Which Cruise Line? Which Ship etc etc

Cara040 · 5 Apr 16, 06:16 PM

Family of 3, DH, myself and DD9, none of us have ever cruised before and we want to do one next year. ( Off to WDW this year).

We would like to go from Southampton or possibly Barcelona, originally thought we would definitely do a DCL cruise but now so unsure...

A friend has recommended P&O which seem to be a bit cheaper, she said that as first time cruisers it will be ample. Have starting looking at RCL as well and it just seems to be a minefield... I like the look of the Fjord cruises but DD loves swimming and I'm unsure how warm Norway is in the summer.

DD will be nearly 10 so don't need childcare as such but suitable entertainment.

Which ship, which cabin, where on the ship to choose a cabin, inside, balcony etc.

Would like some advice / opinions where to start really.

Bellasmummy · 5 Apr 16, 06:30 PM

We love RCL, they're great for kids and have loads on offer. We've sailed from Southampton and it was so easy. We parked right next to the ship and they took our luggage from us at the car so we just walked on with hand luggage.

Not sure about weather in Norway, we did France and Spain October half term and thought it would be chilly so took warm clothes, at the last minute I decide to throw in a couple of summer bits and we had swimwear. By the second day it was lovely and warm and we spent 4 of the 7 days by the pool in beautiful sunshine. I even had to buy suncream!

We're doing the same cruise this year and I'm really hoping we hit lucky with the weather again

We haven't sailed P&O before but know a lot of people who have and in my opinion it sounds like they're more suited to older people. I'm sure they're fine for kids to its just that all the people we know are older that sail with them. RCL is also a mixture but i'd say maybe slightly more geared towards families/younger travellers.

We're going on our first DCL sailing this august from Port Canaveral and I'd love to sail the Med with them but their prices are just so much higher than RCL that we can't justify it. Maybe once we've been in August we'll change our minds though.

Cara040 · 5 Apr 16, 06:38 PM

Can I ask what sort of cabin you chose?

Bellasmummy · 5 Apr 16, 06:58 PM

Originally Posted by Cara040

Can I ask what sort of cabin you chose?

We have stayed in both inside and balcony cabins. I much prefer the balcony cabins but we were fine for a week in the inside. We chose inside as dd had just turned 5 and I was really worried about the balcony, there was such a difference in price between inside and outside that we decided as it was meant to be a cheap break that we'd just go inside.

It wouldn't bother me staying inside again if it was a good deal, and on a cruise where we didn't expect the weather to be good it was perfectly acceptable. If we were cruising somewhere hot i'd want a balcony, as its lovely to sit out there in the morning with a cuppa

This year we're doing the same cruise with a balcony for almost the same price we paid for inside before, thats because we selected a guarantee room rather than choosing our cabin. We're happy with any location so that wasn't an issue and the price was great so we thought we'd just go for it. Actually our cabin was allocated within a week of us booking which I think is a bit unusual given we don't sail until October. We would have been happy to receive the allocation just before departure though.

Cara040 · 5 Apr 16, 07:21 PM

Thanks,all that information is really useful especially about a guaranteed cabin. I'm assuming that's with RCL ?
Will have a look at their website. Did you book direct?

Bellasmummy · 5 Apr 16, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by Cara040

Thanks,all that information is really useful especially about a guaranteed cabin. I'm assuming that's with RCL ?
Will have a look at their website. Did you book direct?

Yes, RCL.

We did book direct for this year, also got cash back from TopCashback of about �80 that tracked straight away and was payable pretty quickly.

Last time we booked with Virgin Cruises who priced matched for us, no cash back but dh get a discount on debenhams vouchers so we paid it off that way.

I'm interested in the same cruise next year and wondering now if theres any benefit in booking that on this years cruise, so ill have to do some research.

Cara040 · 15 Apr 16, 05:53 PM

Thank you Bella's mummy for all your help, having waited for DCL there are none from Dover in the school holidays next year and with WDW this year and planning Safari 2018, flights on top were coming in well over budget.

I have therefore today booked RCL ( Navigator of the seas), France, Spain and Portugal from Southampton 25/08/17 for 7 nights. Deluxe balcony cabin, midship, deck 7, so fingers crossed we enjoy cruising.

Hope you have a lovely time on October.

DIBBadmin · 15 Apr 16, 05:53 PM

This thread has been automatically closed as it has not been posted on in 365 days.

15 Apr 16, 05:53 PM	#8
	15 Apr 16, 05:53 PM DIBBadmin Imagineer
DIBBadmin Imagineer Join Date: Mar 02	This thread has been automatically closed as it has not been posted on in 365 days.