NCL UK 9 aug 2009 14n

Balcony 3pax £4666 incl tips(210) so £9332 for 2.

rather than 2 balconies an inside opposite 3pax £3476 saver about £1200
Book 4 in the inside but sleep 3/3 and it will be cheaper,

Book throught the US

Balcony(BA deck 10) 3pax, $6980(no tips) £3815 so £840 cheaper £630 after tips.
Inside( I deck 10) 3pax $5440 £2973 saving about £500 £290 after tips

Take anothe £100 off the saving for the free parking through the uk

Total £6800 saved £2500(£2k) allready you could go to a mini sute with inside opposite so more cabin space for the family to be togther.

Another option through the US still within the original price is an AE or AD(2pax) and inside(4) and this would give you access to butler and concierge that all of you can use(in the AD) and you could probably get the kids in cagnies for Bfast/lunch but not a certainty. one benifit id no problem with restaurant reservations even at short notice.

Both of these will be undercut by going with agents,

With the US if there are price deops it is easier to gett hem applied, the uK has a £35pp charge for changes.

I don't see that booking early helps spread the payment, final is not due till may so you can still save even if not booked.

M347 wrote:

Hi - new member alert!

First time cruisers (family of 6 - 3 adults and 3 children - ages at proposed cruise time (Mediterranean Cruise - Norwegian Jade 15 day cruise - Aug 09 from Southampton) will be 43, 19, 13, 12 and 10).

Everybody has decided that a cruise would be a great family holiday to appease plane phobic children. Although I was expecting the cruise to be fairly costly (want to book balcony statesrooms - inter-connecting due to size of family), I was not quite expecting it to be just short of £9,500 GBP :yikes. NCL appealed to me, especially with children, due to the more relaxed attitude.

I wanted to be able to book early for two reasons - 1) obviously to pay for the holiday over a longer period and 2) to guarantee two inter-connecting rooms.

Having read your really helpful reviews, would I be really stupid to pay this price or is this a good deal for the accomodation we want and need? :que. Is there any discounts that I don't know about when speaking with NCL or is there no movement with them?

Thanks for any feedback you can provide.

M347 :tup

Suggest you try cruisecompete.com to compare US agency prices. They often give things like on board credit etc., especially for a large booking such as yours. Certainly the dollar exchange outlook is uncertain but it would be hard to conceive it dropping by any more than 20 cents between now and final payment in May, and always the possibility of it going back up again. But no one can predict that! To put this in context every 10 cent movement on an $8000 cost equates to £278.

Windjammer/Hamrag - thank you so much for your very informative responses - definitely food for thought.

Being new to the cruising life, we will certainly be looking at all your past posts for additional tips!

Beware - you may hear from me again shortly requesting further words of wisdom!

Thanks again.
M347

BTW - could anybody advise how rough the cruise is around the Atlantic/Med?

M347

We were also 1st time cruisers and embarked on the Jade for 2 weeks on July 26th.

We loved it and have already booked next years criuse. It certainly pays to shop around as I dealt with over 16 different companies both in the UK & US. I have eventually settled for an inside cabin on the Oceana (P&O). The maximum rate that I was quoted for 2 adults & 1 child was £3,454 and eventually settled with "The Cruise Store" (0800 9166060) for £3,145. I have also received £150 on-board credit.

With regards to "Sea Swell". We definantly felt it on the second day when entering the bay of biscay and my wife was ill. However, on the way back we took some tablets and felt very little. The mediteranean in comparison is a mill pond. Depends on your outlook on flying. We do not like it and as such will/have travelled from Southampton and returned therefore encountering the BOB. Fly to Barcelona or Rome and that "evil" has been eradicated.

Hope this helps.

Dirk Diggler

Thanks for the response, your comments are much appreciated.

This was one of the reasons that I was originally looking to book two inter-connecting balcony suites - especially with children who, if affected, would need fresh air and an outlook (not saying that mum and dad won't either!!). Unfortunately, flying is not an option.

Obviously, Windjammer/Hamrag have provided excellent alternatives to either reduce/upgrade accomodation for the original quote I have obtained and I will certainly be seriously looking into them. However, my concern is, with inside rooms, motion sickness could possibly cause more of a problem than with balcony rooms, or is this a misguided conception? Would you suggest taking medication prior to boarding or taking it only when/if affected?

Thanks.

As for the motion sickness we never get it,

If I have felt funny it is usualy after bit too much the night before and the remedy is hair of the dog.

I think the wise ones take precausions if there is a history of motion sickness some wait and see.

Intermediate solutions like ginger, in some form, work for some if taken before and during a cruise others need the stronger stuff and in severe cases the injection does the job.

Your current plan is peak season school hols any way to hit a cheaper date, not easy with kids in tow and a peak date has more kids for the kids so might be worth the extra anyway.

