Great Cruise Ships

If you have never been on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship before, it is quite normal that you may feel a little nervous, as you won’t know what to expect from the experience. As a veteran cruiser, I’ve put together this quick guide to the accommodation, entertainment and activities and dining on board Royal Caribbean cruise ships, to help all you new cruisers out there feel more confident about your first voyage.

Accommodation

Royal Caribbean cruise ships offer a variety of accommodation styles to suit every budget and requirement. In the past, we’ve cruised with our kids and stayed in a family stateroom, and on romantic anniversaries when we have travelled as a couple, we’ve treated ourselves to a suite.

All accommodation on Royal Caribbean cruise ships is fitted out to a very high standard which offers both comfort and luxury. The rooms are spacious with modern en-suite facilities comparable with a top-class hotel. Although there is plenty to do on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, having a relaxing, private space where you can relax in between excursions and activities is a real bonus.At the beginning of each cruise, you’ll be allocated a stateroom attendant, who you’ll be able to call upon if you need any little extras in your room, such as extra pillows for your bed or a refill of water for your mini-bar.

Entertainment & Activities

Royal Caribbean cruise ships have been designed to offer guests an excellent selection of things to do. For the kids, there are lots of supervised activities available, which is great if your youngsters are old enough to not want to be with mum and dad all the time, while some activities are arranged so that parents and their youngsters can join in together. Adults will also find plenty of options on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, from music and dance shows to beauty and relaxation treatments in the on-board spa. It is also well worth locating the adult-only solarium which is featured on each of the Royal Caribbean fleet – ideal for tranquil moments by yourself or with your partner!

In addition to all the on board activities, you can opt into a selection of shore excursions (at additional cost). Depending where you are in the world, these might include guided walking tours, horse-back riding, kayaking or even scuba diving!

Dining

A common misconception about dining on cruises is that every meal requires formal style dress. For those who prefer a casual look, this can cause anxiety, however, if you are travelling with Royal Caribbean, it is needless. Although there are several formal dress nights on each cruise, these are balanced out with smart casual and casual wear evenings. You will find an excellent selection of dining areas on each cruise ship. The main restaurant which offers a menu of traditional cuisine presented in an elegant setting, while speciality eateries allow guests to select world-inspired dishes such as Italian and Mexican.

I must admit that my experience of watching movies while travelling had always been a bit of a disaster. When I am on a plane I never seem to find anything decent at all. A particularly traumatic flight when I was stuck with the choice of Legally Blonde or one of those Lethal Weapon things still remain fresh in my memory. I went with Legally Blonde by the way but I still have my doubts about having made the right choice.

Anyway, that was nothing compared to the horrific bus journey I once undertook in South America. If you can imagine 10 hours on bumpy roads accompanied by a badly pirated copy of the entire Home Alone series dubbed into Spanish then I am sure that you sympathise with me.

So you can imagine my delight when I discovered that modern cruise ships such as Oasis of the Seas offer the very latest films to their guests. These are shown in classy theatres and a lot of the vessels also have amazing poolside theatres which are brilliant for late night films under the stars. I hear that they even lay on the popcorn for you.

This is likely to be a big attraction of the trip for a film buff like me. I don’t get to the cinema as much as I would like to and the chance to see some of the latest movies in a relaxed setting just sounds too good to be true. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is one of the key factors I will be taking into account for my future holidays.

I really enjoy travelling but the thought of a long and dull journey often puts me of the idea before I even pack my flip flops and factor 40 sun cream. Just 2 or 3 hours on a plane can seem like torture to me. For some reason I just can’t seem to ever be able to concentrate on books, magazine or even the undoubted comedic talents of Reese Witherspoon.

Home Comforts Close to Hand

If I compare the thought of twisting and turning in my seat for a couple of hours to a longer but infinitely more comfortable journey then there is no comparison in my book. I guess it also saves that age old problem of not knowing what to do in the evenings when I am far from home. I have tried watching films abroad but the closest I have got to an enjoyable experience so far was a showing of Shrek 2 in Italian. With cruise ship movies I can settle down and watch new films in English knowing that I am not far from my cabin and all sorts of home comforts.

