EstelleB

Thanks everyone, this is so helpful. My instincts were that Marella and the Italian lines might not be for us, but I will have a look. My instincts were leaning towards Princess or Celebrity but I will have a good look at the others as well. It is a shame about NCL, I remember really liking our cabin with them but not being overly impressed with the food! I really liked some of their itineraries, particularly as some stay overnight in Livorno, but it would get on our nerves if we are constantly being charged extras. For itineraries, I would love to do Livorno/La Spezia as my Daughter has never been to Florence, and not too fussed about Greek islands as we've done that before. Other than this we are pretty flexible. We were lucky in the day that we were able to sail into Venice so not too disappointed that we can't do that now!

We are not exactly 1st time cruisers, but haven't cruised since the kids were small and so much has changed since then! Past cruises were in the Med with NCL and Ocean Village (remember them) and we really enjoyed them, but just never got back to it as my kids discovered Orlando! I now want to book a Med cruise for myself (early 50s) and my Daughter (early 20s) and I'm a bit lost in terms of our ideal cruise line. We don't really want a ship which is teaming with kids, but many adults only ships seem to cater for a slightly older crowd and I'm not sure that my Daughter would enjoy it. FYI things that we enjoy are good food (with lots of choice, no traditional dining), cocktails and a glass of champers now and again, some rest days by the pool and the option of some solid entertainment at night. I don't particularly want a mega ship, but we can't have anything too small as my Daughter may get sea sick. Ideally we would like all inclusive, but would consider not if it's the best ship option for us. I have looked at Virgin, bit disappointed that they don't do a drinks package, and a bit concerned that the entertainment might not be to our tastes (we do love our musicals), but possibly they are the closest to what we want? I also noticed someone said that the pools are rubbish, and whilst we don't want to practice for the olympics, I do enjoy a swim and not having to fight for a sun lounger! Itinerary wise we are quite flexible, perfect would be 7 nights with focus on Italy, but happy to do longer and include Spain/France/Greece as well. We will be travelling in the Summer, but can avoid kids holidays by going at the start of July or September. Big question therefore is who we should be looking at? Virgin? Celebrity seem nice but their packages read as having lots of restrictions (?), NCL have some great itineraries for us but I read some mixed reviews, Princess have a great package but are they catering for a slightly older crowd? What about P&O, we do like a Costa, but are they a bit too traditional? Final question - book direct or use an agent? I remember years ago the agents seemed to have better prices but not sure now? Many thanks