Cruise lovers/experts - please help me help the newbies!

[jimjams]

I agree, we've booked our first ever cruise for Arcadia in 2009, and looked at this forum for advice and tips from what we assumed would be helpful cruisers with knowledge and experience - but what we've found, is that there appears to be a hard core of self obsessed twits, who seem to take pleasure from winding people up the wrong way by twisting any subject matters into an opportunity for self promotion or a verbal slanging match. If we'd looked at this site before booking, we might have thought twice about booking, knowing that we might bump into a few of these types whilst on board.

I think I'll stop checking - and just keep our fingers crossed.

 

Hi milky-bar-man, my advice is to just ignore these childish posters! You will find that the majority of members on this wonderful forum are most helpful and sincere and will help you in any way possible. Don't let these ppl put you off posting, (ignore them and they just may go away :D!)

I do hope that you enjoy your first cruise, I have only done 3 up to date but I can honestly say I have really enjoyed each one and have met some lovely ppl on my travels.

Janet

[LibraLass41]

I would suggest Aurora or Arcadia

 

Arcadia is child free and very modern, with a great spa and two alternative restaurants -Gary Rhodes has one and The Orchid is a thai type restaurant, we have cruised on Arcadia 3 times so far and love her.

 

Ventura is a big family friendly ship, there will be children in the pools and around the ship and in the bars.... if they are happy with that good, but remember this when booking.

We did a Med cruise last year and a Eastern Med this, if going to Rome or Pisa/Florence best to book tours as the port is a long way from the city.

Tours are quite expensive but if they have never been to Rome or Florence then you do get to see a lot in a short time .

 

Sue

 

This is what I replied to the thread poster Sissey, I think what i said was fine? All the ships above I have sailed on and that was my opinion, god help any of us if we aren't allowed to comment or post our opinion.

[The Monocled Mutineer]

Haven't been on this site for a few days.

 

All opinion is very welcome.

 

What is even more welcome is folks respecting other folks opinion even if it contrary to their own experience.

 

People will have different experiences, levels of service, expectations, etc, etc, even on the same ship and same cruise.

 

We had a wonderful cruise on the Ventura Maiden, although I was aware that some folks were having the worst time of their lives.

[Gerrym]

Haven't been on this site for a few days.

 

All opinion is very welcome.

 

What is even more welcome is folks respecting other folks opinion even if it contrary to their own experience.

 

People will have different experiences, levels of service, expectations, etc, etc, even on the same ship and same cruise.

 

We had a wonderful cruise on the Ventura Maiden, although I was aware that some folks were having the worst time of their lives.

 

 

The sensible voice of Mr. Mutineer!

 

;)

[lostinvegas]

Right rather than give you an opinion about which is best/worst I will tell you about the Cruise I went on to the West Med about 4 years ago.

 

It was on Oceana and it was mine and my partners first cruise.

 

We picked P&O and Oceana because we wanted a British Ship. Also the itinerary was exactly what we wanted.

 

The ports we took in were. Southampton, Gilbralter, Sardinia (cannot remember the post), Rome, Florance/Piza, Cannes, Ibiza (Sanantonio), Bacelona, Southampton

 

The ship was great, just like a 5 star hotel in the UK, you can't really go wrong. Service, food, staff etc... were all incredible if you have never cruised before they will surpass any expection you have, trust me.

 

We had an inside cabin which was fine for us but it was tiny, so any upgrade would probably be welcome.

 

The Ports:

 

Gibralter: Was great for some shopping we did not do any of the excursions as they all looked a bit pricy for what they were. Its a funny destination very british but at the same time has a very continental feel.

 

Sardinia: was a waste of time it was Sunday and nothing was open, the beaches were all dirty and in general its somewhere i have no desire to re-visit.

 

Rome: A visit to the Roman ruins and the Vatican is a must. This was the best excursion of the whole holiday, We did the tour of the Roman forum and Collasium in the morning and the Vatican in the afternoon, it was simply fantastic. It was really hot though so remember your sun tan cream.

 

Florance: We were tired out after Rome so had a day on ship, which was great as it was really quiet :)

 

Cannes: Another day on ship forced on us because my partner was ill from heat stroke, probably as a result of the Rome trip. A great shame as others told us how good Cannes and Monaco was.

 

Ibiza: A bit of a cock up all the info said we were docking in Ibiza town but we ended up in Sanantonio for some reason. We had not planned an excursion so it did not bother us. We spent the day on the fantasic man made beach, did some shopping and had some drinks and food at the beach side bars and cafes. We had a great day and really enjoyed Sanantonio.

