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Review summary
Cruise1st is exceptionally well-rated by customers. Customers particularly appreciate service and professional, though some mention concerns about customer service and expensive.
Easy but thorough process. I called and was quickly put through to an agent. The whole process was explained to me as we went along and I always felt at my ease. I will definitely be using cruise1st again to book my next cruise. They were also the cheapest amongst several cruise agents that I could find
We have booked for a cruise with MSC through Cruise 1st
We have booked for a cruise with MSC with Cruise1st and was assured that was the best price possible however the cruise is now £500 cheaper which is not fair.
When contacting them they tried to contact
Cruise 1st from the moment I made my enquiry they were on the ball and very prompt in all the info I was asking for,Trisha was what made the difference in me booking with them or choosing another company,she made it all go very smoothly and gave me a great price too which always helps
Cruise 1 is a superb experience, booking with Michelle was a delight.All questions were answered efficiently and the help securing a cabin was invaluable.
We booked a cruise from Mauritius to Cape Town in April 2026 The itinerary said that we would fly from London airport overnight to Mauritius however a month later when flight details came through it said fly to Dubai overnight and then after a two hour delay take another flight to Mauritius. (18 hours)
When we spoke to customer services there was no empathy or apology and I feel conned. I explained that there was no mention of Dubai in description or conversation at point of purchase. No offer of refund despite being a clear misrepresentation in written and verbal information.
We have booked numerous cruises before and they we fantastic but when things go wrong there are numerous other reviews which complain about the poor customer support.
Before you book and pay deposit check the details as as soon as you pay the deposit they do not want to know. I will have to resolve this via my credit card protection because of the mis selling but this is something that I should not have to deal with.
Gillian Henson at Cruise1st is a credit to your organisation.
She epitomises why your company is successful and professional.
Gillian dealt with our enquiry through to confirmation and got my wife and me a great deal on a recent cruise.
Nothing is too much trouble for her and she goes the extra mile every time to satisfy our needs.
We have done 5 cruises through Cruise 1st and Gillian has dealt with all of them.
In fact if we ever want to book another holiday with Cruise1st we will ONLY go to Gillian Henson.
10/10 for star rating.
Thank you Cruise 1st and a special thank you to Gillian Henson.
I have always rated cruise 1st as perfect and won't go anywhere else as they give such good value for money and have always had such excellent customer service. I have a current booking with them for next year and have had an issue with my name on the booking that took so long to rectify that they charged me for which I'm not happy about.
Cruise 1st TV - seems to be just a sales point for MSC cruises - where has the variety gone??
It appears these days that Cruise 1st TV has become the place for booking MSC cruises, despite their claim that they have close relationships with all the major cruise lines.
There was a time when Cruise 1st had a reasonable variety of cruises, offered by a variety of cruise lines. These days, the channel has become an MSC shop window.
You would think that any company like Cruise TV would offer an unbiased opinion of cruise lines and would want their customers to have the best experience, so that they keep coming back. I have sailed with MSC and there is a place for them in the budget end of the cruise market. They provide reasonably good cruises at good prices, but their ships do feel crowded and understaffed compared to some other cruise lines. MSC among a few others e.g. Costa seem to get a larger number of customer complaints and lower ratings from independent cruise critics. Much of the complaints about MSC concur with my experiences: overcrowding; low staff numbers, leaving staff rushed; and issues of cleanliness. I personally didn't experience any real issues of cleanliness, but looking into these, they relate to their older ships.
For these reasons I am surprised Cruise 1st TV gives MSC so much air time.
I previously raised this issue of the amount of time dedicated to MSC and did hear Derek mention it on one of his shows. I don't think he mentioned just as a result of me raising it, I am sure others have also seen the increase in MSC air time. It was suggested on air, that the reason MSC cruises feature so frequently, is because more people take MSC cruises than any other and so their cruises sell out quicker. I have to disagree with this statement. I checked for myself and according to the stats Royal Caribbean have twice as many customers as MSC, also Carnival have twice as many customers as MSC.
I know they have a Cruise with Derek, which is with MSC, so there will be dedicated programs about that, which is expected. Often though the Cruise with Derek program can be bookended with specific programs containing only MSC cruises, it's crazy? If Derek did a 2 week 'no fly' cruise, which was not on an MSC ship (or Virgin), then I would happily join them.
I would prefer 'no fly' cruising because when you are cruising, you don't want the hassle of airports, nor the restrictions of airports when it comes to luggage. I noticed there was a dedicated program coming up that was all about 'no fly' cruising. There are not enough of these available and as it was when I would be out, I recorded it. I sat down and watched it today and I was totally disappointed. I am sure it appealed to some, but I was disappointed that the whole program. although dedicated to 'no fly' cruising, was all MSC cruises. WHY? What's wrong with P&O, or Fred Olsen, or a number of other cruise lines that do 'no-fly cruises from UK. Also when showing 'no fly' cruises why restrict them to 7 day Northern Europe cruises; 14 day quick zip down to the Canaries and back cruises; or 2 night English channel booze cruise with a stop in some French or Dutch commercial port. Surely there are longer cruises offered from British shores that return to British shores that cruise sunny climates like the Med., or Caribbean over longer periods.
I like that Cruise 1st TV have included what they call 'Luxury Collection' highlighting higher end cruising, but I was disappointed to see some of the options. If you are going to offer Luxury Collection, why not include some of the luxury cruise lines such as 'Regent Seven Seas Cruises', 'Seabourn Cruise Line' or 'Silversea Cruise' etc. Yes it is nice to know that MSC have a Yacht Club, but you can show that in any program containing an MSC cruise. You list many of these luxury cruise lines on your web site, yet we never see any programs that are dedicated to them, or even mention any of their cruises.
If you really want to show us what the world of cruising is about, then let's see a wide range of options, from budget through to the luxury end. Some of these high end cruise lines are not as expensive as they first seem, particularly when you consider what is included in their cruise packages.
So Cruise 1st TV guys, variety, both in cruise provider and length of cruise. If I wanted to go on a World cruise, I would want a good idea of everything that is included in that cruise before I considered it. I would also want to decide why it may be better to choose one cruise company over another when cruising the World. That is the sort of information I would expect to be able to get from a company called Cruise 1st. If I thought I want to take a 2 night channel 'booze cruise' or a 248 night Epic Global Adventure, I would hope that your shows could furnish me with all the information I need about these.
Am I asking too much?
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