Please explain yourselves!

[sidari]

JB .... you forgot to mention that P and O have a daily Fuel surcharge along with a few others like Fred Olsen and Cruise and Maritime whereas the other do not, not sure about Cunard i know they did not when we travelled on the QV a few years back.

 

Wolfytom ... While P and O may seem like a UK company they too are owned by the Carnival corporation along with Cunard, Princess, Costa, Aida, Carnival and a few others, though P and O of these i believe are the only ones who charge in £`s.

 

We have had 2 Inside cabins on our cruises but prefer Outsides or Balconies because we find the Insides too dark and on the small side compared to the others but that is out preference, we took 2 small torches with us when we had the Inside cabins.

 

Apart from 2 booked ships tours we have done everything else on our own or with other people as a group which helps keep costs down.

[jocap]

Wolfytom- all cruises will have a few niggles; most are more similar than different- I think P&O/Princess, whose newest ships are the same design, are very similar (even their soft furnishings are from the same Dewsbury mill); NCL would be our cruise line of choice, but the on board charges make us wince; Thomson has friendly, busy little ships, which are old and not very spectacular.......and, on the whole- we've had a wonderful time once we've got over the niggles, on any line.:cool:

Jump in, and enjoy!:D

Jo.

[hat776]

There are so many cruise lines to choose from. What would suit a young family with kids might not be the ideal choice for an elderly couple. Again some enjoy dressing up for dinner and others prefer the more casual lines. Many ships have the possibility of buying a Drinks Package - useful if you enjoy having some drinks without having to worry about the cost.

[NorbertsNiece]

There are so many cruise lines to choose from. What would suit a young family with kids might not be the ideal choice for an elderly couple. Again some enjoy dressing up for dinner and others prefer the more casual lines. Many ships have the possibility of buying a Drinks Package - useful if you enjoy having some drinks without having to worry about the cost.

So true and why I like RCCL; I can dress up of an evening or not, my choice.

 

I've been thinking about whether or not to bung on some OBC for myself prior to cruising as that will be in ££ as opposed to having to settle up in $$ and bear the exchange rate on my card. Not sure what the best way forward is for that...

[CruiseImage]

I learned the hard way some years ago on a 10 day cruise around the Caribbean with Celebrity.... £1250 bar bill didn't go down too well on top of spa treatments, wife's hair up on formal nights etc etc....

 

Experience has taught me lots.

Im now Elite with X and Diamond with RCI and loved every cruise I've been on.

I'm now a transatlantic addict, with my Nov 2011 14 days costing me £299 for a balcony cabin and FREE drinks between 5pm-8.30pm every night.

Add to that the $550 onboard credit I got, and i think they almost paid me to go!!!

 

Now with X I always buy a classic beverage package for £28 per day, for unlimited beers, wines (certain brands), house bubbly, water, soda and speciality coffees. As much as I want to drink in 24 hours, and for the 13 night transatlantic for this November coming I've just paid £367 making my holiday all inclusive. Having paid upfront for that now, by the time it comes around I know I've paid, which makes my drinking time and experience onboard sooooooo much more enjoyable, knowing my bill will be £0

 

Play the game, thats what I say. It's a lot of the time "who" you know but also in this case "what" you know.

Don't give up before you've even tried it.

 

One saying goes - it takes 30 years to book your first cruise and 3 minutes to book the next.

As for land based holidays - NEVER again!

[Riise]

Staffy - Im gonna get you to book my next cruise, seems you get great deals.

 

I also always work out any expence i would have spent at home and add that to my cruise budget (be it the intial price or money spent on booze). So for me that includes not buying petrol (a rather big saving if two of you drive), a takeaway, night at the pub and going to the footie. When you actually work out how much you could spend in a week/2 week period at home it does help off set the cost of the holiday.

[trolleydolly]

I learned the hard way some years ago on a 10 day cruise around the Caribbean with Celebrity.... £1250 bar bill didn't go down too well on top of spa treatments, wife's hair up on formal nights etc etc....

 

Experience has taught me lots.

Im now Elite with X and Diamond with RCI and loved every cruise I've been on.

I'm now a transatlantic addict, with my Nov 2011 14 days costing me £299 for a balcony cabin and FREE drinks between 5pm-8.30pm every night.

Add to that the $550 onboard credit I got, and i think they almost paid me to go!!!

