Introducing Cruise Lowdown

First post, first impressions - no pressure then!

Hi, I’m Kathy

Welcome to my first ever post in my first ever blog!  I have done some freelance travel writing in the past and love the ocean, so I thought it was time to combine the two.

The blog name is the result of a process of elimination (i.e all the best cruise blog names were already taken) and is meant to convey that we will give you the “lowdown” on Cruising. However, I appreciate that some people might not get it 🤷‍♀️.

Whilst I am the writer, my husband, John is the silent partner in Cruiselowdown (being my travel companion, photographer, videographer and chauffeur plus critical friend).

Why I Started This Blog

I realise that sea travel is not for everyone. I’ve cruised for over 15 years and absolutely love it, but when I’ve mentioned it to non-cruising friends and family its clear that they don’t all share my enthusiasm.  When pressed, the usual reasons given are that they fear it would be over crowded, claustrophobic, boring(?), too formal, too traditional and too OLD!

Any readers that share my passion, know the comebacks to this, and I will cover them in future posts. However, it did make me evaluate cruising from a reluctant cruisers perspective, and pay attention to what would widen the appeal, particularly to younger travellers. At this point I should come clean (just in case we should bump into each other at sea), and tell you that I am not in that demographic (although I believe the camera, my mirror and birth certificate lie!)

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an age thing per se (before I lose a great swathe of prospective followers), it’s more a perception (or misconception) issue.

For example, when booking an AI beach resort in, say Majorca, no one thinks about what the demographic will be at their hotel - (well - Ok unless you are maybe a stag/hen party booking a clubbing holiday in Magaluf) - but as soon as you mention a cruise, everyone immediately thinks of grey-haired grannies and zimmer frames! Of course, this is still true on some ships (I recently had a battle to dodge the mobility scooters to get to the front of the buffet line - those things can move, but a girl’s gotta eat!); but by being a savvy traveller and doing your research as you would for any other trip, it’s easy to find the perfect ship to suit your preferences, and if that’s one without pensioners - well, there’s a ship for that!

What to expect From this blog

It’s my intention to cover the fabulous and funky, the fast and furious and the family-friendly (sorry might have gone a bit OTT on the alliteration there!) but you get my drift (or should I say “flow”?). I want to focus on contemporary topics to show that a sea-based holiday is a genuine alternative to the run-of-the-mill package holidays that have become so predictable.

I will bring you relevant news on innovations and exciting destinations, include some reviews of new ships and address some of the FAQs for anyone new to cruising. I’ll include a smattering of tips and advice, trivia and lifestyle posts to add a bit of variety, plus a little bit of chit chat.

I won’t try to cover everything cruise related - there are lots of talented bloggers out there already doing that. Plus there is just so much, that I couldn’t possibly hope to do it all justice. 

Follow me

Obviously it will take a while to build up content on my site, but I hope you enjoy my ramblings and stick with me for a while, and as a thumbs up perhaps you could just nip across to Instagram,Twitter and Facebook and follow me there too. 💋

To find out more about us check out the Bio Link in the footer or click HERE.