Best Vacations for First-Time Cruisers: 7 Easy Cruises to Start With
The lowest-commitment first cruises
Three or four-night Bahamas cruises from Florida run $300 to $900 per person for an inside cabin. This is the single lowest-commitment way to try the format: three or four days to decide if cruising works for you without a week-long investment. Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian all run frequent Bahamas short-hauls.
The classic first-week cruise
Eastern Caribbean 7-night cruises are the single most-common first-week cruise. Pricing: $700 to $2,500 per person for inside to balcony cabins. The format is well-tested, the ports are tourist-friendly, and the ships offer the full range of cruise programming for a first-timer to sample.
Destination-first cruises for travelers who want scenery
Alaska Inside Passage ($1,500 to $6,500 per person for a week), Mediterranean ($1,400 to $6,000 per person), and Canada-New England ($1,200 to $4,500 per person) are three cruises where the destinations are the point rather than the ship amenities. These work better than Caribbean cruises for travelers who want substantive destinations rather than beach-focused ports.
The under-rated short river cruise
Rhine River cruises are the shortest learning curve for travelers who think they would hate ocean cruising. The small-ship format, included meals, and daily excursions remove most of the aspects of ocean cruising that travelers dislike. Rhine 7-night week: $2,500 to $6,000 per person.
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