M347 wrote:

Missed the boat (excuse the pun!) by leaving it too late Hamrag for the 3rd/4th occupancy on the 1st August which is the cruise I need now (didn't see that the 15th didn't go to Rome).

Have had a quote for 1 x balcony statesroom and 2 x guaranteed inside cabins opposite (near enough), Deck 10, for £11,700 GBP. Have resubmitted quotation requests to cruisecompete and I'll let you know the best outcome for your usual comment.

EDIT

Just had two quotes come through $22,155 - £12,453.28 GBP conversion I think.

Maybe back to the Jade then! What about Ventura on 16 August (includes Rome), might be worth a quote as it is being marketed as very much a family ship.

Still contemplating booking though because the ta said it was "out of this world"! Well, you only live once!! :cheers. We must have more money than sense (not!). If you receive the service, it's worth it I think. Obviously, the quote is due to all passengers being charged adult prices.

I will probably compare Ventura and Grand Princess and see what's available. Problem is I don't want to lose the Deck 10 cabins - oohh, the pressure!!!! I need a holiday!!

EDIT

Ovbiously, this crossed with your edit.

You should ask the TA if they will honour future pricedrops on your accomodation grade. Royal Caribbean definitely do that, but the onus will be on you to continually check and contact your TA for any pricedrops you see.

I did a quickie quote on the P&O site, and for 2 balcony cabins (all that is left) it was about £11000 and that is with 4 of you in one of them! Would not consider Princess, the holiday is about the kids and Princess are not geared up for that, there will be time in later years for Princess without the kids!

It seems a horrendous sum of money to me, but now I do recall spending £5000 on a special holiday in 1996 for the five of us, and then £7000 for another special one in 2000, so taking inflation into account and for 6 of you.......

Don't fancy paying for ours as well do you??!!

We would have 5 cruises for that kind of money, but then again we are not now tied to the school holiday dates.

Looking at Ventura as I write - I'll let you know.

I'll start saving and you can provide me with a full review in October!!

Sad about the IoS though .

Did you notice my edit to earlier post saying the Ventura will cost roughly the same, but for 2 cabins (only balcony left) i.e. one with 4 of you in it.

No, sorry, I didn't see your previous edit .

I have had some quotes back from cruisecompete (US agencies) with some incentives, etc. I will paste them on a reply (probably when I get home) and if you could add your comments to them, we would be grateful, as you are more "in the know" on these things and could spell them out in layman's terms as to whether they are good deals or not

Another TA we have used is Cruise Kings (Semple Travel) based in Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow. Sometimes their prices have been better than elsewhere, although can't imagine they would be that much different for the IoS cruise. Might be worth a try though on 0141 762 5555

Alo try Scotland's Cruise Centre, based in Prestwick. If you google you should find details. One of the key contributors on here, Sue who trades as "keela1eva2", swears by them and uses them almost exclusively.

As usual, thanks for your invaluable advice - I'll definitely give them a try.

Just opened up today's mail. Brochure in from 1st4 cruising, and they are advertising IoS for both 1st and 15th August. The main difference in itinery between the 2 dates is that the 1st does Rome, and the 15th replaces that with Barcelona for an overnight and also a couple of additional ports. I know you want to do Rome, but it will be there for a few years yet, and it may be better to get IoS even if not your preferred itinery. Both cruises are being offered with free coach transfers or car parking.

They are also advertising Ventura on 16 August, prices "from £1349" and offer an on board credit of £150 per cabin.

Worth a call definitely, the tel. no. is 0844 871 5905

As this had drifted seriously off topic from the NCL Jade, I have split all the recent posts into a new topic so that those looking for info on the Jade can find it easily.

** Edit - And also so that M347's enquiry has a topic of its own!

luci

I think you're right! Thanks Luci.

Sorry for being naughty!

Not at all, I'm not chastising anyone! (You'd know if I was! )

It was just a natural progression that started with considering the Jade and developed into discussion on other ships and suggestions.

luci

I've just noticed Hamrag's post about the August 15th sailing involving an "overnight " in Barcelona. By pure coincidence, half an hour ago I was sitting in the.....ahem.... "little room" where I was looking through Royal Caribbean's 2009 brochure and was looking at that itinerary. It's not really an overnight, the ship leaves Barcelona at 1 o'clock on the Monday morning, which effectively means Monday is a sea day.

It's a little confusing, particularly as some sites don't include port times, so they will read

Sunday - Barcelona
Monday - Barcelona

The actual reality is

Day Arrive Depart
Sunday 10am
Monday 1am

Another potential option might be Navigator of the Seas which is running 7 night cruises out of Rome next summer. They are alternating a Western and an Eastern Med leg, with the Western leg taking in Genoa, Villefranche (for Nice and Monaco), Barcelona (10am to 10pm), Palma and Cagliari in Sardinia.

This leaves on aternate Sunday from June 21st to September 27th, and opens up the opportunity to spend a day or two in Rome before leaving. Navigator is a wonderful ship for families, four of us (44, 42, 15, 14) cruised on her this summer and she was perfect.

The actual reason I was leafing through the brochure is that while we're taking a family cruise to the Baltic in June / July next year, I recently stopped indulging in a habit which generates much debate on the board, and intend using the money I save for a five night cruise out of Malaga on Navigator in October 2009 for my wife and I to celebrate our 18th anniversary. The other two can spend some quality time with their grandparents .

M347,

The other thing I would say, and Hamrag has already alluded to this earlier is that two balcony cabins are not the only option. We had a Deck 9 balcony cabin on Navigator, with our two teens in an inside cabin across the corridor.

We had the same room steward, and there was no problem. There is free internal communication between cabins using the telephone (however, if you ever consider making a call to land from it, be prepared to sell your soul and remortgage your house first!!!!!!).

We sailed from Barcelona, which worked wonderfully.

If you were to go via Rome next year, its worth bearing in mind that the Port (Civitavecchia) is an hour and a half away by train / bus, whereas the port in Barcelona is in the city. In one way, that's an arguement in favour of staying a day in Rome before or after, as Rome from the ship can be a bit of a rush.

donalk wrote:

The actual reason I was leafing through the brochure is that while we're taking a family cruise to the Baltic in June / July next year, I recently stopped indulging in a habit which generates much debate on the board, and intend using the money I save for a five night cruise out of Malaga on Navigator in October 2009 for my wife and I to celebrate our 18th anniversary. The other two can spend some quality time with their grandparents .

Good one

Nothing better than treat to help with the motivation