We have cruised on many different lines, have 3 kids so been at the family stage you are at. In our view best we have seen for families is royal Carribean, and Norwegian also get a good name (will experience them for 1st time next week on Jade). Both Independence of the Seas (new ship 2008) and Norwegian Jade (2006) go from Southampton into the Med.

The newest P&O ship, Ventura, has just been launched this year and is is being marketed as family friendly and is another alternative. Would ask about Ventura for next June, and also enquire about the other 2 ships mentioned. The last thing you need is a bored 18 year old, and the newer ships are much more geared up for them.

OOPS sale not sail> Too much cruising!

Sue

Lost my post will reply later

Sue

I would look for the two cabin option unless the big one is family friendly and that depends on the ship/line

Rather than connecting consider an outside/balcony/suite with an inside opposite it's cheaper

Hi I wrote a long post earlier and lost it somehow. As Graham says it is easy to cruise out of Southampton these days. You mention Oceana and as you know this is now a P&O ship. The new Ventura is their super class liner and new this year. As you have kids they would probably do well with this size of ship which has so much to offer. There were some very good deals this year for people who booked very early in fact right when the booking became available. You will get a very British product here.
With R
RCI is an American company so the experience will be different but for me I enjoy this in some ways more. They do a great family cruise and again with their new ship Independance of the Seas geared to the family market and also very much with this ship to the UK family market. She is huge also and as Graham says great for kids.
Princess have Sea Princess and they will have one of the Grand class sailing out of Southampton next year.

On talk of early or late booking it depends. At the outset there will be incentives to book early eg £100-200 per cabin perhaps. With RCI you can book right at the beginning as if the prices come down you can have that price drop applied to your booking. Just need to get your TA to ask RCI for you. Some people in the UK say that their agents are not keen to do this. Inform them that under the conditions of pricing it states that if the price falls by 2% this will be applied to your booking.
I have just gained from this again recently as 2 cruises I have booked for this year one in August and the other in November have come down in price. Just keep watching their web site.
I would always book with a TA as almost all agents will give you a 10% discount a few maybe 1% more
For me I use the same agent as she always does very well by me. I price around then call her and she knows I am honest and she will give me the very best price possible. .
On rooms if you can afford to book 2 rooms then do it and as suggested book one inside for the kids and another for yourselves. If what you can afford is 2 insides then just go for it. For me it makes no difference to how much I enjoy my holiday.

No doubt others will be able to give you more advice as I am most of the time cruising solo and even if not then still paying for my own room as I don't want to share.
Another site to look at is Cruise Critic you will get a lot of information there and also be able to register for a Roll Call for the people who are actually on the same cruise.
It was on these sites that I found out about the price drops and then thought it was only for the US passengers. I mentioned this to Ali and she told me that they will do it for the UK also.
I have gained price drops many times now and I keep watching just in case!!

Sue

Wow
thanks so much for the info
Been looking around and talking to the family
to see what they want out of the cruise
My eldest daughter is keen to see Monaco and Oceana do it in their itinerary
also found the Grand Princess do Monaco and they were coming out
a little cheaper too!
Youngest daughter wants a disco or kids entertainment (she loves these cheesy magicians you get in the Spanish
hotels!)
I want some informal dining, nice places to visit and somewhere comfy to read my book
Think I will keep looking around and finding out more about the ships and what they have to
offer!
I also dont think hubby will wanna go for the full dressing up thing for dinner
he is by no means a football shirt at dinner kind of fella, but nor is he a tux wearer either
so a happy medium somewhere inbetween

Hi Shaz,
We are doing a cruise on NCL Jade from Southampton this year (June 13th). We have never done one of the "big" ships before but my husband also can't fly this year.

The port you should look for to do Monaco is Villefranche, where you can go to Nice or Monaco easily by train if you don't want to do a ship tour, which can be expensive for 4 of you.

We chose NCL because of the no tux needed for men, it is what they call resort casual, which is smart but not formal.

I will let you know how we find it when we get back, I think they do have quite a good reputation for kids clubs too.

Hi shaz,
I'm doing the travel course at college and i would advice you to book early and do some resarch before booking i.e. who to travel with, what you looking for as in facilites etc.

