Cruise 2024

[egor110]

robinh73 said:

Deep Thought said:

robinh73 said:

Cruise virgin here and we are looking to do a taster cruise this year preferably from Southampton and returning there. The Med is quite appealing as it would seem to be a good variety for just over a week. Are there any cruise lines to avoid? Any tips or advice would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

When would you planning on going (school holidays impact cruise lines greatly in terms of experience)?

Will you have any children with you?

Are you aiming for a value for money cruise or an upmarket one?

Are you interested in having a wide range of venues, shows, attractions, restaurants or does all that not bother you?

If you were staying in a nice hotel for the weekend, do you prefer traditional or fresh and modern?

Some very valid points there. It would just be the two of us and I think that we would be looking at a value for money cruise, for something like 8 nights or so. Not too fussed about a vast range of entertainment but decent food and choice is a must. Timing wise, we were considering May as my other half is travelling a great deal with work either side of that.

We've just come back from a fortnight in the caribean with marealla .

Priced at the lower end of the market , it's all inclusive so includes drinks and gratuities , food in the sit down dinning hall was better than most all inclusive resorts you don't have the chaos of buffet it's waiter service at the table .

Shows were pretty good out of 14 days the cast do 12 different shows , staff were pretty chatty and seemed happy .

Island stops were good and no real pressure to do the ships tours , we used to just wing it and get a taxi every day.

[Deep Thought]

egor110 said:

We've just come back from a fortnight in the caribean with marealla .

Priced at the lower end of the market , it's all inclusive so includes drinks and gratuities , food in the sit down dinning hall was better than most all inclusive resorts you don't have the chaos of buffet it's waiter service at the table .

Shows were pretty good out of 14 days the cast do 12 different shows , staff were pretty chatty and seemed happy .

Island stops were good and no real pressure to do the ships tours , we used to just wing it and get a taxi every day.

Good shout with Marella.

Our first five cruises were with Marella. Good jumping off point.

Not as cheap as good value as they used to be but a good all round package.

I guess its down to whether the O/P wants to fly somewhere or would prefer just to turn up at Southampton.

[Deep Thought]

robinh73 said:

Some very valid points there. It would just be the two of us and I think that we would be looking at a value for money cruise, for something like 8 nights or so. Not too fussed about a vast range of entertainment but decent food and choice is a must. Timing wise, we were considering May as my other half is travelling a great deal with work either side of that.

If its the Med in May from Southampton then its going to be P&O on Iona. Good ship, downside (for us anyway!) is pricey drinks package thats quite limited, avoid Deck 8 for balcony cabins (the balcony is level with a promenade so people can walk by and look straight in to your room).

You could head to the Norwegian Fjords.

That opens up MSC on Virtuosa, P&O with both Britannia and Iona, and Norwegian but they are notably more expensive.

Virtuosa is a stunning ship. MSC get a bit of criticism for their food (they're an Italian line, so their food tends to have a mediterranean slant and portion sizes in the main dining room can be small. Plus side is they do italian very well). I'd put some of the money you'd save by going with MSC to buying the 4 Speciality Restaurant bundle at £109. Drinks package is a bargain at around £200 for the Premium Plus package but make sure you take it at the time of booking the cruise - it goes up in price dramatically if you book it even a day later.

I take it you're on Seascanner or Iglu Cruises?

(i was on Seascanner for those).

[egor110]

Not sure if others are the same but with marella your luggage is bonded out and back

We checked our cases in the night before we flew, landed in Barbados off the plane straight into a bus and driven to the port onto the ship where are bags were waiting outside the cabin.

Way back we left the cases outside the room night before our flight and didn't touch our cases until luggage reclaim at uk airport.

I'd have no problems flying out to the cruise especially on a tui flight as it's the same company and the ship won't leave if the planes delayed.

[surveyor]

egor110 said:

Not sure if others are the same but with marella your luggage is bonded out and back

We checked our cases in the night before we flew, landed in Barbados off the plane straight into a bus and driven to the port onto the ship where are bags were waiting outside the cabin.

Way back we left the cases outside the room night before our flight and didn't touch our cases until luggage reclaim at uk airport.

I'd have no problems flying out to the cruise especially on a tui flight as it's the same company and the ship won't leave if the planes delayed.

Same with p&o to the Caribbean (mostly on tui charters). Bit of chaos this year due to a more basic second tier charter operating a small number of the flights.

[Deep Thought]

egor110 said:

Not sure if others are the same but with marella your luggage is bonded out and back

We checked our cases in the night before we flew, landed in Barbados off the plane straight into a bus and driven to the port onto the ship where are bags were waiting outside the cabin.

