Only cruises - cruise deals for all

cclarke12

whiskymincher wrote: »

Hi All,

Looking for some help. Parents would love to do a weeks cruise around the Adriatic in summer flying out of the North East. Wondered what would be the best company to book with and which ships would be recommended and how to get the best deal. Any help would be much appreciated.

NCL and Royal Caribbean both have ships sailing out of Venice for a week over the summer. I personally prefer Royal Caribbean. Good sites/agents to try are www.cruise.co.uk, Thomas Cook and Cruise Kings. Of the three, Thomas Cook are really the least specialist in terms of giving cruise advice but the prices are good. Worth getting advice and prices from the other two and then just going to TC to get a price. It is usually cheaper to buy cruise only and then buy your own cheap flights, but fly in the night before in case of any delays.

cclarke12

£1,559: 7 Night Cruise 31st July from Dover (price is for Family of 4) plus $50 OBC

Just had the above offer come to me by email from Iglu cruise. That's a great price for school holidays for a family of 4. If I didn't already have some booked for school holidays I would grab it. The itinerary is Baltics

http://www.iglucruise.com/ms-ryndam/31st-july-2011_c48790?referrersiteid=481

Contemplates

Hi guys... Hope I'm not interrupting, but Im a 1st time cruiser, and was interested in a carribean cruise- don't mind departure port, but was hoping to fly from either Belfast or Dublin. Is it totally out o the question to expect to find something for approx £2k or slightly over (for two adults incl flights)?

cclarke12

Contemplates wrote: »

Hi guys... Hope I'm not interrupting, but Im a 1st time cruiser, and was interested in a carribean cruise- don't mind departure port, but was hoping to fly from either Belfast or Dublin. Is it totally out o the question to expect to find something for approx £2k or slightly over (for two adults incl flights)?

You can probably manage that. When do you want to travel? There are lots of sailings ex Florida with Royal Caribbean/NCL and others but it is flights that will be very expensive. Your best bet is to ring an agent - Iglu, Cruise Kings and cruise.co.uk are all specialist agents and very helpful. Any of them would be a good starting point and can talk you through where you want to go and which cruise line would suit best. It may be cheaper to source your own flights and just book the cruise only through and agent.

P&O and others do flight/cruise packages from Barbados with flights from Belfast (I think) but these are generally 14 nights and I think there is very limited availability from regional airports. However, if you could get to Gatwick there have been some really good deals on 14 night P&O Caribbean cruises recently at around £1k per person.

getmore4less

Before Xmas the 2week Caribbean got to rock bottom prices(£800) but not a lot has come up for this year early season.

Goiing to have a closer look but in the mean time here are a couple of Sea Princess deals that were in an email from CruiseKings.

as ever shop around.


4 April 22 nights fly Barbados return Ft.L. £1169. (cheaper than the 14n cruise)

18 April 23 nights Barbados so LA Pamnama £1349($100 OBC)

daft_ada

Help!
My oh and I would like to try cruising. We are looking to go either in April or May to the Nowegian Fjords. We have about £2000 plus spending available. We have seen some cheap deals available with P and O or with Cruise and Maritime, but when we look at the reviews we are really put off. Please can someone give a balance and honest view?
We are mid fifties and for health reasons cannot fly. We hate queues and don't much like big crowds. We do like meeting new people and love to explore new places.
We would really like to do the coastal tours that Hurtigren do, but getting to Bergen without flying is difficult.
Any ideas?

bcl999

I'm going to answerr your post but should point out that you are in the wrong forum for the info you seek. This forum is supposed to be for people to report holiday deals not ask about them or about general questions. See the main Overseas Travel forum of which this is a sub-forum. Hope that clears it up for you.

Now,to your question, i have travelled on the Marco Polo in 2007 when it was owned by Orient Lines. Cruise & Maritime bought it a few years ago, It is an old ship and doesn't have the latest facilities. On the other hand, it is a lot smaller than the newer ships so might suit your preference of no big crowds. The cabin I was in was supposed to be the top category and, although it was spacious, the furnishings were very tired and it didn't have a balcony - none of the cabins on the Marco Polo do. It may be that C&M have refitted since purchase but I haven't heard they have. Food was OK but even the elderly ladies at my dinner table thought the portions were small. The one thing I shall praise about the ship, at least when it was with Orient Lines, is that passengers were more or less forced into using the antiseptic hand gel when entering the restaurants - there was always someone standing at the entrances dispensing it. I was surprised to hear that last year the ship had an outbreak of the sickness virus.

I've not travelled with P&O so can't help there.

Also, have not travelled with Hurtigren but I have looked into their cruises and they seem to me to be a coastal shipping company rather than a cruise line. Their itineraries look interesting from the point of having a different town each day (or indeed two towns on some days if I remember right) but i wouldn't expect the experience to be anything like a normal cruise.

I think Fred Olsen does the fjords from the UK but don't know about the dates.

getmore4less

Is the ferry still running to bergen from Newcastle?

As well as tose you have mentioned you have

Fred Olsen
Cunard
HAL
MSC
Princess

I would recomend the longer trips that go upto the North Cape.
June the trips are warmer and midnight Sun.

PS: don't worry about portions many ships are cutting back to reduce waste, you just order more if still hungry)

cclarke12

daft_ada wrote: »

Help!
My oh and I would like to try cruising. We are looking to go either in April or May to the Nowegian Fjords. We have about £2000 plus spending available. We have seen some cheap deals available with P and O or with Cruise and Maritime, but when we look at the reviews we are really put off. Please can someone give a balance and honest view?
We are mid fifties and for health reasons cannot fly. We hate queues and don't much like big crowds. We do like meeting new people and love to explore new places.
We would really like to do the coastal tours that Hurtigren do, but getting to Bergen without flying is difficult.
Any ideas?

If you don't like crowds and want a smaller ship (i.e. under 2,000 people) then P&O Oceana, Aurora or Oriana might suit, or a Fred Olsen Ship or even Cunard Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth. We like P&O as the on board costs are very reasonable and they don't sting you with very high tips and expensive shuttle buses etc. P&O are fairly British and the cuisine etc. reflects this. I think they are a pretty safe choice. Cunard is lovely but onboard prices are in $ are more expensive plus they charge $11 per person in tips. I haven't tried Fred Olsen. They tend to attract an older crowd but have a loyal following. I have heard mixed reviews of Cruise and Martime but with the money you have available would probably choose a different line,

getmore4less

Cruise and Maritime have a special for the northern lights 13night trip on the Marco Polo

http://cruiseandmaritime.com/choose-a-cruise/View-Cruise-Details.aspx?CruiseId=248

22 Feb fly to Amsterdam back Tilbry

£699+ £52 fuel sup.


Discover the haunting winter landscape sailing along the stunning Norwegian coastline and across the Arctic Circle in search of the spectacular Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. This atmospheric display of green and pink light dancing across the sky is one of nature’s wonders and Narvik, Tromsø and Alta are among the best places in Norway to witness this phenomenon