My wife suffers from motion sickness. We have cruised many times and she takes Stugeron 3 times a day from the first day of the cruise to the last.
It certainly does the trick for her.

Bob

Thanks again for the sound advice. I'll let you know the ins and outs of the deal I eventually find after following your previous advice.

In relation to motion sickness medication, thanks, I'll look this up - forearmed is forewarned as they say!

BTW, of all the cruises you have been on, would you say that NCL are best for families due to the more relaxed atmosphere?? Would there be any other cruise line that you would recommend?

M347 wrote:

In relation to motion sickness medication, thanks, I'll look this up - forearmed is forewarned as they say!

BTW, of all the cruises you have been on, would you say that NCL are best for families due to the more relaxed atmosphere?? Would there be any other cruise line that you would recommend?

Never had motion sickness. My wife, a pharmacist always recommends Stugeron and customers often come back to her and say it worked a treat!

No, we don't think NCL are best for families, and would give that accolade to Royal Caribbean especially given the age profile and particularly the 19 year old. We have 3 children, so understand what is required!!

Stugeron it is then!! And now a search of the Royal Caribbean site!! I'll let you know the deal and see if you can better it!

Have you cruised the Med with them from Southampton? I think NCL ticked all the boxes in relation to their Med itinerary.

M347 wrote:

Stugeron it is then!! And now a search of the Royal Caribbean site!! I'll let you know the deal and see if you can better it!

Have you cruised the Med with them from Southampton? I think NCL ticked all the boxes in relation to their Med itinerary.

No, we sailed from Barcelona on voyager last October, with 16 year old daughter.....who absolutely loved the atmosphere on board. Will be no different from Southampton (apart from the weather!!).

M347, having a boring, quiet saturday night at home and had some time to think about your cruise next year. The Royal Caribbean ship out of Southampton is Independence of the Seas, which is the biggest ship around at the present. Sailing dates in August are 1st and 15th, both identical 14 night cruises. We have used check-in cruise club a few times now, and found them to be excellent. Their web-site is http://www.cruise365.com

The pricing they are showing for these is approximately £2000pp for a balcony, with 3rd/4th adult (or child) price of £800pp. That would total a whopping £9600 for your party, and includes free car parking at Southampton! Not sure if you will be aware that gratuities are paid in addition to that, and would total about £500 for your party. Lets call it all a round £10,000

You previously asked if potential motion sickness would be more of a problem with an inside...my opinion absolutely not, my advice get one balcony cabin and one inside, and shave about £700 off total price. Believe me on a ship like Independence your family will not want to be near the cabin other than to do what they need to do there! You will still have the Balcony area for your two selves if you want some quiet!

Definitely shop around on this, you may not have a lot of time to do that as the low 3rd/4th person prices will mean appropriate cabins filling quickly. Also ask the agents if they will honour future price drops for the cabins you book. I think Royal Caribbean do that. What this means is that if say your £2000pp cabin reduces to £1750pp, then your total bill will reduce by £500 at final invoice. You will need to keep an eye on the Royal Caribbean website though, as your agent will not be pro-active but will react if you tell them the price has dropped. You are able to "lock-in" to as many price drops as there will be, and are not then subject to price increases....a real incentive to look at the prices on the royal Caribbean web-site often.

A word of caution having sailed on the NCL Jade which you are looking at. There is not enough going on with that ship to hold the attention of your 19 year old without a shadow of a doubt, and most probably not the 13 & 12 year old. The ten year old perhaps, just enough. Independence will blow them away so it would be worth getting the price down with inside cabin to give them that treat....and oh yes, it will blow you away too and is absolutely geared up for 40's (you) and 50's (us). NCL Jade does not give that WoW factor, honestly.

Anything else, please ask.

Late edit....if you try and do a "dummy" booking for either of these dates in the royal caribbean web-site it is indicating no cabins available. Check-in cruise club will have purchased a block booking for sale, so you may want to consider calling them soon. The number is 0845 345 7447

You are fast becoming our personal travel agent!!

Have been looking at the Independence of the Seas and it certainly looks absolutely stunning. Further, I have been on Cruise Critic and there are an awful lot of very poor reviews in relation to the Norwegian Jade. Doubt is really starting to set in now which is a shame because the itinerary looks fantastic. The favourable itinerary seems to be a common thread throughout each of the reviews looked at as to why people were attracted to the Jade in the first place. I have noted all your comments and will check out cruise365 asap to see what is available.

Having sailed on the Independence, can you comment on additional charges that are incurred i.e. dining, etc and is this the same with all cruise lines?

Thanks Hamrag.

We have not been on the Independance, it was Voyager we were on, but the philosophy is the same only Independance has an even greater WoW factor. My previous post is inacurrate in at least one, and probably two regards. Firstly you would not save £700 by going for an inside, that is the per person saving compared to balcony, more accurately about £1350 total. Secondly, it does look like cruise 365 have secured a block booking of cabins and therefore the price drop thing I mentioned would be ruled out.

