Tell me about cruising

[JudyC]

I'm really undecided if its for me and DH, but I've been looking at a Fjords cruise from Liverpool with Magellan cruise line.
Main concerns are, cruises are for old people arent they , forget that DH and are are 58 and 56 😁
We don't really do entertainment/shows etc, in particular DH.
Sharing a table with strangers and meals.at set times.Food quality?
Not having time to explore at the port's.
Things I like the sound of are
Sailing and seeing sights from the ocean.
Visiting new places without the stress of driving etc.
Relaxing on board with good food and drinks.
We are pretty active and keep fit so would use the gym facilities if there are any. And would like to walk/hike at the port's.
Are they enough pluses for us to enjoy a cruise. I'd really like to try something new but am concerned we may not be cruise people.

[JudyC]

Can admin move this over to the cruise forum please.

[Guest]

I went on cruise p&o in 2012 when I was 24.
Loved the cruise. Was awesome and I thought if was for old people

[mskitty]

Me (39) and DH with our kids have just come back from a Marella cruise. Cruises are what you make them. Really is something for everyone. Depending on the cruise line you don't need to have set dining times and can request a table for two. Cruise lines are realising they need to move with the times a bit I think. On ours there were two bars with lively music etc and two quiet bars, plus the theatre. In the ports we had ample time to explore even though we didn't do any set trips. Any other questions just ask

[TinkerBabe]

I think it can vary hugely between cruise lines. We cruise Royal Caribbean once a year and have done so for the last 8 years, we absolutely love it and always have a brilliant time. P&O was also good in our experience, but Royal Caribbean remains our favourite. We find the ships very lively, we enjoy the afternoon quizzes, pool games, lounging around on top deck, getting off for sightseeing, then getting dressed up for shows and dinner in the evening. There is always a late night venue if you want to dance into the early hours. However friends that we cruise regularly with ventured to a couple of different cruise lines (Fred Olsen, and Holland America) and said that whilst they were also very lovely cruises, they were very sedate and with a different (older!) demographic. Nothing wrong with that of course, just something to factor in. With regard to dining, we prefer the flexible dining as we like to see how each day is going before deciding when to eat, and although we cruise with a group of friends, I have seen couples sat at tables for 2 many times so you don’t have to dine with a group if you don’t want to.

[JudyC]

Thanks both of you. I really fancy Norway and the fjords, other option is a cruise from Norway rather than the UK. That might be complicating things though...
I'm going to look at Disney cruises as well, I'm not even sure what a reasonable price is for a week's cruise.

[JudyC]

Yes I've heard Fred Olsen cruises are an older demographic, and perhaps a bit dated. The Magellan cruise ship looked a bit more up to date when I watched a video.
The idea of sailing Liverpool appealed with a night in Dublin and then the Scottish isles before Norway. We'd want an outside cabin, not sure about stretching to a balcony although that would be the ideal.

[TinkerBabe]

Originally Posted by JudyC

I'm not even sure what a reasonable price is for a week's cruise.

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It’s fair to say there is no right or wrong answer to this as it’s down to what represents good value to different people. We generally cruise in inside cabins as we literally do nothing but sleep in them (friends swear by balconies as they like to breakfast outside with a sea view, it truly is personal choice) and my benchmark is £100 pppn. We are on a 7 night cruise to Spain with Royal Caribbean in October which was £749 pp including a free drinks package, and we considered that great value. Obviously outside or balcony would cost more but generally I swerve away from more than £100pppn unless it’s something special. I haven’t cruised Disney as I find them quite a bit more than I’d want to pay, although I gather they are fantastic.

[JudyC]

About £100 per person per night sounds a good benchmark for a first cruise. I don't think I'd want to pay the cost of a holiday in Orlando just in case we didn't enjoy it as much. I'm not sure a Disney cruise would be good value for us either as we aren't into meeting the character's , although I'll guess the food is a very high standard.

[Omega1]

The Magellan (Cruise and Maritime Voyages) is an older ship, first entering service in 1985 as the Carnival Holiday. Although it has had a refit it won’t have the same spec or wow as modern cruise ships.
CMV generally give good value but reviews are very mixed, a bit marmite.
£ppn is a good way of comparing cruises, ensuring you have like for like cabins and take in any additions such as inc drinks, free gratuities, obc, transfers, etc.
Being retired we can pick and choose our dates but generally pay between £55 and £75pppn in an inside cabin. Our upcoming 14 day cruise in the Caribbean (November) on the Caribbean Princess is £65pppn inside cabin. The upside of this trip is that the cruise line had a promotion on flights and we got return flights to Miami for £201pp.
Back in Sept 2013, we paid £499pp for an 8 day Norway cruise on the Crown Princess - obviously prices have gone up, but not hugely.
Depending on when you sail, £100ppn in an inside cabin seems a bit high.