cruise holidays any advice please

[Deleted User]

Don't book with the cruise line itself! Check out the prices on the teletext website, then get Thomas cook to price match them! I made a bit of a white lie with them (knocked 10 quid off the cheapest we could find) and they still price matched.. with a bit of pushing i got reduced insurance also. Also push to see if you can get some on board credit (you don't carry cash on board)

Cruise bookings are a MSE dream, there's lots of way to cut the booking costs down.

Mizz_Pink

https://www.vacationstogo.com

My freind went on a Norwegian cruise ship round the med and ended up writing a 8 page letter of complaint so pleae do your research.

My parents go on Royal Carribean all the time and they say its magnificant, they have done caribbean, med and Norway.

We all are going to Mexico at xmas from Florida on a mini cruise, our first one.

saveapenny

OV isnt chavish...lol I am neither council house or violent thank you
Been on it twice and had a good time both times med and caribbean
I agree you might get the odd ones who dont bother to dress for the evening meal but they look the odd ones out.
NCL are very good at doing informal cruises too. Stay clear or Royal Caribbean thier staff policy and enviromental polciy is sub standard thye have been fined so many times by the Alaskan Gov for dumping waste in the ocean but still keep doing it

MissBehaving

Hi there

We have just come back from our first cruise. We did the Southern Caribbean on Royal Caribbean International.
Our holiday was a 7 day cruise with 5 days in port. Because it was our first cruise we thought that having a lot of days off the ship would stop us feeling 'trapped'.
RCI's age group ranges from late 20's to 60's. I am in my mid 30's and OH has just turned 30.
Our cruise departed from Puerto Rico and had one day at sea. Then we stopped at Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Martin and St Thomas.
Our ship was Adventure of the Seas and I have to say that there was so much to do on it that we never got to do it all!

We would certainly do it again.

Another website you might find helpful is https://www.shiphappens.co.uk

If you have any other questions you can Private Message me.

Froggitt

Annieb wrote:

My husband would not be comforable in a tuxedo or tie & jacket for dinner every night so one that is'ent too formal would be best.

You dont want Royal Caribbean then. Try Ocean Village or NCL......the NCL Jewel is a fabulous one year old ship cruising the Caribbean this winter.

MissBehaving

Froggitt wrote:

You dont want Royal Caribbean then. Try Ocean Village or NCL......the NCL Jewel is a fabulous one year old ship cruising the Caribbean this winter.

From my research I would have thought that NCL was a lot more formal than Royal Caribbean.

We took a suit and dress for the formal dinners but ended up only having one evening that was formal. People dont have to attend it. There are plenty of other restaurants to use. And that goes for all Cruise Lines... not just Royal Caribbean.

Froggitt

RCCL

7 to 9 - night cruises include two formal nights, one smart casual night and the remainder nights casual.

Casual: Sport shirts and slacks for men, sundresses or pants for women
Smart Casual: Jackets and ties for men, dresses or pantsuits for women
Formal: Suits and ties or tuxedos for men, cocktail dresses for women

NCL

Dress up. Go casual. Its your cruise.

I dont see why I should pay thousands of pounds for a cruise and spend half the evenings in the buffet just cos I dont want to dress up, or just cos I dont want to eat at the times the ship wants to feed me.

IvanOpinion

Can I also recommend you have a look at https://www.ship-happens.co.uk. Look on the blue board .. there is a poster called 'Pip' who often spots good deals.

Don't get too hung up with formal/informal .. if you don't want to do the dressing up bit then there are alternative restaunts on board. Remember to budget for tips (the brochures will tell you the recommended amounts). As another poster has said Ocean Village is less formal (we did her in 2004 and had a great time). We like Princess or P&O.

I have seen some excellent deals in the local TA for early November (£950 for two weeks Caribbean) so you should be able to find something.

Ivan

IvanOpinion

There is a cruise going out on 01/12/06 departing from Gatwick, East Midlands or Leeds (the flight that is .. not the ship). 14 nights Caribbean on the P&O Arcadia from £999 (ref J628) ... calling at New Orleans, Key West, San Juan, St Maarten, St Thomas, Antigua, Dominica, St Lucia, Mayreau, barbados.

On 28 Nov the P&O Aurora goes out of Southampton (R620) for 18 nights for £999
On 8 December the P&O Oceana does a 2 week Caribbean (E630) for £1099
On 2nd Jan 2007 there is a two week Caribbean cruise on Ocean Village for £939

Ivan

Caz312

I am a fan of Fred Olsen, lovely small friendly ships and the staff are fab

BM160 leaves Gatwick/Manchester/Bristol/Belfast 7th Dec to Barbados
calling
Barbados, Grenada, Curacao, Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Tortola, Antigua, Dominica, St Lucia and back to Barbados

Prices are currently heavily discounted with prices from £995

We are off on the BM162 in January

One word of warning for your first cruise - you will leave desperate to go back again! Agree with the others, once you have picked your cruise call round various agents to get the best deal, I got an additional 12% off mine