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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Cruise Passenger Ultimate Guide: Pacific Adventure
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Celebrity Cruises’ first edge-class ship Celebrity Edge is set to sail for the first time on Australian waters to commence its inaugural summer season down under.Â
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Cruise Passenger Ultimate Guide: Scenic Eclipse
Scenic Eclipse continues to set the bar as a 6-star ultra-luxury yacht by unveiling 76 sailings from December 2023 through February 2026.Â
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Recommended Cruise Lines for First-Time Cruisers
Read Reviews from First-Time Cruisers
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Norwegian Star cruise review
The Norwegian Star crew were very, very good from the steward to the drinks waiters. I prefer anytime dining to the market style but the food was good everywhere and themed nights (German, Indian, chocolate nights etc) were awesome.
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Sapphire Princess cruise review
On boarding we were met with the most beautiful music, a string quartet in the Atrium, from then on we found that the music and entertainment was magnificent. The restaurants could not be faulted.
