Only cruises - cruise deals for all

bobstheboy

Miss_Penny_Pincher wrote: »

Spotted this deal:

Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas - med / canaries
11 nights February 2012 £747.79pp including gratuities based on 2 sharing inside cabin.

http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise/royal-caribbean-cruises/independence-of-the-seas/02-feb-12/40278fc/?offerid=40278&flycruise=1&stage=sailingdetails

We really want to go on RCI for some winter sun - is this a really good offer or could prices get cheaper closer to the time? What is the best way to keep an eye out for RCI deals for Jan / Feb 2012? Should I start checking cruise.co.uk / cruiseking / thomas cook around 12 weeks before or is there a magic amount pppn that is worth snapping up?

We did this cruise in 2009 in September. Going in the winter you would be lucky to get more than 4 days in warm enough weather to sit out in the sun, so if it is winter sun you want, I believe you would be disappointed. NCL does a Canary Isles cruise in the winter from Barcelona so you would stand more chance of winter sun departing from there, although again you would lose a couple of days each way before it got warm enough to sun bathe.

Only other places are Red Sea, Middle East or Caribbean. The first two are a bit dodgy with the political situation, the Caribbean is fabulous !!!

getmore4less

Miss_Penny_Pincher wrote: »

Spotted this deal:

Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas - med / canaries
11 nights February 2012 £747.79pp including gratuities based on 2 sharing inside cabin.

http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise/royal-caribbean-cruises/independence-of-the-seas/02-feb-12/40278fc/?offerid=40278&flycruise=1&stage=sailingdetails

We really want to go on RCI for some winter sun - is this a really good offer or could prices get cheaper closer to the time? What is the best way to keep an eye out for RCI deals for Jan / Feb 2012? Should I start checking cruise.co.uk / cruiseking / thomas cook around 12 weeks before or is there a magic amount pppn that is worth snapping up?

These 11n trips don't seem to come down in price, this winter you could do the 18n for less.

cruise1st is owned by RCI so they are always worth checking.

We try to target £50pppn

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

bobstheboy wrote: »

We did this cruise in 2009 in September. Going in the winter you would be lucky to get more than 4 days in warm enough weather to sit out in the sun, so if it is winter sun you want, I believe you would be disappointed. NCL does a Canary Isles cruise in the winter from Barcelona so you would stand more chance of winter sun departing from there, although again you would lose a couple of days each way before it got warm enough to sun bathe.

Only other places are Red Sea, Middle East or Caribbean. The first two are a bit dodgy with the political situation, the Caribbean is fabulous !!!

Great advice, thank you! The cruise from Barcelona sounds ideal. Are you aware which of the NCL ships have the most activities on board? I believe some have bowling alleys, abseiling, rock climbing wall etc?

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

getmore4less wrote: »

These 11n trips don't seem to come down in price, this winter you could do the 18n for less.

cruise1st is owned by RCI so they are always worth checking.

We try to target £50pppn

Thank you - very helpful! My mum is looking out for a cruise to Norway / Finland etc between May to October - aware of any good deals for between 7 and 11nights without flying? She would be wanting informal cruising so prob not MSC / Cunard.

bcl999

You can stay "informal" with MSC. They don't really enforce their dress codes. I've been on 4 of their cruises and they have all been very mixed on the formal nights. Cunard, as you've guessed, is another story, although, on the QM2, you can eat in the buffet rstaurants dressed informally on the formal nights - don't know about the rest of their fleet.

Cruise & Maritime are doing Norway cruises ex UK right now but maybe they will be elsewhere come May. Their ship, the Marco Polo, is a smaller, older ship. When I cruised on it, it was owned by Orient Lines, and wasn't very formal then.

getmore4less

Miss_Penny_Pincher wrote: »

Thank you - very helpful! My mum is looking out for a cruise to Norway / Finland etc between May to October - aware of any good deals for between 7 and 11nights without flying? She would be wanting informal cruising so prob not MSC / Cunard.

Norway and Baltic(which includes finland) are seperate markets.

