I’ve just disembarked a cruise on one of the biggest and most controversial cruise ships in the world where only 4% of guests spoke English. The ship I was cruising on was the Costa Smeralda built in 2019. Smeralda actually means “Emerald” in Italian. The Costa Smeralda actually has the lowest Cruise Critic rating I’ve … Read more
If you are taking a cruise with Costa you may be wondering what the food will be like. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks are all included at no extra cost on a Costa cruise. I have just disembarked a cruise on the Costa Smeralda and in this post we will look at everything I ate in … Read more
If you have booked a cruise you may find that the cruise line you are sailing with encourage you to use their app. You may be asked to download it pre-cruise or it may only be available onboard. Cruise lines do this because they can easily share information with you and it saves them time … Read more
A couple of months ago, I was set a challenge. Two of my friends said that they’d like to come on a cruise with me and even though I’ve been cruising for years, picking a first cruise for somebody else is not easy. The pressure was on because they were trusting me, not just with … Read more
Costa Cruises has the reputation of being casual when it comes to cruising and dress codes, but do they actually have dress codes, and what do they entail? In this post, you’ll find dress code guidelines for all parts of a Costa cruise and we will look into if the dress codes are actually enforced. … Read more
Before I took my first P&O cruise, I was aware that they had dress codes and formal nights, but had no idea what the dress code actually entailed. In this post, you’ll find dress code guidelines for all parts of a P&O cruise, including the following: We will also look into if the dress codes … Read more
If you are considering a British Isles cruise, you may be wondering how much they ACTUALLY cost and which itineraries are available. I’ve taken multiple British Isles cruises. Some visited a couple of English, Irish, or Scottish ports, and others included ports like the Channel Islands or Le Havre in France. I have also spent … Read more
If you are going on a cruise, you might be wondering how much medical care, such as X-rays or a consultation with a doctor would cost. Hopefully, you will never need to find out, but I recently took an MSC cruise, and this pricelist was clearly displayed in the medical centre. How Much Does it … Read more
If you are considering taking your first cruise, you may be considering taking a cruise to Norway. I’ve just disembarked a Norwegian Fjord cruise with Royal Caribbean and have also visited with Viking and MSC. I often recomend cruising to Norway to first time cruisers, and in this post we will explore why. The below … Read more
I took a European river cruise on a cruise line that cost around 1/3rd of most other river cruise lines. It was a very eventful cruise in lots of ways and a few very odd things did happen. Normally, if you want to take a European river cruise, you’re looking at £300, £400 per night. … Read more
Normally when you are driving to the cruise port to board a cruise you’ll see the cruise ship appearing in the horizon, it’s such an exciting feeling. This wasn’t exactly how embarking on my last cruise went, when we arrived it was late at night and completely dark, we had been travelling for a little … Read more
If you are considering a cruise and are visually impaired, you may be wondering if it is possible. The simple answer is yes, but there are some things to think about before you make the decision. I’m Chris, a blind cruiser from the UK, and my advice is to ask yourself the following five questions … Read more
** This post is sponsored by Celestyal Cruises, all opinions are my own. ** If you are considering taking a cruise to the Greek islands, you may be wondering when the best time to go is. I have cruised multiple times to the Greek islands at different times of the year and in this guide, … Read more
When cruise lines advertise their cruises, often it’s the newest and most exciting cruise ships you’ll see. The majority of cruise ships owned by the major cruise lines are over ten years old, with many over twenty years old. P&O’s Ventura was built in 2007, and Iona was built in 2020. I recently took a … Read more
When I embarked a 12-night cruise sailing from the UK in December I knew that I was taking a risk. I usually don’t take cruises that include more than a couple of sea days because I do get seasick but our cruise was scheduled to spend a full 6 days out at sea. We actually … Read more
If you are taking a cruise you may be wondering if there are any gifts that the crew would appreciate in addition to cash. There are a number of things to consider before purchasing gifts including the crew’s limited space. There are some useful gifts that can mean much more to a crew member than … Read more
I love cruising and I love Christmas but when I booked an MSC cruise that included Christmas day onboard I didn’t know what to expect. Christmas is a big deal and the decision to spend it on a cruise was definitely a risk of sorts – you can’t re-do Christmas if it goes wrong. My … Read more
If you’re taking a Marella cruise you might be wondering what the food is like. I have just disembarked a cruise on the Marella Explorer 2 and in this post, we will look at all of the food that I ate during my cruise. Please note: although these photos were taken on the Marella Explorer … Read more
If you were looking to take a cruise you read comments like ‘SEASICKNESS HELL’ ‘I FELT SO SICK’ and ‘MY TRIP WAS RUINED BY SEASICKNESS’ would you still want to go? What if you carried on reading and saw comments like ‘You’ll never get seasick on a cruise’ and ‘Nobody gets seasick when cruising’? What … Read more
If you are taking a cruise you may be wondering if you need travel insurance. I have been on multiple cruises and always purchase travel insurance for the reasons mentioned in this post. If you’re looking for quick recommendations, these are the websites explained in detail in this post (these are comparison websites so will … Read more