TRAVEL
In our regular feature Tracy Mason
travel lookS at Cruising as a holiday
Hi Tracy,
We would like to try a cruise for the first time for a special anniversary but have no idea which
cruise line or where to start. We would like to go to the Caribbean in November for about 14
nights and would like to visit Antigua and St Lucia in particular. What can you suggest? What
do we do about tipping? What is included in the price and what else do we need to budget for?
Cruising is a popular holiday now for
all generations and does not have
to be the rather formal means of
holidaying of the past. Cruise brands
differentiate their offers to appeal to
as many customers as possible and
I can advise you what is the best fit
for you and your family.
Companies usually specialise
in either Ocean or River Cruise,
both unique but totally different
experiences.
River cruises are like a luxury
boutique hotel, and because they
are navigating narrow stretches of
water are much smaller than the
ocean cruise liners, often carrying
around 200 passengers . As places
are much more limited they can
get booked up well in advance of
the cruise dates, so if you want a
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particular boat or itinerary be aware
of this. This makes a river cruise much
more sociable and intimate than an
ocean cruise, visiting smaller cities
and towns. There is less on-board
entertainment with the focus much
more on fine-dining on-board or the
evening in port.
Ocean ships are like floating
holiday resorts and will typically
carry between 1,000 and 5,000
passengers with a huge range of
on-board facilities: water parks,
tennis courts, fitness and wellness
centres, even rock-climbing walls
and skating rinks! You can make as
many new friends as you wish, or
relax and take in the ocean views,
with the opportunity of having
a snapshot visit to a number of
exotic locations with the numerous
shore excursions. Accommodation
ranges from a small studio cabin
for single passengers to penthousestyle suites for the best views. On
board entertainment includes
quality shows and musicals with
many main-stream entertainers
having started their careers
working on cruise ships.
The first decision is your destination
and whether you want to fly
to embark on your ship or go
from one of the UK ports. If you
prefer not to fly you can take
a cruise from the large ports of
Southampton or Dover, cruising
to the Canaries, Portugal or even
across the Atlantic to New York.
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