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
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The best Alaska shore excursions
While nature is the inevitable focus of an Alaskan cruise, there’s a lot to connect modern travellers to the gold prospectors of the past. Hiking Ketchikan Rainforest, Raptors and Totems As long as you take time to explore remarkable Creek Street, head out of Ketchikan on this tour, which includes a guided nature walk in…
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Ships of State
Cleopatra had one which Antony much admired, while the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi had a marble one permanently anchored in an ornamental lake… …the Russian Romanoffs had too many to count, and Kaiser Wilhelm II was obsessed about having the largest. I’m talking, of course, about royal yachts, those once overly decorated ships of state…
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Taste of China
Misty, sheer-walled gorges, the world’s largest dam and a nightly banquet of food make this Yangtze River cruise the highlight of a trip to China. As the old boatman poles our wooden canoe along Shennong Stream, I gaze at the mountains soaring above this spectacular waterway and listen to our delightful Tudja guide singing the…
