Choosing Cruising Blog

Here are the charges on a selection of the most popular cruise lines for the cost (including the appropriate tip) for a bottle of Becks 330ml beer.

Fred Olsen £2.20 , P&O £2.35 , Princess £2.51, Ocean Village £2.65 , Holland America £3.05, Costa £3.05, Cunard £3.41, Celebrity £3.59, NCL £3.61, Royal Carribean £3.95.

Interestingly the British Lines such as Fred Olsen and P&O were the cheapest and American lines such as Royal Caribbean and NCL the most expensive.

On Monday 13th July 2009, Newport in South Wales welcomed the arrival of it’s first ever cruise ship MS Prinsendam.

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The Mexican Centre for Disease Control & Prevention has now lifted the ban for non essential Travel.  Following on from this, here is an overview of the cruise situation in Mexico: (more…)

Here is an overview of the smoking policies onboard the major cruise lines.

Carnival Cruise Lines
In previous years Carnival ran a no smoking ships, however today all of the ships have zones where smokers are free to light up such as in the casinos, most of the bars and lounges, the discos and in designated areas on the open decks including the outside dining area of the Lido cafe. Smoking is also permitted in the cabins and on balconies. Dedicated cigar bars are provided on some of the larger ships in the fleet. (more…)

Cruising (as opposed to more traditional holidays) can offer alternatives when the unexpected occurs.  Recent examples such as pirate attacks, potential disease outbreaks or horrendous weather simply mean that the ships docks at another port or take another route.

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Some of the major cruise lines are taking effort in being greener. Their efforts include sorting recyclables, lower energy use, reduce waste and boost water efficiency. Please check with them for fuller details:
Celebrity, Disney ,Holland America, NCL, Oceania ,Regent Seven Sea