Thomson Cruises

starry

Hi Guys, I was wondering if anyone out there ( a travel agent perhaps) has any knowledge on when is the best time to book a cruise and get the best deal. 4 of us booked last october for 2 weeks on the Destiny from the 30th of aug till the 13 sep, flying to Palma and the total cost was just over £6000.00. We'd like to go again about the same time next year but wondered if there is a good time to get the best deal. Any advise would be gratefully accepted, thanks in advance. :A

getmore4less

First thing is to look at other cruise lines, we are doing a trip in a couple of weeks 11nights for <£450pp with NCL,

May June are cheap, Nov,Dec will get 2weeks in the Caribbean for <£1kpp.

School hols you will have less choice and higher prices.

Need more details to advise further. 4 adults? ages flexability on dates. max budget, if you live in teh south then you could consider ex-UK no fly cruises.

starry

Hi getmore4less, Thanks for help, 4 adults aged 43 to 50 (YIKES!!) 2 Couples. We need to travel from newcastle. Any dates in july, aug, sep, Oct are fine. Budget prob about £1000.00pp. No particular itinerary as long as it's hot. HUGE THANKS, Starry.

IvanOpinion

In my experience there are a couple of different ways of getting 'the best price'. If you want a specific itinerary or cabin then book as far in advance as possible ... we usually book about 18-20 months in advance have both our 2008 and 2009 cruises booked ... we will probably book 2010 next April/May. Do a lot of shopping around and play TAs off against each other.

If you are willing to take whatever is available then leave it until the 90 day mark when the TAs have to get the customers to pay. At this point there is often a bit juggling about of cabins etc. and some cheap prices come out due to cancellations etc.

The other way is obviously last minute deals. On another board there was a FLoridian resident who claimed that if he fancied a holiday he would pack a case and go down to the docks minutes before the boat was due to sail and ask to get on board the ship for nothing more than the price of taxes. he claims he was successful on several occasions ... as he said he spent quite a bit in the casinos and bars ... apparently though this stopped after 9/11 when the manifests have to be prepared 48 hours in advance (or something).


Overall we work on a price per night basis. The maximum I am willing to pay is £100 per person per night which includes the cost of flights, transfers and the cruise itself (which inc. food, entertainment etc.). The best so far we have got is a price point of £69pppn with £75pppn being closer to the norm.

Ivan

IvanOpinion

Can I also sugest that you look out for postings by a poster called WindJammer in the cruise section of the HolidayTruths board .. they often find good deals

ivan

getmore4less

OK that helps a lot,

Location means a flight or long trip to ports so might as well fly to a cruise port.

Adults, mid age so just about anything will do, budget plenty unless you want suites. Looking for two cabins most likely rather than share.

HOT means med or caribbean(nov dec better hurricane season overlaps those dates) Canaries is an option for the late summer, depends how important the ports are.

If we stick to the med then flights are the primary goal and try to fit a cruise round them. The base UK package companies will have charter so Thomsons,Ocean Village, Island cruise should all have regional flight.

I am not familiar with the flight options around Newcastle but a site like http://www.skyscanner.net will help, one obvious choice is Barcelona which is a cruise hub and easyjet fly from Newcastle so using that as an example lets see what the cruise options may be. I use https://www.vacationstogo.com since the seach engine is fairly good for this kind of search, picking two months for next year say Sept Oct to avoid the holidays and 14n and depart form Barcelona.

Now this only brings up 1 possible cruise a tranatlantic to NY on celebrity Constellation, a nice cruise ship. and some good ports.
http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=25189
Dropping to 9-13 days gives more hard core med trips.

http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=23422
Has interesting ports and the chance to put some time in barcelona at each end should come in around £1kpp with flights and some hotel time

http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=16028
Finishes in Istanbul(reverse is available I think) good ports , NCL is more casual cruiseline and many food options.

Check out
NCL
RCI
Princess
Celebrity,
Carnival
Costa,MSC are more european but do have good prices.

July aug not a lot for 14n under £1k for 12n out of Rome there is this carnival trip
http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=17775

Another option is to check out Southampton departure 14 med round trip many come with cheap/free regional flights/transfers etc.

There is a lot out there so think about the ship style you would prefer, itineries, if hooked on cruising then you don't have to pack it all in this year go for deals and then go twice a year.

If ports are not that important relocations,transatlantic(southern route) cruises may have more sea days but when you look at the cost these days work out allmost free compared to a port intensive popular cruises, trans with a caribbean extension in late summer will be excelent value.

While preparing this I see there are a couple more posts,

A good target is to get under £50pppn including transport(even with US flights) we have done this for all three of our cruises this year allthough two are transatlantics. We do get under £25pppn cruise only sometimes but flight usualy bring this back up. Best we have done is £15ppn on FredOlsen cruiseonly. Got Celebrity in the baltic for £65pppn the deals are out there if you are flexable.

For dirt cheap week away on OK ships keep an eye on Teletext page 227 for Island Cruises May,JuneSept,Oct late deals as low as £299pp 7n including flights.

No substitute for research and time.

starry

You guys are brilliant. thanks for your time and great help. Starry. xx