Have you ever decided on a cruise but booked something different?

[babs135]

Some years ago we decided our next cruise would be through the Panama Canal and with this in mind I started looking through the ads in the newspaper (here in the UK, Saturday is a popular day for cruise firms to advertise heavily). A cruise to Australia and New Zealand caught my eye purely because the price was so good. We'd just come back from a land based holiday in Oz and knowing how expensive the flights were we decided it was either a mistake or did not include the flights. Our curiousity got the better of us and we rang the Travel Agent for clarification. The price was right (and it included a couple of nights in Perth pre-cruise and again in Sydney post-cruise) and you know what is coming next....We booked the cruise, had a fabulous time and still haven't done the Panama Canal :D

[canrubu]

We were all booked and ready for the Oasis inaugural sailing. Our friends told us about a great deal they were getting on a Princess holy land cruise. We had never been to Europe and thought it was out of our budget. She called Princess they gave us the same rate. That started it, since we have done 3 transatlantics and still haven't seen the Oasis up close.

 

Happy sailing, Candy

[babs135]

Only gone and done it again! Looking for a cruise to Iceland/Norway and we've ended up booking a Transatlantic crossing with 4 nights in New York. Really not sure how that happened :confused:

[Ashland]

We were getting ready to book an RCI cruise to Asia...but then after thinking about the limited ports we would have and the time spent there we ended up doing a land only 2 week private tour to Beijing, Xi'an & Shanghai...am I glad we opted to see China this way...just amazing not only for how much we actually saw/did but the great price we paid..."Affordable Asia" was truely affordable.

[JimAOk1945]

We did something similar. I had put a deposit on a cruise on the Allure of the Seas then we decided we would rather see the Panama Canal so I cancelled the Allure! :D

[Kartgv]

Back in September, we found and booked a wonderful B2B2B on Ocean Princess for late August 2014 - starting from London (Dover), to Rome, then through the Greek Islands to Venice, 25 nights, 19 ports, a real dream trip. Dreading the plane flights, we planned to use miles for 1 business class, buy the 2nd one. We ran into difficulties using our miles and finding a convenient flight for the return, and also became apprehensive about the huge number of ports. It finally occurred to us that we were stressing about the trip instead of looking forward to it.

 

In December, we found a 28 night trip on the Crown Princess in October, from LA to Hawaiian Islands and then the South Pacific, then back to LA. No airfare or hours in flight, only a 1 1/2 hour drive to our daughter's home with free parking while we're gone, then 15 minutes to the pier and right onboard. We're upgrading to a mini-suite, saving lots of money, and eliminated 99% of the hassle. Now our biggest worry is all the sea days, but we know we'll settle into a routine and come home very relaxed.

[I-Cruiser]

It happens all the time to our travel agent delight :D I put down a deposit on multiple cruises as to secure "our" cabin. Then something else might turn up or we will decide on something entirely different.

Ce la vie:)

[PEB]

Yes we have changed which cruise we were taking a couple times. We always book way in advance and have found other trips either cheaper or with a different itinerary we prefer so we then change.

[navybankerteacher]

We always have a running list of plans for cruises/land trips ranging from next month to three years out. We start booking about 18 months in advance and have most booked about a year in advance, finalizing at six months out. Naturally long term plans fluctuate, but we've never changed something within six months. With family in Europe, and all over the US, plus the real need to get out of Connecticut at least twice in the Winter, we always have at least a dozen cruises/trips in the hopper, at varying stages of finalization.

[buggins0402]

Yep - if we find a better deal, we change plans.

 

Two Caribbean's cancelled, one for a Holy Lands, another for a Western Med.

 

And changed some land vacations too - Colombia to Moscow and Caribbean to skiing in Switzerland (tried to learn how to ski in Wengen:eek:)

 

Guess the pattern is we plan Caribbean and seem to find a deal to somewhere that interests us more.

[Stelladoro]

A few years ago, we wanted to do a cruise from Sydney, Australia, which also included stops in New Zealand. Since this was going to be definitely a trip of a lifetime, we decided to see as much of New Zealand as possible and a bit of Australia. So we changed our plans and did a 3 week coach tour in NZ (we were the only reps from North America and shared the bus with a bunch of funloving Aussies) and then spent 10 days on our own in Australia (Melbourne, Cairns, and Sydney). However, we did manage to sneak in a cruise, by timing the end of our land trips with a repo cruise from Sydney to Honolulu, via French Polynesia. So glad we made this decision! It was wonderful!

[Velvetwater]

We did the opposite to you OP!

 

Had our hearts set on a East Med cruise with NCL as I will not fly and havent been to Croatia yet.

 

 

Saw that Carnival was doing the Panama Canal in August (a rarity) with an amazing price so booked that instead. Have to overcome my fly phobia I guess. :)

[geoherb]

A couple of summers ago, I thought we had missed our opportunity to plan an Alaskan cruise. We had done two round-trip ones from Seattle previously and knew that we wanted to spend time on a land tour for our next one. Then I ran across a terrific deal that fit DH's vacation schedule perfectly. He had to work on a Monday and we flew out that night, getting to Fairbanks a little after midnight.