 

Barca: Another fantastic excursion, I am a big footie fan and my other half is likes architecture. So we did a tour of the Nou Camp in the morning and a bus ride past the Guadi late morning. We spent the afternoon up the "mountin" (which is a big hill) looking at the Olympic studium and the waterfalls. The view over the city from up there is fantastic.

 

Then is was 3 days at sea back to Southampton.

 

The 2 highlights were Barcelona and Rome really, so i would say make sure they are on the itinerary.

 

I am a big gambler and go to Vegas every year. We found although the Casino was small on P&O we could alway get on a blackjack table and it served our needs perfectly. We won enough money in th casino on the first night to pay our bar tab for the whole holiday so all in all it was a good result :)

 

I hope this information helps you.

 

Chris

[jimjams]

Right rather than give you an opinion about which is best/worst I will tell you about the Cruise I went on to the West Med about 4 years ago.

 

It was on Oceana and it was mine and my partners first cruise.

 

We picked P&O and Oceana because we wanted a British Ship. Also the itinerary was exactly what we wanted.

 

The ports we took in were. Southampton, Gilbralter, Sardinia (cannot remember the post), Rome, Florance/Piza, Cannes, Ibiza (Sanantonio), Bacelona, Southampton

 

The ship was great, just like a 5 star hotel in the UK, you can't really go wrong. Service, food, staff etc... were all incredible if you have never cruised before they will surpass any expection you have, trust me.

 

We had an inside cabin which was fine for us but it was tiny, so any upgrade would probably be welcome.

 

The Ports:

 

Gibralter: Was great for some shopping we did not do any of the excursions as they all looked a bit pricy for what they were. Its a funny destination very british but at the same time has a very continental feel.

 

Sardinia: was a waste of time it was Sunday and nothing was open, the beaches were all dirty and in general its somewhere i have no desire to re-visit.

 

Rome: A visit to the Roman ruins and the Vatican is a must. This was the best excursion of the whole holiday, We did the tour of the Roman forum and Collasium in the morning and the Vatican in the afternoon, it was simply fantastic. It was really hot though so remember your sun tan cream.

 

Florance: We were tired out after Rome so had a day on ship, which was great as it was really quiet :)

 

Cannes: Another day on ship forced on us because my partner was ill from heat stroke, probably as a result of the Rome trip. A great shame as others told us how good Cannes and Monaco was.

 

Ibiza: A bit of a cock up all the info said we were docking in Ibiza town but we ended up in Sanantonio for some reason. We had not planned an excursion so it did not bother us. We spent the day on the fantasic man made beach, did some shopping and had some drinks and food at the beach side bars and cafes. We had a great day and really enjoyed Sanantonio.

 

Barca: Another fantastic excursion, I am a big footie fan and my other half is likes architecture. So we did a tour of the Nou Camp in the morning and a bus ride past the Guadi late morning. We spent the afternoon up the "mountin" (which is a big hill) looking at the Olympic studium and the waterfalls. The view over the city from up there is fantastic.

 

Then is was 3 days at sea back to Southampton.

 

The 2 highlights were Barcelona and Rome really, so i would say make sure they are on the itinerary.

 

I am a big gambler and go to Vegas every year. We found although the Casino was small on P&O we could alway get on a blackjack table and it served our needs perfectly. We won enough money in th casino on the first night to pay our bar tab for the whole holiday so all in all it was a good result :)

 

I hope this information helps you.

 

Chris

 

Chris, sounds like you had a real blast! I have to say that Rome was indeed the highlight of our holiday, a truly wonderful city.

Thanks for sharing.:)

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[SissyGreen]

I have been reading all the posts with interest and would like to thank all of you for your comments and advice and for taking the time to consider my query. My dad is very excited about his first cruise and is probably sitting at home going through all his brochures as I write! I'll post his opinion on his return.

 

Thanks again

 

Sissy

[stopgo]

Its okay Sissy I am sure everybody hopes that your holiday lives up to your expectation.

[SissyGreen]

Just an update to my previous posts requesting assistance. My dad decided pretty last minute that he wanted to go on a Caribbean cruise, and he wanted to go in March as he cant stand the cold here at the mo! (And he thinks he may have the Med cruise later in the year if he likes this one!) So we booked a 13 night fly cruise on Ventura and he is really excited about it. He ended up booking an aft suite and they fly out to Barbados but come all the way back to Southampton on the ship. (which wouldnt be my choice, I'd prefer to fly back and have more time in the Caribbean but he's very happy to avoid the flight!)

 

Anyway I noticed a couple of posts re tips like being able to have breakfast in the White Room if you have a suite or about getting a breakfast delivered to the cabin - would appreciate any advice like that that I can pass on.

 

Thanks again for all your comments (as you can see we ended up booking something completely different!) and I will post his review for him when he's back.

 

Sissy