Cruise Tips And Advice: Main Cruise Types and Destinations To Consider

This is the next in my general Cruise Tips and Advice series. Previously, I wrote about “Why And When Cruising is Better Than A Land Based Vacation“. In this article, I discuss the main types of cruises available along with what (and who) they are best for. So here is my Cruise Tips and Advice: The Main Cruise Types and Destinations To Consider!

Cunard Queen Victoria in Rotterdam Holland

I will cover the main cruise types in order of what I think are the best for people new to cruising, or looking for new cruise ideas:

“Taster Cruise”

These are a must if you are considering a cruise and unsure if cruising is for you. They are mostly to help ensure the cruise line is the right one for you. Cruise lines are so different in style, degree of formality and mix of passengers. It is really important to ensure you go on the right cruise line for your tastes. Unfortunately, because taster cruises are really inexpensive they are becoming a bit too “booze cruise” in my view, and people are going on them for really cheap holidays with lots of food and cheap drink. But it is still essential for people new to cruising, or considering using a different cruise line to the one they are used to. It will help you decide if you like cruising, and banish your fear of getting seasick!

Transatlantic Crossing: The ultimate journey!

7 days at sea on Cunard Queen Mary 2 is a journey everyone should do! But a lot of people worry about being at sea for so long without any ports to stop at and get off. But this is the classic journey that everyone should do. It is amazing. It is very relaxing, with an incredible amount of things to do – and lots of dressing up.

Repositioning transatlantic cruises are a good alternative, and very inexpensive. This is when ships are repositioned from European Med Season to the Caribbean before and at end of the European Summer. Usually 2 weeks long, with one week in the destination and one week crossing the Atlantic, they can usually be calmer as they do not cross the North Atlantic.

Norwegian Fjords and Alaska: Must Dos

Both the Norwegian Fjords and / or the Alaska cruises are also must dos. They take you to areas of scenery you will just not believe. It also takes you to see things you just cannot really do by driving and via land excursions. For example, you will cruise right along the Fjords, even as far as 130 miles inland! You get to see more places than you could by trying to drive and use ferries. The same is true of seeing Alaska. It is so vast and hard to reach, going by other methods will just not give you the same volume and depth of scenery and experience.

European Med Cruise.

Great for summer sun, though watch the routing as many cruise lines will bill things like seeing Rome and Florence – but the ports are up to 4 hours away. In my view, it is better to look for cruises that go around the Greek Islands and visit places like Sardinia and Palma. It is often better to travel on ships that departure from places like Barcelona or Venice rather than ports like Southampton in the UK, as you will spend more time in the Med itself.

Caribbean Islands

Cruising round the Caribbean accounts over half of all cruise trips worldwide. It used to be right up to about 70%! They tend to be 7 nights, and cover either the East or West Caribbean. Most cruise lines departing from Miami will alternate the routes, and so if you have 2 weeks you can do both back to back. Most European Cruise lines move their ships to the Caribbean in the European Winter, and so there are many options and many ranges of prices. Some ports can get a bit busy as a result. They are great for seeing the area and getting a feel for the beauty of the region and the islands. Ideally use them to help you to decide which island you will go back to and spend time on a  land based vacation to really explore.

World Cruise legs also worth looking at.

For example, we are booked to sail from Sydney to Dubai over 46 nights and will be exploring Asia and places we would just never go to or will go back to again. But will take us to a wide range of destinations that we really want to see at least once  – but not enough to do a full on land based trip to. World Cruise legs allow you to explore a region of the world, like Asia, South America or Australia / New Zealand that you really want to see in a short space of time.

I have many articles and tips about cruising, and so visit the CRUISING tab at the top of the page for many more articles about cruising.

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