Hints On Booking Cruises

I know a lot of people that have been on cruises and none of them have returned with Covid. Some cruise lines are better than others.

I would guess that the ships with fewer passengers and a higher crew to passenger ratio are much more likely to end up Covid free.

Some of the biggest ships take nearly 7,000 passengers and have 2,100 crew where as smaller ships have 1250 passengers and 800 crew,. Other size ships are available.

 

River cruises can be sightseeing intensive as you're at a different place each day. Usually you have a choice of excursion at each stop and most companies offer you one excursion free which is normally one of their cheaper ones. So if you want one of the others you pay extra. Some companies allow a choice of excursions free.

A very popular one is on the river Danube but most of the cruises are good. If you like wine and port tasting then a cruise on the river Douro (Portugal) is a must. Most cruise companies offer extra days at either end of the cruise at a town or city.

Further afield there are some good cruises in Asia - Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and, before the recent troubles, Myanmar. A trip on the Ganges with a combined land holiday to the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Jaipur and Agra) is also a good choice. As with all foreign holidays you need to choose a time of year that suits you from a weather point of view.

@CanadianLori of course, nearer home for you are Canadian river cruises or down in the U.S. where the most popular river cruise is on the Mississippi.

The river Nile is also popular.

 

If you do decide to pick a river cruise in Europe and want to pop over our way you are welcome to stay in our summerhouse here at Shineyland.

 

Yes, some of the cruise companies call their smaller ships 'boutique'. Oceania and Regent Seven Seas have about 700 passengers.

 

As with everything, you need to decide your priorities. If you like sightseeing the destinations you need to pick a cruise where they give you more time at the sites. In the Med most ships try to get to the islands by 7 a.m. and leave in the evening. Some ports they will stay overnight but it depends on the length of the cruise you book. On a seven night cruise they can't stay overnight (some only spend just over half a day at each port) whereas longer cruises give more ports of call but also longer at each port.

I received two emails today advertising cruises in the Med. One had an itinerary with port arrival 'early morning' and departure 'early afternoon'. The other had arrival 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. with departures between 5 p.m. and, with most of them, 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. I wouldn't recommend the first one.

Most companies will offer a pre or post cruise three day stay.

 

To find a cruise like that is difficult and would need something over a month and a lot of dough!

Best done as two separate cruises

In the old days you could find cargo ships that would take about a dozen passengers and you could change from one to another when you needed to go in another direction. The sort of thing you fancy could take four to six months but be very cheap. Cabin would be comfortable, food good and you could drink with the crew.