Never booked or know what to book any advice

[TdJsdja]

Myself and husband are looking at booking a cruise both over fifty both still work.I have no idea what is the best ones to book or even what company to book with .

Can anybody give me advice if were looking at going in may for a week all inclusive ????

[Z'Loth]

Per the forum rules, we can't recommend specific travel agents. However, Cruise Critic has a Find A Cruise feature.  It would be helpful if there are any specific destinations you are looking for. Also, the cruise companies tend to target specific audiences. I tend to prefer Celebrity because it targets an older, more mature audience, thus fewer kids running around verses the family cruise lines of Royal Carribean, Carnival, or Disney. My own subjective opinion, of course. 

[TdJsdja]

Thank you very much for your help no children or few children sounds great will read a little bit more really appreciate your help thanks for replying 😊 

 

 

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, TdJsdja said:

Thank you very much for your help no children or few children sounds great will read a little bit more really appreciate your help thanks for replying 😊 

 

 

If you have any general preferences, people here can give more help.  Think of the following:
 

Are you more interested in a lot of activity or a peaceful getaway?
Have you any particular interest in a specific area - or time of year?
Are you interested in flying to a distant port or prefer something from a UK port?

Are you happy with a few days at sea, or would you want, if possible, to see a different port every day?
What time of year is likely?

Would you want to combine a land visit before or after the cruise?

[Longford]

My first cruise was in November 2022 -7 nights on RCCLs Serenade of the Seas.  I wanted to cruise out of the port closest to where I live without having to fly or drive to the terminal ... so I chose Tampa, a 40 minute drive from where I live.  Out of Tampa most cruises are to the Western Caribbean ... and that's what I chose.  It was a smaller ship - maybe 2,400 passenger capacity ... which for a first cruise I enjoyed.

[crystalspin]

6 hours ago, TdJsdja said:

Can anybody give me advice if were looking at going in may for a week all inclusive ????

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

There is a "board" (section) devoted to UK cruisers (still can't recommend agents, but can give you perspective on cruiselines that serve your area well.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/544-uk-cruisers/

[mom says]

Some good advice so far. The best advice I ever got when contemplating our first cruise was to find a good Travel Agent with experience with cruises. And while WE can't recommend a specific one, you can still ask your friends,  family and colleagues for a recommendation. A TA can be invaluable in helping sort through all of the variables involved in booking a first cruise.

[John Bull]

You've gotten advice from Americans - and whilst that's good advice for other Americans most aren't aware of the excellent travel arrangements for Brits offered by Brit cruise lines.

Both P&O and Marella charter aircraft for their Mediterranean, Canaries & Caribbean cruises - this keeps costs down, provides direct flights from a number of UK airports (yours will probably be Bristol), and seamless transfers. Everyone on a P&O-chartered aircraft is on your cruise, as are most on Marella-chartered aircraft, so your holiday starts at your UK airport.

And whereas with other cruises you have to be off the ship on your last day by about 9am  regardless of your the time of your flight home, you have the run of the ship (pools, bars, restaurants, buffets etc but not your cabin) until the transfer is called for your home-bound flight. 

A fly-cruise package (not just flights & cruise bought from the same agent at the same time) means that if either the flight or cruise is cancelled you are fully refunded.  If flights & cruises aren't in the same package and one element is cancelled you won't be refunded for the other element. So for instance if a cruise out of Trieste is cancelled you'll either lose your flight money or e hunting for a week's accommodation in Trieste.

 

There are other advantages of booking a Brit ship for your first cruise

Almost all passengers will be Brits. In Europe even American ships are multi-lingual because they attract Europeans as well as Americans. Whilst everyone can get by, it can make it difficult to socialise. You see a couple of empty seats in a crowded bar - "Are these seats free?". "Ya" or "Si" or "Oui". All very friendly, but that's often the end of the conversation because of the language barrier.

Food is international, but geared to British tastes.  Yes, the Americans have cottoned-on to fish&chips (and Princess do a damned good one) but of course traditional Brit dishes are few & far between. 

Bar prices on most ships are high, despite being duty-free and VAT-free. Excessive profits help to keep basic cruise prices low.

P&)O bar prices are significantly lower, about the same as a provincial pub and no service charges, Marella cruise prices are all inclusive of drinks

On-board currency is sterling. Cruise ships are cashless, you use your boarding card for everything - but prices in sterling avoid trying to figure value and currency conversion charges on your credit card.

No add-on daily charges. On US ships it's about €14 per person per day,  plus 15% to 18% gratuities added to drinks, speciality dining, etc..

Similar disadvantages on Italian ships - and a very low proportion of English-speaking passengers on cruises leaving from Mediterranean ports (but many many more Brits. on cruises out of Southampton.

 

Nothing wrong with American ships, in fact they tend to be more glitzy, and we've enjoyed many cruises on them. But a Brit ship is the easiest learning curve for a first cruise

 

"All-inclusive".

All cruises are inclusive of entertainments and food (for each meal you can choose the buffet or serviced dining room - we normally use the dining room for evening dinner and for a civilised breakfast on a sea-day, and the buffet for  a quick breakfast on port days and for snacks).