 

Now with X I always buy a classic beverage package for £28 per day, for unlimited beers, wines (certain brands), house bubbly, water, soda and speciality coffees. As much as I want to drink in 24 hours, and for the 13 night transatlantic for this November coming I've just paid £367 making my holiday all inclusive. Having paid upfront for that now, by the time it comes around I know I've paid, which makes my drinking time and experience onboard sooooooo much more enjoyable, knowing my bill will be £0

 

Play the game, thats what I say. It's a lot of the time "who" you know but also in this case "what" you know.

Don't give up before you've even tried it.

 

One saying goes - it takes 30 years to book your first cruise and 3 minutes to book the next.

As for land based holidays - NEVER again!

 

Wow staffy. That was a great deal. How did you manage to get that much OBC for such a cheap cruise. Did you book that direct or through a TA and did it take much negotiating?? Just like to know for my future bargaining! Also did you book a long time out or was it a last minute jobby. Thanks :)

[CruiseImage]

Wow staffy. That was a great deal. How did you manage to get that much OBC for such a cheap cruise. Did you book that direct or through a TA and did it take much negotiating?? Just like to know for my future bargaining! Also did you book a long time out or was it a last minute jobby. Thanks :)

 

Ok, without giving all my tips away :cool: here goes in respect of that 1 cruise I mention above.

We were already on the Indi at the time, and a friend spotted the transatlantic on the Liberty within a few days of it being released. The price was just too crazy NOT to book. We knew we were going to be travelling again and I had a significant birthday coming up, some quickly contacted home and rounded up a group of family and friends. This offer was just too good to miss.

 

So, we booked I think 10 rooms initially, with 8 being a "group" booking and we all got the onboard credit and balcony prices for the same. We then started to work at the deal.

Diamond discount for a balcony cabin, found and transferred to an agent who was willing to offer more onboard credit (for the business), then add the onboard credit for a group booking (usually $50 per cabin), then take off the price of the 1 free person ... This part is, every 8 cabins booked 1 person goes FREE (lowest fare obviously) and then spread that out amongst the group. As group leader we got extra onboard credit and voila...... 26 of us went in the end with other we met on the cruise and 2 other later booked cabins we joined into the group booking... Even more off!!! HAPPY DAYS :D

 

 

Plenty of tricks to be had out there. Game on if you're willing to play at it.

Never lost a deal so far...

There are good times to book way in advance and then some cruises best to leave until 90 days out. This is when the cabins tend to be sold back to the cruise companies and they then start to drop the prices to sell.

[insidecabin]

Transatlantics are often very cheap,

 

TA's package up with flights so they look more normal but underneath the cruise part is often very cheap.

 

With the autumn trips almost always cheaper to book cruise only and the one way flight back through the US.

 

balconies at those prices is dirt cheap

[Host Sharon]

Other differences between UK and US lines is food and dress codes. While you don't HAVE to dress up on formal nights on P&O, you will be in a very small minority. NCL for example don't do formal nights. US lines will have larger meat portions and fewer veggies (although you can ask for more). P&o will have 99% British pax. All things to take into account when choosing your cruise.

 

The few people who don't take to cruising have usually chosen the wrong ship/line for them. I guess what I am saying is don't choose your holiday by the bottom line - price. On-board ambience, facilities etc are much more important IMO.

[trolleydolly]

Ok, without giving all my tips away :cool: here goes in respect of that 1 cruise I mention above.

We were already on the Indi at the time, and a friend spotted the transatlantic on the Liberty within a few days of it being released. The price was just too crazy NOT to book. We knew we were going to be travelling again and I had a significant birthday coming up, some quickly contacted home and rounded up a group of family and friends. This offer was just too good to miss.

 

So, we booked I think 10 rooms initially, with 8 being a "group" booking and we all got the onboard credit and balcony prices for the same. We then started to work at the deal.

Diamond discount for a balcony cabin, found and transferred to an agent who was willing to offer more onboard credit (for the business), then add the onboard credit for a group booking (usually $50 per cabin), then take off the price of the 1 free person ... This part is, every 8 cabins booked 1 person goes FREE (lowest fare obviously) and then spread that out amongst the group. As group leader we got extra onboard credit and voila...... 26 of us went in the end with other we met on the cruise and 2 other later booked cabins we joined into the group booking... Even more off!!! HAPPY DAYS :D

 

 

Plenty of tricks to be had out there. Game on if you're willing to play at it.

Never lost a deal so far...

There are good times to book way in advance and then some cruises best to leave until 90 days out. This is when the cabins tend to be sold back to the cruise companies and they then start to drop the prices to sell.

 

Well done! That's some organising/negotiating!!!! Glad you got a good deal. You deserve it. We tend to book early as need a cabin for 3 and find they often sell out in the category that we want if we leave it closer to sailing. They never seem to offer guarantees for more than 2 people (well not in my experience anyway!)

