New to Cruising? How good are the on line help guides?

Sometimes when I sit down to write my blog,  ideas come easily and my fingers type ten to the dozen and is all flowing nicely. Other times I get writers block and will look for inspiration from asking others, searching the internet for ideas/research or reading other peoples blogs  to see what they have written about. This happened to me most recently and I came across a particular article – which you can read here for people who are new to cruising.

On a daily basis I will speak to customers who are new to cruising and are often unsure if this is something they should try and will have many questions, will seek guidance and need to be steered into what would be right for them. So this article was of some interest to read to see what their thoughts and suggestions were. Reading through the article, I first read it and thought this was a very basic broad, generalized overview of cruising. But then I sat down and re-read it again and having been in the industry for 16 years and dealing with new cruisers – I realised some of this article would actually put people off cruising rather than encouraging them that cruising is a fantastic way to see the world.

I could see where the article was trying to go with regards to picking a cruise ship as this is an important part, and obviously there is a lot of American vs British with the two new ships being launched – but the article didn’t focus on the facilities on board ie Royal Caribbean have rock climbing walls, zip wires, ice skating rinks and other sports activities. Whereas P&O have fabulous Celebrity Chef restaurants, Strictly come dancing theme cruises. Other cruise lines have bowling alleys, planetarium, good for bridge players, or good for people who like to dance, or fabulous art galleries on board. Not every cruise line is suited to everyone so its taking the time to speak to that customer and find out what they like doing in their spare time – if they like to play bridge, ballroom dancing and over 50 then I would suggest Fred Olsen, but if they are a family with children and like to be active with lots going on then Royal Caribbean, P&O or NCL. Also not forgetting there are adult only ships in the P&O and Cruise and Maritime fleet so for those who choose not to cruise with children there are alternatives available.  Days at sea can be as active or as relaxed as one wants them to be, every evening the daily programme is delivered to the cabin and this details the following days activities planned on board and so you can choose where to spend your time or alternatively where to avoid. The article mentions the mainstream cruise lines but there are also 5 star cruise lines such as Silver seas, Regent Seven Seas and Crystal etc.

Whilst the article did go into details of the cabin there was no mention on family cabins as most ships do have cabins which can sleep up to 8 people. Sometimes to upgrade to a outside or balcony can be a very small amount extra so always worth to consider.

Reading through I also thought the setting the budget section was too long and focused to heavily on negative things -there are cruise lines where everything is included such as drinks and gratuities. Gratuities can be pre-paid before travel with some cruise lines, others will add them to your on board account and this can be deducted if required which then means you are free to do your own.  With regards to drinks most cruise lines have a soft drinks package (which my partner always buys) and is also great for kids to have. Traditionally the American cruise lines do charge an additional 15% on the bar prices however the British cruise lines do not have this. Some cruise lines have now introduced drinks packages and is always worth considering as these will include soft drinks, alcohol beverages as well as specialist teas and coffees.

Booking a cruise isn’t a daunting process if booking through an specialist in cruise (like myself) This article makes no suggestions as to how to book the cruise and seems to just finish abruptly. Speaking to a specialist can help answer any questions, make recommendations as to to which ship to choose, destinations/ports of call  and also advice on cabins. For help in choosing a cruise then you can contact me on 0800 408 6086.