the topic we don't mention - money

Looking today at the prices in the UK for a few cruises soon, I was struck by the difference per diem between the Dover to Dover, up the Irish Sea and back, trip, and others around the same time. Admittedly in an A grade, on Odyssey on 13th August, the Seabourn price works out at about £211 per day, whereas the 4th August Dover return one works out at £406 for a guaranteed balcony. ( Before any TA discount).

I can see that travelling around the Eastern Med., especially Istanbul, would be off-putting for some, but it does seem like a big anomaly. Am I missing something here? Certainly if you are looking for warm weather and pretty ports the Med. would seem the obvious choice, but I would like to know what others think - perhaps you have booked it?

I have friends that booked the August 13 cruise. I'll be leaving Venice a bit ahead of them flying in.:(

I have friends that booked the August 13 cruise. I'll be leaving Venice a bit ahead of them flying in.:(

Thanks, EN. I actually meant booked the UK one, as it seemed to me to be overpriced, and I wondered how popular it might be! Yours is certainly a reasonable price, and should be lovely, world problems allowing.:)

As usual, it is what the market will bear. The Dover to Dover cruise is offered only once in the season and it is twice as much per diem as many others in the Med. Same for Alaska cruises next year. They are twice as much as many others.

It's all about supply and demand. Very few people want to cruise the Med now so they are trying to fill ships with lower fares. The Irish Sea is much more desirable (and many think safer) in this day and age.

I have noticed with several of the cruise lines that the UK cruises are more expensive. I wonder if our port fees are more costly?

This is not only the case for this summer. I've seen this since 2014 when we started to cruise and became interested in several lines.

My conclusion is therefore different. In Europe the British market is by far the largest for the American cruise lines. Dover-Dover is very attractive for the Brits as they do not have to take a flight or lose 2-3 cruise days to get to the Med and back.

This is not only the case for this summer. I've seen this since 2014 when we started to cruise and became interested in several lines.

My conclusion is therefore different. In Europe the British market is by far the largest for the American cruise lines. Dover-Dover is very attractive for the Brits as they do not have to take a flight or lose 2-3 cruise days to get to the Med and back.

I'm afraid I'd have to disagree. For me, as a Brit I would much rather see Britain by some other means. It's quite a drive to Dover - further than Heathrow for me!! I think the uk cruise on seabourn is aimed at other nations. Cruisers in Britain who don't fly wouldn't be attracted to seabourn as there are hardly any round trips back to uk. They would be attracted to other lines other factors apart that base themselves here.

The round UK cruise has been on our list for a few years but the price never works out because every line we want to travel on appears to run it once per season and there's plenty enough demand to charge a premium for it, or perhaps not to have to discount it as heavily.

Which always leads us to ask .. why don't they run it 2 or 3 times each summer? Yes there's not infinite demand, however the price differential and lack of discounting required on both Seabourn and Silversea would seem to indicate there's enough to fill the ship at better-than-med-cruise fares a couple more times a season.

You feel sometimes that head office just picks up the schedule from last year, moves the dates to re-align with the weekends and publishes it.

Thanks for the various views on this. I did think that port charges may be very expensive round here, but it seems likely that the once a year only UK cruise will appeal to Brits who do not wish to fly (especially at present), and I imagine Americans wanting to see where their Irish or Scottish ancestors came from. There appears to still be a fair amount of availability on the trip.

Still think it is too much over the top to do for us, even though we don't like - not the flying - but the excessive amount of time and hassle getting through airports.

I agree that a couple more ex UK cruises would probably be popular - maybe all round the UK, or over to the closer bits of Europe.