That’s what we asked cruise expert and Tips for Travellers author Gary Bembridge.

Here, Gary, who’s a self-confessed cruise fan and has holidayed on more than 20 different ships, gives five reasons why, in some instances, embarking on a cruise might be a better option than a land-based holiday.

1) Cruises are better if you really want to disconnect, or get your loved ones to disconnect

Days at sea with no ports to call force you to disconnect from your otherwise hectic and demanding life on land – giving you the opportunity to slow the pace right down.

I always try to go on cruises which include a lot of sea days, or I’ll take a transatlantic crossing where I’m at sea for six full days.

The experience and pace of life when you’re at sea is completely different to being on land and can be a more soothing option for those who normally struggle to relax to unwind.

One of the main reasons for this is there’s no patchy, slow, unreliable or expensive internet connection out at sea. Even the most die-hard Blackberry addict has to stop, put the device down and find other things to do. People unwind and relax more quickly than they do on land because they know they can’t easily check emails or make and receive calls.

2) Cruises are a better way to see places in the world that can be hard to get to by land

There are some parts of the world that you can see more – or get a better view of – on a cruise than approaching it by land. Probably the best example of this is The Norwegian Fjords.

A cruise lets you travel deep into the Fjords to visit tiny villages that are hard – and very time consuming – to get to by land. Skjolden, for example, which is a village 130 miles inland populated by only 150 permanent residents, is otherwise very difficult to see. More towns and villages can easily be seen by ship as you pass through the Fjords – something which is impossible to do by land.

3) Cruises can give you a taste for a region without investing all your holiday time and money into one destination

Cruising is great way to get a taste and feel for a region of the world – helping you decide which destinations you want to go back and spend time in to really explore.

It’s a real challenge to choose which one of the many Caribbean islands you want to commit all your precious holiday time and budget to, for example. But, if you cruise the area you’ll see at least five or six islands, each of which you can explore for a day and decide which one you’d like to invest more time in.

This means lowering your risk of choosing the wrong destination and making sure you know exactly which one you’ll enjoy the most before you spend more time there.

The same is true of other regions, such as Europe or the Greek Islands. Some people use legs of world cruises to explore regions like south east Asia to do the same thing. You can get a flavour and taste for the places you want to go back to and avoid trial and error.

4) Cruises are safe and friendly environments – especially for solo women travellers

I’ve found that cruise travellers are generally friendly and much more likely to strike up a conversation with other holidaymakers than on any land based trip.

I put that down to the wonder of shared adventure which creates a greater sense of community. People on a cruise are always more chatty and friendly as they have a shared interest and focus. The very nature of the way a cruise is organised, such as the set dinner times on most cruise ships where you are allocated to a shared table, also facilitates and creates situations which encourage discussion and chat.

It’s really easy for solo travellers – especially female travellers – to feel more integrated as they’re sat at tables with groups for meals. Most cruise ships host informal events for solo travellers to get together. Some cruise lines, like Cunard for example, even have Gentlemen Hosts available in the ballroom to dance with solo travellers in the evenings, while many others are re-introducing solo cabins to remove the solo traveller premium.

5) Cruises can be fun, safe and very child friendly – or 100% child free if that’s what you’d prefer!

Unlike the widespread perception that cruises are only for the elderly, it is indeed a fast-growing holiday choice for families. While some cruise lines offer adult only cruise ships, such as the P&O line which has two adult only ships in its fleet, the majority of cruise lines encourage – and are very geared towards – families with children. While the most child friendly is, not surprisingly, the Disney Cruise Line, they all have dedicated staff to operate their kid’s clubs and teen clubs and most will offer some form of babysitting in the evenings.

With the ship being a confined and defined space – with lots of activities lined up for the kids – you can relax and enjoy being with your family, with the option to pursue your own passions on-board.

About Gary Bembridge:

Since 2004, Gary Bembridge has been running Tips for Travellers, a blog about luxurious travel experiences, which incorporates audio and podcasts. He’s a big fan of cruising and writes and podcasts about cruising extensively. You can read more of his tips on cruising here.

The post When is a cruise a better choice than a land-based holiday? appeared first on MyTravelMoney.co.uk.

Read on to find out why seeing Europe by ship could work out cheaper in the long run and how you can create a tailored experience, based on your own itinerary.

1) Believe it or not, it can actually work out cheaper to cruise Europe rather than plan a land-based holiday. There are lots of great, last minute deals out there but be sure to check out up-to-the-minute exchange rates for your chosen destinations first at the likes of MyTravelMoney.co.uk

2) The great thing is, you don’t have to wait until spring, summer or autumn to embark on your cruise, because Western Mediterranean cruises set sail all year round, moving further south to the likes of Morocco and the Canary Islands in the cooler months.

