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Let's talk cruises
- Thread starter area51_for_psx
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Yep, convinced some friends and my brother to do a fjords from STH next summerMy 2nd cruise is in a month's time
Looking to book one from Southampton, maybe fjords or Iceland.
Or eastern Mediterranean....
Plenty to choose from...
We did our first ever cruise out of Southampton this summer (Celebrity Apex - France/Spain/Portugal) can highly recommend both! Came off after 10 days nearly 5kg heavier! 
Doing a round trip from Southampton just made everything so easy, no needing to watch what we pack and could park a stones throw from the ship.
We enjoyed it that much that we are now doing a transatlantic via The Azores and Bermuda in October 27, whilst on the same ship (Apex again) I suspect it will be an entirely different holiday. Alas wont have the same luxury of packing whatever we want, unless we bin a load of stuff before flying home from Ft Lauderdale
Doing a round trip from Southampton just made everything so easy, no needing to watch what we pack and could park a stones throw from the ship.
We enjoyed it that much that we are now doing a transatlantic via The Azores and Bermuda in October 27, whilst on the same ship (Apex again) I suspect it will be an entirely different holiday. Alas wont have the same luxury of packing whatever we want, unless we bin a load of stuff before flying home from Ft Lauderdale
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Yeah going out and returning from Southampton is very convenient. Within 30 minutes of arriving we're usually on the ship. We just did Princess Majestic round the UK, (Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, Scotland, 3 Ireland Stops, France, back to Southampton) and it was great.We did our first ever cruise out of Southampton this summer (Celebrity Apex - France/Spain/Portugal) can highly recommend both! Came off after 10 days nearly 5kg heavier!
Doing a round trip from Southampton just made everything so easy, no needing to watch what we pack and could park a stones throw from the ship.
We enjoyed it that much that we are now doing a transatlantic via The Azores and Bermuda in October 27, whilst on the same ship (Apex again) I suspect it will be an entirely different holiday. Alas wont have the same luxury of packing whatever we want, unless we bin a load of stuff before flying home from Ft Lauderdale
Ship was slightly smaller than previous ones, but whereas P&O doesn't have much pool option we thought, Princess was kind of in-between P&O and Royal Carribean in terms of stuff for kids. Pool area's were great. My only criticism was that the bars (Irish bar especially) just wasn't big enough, really hard to get seats if you rocked up before dinner for pre-dinner drinks.
We went on our first cruise a couple of months ago, Royal Caribbean Mediterranean one. I was quite surprised how much I really enjoyed it.
One of the best bits of it was getting out of the car in the terminal car park, leaving your case by the car, and going straight through security. When you've spent your life dealing with the escalating levels of airport security, cruise terminals feel like a walk in the park.
All inclusive tends to be a bit 'variable' for food quality as well, and I was really impressed with the quality of food and the service on the ship. I think the majority of the chefs were from either India or the Philippines, and the curries were absolutely fantastic as a result.
The kids were never bored, and they had a bit more freedom as they were sort of 'penned in' on the ship, so my 10 year old was enjoying going to the cabin and back on his own to get some stuff, using his own key card, etc.
I'd definitely do another one, given the opportunity.
One of the best bits of it was getting out of the car in the terminal car park, leaving your case by the car, and going straight through security. When you've spent your life dealing with the escalating levels of airport security, cruise terminals feel like a walk in the park.
All inclusive tends to be a bit 'variable' for food quality as well, and I was really impressed with the quality of food and the service on the ship. I think the majority of the chefs were from either India or the Philippines, and the curries were absolutely fantastic as a result.
The kids were never bored, and they had a bit more freedom as they were sort of 'penned in' on the ship, so my 10 year old was enjoying going to the cabin and back on his own to get some stuff, using his own key card, etc.
I'd definitely do another one, given the opportunity.
I spend a lot of time travelling for work and not having to do the usual airport routine and waste a ton of time was so nice!
We still managed to have a drama though, I left our bag with all the passports in the local hotel we stayed at
Luckily only a 15 minute drive back to retrieve them.Imagine doing that at an airport!!!I spend a lot of time travelling for work and not having to do the usual airport routine and waste a ton of time was so nice!
