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Friday 31 May 2013

What are the different ‘types’ of cruise holidays available?

This article, by necessity, is going to have to make some generalisations. I’m aware that some of the categories below can be combined so that the cruise you end up going on could well be described by several of the categories. Never the less I thought it might be useful for first time cruisers planning their first voyage, or even to more experienced cruisers looking to broaden their horizon, to make a brief list of all the different types of cruises available with the pros and cons to each.                  
First up…………..



Ex-UK – This is a bit of travel agent jargon for you and means exiting the UK. In laymans terms it’s a cruise that sails from and returns to a UK port so that you don’t need to book any flights to get to and from your holiday.                                                                                                                                                                         Pros – No flights mean less hassle and a much more relaxed holiday experience. This is also good for anyone with a phobia of flying or just doesn’t like it.                                                                                                                                                       Cons – Ex UK cruises are limited to the destinations they can get to on a certain time scale so your holiday might not be as ‘exotic’ as you’d like. Typically ex UK cruises will be to the Baltics, Canaries, Fjords or the Mediterranean.

Expedition – An expedition cruise is an exploring themed cruise, normally on a much smaller ship, travelling off the beaten path to distant, exotic or hard to reach destinations. Examples may include the Amazon, the Galapagos Island, Antarctica, or certain parts of the Norwegian fjords and the Arctic.                                                                                                                                                                                    Pros – You get to see some really unusual places that just aren’t possible to get to without sailing there.                                                                                                                                                                                  Cons – The whole point of an expedition cruise is the destination rather than the ship, as such a lot of expedition ships can be quite a bit more basic than their bigger cousins.

Fly cruise – This isn’t, as it may sound a cruise on a flying ship but rather a cruise holiday that starts and/or finishes in a foreign country/distant port. This means you need to fly out by airplane to either catch the cruise and/or fly home again.                                                                                                                  Pros – By flying out to your port you can get straight to the area you want to cruise in; you’re not stuck sailing there and back for three or four days before you reach warm waters.                                                                                                                                                                                      Cons – Easy – You’ve got to put up with the hassle of flying!

Inaugural – An inaugural cruise is a cruise on a ship that has just launched. This means that you will be the first person to have ever done a cruise on that ship. An inaugural cruise will normally have quite a festive or party atmosphere on-board.                                                                                                               Pros – Bragging rights! You will always be able to say you were one of the first people onto a particular ship. You’ll also get to see the ship brand new before anyone else has had a chance to take the shine off.                                                                                                                                                                                 Cons – As the ship has never sailed before you may find that you’re working out any bugs left on-board to fix whether it be the staff, the food or even the plumbing!

Mini cruises – As they sound mini cruises are a shortened version of a normal cruise. Normally sailing from the UK they’re a great way to sample a cruise before you book a long one. A lot of people also use them as a ‘reasonably’ priced way of doing a weekend break.                                                         Pros – They’re a great way of checking out if you’ll enjoy cruising before you go for a longer option, (they also cost a lot less).                                                                                                                                                                                    Cons – They can have a bit of a party atmosphere on-board with everyone there just looking to have a short break so they might not always be a true reflection of a longer cruise. Also due to the length the destinations they can get to will be very limited, (typically Bruges, Le Harve or Cherbourg).

Re-positioning – A re-positioning cruise is slightly more complicated. In the main a cruise ship will stick to one particular ‘area’ for a season, (say the Mediterranean), before sailing to a different area for another season, (say the Caribbean). A re-positioning cruise is when you book passage on the ship as it’s sailing from one area to the next.                                                                                                               Pros – A big pro for re-positioning cruises has to be the price; they’re always sold quite cheaply. Also because they are sailing from one area to another the itineraries will be quite unusual.                                                                                                                                                                                     Cons – They do have a lot of sea days and can be quite long sometimes, (fourteen days plus is typical), although I know some people can class that as a point in their favour. As well as that the flights for them can be a bit trickier to arrange sometimes as they will start in one part of the world and then finish in another and can cost a bit more.

River – It may sound silly but a river cruise is just that, a cruise on a ship along a river. For obvious reasons there are only so many places a cruise ship can get to so a river cruise is a great way of exploring destinations that are too far in-land for an ocean going vessel.                                                                                                                       Pros – You get to see parts of the world not accessible by a normal cruise ship.                                                                                                                                                                                  Cons – The ships are a lot smaller than their ocean going counterparts so the atmosphere on-board will be a lot quieter and relaxed with not as much to do on the ships of an evening.

Themed – There are literally hundreds of different theme cruises available to people from Gardening to Jazz to Swinging themes. In essence a themed cruise will be arranged around one particular concept. For example a gardening themed cruise will offer shore excursions to famous gardens along the route and may have a famous gardener on-board conducting talks and lectures.                                               Pros – A theme cruise is a great way of combining a cruise holiday with a hobby and sharing the cruise experience with like-minded people.                                                                                                                                                                                   Cons – Themed cruises can cost more than a normal cruise as the cruise line will need to pay extra entertainers to come on-board. Also if you want to do that cruise but aren’t too bothered by the theme you may be a bit bored with the conversations on-board from everyone else who is.

Transatlantic – A transatlantic cruise is, as it sounds, a cruise that crosses the Atlantic Ocean and back, either heading Eastbound or Westbound. The most famous transatlantic ship is Cunards Queen Mary 2 travelling from Southampton to New York or back from New York to Southampton. It’s worth noting that a lot of re-positioning cruises, depending on the areas they’re travelling from, will also be classed as a transatlantic cruise.                                                                                                                                   Pros - A transatlantic cruise is one of the most historic cruises you can do with a tradition dating right back to 1839.                                                                                                                                                                                   Cons - A transatlantic cruise by definition is going to have a lot of days at sea, (good for some people, and bad for others). Also, depending on the time of year you make the crossing, the Atlantic Ocean can be a bit choppy.

World – Another easy one to understand. A world cruise is, as it sounds, a long cruise that goes right the way around the world, normally about three months in length. The majority of World cruises will start and finish in Southampton however you can catch them from the US, Australia and many other countries. Something a lot of people don’t realise with world cruises is that you don’t have to do the whole cruise. A lot of cruise lines will let you just book a ‘sector’ of it if you only fancy that part of the itinerary. Also a world cruise might not go right the way around the world, for instance it might just do a circumnavigation of a particular continent.                                                                                                                                                                            Pros - It’s a world cruise! You get to sail for three months non-stop whilst seeing the entire world.                                                                                                                                                                                     Cons - World cruises will be expensive and you do need to be able to just take three months off to go so you’ll need someone at home to answer the mail, pay the bills and feed the goldfish!

So what's your favourite type of cruise then?

Happy cruising!


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