“Just arrived on board Virtuosa and our Balcony room absolutely stinks of cigarette smoke. It stinks so bad.I want to get off but my husband thinks they'll fix it.”
“Booked the Alaska Brilliance of the seas cruise and Best of Rockies Tour 12 months in advance. So many things either changed or went wrong, and once they had your money they didn't care. Communication is very poor, to the point where we had almost lost the will to live by the time we took off from Manchester. We were lucky, our flights went through Amsterdam to Calgary, but as stated in the previous post 15 people flew via Dallas, Texas and didn't reach Calgary until the tour had left for Banff. Who thought that was a good route? Anyone who has been to America knows that their Immigration process can take 2-3 hours. It was reckless booking passengers on that flight. Some of their luggage took 5/6 days to arrive. I also agree that the hotels were of poor standard. Calgary hotel - breakfast was very basic, and we have never been asked to clear our table when we finished. Banff was better but the last day of the tour we were on the bus almost 15 hours to Abbotsford, with stops, but not luxury, and we were asked not to use the toilet if possible. Breakfast was again very basic with polystyrene plates and disposable knives. Has put us off coach tours and we would never book with Cruise 1st again”
“Flight book to Calgary via Dallas ..it took almost 3 hrs to get thro passport and security..so missed flight..went to customer service they gave us a boarding pass for another flight that eve..got to gate and see it was to Vancouver not calgary..next flight was in morning 8 am..so slept on bench..no food or hotel offer..after 3 gate changes ..having to go on connecting train twice eventually got to Calgary..missed all the days trips..Hotel awful..next hotel breakfast poor ..in plastic plates and cutlery..never seen anything like it…we are 75 yrs old exhausted ..still on trip ..and board for Alaska cruise tomorrow..would rather go home I have emailed cruise 1st and got an automated reply
Ps there are at least 15 of us..2 couples have lost cases ..one has pain medication in it”
“I have booked several cruises with Cruise1st in the last few years booked one for 2025 on MSC what a mistake that was after seeing many reviews & vlogs on youtube it showed how bad MSC was we were not told about several things by Cruise 1st like £250 on your cruise card , smoking on the inside of the ship ,no shuttle buses in port , taking a charity donation without knowing , only MDR & buffett to eat meals all the rest if you want a change there is a charge , many other things there is a charge along with other places were there is long ques . After paying a deposit and looking for a refund or partial refund as i understand that there is admin work or to change the cruise to another there was a massive charge . After taking your booking & £££ 's they do not want to help you do your homework before booking never again .”
“I wished I had read these reviews before booking!! I’m going through the same issue with them. They were quick to take my deposit but since then so difficult to communicate with for some changes on my bookings.”
“Cruise 1st once they get your money then you’re on your own not helpful at all so beware !
We booked after seeing all the wonderful places we were going unfortunately once we got to some of the destinations (not all) they were nothing like advertised. We had three nights in kaula lumpur it looked lovely when we booked it but we were put in a disgusting area once on the ship everything was ok .
Then we had four nights in Bali again looked stunning when booked but they put us in a town that disgusting, all booked through cruise 1st never again . Once we got home I complained they offered me £150 never again will I book with cruise 1st”
“Cruise 1st is only interested in taking your money. After that you are on your own. No advice given on visas to Indonesia, sSingapore etc. They will constantly call you for the balance and once they get it, they turn their backs on customers. Never again will I book a cruise with them. Bad experience”
“Where to start with this shower.
Having paid a deposit for a cruise from Miami to Spain in 2024 and then unexpectedly being declined a US visa Cruise 1st have been an absolute nightmare.
Michael who we dealt with initially is an absolute waste of time. On explaining the visa issue he advised not to cancel but to said we could transfer our deposits (less£75 admin charge per person) to another cruise. Found another cruise and when emailing Michael was given two other emails as he cannot transfer our deposit. It’s been over 5 weeks and no response. Do we have cruise booked or not? Also noticed that the cost of the proposed new cruise fluctuates between £500pp / £800pp!
Seems like others who have posted on here that once they have some of your money they don’t want to know or even worse don’t actually care about their customers.
One automated email even said if you email them once the original request to change has been submitted you will be bumped to the bottom of the queue.
So due to the lack of response we’ve submitted a cancellation request and will now lose the whole £400. But according to their t&c an email in not enough they also want a formal letter.
I wish I had read these reviews first before paying them any money. And yes I know it was stupid to pay the deposit without first having a visa….”
