50 incredible cruises for 2019
I had lunch with a friend who wanted to chat cruising.
Emma, her husband and two girls had been invited to join a Mediterranean cruise with another family, for a big birthday.
Boy, did I earn my lunch.
The notion of a holiday at sea reamins for many, a mystery wrapped in a riddle shrouded in The Fear. The fear of feeling trapped, of having to talk to strangers, of not having the right clothes or, simply, not knowing what to do, once on board.
All of which is a bit silly when you consider that almost two million UK travellers are now setting sail − many of them to far-flung corners of the world such as Greenland, Micronesia and New Zealand.
Below we’ll give you an insight into what’s out there, on oceans from the Caribbean Sea to the Singapore Strait.
Once I’d explained to Emma how a day might pan out on a family ship, she began to relax. “Oh, they don’t check you off after breakfast then?” (we had rolled back half a century, and relocated from the sunny Mediterranean, to Blackpool).
There was a raised eyebrow when I mentioned the waterpark; a smile when “kids’ club” and “spa” were mentioned in the same sentence and glee when I reeled off the new places she’d see in a two-week sailing.
Three weeks after our lunch I received an email: “EEEK – we’ve only gone and booked Oasis of the Seas. Boat looks incredible!” [Smiley face]. Is it time you fought The Fear?
The best cruises in the Caribbean and Latin America for 2019
The best 10 cruises in the Mediterranean and Western Europe for 2019
The best cruises in Northern Europe for 2019
The best cruises in the Norwegian Fjords for 2019
The best cruises in Asia, Australasia and the South Pacific for 2019
The best cruises in Antartica and Alaska for 2019
