Cruises: Beats any package holiday...

alexandra1

Our last holiday to the US was amazing and the best. We wanted a 2 centre, so the Travel Agent ( at Going Places) came back with a cruise for 1 week and Orlando for the other. This was split to 3 days Orlando, 7 days cruise ( out of Tampa)and 4 days back in Orlando. We went with Carnival - yes the interior may be OTT, but food( the quality and variety), service, rooms etc were amazing. Their rooms were much bigger than some other ships, because we had 2 children( 15 & 12 ) we had 2 rooms in Orlando and 2 cabins on the ship. Grand Cayman swimming with the stingrays, and Mexico snorkelling were wonderful. The high light for me though was going up the Mississippi to New Orleans, one of the most atmospehric cities for sure- well then sadly. Cost, well an absolute bargain, loads for the kids to do, they just went off and did their own thing in total safety- would certainly reccomend this type of holiday.

john.xs

how about this for a bargain
10 night cruise on the oriana for a family of four is £1779 around the canary isles sailing from southampton on nov 5 2007.
even betterlunn poly wigan are offering £240 on board credit and you can even claim points on your nectar card.beat it if you can.

crazyhazel

john.xs wrote:

how about this for a bargain
10 night cruise on the oriana for a family of four is £1779 around the canary isles sailing from southampton on nov 5 2007.
even betterlunn poly wigan are offering £240 on board credit and you can even claim points on your nectar card.beat it if you can.

Is it only for a family of four? What about if there are only 3 of you? Do you have to go to Wigan to book it?? Sounds too good to be true

:beer:

john.xs

the price was for 2 adults and 2 children under 16.i suppose you could have three of you in four berth cabin but the price was still the same.it was only through wigan lunn poly but i suppose there is nothing to stop you booking over the phone.its not too good to be true as i booked it today.had to pay around 10% deposit.we have to pay another £140 by sept 06 and the final balance buy august 07.lunn poly people agreed it was a top deal and unlikely to be matched.ive been on oriana before and its a nice ship to boot!

alexandra1

The reason it's probalby such a good deal is that it's in term time which for a lot of us is no go, especially as some LEA's will now fine you heavily if you take kids out of school in term time.Put the holiday in the normal summer period and I doubt it would be such a bargain.
I'm afraid sailing round the canaries would do nothing for me even at this price, I would rather pay more money and go to the Caribbean.

nelly_2

alexandra1 wrote:

The reason it's probalby such a good deal is that it's in term time which for a lot of us is no go, especially as some LEA's will now fine you heavily if you take kids out of school in term time.Put the holiday in the normal summer period and I doubt it would be such a bargain.
I'm afraid sailing round the canaries would do nothing for me even at this price, I would rather pay more money and go to the Caribbean.

the maximum fine is £100 per kid I'll bet you save well over £1000 going in term time

lesley2004

Alexandra1

Just wondered how much you paid for the twin centre US trip? sound great

alexandra1

Lesley 2004 -It wasn't exactly a late deal, but we didn't book a year in advance, something like 3 months before we went( July 2001). The cost incl car( in Orlando)was £3700.00(4 adult prices so 2 rooms for 4 of us) also when we got to the ship they changed our booking, we were only given inside cabins originally, but we didn't mind, only to find they had automatically upgraded us, don't know why, to outside cabins. In the kids cabin every night the stewards made animals out of the hand towels, and left chcos on their pillows. We all agreed it was the best value for money. On the ship all you need to buy are soda tickets which gives unlimited soft drinks for the duration. American comedians were flown in for their evening shows, and were v.good actually. Even 5 years ago we think the holiday was a really good deal.

john.xs

stuff the lea alexandra.with permission you are allowed ten days off per year.always felt my kids have learnt more about the world / other cultures etc by being on holiday than sitting in stuffy classroom.if kids on asbos etc can be rewarded with holidays in the lake district then i'm sure i can reward mine for being behaved throughout the year(well most of the time anyway!)it appears to me we are living in an ever increasing nanny state where others want to control what we do and when we do it.ever thought that the people making these rules may be the ones making a fast buck out of charging us exorbitant prices in the peak summer months.

john.xs

ps in my opinoin thre is little difference in sailing around the canaries and the caribbean as most of the islands are v. much the same.its the ship, the food,the sun, the activities and the company that make a holiday.if truth be known who would bother to leave the great british isles if our climate was more mediterranean!!!!