Hope that helps
Atyyah

Hi, I would get on the web sites and get the brochures(mail easer than going into a TA), some lines do DVD's of their offerings so get those as well. read up what they say they offer for cruise lines they are usualy fairly honest unlike the hotel holidays which seem to over sell.

Read as many reviews as you can but beware of the moaners, you are looking for the details that are important to you like the kids clubs.

All ships have the quiet spots,

P&O will tend to more formal, Princess.RCI, you can get buy with no formal at all but smart/jacket is kind of prefered, NCL is what you want(withn reason).

Allthough we don't have kids(so this is speculation/observation) it does seem that the young ones have great clubs/activities, there seems to be a bit if a gap for young adults but if there is enough similar aged or happy with more adult things then she should be fine. One port on a 14 cruise might not be enough to keep her on-side.(shoe shopping in Cadiz is good).

As for Monaco this is easly done from all the riviera ports, Nice,cannes etc so don't rule out a cruise just because it does not stop at Monaco.

I know it is a long way off but depending on where you live you might want to look at how you get to the ports, UK booking will come with parking/coach/cheap air, if traveling a distance and want to drive considering a stop overnight so you break drive and still get to the port in sensible time, early boarding will be around 11:00am so you can get lunch on the ship and spend the rest of the day exploring, plenty of cheap places withing 2-3hour drive rather than do it in one stretch getting up early.

Definately look at booking through the US, NCL should work out a lot cheaper, RCI/Princess/P&O not such big differences and not so easy but if the saving are there is may ne worth it.

We are currently NCL fans so this is their offering for next year.nothing for May though.
http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/booking/cruisedetails.html?packageId=1637278

Have a look at the AB grade cabin with two berdooms/bathrooms not cheap though with 4 sharing it does bring the price down per person.

Princess Grand class also have a family cabin to sleep 4 with extra bathroom.

An idea of budget? would help give people an Idea what to look for, remember that you will need spends money, tips,drinks,trips and this can add up. for a family of 4 £1.5k min, on top of the cruise fare and probably more if you do a lot of things and like a drink, even DIY trips soon add up when there are 4 of you.(tips will be around $10pppd so $560).

Summary of the main lines/ships doing your desired trip May-July 2009.
P&O Ventura,oceana,oriana
Princess Grand
RCI Independence
NCL Jade
Cunard Victoria, QM2

Thanks so much for all your help and advice, I spent most of yesterday surfing and pricing up!
I read reviews and weighed up pro's and con's and I think we have found the cruise for us!
It is on the Grand Princess and sails from Southampton on 30th May 2009
I have had some quotes for outside cabins but with restricted views, but to be honest the price is
very good and I dont think I mind looking at the side of a lifeboat!!!
(any tips on getting upgrades to unrestricted views or am I just pushing my luck???)

If we are prepared to share a cabin (we have my MIL and FIL joining us on the cruise and the youngest child
11 will share with them) we have got all 4 of us for £2500
I think thats a pretty good price, both kids were free even though eldest is 18!
Same price for MIL and FIL.
Has anyone any tips on where else I could get a quote from, tried Iglu, cruise bureau (nice people there and good price and no CC charges) and ideal cruising
got an emailed quote from cruise deals but had to pay full price for 18 yr old so they were miles out!

Gonna show in laws the pics and spec tomorrow and hopefully book in the next few days

Good choice, been on the Golden a sister ship twice and enjoyed.

Interesting itinerary in that it does the 2 days a sea into the Med most have a stop at somewhere on teh way down/back like Lisbon.

One thing these ships are huge and by booking early you should be able to get a cabin in a good location. Getting from the front to the back takes ages and is a long walk.

On this ship I would avoid anything in front of the forward elevators(execpt the first couple of cabins) something near the misship elevators would be best, so check which grade of OOV you have been offered some are not is such good locations (hh,g,gg,f,ff,e). allthough it looks like ony FF are for 3/4 pax so these are OK position wise. make sure you get 2 that hold 3-4 might be best to book as a 3/3 and not a 4/2 also make sure you link the cabins you probably don't want one of your cabins getting upgraded and the other not so you end up appart or on differnt decks.

