Cruises First time. Any advice?

NoodleDoodleMan

That's one of the main selling points of an organised tour as tacpot pointed out.

The captain will wait for guests on a delayed return which is part of the ship's official excursions - not sure if that holds true for external independent tour companies.

When we were in the Caribbean the driver of our people carrier advised that if he had a problem he only needed to call on the local taxi "brotherhood" and they would come to the rescue.

NoodleDoodleMan

Was thinking of 7 days going from and returning to Southampton.Staying in the Holiday Inn the night before with park and cruise rate.

Depending on which part of the country you are from the Eavesway coach link service might be worth looking at.

Takes you direct to and from the ship.

http://www.eaveswaytravel.com/

We've used it twice, can't fault it - not much choice otherwise as we live north of Hadrian's Wall.

BarryBlue

Katiehound wrote: »

Always book through a dedicated cruise travel agents- they will discount the cruise or provide an add-on such as free drinks/transport/parking. The travel agents I have used are Ocean World Travel & ROL- both these have been in business for 20? years.
It is not cheaper to book direct.

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Decide exactly where you want to go.
Do you want to sail from UK? This might make voyage longer but does cut out all the hassle of airports, liquids in luggage & luggage weight.

Sun? (Med, Portugal, France) amazing scenery? (Norway Iceland) fascinating cities? (Baltic) or Caribbean / Indian Ocean........

I think the Baltic would be a great cruise for the first timer- may not be hot weather but there are some fascinating cities including St Petersberg. (Should you choose this destination always book a tour of St P from the ship- that way you don't need hassle & expense of a Russian visa.)

If you book an excursion from the ship you will not be left behind- we have arrived back more than an hour late with tour. Somewhere- can't remember where we watched 3 or 4 people going out on a pilot boat chasing a big cruise liner! They had to climb aboard on deck 2 using the pilot's route!

If you are happy going to Bluewater, Meadowhall etc then choose a huge ship- if you don't like crowds then go for an older model with far less guests.
Beware: cruising can become addictive!

I agree with you about booking through a specialised cruise travel agent. We have used several over the years, but now we stick to the same person at the same agent. She has undertaken to beat whatever price we can get anywhere else and never fails to do so. (We use cruise .co .uk.)

On St Petersburg, I have to disagree entirely with you, I'm afraid. We have been twice and used local companies each time. We found they do guided 2-day tours rather than half or one day tours from the ship, and they are much cheaper. You are in much smaller groups too, so don't waste half your time loading and unloading coaches.

The most important issue is the visa, on which you have clearly been misled by the cruise company. The excursion staff do that deliberately to sell tours, but the reception desk staff know better. The situation is that if you are on an organised tour you do not need your own visa. The tour company organise the group visa as part of the tour at no cost to you.

Talking to fellow passengers, it seems that there is a much greater level of satisfaction from those who do non-ship tours, and of course these companies would be out of business in no time if they failed to get you back to the ship on time.

gettingtheresometime

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

Thank you everyone.

Have been reading up on various sites and reviews etc. and found out quite a bit I would not of thought of.

Was thinking of 7 days going from and returning to Southampton.Staying in the Holiday Inn the night before with park and cruise rate.

Was looking to book a balcony room, never realised that some have an obstructed view!

Thinking of doing a taster day with PO £30 per head with three course lunch, tour of the ship and questions etc.

Do you book direct? or is it cheaper with a TA? I have not seen any difference in the prices on websites such as Planetcruise etc. but maybe I am missing something?

We travel to & from Southampton by train - if you book sufficiently in advance it works out quite cheap, especially if you have a railcard such as the two together card.

We've had a mixture of cabin types - we found we didn't spend much time in the room so have often wondered whether a balcony is worth the extra expense - though sometimes being in an inside cabin does make you wonder if you're in a cupboard lol.

Personally I've been on a number of short cruises with a couple of hen parties (it seems to be a girly thing) & have never had any problems.....if anybody did cause trouble the crew won't hesitate to throw them off - which we've seen happen on longer cruises

NoodleDoodleMan

The most important issue is the visa, on which you have clearly been misled by the cruise company. The excursion staff do that deliberately to sell tours, but the reception desk staff know better. The situation is that if you are on an organised tour you do not need your own visa. The tour company organise the group visa as part of the tour at no cost to you.

My understanding was that the cost of the visa was included in the overall cost - regardless if you choose the ship's excursions, or go with one of the independent outfits ?

Unless the Russian state issues group visas free ?

I suppose that's academic really, because trying a DIY visit to St.Petersburg is in practice very difficult due to the administrative difficulties of arranging a visa by yourself.

BTW - I would endorse joining Cruise Critic - it's a great source of information etc.

zagfles

NoodleDoodleMan wrote: »

My understanding was that the cost of the visa was included in the overall cost - regardless if you choose the ship's excursions, or go with one of the independent outfits ?

Unless the Russian state issues group visas free ?

I suppose that's academic really, because trying a DIY visit to St.Petersburg is in practice very difficult due to the administrative difficulties of arranging a visa by yourself.

BTW - I would endorse joining Cruise Critic - it's a great source of information etc.

I think that was the PP's point. But that the ship's excursions sales staff make out you have to sort your own visa if you go with an independant outfit.

NoodleDoodleMan

I think that was the PP's point. But that the ship's excursions sales staff make out you have to sort your own visa if you go with an independant outfit.

Right, gotcha.

That would not surprise me in the least - I had a heated "meaningful discussion" with Thomson's onboard excursion staff for not telling The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing but The Truth when 'er indoors booked a night at the ballet.........but I won't bore you with the details.

We did St.Pete's with a Thomson organised trip and the brochure did clearly state that visas were included - and they would only accept bookings on that basis, if memory serves.

It was Cruise Critic that educated me to the pitfalls of trying to arrange Russian visas DIY style.

POPPYOSCAR

Any recommendations for good travel insurance?

BarryBlue

zagfles wrote: »

I think that was the PP's point. But that the ship's excursions sales staff make out you have to sort your own visa if you go with an independant outfit.

This is exactly the point. They are quite happy to lie to you about visas, presumably thinking that people are apprehensive about getting an independent one at considerable cost.

We have used two companies, Denrus and SPB, and they were both superb. Their websites explain clearly what information you need to supply when you book, in order for them to get the group visa. It is all included. Our experience is that they are very professional.

The other advantage of independent tours is that they tell you to disembark immediately the ship's formalities are complete and the gangway opens. You get off while all the ship's tours are mustering, and get through the immigration process in no time rather than having to queue. The tour guides are there waiting for you on the other side, and you are on your way.

PompeyPete

Small ships are best.....avoid all the big ship chaos and confusion.

Tour companies don't dictate who can disembark first, when and from which gangway. From what I've seen long queues are normal, and if it's necessary to use a tender then you might as well just stay onboard and enjoy the bar and swimming pool.