Thomson Destiny 12th June

[Huddersfieldtourist]

This post is most certainly not intended as an opportunity to gloat but to inform for those that have ever wondered if it can be cheaper to do a cruise as a DIY package and to follow up on a recent post regarding booking a cruise and which way is best. There never is a consistent best way but if you explore all the avenues you get more options.

 

This is the detail for our latest cruise :-

Leaving 10 June early morning - returning 21 June night

 

Cruise only 7 nts Destiny 12.6.10 £ 292

Thomsonfly Flights ex Doncaster £ 124

4 nights hotel Half Board £ 141

This above is what we have paid which totals £558 per person by putting it together ourselves - to this we will have to add about 10 Euros in bus fares.

On the Thomson website the 7 night cruise package with flight is £534 :- so for £24 plus some bus fare each we get 4 nights in June in Majorca half board. We could have booked cheaper hotels still half board and done it for a bit closer to the 7 day cruise as a package .

My message is :- If you can be flexible and fly out say a couple of days before and leave say a couple of days later or select appropriate flights out and return and occasionally some flexibility on airport eg you may normally use East Midlands but if you go to Birmingham it is cheaper - then you can save money or get more for the same spend. We may be lucky in Huddersfield - we are happy to use Leeds, Manchester, Doncaster, East Midlands and even Birmingham and Newcastle at a push if it is a big saving - also Durham,Hull and Liverpool if Thomson are using them so we have plenty of avenues.

One word of advice or warning is do not fly out on the day of the cruise unless it is Thomsonfly and you know for certain the very same flight is being used for the cruise - ( check the flight code you are booking and compare that to the cruise flight codes ) - if the flight is late taking off then so are the cruise package customers so the ship will wait for them and therefore will effectively wait for you too as you can grab a taxi and beat their transfer coach to the ship !

In the past we have booked the flights separately using the actual cruise flights but mixing them - ie using the early morning flight out but returning on the night flight on the same day and had a full last day on the ship and still paid less than the package as the evening flight was cheaper than the lunchtime return flight.

For those prepared to do it there can be some interesting alternatives.

I have posted this because recently someone posted a question about which is the cheapest way to book a Thomson cruise - with replies saying Cruisedeals, "Thomas Cook will beat it", My local Thomson shop undercut the website etc - this is just another option which some may like to pursue !

If you wish to keep costs lower then book hotels served by or easily linked to either the EMT number 1 and number 21 airport buses from Palma airport so your transfer to the port is from 2 euros each. The number 1 bus stops at the taxi rank at the port in Palma.

I particularly like DIY when it is practical which would be mainly Palma for Thomson but possibly Corfu also ( I would not try this in Egypt or for Dalaman to Marmaris or the Caribbean ) !!

Hope someone finds this of interest !

[tirchonaill]

The Thomson cruise I am loking at for next year is £601 cruise only and to go flycruise with thomson from Belfast is £836, £235 difference:eek:.

 

Our easyjet flights to Palma from Belfast 2 weeks ago were only €80 return (although because of the ash, we were lucky to get out the day we did, would have lost the money on the cruise if we could not have linked up), if I can roughly get the same price with easyjet next year, its some saving on flying with Thomson.

[Huddersfieldtourist]

The Thomson cruise I am loking at for next year is £601 cruise only and to go flycruise with thomson from Belfast is £836, £235 difference:eek:.

 

Our easyjet flights to Palma from Belfast 2 weeks ago were only €80 return (although because of the ash, we were lucky to get out the day we did, would have lost the money on the cruise if we could not have linked up), if I can roughly get the same price with easyjet next year, its some saving on flying with Thomson.

 

 

Nice saving !! If you book late/close to departure with Easyjet and Monarch the prices tend to be high but for Thomson flights that does not always happen. Well done with your saving - for some cruises it does not work out - I once worked it out for Red Sea Magic and to do it separately was way more than a package - as I said in my post - you have to search all avenues if you want to follow this money saving route - but it is almost like DIY excursions - it is cheaper to go to Rome on the train than the coach but some people would rather pay more and be totally taken care of.