are cruises a nice way to go?

[Besancon]

We are young, married, have little money or time, and want to travel as much as possible before we start a family...are cruises as nice as they sound, or too restrictive?

[sddsddean]

We love them! Our first was 2 weeks from San Diego, Calif. to Miami via the Panama Canal. Absolutely brilliant. 5000 miles and we didn't have to re pack once! You can eat in the formal dining room or in more casual restaurants. You can dress up if you want. You can join in activities if you want. You can just do what you like, and the staff will fall over themselves to help. We don't find them at all restrictive and absolutely love them. We are currently sorting out our next one for 2007! 29 days from Sydney to LA. Only 18 months to go!!

[vehelpfulguy]

There a lot of adverts at the moment, with Nick Hancock, for Ocean Village cruises.

They say they are for people who dont not 'do' cruises. Aimed at younder people I think.

http://www.oceanvillageholidays.co.uk/email/website/landingGoogle.htm

[jno]

I went on Ocean Village and I am no way a younger person. In fact all ages were on board. Look at the travel pages in the papers every weekend, as there are lots of discounts coming on the market about now (going up to Dec/Jan at the moment mostly) - half price or so; a rule of thumb is never to pay brochure price for a cruise. Ocean Village does the Med in summer, the Caribbean in winter.

But decide if this is the sort of 'travel' you want: you spend the night aboard moving, then a day in port, on a guided tour (these come in expensive, try to arrange your own, they'll be much cheaper) or just staying by the pool; you don't get to meet people or see the countryside the way you do on land-based travel such as coach tours. But you only unpack once, and that's great.

[jno]

check here for discounts: http://www.1st4cruises.co.uk/start.html

there are probably others too if you Google.

[Woodsz]

Have a look on teletext ITV you�ll get a better deal off there than you will from the internet. and yes you will enjoy a cruise they are brilliant it�s like living in a hotel and every day wake up you are in a different place also the entertainment  is next to none

[flipflop104]

Cruises are great but I don't think they're that cheap (you say you have little money).

We went on our first one in March this year (P&O's Oceana) and immediately came back and booked another for Feb 2007.

If you want a good deal, phone Jan at TravelConsultants on 0845 0587183 - she got us a great deal - tell her Phillipa told you to phone her and she'll see you right.

www.travelcounsellors.com/jan.buchan

[ianess]

Cruises are great but not quick and certainly not cheap by the time you add on the cost of shore excursions.
Young and carefree?  Get a decent bike and a tent and go where you want when you want. Take a ferry from South Italy to Greece.......have fun when young
If !

[ianess]

Don't know what happened there but you might want to consider EasyCruise specifically for youngsters.

[ABEditor]

They can be quite dangerous. Some of the big operators have been found to have the majority of their vessels unfit to carry people, more because of risk of disease than anything. This comes from food handling also. Worth checking out. I would not go on one myself for those reasons.

[matt_london]

I have recently come back from a 

backpacking trip round the world. I cant

imagine a worse way to go travelling 

than on a cruise. No freedom. No

travelling round the country, no meeting

genuine locals, no staying in houses

owned by locals and eating with them.

Buy a backpack - jack your job in - 

and go for it!! Speak to STA Travel or

Trailfinders!! You'll regret it if you

dont. (ps I'm 33 and loved it) 

[hy4web]

Cruises are a great way to see more countries in a short span of time.
They are not cheap, but they can be good value for money. Cruising is changing a lot, cruise lines are trying to target a younger demographic (https://www.iglucruise.com/think-you-know-cruising-think-again) and to achieve this they are pouring millions into renovating their fleet (newer ships have Imax theatres, fly simulators and on deck attractions that make them look like amusement parks).