During the Spring of 2024, we embarked on our first cruise together. Having travelled within the US, Europe and Asia under our own direction, we decided to try out a week’s cruise with TUI. The week would take us across the Mediterranean to Palma, Naples, Sicily, Rome, Ajaccio, and Palamós. Our itinerary was as follows:
Day 1 – Palma, Majorca
Day 2 – Sea Day
Day 3 – Palermo, Sicily
Day 4 – Naples (for Pompeii & Capri), Italy
Day 5 – Civitavecchia (for Rome), Italy
Day 6 – Ajaccio, Corsica
Day 7 – Palamos, Spain
Day 8 – Palma, Majorca
Embarking & your cabin
When arriving at the airport in Palma and once you’ve collected your bags, you’re directed to an area to meet the TUI rep, who will check you’re in the right place and give you your cabin number if you haven’t already been given it on the app. You’ll then be directed to a coach number before heading off for the docks. This is probably the last time you’ll see your luggage for a few hours by the way, so make sure you’ve got everything you need to survive for a few hours. As the corridors of the ship are tight, the staff on the ship will deliver your luggage to your cabin. However, there are a few hundred cabins to sort out, so it might take a while.
Arriving at the port, you’ll get your passports checked (just as you would in an airport) and be issued with your cabin key cards. At this point they’ll also take your picture and ask you to pre-authorize a card against your cabin.
You can usually embark on the ship from 12pm and use the facilities. It’s also a good opportunity to go and find your cabin at this point. We used the opportunity to grab some lunch which presented us with the ultimate question – where to go? The ship had 9 restaurants, and one of those was a food market with pizzas, paninis, curries, and much more. We opted for the food market and some Greek food. It was lovely!
After lunch, we went for another wonder and checked on our luggage (which had arrived). So we got into our cabin and unpacked. The cabins can be a little bit cramped compared to a regular hotel room, but the idea is that you’re not in it all the time. We had paid to upgrade ours to a balcony, so could sit outside and get some air when we wanted to. You could save money here by having a cabin with just a window, or if you’re brave, an interior cabin with no window!
What is there to do on the ship? Do you not get bored?
The short answer, there’s plenty to do. It’s basically a small floating city centre full of restaurants, bars, shops, coffee shop, small cinema, games room, swimming pools, and much more. The entertainment staff onboard are very good at keeping everyone entertained.
Little things such as a Q&A with the captain on the first sea day are usually quite popular (although some of the questions can be a little…weird).
What’s the food like? School canteen vibes or posh af?
The food is really nice and really good quality. As mentioned above there’s plenty of options so you’re not all rushing to the same restaurant. There’s also restaurants which are included as part of your package and some which are classed as ‘premium’ which you pay for on top of the cruise cost. We tried one of these which was the surf and turf, the steak was really nice but I wouldn’t say it’s the best I’ve ever had.
We didn’t have a bad experience with the food, it was all very positive. We visited the main dining room a few times (which was Latitude 53) and has a smart dress code in the evening (by smart, it’s not suits and ties…although you can do that if you want) it’s just no casual wear. A few nights we wanted something a bit more casual so went to the food market.
Do you need to pay extra for drinks?
Yes and no. The cruise itself is all inclusive which means a selection of hot, cold and alcoholic drinks are available (and you can fill your boots). However, we found that there was one choice of draft beer (Fosters…hardly Mediterranean) and a limited choice of cocktails on the standard all inclusive plan. You can upgrade this to the premium plan which covers a bigger range of cocktails and all the specialty coffee’s you’d like.
So, if you’re on the ‘basic’ plan and want to grab that latte? Get your wallet out. Bringing us onto the next point, cash!
How do you pay for things onboard?
This may sound like a daft question and you may think ‘surely you just get your bank card out?’ – incorrect. When you embark, you’ll be given your room key card which also acts as your payment method on board. You’ll be asked to pre-authorise a card against this, and it’ll charge back at the end of your trip.
We’re not here to advise you on money related matters, and this is a personal choice…but we’d advise you not to use a debit card for this. Use a credit card if you have access to one in case there are any discrepancies you need to discuss.
Internet? WIFI?
Depending on your SIM card provider, you may have data roaming access within the EU. So when you’re in dock, you should get internet service to contact family and friends, or post your daily Instagram selfie. #cruiselife
However, when you’re out at sea, you won’t have any signal…which isn’t a terrible thing if you’re trying to switch off! The ship does offer a WIFI service but it’s insanely expensive. It’s charged by the day as a usage plan (e.g. a plan for just sending messages and pictures, a video streaming plan, etc)
We only had one day at sea, the rest of the time we just used our data roaming package. It was nice to just have zero internet after the ship left port for the day.
