Cruises: The best all-inclusive holiday that money can buy?

There’s no two ways about it: when it comes to holidays on all inclusive, cruises usually win hands down. With all that sumptuous food, never-ending buffets and a new destination to wake up to every day, you’ll be hard-pressed to get better value for money on a standard package holiday. But what can you expect from a cruise holiday?

On most large-scale itineraries the cruise ship is your hotel, entertainment, restaurant and transport - whisking you from one glorious destination to another while you sleep, eat, sun-bathe or party. It’s therefore a huge part of the holiday experience, and because of this you’ll find a range of experiences set up to suit different ages and personal tastes.

For example if you cruise Thomas Cook, you’ll find everything from short taster cruises over a weekend to longer itineraries covering 14, 15 or more nights, travelling to such far-off gems as the Caribbean and South America. With these style of cruises you’ll not only get an all inclusive board basis with breakfast, lunch and dinner, you’ll also get snacks and regular treats such as afternoon tea or special gala dinners. Onboard the facilities range from cinemas and spas to heated pools and fitness centres.

At each port of call, customers will have the chance to disembark and wander around the destination in their own time, or join a specially organised excursion - providing transport to see the sights, an escorted shopping trip to the markets or even boat trips to the local beauty spot.

On a cruise holiday there is always plenty going on, and when you factor in all those wonderful new destinations and varied onboard facilities, it’s easy to see why so many people come back to enjoy all inclusive cruise holidays year after year.