3) You can create the experience you want by choosing which ship type you’d prefer to travel on. Choosing a large cruise liner, for example, will mean visiting larger ports and lots of on-board activities as well as the likes of casinos and spas. Smaller ships might mean a more unique and cultural experience since they tend to include lots of extra stops to the European islands and smaller villages. You could even go for a yacht-style experience or sail on a masted ship if you’re more intrepid.

4) You can up the cultural ante by getting on board with a dedicated European cruise company, rather than UK, American or Caribbean, to ensure it’ll be manned by European staff who really know their stuff.

5) There are now certain cruise lines offering shorter trips around the seven day mark so it’s possible to squeeze in a luxury cruise without having to wait a lifetime for adequate time off. It means, in some cases, you can take in Spain, France, Italy and Morocco all in one trip.

The post Five reasons to choose to cruise Europe appeared first on MyTravelMoney.co.uk.

We found ourselves all at sea with this one as there are so many fantastic blogs in this category. But we’ve picked our favourites nevertheless and hope you’ll enjoy checking them out as much as we did. The expert bloggers listed below are so good they now have the entire MyTravelMoney.co.uk team saving up for a cruise!

Congratulations to all our winners and finalists and, in particular, The Cruise Blog, Cruises From The UK and Tom’s Cruise Blog – which have landed Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively.

1) The Cruise Blog – found tweeting @JaneArcherUK
This fantastic blog is penned by leading UK cruise journalist and enthusiast Jane Archer, who has written for the likes of Travel Weekly, Cruise Trade News and Selling Cruising. She’s also a Daily Telegraph Travel columnist and will be speaking at this year’s Daily Telegraph Cruise Show in London, Birmingham and Glasgow. Her in-depth knowledge of cruising and indeed her ability to produce brilliant copy shine through in this well presented blog which is currently offering a free download of Travel & Cruise Magazine for every visitor. Congratulations, Jane, you’ve struck Gold!

2) Cruises From The UK – found tweeting @CFTUK
This blog is our Silver winner and another bookmarked favourite – keeping readers up-to-date with what’s happening in the cruise industry, including who’s sailing where, who’s winning what and which ports are diversifying. The blog is part of the larger website where you can search for cruise holidays leaving from the UK but what’s great is that it’s still unbiased and impartial. Hats off to the Cruises From The UK team for including cruise facts, news and the most comprehensive information on UK cruise terminals on the web.

3) Tom’s Cruise Blog
No, not Tom Cruise’s Blog but Tom’s Cruise Blog! Meet 60-something-year-old Tom, who’s married to Val and developed a penchant for cruising in 2005 and, after many trips at sea, went on a special 35-year anniversary voyage in 2010 which really helped to seal the deal. Tom’s blog is a very personal account of the couple’s cruising experiences which you can’t help but fall in love with. It’s highly informative for anyone considering a similar trip and even has a resources page where you can find links to other cruise-related info. We can’t get enough! But sadly, we’re not sure if he’s in the Twittersphere because we couldn’t find a handle yet he’s landed our Bronze award all the same.

4) Captain Greybeard – found tweeting @CaptGreybeard
Captain Greybeard, aka John Honeywell – a self-confessed cruiseaholic, was a finalist in our Best Blogs for Travel Advice category but we just had to honour him again in this very fitting category as he really is the ultimate cruise expert. If you’ve seen his blog, he really needs no introduction – and that’s why he’s landed our Finalist award. Find him blogging over at The Mirror online for a chance to vote in the 2012 Cruise Awards and win a holiday.

5) Cruise Critic – found tweeting @CruiseCritic
For cruise news and reviews, visit Cruise Critic where you’ll find a surprising mix of short posts seasoned with a touch of humour. ‘The sunlounger race: Why do the Germans get there first?’ post really tickled us – as did the competition to win a ‘How to make towel animals’ DVD. Here, you’ll also find a great review on three apps for exploring port on your own and we love the great photos of some truly beautiful cruise liners.

6) Cruising World: The Cruising Blogs – found tweeting @cruisingworld
The Cruising Blogs are brought to us by Cruising World magazine from the Bonnier Marine Group Network and are among our favourites because they’re by different writers with a passion for sailboats as well as cruising. If you’re a lover of all things nautical and are interested in the finer details like sizes of engine, how many knots etc then this blog will be right up your street – or waterway, should we say?

