Hi
Thanks to all who have responded to my question/search, and so detailed, i will take a look at all that has been suggested.

our only cruise was on NCL Jade in May, so as i said only have that experiece to go on.

Sorry meant to ask as well, what does OV mean?

OV = Ocean Village I think ..........

OV Ocean Village in the context of a ship/brand, OV1 or OV2.

OV Ocean view in the context of a cabins on any ship.

If you do want to consider the cheap options for alast minute booking then Island crusies drop the prices the week before the sailing and can come down to £299 including flights allthough £360ish is more likely for Sept/Oct time frame.

This will be about half the price at least of anything else you will find once you add on the flights.
Not top notch by any meands but for an extra week away and leave some money in th bank for the next one they are worth considering.

This is pretty cheap:

Thomson, 2.10.08, 7 nights ex Harwich, 'Autumn Cities' £349 and 3rd and 4th sharing deduct £245, so only about £100 each! see http://www.thomson.co.uk

that is good price and good ports but Harwich to Liverpool not so convenient.

Also following the link found this one

Cabin Only 7th Nov Colourful Coasts (Tenerife) 7n Thomson Destiny £219

Any cheap flights?

Yes fantastic!! Dinner at the Captain's table for June and I and wait for this I received a call from the Captains Club Hostess as to whether there were any other Guests I love like to invite to join us. This was from the Hotel Director Daniel Stacy now 46 he was a HD at 32!! and has worked on QE2 and the former Caronia now with Saga.

Great guy told me his door was always open to me. I could write a book about all my experiences all my adventures.
I felt like James Bond travelling on a fast speed boat from the Airport to our Hotel right on the Grand Canal. As far as I am concerned now the ONLY way for me!! Water taxi also to the Ship and again expensive but we were treated like royalty at our hotel and to sit and have breakfast right on the Canal with a view of St Mark's Cathedral. Also upgraded room with silk lined walls huge and wonderful view of the canal the Gondola and the Cathedral.
For me it is never about price but I need to be taken care of and treated well. Delusions of Grandeur me thinks.
I realise that not everyone has the means to do this and I know I am very fortunate that finance is not a problem.

I have to agree implicitly with what has been said to me and by Hamrag!! absolutely it is ALWAYS better to have the lowest or inside grade room on a better cruise line than to have the HIGHEST grade of room in a lesser class of ship.
I have been cruising for many years and have stayed in all classes of accommodation not because there was a special price particularly but perhaps because I just wanted that suite or mini suite or whatever! Does it make any difference to the enjoyment of my cruise if I opt to stay in an inside room.

ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I can't remember which of the Moderators read the article I wrote on SOLO cruising for the SCC Newsletter? Someone did and said it was a very good article. Graham I copied it to him and I tried to give a fair and balanced view of what solo cruising meant to me. LIBERATING and much more. I travel all over the world with confidence and for me as I said sitting at home is simply not an option! I love the freedom I don't have to share a bathroom with anyone. I can do exactly what I want to when I want to!! For anyone who might be scared to take that first step just get out there and do it. I took my first solo cruise just 11 months following the death of my much loved husband. It was the weekend Diana died and yes it had some difficult moments but I did it to prove I could do it. I am a very strong woman and it gave me a great sense of achievement that I did it and not just survived it but so began my love affair with the sea. For me the SHIP can be the destination.

We had as a family previously cruised as a family in the 1980's on Canberra and I had also sailed to and from Australia on the Canberra when she was a brand new Ship. Our Great White Whale as she became known after the Falklands War where she was used as a Hospital during that time. I sailed on her in 1984 & 85 when our children were I think 15 and 17 just before Julie went off to University the following year at 18.