Way back we left the cases outside the room night before our flight and didn't touch our cases until luggage reclaim at uk airport.

I'd have no problems flying out to the cruise especially on a tui flight as it's the same company and the ship won't leave if the planes delayed.

I think the luggage is only bonded with Marella on cruises in the Carribean (i think theres maybe one other airport but i cant remember which). So for example if the O/P was sailing from Barcelona, then its the normal pick your luggage up from the luggage carousel in the airport and take it to the coach.

That said, its all so slick with Marella. Its TUI flights, TUI staff greet you on arrival when you get off the flight, its TUI coaches and you're pretty much walking off the flight, getting your luggage and walking to the coach and your off the ship.

And yes, big advantage is its TUI / Marella's problem to get you there, so you can (and do) fly same day as cruise starts.

Almost all other cruise lines are cruise only, but some work with travel companies to provide a flight and transfer wrapper, but the default is cruise only.

Other than with Marella, we have went cruise only and travelled at least a day before - being from NI we're pretty much having to fly everywhere.

[Deep Thought]

Booked a 2 nighter 1st June, MSC Virtuosa, Yacht Club, from Southampton.

Just as a little taster of Yacht Club ahead of the longer ones we've booked for 2025 and 2026.

Edited by Deep Thought on Friday 22 March 14:21

[surveyor]

And a little review of MSC Euribia

Just back so thought I would put some of my thoughts down. We are relatively new to cruising, having done 2 previously on P&O Arvia and Britannia
I booked this cruise partly as it was very close to my 50th and partly as it went to Hamburg and I had wanted to visit Miniature Wunderland for some time...

Points of note

The staff. Universally wonderful, and could not do enough for you.

Cleanliness - Extremely well kept, both Cabins and Public areas.

Entertainment - High calibre and definitely above P&O standards

Carasoul / Band at Sea - Exceptional. Loved every show we saw, and enjoyed the ambience of the bar. Service could take a little while at certain times, but I'm on holiday... I have time...

Cabin - This was only ever an unexpected break. I saw little point in a balcony given the weather, so we went budget with an inside cabin, despite a cheeky and unsuccessful upgrade bit. The cabin was perfectly adequate, other than with wardrobe space. We struggled.

Food - the big one. I went with low expectations and broadly got what I expected other than the buffet which had a great choice, even it if it was a little busy at time. Le Grill was excellent.

Passengers - I enjoyed the international passengers. A real mix of age and attitude. Dress if you want, or dress down, no one cared and it made for a very relaxed ship. The odd rude person, but it's on a ship with several thousand people so to be expected.

Drinks - Premium package bought with the cruise was exceptional value for money. We could order almost anything with no menu stress....

Destinations
Hamburg - Nice clean city, mostly closed...
Rotterdam - Loved it. Water Taxi great. EuroMast also fun. Visited Primark like half the ship!
Zeebrugge - was meant to go to Brugge, but slept in with a hangover. Was a great win - Zeebrugge was a lovely town.
Le Havre - Lost in Sea Mist. We stayed on board 🙂

I would certainly cruise with MSC and especially this ship again.

On a final note, I was shocked and saddened to see that we had lost a passenger overboard during the cruise. My condolences to his family if they read this.

[Trevor555]

surveyor said:

The odd rude person, but it's on a ship with several thousand people so to be expected.

This is what's irked me about P&O, I'm going back to NCL & Princess for a bit.

My Ventura trip in December was truly awful, never seen so many rude/entitled people on board a ship.

I felt so sorry for the staff who have always been wonderful.

Last few P&O cruises have seen a decline in quality, and service, so I can understand long term guests being annoyed, but crikey, don't take it out on the crew, they're not the ones sitting in an office somewhere bean counting.

[egor110]

Trevor555 said:

surveyor said:

The odd rude person, but it's on a ship with several thousand people so to be expected.

This is what's irked me about P&O, I'm going back to NCL & Princess for a bit.

My Ventura trip in December was truly awful, never seen so many rude/entitled people on board a ship.

I felt so sorry for the staff who have always been wonderful.

Last few P&O cruises have seen a decline in quality, and service, so I can understand long term guests being annoyed, but crikey, don't take it out on the crew, they're not the ones sitting in an office somewhere bean counting.

I think sometimes people book on the cheaper cruises then turn up and expect it to be cunnard or princess levels of service.

I was suprprised by how many people took part in the dress to impress nights with marealla , surely if you want to flaunt your wealth you'd book a higher class ( nothing wrong with marella ) cruise company in the first place ?

