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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Size matters – so which cruise line has the biggest balconies at sea?
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The best New Zealand shore excursions
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Popular Destinations
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Ports: China
DALIAN Who goes there: Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Holland America Line, Royal Caribbean, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Seabourn, Silversea. Cruisers like: Dalian is famous for its lawns, squares, fountains and gardens. Its former mayor started a widespread environmental campaign and locals call it “a city built in gardens”. Dalian is also known for football and…
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Ports: Cambodia
PHNOM PENH Who goes there: AmaWaterways, Aqua Expeditions, Avalon Waterways, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection. Cruisers like: Phnom Penh is a place of extremes. Remnants of elegant French colonial architecture and the magnificent Royal Palace, dripping with gold, silver and precious stones, sit against chilling displays in the Genocide Museum and the stacks of…
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Top five reasons why you should cruise to Alaska
We are a country of a million cruise passengers and we love cruising close to home. Did you know that our favourite getaways continue to be the South Pacific, Australia and NewZealand, collectively making for 67 % of the total cruise passengers in 2014 (source CLIA report), followed by Europe and Asia. So what’s the…
