Centuries ago the ocean was the only path one could travel down in order to visit another country. Explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Francis Drake bravely set off into the new world to find new lands and discover new riches, unaware of if they would ever come back. Conditions on boats were poor and unhygienic, food and drink was scarce and more often than not, passengers perished due to malnutrition or unknown illnesses acquired from countries overseas. These days though, the seas are arguably the safest method of transport and luxury cruises are understandably the chosen preference of many tourists. Rather than spend time waiting in departure lounges to then be rammed into economy class on a lengthy flight with expensive drinks and dodgy food, a cruise allows tourists to arrive in comfort and at a steady pace. Rather than believe that cruises are only achievable by the wealthy, a quick and effective bit of research on the internet can soon quash rumours and put your mind at rest. As always, trust is an issue and we quickly remind ourselves of the numerous occasions we wanted a little piece of friendly advice from our high street travel agent yet instead were just given a few costly figures and then escorted off the premises, weighed down with a dozen or more glossy brochures. It’s times like these when sites like cruises.co.uk offer an undeniable service.
Dining room of the Serenade of the Seas
To quote them, they are ‘The UK’s largest cruise community and information site’ and it is easy to see why. There are over an impressive 30,000 reviews of cheap cruises submitted by cruisers and critics alike, and when composing your own piece, you are encouraged to rate everything from the cabins, quality of food, on board entertainment, shore excursions and ultimately, how good the staff were. A lot of time can be saved by clicking on the ‘Answers’ section, where there are over 530 pages of questions asked by the sites users and visitors on a wide range of subjects related to discount voyages. Rather than search endlessly through the endless amount of pages, you can use the search function and be more specific about what you are looking for. If by some chance your particular query hasn’t been dealt with in the past or posed by a previous user, you can type into the text box and submit your own question, using the side tabs to be more specific about the topic or a specific cruise line or cruise ship you are researching. This site, unlike many others, is, in essence, owned by its users due to the fact that they are allowed to submit information such as reviews, photos and ask questions of this vital source of cruise information. Every possible question is answered; every possible destination is reviewed and explained in depth. As well as this, the latest developments regarding the cheapest river trips are updated whenever changes do occur or announcements are made. Be sure that you can rely on a trusted source of information!