How much did your med or transatlantic cruise cost you, total?

[ekatiel]

I know there are a TON of variables here, but DH and I would like to do a med or transatlantic cruise for our 40th birthdays-- 5 years from now. I'd like to get a ballpark figure on how much to save. We will probably either:

 

Option 1:

Book a 7 day med cruise on Royal (we've also sailed Carnival and Disney, but we prefer Royal), most likely out of Rome-- doing ports in Italy, France and Spain.

Need round trip airfare from Houston.

Will likely stay in Rome 2-3 days pre-cruise to explore on our own.

DH has never been to Europe, so we'd like to see as much as possible on this trip. I spent a semester studying in Germany in college, so I've seen most of the "biggies" in Italy and France, never been to Spain, though.

 

OR Option 2:

Book the great Transatlantic that runs at the end of each August from England to Boston with ports in England, France, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland-- just because it seems super cool and exotic!

We would need one-way airfare from Houston to England, and one-way airfare from Boston to Houston.

We will likely stay 2-3 days pre-cruise in London, although this requires a lot of time off work for DH, so that may be a problem.

We want to see as much as possible-- the only country I've ever been to on this list is France.

 

So, how much did your med or transatlantic cruise end up costing you in total? Also, if you have any money saving "hints" for med or transatlantic cruises, I'd love to hear them.

[cruisegirl1]

It is hard to give an estimate. You can take a look at current cruise prices to get an idea of the cruise fare. Round trip airfare will vary depending on the departure and arrival cities but a good estimate is at least $ $1000-1200 pp. With 5 years notice, you may even accumulate enough airline or cc points to fly or free.

 

Hotels are not cheap and in current dollars will run $150-400 a night. You need at least one night pre cruise but most elect to stay 2-4 nights.

 

On our first med trip ( 12 nights on Celebrity) we did a semi private excursions ( 6 or 8 people total) in almost every port. Those ran about $100- 150 per person per excursion. We did Spain, Italy, France, Montenegro, Croatia , with several Italian ports and an overnight in Venice.

 

We did very little shopping, so did not need much in souvenir or gift shopping money. If shopping is your thing- then you need lots of $$.

 

You are wise to plan ahead. You know the saying, take twice as much money and half as many clothes.

 

Enjoy the planning

M

[Host Jacquelyn]

4 years ago, we also made a "5 year plan" to go back to Europe. Our goal was to save on airline costs and have enough points to fly business class. We kept our eyes open for credit cards with good sign-up bonuses and put all our expenses on the cards. 4 years later we had enough points, and I just recently booked our flights for next year. An added bonus (for our airline at least) is that it allows one stopover as part of the same ticket. So we are able to fly to 2 European cities for the same number of points, in addition to taking a cruise.

 

Hints for Med - Travel in May or October... not as crowded, better rates, and weather isn't sweltering. The hotels for your land portion will also be less expensive.

[sevenseassailor]

In mid Oct we are doing 7 day Med cruise out of Barcelona b2b with 13 day transatlantic cruise on RCL Liberty. Grand suite for both is $9500. Best way is for you to go on the cruise line's website and price it yourself. You know what type cabin you want. Who knows what prices will be 5 years down the road.

[Ashland]

Our Western Med 7 nights RCI Liberty Aug 27, 2011 cruise cost after C&A discount was for the two of us in a JS $4390.12.

[ARCruisinNana]

There is wide varience for the prices. The itinerary you listed is one of the most popular and most expensive. I'm doing a TA on Independence in May that is a fraction of the price.

[mom4mom]

I saw a clever idea on one of the boards to save $1 the first week, $2 the second week, etc until you are saving $52 by week 52. Using this formula for the next 5 years you should have enough money to pay off the whole cruise provided you shop smartly.

 

We have done several cruises for between $3000-5000 total. We have gotten credit cards that give us bonus points for joining and then put all our monthly expenses on it and pay it at the end of each month. We have accumulated enough points to get airfare to Hawaii and Europe. Keep in mind that if you do not have miles you can always book Choice Air which, one way to Europe may be in the $550 range, and then look to book a one way ticket within the US (Southwest tends to be cheapest) to return to Houston if you are on a TA.

 

Another thing that you can look into is using the Roll Call boards, hook up with people to do local tours and maybe even share an apartment versus getting a hotel room. It is usually ore cost effective, gives you more room and you can even prepare meals to save money.

 

Once the itinerary comes out that you want, you can book it and watch it for price drops (often people on the Roll Calls will alert you) and then call to take advantage of them. Or if you don't need a specific cabin, you may get some super rates if you wait until after final payment is due. I've seen recently that the cruise we are going on in Nov. is down another $300 per cabin. You can also watch several travel sites that offer fantastic deals throughout the year (like free gratuities, drink packages, etc.)

 

Enjoy the planning stage. Follow all the boards for lots of suggestions.

[Mark_K]

$11-12k for two, not including airfare, which was done with FF miles. That was for four nights in London followed by an 11 night Southampton-Barcelona cruise in a GS. The amount includes everything except souvenirs. Tips, transfers, meals in London, specialty restaurant on ship, tours ($2,000+), airport parking, etc.