A quick look at US pricing and I don't think they will come close for two cabins 3pax.

Princess UK price on-line baed on a 3share in a FF is

Passenger 1 £1,319.00
Passenger 2 £1,319.00
Passenger 3 FREE
Total £2,638.00
(princess on-line have a 5% discount)
An agent should knock 10% off and look at free parking/transfers/reduced air.
This extra 5% makes the price of £2500 about right but with some shopping around you might find someone to sweeten the deal a bit more.

Normalish pricing for 14night med cruises in May is around £700-£1kpp(insides) so the free places are a sweetener but 1-2pax are on the high side. over all not too bad with the good choice of cabins. It could pay to leave it and get 3 cabins for similar money allthough it would get more difficult to find 3 together the later you leave it.

You might want to price up the XS suite that would sleep all 6 of you but looking at tht differentials on other grand cruises(i don't have hte cuurent Med brochure) it would probably be a lot more.

May 9th 2009 trip looks a bit cheaper £2,410.00.

Just to make this clear I priced as 3 adults so the 3rd PAX was free so any agent should be offernin gthe same since it is a princess deal get back to anyone that prices different especialy if there 2pax rate is good.

Thanks so much Windjammer

We did look at the 9th May cruise, but as its SATS for youngest daughter we arent allowed to take her out of school in early May.
I have been looking at some outside pics of the Grand Princess and the cabins where the lifeboats are (Emerald Deck) arent fully covered, so I think it will do us.

Only one slight worry now, are the agents that you see on the internet safe to book through?
The one I am swayed to is a member of ABTA, and I think we will put the deposit on a CC to cover us further.

Just waiting to hear back from the inlaws today as they havent even seen a pic of the ship or anything and then once I get the nod I am gonna book

Let the planning commence!
I dont think I have been this giddy about a holiday for a long long time

I use on-line agents if the price is right.

Check other bondings ATOL and the other one TTA..

Most should book you acting as an Agent for an ATOL holder which will be Princess and should just pass on the CC details for Princess to take the money, this is how both our last cruses were done Celebrity and NCL(through the US),

If this is the case(ask) then you are just looking at Princess going bust(which means Carnival Corp) and if that happens then a lot of people are in the dodos. Most cruiselines do honor bookings onces on there system and you can show prove of payment.

One other thing to check is the TA's policy on price reductions, will they forward requests to the cruise line for refunds if the price goes down, some will, some won't.

Exciting stuff this cruise lark, If you live down south then look out for good deals on short cruises to fill the gap till next year.

hi there try asking Ali at Scotland's Cruise Centre as she has given me a very good deal always. Quote what you have been offered and see what she can come up with.
Tel 0800 010 0053 If you call her tell her Susan (as she knows me) recommended her. It doesn't cost anything to make the call and you never know. Jetline are an internet booking agent also but they are home workers and very pushy or rather Max the one who dealt with me was. They only get paid if they sell so that explains it. I would not book with them and this Guy had been really nasty on the phone. I was told that he was given a written warning.
Best at cruises is another but I don't know them/ Voyana is another but again can't say anything about how they are to deal with. Sovereign Cruises are a good company I think. You have time on your side so there is no urgency so take a bit of time and make a few calls.
I have been booking with this Company for many years now and I am always happy with the way they deal with me.
Any questions problems price drops etc I either call her or I will email her. In fact today I see a price drop for my August Cruise with Celebrity. It is for an oveer 55 and I am not sure if the company will allow it or not it may be only for a new booking.
Emailed Ali at 2.pm came back at 5.15pm and had a reply. Slight problem in the way things were added up as they had not added in the fuel supplement. I didn't notice this however I have now sent another email and there is still a price difference.
She probably won't be able to come back to me until tomorrow.
Cruising is ADDICTIVE!! For me it pays to have a good TA as this year I will have taken 3 cruises and also 3 last year, Most years it is 2 but well life is too short.

