holiday you like, I am sure posters can help you narrow it down.

I’ve done cruises with Marella, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Cunard and P&O.

I have booked through Iglu and Cruise Nation. Both have been seamless and easy. Some cruises you had to pay service charges on eg Norwegian Lines and others like MSC you don't. A medium cruise is usually good value as you tend to go to 5 ports in a week. It's far cheaper if you go from Southampton or Tilbury docks than if you fly somewhere to start your cruise. After saying that sometimes you can do a 7 day cruise with a couple of days/nights in a city too. Often Barcelona or Rome. My favourite cruises are MSC because you can book the evening entertainment ahead of time. I've just got back from a cruise on Norwegian Sun and nothing could be pre-booked so you never knew if you'd get what you wanted to see or not. They called it freestyle. DH said it was like a free for all. On MSC I book the shows I want to go to see the moment I get on board. That way you can plan meal times better. I like the med cruises as they are relaxed, the food is good with up to 10 choices of meal most nights. You can eat a more restricted menu in formal dining rooms with waiter service or go to the buffet where you help yourself to wider variety of food. I have always been on larger cruises and prefer informal dress during the daytime except for evening entertainment where I tend to wear a dress.All cruises I have been on have had a gym, swimming pool and jacuzzis, kids clubs, teen clubs and plenty of things like quizzes, suduko challenges, singers in multiple bars etc and a library with board games and usually some type of group exercise or dance class. The excursions are expensive and often I just disembark and have a wonderful around a port or get on a hop on hop off bus.

Ps. I have had cabins with balconies and also outdoor and indoor. I've come to the conclusion that I only spend a small amount of time in my cabin so I'm happy with an indoor one which is much cheaper and often lower down in shop so actually you feel less motion as ship moves. Not that you really feel much motion anyway.

Seascanner. You can filter loads of stuff and sort in all sorts of ways. Cruisecritic is also good as a resource.
You can get cruises that are just a couple of nights to see if you would like it.
It isn't for everyone. You can build a holiday around it (cheap flights to departure point, couple of days there, then couple of days in disembarkment port)
Despite people saying that you can hardly feel the boat move, I have been on 5 in the last 2 years, and 2 were fairly rough at points. This in the med.
There is lots to like though.

I've just come back from my first ever cruise with P & O. we went with my parents in 2 balcony cabins. We booked it 2 years ago as it was specifically sold as an Eclipse cruise - saw the Eclipse off Northern Spain and it was spectacular.

My parents have done about 40 cruises so are very knowledgeable . We didn't enjoy the formal side - men have to wear a shirt and long trousers in the main dining room and a suit on celebration nights. My DP sees holidays as relaxing so he wore trousers etc under duress. I think we would prefer a less formal type cruise if we went again.

We also felt that going out of Southampton and back again was a bit of a wasted few days. We had 2 days at sea on our way back and it just felt an anti climax. We would rather fly to our destination and then you are able to enjoy 14 days - particularly for a summer cruise. Drinks were British pub prices so we were spending £14 a round on a wine and a cider.

Positives were we enjoyed waking up in different places and the food was great. We won't rush to do another before investigating a more relaxed cruise line.

We have done a number but typically book through a travel agent who is experienced with cruises. Much easier if you can call up and say eg “we would like to go to the eastern Med in early July 2027 for up to 10 days, max budget (inc flights and tips) of £x per person, we would prefer a British or American line. Ideally a balcony cabin” and see what they recommend. You can then nuance from there.

We usually use VivaVoyage - we always find the prices on there are cheaper than booking direct. The website is easy to use, and you can filter by dates, areas, cruise lines etc. They are also very helpful if you need to phone or live chat them.