My First Impressions Of A Cruise From A First Time Cruiser
If you follow me on Instagram you may know that I went on my very first cruise earlier this month. I’d read loads of things about cruising, watched YouTube videos and been part of all of the Facebook Groups. But most content wasn’t about first impressions of a cruise from a non-cruiser. Most things were from seasoned cruise lovers. And nothing can prepare you for being on ship for the first time. So I thought I’d talk about cruise life from a first timers perspective.
We went on our cruise with Norwegian starting in Rome and ending in Athens. Over 12 days we zigzagged around Italy, Greece and Turkey including the islands of Corfu and Santorini. I didn’t know whether cruise life would be for me, but I absolutely loved it.
My first impressions of a cruise- the boat size
When I first saw the boat it looked huge, and cruise ships are massive, but after a few days I realised it’s actually not as big as I initially thought. Our ship had decks 4-14 accessible which sounds like a lot, but quite a few of them are rooms only so there would be no need to go to them. And it turned out that there were only 3 decks we went to regularly, and then a few more that we went to on occasion because of a specific restaurant booking.
I had expected that there would be a lot of walking, and yes there can be depending on where you’re going to and from. But I didn’t find the boat size as intimidating or tough to navigate as I thought.
Being able to eat and drink at any time
Whether it’s 11am and you missed breakfast, or it’s 10pm and you’re hungry after an early dinner, you can find food. Yes sometimes there’s only one place open (between 10pm and 6am), but there’s always somewhere. It can be quite lethal as you’re tempted to eat a lot, but it’s so nice to have whatever you want whenever you want.
Regularly we would have lunch and then later in the afternoon go back to the buffet for sweet treats or ice cream. And that’s the same for drinks as well. We had a drinks package meaning we didn’t pay for any drink under $15 and I loved being able to just go to the bar anytime. I could try out a cocktail and it didn’t matter too much if I wasn’t a big fan.
My first impression of a cruise- there’s so much to do
I knew there would be some shows, and the trivia you always hear about, but during the cruise there was always something to do, even more so when the boat was out of port.
I knew there were two shows playing on the cruise, and I wrongly assumed each show would be played multiple nights. But no each show only played for one night (usually two shows), and there would be something new each night. We saw a comedy juggler twice (different shows), acrobatics, a magic and contortion show, two musicals and a cabaret show all in the space of our cruise.
And that was just in the main theatre. We also saw a lot of other live music around the boat, and we didn’t even touch the sides when it came to things to do.
A day just isn’t enough time
Originally I had thought that our limited time in each port would make it really hard to explore the place. But my first impression of a cruise was that in a lot of places we saw most of what that place had to offer. And I left feeling more satisfied than I thought I would.
A lot of the places we stopped at were places I probably wouldn’t have ventured to on my own. And there was a specific reason to stop there such as Olympia in Greece with the ancient site of the first Olympic games from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Or the Ephesus ruins in Kusadasi in Turkey.
My first impressions of a cruise overall
My main take away from my cruise is that you can make it whatever you want it to be. If you want to be on the go all the time out during the day and at every event on the ship you can. And if you want to take it easy and treat it like an all-inclusive resort holiday you can.
Have you ever been on a cruise before?
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23 responses to “My First Impressions Of A Cruise From A First Time Cruiser”
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All About Me
Rhian Westbury
Travels and Destinations
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It all sounds very interesting, taking a cruise. The problem is that I have huge problems with motion sickness, even on a short boat ride, so even though I would love to go all those places, I don’t think it would be fun being sick all the time
Oh no that sucks. I did worry that I would feel a little sick but thankfully I wasn’t x
I have never been. I’d be torn on exploring and doing the all-inclusive. I think I’d like both.
Personally I absolutely love cruises – so many things to do, all the amazing food and entertainment and all those trips and the ability so travel between countries so easily. Big thumbs up from me.
I didn’t realise how much good food and entertainment there would be on a cruise ship x
I love the freedom that cruising affords you. It’s really whatever kind of trip you want it to be!
This is so true. I can be a super relaxing trip, or one where you’re on the go all the time you’re in port x
I have never been on a cruise but I would love to someday. The events and shows on board would be fun, but I think I’d just chill and relax by the pool.
I have always fancied going on a cruise. This sounds really amazing, I can’t even imagine the scale of these cruise ships.
It looked so huge from the outside and yes it’s big, but there’s certain floors you either never go to, or rarely so it makes it feel a bit smaller x
I have never been on a cruise, but your first impressions are making me wonder if we should book a mini holiday to try one of them. Food and drinks at any time sounds absolutely perfect! Thanks for sharing your experience.
There are some really affordable ones going around x
We’ve never been on a cruise before, but I can definitely see it’s appeal. For me it would be the idea of being able to see many new places in a short space of time. It looks like loads of fun and interesting to hear what you thought of it.
Yeah that was the main reason I wanted to go, see lots of different places x
I’m not so keen on the idea of a cruise but I would try it one day. Also, I don’t like the quick day trips, it’s not long enough for me.
I’ve never been on a cruise but they have always looked like so much fun! Between the ships themselves and all the stops along the way- definitely still on my bucket list.
Well, it looks like a very impressive first experience. I like, too, that there are options for both a relaxed or a go-getter personality.
You can make the trip whatever you want x
This is one thing I would love to do and has been on my bucket list for SO long . Looks a fantastic trip!
We went on a cruise about 15 years ago. It was ok, and I wasn’t impressed. But it would be nice to try a larger boat with more to do.
That’s a shame that you weren’t impressed, you may have just been unlucky with the company/ ship x
We went on a cruise with our kids when they were little and it was such a fun experience.
That’s a very good sum up of cruise holiday