Hi Lucy,

Living in the Glasgow area can understand your flight difficulty, but really that is going to be a given for you.

Went into vacationstogo.com and have seen two Celebrity cruises that I would go on if it was me. The Med is very nice at that time of year. Prices quoted are for inside cabins, but both outside and balcony available at significantly higher cost.

1) Galaxy for 11 nights, leaving on Sep 22 from Rome $1399 plus 6-7% tax, about £750 cruise only. You can fly return for less than £100 from Glasgow Prestwick to Rome, and the flight is around tea-time so you can drive without getting up at crack of dawn. Best to get there a day or two before, and see Rome (also if flight delayed you wont miss ship). If you go for this come back to me and I will tell you how simple it is to get to Civitavecchia from Rome....we did this last June.

2) Century for 10 nights, leaving on Sep 19 from Barcelona $1249 plus 6-7% tax, about £675 cruise only. Cheapest way to fly is from Newcastle with Easyjet at less than £100, long drive though. Flyglobespan should not withdraw Barcelona, it is extremely popular, so shorter drive to Edinburgh but flight is breakfast time!! The port is less than 10 miles from airport so easy taxi ride, and scope if flight delayed. An extra day in Barcelona pre-flight is personally recommended.

We were on Century June this year, and my sister has been on Galaxy which is to be refurbished sometime before 2008 summer season. She thought it was superb last year. In terms of dress on a 10/11 night cruise there will be 2 or possibly 3 formal nights, the other nights very smart informal. They promote themselves as a 5 star line, and there is no doubt it is at least a 4.5 star for me.

A 3rd option I noticed is the Emerald Princess 12 nights Sep 21 going Barcelona to Venice at $1843 + tax. Downside is different airport in and out and with having to take a car your source airport would need to be the same as the one you fly back into which is not easy as no Scottish airports have direct Venice flights.

Anything else just come back or pprivate message.

Lucy, have just noticed my second recommendation Century from Barcelona is available from a company called check-in cruise club on web http://www.cruise365.com whom we have used twice this year, they are very good.

It is priced as an 11 day cruise, based on hotel overnight and 10 day cruise, including flights which will probably be London based, but they will get the best deal they can for you with flyglobespan and keep supplement to absolute minimum. All inclusive prices are inside £887, outside £1103 and balcony £1428

This is an excellent deal and is an "early booking sale". We always look for best deals and I would go with this if I were you. My sister and hubby are off on this same cruise next friday 21 September 2007, but without the extra day on an inside for £999 each, flying flyglobespan from Glasgow, booking about a month ago and check-in cruise club could not match that price. You can get an extra day and hotel, and even with a flight supplement on top of the £887 would pay less!

To lesleyfb,

Best thing to do here is go into http://www.vacationstogo.com and click on the brown find a bargain box, then click on custom search. You will have up to 4 choices of area and should select both Meditteranean and Northern Europe from the drop-down menu. You can also select up to 4 cruiseline choices, which fits neatly for you.

Cruises departing from Barcelona or Rome are particularly easy to do cruise only, arranging your own flights, and hotel if you get there a day or two early.

Any problems working through the website just let me know. We fly from Glasgow or Edinburgh, or even Newcastle and have never experienced any problems with arranging own flights or hotels.

If you see anything on vacationstogo it is worth going into http://www.cruise365.com to see prices as they have a number of "early booking deals" at present, as will other TA's like cruisekings and many others.

Wow - great forum!!

Just trying to help my Mum get a good deal for a cruise and wondered if anyone could help.

She has booked 16 night cruise - 05/05/08 - 21/05/08 which is called Voyage to Venice (Southampton - Southampton). Seems pretty expensive at 1 x D J Balcony at £3558 (1 person but mum explained that you simply have to pay full whack) and 1 x K C Outside at £3558?

Does this sound about right or should I cancel and re-book? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

P.S. If I am in the wrong section apologies. Please point me in the right direction.

What is the cruiseline and ship? This appears way, way too expensive for that time of year unless there is something you are not mentioning e.g. is it a suite, you say a balcony? How much of a deposit does she stand to lose if walking away from the booking?

Many many thanks hamrag for hunting down those deals.
The Century one is a cracker of a deal and I would book it now if it was up to me. I have just run these ideas past hubby and he wants to ponder it a while as we have done the Med several times.

A cruise is just one of the options for this major birthday and I am going to let him decide. Still it's a shame to let that deal go.

luci

Windjammer and Hamrag

I am swaying towards the Royal Carribean Voyage of the seas now as the reviews are better than NCL, although the Gem is very Impressive.
Could you tell me if you have booked with Vacations To Go?

They are offering the onboard $75 per cabin with early bookings and am thinking of getting it booked and out the way, just worried about the site being safe etc.

Also whats the chances of printing out the quote and a Travel Agent matching it? Would rather do that if we can. Rang R/Carribean and they said they couldnt price match it but would give $100 onboard account (big deal!).

Thanks both of you, you are a real help to me and I'm sure others have benefited from your hints and tips over the years!!

Liz.

I think V2G are OK, the real key is getting the price drops if they happen so that is what you are looking for in reviews of agents.

NCL are getting some bad rap on price drops over the last few weeks, but I have to say we have enjoyed the NCL cruises a lot but we do join in with those that are "in" as well as enjoying the freestyle a lot. Our last RCI cruise(a TA) was good but lacked something for us. With TA the ship/company is important to us.

For NCL look at reviews of the Pearl and the Jewel for comparison ignore NCLAmerica if you are in a suite you can ignore the issues with restaurants you get butler/concierge so jump the queues(which we do not see anyway).

