3 July 2021
Drawing up a personal checklist of requirements helps deal with the age-old cruise dilemmas: balcony or inside cabin, booking early versus last-minute, and big ship or small.
With hundreds of cruise ships with offering a bamboozling array of different itineraries, the choice for cruise-goers is exciting but a little overwhelming at times.
Each ship is unique, each cruise company different and although some itineraries may look the same, the style of delivery will vary from one cruise operator to another - together with the price tag, of course.
Cruise goers tend to book early, as soon as the itineraries are released, which is often 18 to 24 months before the ship sets sale.
Most passengers either have a departure date in mind, an itinerary they are keen to book, or a favourite ship they want to secure a place on. Numerous factors can influence the date that you choose for your cruise, for example the Caribbean hurricane season is something to avoid. The itineraries will take into consideration the location, it’s festival calendar and regional weather patterns but you will still need to check that it’s not too hot, too wet or too cold for you to enjoy.
From this starting point, take time to work out the rest of the details, such as cabin preference, cruise duration and budget. Cruise prices rise steadily after the release of the itinerary, and this provides extra incentive to cruise fans to book early. Though there may occasionally be some cut-priced cruise deals available at the last minute, this is only if there are remaining cabins on a departure which, for some reason,haven’t sold.
The cruise sector is the fastest-growing category in the leisure travel market world-wide, so there are ongoing changes, but at present most ships have four main cabin types and prices:
- Outside cabins (with a window)
- Balcony cabins
- Suites (with a separate living area and bedroom
- Inside cabins
Choosing a cabin is a matter of personal preference but although it may be tempting to pay the extra premium for a window, consider the view. Many seasoned cruise-goers without any budgetary constraints choose to book an inside cabin because they feel that the balconyisn’t worth the extra cost to simply look at miles of seas. They claim the views are better up on deck.
Another important consideration is the embarkation point of the cruise. In the U.K., ships depart from London, Southampton, Dover, Liverpool and Greenock; other European homeports for ocean-going cruises include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Venice, Copenhagen and Athens, among others. In Australia, most cruise ships sail from Sydney, but Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Fremantle (Perth) offer some departures.
Caribbean cruises generally depart from Miami or Fort Lauderdale.
The fastest-selling cabins are those that sleep three or four people with the cheapest inside cabins also selling quickly. Those with a flexible budget, travelling as a couple, can afford to take a little more time hand-picking the cruise that meets their individual needs - regardless of what it may cost.
Whatever you hope to do and see, cruises take planning and most big cruise liners advise that you start by doing plenty of homework so that you can crystallise the key points that are crucial to your trip. Your first list should pinpoint the preferred date, cruise line, ship, itinerary and price. Secondary points – which help with fine tuning your cruise vacation - should include any personalpreferences such as the style, attitude and brand goals of cruise ship companies (with any recommendations who may have received from friends and family) together with notes about the things that you may particularly want to see and do, such as a particular city, or a certain part of the world, or something less specific, such as palm trees, idyllic beaches and Calypso bars.
Some cruise liners are more expensive than others, but even some of the ultra-luxurious can offer great value for money. Considering that some (if not all) food, onboard activities, entertainment and socialising are included in your base fare, the total vacation cost is often less than comparable vacations on land. The size of the cruise ship is another key point to ponder, as the experience is very different aboard a small liner to that the size of a small city. Most tend to carry between 1,000 and 6,000 passengers with the biggest ships often offering newer facilities with a heftier price tag to match. Larger ships are steadier, so seasickness is less of an issue. Smaller ships can be friendlier, and easily to navigate but can also be older vessels with less to do on-board. Consider, are you most looking forward to exploring different ports of call, or having fun on the ship? Your checklist should be identify the less important aspects and potentially flexible options together with those non-negotiable cruise essentials that simply can’t be skipped. From this, you should be able to narrow down the suitable cruise options that promise the style of cruise vacation that is your dream come true.
