For first time cruisers, choosing your first cruise can make or break whether you love this holiday style. If you decide to go down the travel agent route, they’ll give you a list of questions to determine the cruise line, fit for the destination.
But there are many other factors to consider for your first cruise: the cabin, the itinerary, the shore excursions, and even the additional packages.
Lucky for you, we’ve put together a handy guide to ensure your first cruise goes without any hiccups.
As the cruise industry has grown, so have the offerings. There is something to suit everyone’s taste – whether you’re travelling with the kids, grandma, and grandpa, if you’re on a budget, or if you want something super opulent.
Make sure you do your research – whether it be speaking to friends or family members who have cruised or speaking to a travel agent to navigate through the options.
When first time cruisers do their research, make sure you understand the demographics of each cruise line, during the year as well as the itinerary. It comes as no surprise that, for obvious reasons, during the school holidays, you’ll find more kids sailing.
If you are looking for a destination-specific cruise, like if you want to explore the Arctic or Antarctica, then it is also important to pick the right cruise line for your budget, and the differences between each line.
But perhaps if seasickness and the number of people are issues, consider taking a river cruise where you are always close to land and these ships won’t have more than 180 people onboard.
Find out more information in our guide to first-time cruisers.
First Time Cruisers Tips
-
Haute cuisine – luxe food on the high seas
Dining on luxury cruise ships has been elevated almost to an art form. Having a famous name behind the menu adds cachet, although the celebrity chefs generally appear in person on only one or two cruises a year. No matter – guests enjoy the chef’s signature dishes in tastefully decorated specialty restaurants. Guests can pick…
-
Cellars of the Sea
Whether you are cruising around the world or overnighting from Melbourne to Tasmania, you will almost certainly be eating and drinking better than ever before. Food and wine writer Winsor Dobbin tells Cruise Passenger what top drops are being served at sea. P&O P&O Cruises hosts regular gourmet cruises with winemakers including Bruce Tyrrell from…
-
My lessons from the best wildlife photographer
Adventure cruising takes passengers to the most jaw-dropping scenes on our planet. There is nothing quite like your first encounter with a seal or polar bear. Of course, you want to record the magic and share. But while the age of digital photography has many benefits, there is also a drawback: because you can point…