AS has been said have a look a Cruise and maritime they have some great deals at the moment allthough going north is not so warm

http://www.cruiseandmaritime.com/choose-a-cruise/cruise-calendar.aspx

Not norway or finland but that way, this one is a bargain starts at £299(+ some extras) for 8nights
http://www.cruiseandmaritime.com/choose-a-cruise/View-Cruise-Details.aspx?CruiseId=127

getmore4less

Cruise and maritime have a few so here is a link
http://www.cruiseandmaritime.com/about-us/latest-news-and-offers.aspx
fuel sup is £6pppd

cheapest £299pp for 8n so still under £50pppn with fuel and tips


P&O Oriana have 30 March 17n at £799,

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

they are bargains! mum can't go until at least May though. BCL would you recommend MSC then? I had been steering clear because of the mixed reviews although noticed they have several offers on.

I spotted a Cruise & Maritime in Norway in May for £339 just for 6 nights but seems good value - I've passed the details on to mum. She is actively looking to avoid the sun!

GM4L - great spot for the £47pppn for the Oriana - wish that was me!!

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

Coral Islands followed by Caribbean Gems - 14 nights Caribbean & Mexican Riviera on the Thomson Destiny 27th March 2011. Departs from Manchester but other airports available. £749.

http://www.cruisedeals.co.uk/deals/details.jsp?dealId=85239

also

Caribbean Gems followed by Coral Islands - 14 nights Caribbean & Mexican Riviera on Thomson Destiny 3rd April 2011. Departs from Glasgow but other airports available. £779.

http://www.cruisedeals.co.uk/deals/details.jsp?dealId=85234

bcl999

Miss_Penny_Pincher wrote: »

they are bargains! mum can't go until at least May though. BCL would you recommend MSC then? I had been steering clear because of the mixed reviews although noticed they have several offers on.

I spotted a Cruise & Maritime in Norway in May for £339 just for 6 nights but seems good value - I've passed the details on to mum. She is actively looking to avoid the sun!

GM4L - great spot for the £47pppn for the Oriana - wish that was me!!

My first cruise with MSC was on the Melody, a smaller older ship. I wouldn't recommend it. It was so bad that when we docked in the final destination (Durban), the daily newspaper had an article saying "The cruise from hell has arrived"! Turns out a lot of the South Africans on board had been texting their relatives with complaints and someone had given the story to the newspaper!

A year later, I found an absolute bargain to Brazil on the MSC Orchestra. Despite my apprehension, I booked as I wanted to do a tour of Brazil. I figured that even if the cruise was rubbish like the last one, it was a cheap way of getting to Brazil and my self-organised two-week tour there would be my holiday, rather than the actual cruise. I found a reasonably priced one-way flight back up to Europe on Condor.

The difference between both cruises was unbelievable. the Orchestra was great all the way and I would cruise on it again in a flash. In fact, I 've since been on another 2 MSC cruises (Sinfonia & Opera) and have no complaints.

One thing about MSC is that English-speakers can be in the minority, depending on the destination. And announcements etc are made in about 4 languages. And, of course, you have to already be aware that Italians generally can't organise a p*ss-up in a brewery.

I am only giving my experience here. There are others I've met on the later cruises who love the Melody! If your Mum is going to be tavelling solo, MSC quite often have good solo deals. The prices I have paid have never been much more than those travelling in double occupancy in the same category of cabin.

MSC are doing cruises out of Southampton this year but I think they are heading south to Spain rather than to the fjords.

I got an e-mail in from Voyages of Dsicovery yesterday and saw this one http://www.voyagesofdiscovery.co.uk/voyage_details.php?cruise_id=18531
It's Harwich to Harwich in JUly but 12 nights. They have a few more going in the same direction. Discovery is another smaller, older ship, a little bit more specialised e.g. they often have guest lecturers for different destinations, but they can't really compete price-wise. My very first cruise ever was on Discovery (to Antarctica) and I enjoyed it but I would only go with them again if they had a really good price to a particular destination that I wanted to visit. Their passengers are typically older well-travelled people who don't want or need all the distractions of the modern-day cruise ships. I found them to be an interesting bunch, though Antractica cruises are not going to attract the typical cruiser anyway.

Hope this helps in some way.