It pays to shop around!

We have been investigating cruises for 2005.

For not much more than the (cruise only) price,of a CS suite,on the Milennium's 13 night sailing Barcelona to Venice one can sail,in an entry level 300 sq.ft. suite,on Radisson's Navigator 26 night cruise to Tahiti & Hawaii.

Are there a lot of sea days on the Navigator? You could be comotose by the end from too much relaxation! That would be the only downside!

This is happening more and more. . .Celebrity suite prices have doubled or tripled over the last year for many sailings, meaning that for the same price you can sail on a luxury line.

When you add in the extras, like liquor and tips, that is included in the fare of some luxury liners, it actually might be LESS expensive to sail on them.

You can still get pretty good prices on standard cabins on Celebrity. . .it seems that the spread between standard and suite has expanded substantially.

I'm not sure what to make of this, but it will make me think twice before booking another suite on Celebrity.

We are booked on the Millenium July 16, 2005 and booked it this in June. The prices have gone up twice since we originally booked. Wonder whether or not the prices will go down (hopefully) but it seems in line with what was paid for the Constellation (Baltic) last year. I know it isn't the same itinerary but when we first looked celebrity was comparable to Princess. Faye

English Voyager:

We have been sailing on Radisson the past few years and once on Celebrity and other cruise lines. We just got of Radisson Diamond in June- 7 nights in the Med. Excellent cruise. But, it was a port a day and it was very tiring, but we knew that ahead of time and we had to stay in a hotel before and after the cruise. We are booked on the Navigator for Christmas this year and just booked Celebrity Mill for next May, Venice to Barcelona. We can sail on the CC deck and save alot of money doing it this way. The Radisson ships next summer for the Diamond are not that great to cover the Greek islands. thus we are going with Celebrity for next summer.

If you have any questions, just fire them away to me and I will answer them.

Personally, I have been on The Navigator and I am not sure if you won't get bored on that ship for that many days. I would recommend the Mariner or the Voyager for that many days.

Jan

I agree with JanMD - I was on Navigator this past June for 7 days and I was bored - I can't imagine 26 days on that ship. It also has a bit of a vibration problem in the aft that got on my nerves - I know it would drive me nuts on a longer trip. Also avoid any cabins with on the starboard (odd numbers) Deck 5. We had one and there was a constant 24/7 noise of a pump going on and off - it was very annoying. Radisson does a great job with service and food to me entertainment was so-so and on board activities were very lacking. Some people like this but I prefer the bigger ship experience of Celebrity.

JanMD - when in May are you sailing from Venice to Barcelona? We are booked on the Mille for the 5/27 Venice to Barcelona cruise.

Tony,

We booked the same one!! Closer to the time, we will have to put together the cc party!!

Jan

Hi JanMD!

Glad to hear you are on the same cruise as me -- so far I have only found six other people!! We have already started the Celebrity Connections party, so go ahead and sign up for it! I think it is so much fun getting to know people prior to the cruise. Have you been to the Med before? We just got back from going in May, 2004 on the Mille. Had such a wonderful time, we booked it again for May, 2005. We are doing it in the opposite direction this time for a change of pace! Looking forward to chatting with you while we count down the time!

Shirley

Hi Jan,

Nice to see your name pop up on the Celebrity board. Paul and I have booked Millennium for Feb 27th (We love that week to cruise). I hope everything is well for you and your mom. You helped make last Feb. cruise a memorable one.

Semper Gumby

Lori

Shirley, where is the roll call for 5/27?? I think we are hosting a group this time around! Not sure yet how many people are coming. The TA is putting it in the newsletter and they were sure excited about it. Yep, I have done the med two times. The first time on the Golden Princess- the first ever voyage on the Golden, out of Southampton and then this past May we got on Radisson- Diamond- 2 for one special and did Barcelona to Rome in one week with a port a day! Our favoirte port ended up being Portifino, Itlay and naturally the south of France. I found the cruise and we all voted and said yep. I actually made up calendars from our trip from shutterfly.com. We have been on the Millie before just once and loved her.

Lori, you and Paul will love her! Thus, we are really getting pyched about going over. Let me know where the roll call is okay.

Lori, small world! I shall e-mail you, tons of things going on here, and I want to get an update on your end. We are looking at the Mill on the 2/20 cruise. We would be one week off.... Or just go to Florida if there is anything left. My aunt is down there and she stayed through Charlie in the Naples area and we might all just visit her. Time will tell after all these storms pass through. Lori, I think I sent you the photos from Europe, if not, let me know. I also posted a review on the Radisson board right after we got back. We had a blast over there and I could live in the south of France with no problem. Just need a JOB. Say "hi" to Paul!!

Can't wait for the Mill in May.

Jan

While speaking to Michele on the Millennium( by the way, she is a doll, very helpful friendly and very knowledge) Celebrity sells the cruises in %'s. The way she explained it they sell x number of cruises at such and such a price and when they reach that point the increase the price and so forth. At some point before final payment if there is a certain amount of available cabins they will run a sale and that is when you will see the prices drop.

JanMD - the thread for the roll call for the May 27th sailing is under Millennium 05/27/05. Also, there is already a sign up started for the celebrity connections party. Be sure to hook up with both and have everyone in your group sign up too. We are looking forward to meeting lots of new friends!

Shirley