We still managed to have a drama though, I left our bag with all the passports in the local hotel we stayed at
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I know, dead lucky! I blame the wife as I carried her bag for her, meaning I totally overlooked the fact I didnt have mine!
Ah you should have hit me up, could have gotten you a nice discount!We did our first ever cruise out of Southampton this summer (Celebrity Apex - France/Spain/Portugal) can highly recommend both! Came off after 10 days nearly 5kg heavier!
Doing a round trip from Southampton just made everything so easy, no needing to watch what we pack and could park a stones throw from the ship.
We enjoyed it that much that we are now doing a transatlantic via The Azores and Bermuda in October 27, whilst on the same ship (Apex again) I suspect it will be an entirely different holiday. Alas wont have the same luxury of packing whatever we want, unless we bin a load of stuff before flying home from Ft Lauderdale
Enjoy though, haven't done a repositioning cruise, but last year Apex down to the Canaries before the end of the summer was ace.
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I need to do a cruise. I’m not sure where to start. I live in Portsmouth so Southampton would be good to depart. Only thing is I don’t like dressing up for dinner so need something casual.
Next time!!
Do you work Celebrity/RCL? I actually visited both Apex and Beyond at Saint-Nazaire whilst they was nearing completion (commissioned some kit for the company I was working for) Its what initially made me book the cruise 5 years later!
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From my experience you get people who dress up and go all out and you get those that make no effort at all.
I was in the middle, always trousers and a polo at minimum for dinner but I dont think its as strict and stuffy as it used to be. Your mileage may vary depending on the line but Celebrity certainly wasn't strict other than no shorts or tshirts at dinner (although people still were!)
Ideal location for you, plenty of options
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I think the dressing up aspect (formal nights) is being reduced more and more. Decade ago you could expect 2 on a week cruise, now 1 probably, and on the last cruise I did, not sure if it was because there was lots of American's, but vast majority didn't even bother.
A shirt and jacket is fine, they can't stop you going into the main dining rooms since you've already paid for it. Or you can avoid and just go to buffet that night.
You get more participation on the likes of P&O.
For booking, it depends if you want to be picky on cabin location. Do some research. Ideal is mid-ship, 2 or 3 decks above main promenade, but not right under top deck where you get more noise. You get least sway and movement mid-ship.
That's what we always try and do anyway.
If you're not fussed there's always a few cabins still left on the run up to departure.
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As Nutty said, you can book any time. Latest I've booked was something like 2-3 days before a Caribbean cruise. Had to do on the phone to be able to sort the flights that last minute but the upside was there was a single cabin left so no need to pay extra for cabin choice
I wouldn't recommend leaving it that late though. Sure you might get a slight discount but you can generally get a few offers at various points in advance to sweeten the deal. Maybe take a look for a rough idea now and check again in a month or two to get an idea of any price fluctuations and included offers?
I think more typically we're 'later bookers' when we've booked a month or two out. Some people book their next cruise the moment they get on board their current one.
Yep, I worked on the beyond media event when she stopped in Southampton before going to Miami, beautiful shipNext time!!
What kind of discount? Is it friends and family discount? ( 20 per cent )
We live in Winchester so about 15 minutes drive away ( on a good day ) from Southampton. A short trip to the ship, normally pretty quick checking in, jump on ship and the holiday starts, its awesome. Am I right in thinking Liverpool docks is becoming a bit of a bigger player with cruise ships?
Im really eager to do the Fjords and think ive managed to persuade the better half to go next year April time perhaps - is there a best time of year to go? Also will be doing a Fly cruise from Florida to explore Bahamas etc Nov 27, yet to be booked and to explore options of ships etc.
11 weeks today and we will be at a Gatwick hotel chilling before flying out to the Caribbean and jumping on Britannia.
Im really eager to do the Fjords and think ive managed to persuade the better half to go next year April time perhaps - is there a best time of year to go? Also will be doing a Fly cruise from Florida to explore Bahamas etc Nov 27, yet to be booked and to explore options of ships etc.
11 weeks today and we will be at a Gatwick hotel chilling before flying out to the Caribbean and jumping on Britannia.
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That's us!
Only just feed out in the buffet on the ship spend every second we can on shore sightseeing and eating out.
The cruise ship for me is a bus on water that I chill out on