GET TO BED WOMAN I am telling myself as it is late. I will write a review and any other article that might be of interest to HT members who might be interested in the protocol associated with Captains Table dining. I have has been fortunate to dine at Captain's tables with several Cruise Companies and there are differences in how it is done.
If it is of interest to anyone I will either be happy to PM or to answer any questions anyone should wish to ask.
It is an interesting experience and also the mix of guests and not to sound boastful the most important seat for a woman is on the right of the Captain and this is always the lady who is served first. I sat on the right on this cruise and have sat on the left also. Many funny stories I have heard and shared and I had a lot of fun at this dinner. We asked that 2 Guests from our table be invited who were from the US. One Australian Lawyer and his Judge wife dined with us and when I am on Millennium in Melbourne in December they want to take me out to dinner on the evening the ship stays over. Wonderful humorous man who said I was very well read!! I just said anything you want to know about OZ just ask ME. I have had the Melbourne Greeter confirmed for my trip and they didn't know it existed there. NY has the NY has the NY Greeter!
The things you can find out on a computer!!

Thanks Luci for your message and speak to you soon,

Sue

TXT 227, cruise1st.co.uk
RCI Briliance of the seas 13Nov 12n £499, ex BCN,(if availability, might be a B&S others are all a lot higher)
A ship to watch as it stays in the med for the winter

For those looking for a bit of AI at reasonable cost also seen on TXT 227.

various dates Nov onwards 7n GTW flight med ex BCN £499 Oceanic.
http://www.jetlinecruise.com/pullmantur_oceanic.phtml

Good long days for Rome and Florence.

Thomsons and Island want well over £100pppw for AI so this is not bad pricing but check you would be happy with the ship.

To Magsdon

With reference to posts a few days ago, this is the special Royal Caribbean sale day. The 5 October 13 night on Legend of the Seas is still the same price on their website, but vacationstogo are showing it as a special at $799 + local taxes, fuel supplement etc. which usually amount to about $150-$200

Thanks hamrag

Jetline very pushy and if you do decide to book with them don't be rushed into making that booking there and then if you need a little bit of timr yo think it through. If you want to then some Cruise lines will hold an option for you. This buys you a little of time to be sure it is what you want.

Sue

Windjammer
I've booked the Brilliance for the 13 Nov on an outside GTY cabin at 559 for the 12 nights. Great price I think and thanks for the spot.
The cruise reviews look very good. It is a wedding anniversery gift to my wife. Can't believe the price.

Luci, is there an existing thread I may look at for information on the ship or just the review section?

I'll have to stop booking these cruises , I think I may be becoming hypercruiseactive

Great, was a bit concerned that this was a B&S, no cabins showing on RCI web.

B&S Bait and Switch.

DO check you booking/paperwork carefully and on-line RCI/pre reg get your booking reference)

cruise1st have been know to lose bookings.

WJ
Will check. I did check the prices on the vacs2go site and they had inside at 599dollars. Please explain Bait and switch . I thought they (Cruise 1st) had bought a block of low price from RCI and undercut the opposition.

WJ
Supplied my booking ref to RCI online checkin system and yes they got me bookid in OK.

They probably did take/given a block or it could be they can sell as GTYs, then RCI will shuffle people around with upgrades to make he space.
RCI didn't have anything and no one else seems to have them this cheap on TXT.

It is not uncommon with the late deals to be the last few of a grade and if you don't get in quick the cheaper onces have gone.
TXT pages don't get updated so quickly when the cheap stuff gets sold out as they do when the prices are dropiing hence the B&S).

I wonder if cruise1st(part owned by RCI, through Sunshine Cruises) is becoming the RCI outlet store in the UK like it is for Island cruise.

WJ...there are cabins in most grades now showing on RC site

Thanks windjammer for info re Nov, it takes me sometime to decode the messages, as i
m not familiar yet, i asked around to get what abbreviations were!! sounds good deal.

TravelMandy wrote:

WJ...there are cabins in most grades now showing on RC site

So there are, £680+ for insides

Guest 1 Cruise Fare 563.00 GBP
Guest 2 Cruise Fare 563.00 GBP
Prepay Gratuities: 131.04 GBP
Fuel Supplement: 120.00 GBP
Taxes/Fees 126.00 GBP

Package Total 1,503.04 GBP
Cruise Vacation Summary
12 Night Mediterranean Venice Cruise

Departs: Thu, 13-Nov-2008 Barcelona, Spain
Returns: Tue, 25-Nov-2008 Barcelona, Spain


Number of Guest(s): 2 Adults
Ship Name: Brilliance Of The Seas
Stateroom Category: N Interior Stateroom