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.
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Read Reviews from First-Time Cruisers
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Radiance of the Seas South Pacific cruise review
Service aboard Radiance of the Seas was perfect from cabin staff to restaurant staff to bar staff. Formal dining was exquisite as well as the specialty dining we tried.
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Pacific Eden Australia Day cruise review
The harbour festivities I would definitely recommend but the overall P & O ship experience was just very average to poor. Pacific Eden needs a lot of work to bring her up to an acceptable standard.
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Oceania South Pacific cruise review
The service on the ship was great, including catering to my special dietary requirements. There were lots of different activities to suit a broad range of interests, including music trivia, dance lessons, bingo, theme nights and theatre shows.
