Hi Lily,
hope I can answer a couple of your questions-
1. Smart casual clothes are fine for most nights, one night a week is "formal night" when most men wear suit and tie, many dinner jackets and bow ties, and women wear posh frocks/ trousers with nice tops etc. I doubt you would actually be turned away from the dining room for not wearing formal, but the buffet is available for those that don't wish to dress up. Only things that are a "no-no" are shorts in the evening, scruffy jeans etc. In the daytime people are asked to cover up in the food areas, so not sitting around in swimwear or (men!) topless.
2. You can certainly stay on the ship if you want to, they don't have as much daytime entertainment on when the ship is in port, but you'll certainly find a sunbed!
3. not sure of your ports - if you post them we can help more.
kate

kate.

Thankyou so much for your reply. The ports of the cruise are Corfu town-Corfu, Aghios Nikolaos- Crete, Kusadasi-turkey, Mykonos town-Mykonos, Piraeus-Greece, Corfu town-Corfu. We would like to be able to walk from the port to a beach and shops and cafes, rather than rely on having to take taxis-the walk will be good for us!!! Am i right in thinking we could have breakfast on the ship then go out and about for a few hours then come back for lunch and then grab a sunlounger for the rest of the day? Cruising is a completely new to us, so before we go making a booking when the cruises go on sale im doing my research.

Also when leaving the ship at a port is there a process we would have to go through for security? Would we need to carry our passports with us?

Thanks again for being so helpful.

Lily. x

Hi LFF - I have not done the caribbean cruise with Thomson but have been on he Spirit and the Island Escape and going again next week. The cruise is informal and on the spirit I did take mainly maxi dresses for the vening as they were cool and great for packing, there was one evening the Captains dinner - which some ladies and gents wore black tie and and sparkly cocktail dresses, I didn't and wore maxi a maxi dress which was fine. Depends on the ports you are at you can go off by yourself if you chose to or book one of their tours, to be honest I find some of their tours a little pricey so do my own thing. As a solo traveller the only time I go with their tours if I think it might be safer to do so.

Hope you have a fab time xx

Hi Lily
I have been to all these ports in the last few years, so will tell you what I can
Corfu- it's about a 25 minute walk into town, no beaches in walking distance. If you have a late flight coming home you will have time to take a look at Corfu town. Otherwise there is a half day trip to Paleokastritsa that is very good- lovely scenery and a couple of stops.
Ag Nik- 5 minute into town where there is a lake surrounded by cafes/ restaurants etc. Lots of shops. Don't think there is a beach in walking distance, but others might know better. We got the bus to Elounda where there is a nice beach, and a boat to Spinalonga (setting for the book- The Island)
Kusadasi- there are beaches here, but don't know if you could walk to them. We have never had a holiday in Turkey, so out of our comfort zone here! Been here twice, first time did an excursion, second time just went to the bazaar in town, and had a walk to Pigeon Island. The cruise terminal is right in town.
Mykonos- we docked here, but I know sometimes ships anchor and use tenders. Assuming you dock, you need the shuttle bus (usually a small charge) to get into Mykonos town where you can see the harbour, windmills, pelicans, and very quaint town. It is walkable, but there are no pavements and it's not very safe. We have also taken a beach excursion from here, to Platias Georgios beach which was very nice. It was £16 each in 2009, and included sunbeds and a free soft drink.
Piraeus- this is the port for Athens. If you haven't been before I would recommend a trip here. If you have been to Athens before you might think about taking the metro and finding your own way around. There is really nothing in Piraeus itself.

You are rarely asked to show your passport when you get off the ship, or getting back on for that matter. Usually just show your ship boarding card. We always take copes of passports with us off the ship.

Caribbean cruises are full all summer long! Hurricane season formally lasts from June thru November, but if you look at the history of Hurricanes you will see most of them occur at the end of August into September. Avoid those couple of weeks and you should be fine.

kate-thankyou for you informative reply. I am warming to the idea of a cruise still have to convince the other half. I think the only thing that may put me off slightly is not being able to get to a beach very easily. I will let you know what we decide to do and where we go. Once again thankyou.

Miss pink. I dont really so do the "cocktail frock" thing!! I dress smart for our evening meal so would probably just use the buffet for our meals, I prefer a more relaxed feel, not really comfortable in a formal setting on holidays. Thankyou so much for replying its helping us to make the right choices if we decide to go on a cruise.

Emdia43. Thanks for replying. Its nice to know the caribbean will be an option for us. We will have to wait until the cruises go on sale to see if its possible within our budget and dates. Is it royal caribbean cruises that i will have to look at?

Lily. x

Have a look HERE for companies to try. Some of the information is out of date, but it will give you an idea.

Cruise Kings will email daily with offers for P&O from Southampton and they have had some really good prices for Caribbean cruise lately, cheaper than Thomson's, but some of the ships can be more formal.

luci

thanks luci.

I will have a look at the link you gave me. I did read tht P&O cruises were more formal so i have crossed them off my list When we go on our usual week or two week holiday we just have a relaxing time, usually pool or beach in the day then go for our evening meal either in the hotel or we eat out, we then have an hour or so walk, then a bar for drinks and entertainment for the night. This is why we are researching a cruise to see if it will fit our holiday type. I really like the idea of seeing 4 or more different places on 1 holiday, so a cruise does appeal to me.

Lily. x

Royal Caribbean are my favorite, their ships are beautiful, there are lots of activities and entertainments onboard, you can be as active or lazy as you wish.
There is not a lot of formality on board, usually one formal evening per cruise which is a chance to get glamorous for the night. Take a look at Freedom of the Seas,
Liberty of the seas, or if you have deep pockets try the Oasis or Allure of the Seas. They all do Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries.
There are lots of photos and virtual tours at Beyondships.com

Hi lilyflipflop
I can concur with most of the posts don't worry about the formal thing its only one night on a 7 day cruise and you do not have to have a cocktail dress, you will not have to take your passport ashore they just swipe your ship card on the way out and back on again. We have only done Thomson but have done most of the itineraries including the Caribbean, which is fantastic and has great beaches some within walking distance of the ports. If bad weather is forecast the ship will just not dock. If you have the Thomson brochure have a look at the Adriatic explorer we enjoyed it immensely.
Everyone worries about missing the ship until you get used to it, but if you go on one of the organised excursions they will never go without you, in all the years we have cruised we have only witnessed one family miss the sailing and they arranged to pick them up at the next port.
Have a great time.
Roger

emdia43 and rodgerdodger

Thanks both for your replies. We will look at both cruises you have recommended. I think we are going to consider a cruise on our list of possibilites. Who knows where we will end up I just hope there is sunshine!!!

Thanks again.
Lily. x

Hi all

Just thought i would let you know that we have decided that we are not going on a cruise next year due to not being able to stretch our budget for the cruise we wanted. Thankyou all for your help and advice that was offered to me.

Regards

Lily. x

Sorry you don't think a cruise is within your budget for next year but dont give up yet! there are bound to be a lot of last minute bargains - if you do your research in advance and know what you want you would then be prepared and ready to grab a bargain. For an example just look at cruise prices for the next couple of months this year, they have really dropped.
For a first cruise I really would recommend a Thomson cruise - there are some lovely places to visit in the Med and as suggested the Adriatic Explorer is a stunning cruise. It is very informal but the food and staff are brilliant. If you could go around June the weather is hot enough.
Suggest you look on Thomsons own website for prices rather than a cruise agent. Just go for it!
My husband was adamant he wouldnt like cruising, we are now due to go on our 8th in 4 years so hey what do men know. Funny it always seems to be men who have to be persuaded