How to actually choose a first line.

[navybankerteacher]

There are two approaches:

1) If you have a travel agent who is willing to take the time to talk with you to find out your preferences, rely on his/her input.

 

2) Spend a fair amount of time on sited like Cruise Critic and see what people have to say about different lines - raise questions if they occur to you - and try to find a happy fit.

[JimmyTheSaint]

Here's my suggestion to help chose a first cruise line.....avoid Marella like the plague. That'll narrow your choices. If my first cruise had been on Marella I'd never have cruised again. Fortunately we'd cruise a few other cruise lines before we went on Marella so we knew they were beyond terrible compared to the others.

[ldubs]

On 7/23/2022 at 4:40 PM, navybankerteacher said:

There are two approaches:

1) If you have a travel agent who is willing to take the time to talk with you to find out your preferences, rely on his/her input.

 

2) Spend a fair amount of time on sited like Cruise Critic and see what people have to say about different lines - raise questions if they occur to you - and try to find a happy fit.

 

Great advice.  On 2), I would add for someone new not to think they have to follow all of the advice as it will cause serious overload and over-thinking.   

[Billish]

15 hours ago, JimmyTheSaint said:

Here's my suggestion to help chose a first cruise line.....avoid Marella like the plague. That'll narrow your choices. If my first cruise had been on Marella I'd never have cruised again. Fortunately we'd cruise a few other cruise lines before we went on Marella so we knew they were beyond terrible compared to the others.

Careful - you will have John Bull after you with comments like that !

[Velvetwater]

I have to agree about Marella. 

 

We don't cruise British lines anyway but all of our acquaintances and family that have cruised with them disliked them and we convinced them to try other lines.

 

I often recommend Royal or NCL for first time cruisers as they both have a good rep all over the world as they know their markets well. NCL in particular are known for great European cruises. We love both.

Edited July 27, 2022 by Velvetwater

[John Bull]

The time of year is difficult in the northern hemisphere, the choices are weather-dependent so limited to the Caribbean or Canaries - or the Red Sea if any cruise line reinstates cruises there.

Weather in the western Med can be decent in November, but it all has an out-of-season atmosphere.

 

And I would not recommend a sailing from the UK - the Atlantic, especially the Bay of Biscay, and even the English Channel, all have a tendency to cut up rough at that time of the year. And they involve many more sea-days hence fewer ports-of-call.

So you should be looking at a fly-cruise.

 

The Canaries are as close as you can hope for decent weather, though it's not guaranteed.

And a cruise-line organised charter flight solves a few problems...............

- Both P&O and Marella offer direct charter flights to Canary cruises from UK regional airports, so no flight complications or stop-overs .

- Your Fly-Cruise is a single package, if either the flight or the cruise cannot go ahead you are entitled to a refund of the entire price.

- everyone on the aircraft is on the same cruise (on Marella shared with some on TUI land holiday packages) so you feel that your holiday has started as soon as you board the aircraft.

-  the transfer from airport to ship is a fully escorted and well-drilled operation - no worries about fixing (and finding) transport.

- whereas usually passengers are unceremoniously kicked-off the ship around 8.30 to 9.30am on the last day, P&O and Marella passengers have the run of the ship until their return flight transfers are called - even if they're delayed.

 

No service-charge add-ons on P&O or Marella either.

P&O don't include all-you-can-drink packages, but their bar prices are the same as provincial pubs.

Marella's all-you-can-drink package is now included in all their cruises - not a comprehensive package, and my record is 12 Pina Coladas in one afternoon yet I could still have steered the ship if asked, so either I can hold my drink (I can't) or their cocktails are weak. But on our last Marella cruise our total on-board spend was under £4 !!! (tourist tax, Croatia)

 

I recall a really crowded cruise with Royal Caribbean, but no crowding on any P&O or Marella, other than (same as Edinburgher) in the evening in Marella's main bar, the Squid & Anchor, and a P&O bar on comedy nights. 

 

So for a seven-day break look at P&O or Marella for a chartered fly-cruise.

But whereas there are some great late deals on fly-cruises, flights from Scotland usually book-out early and no convenient alternate airport, so bear in mind Billish's comment about booking in time to avoid the cost & grief of a long drive to Manchester airport or a flight to Gatwick or wherever.

 

If your pocket and home commitments can stretch to a two week cruise, consider the Caribbean - guaranteed weather and a great mix of islands. Marella also offer 7-day Caribbean cruises, but that's a long way to o for just 7 days.. Again, P & O or Marella fly-cruise, same advantages & even smoother transfers - with P&O you don't go thro luggage carousel,  immigration, etc at the destination airport - you go from aircraft direct to transfer bus, and your bags which you last saw in the UK will appear outside your cabin.

 

Marella's ships are hand-me-downs, retired from other lines & re-furbished so don't have all the whistles & bells of new ships. But in our experience a more intimate and friendly atmosphere. 

Oh, yes - and plenty of Scots.

Pros & cons for both lines, but for a Brit's first cruise I's strongly recommend a P&O or Marella fly-cruise.

 

We're not allowed to name travel agents on this forum, but google "cruise specialists UK" rather than the usual high street travel agents.

And phone them. They're a mine of useful information, and you'll get to figure which is the most helpful. When you've decided which a cruise - no matter via which agent - phone the agent that you prefer and ask them to match or better the price you've been quoted.

(Bear in mind that Marella is part of the TUI / Thomson group, so they're likely to know more about Marella, but also likely to be biased in favour of Marella)

 

JB 🙂

 

Edited to add - Yes, Billish, just seen he posts by JimmyTheSaint and Velvetwater, and responding as predicted 😄

Clearly Jimmy had a bad experience with Marella - but even super-luxury lines like Regent Seven Seas or Silversea get the occasional bad review. Not doubting Jimmy's experience, but I always ignore both gushing and diabolical reviews and  look for the average. Other comments on this thread are at the very least  moderately positive and on average Marella doesn't do too badly elsewhere either.

And, Velvetwater, anyone who sails NCL without being pre-warned about their industry-wide reputation for nickel-and-diming  will get a shock at the end of the cruise when they receive their on-board bill - something like $18 per person per night service charge, plus 18% service charge on already-overpriced drinks. And hellfire you can't even take your own water on-board, you have to buy their over-priced bottles of the stuff.

Each line has its pros & cons - those with too many cons go bust.

 

 

  

Edited July 27, 2022 by John Bull

[Billish]

41 minutes ago, John Bull said:

P&O don't include all-you-can-drink packages, but their bar prices are the same as provincial pubs

A very balanced post JB

P&O do offer drinks packages at £39.95 pppd (max 15 alcoholic drinks per day) but I do not feel that is good value,  given that the price of drinks is not that bad.

However,  whilst the drink prices may be the same as you would oay in a provincual pub down South,  they are considerably more than  the prices I pay here "up North"! 

[John Bull]

Just now, Billish said:

A very balanced post JB

P&O do offer drinks packages at £39.95 pppd (max 15 alcoholic drinks per day) but I do not feel that is good value,  given that the price of drinks is not that bad.

However,  whilst the drink prices may be the same as you would oay in a provincual pub down South,  they are considerably more than  the prices I pay here "up North"! 

 

 

Thanks for the update - long after other lines were offering all-you-can drink, P& O continued with just discounts on wine packages ,but I should've either checked or said something like "as far as I know". 

But I'm too lazy to do either.🙄

 

And thanks for the reasoning for why my cousins in Doncaster can drink me under the table 😁

 

JB 🙂