Have You Been On A Cruise?

[Eve]

Have you been on one, where did you go and how did you find it?

A cruise has been recommended to me as a single traveller with limited mobility.

Did you find it easy to get to the main parts of each destination or did you have to sort out your own transport (taxis from the port etc...)?

What kind of cabin did you have? I hate the thought of not having an openable window but the prices seem to hike so steeply from a basic inside cabin.

How were the dining and entertainment facilities? Was everything inclusive or did you need or want to spend further money while on the ship?

Thanks for any answers :)

[humbersloop]

It varies from one to another Eve, most important is why you want to go and where. This might give you a general overview of what's about; try their search box using "limited mobility" and "first time cruises"

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/

I've used this company to book before, they offer very good prices and service

http://www.iglucruise.com/

[Peter Pedant]

I went with a fren' for a cru.se down the NIle

well recommended .

worked out very well - as we both had something to offer - I spoke Arabic and he was able-bodied.

[FredPuli43]

Peter, I did that and spent most of the trip in the bog, until I jumped ship at Luxor and stayed in the Jolie Maritimes where the cuisine was less poisonous! That's the trouble with cheap Nile cruises; I feared the worst from the start, when I had to walk across several cruise ships, each in descending attractiveness, until I reached our rusting hulk.

But as to the OP, yes I have (and not just on the Nile). You do pay one heck of a lot for a cabin with sea view and away, in some cases, from engine noise. The food was good. The people were mostly British and inherently shy or cliquey to start with but that soon went. The trick is to get an upgrade, for little or no money; heck, they haven't sold it, so what's it to them for a few extra quid profit? I took the Med last time and achieved that. Entertainment on board varies from the all-in, Butlin's type, join in and enjoy yourselves, to the quite refained. You have to ask around.

[Eve]

I've been having a look and they are expensive, especially for one with a balcony which would be my preferred choice.

I'm wondering if the time spent sailing is worth the money you pay (taking into account you get meals and such) or whether it is better to just go and do your own thing which has been my usual holiday (albeit not since my mobility nosedived). Am more of a DIY city break kinda girl and have never done any kind of package holiday though would be good to get some R&R.

[jno]

in a "sea view" cabin you'll get a window but it probably won't be openable. For that you'd need a balcony cabin, and these get quite expensive.

Food's generally included, though you might have to pay extra for some specialty restaurants on board. Alcohol generally isn't, but some lines sell drinks packages which can be good value depending on how much you expect to drink. If you're at sea all day you ight have a few drinks; if you're ij port you might go ashore ins tead.

Excursions are usually not included (it's how some lines make their profit) and can be costly, but there are always several on offer. It's often cheaper to arrange it yourself.

The other extra thing is tips. UK cruise lines include them, US ones don't.

There are various websites, eg www.cruiseselect.co.uk and www.cruise.co.uk and webookanycruise.co.uk that sell heavily discounted cruises and have special offers (eg free transport to the port, £100 spending money on board etc). You shouldn't ever have to pay the brochure price and discounts of up to 50% arren't uncommon.

Browse through the ads on the travel pages of the Saturday Telegraph or Sunday Times and think about what you actually want to do on a cruise: laze by the pool, visit exotic destinations, attend scholarly lectures on ancient history, have Broadway shows or casinos in the evening. All ships are different.

[horseshoes]

We've been on two cruises. The first was 10 years ago. Sailing from Southampton to St Petersburg, with all the ports of call in between. We had an inside cabin, and thought it was fine. We had 4 formal dinners which were lovely. This year we went on Celebrity Cruise. We flew onto Barcelona and cruised to Nice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Dubrovnik, Venice and Kotor (Montenegro). This time we had a balcony; much more expensive but it was lovely, and well worth the extra. To be honest, if we go again, we'd go back to P & O. Celebrity Cruises had a lot of American passengers and so catered more for them. I also preferred no flying, although that short flight did save us quite a bit. Both or cruises were child-free, although you can go on a "family" one if you prefer. I can recommend cruising, it's ABSOLUTEY brilliant.

[horseshoes]

..... oh yes the excursions. We generally don't. We do our own thing. For instance the excursion from Civitaveccia to Rome was about €150 each (there were 4 of us). We got the bus to the station and the train to Rome. It cost us about €20 each, plus when you purchase the train ticket, you get to ride the buses and metro for free. The excursion are a bit of a rip off.

[mosesg]

http://www.about2cruise.co.uk/singles-cruises/
If you sign up for their newsletter it will give you deals for single traveller. I signed up for this but have never plucked up the courage to go on a cruise as I am not a lover of boats.

[auntie-bertie]

You need to do a lot of research - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/ is the best website for this once you have chosen your cruise line. P&O are very English and have as much flair as a Tesco café in my opinion so I would not go with them again. RCI is a good USA line with American service. Celebrity is a 5* USA line with wonderful food and service. Once on board you do not need to spend anything else - food included as much as you can eat. Alcoholic drinks usually same as 4-5* UK hotels but coffee/tea etc is also free.

[grahamgeary]

Yes it is easy to get the main parts of each destination during a cruise travel. A year ago I had a cruise trip of Europe with my family and friends.

As the Europe’s coastline is long we got the opportunity to explore different types of shore excursions, highlighting city life, while others focus on historic and cultural diversity, impressive scenery and visit to some small towns as well. Thanks to the services offered by kosher cruise - http://www.koshertravelers.com/cruises/koshercruises.asp?expandable=0 - that made this journey more amazing and beautiful with their great event organized each day with new themes and colors. Indeed a classic cruise in every sense of the world at a reasonable cost.

[Sparkles62]

Eve, we have never been on a 'big' cruise ship but we have done the Rhine cruises many times, in fact we are off on our latest on Boxing day this year.
We have upgraded to a Prom deck cabin so we do not have to go up and down stairs to our cabin, as the stairs can be quite steep.
The more you pay, the bigger the window in your cabin, from a porthole up to a full picture window. Lol.

Mind you its not really expensive any way, we are away for 4 days, breakfast, 3 course lunch, 5 course evening meal, entertainment, and travel to and from Germany. even with the upgrade for the cabin it has cost us £299 each.
The food is fantastic, we have never had anything to complain about, in addition to the meals, they bring Tea/Coffee into the lounge mid morning, then in the afternoon, its hot drinks again with pastries and cakes.
The only extra that you have to budget for is your bar tab.