Are Cruise Ships Good for Holidays?

In a word? Great! That's my opinion, anyway. If you are considering taking a holiday on a cruise ship any time soon, it is best to book a tickets of pirate cruise in St. Pete Beach FL. By all means, get some brochures from different cruise lines and different ships. They are not all the same! Start by browsing through the brochures on display in your local travel agents.

Know What the Cruise Line Expects of You

Read their literature thoroughly to get a good idea of what to expect from a cruise on one of their ships. You also need to begin to understand what they expect from you.

Understandably, in the interests of all their passengers, they have a few simple rules regarding things like dress code, which apply at different times of the day, and in various places around the ship. There are rules about smoking, safety, and general behaviour in and around the pools, bars and other areas. They want you to have a great time, but not at the expense of other travellers' safety and enjoyment..

What Are the Cabins Like on Cruise Ships?

First, a bit more about me and my own experience. I have done about 15 cruises, all of them on P&O, and spent weeks aboard 5 of their fleet of 6 ships. I was introduced to cruising by a former partner, who was already a big fan of P&O, and since the start have never felt the urge to even think about a different cruise line.

All bed making and pulling up and down of bunks is done by your cabin steward while you are out during the day. The stewards, either male or female, are invariably friendly and helpful. They arrange their activities of cleaning, tidying and keeping your cabin supplied with towels, shower gel, soap, tea bags, coffee, milk, biscuits, and other necessities, around your normal comings and goings. They can be found in your corridor most of the morning if needed, and will return during your evening meal to arrange the bunks, turn down the beds, and leave a chocolate on your pillow. Such luxury, eh?

Incidentally, in normal double cabins without the extra bunks, beds can be configured as either twin or double. You can normally specify which at the time of booking, but if you prefer to have a change around, your steward will be pleased to do it for you. The cabin shown here was the one my partner and I had on Ventura in 2010. My 13-year-old granddaughter slept in the bunk overnight, but did everything else in the cabin two doors away with her parents and twin brothers.

The cabins vary throughout the ship and are priced accordingly. The cheapest are the inside cabins, mostly twin/double, and of course have no window. They do all have air-conditioning, but can be quite dark when the lights are out. They do have all the normal en-suite facilities including shower/bath, cupboards, drawer units, wardrobe/clothes hanging space, dressing table, sofa, coffee table, fridge, complimentary tea/coffee making facilities, hairdryer, and a safe for your valuables.

Outside cabins have all of the above plus a non-opening window, which at least lets in daylight and affords a view of what is going on outside the ship. Some windows have something of a restricted view, usually part of a lifeboat or part of the ship's superstructure, but you usually have a partial view of the sea.

Some cabins are a little larger, particularly those with balconies, and beds are arranged along a side wall. Balconies are partitioned and have seats or sunbeds according to size. For those passengers requiring and willing to pay for extra space, there are suites with larger, sometimes corner balconies, scattered about the ship. Some of these come with your own personal butler!

Where Does One Eat Aboard a Cruise Ship?

If you choose Formal Dining when booking your cruise, which I would thoroughly recommend, on P&O ships you can decide which sitting you want to take dinner for the duration of the cruise and what size table you would like to sit at. Their dinner sittings are usually 6.30pm and 8.30pm in the main restaurants, but vary slightly in the others.

On a ship with perhaps 3,000 passengers, you are unlikely to bump into your table mates during the day, unless you become close friends and choose to do so. Part of your nightly dinner conversation is an exchange of what you have been up to in the previous 24 hours. Every P&O ship has, I believe, restaurant/cafeterias and a few other fine dining options. At least one will be open for Full English Breakfast and during the day there will always be places open for meals/snacks/tea/coffee etc., until 2.00am the following morning.

What Is the Dress Code Aboard a Cruise Ship?

During the day, all around the ship, and in the pool areas, or going ashore, you wear pretty much the same things that you would normally wear on any shore based holiday.

The Dress Code varies each evening. During a 12-day cruise, there will normally be 3 or 4 formal Black Tie nights applying to the main restaurants, lounges and bars. Formal wear usually includes a smart dark suit and tie for gentlemen and ball gown, trouser suit or cocktail dress for ladies.

The remaining nights are Evening Casual, which means open-necked shirt, with or without jacket or blazer, over tailored trousers or smart jeans for men and dress or casual separates for ladies. Bars and lounges will accept smart leisurewear in the evening, but NO shorts, blue or worn denim, trainers, football shirts or tracksuits.

What Is There to Do During the Day While at Sea?

Every evening your cabin steward will deliver the next day's Ship's Newsletter. This is a detailed listing of all the available services, group activities, competitions, special events, talks, films, shows, exercise classes, health and beauty pampering sessions, things to do ashore on port days and travel arrangements if needed, meetups, arts and crafts classes, dancing, music, special offers in the shopping area, and supervised activities for kids aged 0 to 17.

There is so much to do aboard most modern cruise ships you will never find enough time to take part in everything. Not only that you should take time to relax on the many sun decks, cool off in one of the pools, order a drink from a passing waiter and sit sipping it while reading your favourite author, or just watching the world go by (usually a vast empty sea with perhaps the odd large ship in the far distance). There is also a chance you may even see a group of passing dolphins or a whale spouting spray from its blowhole. If the Captain on the Bridge notices something like this, he might well draw passengers' attention to it over the loudspeaker.

What Items Should You Take to the Sun Deck?

On P&O ships, every passenger is issued with a large blue beach towel in their cabin, along with the normal white bath and hand towels. You can take the blue towel with you when you go to the sun decks or pools. If they get wet, you can leave them there in the bins near each pool and a replacement will be provided next day by your cabin steward. The trouble is, everyone else's towel is the same blue, which can be confusing if you come back from the pool looking for your own sunbed.