New to Cruising: Where do I start?

Hey there,

For my birthday, I want to go on a cruise. Now my birthday is coming up FAST, so I want to get this figured out ASAP but I don't know where to begin.:confused:

I am planning to go with just one girlfriend of mine, we are hoping for a singles cruise. I am not too particular on there WHERE but more so the COST. Can any one offer some insight on what to look for, what to be aware of, or how to start my search for our cruise? I'd appreciate it!:D

xoxo

Cost is an interesting animal - obviously longer cruises will cost more than shorter ones, but many times a full week vacation is much nicer than just a 3 night weekend trip. The most common way to break it down is price per day and depending on the time of year and demand, you should be around $100 per night per person in a two person interior cabin. When you figure that most entertainment and food are included in this price, it does turn out to be an inexpensive way to travel (alcohol and some special food items might be extra).

When I cruise, one of my major considerations is airfare - not a lot of cruise ports in Ohio. This last December I found a great deal sailing out of Baltimore and was able to drive with some friends to the port. My cruise this October I found it wasn't that much more to fly to San Juan than it was to fly into any airport in Florida. The more ports you can choose to sail from opens up options to get you better rates.

Check around on different travel sites - a lot of the time you can get cheaper rates and on-board credit by booking through a reputable third party. Also after you book, keep checking the rates as sometimes they will drop and depending on the company you go with you can either get a stateroom upgrade, more on-board credit, or maybe even a partial refund (although this last option is getting less and less likely).

Also if you are travelling soon and don't have one yet, it's time you expedite getting a passport. While this is not an absolute necessity, I would seriously consider it (tons of other threads on this topic).

I would say the best way to start looking for a cruise is to pick one what I would consider to be the two largest companies - Carnival or Royal Caribbean. I think you will get a ton of options with either. There are pros and cons to each line, but that is a whole other discussion I won't get into.

Lastly, if you can wait until October, I'd be more than happy to show you around a ship I've never seen before. :)

Love the advice above.

One additional thing is looking at a special singles cruise - be careful as might be a bit more than you can chew as depends on what you are looking for. Plus they are quite often expensive.

The main thing is looking to cruise with other singles so you don't feel out of the ordinary.

There are lots on most cruises, although the shorter cruises are more likely to have more singles - ie up to around 7 days

age is also something you must consider - the longer the cruise, the older the general population on the ship.

The dearer the cruise is usually also similar - but to different extent

time of year can throw you in with college kids too, so look carefully at what school, and college holidays are on to decide if those times are for you.

Royal Caribbean are good at solo meetings, and varies on turn out.

Cunard also do good solo get togethers and if you are older they always have a good number of solo ladies as they go to get the dancing with the gentlemen dance hosts

All the best

Greg