Some cruises include a drinks package (Marella do - it's OK  but a little limited), some offer an included drinks package as a booking incentive. Buying a drinks package is expensive on most ships. only worthwhile if you expect to drink quite a lot.

 

Children.

Yes, Celebrity (or Cunard or several others) tend to have few children.

Cruises to Iceland (and perhaps the fjords, we've never cruised there) won't appeal to kids.

P&O have adults-only ships, but the average age on those ships is way older than yourselves.

Marella used to have adults-only cruises, worth checking-out. 

But your best bet is to avoid school holidays - that drastically cuts the number of kids, and prices tend to be lower too.. 

 

Where to cruise

For a week in May you'll be looking at a fly-cruise in the Med or Canaries, or perhaps the Norwegian fjords.

The Med from a UK port is too far for a week.

There might be cruises to Spain & Portugal or even the Canaries out of the UK but they involve fewer ports /  more sea-days, and not always the most-benign seas even in May..

For the Caribbean it's the wrong time of year and not cost-effective for a week. But keep it in mind for a fortnight November to March.

 

Cruise Agents.

What mom says is spot on - use a cruise specialist agent rather than an all-sorts travel agent.

As others have said, Cruise Critic rules prevent us from naming names, but google "cruise agents UK" for the specialists That'll probably include one with a cool name 😏.

Phone them - don't use e-mails or whatever.

Not only can they suggest suitable cruises, they can be very helpful with choice of cabin, the pros & cons of traditional or anytine dining, and explain anything that you don't fully understand.

Speak to several, see if they can offer any discounts, upgrades, perks etc. Then phone the most helpful one and ask if they can match the best deal you've been offered.

 

Finally don't be in too much of a rush to book ship's shore excursions. Marella's prices are better than the others but they're all over-priced. Some might make sense, but check out the Ports of Call section on this website and ask - most ports can be explored independently.

 

JB 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by John Bull

[CruisingWalter]

On 2/5/2023 at 5:13 PM, TdJsdja said:

Myself and husband are looking at booking a cruise both over fifty both still work.I have no idea what is the best ones to book or even what company to book with .

Can anybody give me advice if were looking at going in may for a week all inclusive ????

 

Definitely find a good travel agent to assist. We've been cruising almost 20 years and always book through a travel agent. For the first few cruises they were invaluable in helping us pick the right ships and cruise lines. Cruise Critic does not allow us to recommend TAs because they are part of a major travel company.

 

All inclusive doesn't really exist in cruising unless you step up to the premium lines like Viking. The most all-inclusive of a mainstream cruise line is Virgin Voyages with all meals, WiFi, Gratuities and soft drinks included in the cruise fare. All other mainstream cruise lines have varying degrees of add-on packages that may or may not be worth it. We've sailed 8 different cruise lines so far, it'll be 9 or 10 after this year. All of them are great, all of them have annoying traits. But we have yet to have a bad cruise. 

 

Celebrity, Princess, Holland America and certainly Virgin skew more adult with Virgin being 18+ adults-only cruising.  All four are more about a laid-back, casual luxe experience vs. being active all day. 

 

Royal Caribbean, NCL, Carnival and Disney are more family centric with an emphasis on things to do for the kids and the entire family. However, all four are great for adults-only as well. 

 

If food is a high priority, right now nobody at sea beats Virgin Voyages. Not only are all the meals included in your cruise fare, you're going to a restaurant each evening that would cost you anywhere from $25-$100+ pp on any other cruise line. After VV I would recommend Disney, Celebrity and Princess for overall food and NCL for some of the best specialty dining at sea.

 

If 'things to do' is a high priority, the Royal Quantum and Oasis Class ships certainly fill that bill. The new Carnival Mardi Gras and Celebration are wonderful ships as are the NCL Breakaway class and up. 

 

If shows and entertainment are a high priority, the Royal Oasis Class ships have an insane amount of entertainment between the broadway / original shows in the theater, water shows in the back, ice shows and all the music venues throughout the ship. I especially loved the jazz club on Symphony.  Princess has outstanding original shows in the theater. NCL has fantastic shows, usually broadway shows as well. Holland America has some amazing music venues for the evenings. 

 

If pools are a high priority, Celebrity has some of the nicest pools at sea, especially their solarium pools. Princess and Holland America are right behind those two. NCL and Virgin have the worst pools if you're someone who like to swim before they get crowded. 

 

All the cruise lines except Carnival and Royal Caribbean have some form of an 'inclusive package' you can add on. Those two cruise lines have more ala carte packages you can combine to get somewhat inclusive. For most folks, they overpay for drinks packages but prefer the convenience of 'not having to think about drinks' instead of considering the hundreds of dollars they're throwing away. 🙂

 

But the most important thing for your first cruise is to get yourself set up with the right cruise ship for your first cruise. That's more important than the cruise line. It's about the ship itself and your expectations. Find a good TA and let them help you. They're 100% free so why not use their knowledge to assist? 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by WheresWalter