Different cruises NCL.RCI so go with what works best for you or try both thats what we are doing(based on the deals) till we find somthing we feel will be worth the premium.

I am looking at the QM2 Caribbean cruise in the Feb/March time. Have priced cruise flights and 2 nights in NY. Best price to date is with Jetline who have quoted on the phone £1465 next best is Cumbria at £171o.
Looked at Vacations to go and they have quoted $3386 just for the cruise also Skyscrapers (used by many of the US folks whom I have met on cruises) She quoted $2898 but again just cruise and no nights in NY. Looks wide open on the web site but! Lori at SCrs offered $100 OBC.

Any further ideas but it might be best to wait as looking at prices VTG have on their site price drops for Nov/Dec dates.

These prices are for single occupancy and may be too high for me as there are some good prices with X.

Sue

Thanks Hamrag - its the Arcadia with P&O.

You are right that one is with balcony. This room is only for one and comes out to £3622. They call it D J Balcony if that helps.

The other is for two people, an outside twin I think and comes out to £3558. K C Outside.

Seems expensive but had a look around and can't find a lot better deals?

As for the loss of booking fee I am unsure. Their terms and conditions simply state that it is a sliding scale dependent on how much notice there is before the cruise. As it is paid by credit card I am unsure if there is any cooling off period.

If anyone does know of any deals would be grateful as it would allow more drinking / partying on the cruise itself!!

Liz,

We have used vacations to go, absolutely no problems there, everything was as they promised and smooth. All you have to do is get your tickets on board as they will not mail them from US to UK....not an issue as you get an electronic "sea-pass". Just be aware that the price quoted on their web does not include government taxes which tend to add about 6.5% or so. If you e-mail requesting a quote they will get back with total price, and no obligation. Over the past couple of years I have had numerous quotes without any pressure to purchase.

If you want to try a couple of TA's we have used check-in cruise club whose website is http://www.cruise365.com and we found their price and service to be excellent. They do seem to specialise in RCI/Celebrity and have some early booking savings at present. They are based in Durham. tel. 0845 345 7447 We are using them for Voyager next month and really looking forward to it!

We have also used cruisekings in the past, if you google you will see exact website address, based in Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, although for our 2 cruises this year check-in cruise club were better priced.

Good luck!!

Dave, am not too aware with P&O as we have never sailed with them. Certainly have always found better value elsewhere although we have a cracker of a deal for October 2008 booked on their new for 2008 Ventura.

If you have concerns regarding ripping off it would be worth contacting a couple of TA's and enquiring as to what the cost of the precise grades would be on the same cruise. Sadly there are some TA's who will try and rip off the uninitiated, not many but some, and you do need to watch out for that.

Thanks again Hamrag - what deal have you got with the Ventura?

Ventura for 14 nights in the Med, 10 October 2008, two inside cabins for a total of 5 adults £3528, yes £700 per adult on a brand new ship.

This was obtained when the brochure launched a few months ago, and is based on free 3rd & 4th passenger in one cabin with 2 paying passengers, totalling £2004. The other cabin, higher grade inside, is booked for a single with a 40% supplement costing£1524.

We have two sons in 20's never cruised (nor holidayed with us in years) and a daughter who will be 17 by then. When we get there it will be 3 in one cabin and 2 in the other.

Unbelievable deal, and certainly wont be available at anywhere near that price now. Only certain of their cruises had the free 3/4 passengerand the low single supplement.

Hi Luci

It is no problem getting from Gatwick to Southampton by train which leaves from the airport

If you book 4 weeks in advance with Southwest trains they do a day return for £10 I know the return is not much good to you but £10 is a good price for this transfer if you check the train times it is possible to get a direct one

We have done this twice after flying in from Belfast but always travel the day before and take a B&B in southampton

Just last week we cruised on Navigator but did the coach down from Heathrow it was all very well oraganized

Many thanks Prindy. I shall have to try and remember that if we decide to go that route.

luci

Windjammer and Hamrag

The T/Agent could get us the same R/C Cruise you found on VTG but was £100 dearer and no onboard credit which was $75, are you sure its a safe site as just been on the chat room and was advised to be wary as a lady on there booked with an internet site that went bust and she only got her money back because Tompson honoured it at the time, (they dont now as they changed their policy)!!

I am a worrier I know! Got one last T/Agent to try and if not then I am going to go ahead you see, so just last min checking with you experienced guys!!

Liz.

I've booked a cruise with Vacations to Go for 2009. The transaction went smoothly and my booking is confirmed on Carnival's website. I believe they one of the largest cruise agencies and I've certainly never spoken to the same person twice when i call up (often!) for a price which certainly suggests a very sizable operation. Although you are right to have qualms about booking with an unknown company in this case, personally, I have no concerns.

If you do go ahead and book check with your credit card what the transaction costs and exchange rate will be before hand. They may be sizable. Following recommendations from the Times and MoneySavingExpert.com I now have a Nationwide card which charges no foreign currency fees.

Although it's not always the cheapest option there are some fantastic deals available with the strong pound, but the refundable deposit (up until 3 months prior to departure), and the promise to lower the cost of your cruise should you notice it's price dropping sealed it for me. The fact that i can call them in Texas on a free-phone number when most discount UK agents seem to use 0845/0870 numbers has a certain irony.

Get round the issue of the 0845 0870 numbers by going on to the saynoto0870 and for most companies you will find an alternative number. Click on to alternative and then put in either the name of the company or the telephone no you have and you will in most situations find another no which will keep down the cost.

Sue