Don't waste your money on any of these 6 cruises I am going to warn you about.
Some of the cruises to avoid you may be surprised with
By the way, if you are new to the channel,
I am Gary Bembridge and my Tips For Travellers like this one are here to
help travellers make it easy to plan incredible and memorable cruise experiences every time.
As cruises get the go-ahead to start sailing again, stay
clear of the first few cruises on ships as they return to service. Wait until they have done a
few and they have bedded in, and ironed out the inevitable kinks and mis-steps.
You may be tempted to grab the bragging rights of being first out on a ship as
it starts sailing. But think about the experience as by waiting it will be better.
After well over a year of no sailing, the ships have been laid up and things
may not work smoothly, the crew have been stuck back at home and are out
of practice running the ship, taking care of guests, serving drinks, making meals,
and most critically there are complicated new rules and protocols that have to be learnt and
implemented - and there will almost inevitably be hiccups and things will not run smoothly.
Let them all bed in through a few cruises before booking.
The other cruises to steer clear of are maiden voyages.
Despite the pandemic, lines and investors are confident cruising will grow,
and there are large numbers of new ships coming into service year after year.
There is a legion of cruise fans that
live to cruise on a brand-new ship first. They want to be first to stay in that cabin
and to experience all the new onboard activities. It is bragging rights for life!
For example, I was at the naming ceremony for Seabourn Encore in Singapore and there was a
whole section of people there that have been on every new Seabourn Maiden voyage
However, I recommend that you skip them.
First, you will not actually be the first to stay in that cabin or try out the facilities.
Lines run a series of voyages called "Shakedown Cruises" after they take
delivery of the ship from the shipyard and before that Maiden voyage with paying guests.
These are with employees first, and then with media, travel industry and agents. I
have been on many of these over the years as one advantage of being based in Europe,
where all the ships are built, these are aways run here and so have been on many of them
Secondly, and more importantly, things generally do not run totally
smoothly on a maiden voyage. It's a brand new ship and it is the first time with a
full complement of passengers, as the "Shakedown Cruises" are usually less than half capacity.
Every maiden voyage I have been on there have been workmen from the shipyard still on board
finishing things off and making repairs. Sometimes all the facilities have not been able to open.
Often the shows are still being finalised and rehearsed to be previewed on the cruise.
The systems are stress tested now the ship is full
and often need tweaking, as does things as simple as getting people on and off the ship excursions.
So, to ensure a greater experience
I would suggest to stay clear of maiden voyages and let the ship bed in a bit more.
Also avoid the first cruise when ships coming out of their dry docks.
Ships are required by law to go into dry dock every few years
for safety checks and maintenance, and lines often use these to make upgrades.
These can range from changing simple decor, carpets and replacing beds,
to adding whole new decks and cabins through to cutting a ship in half and extending it.
Lines don't want to take the ship out of service for too long because obviously they lose revenue,
so they will tend to put it in dry dock for a very tight amount of time,
so the amount of time to work on the ship to make these changes is limited.
So, again in my experience, ships will leave dry dock with things
not bedded in, and things not really working.
Again it is likely you will have workmen on board, noise and things are still being fitted
and changed. You may find some venues closed, the small of fresh paint around and so on
So again, let a sailing or two go by before you book
Also, watch out and stay clear of the last cruise before a ship goes into dry dock. As time is
tight, preparation can often start on that cruise with things being ripped out, removed or closed.
How do you know if a ship is going into dry dock? Look at the cruise schedule and see if there is
a gap in dates after or before your cruise. It could mean the ship is being chartered,
so not on sale to the general public, but more likely a dry dock.
If you're thinking of cruising in the Mediterranean, I would steer clear
of cruises in the peak of summer (July into August). Not only because it can get very hot,
but if those cruises are going to places like Rome, Venice, Barcelona and Florence, these
places will be absolutely packed with land-based travellers and hoards of cruise passengers too.
It will not make for great sightseeing as everywhere will be crowded and slow.
Instead look at shoulder months to the peak season:
I like June or from mid September to end of October, which will be cheaper too
The opposite applies in Alaska though, where the peak months of that season are better
Cruises in May and September are priced lower than sailings in June, July, or August.
But those peak months are more likely to have better weather for sightseeing.
But generally around the world steer clear
of the peak months and go for the shoulder months for a better experience.
This next one is something that I used to recommend, but now suggest people
steer well clear of. And that is the short 2 or 3 night taster cruises that most lines run.
Many first-time cruisers like the idea of trying these short cruises to see if they
like cruising and the line, before committing to a full week or longer.
There two reasons I steer clear of these now, and suggest you do too.
First , ships are getting so much bigger and have so much to try and do
that you really will not have time to properly experience it to draw any conclusions, especially
if they are calling on ports you will be on the ship almost no time at all.
And the lines often run a more limited range of activities too.
And secondly, they do not really show you what the line and ship is really like
as they increasingly attract a crowd that is not typical for the line.
These are often run on long weekends, Spring Break and other holidays
and so have become short (and usually very good value) party trips. Which is great if you are
looking for that - but it is not going to be that representative of the cruise normally.
Another cruise to stay clear of, is when there are themed cruises
that you are not a part of. Third parties often run themed cruises on cruise ships.
They could be for a conference or themed around motorcycle enthusiasts, Star Trek,
Game of Thrones, certain Boy Bands or right down to a smaller niches like crafting and knitting.
However, if they've chartered a lot of berths then parts of the ship
may be closed to cruise passengers not on the themed cruise,
some facilities like bars, nightclub or theatre may be closed at certain
times to you too. There may be special events going on that you're not allowed to attend.
I have had people contacting me saying they found themselves with hoards of bikers,
Sci-Fi fans or doctors based on the themed cruise, which has
sometimes made it a less enjoyable cruise experience for them.
It is harder to check if your cruise is part chartered for one of those,
as the lines do not make that clear on the site or brochure.
The simplest way is to put the name of your ship
and the dates into a search engine like Google and search, because if there is a themed cruise
on your particular cruise it will usually bring up the themed cruise if there is one.
If those are 6 cruises to steer clear of,
what are ones you should be looking at? I have put together a short playlist of videos
of cruises I recommend you focus on. So why not click on that link to watch those right now!