The Ultimate Guide for First Time Cruisers

First time cruisers

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

  • Samantha Clarke

    Tips to be the star of karaoke night

    Karaoke night, it’s one of the quirkiest nights on a cruise ship, where the best and worst of singers share a stage, microphone and sometimes even a song. And although some cruisers are keen to get up and give a memorable [whether good or bad] performance, there are others that are nervous about sharing their…

  • Berlitz Cruise

    Guide to the best ships in cruising

    They’ve been inspected, tested and ranked and now cruisers can find out which ships are the best in the 30th anniversary issue of the Berlitz cruise guide. The 704-page 2015 edition will be available to buy from 1 October this year. To commemorate the 30th anniversary, the guide has a 30 Wonderful Cruise Experiences list,…

  • Bora Bora Tahiti

    5 luxury shore excursions to add to your bucket list

    Helicopter trips loom large in the realms of super-extravagant shore excursions. From exclusive-access city tours to wilderness experiences, when money is no object there’s a wealth of exciting options to explore. Here’s our pick for five luxury shore excursions you need to add to the bucket list. 1. Silversea: Cote D’Azur, France Your chauffeur awaits…

Popular Destinations

Recommended Cruise Lines for First-Time Cruisers

Read Reviews from First-Time Cruisers