7) Cruise
This site sure does pack a lot in and can be a bit sore on the eyes until you adjust to the information overload that’s going on but, once you do, you’ll love this site as much as we do. You can read more than 30,000 individual and unbiased reviews from real cruisers, track down your next holiday and read hoards of cruise guides. Not a blog as such – but a great review site.

8) James Cusick’s Blog
Follow James Cusick, Executive Purser on board Aurora, as he travels around the globe working on cruise ships for P&O for an insider’s take on what’s impressive and what’s not. Although James features the P&O Twitter feed on the landing page, the views are entirely his own on this very personal weblog and not those of the cruise operator. James gives some great insights into the inner workings of large cruise liners as he describes his job in great detail and the features of different ships. A great read, but we couldn’t track him down on Twitter – only P&O.

9) Choosing Cruising
This blog might not look as fancy as the rest but there‘s literally loads of information to be gleaned from this fantastic site which not only has a blog, but brings you the latest cruise offers and has great advice for adventurers, singles and those looking for a themed holiday. Blog posts are short and to the point relating to cruise news and mean you can have a ten-minute read and be completely clued up about the latest comings, goings and developments in the cruise world. Sadly, we couldn’t find these prolific bloggers on Twitter.

10) Choose to Cruise
Choose to Cruise is a nice and simple, magazine-style blog which carries all the latest cruise news from the likes of P&O and Oceania Cruises. There are great, informative posts, special offers, photos, videos and reviews for UK-based travellers with a passion for cruising. Again, we couldn’t find a Twitter handle to share – which is the only thing that lets it down. But we love the professional photography which really ‘wet’s’ our appetite for cruising. See what we did there?!

All our winners and finalists are invited to download their relevant badges of honour here to showcase their blogging achievements.

For technical help, or to request that your blog be considered for the next round of MyTravelMoney.co.uk Travel Blog Awards, contact lynda@mytravelmoney.co.uk

The post Top 10 Cruise Travel Blogs Celebrated! appeared first on MyTravelMoney.co.uk.

In fact, the cruise industry has made such a comeback in recent years that 842,000 cruise ship passengers are expected to descend on Alaska alone in 2012.

It’s probably cheaper than you think and there are plenty of late deals to choose from. All you have to do is decide what you want to get out of your cruise , whether it’s fun in the sun, wildlife watching, or both.

Here are our top three cruise ideas to get you started… the world is your oyster.

1) Awesome Alaska

A cruise round Alaska’s blue ice and awe-inspiring glaciers is an experience you don’t want to miss. If you’re not too bothered about sun and heat, but love marine animals and wildlife, then this one’s for you. There are lots of different cruises to choose from, of between seven and 14 nights, but you might want to look out for those offering some of the following: a glacier dogsled ride, high-speed catamaran wildlife expedition, hike through the glacial waterfalls and rainforests of the capital, Juneau.

2) Heart-melting Mexico

The Mexican Riviera equals fun in the sun so you can expect plenty of it. Surf, sand and sun are the three basic elements of a visit to Mexico and you won’t be disappointed. There are also thousands of species of plant and wildlife to be seen during a cruise to Mexico, which is guaranteed to be a great adventure if nothing else. Party cruises are great if it’s just the two of you or if you’re going with friends and don’t have any children. They usually offer brilliant round-trips, on which you can expect all-inclusive drinks plus plenty of music, dancing and partying.

3) The Galapagos

Cruising The Galapagos is as exciting as it gets! On-board guides really know their stuff too when it comes to native wildlife and the islands themselves. Prepare to see some of the most astounding natural habitats and native creatures you could have ever imagined. You might even want to get involved in a volunteer project while you’re there and stay a little longer. Whatever you do, make sure you check up on which vaccinations are needed before you go.

4) Disney At Sea

All aboard the Disney ship! The Disneyland cruise ship has something for everyone and research has shown that nearly one million children are getting to grips with holidays at sea every year. That’s why cruise companies are jumping on the bandwagon to cater for your little sprites – putting on everything from ice skating to kids’ entertainment. Why not take full advantage?!

5) Ibiza Party Cruises

If you’re a party animal and hedonism is right up your street, then you’ll want to get on board with one of the many Ibiza party cruises – also known as ‘Booze Cruises’. Be warned, though, they’re not for the faint hearted. If you’re young and carefree and don’t mind plenty of skin on show, with a good dose of drinking games added to the mix, then you’ll be in heaven. If not, steer clear!

The post Summer Breaks at Sea: Top 5 Cruise Ideas appeared first on MyTravelMoney.co.uk.