Going on a cruise, what is it really like?

Saga is brilliant! We can only do ocean cruises as my husband has to get around on a mobility scooter and the river cruises are on much smaller ships.
Best point is that everything is all-in - gratuities, meals, drinks, some excursions, but best of all is a taxi from home to port & port to home. Food is excellent as is entertainment in a raked theatre. Saga now sails from Dover and Portsmouth only.
They have a couple of quiz/puzzle sheets and a small newspaper daily. Other cruise companies are avaiable!

When occean village were around,years ago, i went on a 9 day med cruise, it was wonderful, but ìd never dare cruise again, after what happened in covid where they were spreading it easily & yet they wouldnt let them disembark- covid is still around, yet folk act like its dissapeared, also lots of other things are around too, this bad flu, & RSV, and a miriad of illnesses that we thought were a thing of the past, TB, measles, or what used to be considered mild, chicken pox etc and shingles too.No, sad as it is, i dont think id be subjecting myself to the risks in the confined space of everyone shoved together on a ship.

I have been on two Caribbean cruises and one to Asia, all with Royal Caribbean cruise line. Wonderful holidays, very relaxing and was thoroughly spoilt for the entire 2 weeks. Book that cruise you won't regret it.

Love a cruise, each to his own, P&O at Christmas probably avoid them next time.
Celebrity definitely suited us better.
But for a first time you’d be as well chatting to travel agent who has personal experience you’d probably get more of an understanding.
So many to choose from.

This sounds like a good place to start

Ask Simon Calder
What would you suggest for a Norwegian fjords cruise?

edition.independent.co.uk/edition/uk.co.independent.issue.190125/204938/index.html

Our Saga cruise was wonderful, one all in price for everything, including insurance, drinks, craft classes, gratuities, some excurtions, the lot which are extra with most companies. You also are picked up at your door by car and returned. Food, entertainment activities all excellent and it's all taken care of in one package. For a first time cruiser, I highly recommend Saga, you'll be well taken care of.

We went to Norway with Saga last year - our first cruise - apart from a Nile cruise. Couldn't fault it - the organisation, meals, facilities on board etc etc. Taxi service to Dover and having lunch on board within a few hours of leaving home - no hanging around at airports etc. All passengers treated with care and respect - and there were many with disabilities. The downside, in my opinion, was not seeing enough of the countries you visit when on a cruise, with most meals (all if required) taken on board. Yes, we docked in several different places, but you don't really get to experience the culture or lifestyle of the country you're visiting, as we have with other countries we've visited on holiday. So it depends what you want from a holiday. I would definitely go again, and we met some lovely people on board, but maybe when I'm a bit older or more frail and have less of an urge to explore. I'm in my 70s.

I wouldn’t go on a ship with too many passengers, we went Cunard and thoroughly enjoyed it, wonderful food , room on the ship.

We love cruising, our favourite line is P & O, they have two adult only smaller ships, Arcadia and Aurora. Best thing about them are all pricing in £ and no extra 17 or 18% added to drinks, as do most of the other lines, and pricing in $ We usually opt for the itinerary we like and have used other lines, Princess, Celebrity, Azamara, (though the latter more expensive now than when we sailed a few years ago). We tend to avoid the bigger ships and have not tried Royal Caribbean or MSC which seem to cater more for families, nor Cunard,
Very much “horses for courses”. Try a shorter one to start. It might be like Marmite, love it or hate it!! Good luck.

Agree with crazyH wholeheartedly! Been on a few Royal Caribbean cruises and they are terrific. Buffets suited us as well as we too didn't want to get formal, the entertainment was second to none, activities were amazing, day trips to different places and accommodation and food first class. Of course you didn't have to do any of the above or do all of the above. So very relaxing. The cruises we were on had a huge area for just children with their own club and entertainment to suit, of course their own or parents choice.

We’ve done several Riviera cruises, mostly on Rhine/Danube. Lovely small boats, about 160 passengers. Casual dress, evening entertainment in bar very low key. Daily tours included but we often go off on our own. Plenty of seating on deck. Marella cruises in the Caribbean were good, we don’t bother with the entertainment. We are not sunbathers but there was definitely a problem with lounger hogging.

Travelling on a plane but with added drowning.

It took me years to coax my husband into going on a cruise as he thought he would have to dress up in a Tuxedo.
But we went on our first last summer and enjoyed it so much we booked another two, if you want to dress up for the formal nights there are people in tuxedos and ball gowns, however we chose to dress in smart shirt and trousers and me in sparkly top and trousers there are a mix and each to their own thing.
There was never a problem getting a sun bed and the food was really nice but we only had lunch in the buffet which had a good choice.
We were advised not to go on P&O or MSC so chose Princess we went to Scandinavia on Sky princess and couldn’t find fault with anything and we are quite fussy.

Viking and Cunard were lovely. Norwegian was t bad but the food wasn’t quite as good and they nitpick you with charges that are included with Viking and Cunard, so the lower up-front cost isn’t quite as low as you think. My favourite cruise was Star Clipoers, in a sailing ship going from Athens to Istanbul in a week via three Greek islands and three Turkish ports. The ship is small - maximum 170 passengers, but the food was great and so were the well-prepared shore trips.

Galton

Having never been on a cruise , can you tell me , do they do table cloths in the restaurants. I hope they dont serve meals on boards or slates, do they do tables for two.