Princess is a good product. I have been on Golden Princess about 3-4 years ago and really enjoyed it. If you look at the deck plan on line you can perhaps identify where there is a bigger gap and this can mean you are not right jam in the middle of a lifeboat but rather between boats. Again I would say try to be as near mid ship as possible as they are big ships. I didn't ever notice it when I was out on deck or in the public rooms but when you look along the corridor when going to your room it is large. Passnegers no around 2700 so not anything like the super cruise liners eg Independence. The QM2 is bigger but with the same no of passengers so more space per passenger.

The Horizon Court the self serve is open 24 hours and you can sneak up there anytime to just have some ice cream or cake or a meal if you so wish.

Hope this all helps!

Sue

Well thanks everyone, we have booked
Sorry Keela1eva2 I was at work this evening and didnt see your post
or I would have tried your TA.
I got quite a few emailed and phone quotes and decided to go with Cruise Bureau
I liked the guy I spoke to, nothing was too much trouble and when I rang him back today the cabins
we had discussed yesterday had gone
So I panicked a bit and thought I had better book, we needed 2x 4 berth cabins so our little girl
can spend a few nights with her grandparents and they were booking up fast!
So maybe I have missed out a little on the bartering but I think I have done ok

So we are GOING yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I am gonna drive you mad with the questions I just know it!
I feel like most ports I just wanna explore on our own, but the one port I wanna do properly is Rome!
So I think the proper tour for that is required!
Have no idea how much a tour is
Your truly
excited of Leeds

Hi Shaz

Congratulations on booking your cruise! There are loads of topics in here that you will find useful. There is one titled New to Cruising which has most newbie's questions HERE

There is a sticky at the top of the forum on DIY excursions and the search facility should find most things.

I am guessing that Rome would be £80-100pp with Princess and not much less for kids. It really is very easy to do on your own and a fraction of the price. The train is only around €9 return which includes use of the busses and metro in Rome and it cost us €5 for a map once we were there. Just make sure you plan to return on the train before the latest one you could get incase of delays. Even if the worst happened and you missed the last train, you would still be cheaper overall even if you had to get a taxi back to the ship.

Princess do a soda card which was $49 when we were on 3 years ago and that covered all your soft drinks for the duration of the cruise.

Feel free to start a new topic entitled Grand Princess and post any questions specific to the ship in there. There may be more suitable topics already for other questions.

luci

Hi Luci
Thanks for that
I will go have a look at the new to cruising
I suppose its confidence doing your own thing once off the ship
but I suppose spending £400 to get to see Rome is a bit much
see how I feel once I have done a few ports
Might be raring to go with my guide book
I know I loved navigating myself around Paris and London using the metro etc..
so It might be an adventure

The great thing about the Med is it's close, loads of cruises,cheap flights so you don't have to do everything in the one day. Get hooked on cruiseing and you will be back so many time you will get fed up of places

WE tend to do a hop on hop off(HOHO) the first trip and then pick out places for future ones or pick something special to see and use the rset of the day to work out the system and other things to do, eg: go to the tourist office and ask . There is tendency to try and do everthing and you end up doing nothing spending little time ant any one site.

If no HOHO or for a DIY trips my thought is max 2 main things and ideally one with the spare time used to do some general wandering/planning

So for Rome, train is easy so read up about how people have done it, loads from the ship will be heading to the station os not a problem finding it.

Pick either the Vatican or the ancient. and plan a day round that, both these will use up a most af a day if you don't rush like you do with the tour. You can tag on some shops or a couple of the lesser sites(trevi fountain spanish steps) if time. DO the other next visit.

Writing this on here just to let you know what can happen. About 3 weeks ago I got a price reduction on 2 cruises Only £18 on the Summit but yesterday when I checked the Celebrity web site I noted that there was an over 55 offer. Noted that my room was on this but the room my friend had 2C balcony didn't have the offer.
Also was not sure whether they would say that it was for new bookings only. emailed my trusted Ali and she has just called me to say that yes I have got the reduced price a saving of £126 and she took an executive decision on June's booking. She upgraded her to a 2B balcony and she still saved £30.
I have a feeling that Princess may do this also but with free child price and the deal you have it is not very likely to have a drop in your case.

Sue