Choosing an Itinerary on a Luxury Cruise Holiday

Once you have some dates in mind and decided the type and length of cruise you want, you can pick an itinerary. We have dedicated pages for No Fly, Singles, Theme and River cruises where you can search for the itinerary that suits you best. Otherwise you may want to review our Destinations page and search cruises there or use the detailed Cruise Finder on our Ocean Cruises page.

Whenever you search for cruises on this site you will be presented with a list of the cruises that meet your criteria. To assist further click the shipname to open the Ship Details page or click the cruise name to open the Cruise details page. This page provides information on your cruise including the itinerary with ports of call and dates. Additionally if you click the port name you will be able to view our commentary on the port including sights of interest.

Destinations / Cruise Regions
If you are not sure where you want to cruise you can visit our Destinations page. Here we offer our detailed description of the cruise regions of the world and the best time to cruise there. You can also search for cruises within the region by date and cruise line or select from the list of departure ports for that region.

Sun and Fun
If it is sun and fun that you seek then the Caribbean and Mediterranean are the prime destinations. The Med has glamourous resorts and idyllic islands while the Caribbean offers the beaches of hundreds of beautiful vibrant islands .If you want beaches read the itinerary port descriptions for the nearest ones - at most ports in the Caribbean and some in the Mediterranean there will be shore excursions to a beach or resort hotel. If you just want to sunbathe on the sundeck, look out for cruises with lots of days at sea or sunbathe onboard when everyone else is exploring the port ashore.

Sightseeing
The most popular areas for sightseeing cruises are Alaska, Northern Europe and the Mediterran. Alaska is an ideal area for exploring by ship. - forested islands, waterfalls and calving glaciers. Northern Europe offers the medieval cities of the Baltic Sea, the dramatic Norwegian Fjords, the historic cities and islands of Western Europe and the volcanoes of Iceland. If you want sun as well as sightseeing then head for the Mediterranean - the Cradle of Civilisation with lots of ancient sites and historic cities.

Cruise Finder
Once you know what you are looking for try the detailed Cruise Finder on our Ocean Cruises page. Here you can search by dates, days away, cruise line, cruise region, ship size or rating and more. You will get a list of all the cruises that meet your citeria and you will be able to view details of any cruise and ship that takes your fancy.

Particular ports of call
If you wish to visit a particular port of call, we can help. Visit our Ports page and find your port - we can give you a detailed description and list of all the cruises that call there and when they sail. You will be able to get more information about the cruises and ships from there.

Some further points to bear in mind:

• Do you prefer a port intensive cruise or lots of days at sea?
  It will depend on whether you want to enjoy a lot of what the ship has to offer or you just want to use it as a base while you explore the world. Some port intensive cruises offer a port a day so your time on the ship is limited to the evenings although most have at least one day at sea. It will also depend on the region of the world you are cruising. The Mediterranean and Caribbean have ports that are quite close together while in the Indian and Pacific Ocean ports can be days apart.
• Popular itineraries or off the beaten track?
  You will find that the larger cruise lines offer cruises in the Caribbean and Mediterranean that follow a well worn trail to ports that get lots of visitors. If you want something different you will need to try a line with smaller ships ot perhaps look at some other regions of the world to explore.
• If seasickness is a worry, choose a cruise that is :
  • in areas where the seas are likely to be calm like the Mediterranean in the summer or the Caribbean in the winter
  • a coastal type cruise where the ship is sailing between the mainland and offshore islands like Alaska, Norway or inside the Barrier Reefs
  • a port hopper - visiting a port a day and cruising only at night
• If you are disabled
  choose an itinerary with as few tender ports as possible and ports that are known to be wheelchair friendly.