If this sounds like the easy option then I make no apologies for preferring it that way. My days of getting travel sick while watching the lovable MacAulay Culkin lay all sort of lavish and frankly improbable traps for bungling crooks are long gone. Can you blame me?

Going away on holiday is about seeing beautiful places and enjoying fantastic experiences. I am sorry if that was a really obvious opening line but it seems as though not everyone sees it as being quite as clear-cut as I do.

I am certainly not here to tell anyone to do things, and if your summer holidays are the best two weeks of your year then you will want to make sure that they are as close as possible to your own personal idea of perfection.

Having said that, I think it is worth bearing in mind all of the options before you head off anywhere, and looking at the beauty of the Azamara journey on a top cruise is a very smart way of doing it. Let’s check out this type of holiday compared to some other ideas.

Go the Same Place Every Year

A lot of people like to take their summer holidays in the same place every year. This isn’t a bad idea if you want the security and comfort of familiar surroundings, but there is also a big, wide world out there waiting to be explored. In fact, one of the main reasons why families choose to go on a cruise is because they get to settle down into the one bedroom while seeing a lot of different places during the days. This means that your ship will feel like home by the end of the cruise but that you will also have got to enjoy a bit of the beautiful world we live in.

Stay In an All Inclusive Resort

This is another option which a lot of people take purely for the convenience if offers. However, the big drawback is that you can find that you pass far too much time inside the resort itself. If the food and the facilities are all covered in the price then you have very little incentive to go elsewhere and try out new things. You might think that a cruise holiday is the same sort of idea, as the food is usually included in the price. The difference is that you get to see lots of different and exciting islands, towns and cities arriving to your doorstep when you are on board a cruise ship.

Sail the World

I used to think that cruises were just for older people and anyone who had a lot of spare time on their hands. They always gave me the impression of leisurely and rather formal affairs on which children and fun loving young adults would be a bit out of place. Thankfully this is no longer the case and if we look at some of the top cruises these days we can see fun and invigorating experiences for the whole family. Great food, lots of entertainment and ever changing scenery all add up to mean that you get a holiday which makes you feel as though you have really been somewhere special. If you have never tried one of these trips then now might just be the perfect time to see what all the fuss is about.

If the routine of getting early up early every morning to commute to work is getting you down then why don’t you take some time off and go somewhere interesting? It sounds easy, doesn’t it?

Unfortunately work pressures and lack of money are a couple of the big reasons why we don’t all take time out to ease back a little and enjoy some of the finer things in life. If you are stuck with ones of these problems then all hope is not lost. Let’s take a look at some ways of enjoying Mediterranean cruises even when you probably though it was impossible.

No Time Off Work?

If things are really tough at work then going on a cruise to somewhere relatively near is among the best ways of seeing new places in a short space of time. In some cases you can sail direct from the UK and in others you can take a flight to somewhere in the Med to start and finish your journey there. If you can only get a long weekend off work then you can still make this happen and recharge your batteries on foreign shores before heading back refreshed. If you can’t even get that small amount time off work right now then booking a cruise in advance means that you have something to look forward and research. If things are really so busy at work that you simply can’t take a couple of days off then you might need something like this to plan to help you keep your sanity. Because it will include a number of stops you will have several destinations to find out about before you go.

No Money?

On the face of it this is an ever more serious problem than the first one, isn’t it? The good news is that this one is completely in your hands rather than those of some heartless slave driver of a boss. If you are really desperate to see some new parts of the world then you can probably also find a way to cut back on something to make it happen. A cruise in the Mediterranean isn’t anywhere near as costly as they used to be anyway If you can cut back on, for example, eating out and going to the pub for a few weeks then you should find that you can work out just how long it would take you to save up for this sort of holiday. That’s not to say that it is easy but having a great incentive is always a guaranteed way of saving up quicker. If you have always had trouble in putting money by each month then you could open a special deposit account specifically for your holidays. You could consider a notice account which you can’t just take the money out of whenever you want to. If it turns out to be a success and you enjoy a cracking time abroad then you can use the system for future years. This way you will have a quality holiday every single year that you find the motivation to stick a bit of cash by.