Considering a cruise for the first time? Me too.
But, only ever having been on a boat long enough to enjoy dinner and a sunset, I decided to put some questions to Bob Young, cruise specialist at Lloyds Travel and Cruises.
Q: You specialize in river cruises. What’s the difference between a small ship experience and a large cruise ship vacation?
A: We specialize in small ship cruising, which includes river and ocean cruises. River cruise ships in Europe are all essentially the same size, ranging from about 120 passengers to about 170 passengers each. River cruises are a great way to travel through the heart of Europe without hotels and driving.
Ocean cruises are different. Most people cruise on the most popular cruise lines: Holland America, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Disney, Celebrity, Norwegian and Carnival, which are bringing out larger ships each year with many carrying more than 2,000 passengers. The largest carries more than 5,500 passengers, plus a crew of about 2500, which means these ships hold the same amount of people as a lot of small towns. Imagine when one of these ships arrives at a port and then imagine (and this happens especially in the Caribbean) that several ships are visiting the same port on the same day.
Small ship cruising appeals to people looking for a less crowded onboard experience (no line-ups for the restaurants); a more personal onboard experience, including more space; and the ability to visit smaller ports than large ships can access. Smaller ports offer fewer people in towns and villages, in the local restaurants and shops and on the beaches.
Small ships include luxury vessels, sailboats or expedition ships. If you are travelling to Antarctica, you want an expedition ship that only carries up to 100 people, since that’s the maximum that can be off-boarded there at one time. If you’re travelling through the Northwest Passage, some of the villages have only a few hundred residents so you don’t want to be on a ship with more than 1,000 passengers when you visit. Also, some expedition ships have flexible itineraries to allow passengers to stop a little longer someplace, for instance if they’re swimming with whale sharks.
Sometimes the food choices on a small ship aren’t as large, but the quality is as good, or better, than on large ships. Dining can be a more local experience because the chef is able to disembark in several ports to shop in local markets for fresh meat, fish, vegetables and fruit.
Q: Are you allowed to bring wine or liquor onto a ship?
A: Most large cruise ships generally don’t allow you to bring liquor onboard — they want you to buy drinks on the ship. Most small ships will allow you to bring wine and sometimes spirits onboard, they understand that you found something interesting in a port and would like to perhaps try it at dinner.
Q: Is airfare included?
A: Airfare can be included in promotional deals from many cruise lines, but it’s best to compare their package pricing with buying the cruise and airfare separately. A good travel agent will do the comparison so the client can decide what the best value is.
Q: Do you encourage travelers to sign up for excursions or is it OK to stay aboard?
A: As for shore excursions, most people will want to get off the ship to explore and visit and shop. People cruise to most places to see something new, so they want to get off and get around. Many small and midsize cruise ships will offer shore excursions in their pricing. The large cruise lines offer shore excursions for an additional fee. But, some people travel to the Caribbean every year and don’t feel the same need to do shore excursions, so they might stay onboard in some ports or get off and just wander on their own. Cruising is a great way to see many places on the same trip without packing and unpacking and changing hotels every day. The itineraries are important to people who are looking for new places to visit and shore excursions help them do that.
I encourage people to book shore excursions in many ports, but there are some places that are easy to walk to and explore from the ship or are small enough that you don’t need an escorted tour. You definitely don’t have to buy a tour in every port.
@sthomas10