[Deep Thought]

surveyor said:

And a little review of MSC Euribia

Just back so thought I would put some of my thoughts down. We are relatively new to cruising, having done 2 previously on P&O Arvia and Britannia
I booked this cruise partly as it was very close to my 50th and partly as it went to Hamburg and I had wanted to visit Miniature Wunderland for some time...

Points of note

The staff. Universally wonderful, and could not do enough for you.

Cleanliness - Extremely well kept, both Cabins and Public areas.

Entertainment - High calibre and definitely above P&O standards

Carasoul / Band at Sea - Exceptional. Loved every show we saw, and enjoyed the ambience of the bar. Service could take a little while at certain times, but I'm on holiday... I have time...

Cabin - This was only ever an unexpected break. I saw little point in a balcony given the weather, so we went budget with an inside cabin, despite a cheeky and unsuccessful upgrade bit. The cabin was perfectly adequate, other than with wardrobe space. We struggled.

Food - the big one. I went with low expectations and broadly got what I expected other than the buffet which had a great choice, even it if it was a little busy at time. Le Grill was excellent.

Passengers - I enjoyed the international passengers. A real mix of age and attitude. Dress if you want, or dress down, no one cared and it made for a very relaxed ship. The odd rude person, but it's on a ship with several thousand people so to be expected.

Drinks - Premium package bought with the cruise was exceptional value for money. We could order almost anything with no menu stress....

Destinations
Hamburg - Nice clean city, mostly closed...
Rotterdam - Loved it. Water Taxi great. EuroMast also fun. Visited Primark like half the ship!
Zeebrugge - was meant to go to Brugge, but slept in with a hangover. Was a great win - Zeebrugge was a lovely town.
Le Havre - Lost in Sea Mist. We stayed on board ??

I would certainly cruise with MSC and especially this ship again.

On a final note, I was shocked and saddened to see that we had lost a passenger overboard during the cruise. My condolences to his family if they read this.

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to being on board in May.

We've a 3 Speciality dining package booked which should give us a nice change from the main dining room.

Le Havre - we took a short trip to Honfleur which is a beautiful historic coastal town.

Wasnt a fan of Le Havre itself.

[Trevor555]

egor110 said:

Trevor555 said:

surveyor said:

The odd rude person, but it's on a ship with several thousand people so to be expected.

This is what's irked me about P&O, I'm going back to NCL & Princess for a bit.

My Ventura trip in December was truly awful, never seen so many rude/entitled people on board a ship.

I felt so sorry for the staff who have always been wonderful.

Last few P&O cruises have seen a decline in quality, and service, so I can understand long term guests being annoyed, but crikey, don't take it out on the crew, they're not the ones sitting in an office somewhere bean counting.

I think sometimes people book on the cheaper cruises then turn up and expect it to be cunnard or princess levels of service.

Yes, I get that.

My last few cruises with P&O have been sub £60 per night, the January one £43 per night for a NYE cruise.

Did Princess last August to Greenland, it was a truly wonderful experience, the food/service a whole chunk above what's now P&O's standard.

Booked with them again for this August.

[Deep Thought]

egor110 said:

I think sometimes people book on the cheaper cruises then turn up and expect it to be cunnard or princess levels of service.

I was suprprised by how many people took part in the dress to impress nights with marealla , surely if you want to flaunt your wealth you'd book a higher class ( nothing wrong with marella ) cruise company in the first place ?

Exactly that - i think people expect a Champagne lifestyle and to be fawned over by staff, but forget they paid lemonade money prices. They then take their attitude out on other passengers and staff

I think Marella attracts an older, more traditional crowd who do like to dress up and remember times gone by, so the dinner dresses and tux get dusted off and taken with them.

I think its moreso that, than any attempt to flaunt wealth - though Marella do seem to attract a high level of loyalty from passengers some of which probably do have a few bob.

Edited by Deep Thought on Saturday 23 March 12:12

[surveyor]

Deep Thought said:

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to being on board in May.

We've a 3 Speciality dining package booked which should give us a nice change from the main dining room.

Le Havre - we took a short trip to Honfleur which is a beautiful historic coastal town.

Wasnt a fan of Le Havre itself.

We did the speciality also…

Le Grill superb. Quite a lot of the menu was extra over and above the package, but I had a very nice 400g sirloin which was included.

Hola - Mexican. Was nice, but we let the waiter choose the menu. There was a lot of food which broke me early.

Japanese - not my type of food. I did not enjoy it but I think the actual food was quite good.

The one think I did not cover was drink measures. Essentially there are none! Large to very large measures is the norm, even with the expensive top shelf spirits.

