Does this sound high for a 12 night Mediterranean Cruise

[loveourcottage]

Looking at a Sept. 2010 cruise on Azamara Quest..a 1B Deluxe Ocean View 9800 with Air from Newark, NJ.

Thanks,

ps. the cruise price alone is 3499 per person....is that within the ball park for this cruise line

[suec12]

Just go look at the A website - I don't think TA's discount these cruises too much - I spent a few minutes on the website looking, seems like a decent price.

[richannc]

My wife and I did Journey in North Atlantic last August without air we paid 1800 each for great cabin. We did two back to back form Copenhagen. Great ship, great cruises. Purchased through offer from CruCon included on board credits and pre paid grat.

[susiesan]

Yikes! That's a lot. We did two 7 days back to back for 14 days total in the Med in late April 2009, in a veranda cabin on deck 7. $1800 each w.o air, prepaid grats, $300 OBC for 14 days. We went Rome to Venice, Venice to Athens.

Your cruise is twice as much for less days. Very high price.

[gosport11]

I think this shows how much the fares have increased this year/next year its getting to be really expensive,i wonder if the special offers will appear an d when(there is also a thread on pricing)

[Jade13]

Originally Posted by gosport11

I think this shows how much the fares have increased this year/next year its getting to be really expensive,i wonder if the special offers will appear an d when(there is also a thread on pricing)

Maybe they will be like SilverSeas with "sale" pricing and, as an example, show lowest category (not a Verandah) on a 14 night at over $12,000.00 per person and than have a continual 60% off fare where fares are closer to $5,000 per person.

[Jade13]

Originally Posted by susiesan

Yikes! That's a lot. We did two 7 days back to back for 14 days total in the Med in late April 2009, in a veranda cabin on deck 7. $1800 each w.o air, prepaid grats, $300 OBC for 14 days. We went Rome to Venice, Venice to Athens.

Your cruise is twice as much for less days. Very high price.

Azamara can't make a profit on this small ship selling 7 night Med cruises for $900.00 per person (with taxes?) and include pre-paid gratuities and OBC (which on the 7 night portion would basically bring the per person price down to $825.00 with the gratuities). That is less than mass markets like HAL and Celebrity are charging. You didn't really expect that pricing to continue, did you?

[Our Passport Stamps]

Originally Posted by susiesan

Yikes! That's a lot. We did two 7 days back to back for 14 days total in the Med in late April 2009, in a veranda cabin on deck 7. $1800 each w.o air, prepaid grats, $300 OBC for 14 days. We went Rome to Venice, Venice to Athens.

Your cruise is twice as much for less days. Very high price.

Susiesan
Actually you got the phenomenal deal!!!!!!!!

You should be doing the happy dance with that one!

But you should never compare your experience to what's "usually" the pricing!

As Jade13 said, there is no way that AZ or any other cruise line could sustain,
much less thrive as a business with a CONSTANT price point like the one you experienced.

Congrats to you! But now back to reality!

To the original OP...

3499 cruise only for a balcony to me is a bit high, but we don't know what the new announcement is.
Once you number crunch any new benefits it could be worth it.

Personally I would downgrade my cabin category as these
are port intensive and I wouldn't be using the balcony as
much as I would like..but that's just me.

Also, you don't say what itinerary you chose.

I've been to most of the ports on both itineraries by land
because we want more immersion than a cruise offers

and the transportation costs alone are quite expensive whether you are using car, air, ferry or train. Some of those
ports are difficult to reach without a bit of a strategy...

You are covering a lot ground and either cruise has an overnight in Venice which saves at least 130 euros on a budget type hotel
AND the shlepping of luggage over bridges.

So, I now say that yes, this is a good deal, when you start
to weigh in the factors

K.

[suec12]

I think the OP has disappeared - maybe booked another cruise line - re-reading her post I was confused as to whether it was including air? Seemed reasonable WITH air, maybe a bit high cruise alone but it was for a verandah!

[Jade13]

Originally Posted by suec12

I think the OP has disappeared - maybe booked another cruise line - re-reading her post I was confused as to whether it was including air? Seemed reasonable WITH air, maybe a bit high cruise alone but it was for a verandah!

$9,800.00 for two with Air. OP than separated out cruise price without air at $3,499.00 per person which I think is "reasonable" for a 600-700 passenger ship. On HAL in the past two years (2007 and 2008) for a Med cruise in high season the Verandahs ranged from $2,500 to $3,500.00 for a 10 night, the lower end usually being through a TA or booking early. And, that was a 2,200 plus passenger Vista class ship.

Basically, you are going to have to start comparing Azamara to Oceana and Regent and maybe SilverSeas (exotic itineraries but does include all alcohol) vs the mass market lines lines HAL and Celebrity.