Options other than Thomson

[Andy W]

There are so many cruise lines I don't know where to start to look, previously I have only been on Thomson cruises and fancy a change, this time we are taking my partners 14 year old daughter on her first cruise, so our requirements are:

 

Med cruises.

Would like to sail from UK for a change (sick of flying).

Things to do on board for kids.

A cinema would be nice.

I Like the Thomson "all tips included" idea and then tip those who have earned it at the end of the cruise.

 

What cruise lines would suit our needs?

[RSLeesburg]

There are so many cruise lines I don't know where to start to look, previously I have only been on Thomson cruises and fancy a change, this time we are taking my partners 14 year old daughter on her first cruise, so our requirements are:

 

Med cruises.

Would like to sail from UK for a change (sick of flying).

Things to do on board for kids.

A cinema would be nice.

I Like the Thomson "all tips included" idea and then tip those who have earned it at the end of the cruise.

 

What cruise lines would suit our needs?

 

Royal Caribbean sails the Independence of the Seas out of Southampton for 12 and 14 night med cruises. There is plenty to do on board for a 14 year old. But, I think they removed the screening room, and replaced it with a large screen TV up on the pool deck - they show movies on that. In terms of tipping, you can prepay these, @ $12-$15 (approx) per person per night (depends on if you are in suite or not). Look on the RCI forum for Indy reviews and more details.

[Essiesmom]

Look at P&O and Fred Olsen. To get to the Med and back from Soton, you need at least two weeks, unless you are content with ports in Spain. Three weeks is better. EM

[Scrapnana]

Most mainstream cruise lines do not include the tips in the cost of the cruise.

 

You might check out Celebrity. They do Med cruises out of the UK, have movies, and have a great program for teens.

[John Bull]

Thomson's "tips-inclusive" is unusual, most other tips-inclusives are at the luxury end.

Best bet is to take the auto-tips, and higher drinks prices+15% drinks service charges, into account when figuring your choice of cruise.

 

For a US or Italian ship allow tips of about £8 per adult per night. For kids tips (yes, they're expected to pay too) you need dig into it a bit deeper cos different cruise lines have different policies.

Expect to pay mebbe 30% more for drinks (incl the service charge) than on Thomson.

 

P&O tips are £5 pppn, their drinks prices are about the same as Thomson with no service charge.

 

So you need to do some maths to get a true comparison.

 

Due respect to Fred, but his ships attract mainly retired folk & will probably not go down well with youngsters. Cunard & perhaps Celebrity aren't ideal for them either, and NCL wouldn't be my choice.

 

Your safest bets ex-UK are P&O, RCI or Princess, mebbe Carnival who have recently added ex-UK sailings but a line I've never sailed.

P&O are simplest, a very British experience, most passengers are Brits, food more to Brit tastes, on-board currency is sterling. Princess are broadly American but touches of Britishness, RCI are comparatively brash & brassy - their ships are laden with toys like climbing wall, zip-line, putting green, wave-rider etc. Kids, especially the active ones, would probably opt for RCI but you''ll not go far wrong with any of those.

But do book with your eyes open to the higher on-board costs on Princess, RCI & Carnival.

 

The atmosphere & friendliness is great on Thomson's tired old ladies, but you'll be wow-ed by the facilities on other more modern ships.

 

Just MHO as always

 

JB :)

[OCruisers]

Lots of UK folks cruise on Princess! :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[jocap]

I agree with John Bull- for the first move from Thomson, P&O are probably the best bet....you can branch out later....BTW, the tips this year on Azura were £3.60 per day.....

The two large ships, Ventura and Azura, have plenty of things for the youngsters to do- and quite a lot for the old 'uns, too!

Other than that, I'd look at Independence OTS, which gets good reviews from many Brits.

[Andy W]

Thanks for the replies, plenty for me to look at.