First Cruise

skalexander · 13 Apr 20, 10:23 AM

I’ve never been on a cruise before; I’ve looked at them before but always ended up booking a regular holiday. However, there are some great deals around for cruises, understandably, and I’m thinking now is the time! It’s for me and my husband, we’re 33 and 34.

I’ve been looking at Japan next April with RCI, Antarctica in January with NCL or one of many Australia/NZ cruises (various cruise lines).

Does anyone have any feedback on those destinations for first timers? Good cruise lines for 30-somethings? Things to watch out for?

Any advice appreciated

Omega1 · 13 Apr 20, 03:22 PM

I find it really difficult to make recommendations even though we’ve done 40 odd cruises on seven different cruise lines. We’ve done four Far East itineraries and Japan both are excellent cruising destinations. Haven’t done an Antarctica - it’s quite a specialised destination that’s heavily regulated. One of our favourites is South America (Buenos Aires to Santiago or vice versa) we did it as a repositioning cruise Rio to San Francisco. We loved the isolated locations and fabulous scenery. We did a back to back Australia/ NZ cruise (Sydney- NZ - Perth). It’s really a New Zealand taster but the views of fjordland were spectacular. We rented a car in quite a few ports which allowed us to explore further inland.
Which cruise line is a very personal choice and depends on your interests, do you want to be with younger age group, itinerary and price. If you let us know a particular itinerary perhaps we could make some comments/recommendations.
Edit- we invariably do our own thing when going ashore as we hate cruise ship tours (too many people, too slow pace, too expensive). This involves having a private car/guide, small group tour, public transport, car rental, walking around, etc.

skalexander · 13 Apr 20, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by Omega1

I find it really difficult to make recommendations even though we’ve done 40 odd cruises on seven different cruise lines. We’ve done four Far East itineraries and Japan both are excellent cruising destinations. Haven’t done an Antarctica - it’s quite a specialised destination that’s heavily regulated. One of our favourites is South America (Buenos Aires to Santiago or vice versa) we did it as a repositioning cruise Rio to San Francisco. We loved the isolated locations and fabulous scenery. We did a back to back Australia/ NZ cruise (Sydney- NZ - Perth). It’s really a New Zealand taster but the views of fjordland were spectacular. We rented a car in quite a few ports which allowed us to explore further inland.
Which cruise line is a very personal choice and depends on your interests, do you want to be with younger age group, itinerary and price. If you let us know a particular itinerary perhaps we could make some comments/recommendations.
Edit- we invariably do our own thing when going ashore as we hate cruise ship tours (too many people, too slow pace, too expensive). This involves having a private car/guide, small group tour, public transport, car rental, walking around, etc.

Thank you. This is the Japan itinerary I was looking at - royalcaribbean/gbr/e...04%2F01%2F2021

And this was the Antartica one - ncl/uk/en/cruises/15...SHPUQPMYMVDBUE (I know there is no getting off the ship in Antarctica, but those trips are more money than we'd ever spend).

In terms of a cruise line, we want something fairly casual, no dressing up (long trousers for dinner is fine). It would be good to be with people of a similar demographic, if possible. We like food, but we're not connoisseurs by any stretch, so high-end dining would probably be wasted on us. We aren't big drinkers, so being all inclusive wouldn't be a necessity - a cocktail or beer in the evening would probably be our lot. We would probably hate cruise ship tours as well, and would be looking to book our own trips or make our own way.

Omega1 · 13 Apr 20, 05:26 PM

I like the look of the NCL itinerary. The southern tip of Argentina/Chile is spectacular and the Falkland Islands are again beautiful if you like remote/rugged. On our visit we had a beach full of penguins to ourselves. The Japan itinerary is very good but personally, I would be looking to visit Kobe or Osaka (to be able to get to Kyoto) and Hiroshima. The problem with Japan is there are too many lovely places!
I suspect the NCL Star will have a good mix of nationalities with English being the majority language. My instinct is that the Japan cruise will have a majority of Japanese passengers with a lot of the food and entertainment offerings being geared to them. That was our experience on the Diamond Princess (Covid ship 😱 ) a few years ago.

mitch84 · 14 Apr 20, 11:41 AM

I have never done RCI, but I’m a similar age to you. And my fave line is NCL. The entertainment is just right

**Loopylooloo** · 14 Apr 20, 01:06 PM

My advice to people who haven’t cruised is to do a short mini cruise - 3 to 5 nights to see its for you, before planning a longer trip, especially long haul.
Some of our favourite short cruises are -
France (Honfleur is really pretty)
Xmas Markets (Germany)
Holland/Belgium - Antwerp /Amsterdam
Norway - Fjords. Happy planning!

skalexander · 14 Apr 20, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by Omega1

I like the look of the NCL itinerary. The southern tip of Argentina/Chile is spectacular and the Falkland Islands are again beautiful if you like remote/rugged. On our visit we had a beach full of penguins to ourselves. The Japan itinerary is very good but personally, I would be looking to visit Kobe or Osaka (to be able to get to Kyoto) and Hiroshima. The problem with Japan is there are too many lovely places!
I suspect the NCL Star will have a good mix of nationalities with English being the majority language. My instinct is that the Japan cruise will have a majority of Japanese passengers with a lot of the food and entertainment offerings being geared to them. That was our experience on the Diamond Princess (Covid ship 😱 ) a few years ago.

