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Polly05

martin1018 wrote: »

Hello all,

May I please ask some advice from the experienced peoples who inhabit this forum?

I have a momentous year coming up with DS being 18, DD being 21 and Mrs and me reaching 50!

As a one off we thought of a cruise, but with me being the sort to get seasick on a boating lake, I assumed the best place for a cruise might be the mediteranean.

Is my assumption correct, (plus daughter doesn't like the flying to start destination but would stomach a 2-3 hour flight) can anyone suggest the best site/company to go with and any other tips I should know about.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Martin

How about a cruise round the Med on NCL Jade, from Barcelona? NCL is informal and has plenty of young people on it, so the younger people dont feel out of place?

martin1018

Thanks Polly, That was the first one we'd seen and we liked the look of it - especially Pompeii - but as we are so new to the cruise lark I wanted to ask some extra advice so your reply giving the same one I'd seen is amazing.

Have you used NCL? Are they OK as we don't want our first crusing experience to be poor.

Thanks again.

getmore4less

We are regular on NCL(did the Jade for Xmas) you do have to budget for some extras and drinks are not that cheap but the upfront costs can be much lower than some other choices. Flight to BCN feel quick under 2 hours for our cruise(good winds).

What dates are you looking at, school hols can be pricy.

Altenative might be RCI Independance ex Southampton.

Budget? can then advise on cabin options
Another NCL alternative might be the Epic.

martin1018

Thank you GM4L,

Having looked at cruisecritic I'm really having second thoughts about NCL - although I do realise that a large pinch of salt is sometimes required! Against that there are obviously a lot of satisfied customers who are maybe the 'silent majority'.

Sadly we are still restricted to school hols due to Mrs being employed at a school.

Budget - Hmmm... Whilst I don't have a little pot of money waiting to be spent, I don't want to go overboard - so to speak - on it. I would prefer to get value for money rather than buy an expensive experience just for the sake of it - so no staterooms. But I don't want a broom cupboard either!

Thank you for your reply.

1trainer1

I have been on both Royal Carribean and NCL and out of the two I would reccomment Royal Carribean just as crowd on the ship is a lot more civilised and more relaxed (maybe just the ships I have been on) but if you are looking for peace and quiet and dont want to be in the pool or near the pool to relax then MSC would be ideal as the lounges were always quiet and peaceful so I could relax on both ships I went on

Polly05

martin1018 wrote: »

Thanks Polly, That was the first one we'd seen and we liked the look of it - especially Pompeii - but as we are so new to the cruise lark I wanted to ask some extra advice so your reply giving the same one I'd seen is amazing.

Have you used NCL? Are they OK as we don't want our first cruising experience to be poor.

Thanks again.

Hi, yeah, I've did the med cruise, a couple of years ago, when it was the NCL Gem that did that cruise. It was my first cruise, and I did it particularly for Pompeii and Rome. That first cruise got me a wee bit addicted to cruises, lol. I've since did another cruise on Thomsons. NCL was much better. The NCL ship is bigger, much more modern, more things to do, more places to eat (Im veggie and fussy and pretty much lived on tomatoes on the thomsons ship as there wasnt much else for me to eat!)

The NCL excursions are more expensive than say Thomsons (tbh, I think Thomsons are the cheapest anyway), but we did most of the excursions by ourselves rather than taking the ship's one. We only used the ships excursions from Cannes, to go to Nice and Monaco.

Regarding the price of drinks, im not sure about, I didnt really buy drinks? I bought 2l bottles of lemonade in the ports, and drank that whilst in the cabin and drank the water/tea/apple/orange juice in the dining rooms... You might be able to pre-purchase a drinks package?

Froggitt

martin1018 wrote: »

Thank you GM4L,

Having looked at cruisecritic I'm really having second thoughts about NCL - although I do realise that a large pinch of salt is sometimes required! Against that there are obviously a lot of satisfied customers who are maybe the 'silent majority'.

Sadly we are still restricted to school hols due to Mrs being employed at a school.

Budget - Hmmm... Whilst I don't have a little pot of money waiting to be spent, I don't want to go overboard - so to speak - on it. I would prefer to get value for money rather than buy an expensive experience just for the sake of it - so no staterooms. But I don't want a broom cupboard either!

Thank you for your reply.

Why second thoughts with NCL? We've cruised with them three times (all in school hols!!!) and would go again. First time 4 of us in an inside cabin, second time four of us in a balcony cabin, third time 2 of us in a mini-suite and 2 in an inside cabin.

getmore4less

If stuck with school hols I would look at 1/2 terms and Easter, they are often cheaper than the summer holidays, but less choice with only wanting short flights.

If nothing fits then you have the summer as a fall back.

looking at the easter school holiday dates for our area(31march-15April)

2 Canaries options

NCL Jade 3 April 9n starts around £530pp or £1700 4 share cruise only flights needed to BCN

RCI Indi 31march 11n around £1160 £4500 4share.(Southampton)

poet123

martin1018 wrote: »

Thank you GM4L,

Having looked at cruisecritic I'm really having second thoughts about NCL - although I do realise that a large pinch of salt is sometimes required! Against that there are obviously a lot of satisfied customers who are maybe the 'silent majority'.

Sadly we are still restricted to school hols due to Mrs being employed at a school.

Budget - Hmmm... Whilst I don't have a little pot of money waiting to be spent, I don't want to go overboard - so to speak - on it. I would prefer to get value for money rather than buy an expensive experience just for the sake of it - so no staterooms. But I don't want a broom cupboard either!

Thank you for your reply.

We have done quite a lot of cruises with kids in the age bracket you mention. The things we take account of first are Itinerary, seating options for meals and departure port (we usually although not always arrange our own flights).

No point picking a particular cruiseline if they are not going to where you want to see.

Seating for meals is often important to kids, as a couple are happy to sit at a big table and make conversation, our kids are not so keen. They prefer open dining (as on NCL) or Mytime dining (RCI but to get this you need to pay your tips upfront) where you can get a family table rather than be seated with strangers.

Looking at the departure port and seeing if your local airport does cheap flights is a good idea (although you do need to keep the ship sailing time and any potential flight delay in mind, we usually fly out the day before)

We have used all the major cruiselines and enjoyed all of them. However, if you take account of the above first and narrow it down from there, you will probably get a better fit for your family.

hollowhead

Looking for a Cruise Late Feb / Early March - anywhere hot but not Canaries. Carabian? Dubai? Just for Two anyone Know of any good deals or a good website to look at?