Yes, no and yes

Galton

Having never been on a cruise , can you tell me , do they do table cloths in the restaurants. I hope they dont serve meals on boards or slates, do they do tables for two.

Yes table cloths. Yes tables for two.

We love cruises! Our first experience of a ‘cruise’ was the overnight P&O ferry to Rotterdam from Hull in the 90s! We spent a day in Amsterdam and loved it. Our next ‘proper’ cruise was on Thomson Dream around the Med. (Thomson is now Marella I believe). The best part of a cruise is waking up in a different port almost every day!
As we’ve got older, we’ve become more nervous about flying, so that has limited our cruise options. We’ve been on P&O (Norway/Med/Canaries) and Celebrity (Baltic) from Southampton and Fred Olsen (Norway) from Liverpool. P&O and F. Olsen are very British - everything is priced in sterling and drinks are pub prices. However - Celebrity is American, everything is in dollars and the price of drinks is astronomical! We also found that there was a lot of emphasis on boozing and gambling. I always like to visit the library on board, but the Celebrity Apex one was very disappointing. However the ship itself is beautiful - the newest we’ve been on.
For a first cruise I would try a short one, maybe British Isles or Norway? P&O is probably the easiest one to book, because car parking can be included or you can choose a coach transfer. With other cruise lines, parking has to be arranged separately. If you like a drink, choose a package, otherwise you’ll pay a fortune! Same goes for WiFi - unless you choose one of the super luxury cruises where everything is included.
We prefer the smaller adult only ships - Fred Olsen, P&O Aurora or Arcadia. We haven’t tried Ambassador yet - I’m disappointed that there only a few cruises from Liverpool and the itineraries are not very inspiring.
I wouldn’t worry about crowds on board! There are plenty of quiet areas on any ship and you don’t usually have to share a dining table if you don’t want to. Just one warning - solo cabins are very expensive. It’s best to go as a couple or with a friend.
Hope you give it a try! I’m just planning our next one - maybe Croatia with Fred Olsen. 😎

The Susan Colman programme on Fred Olsen’s Bollette is accurate. P&O have new management and have been making lots of cuts. This has led to lots of people who regulary cruised with them having moved over to Fred Olsen and other lines. FO and Ambassador Cruise Lines also sail, not only from the South of England, but also from Northern Ports (Liverpool, Newcastle, Rosyth and Dundee).

We’ve been on lots of cruises, mostly with Princess but five with P&O. We loved Princess cruises for over 20yrs. Great food; lots of room; plenty of Sun loungers; great crew; excellent entertainment. We love the huge outdoor cinema screens. We book excursions with the cruise line and they’ve always been good. We’ve booked our first SAGA cruise and are looking forward to it.

When I see adverts for cruises on tv I see those enormous ships that look like floating tower blocks with all that forced entertainment it makes me feel as if I would be in prison. I think I could manage a river cruise on a small ship. I've been on a Gulet cruise, and ferries to the continent which I have quite enjoyed but I don't think I could manage one of those huge ships.

Having never been on a cruise , can you tell me , do they do table cloths in the restaurants. I hope they dont serve meals on boards or slates, do they do tables for two.

You make it what you want it to be. I love crusing, my friend and I go together when we can afford to but would go frequently if we could afford to. Coach to Southampton, our cases (no weight limit is a real bonus) are awaiting in the cabin. We like Royal Caribbean and P&O.

My friend & I went on a Silver Seas cruise. The headline price is expensive but my friend said before we booked that she only needed spending money as everything else was included , tips trips, food, drink and laundry and excellent service Another friend went with a company that uses Holland America line ships, he ended up paying more than we did for all the add ons
Hurtigruten Northern Lights cruise - small cabins but comfy beds, good food.
Hurtigruten Expedition to Gallapagos, Brilliant Great even if you are not very mobile

I haven't seen any mention of Ambassador Cruise Line, which is relatively new. We've been on 3 cruises with them and have been very happy with everything - price, food, entertainment, itineraries. They are a no-fly cruise line with regional departures (London, Liverpool, Belfast, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Bristol, Dundee ... probably more) and they have two ships which are called Ambience and Ambition

Last year we booked a one-week cruise from Athens to Barcelona without paying attention to the cruise line. It turned out to be Virgin and it was VERY different. If you find yourself looking at a Virgin cruise do check out the reviews first as it might not suit you. There's far too much to tell here (!) so the only specific comments I will make is that the food was fantastic (several notches above any other cruise ship we've been on) but the drinks were extremely expensive (a small glass of red wine was $9). The entertainment was bizarre.

We always choose a cruise more for the intinerary than anything as we're not really into the cruise experience for its own sake, but if you treat it as a floating hotel where you wake up in a new place every day or so, it can be a wonderful experience. Our first experiment with this type of holiday was a round Britain trip which took in Scottish ports and islands, Dublin, Scilly Isles, Channel Islands etc., most of which we hadn't seen before.

MiniMoon

Cunard, not as posh as you would imagine. Two formal nights on our cruise, but they aren't compulsory, you can eat dinner in the buffet. You don't have to take part in any of the activities or excursions if you prefer not to. We were on Queen Mary 2.
We went on a 7 night Norwegian fjords cruise with a company that no longer exists. Very relaxed, we loved every minute.
Do give cruising a try, it spoilt us for any other type of holiday.

We are having our first cruise ever, on Queen Mary 11, in April, 7 nights, Barcelona and Rome.

We are excited and apprehensive all in one go!