 

Happy cruising :)

[Zogriv]

I need a cabin for 3 and have to go in school holidays. I don't think I will ever get a guRantee Lol. I am currently looking for something in August 2013. the RCL med 14 nights are coming in at £5.5k which is a bit more than I want to spend. looking at 7 night Norway RCL too. has anyone done that? How cold will it be???

[Ray66]

looking at 7 night Norway RCL too. has anyone done that? How cold will it be???

 

Summer in Norway is much the same as in the UK, it's just the winters which are colder. Below is a photo taken in Flam, Norway in July 2010. Nobody is wearing jackets and some people are wearing shorts. It was in the low 20's.

 

[Zogriv]

Thanks for the pic. Did you enjoy Norway? the one I am looking at is ex Southampton 7 nights, Bergen flam stavangar and alesund. Will we see fjords? Silly question no doubt :rolleyes:

[Ray66]

We liked Norway so much that we are going again next month: Stavanger, Geiranger, Flam, Olden and Bergen. Last time we did all those apart from Olden. We liked Flam the best - fantastic railway journey. The photo is of Flam and you can see the train in the station.

 

You will be sailing on the fjords.

 

The following photo was taken on board our ship in Flam looking back from the above photo.

 

[Zogriv]

Thanks for the photo. It is beautiful. I really really want to go now. :)

[insidecabin]

I need a cabin for 3 and have to go in school holidays. I don't think I will ever get a guRantee Lol. I am currently looking for something in August 2013. the RCL med 14 nights are coming in at £5.5k which is a bit more than I want to spend. looking at 7 night Norway RCL too. has anyone done that? How cold will it be???

 

Far too soon to be looking at 2013

 

Look at deals for this years school holidays

 

NCL spirit Med 12 night 14aug < £2k 3 berth + flights

[Zogriv]

But I am already booked for 2 weeks on a camp in Spain in July/August and then a trip to the Olympics in London followed by a family wedding. Busy Year lol. I won't book 2013 yet but I need to finalise dates of my 2013 holidays to give to all my families (I am a registered childminder). I will need to sort the dates in January/February at the latest so I am looking now. It's a bit of a hobby really :D

[LondonTowner]

We have been on three Fred Olsen cruises (and another non FO). Yes, I know they have a reputation for older passengers, but we don't mind that. I'd rather put up with a few people dozing in the lounge chair than kids running around.

 

What we like about FO is the fact they have mainly British passengers. I'm not at all Xenophobic, I lived abroad for over 20 years, but that's what we like.

 

Small ships, which means you get to know a lot of fellow passengers. On board spend in Sterling with no add on service charges. Reasonably priced drinks and wine at dinner around £14 per bottle. We have also taken alcohol on board with no problem.

 

They do add daily gratuities, but you can ask them to take them off and tip whom and what you want, or even not at all if you are that mean.

 

We never book their excursions, I do plenty research beforehand and we do it all ourselves in spite of the fact I have limited mobility.

 

We have had an inside cabin on one occasion, but it didn't really bother us as we are never in our cabin. Too much going on and things to do to be in a cabin.

 

I realise that formal evenings are not everyone's cup of tea, but we enjoy them as we hardly ever dress up to go out at home, so we enjoy making the effort.

 

I had also looked at Norwegian as they seem to have some good lead in price, but I believe they are very informal, which may not be for us.

[CruiseImage]

Staffy - Im gonna get you to book my next cruise, seems you get great deals..

 

Sorry to say just landed another deal for my next April's TA

Aqua under £950 for 16 night cruise and collected $800 obc !!

Think that's our drinks paid for....

 

Deal or NO Deal? Absolute deal :D

 

Happy happy happy

 

(need to start a tip book soon)

[wolfytom]

Thanks Londontowner - some really interesting info for us there. I really appreciate your time and effort.

 

Staffy, are those deals available to you as a loyalty reward?

[CruiseImage]

Thanks Londontowner - some really interesting info for us there. I really appreciate your time and effort.

 

Staffy, are those deals available to you as a loyalty reward?

 

Nope, Open to everyone, it's just knowing the right time to buy.

 

The biggest tip to give away is finding out who has the group booking for the cruise you want to book I.e. which travel agent / company.

They will always buy in bulk and therefore offer the best deals, albeit it takes some homework to find the answer.

 

Just done it with my last one, one class of cabin shown sold out everywhere now, and this company has "plenty left" to quote a reply I'm had recently.

 

Just sit and wait, those deals will always come. Most ships sail at 3/4 capacity these days. It's going to setsail full or not.