Going on a cruise, what is it really like?

Hurtigruten in Norway are wonderful and do support local areas, not only because they carry cargo for small places, but because they buy local food and use local guides and transport for excursions. Small ships too, so no towering over the port buildings.

Just sailing out of Southampton on a Fred Olsen cruise to Norway. Very civilised, small ship, entertainment there if you want it, apparently good solo deals.

I wouldn't risk it, in case Jane Macdonald was on there.

Just joking.

Ooh, I’ll be very interested to know more as you journey along. Thank you.

About the Fred Olsen cruise.

I went with P &O November 23, so just over a year ago.

The initial price seemed reasonable but once on board everything was geared to making you pay more.

The provided food was poor but you could pay more to eat in one of the special restaurants.

The provided coffee was undrinkable but you could pay for Costa coffee.

There were not enough sun-beds or chairs but you could pay more for a sunbed in an exclusive area where the best pool was.

There was very little entertainment but you could pay to enter other quizzes or games. Or pay to go to a select party/disco type thing.

The Casino was vast and so indoor seating in lounge areas was inadequate and you could only sit in some areas if you bought drinks from the bar.

The Games room, ( which I foolishly thought would have Scrabble or something) was all electronic machines that you had to pay to play.

Excursions have to be paid for but I was surprised when there was no transport from quite remote docking into town unless you paid.

We chose not to pay for much and were a bit bored. I reckon we could easily have spent £2000 - 3000 more accessing anything more than the quite poor basics.

(Just as an example my included dinner one evening was 2 slices of processed turkey, like you would put in a sandwich, 2 small re-heated roast potatoes and some green beans. Followed by a sort of Angel Delight for dessert. After that we went to the buffet. It was pretty much processed, freezer type food but at least you could see what you were getting.)

I wouldn’t go with P&O again.

Which ship was it so I can avoid it.

I agree re P&O. Once was enough for us.
We have a friend, a widow in her 80s who absolutely loves Fred Olsen cruises. Apparently they cater really well for ladies on their own. Nice cabins, good food, civilised activities. I've no personal experience of them but my friend currently has three more cruises booked with them. She doesn't care where the ship goes. She just enjoys shipboard life.

We have had several cruises with Fred Olsen, sailing out of Southampton, which is convenient for us. Small ships, which we prefer and is very civilised!
We choose by itinerary
and have also cruised with Holland America, which was lovely, especially the food, but rather American! (clue in the name!!)
We also cruised with Marella, which we thought was very good value and visited many interesting ports in the Med.

We've been with P&O, Cunard QM2 (from NY to the UK), Saga and Swan Hellenic (now too expensive). We enjoyed them all.

I would say beware of new companies. A friend of mine went on a horrendous cruise to the Galapagos. The further they got from England the worse things became. It turned out that the Galapagos was a new venture for them and a lot of their plans hadn't worked out. Her legal action is still ongoing.

We did our first cruise in 23 with MSC we had a fabulous time. I’ve always said no way to a cruise in case it was Butlins at sea but we had such a great time. We are doing the same cruise line but a different itinary this year and can’t wait. I would recommend it to anyone. MSC is a bit more budget and my DH and I could afford a more expensive cruise but with our friends it was brilliant. It was the best holiday.

Thanks to all who’ve replied, I’m grateful.

We have found a starter cruise with Saga which I will be phoning them up about on Monday. If we like it, and I feel sure we will, then we will venture further afield later in the year.

Be careful with mini cruises. They often have lots of hen parties, and stag dos.

woodenspoon

Which ship was it so I can avoid it.

I think it’s generally P&O s way of doing things now. Budget cruises and then pay for extras. Bit like RyanAir😬

This was a family ship. If they still do adult only it might be a bit different, re entertainment?

We have been on quite a few cruises and enjoyed them all. Do what you want to do and leave the rest. Never had any problems with food, always been very good no matter which cruise line.
Our favourite is Saga which can seem a bit expensive but some excursions are included. We didn’t need to spend any extra money unless we were in port .
The crew couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful. Good entertainment day and evening if you wanted it. Always plenty of of quiet places .
Of course you need to try before you make your mind up everyone likes different things.

Just a word of warning about doing your own thing regarding excursions. If you get back late the ship will sail and you will have to make your own way to catch up with it.

We love a cruise as we don't like flying. We did two cruises with Royal Caribbean, both nice ships Explorer of the Seas and Independence of the Seas. Love waking up at a new port in the Mediterranean every day. Food was very good.

We tried P & O and the first two cruises were OK. Food not too bad, entertainment good. Then we tried P&Os new big ship Arvia. It is too big, queues at the lifts even and the food was poor. Really put us off. P&O may be cheaper bit they've cut back on included food. There were more restaurants on the ship that were extra cost.

We did go on a river cruise in Egypt down the Nile. That was very pleasant.

I am also looking at cruises specifically the Danube to the Black Sea.
I have been on a Nile cruise about 30 years ago which to my surprise I absolutely loved. Not too many people and most, on my table at least, were singletons and really good company. I'm sorry can't remember the name of the company I booked with - it was one that advertised regularly in the weekend papers. All the excursions were Included and the guides spoke excellent English

I'd be steering clear of the Black Sea right now!!

One week interesting cruise from Vancouver to Alaska, through the inside passage with Celebrity. Excellent service and food. Plenty of excursions to chose from.

Last night, we watched Susan Calman followed by the Good Ship Murder. Are these realistic portrayals of what it is like on a cruise ship?
Oh goodness, a week or two with Susan Calman! 😯
She's funny but in small doses.

followed by the Good Ship Murder.
I've been on a couple of cruises but don't remember any murders, perhaps I missed them.

Some of those cruise ships look so huge, as if they could topple over. I'd definitely choose a smaller one.

We’ve been on two Riviera Travel river cruises in Europe and they were brilliant. We have another lined up in July. We have separate cabins, brilliant food and everything included. All drinks are included too. Excellent staff and trips. We’ve also done a Viking cruise to the Norwegian fjords and that was good too. OH gets very sea sick so we generally stick to river cruises.

Loads on cruises on YouTube, what to expect, things to do! Worth a look

Interesting how different areas like different cruises. P and O isn’t considered too good here but probably just different expectations. We once went with Carnival but never again. We like to have good food and that particular ship didn’t cut it. You do get loyalty benefits on some cruises so we get a few freebies with Princess. If you go on YouTube and put in the name of the ship you like they often have a ‘tour’ by independent people- very handy.