Newbie To Cruising

[stevo1]

Hello to all you cruisers, my wife and i would like to dip our toes so to speak, we would like to start with a short cruise maybe to the med(or somewhere warm anyway)we are in our late forties and would prefer a more sedate type of cruise. Any tips or suggestions would be greatfully recieved....thankyou in advance....steve

[HW tenpin]

Hello Steve welcome to Holidaywatchdog and the cruise forum.

Sedate cruise? Well all cruises can be this depending on how you want to spend your days, there are many quiet areas on board as well as many ways of spending your time ashore. The choice is vast, the Med is the perfect choice for a 7-day starter cruise, or even sailing from the UK from June onwards.

There are a few taster cruises mainly with P&O these can be from two days upwards from Southampton & Tilbury. Type taster cruises into your Brower.

As for the ships, Starting with Thomson, Ocean Village, Island Escape and the like.
These are very English and cater for easy going laid back cruisers, the anytime dinning being a feature. Expect a friendly atmosphere while not being in your face with what you do.
Reading between the lines I would say these are not for you. Although I love Thomson ships.

Which brings me to P&O, Costa, MSC, Holland America, more up-market a couple of Formal nights in the set dinning rooms, not compulsory, a little more elegance. Note Costa & MSC are Italian based and do have lots of French & Italians on board, but you will be seated with English speaking guests, and all announcements are also given in English at some point.

Princess, Carnival, Celebrity & Royal Caribbean are American and the surroundings reflect this, but do offer great cruises in 5star luxury and worth a good look, you will not be short of places to sit and relax if this is what you like.

Fred Olsen ships are smaller and offer the old fashioned style of cruising, meeting new people and making new friends.

You could click on my profile and read my cruise reviews from some of these ships, or go into the cruise forum and read the many reviews posted there from many others.

Hope this helps some, but if you want more answers just ask, I'll do my best to reply.
Also go into web sites and browse the web cams and ships features.

[stevo1]

Many thanks tenpin, most informative & very helpful. Will let you know when we have picked something suitable......best regards...Steve & val.