Thank you for that. I looked at some reviews and they complain about the lack of western food, so I suspect RCI are also catering towards Japanese passengers. I'm really nervous about visiting Japan, because of the language barrier, but maybe I need to look into an escorted tour instead.

Originally Posted by mitch84

I have never done RCI, but I’m a similar age to you. And my fave line is NCL. The entertainment is just right

Thank you, that's good to know, as NCL do a lot of cruises I like the look of.

Originally Posted by Loopylooloo

My advice to people who haven’t cruised is to do a short mini cruise - 3 to 5 nights to see its for you, before planning a longer trip, especially long haul.
Some of our favourite short cruises are -
France (Honfleur is really pretty)
Xmas Markets (Germany)
Holland/Belgium - Antwerp /Amsterdam
Norway - Fjords. Happy planning!

We did actually have one booked in 2017 from Florida, but we cancelled due to lack of leave. I will look at some of the routes you've suggested

SquishTheWhale · 16 Apr 20, 11:26 AM

We are the same age as you and have been cruising about 4 years. Either RCI or NCL would be great for you, we love them both. We also did a Princess cruise which I was sceptical about it being boring but we loved it!

We've also sailed with MSC and P&O, would never do MSC again and P&O was fine but wouldn't be our first choice.

I've not done any of those itineraries but I honestly dont think you could go wrong. I imagine they're expensive though so possibly worth doing a cheaper cruise first to check you like it? As above a mini cruise- although keep in mind the atmosphere on mini ones can be very different- eg lots of hen and stag parties. Or just a cheaper week round the med first?

mitch84 · 19 Apr 20, 02:00 PM

I didn’t do a trippie of this cruise as didn’t think DH would be thrilled, but I did do a highs and lows if you are interested

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho...highlight=Star

13 Apr 20, 03:22 PM	#2
	13 Apr 20, 03:22 PM Omega1 Imagineer
Omega1 Imagineer Join Date: Jan 08	I find it really difficult to make recommendations even though we’ve done 40 odd cruises on seven different cruise lines. We’ve done four Far East itineraries and Japan both are excellent cruising destinations. Haven’t done an Antarctica - it’s quite a specialised destination that’s heavily regulated. One of our favourites is South America (Buenos Aires to Santiago or vice versa) we did it as a repositioning cruise Rio to San Francisco. We loved the isolated locations and fabulous scenery. We did a back to back Australia/ NZ cruise (Sydney- NZ - Perth). It’s really a New Zealand taster but the views of fjordland were spectacular. We rented a car in quite a few ports which allowed us to explore further inland. Which cruise line is a very personal choice and depends on your interests, do you want to be with younger age group, itinerary and price. If you let us know a particular itinerary perhaps we could make some comments/recommendations. Edit- we invariably do our own thing when going ashore as we hate cruise ship tours (too many people, too slow pace, too expensive). This involves having a private car/guide, small group tour, public transport, car rental, walking around, etc. Edited at 03:30 PM.

13 Apr 20, 05:26 PM	#4
	13 Apr 20, 05:26 PM Omega1 Imagineer
Omega1 Imagineer Join Date: Jan 08	I like the look of the NCL itinerary. The southern tip of Argentina/Chile is spectacular and the Falkland Islands are again beautiful if you like remote/rugged. On our visit we had a beach full of penguins to ourselves. The Japan itinerary is very good but personally, I would be looking to visit Kobe or Osaka (to be able to get to Kyoto) and Hiroshima. The problem with Japan is there are too many lovely places! I suspect the NCL Star will have a good mix of nationalities with English being the majority language. My instinct is that the Japan cruise will have a majority of Japanese passengers with a lot of the food and entertainment offerings being geared to them. That was our experience on the Diamond Princess (Covid ship 😱 ) a few years ago. Edited at 05:27 PM.

16 Apr 20, 11:26 AM	#8
	16 Apr 20, 11:26 AM SquishTheWhale Imagineer
SquishTheWhale Imagineer Join Date: Mar 18 Location: Milton Keynes	We are the same age as you and have been cruising about 4 years. Either RCI or NCL would be great for you, we love them both. We also did a Princess cruise which I was sceptical about it being boring but we loved it! We've also sailed with MSC and P&O, would never do MSC again and P&O was fine but wouldn't be our first choice. I've not done any of those itineraries but I honestly dont think you could go wrong. I imagine they're expensive though so possibly worth doing a cheaper cruise first to check you like it? As above a mini cruise- although keep in mind the atmosphere on mini ones can be very different- eg lots of hen and stag parties. Or just a cheaper week round the med first?