Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)
-   Europe (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/)
-   -   first time cruisers (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/first-time-cruisers-877037/)

arsenal4eva Feb 8th, 2011 07:13 AM

first time cruisers
 
Me and my partner are looking to go on a cruise for our honeymoon in june/july 2012. Were looking to goto the western med with rome our number 1 place we want to visit. our budget is £2332 (thats how much we will have come april next year when the price will need to be paid up in full) also we would like a all inclusive cruise plus if can afford it a balcony. now my questions are is our budget good enough to get us a good cruise for a first time cruisers ? we would like to maybe not spend the full budget so we have some left over to add to spending money. when do summer cruises come out ? and will we get better deals if we book early ? what hoildays agents is the best ? and what site ?

caroline_edinburgh Feb 8th, 2011 07:22 AM

You'd do better to post this on the Cruises board rather than the Europe board.

What little I know (from my PILs being keen cruisers) - booking either very early or very late is better for cheap deals. As it's for your honeymoon you presumably won't want to take the risk of booking late (and maybe there being no nice cabins left) so best to book as soon as the brochures come out. My PILs use a broker who knows the full market and gets extra discounts on top of those advertised.

Q - where are you starting from ? (If the UK I can ask my PILs for details of their broker, if you'd like.) Are you planning to cruise all the way from a port in your home country or, for example, fly to & from Rome for the cruise - and maybe spend time onshore at the start and/or end too ?

arsenal4eva Feb 8th, 2011 07:31 AM

were from the uk so would be ideal to sail from uk and were hoping for rome to be one of the stop off ports plus as we have been told by all the travel agents that the cruises for summer 2012 come out april - may time then thats when we will book and pay the depoist

Dukey1 Feb 8th, 2011 07:39 AM

Some companies have already posted their itineraries for 2012. Have you looked on sites such as cruisecritic.com or cruise-addicts.com?

arsenal4eva Feb 8th, 2011 07:46 AM

bit to early to book now as we need to have the deposit saved up and that wont be till april - may time

suec1 Feb 8th, 2011 07:55 AM

Most likely you will not be able to cruise from the UK to Rome, esp. if you want to spend much time in the Med. There are numerous lines that sail from Barcelona to Rome, going along the coast line that would be very pleasant. You might if you have time look around on the internet first and get an idea of what cruise line seems to suit you - you will also find 2011 itineraries there to give you and idea of choices and prices. Some of the big lines are Royal Carribean, Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, MSC, Norwegian. Each have a bit of a different "personality" IMO. CruiseCritic is a great site for reviews and information - it might help you filter out which line is the best fit for you.

arsenal4eva Feb 8th, 2011 08:06 AM

Cruiseing from UK is not a must we don't minding going from Barcelona or Palma. ive been looking on Thomsons website and they have cruises up and till april 2012 so will there prices for that month be any differnt to june - july ? only asking as i found this cruise -


* 2 x Fly Cruise: £1,638.00
* Fuel Supplement: £0.00
* 1 x Standard Balcony: £518.00
* Cruise drinks package 7 night: £0.00
* 2 x Individual Insurance: £45.98
* Worldcare Fund: £2.00
* Sub-Total: £2,203.98
* Online Savings: -£326.00
* Card Charges:
* Promotional Discount:
* Total: £1,877.98

and it goes from -

Port of Call:
fly uk to palma
* Palma , Ship At Sea , Ajaccio , Rome , Marina Di Carrara , Toulon , Barcelona , Palma

nytraveler Feb 8th, 2011 10:09 AM

Um - I don't think that the cruise price includes any of the shore excursions - once you pull into port anything you do is on your own dime. Also, the ports are usually a distance - often a couple of hours - from the Port they "serve" and you will have very little time - only 1/2 to 2/3 of one day in any city.

If you really want to see rome - you will have very little time to do so.

ellenem Feb 8th, 2011 10:14 AM

As nytraveler mentioned, the port of Rome is Civitavecchia, at least an hour from Rome by best transportation options, which doesn't give you much time to actually experience Rome.

If you really want to see Rome AND take a cruise, I suggest you book a cruise that begins and/or ends in Rome. That way you can add on a few days at a hotel in Rome so you can really experience the city.

arsenal4eva Feb 8th, 2011 11:18 AM

i no the price doesnt include shore excursions. we will be paying for a rome excursion the time spent in port for this cruise is

Itinerary overview
Day 1: Palma 23:00
Day 2: Ship At Sea -
Day 3: Ajaccio 08:00 - 17:00
Day 4: Rome 07:00 - 19:00
Day 5: Marina Di Carrara 07:00 - 19:00
Day 6: Toulon 09:00 - 17:00
Day 7: Barcelona 08:00 - 18:00
Day 8: Palma 06:00 -


the main thing we want to no is if the price will be much more for a june/july cruise ?

suec1 Feb 8th, 2011 11:48 AM

probably yes, but I am more familiar with US oriented lines that I listed earlier. Usually the summer months are more expensive and I the whole UK cruise deal is different. Some ports may be doable on your own so you don't need alot of extra monies for excursions. BUT Rome as a port stop is far from ideal - as another psoter said, much better to start or end in Rome - one day (on a cruise stop) is not nearly enough.

caroline_edinburgh Feb 9th, 2011 07:04 AM

Sorry Sue, but there are many cruises from the UK which visit Rome.

OP, from your Fodorite name do I surmise you live in London ? If so, for UK departures you'll probably want to look at Southampton or Harwich. Most if not all P&O cruises go from Southampton. A friend (my age not that of my PILs) who enjoys cruising thinks Cunard is the best of those which go from the UK.

But I agree with Ellen, if you really want to experience Rome I'd recommend choosing a cruise which starts & ends there & spending a few days there at the beginning or the end. It's a big place.

Also think about what sort of ship & cruise you fancy - some variables are size / level of luxury / flexibility of dining options / average age of other passengers / childfree or not. On many ships, especially as a party of 2, you are likely to have to share a table for dinner in the restaurants which are included in the price - is taht what you want on your honeymoon ? And you could be sitting with the same people each night - so what if you don't like them or just have nothing in common ?

I think these sorts of considerations may also mean you'd benefit from going through a broker who knows what the differences are - as well as saving you money.

Personally I didn't enjoy my one experience (with P&O) because it just wasn't our style - we normally stay in very small quiet hotels, and like to eat all our meals out at times of our choosing; so being cooped up with a couple of thousand other people, being rushed through dinner in the same place at the same time every night, was to us no fun and certainly not my idea of a relaxing honeymoon. But I wouldn't have known this without doing it (and that specific ship & cruise was not our own choice). Each to their own.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:12 AM.