Which cruise line?

[ged1967]

We are looking to cruise on with one of the biggies nest year.

 

we have cruised on Thomson ships before but fancy something different.

 

We can't decide on Royal Caribbean or Princess cruises.

 

Any help? We are two GWM's UK based. Don't want it to be full of kids (looking at early May'14) or full of too many OAPs!

 

We made a mistake about 6 years ago and booked a Thomson ship on it's first week of the summer season and my granny would of felt young - I tell you!

 

Also where do the UK based cruisers get their best deals from?

 

I got a fab deal years ago by phoning around and going round TAs. Saved almost £600 on a two week cruise. I find most are about the same price.

 

Anyhelp would be appreciated.

 

Grant :)

[cruiserking]

If you're looking to avoid kids then you might want to steer clear of Royal Caribbean. RCCL features state of the art ships but, they cater to families. Perhaps one of the older ships with less bells and whistles.

 

I think you would really enjoy Princess, they are much more traditional and very elegant. Also with enormous ships. Take a look at Celebrity there new ships are very modern, elegant, with top service, restaurants and features.

 

Where do you want to cruise to?

 

Jonathan

[Guest maddycat]

We are looking to cruise on with one of the biggies nest year.

 

we have cruised on Thomson ships before but fancy something different.

 

We can't decide on Royal Caribbean or Princess cruises.

 

Any help? We are two GWM's UK based. Don't want it to be full of kids (looking at early May'14) or full of too many OAPs!

 

We made a mistake about 6 years ago and booked a Thomson ship on it's first week of the summer season and my granny would of felt young - I tell you!

 

Also where do the UK based cruisers get their best deals from?

 

I got a fab deal years ago by phoning around and going round TAs. Saved almost £600 on a two week cruise. I find most are about the same price.

 

Anyhelp would be appreciated.

 

Grant :)

 

Our favorite cruise line is RCI. RCI gets a good mixture of young and older cruisers. They have a wonderful children's program so that the kids are kept occupied. They have separate children's areas on the ships. If you cruise during school holidays you will most likely have more children on board. If you choose a longer cruise you will problable have more retired passengers.

 

It might be helpful if you post your question on the RCI board and the UK cruisers board.

 

Royal Caribbean International - Cruise Critic Message Board Forums

 

 

UK Cruisers - Cruise Critic Message Board Forums

[iheartbda]

Don't know if it makes any difference but a GWM couple that are good friends sail exclusively on Princess most anytime, anywhere with a mega number of cruises. They've never indicated they were bothered by young or old. Maybe "hydration" helps.:D

[OCruisers]

On Princess cruises we always cruise with LOTS of UK folks. It's one of our many favorite things about Princess. :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Cruisin' Chick]

Most US schools are still in session the first few weeks of May and some are still in session even as late as mid-June.

[skandls]

If you want a 'dressier' cruise have you thought about Celebrity. Less kids - more grown up and the new ships have a great martini bar on ice.

[springfire]

Royal over Princess

[Scrapnana]

Early May will mean fewer children on any cruise line. Longer cruises will also cut down on the number of kids but will often increase the number of older people (they are retired and have the time to cruise). I would also suggest looking into Celebrity. We did a Baltic cruise out of Dover a number of years ago in August and there were few children.

[Blondie008]

As a fellow Scot try looking at the Costa NeoRomantica ex Amsterdam - baltics - 1st June = fab cruise on a wonderful wee ship.

No kids places, all inclusive drinks package available at 19.5 euro per day, and flight to Amsterdam with KLM from Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Top that, with RBS (if you bank RBS) royalties gold 10% discount.

We have cruised this ship twice in the last year - is a league apart from the other Costa fleet. She is boutique style, beautiful ship.

On board, few Ukers but yes, we met a few Scots, lot of Dutch - and of course Italian.

A far cry from the Thomson/P&O style UK cruising..

Other Scots told us they loved MSC - havent tried them - but can vouch for that Baltics ex Amsterdam - great price, great cruise, and fab wee ship.

Actually - she may well be doing cruises ex savona or Barcelona in May - check out her route on the Costa UK website. She tends to do longer cruises, ie around 12 days - as opposed to costa's mass ships which are 7 days (and are not in her league!)

 

 

Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, United Kingdom

 

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Itinerary Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, United Kingdom Departure date 11 May 2014 Ship Costa neoRomantica Number of nights 10 Departure port Genoa

 

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[Blondie008]

Also - its worth noting for Costa, unless you are booking a suite, if a table for two only is important to you - pay the small extra and choose premium cabin as this gives you your dining options, table size etc. Late dining on NeoR can be 9.15pm - early 7.15pm.

[janetz]

Agreed that early May will not be loaded with kids. If your into entertainment venues and shows, the RC Oasis or Allure. fabulous entertainment!

Princess offers a fine product also, but you will not find the same entertainment options. :)

[ged1967]

OMG! I'm more confused than ever!!

 

Looking at Med Melody on Adventure of sea. ( we like the itinary, been to most ports already) We want nice weather, warm/hot enough to lie by pool or dip our toes in the sea.

 

Kids on board not that much of a bother - Just dont want to be surrounded by the little darlings. (one of our first cruises was on Thomson Destiny and we chatted to this couple quite a bit while onboard. It wsn't until in the check in queue at the airport to come home that we knew they had children - They'd been kept occupied by the Thomsons kids club)

 

 

We're not against the older cruiser. we've had nice convo with some, but it does seem that the older they are the less they want to chat, or maybe don't understand or approve of same sex couples.

 

RCI seems cheaper in than Princess.

 

How about getting the best price? I have in the past got good prices by shopping around. But it appears there is only about £50 difference between most TAs.

 

Do I bite the bullet this time and then use the same consultant for each subsequent cruise?

 

thanks again

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Try Holland America..

[skandls]

You may want to check out some of the deals that include drink packages. Many people on the eastern side of the pond like the more all inclusive aspect of not having to worry about paying for each drink. As I did suggest before look into Celebrity Cruise line - they seem to be offering the drinks package as free incentive to many European cruisers. Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity - We met many Brits on our Baltic cruise on the Celebrity Constellation. Many said they really liked Celebrity cruises.

 

Have not been on a cruise - that looked twice at same sex partners.