To answer your question about dining, the standard restaurants with Royal Caribbean are better than with NCL and we certainly felt no need to pay a supplement and eat in the charging alternative retaurants which we did with Jade a few of the nights. Your standard dining options are always included in price and, for majority of people, are excellent. Only other charges, apart from drinks and gratuities would be some of the on-board activities but again, these do not need to be taken up. Cofee/Tea and juices/water etc. are all free, you only have to pay for alcoholic and soft drinks i.e. cans etc. All the entertainment and shows are free. This is similar on all lines. The dress code on IoS will include 4 formal nights during the 14, whereas the Jade has none. Having said that, if you are not comfortable with formal dressing for dinner, you can simply use the buffet restaurant on these evenings. You would certainly not be alone in that, and would most definitely not be treated as "lepers"! To be honest we are comfortable with both formal for a few nights, and also no formal nights as it is the cruise experience and itineries that are of first importance for us.

The maximum number of passengers on IoS is about half as many again as on the Jade (4375 compared to 2816). The itineries are similar but not identical. One of the IoS dates includes Rome, but the other includes Barcelona.

Hi - note the pricing amendments and comments in relation to dining options - good to hear that the standard of cuisine in the basic restaurants is more than adequate so that you can choose to dine in the supplementary restaurants if you wish rather than having to. We really do enjoy good food so I am sure we will be trying a selection of the restaurants!! On Voyager, did you experience long delays in service at the standard restaurants, etc? This seems to be a commonly reported problem on Jade? Thanks also for listing all inclusive/exclusive items - this is really helpful.

We are certainly comfortable with formal dressing for dinner - a mixture of the relaxed and formal sounds absolutely perfect and I am sure will only enhance the whole experience - and not having to drive home afterwards is a real plus!!

I am going to look at the deck plan for the IoS today and start hunting!!

On the Voyager it was "fixed" dining i.e. an assigned table and time each night. You can choose between early and late dining. For yourselves it will be simple, a table for 6 people. The problem on Jade is that they have "freedom" dining which becomes a problem during the really busy demand times 7.30-8.30pm.

Another one to possibly consider, which sails from Southampton on 14 night med cruises is the new P&O Ventura. We have never been with P&O, but are sailing on Ventura for 14 nights in October. If you want to wait a couple of months before deciding will certainly give our opinion, but anything I have read so far indicates that Royal Caribbean's IoS is the one!

Probably best to book ASAP if you can get the right deal.

If looking at all the options stick the Grand Princess in the mix.(I did have look and it is not cheap)

Hamrag has hit the nail, you need to find the best for the family mix you have so I think that means focus on the kids(and young adult).

Thanks Hamrag/Windjammer. I'll certainly have a look at Ventura and Grand Princess and yes, if I haven't booked anything, your comments re: the Ventura Hamrag will be greatly appreciated!

I must say I am quite taken with the IoS as well - it looks fantastic and ticks all the right boxes for my family. I still need to speak to your lead asap Hamrag (Check-In Cruise) as I tried to obtain a rough quotation and availability from the site but they don't book on line at the moment (as you are probably aware!!). I did open an account with CruiseCompete.com and received 5 immediate responses, extracts of which are as follows:

"FREE travel insurance, ship board credit or fuel charge gifted, rates/space subject to change until you deposit.(ALL triple and quad cabins are sold out)"

"The ONLY cabins available sleep a maximu of 2 people. The Balcony E2 cabins midship on Deck 6 with 2 are $8614.10. Inside PR cabins midship on Deck 6 are $6476.10. I CAN get 3 cabins in a row OR Insides across from Balconies.
This offer includes Complimentary Travel Protection AND Shipboard Credit".

"No triple occupancy cabin available".

"Only double occupancy cabins are available we could do two interior cabin category PR (connecting) $6476.10 per cabin and a balcony across the hall category E2 $8614.10 per cabin.
**Complimentary Travel Insurance or Ship Board Credit incentive**"

"$7,600.00 Lowest Quote! - ***Special offer: ***We offer onboard credit for all Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Azamara and Disney cruises! You can get up to $400 or more onboard credit (based on the cost of the cabin you book). Please contact us for more details! These 4 cruise lines do not allow discounting, so all of the quotes you receive should be the same when comparing the same categories.***

Looks like family accomodation for the 15th August 2009 on the IoS is fairly thin on the ground! Need to speak with Check-In Cruise asap!

That is why you need to look at check-in cruise club without delay, often they do a block booking and are definitely quoting 3/4th person prices on one of the dates (1st August, but not 15th). Hope you get it, you will not regret going on IoS. Would recommend forgetting the Ventura & Grand Princess, unless you cannot get what you want on IoS, as family cabins always at a premium.