“Booked a cruise through cruise first for the msc virtuoso departing Southampton on the 13/07/2024. Our party of five without drinks package total cost £10,300. We decided that we want to add of drinks package but told we have to cancel and rebook which we would lose our £600 deposit.
Cruise 1st quoted me £10,900 for the same holiday with drinks package but I can not amend my original booking.
So dissatisfied with this option and felt really let down by msc and cruise 1st.”
“Do not use, this company delayed booking flights until I reminded them 3 weeks before departure that we had not been advised. Because of this they could secure flights from airport closest to cruise terminal. Said we will pay the extra to transfer you to the next nearest airport, as if they were doing is the favour, (2 hours drive ). Only to find out that the flight they were offering was approx. 12 hours after disembarking from ship. Then we discover the flight has a stopover and by the time it arrives in the uk 19 hours after disembarkation we cannot get transport home. They are offering no compensation and not even anything towards meals. I had in the last 3 months kept reminding them about our flights by emails and they never replied. I tried to phone and never could get put through to customer service. Our holiday in 3 weeks time now has lost its glow.”
“They booked my friend and I's hotel accommodation before and after the cruise. I specifically asked for twin beds in the room and even checked with them just beforehand. They assured me that that was what we'd get. When we arrived at both hotels, they knew nothing about the request and both told us that the requested needed to be made beforehand and we would have to share a bed. Things were changed around after we said that we would not be able to stay there. They said to take it up with Cruise1st. But that was going to be too late.”
“We booked with Cruise 1st in August 2021. This was for 2 x return business class flights to Sydney and 2 back to back cruises from Sydney. As time went on we became concerned regarding the lack of communication from them. Any query could only be directed to Customer Services who could never provide a satisfactory answer. Requests and emails for a call back or update fell on deaf ears. In April we requested information regarding our flights as these were showing TBA. Then, on a regular basis, every couple of weeks or so we asked what was happening and it was always the same answer, everything is in hand, no need to worry. Well, we should have been worried as in the middle of August (8 weeks before our trip) we received a phone call saying that Cruise 1st could no longer provide us with business class flights at the price quoted. In the end we had to pay an additional £6500 or cancel completely and accept a refund and a paltry £50 compensation. We did not have a choice to cancel as plans and excursions had already been made and paid for.”
“Do not book with this company. We were stranded in Australia in 2020 and they left us to arrange our return to the UK. We had to find our airfair and we had to go through ABTA to get our original flight money back even though the airline had paid Cruise 1st This took six months. Terrible customer service.”
“DON’T BOOK WITH THEM BE WARNED!!!
Just returned from a trip to Rome staying in hotel then boarding cruise ship for 11 days. All three transfers were booked and paid for through Cruise1st with a firm called Hoppa Transfers who didn’t turn up at the appointed times and I am now 320 Euro out of pocket. I rang Hoppa who said car had broken down and said they would definitely turn up at next for next two transfers, but we’re nowhere to be seen. I rang Cruise1st who were no help. I was told to report this to their Aftertravel dept and I am still waiting for their response. The agent I booked the cruise (Patricia Bradley) said that she had forwarded the complaint onto her manager (no response to date) and said “sorry there is nothing more that I can do”. Terrible service, when anything goes wrong they leave you high and dry. I will never book with this company again, this is the second time they have let me down and there is no way they will give you a refund, they don’t even respond to complaints.”
“I have booked a cruise for September which I want to cancel. Sent 6 emails tried numerous times to get through on phone , no reponses. How are you sipping to deal with this company”
“im only giving 1 star as i cant give zero!website is a joke,you filter on cruise and flight and only cruise comes up,it doesnt always advertise all incusive either.never seen such a complicated rubbish website.when you phone they question you as to why you want so many quotes for different times of year,obviously they dont want custom and to do the jobs they are paid to do”
“Booked our USA Golden Triangle stay and cruise last year. Have tried and tried to add an extra stay to the back end and change hotels. Spend hours waiting on the phone just to be told they cant do anything. Have sent so many emails, none ever replied to. We are spending a lot of money on this holiday, and it's so annoying that you just can't get through to them. I will never book another cruise with them again. Get more staff to man your phones. They answer the phone straight away if you are booking a new holiday. Once they have your money they ignore you. Terrible company, shame on you. Take my advice, DO NOT USE THEM.”
“Very poor service, talked the talk on two separate occasions but never came back with prices. I finally came across Cruise Circle who promptly responded to my enquiry which resulted in booking a Caribbean cruise for 4 people the following day.”