[The Mad Monk]

Trevor555 said:

Yes, I get that.

My last few cruises with P&O have been sub £60 per night, the January one £43 per night for a NYE cruise.

Did Princess last August to Greenland, it was a truly wonderful experience, the food/service a whole chunk above what's now P&O's standard.

Booked with them again for this August.

How do you get the price that low?

I have just looked and cruises with P&O for 13/14 nights are just under £1000?

[egor110]

Deep Thought said:

egor110 said:

I think sometimes people book on the cheaper cruises then turn up and expect it to be cunnard or princess levels of service.

I was suprprised by how many people took part in the dress to impress nights with marealla , surely if you want to flaunt your wealth you'd book a higher class ( nothing wrong with marella ) cruise company in the first place ?

Exactly that - i think people expect a Champagne lifestyle and to be fawned over by staff, but forget they paid lemonade money prices. They then take their attitude out on other passengers and staff

I think Marella attracts an older, more traditional crowd who do like to dress up and remember times gone by, so the dinner dresses and tux get dusted off and taken with them.

I think its moreso that, than any attempt to flaunt wealth - though Marella do seem to attract a high level of loyalty from passengers some of which probably do have a few bob.

Edited by Deep Thought on Saturday 23 March 12:12

Despite it being cheap yet people liking to dress up there was a wide range of ages and everyone did seem to get on regardless .

Talking to people when we shared tables etc there were a lot with medical conditions who'd previously needed medical help and had really been looked after and that had made them loyal customers , quite a few had been with more premium companies but the care given to them by marealla when they needed it had bought there loyalty .

Then there quite a few 1st time cruisers like us who picked them because it was easiest being a.i and the whole flight/cruise being the same company made it easier .

[Deep Thought]

surveyor said:

We did the speciality also…

Le Grill superb. Quite a lot of the menu was extra over and above the package, but I had a very nice 400g sirloin which was included.

Hola - Mexican. Was nice, but we let the waiter choose the menu. There was a lot of food which broke me early.

Japanese - not my type of food. I did not enjoy it but I think the actual food was quite good.

The one think I did not cover was drink measures. Essentially there are none! Large to very large measures is the norm, even with the expensive top shelf spirits.

Yes we're looking forward to Le Grill. It looks to be their Butchers Cut restaurant menu, but called Le Grill as its within L'Atelier now. Butchers Cut is a separate restaurant up beside Kaito on Virtuosa.

Yes, if you look to wander off the included menu it can get pricey, but as you say, theres a good steak on the included menu, and some fab starters and deserts.

Not a Japanese food fan either - though we've done the Teppenyaki previously which is tasty food and a good show. Going to do the Robotoyaki on Euribia.

Yes, same with us previously with Hola! It was very good. Filling, and we just let the waiter order us what he thought best.

[Deep Thought]

egor110 said:

Despite it being cheap yet people liking to dress up there was a wide range of ages and everyone did seem to get on regardless .

Talking to people when we shared tables etc there were a lot with medical conditions who'd previously needed medical help and had really been looked after and that had made them loyal customers , quite a few had been with more premium companies but the care given to them by marealla when they needed it had bought there loyalty .

Then there quite a few 1st time cruisers like us who picked them because it was easiest being a.i and the whole flight/cruise being the same company made it easier .

Yes its a great cruise line. Ideal jumping off point for cruising as it has the TUI package holiday wrapper around it and its A.I. so no thinking or worrying to be done about packages, etc.

And yes theres always a good mix of people on board. We've always enjoyed Marella.

[dunkind]

Got back a few days ago. First ever cruise. Spent 32 days onboard the Silversea ship, Silver Moon. All inclusive including excursions. I'm a drinker (big), never been on an all inclusive holiday before, I was doing a couple of bottles of Pommery champagne, bottle of red and white along with a few spirits each day.
Eight restaurants, and a few bars, service was excellent, never bothered with the entertainment most nights, made our own with people we met, chatting away.
Stayed three nights in Mumbai before the cruise at the Taj Mahal Palace, then three nights in Hong Kong at the end. The whole thing was a great experience.
Itinerary
Mumbai
Goa
Kochin
Sri Lanka
Phuket
Lankawi
Singapore
Ko Samui
Laem Chabang
Hi Chi Minh
Chan May
Ha Long Bay
Hon Kong

Temperatures got to 47 deg most days especially between India and Singapore, dropped significantly after Vietnam.
Silversea are appalling when it comes to communication and organisation but once on board it's a different story, very little to fault.

[miniman]

dunkind said:

I was doing a couple of bottles of Pommery champagne, bottle of red and white along with a few spirits each day.