First ever cruise...but where to and from where ?

Hi all :)

I'm trying to arrange a 10-14nt cruise for next May 2018 to a long-haul destinations such as The Caribbean or Alaska. I live in Wales and I have some questions.

1. What are the pros/cons of iether Departing from Bristol/Southampton, against Flying from Gatwick/Heathrow ?

2. Where should I travel to ?

3. Recommendations for the ship ? I would prefer a medium sized ship and adults only if possible.

4. Other destinations that you would recommend?

5. Pros/Cons of a last-minute booking?

Many Thanks to everyone in advance :cool:

Have you talked to a travel agent? They can help you narrow the choices.

Your questions are pretty broad. We could write a book and not hit on what you really want to know.

Hi, and welcome to Cruise Critic,

First of all, can I suggest you change your screen-name.

Your e-mail address invites spam, and later, if you're discussing what/when you're cruising, it can compromise your security.

Very unlikely, but best not take the risk.

There are no long-haul flights from Southampton, not sure about Bristol.

For the Caribbean I strongly recommend a P&O or Thomson (or occasionally Fred Olsen) fly-cruise if this is a first cruise.

1. They use chartered aircraft (all passengers on the plane are on your cruise) with a number of regional departures around the UK. Certainly Birmingham & Gatwick, sometimes Bournemouth & mebbe even Bristol or somewhere in Welsh Wales.

2. Because they're chartered aircraft the total cost is much lower than organising cruise-only plus your own flight arrangements.

3. Transfers in the Caribbean (usually Barbados or Mo'Bay Jamaica) are seamless - you go direct from aircraft to transfer bus. No immigration, no customs, no luggage carousel, you don't even set foot in the airport terminal. Your luggage follows in a truck, after checking it in at your UK airport you won't see it again until it arrives at your cabin door.

4. At the end of the cruise, instead of having to disembark by about 9am which happens with other cruises, you have the run of the ship (except for your cabin) until your flight transfer is called - usually mid-afternoon.

5. These are Brit ships. Almost all passengers will be Brits, ship's currency is sterling (so no conversion costs), on-board prices are lower, esp drinks (and no drinks service charge) and daily gratuities are about half those of American ships. American ships are very good, but a Brit ship is best for a Brit's first cruise.

6. Lots of ports, only a couple of sea days.

7. No visits to US territory, so no need for an ESTA

8. If you are prepared to take the risk of a cruise being sold-out or (very rarely) prices going up, you can get some great late deals, about 6 to 8 weeks out. With other cruises involving long-haul flights, the savings on a late-booked cruise are usually wiped-out by the higher late-booked flight costs. With these fly-cruises the cruise comes with the flight, so you can save hundreds of pounds. You might miss a preferred cruise or date, but if you're flexible there'll be others. With a late booking you'll not be able to choose a specific cabin or dining arrangements, but that's trivial compared to the savings.

P&O ships are very similar to US ships, Adonia is small & adults-only, Britannia, Ventura and Azura are large.

Thomson & Fred have older hand-me-down ships but more than good enough for a first cruise.

Fred's are small and whilst not "adults-only" they appeal to older folk rather than families.

Thomson's are small or medium. Some cruises are adults-only.

The above for those Caribbean fly-cruises, there are many other ships.

To avoid hordes of kids without limiting your choice of ship, choose dates during school term-time.

There's no equivalent fly-cruise for Alaska, it's (almost?) all US ships.

Cruise lines can include your flights (known as cruise-air) but these will be on scheduled aircraft. They tend to be poor value. And cruise lines use their pet airlines (sorry, their "preferred air partners" :rolleyes:). So even though other airlines may operate very convenient direct flights to, say Seattle, by using their pet airline you may end up with Birmingham to Atlanta and a six-hour wait for a flight from there to Seattle. The only advantage I can think of for cruise-air is that getting you to the ship on time is the cruise line's responsibility.

So fixing your own flights tends to be better, though you're strongly advised to fly out at least a day early to avoid missing the sailing due to a flight foul-up.

Finally, I doubt there are any Alaska cruises in winter.

And altho there are Caribbean cruises year-round, the UK fly-cruises only operate in the winter - ships are in the Med etc in summer. Late summer is also hurricane season in the Caribbean (witness the current grief in south Texas).

So if you're stuck with a specific time-of-year, the choice of Caribbean or Alaska is pretty-well Hobson's choice.

If you can go any time of year, you might want to consider whether you'd prefer to be in Wales in summer or winter. I know which I'd prefer ;)

You can also consider cruises to the Med (fly-cruise or sail from Southampton) though I prefer land vacations there.

Or the Baltic, sailing from Southampton or Dover. Like the Caribbean or Alaska, this is a part of the world best (and easiest) done by cruise ship.

And of course there are other places to cruise, like S E Asia or South America. But probably not best for a first cruise.

Have fun choosin', have fun cruisin'.

JB :)

You are quite unlikely to find "adults only" with any cruise line. The true "Luxury" lines have fewer kids, but there's no guarantee of NO kids!

There is a 14 day Alaskan cruise in May 2018 -- Zaandam -- round trip out of Seattle.

But you would have to fly to Seattle to take that cruise.

Zaandam is 61,000+ grt ship. May will have fewer children on it.

You are quite unlikely to find "adults only" with any cruise line. The true "Luxury" lines have fewer kids, but there's no guarantee of NO kids!

The OP is from the UK, and there are quite a few adult only ships from there; JB has already mentioned Adonia; there's also Arcadia and Oriana for P&O; Saga; Cruise and Maritime which has about 5 ships now, and Fred Olsen and Thomson have some adult only cruises. They are all extremely popular, and cater for thousands of people every year!