Re: Cruises = advice please!
Originally Posted by
eccles
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First - with a few thousand on board, are there sufficient sunbeds if you want to just soak up the sun?
The large Royal Caribbean ships are a huge size jump from tug boat Saga ships. Are you sure you want that many passengers?
Consider first going to the traditional cruise ships of the P&O Fleet imo. Aurora, Arcadia, Oriana. These have about 1500 pax. I've also been on Ventura and Azura which have 3000 pax. My preference is Aurora every time but I also love Azura, lovely ship. Ventura, whilst being the same ship as Azura has generally been a nightmare with poor policing of passenger behaviours, esp kids who run amok unchallenged.
Never had problems with sunbeds on these ships. I think many people don't tend to sunbathe as much as in the past anyway.
Originally Posted by
eccles
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Second - considering a river cruise through Europe, but is it formal dress every evening?
Are you sure it's formal? Or is this a terminology thing?
Formal generally means black tie, proper tuxedo, bow tie and glam dresses for ladies. Most cruises only have 3-5 such nights on the entire trip. Some cruise lines have a middle dress code called say "informal" which is still jacket and tie but not tuxedo etc. The lower dress code is "Smart Casual" usually which is open shirt and no jacket.
Personally I couldn't contemplate a cruise with formal black tie every night. That's just silly imo.
On the other hand if "formal" on this cruise just means basic jacket and tie then imo no problem. I love dressing smart for dinner, it makes the sense of occasion worthwhile.