Booked my first cruise

Thanks to all those who have taken the trouble to answer all my questions over the last few days:). Ive now booked my first ever cruise for myself, wife and 8yr old son with Bon Voyage...

P&O Ventura N515

28th May 2015

14 night Mediterranean (from Southampton)

Obstructed window cabin

Potential cabin upgrade

£820 OBC

Select Fare £3311

Really looking forward to our first cruise. Just need to look at excursions now.:)

Thanks to all those who have taken the trouble to answer all my questions over the last few days:). Ive now booked my first ever cruise for myself, wife and 8yr old son with Bon Voyage...

 

 

 

P&O Ventura N515

 

28th May 2015

 

14 night Mediterranean (from Southampton)

 

Obstructed window cabin

 

Potential cabin upgrade

 

£820 OBC

 

Select Fare £3311

 

 

 

 

 

Really looking forward to our first cruise. Just need to look at excursions now.:)

Well done. You will have a great time and so will your son in the kids club.

You have lots of OBC to use but we have also used cruisingexcursions.com for trips and they are much better value than the cruise line.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Good for you. I am sure it will be the first of many cruises. If you have a lot of ports sometimes using the HoHo bus is a good option to give you a flavour of the place and you can get on and off when you want.

Well done, you will have a great time. Ignore all the negative comments, go with an open mind and don't worry about minor problems. Everyone has concerns about their first cruise but most go back for many more. A friend of ours who is a travel agent once told me that they like to get first time cruisers because they can almost guarantee return business.

How exciting! You will probably become hooked like the rest of us! We went as a "one off" for our Silver Anniversary in 2012 and we have since been twice more and are on the Azura again in June.

Have a fab time :)

You have lots of OBC to use but we have also used cruisingexcursions.com for trips and they are much better value than the cruise line.

Are they the exact same excursions as run by P&O?

Are they the exact same excursions as run by P&O?

Congratulations Kevin I am sure you will be booking more in the future following a fantastic and memorable holiday.

Cruise Line excursions are obviously booked through the cruise line either before you embark and or once on board. The big differences are the prices are a bit higher but if the excursion runs late, the line will hold up the departure of the ship for cruise lines own organised excursions for those people delayed so they can get back to the ship.

Independent excursions are undertaken by you by simply going your own way after getting off the ship or pre-booking with a local company or using an excursion specialist. I use http://www.viator.com which has tours under each country and region or town and their web site for some. You reserve and pay then turn up with excursion printout and your passport as ID. You have to be a bit more cautious with over running timewise as if you go on an independent should you return to the quayside late the ship will not wait for you!

I should look at both options and go for a mix but you need to find out the times the ship will be at each port and make sure you can get back to it in a timely manner.

Regards John

Thanks you John.

I wonder what that feeling is actually like, when you return to dock and see your ship disappearing onto the horizon. It must be quite sickly!!:eek:

Thanks you John.

 

I wonder what that feeling is actually like, when you return to dock and see your ship disappearing onto the horizon. It must be quite sickly!!:eek:

I can Steve, I remember watching an edition of "Airline" the programme about Easyjet and there was a couple flying out to get to a ship in the Med for a cruise. Easyjet had double booked the seats and the staff knew the peoples plane was full and taking off without them. When the people were told they were a bit miffed as this was the last available plane to get to embarkation port in time. They went for plan B fly to next port of call and arrive day before as planes travel quicker than ships easy to do but they had lost a day of their seven day cruise. Got to that port fine and decided it would be a good idea to video ship coming in. They sat on the quayside to do video but a storm came up and the video showed the ship coming in on the very rough seas. When it got quite near it turned around and disappeared back over the horizon, because the captain had decided to miss that port due to unsafe sea conditions.

Always fly in day before on fly cruises and stay in hotel nearest the port!

See also "cruise runners" on Youtube.

Regards John

Oh wow. Well done. I am sure you will be hooked instantly like myself and my his and and everyone else on here. Have a fab fab time all of you![emoji569]️[emoji572]️

You'll have a great time. We went on our first proper cruise on Ocean Village 2 as a 'one off' and have only been on land once since then. :)

Well done and welcome to Cruise Critic. I have just one suggestion - start saving NOW - it is very very addictive!!

See also "cruise runners" on Youtube.

John, those videos are hilarious :D