 

 

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[Tudy]

If you want a ballpark figure: we budget $7-8,000 for a 2 week med cruise vacation. That includes 3 days precruise at the port city, food, lodging and all entertainment, the cruise (10-12 days), airfare, excursions, incidentals on the boat and souvenirs. You can spend less and you can spend more, but that amount of money gets us a nice vaca.

[PLEIKU68]

England to Boston is one of the most expensive trips RCL has , it is also one of the best trips they have. If you are doing this book as early as possible, ie..the day it comes out because the price will only go up. In 40 years of cruising I must say that trip ranked in the top 5. Good Luck. :):)

[DragonOfTheSeas]

When we took our Alaska cruise we spaced out all of our expenses. We paid for as much as we could in advance. Each couple of months we pais something else. [ie. soda package, prepaid hotel stay which got us a discount, gratuities, etc] That way we we did not feel it as much or have a big bill when it was over. .

[helen haywood]

Transatlantics are great buys! Our last one was Silhouette's April FLL to Rome. I booked it the previous December (before final payment) when our balcony cabin for 2 was a total of $1777.96. Choice Air (available for those cruising on X, Royal or Azamara) has great one way prices....we paid under $1000 for TWO flights from Rome to FLL. So the whole cruise/air cost less than $3000. You'd need to add in hotels....etc.

[CyberTag]

We are a family of 4 and took a RCCL SOS 12 day Med cruise June 2012. We stayed 3 days precruise in Barcelona at an apartment. We flew from Sacramento to Barcelona. Airfare was $1100 p/p. We had 2 balcony cabins. When all was said and done we spent close to $12,000 for all 4 of us. We booked several excursions with Rome in Limo while in port and did a ton of research beforehand. Definitely a trip of a lifetime that our 17 and 19 year old still talk about! We LOVED our apartment and would choose it over a hotel in a heartbeat!

[ekatiel]

Thanks for the ballpark figures, guys. I'm thinking we'll need between 8,000-10,000. It makes me a little queasy when you can buy a CAR for the same cost as a two week vacation :eek:!! I am going to look into a rewards/airline miles credit card. I did a little poking around last night, and people seem to have good things to say about the Capital One Venture Rewards card. It doesn't have a great sign up bonus like many other cards, but the rewards are really flexible-- you can use them for travel of all types, not just airline miles. Anyone have this card or another that they love?

 

 

 

England to Boston is one of the most expensive trips RCL has , it is also one of the best trips they have. If you are doing this book as early as possible, ie..the day it comes out because the price will only go up. In 40 years of cruising I must say that trip ranked in the top 5. Good Luck. :):)

 

We actually had this one booked for last year (our tenth anniversary), but it ended up being too much time off for DH, and it is scheduled at the beginning of the school year, and my YDS was starting kinder. We went on the Oasis by ourselves later in Sept. instead and then took the kids to WDW over Thanksgiving. 5 years from now, I'm hoping that I'll be able to handle not being there for the first day of school, but I just couldn't miss the first day of kinder!!! If we book this one, we'll have to be very careful about DH's time off, as it will likely be an 18-20 day trip! This one is definitely on our bucket list, though!

[ssb]

If you watch pricing all the time

And depending on cabin

Any cruise and TA can be inexpensive or expensive .

Catch the price drops .

 

We use air miles for flights .

 

On the inexpensive side:

Right now navigator TA 11/10 Barcelona to Galveston for an inside is

399 for 14 days . The balcony d2 superior started out prox 1100

Went down to 629 and up to 1599 now each !

 

The b2b navigator 7 day repositioning 11/3 Rome to Barcelona for a inside and balcony

Have been 500 - 1000 each for the last year.

 

The b2b navigator 7 day loop 10/27 to 11/3 Rome to Rome for a inside and balcony have been 400 to 900 the last year.

 

 

The southern route are generally warmer and we have always had good weather and

Calm and nice waters in our crossings ! The Med can be nasty at times in November!

 

We live in Galveston thus our southern Crossings.

 

Well I just checked pricing again and insides on TA have jumped up

To 700 or 800 . Ship cabins are getting tight.

Timing Is Everything!!!

 

Posted from I phone.

Edited September 2, 2013 by ssb

[RSLeesburg]

Thanks for the ballpark figures, guys. I'm thinking we'll need between 8,000-10,000. It makes me a little queasy when you can buy a CAR for the same cost as a two week vacation :eek:!! I am going to look into a rewards/airline miles credit card. I did a little poking around last night, and people seem to have good things to say about the Capital One Venture Rewards card. It doesn't have a great sign up bonus like many other cards, but the rewards are really flexible-- you can use them for travel of all types, not just airline miles. Anyone have this card or another that they love?

 

 

 

 

 

We actually had this one booked for last year (our tenth anniversary), but it ended up being too much time off for DH, and it is scheduled at the beginning of the school year, and my YDS was starting kinder. We went on the Oasis by ourselves later in Sept. instead and then took the kids to WDW over Thanksgiving. 5 years from now, I'm hoping that I'll be able to handle not being there for the first day of school, but I just couldn't miss the first day of kinder!!! If we book this one, we'll have to be very careful about DH's time off, as it will likely be an 18-20 day trip! This one is definitely on our bucket list, though!

 

I can't say that I love my card, but several years ago, my wife and I took our first trip to London and fell in love with the city. We got a British Airways card, and use it pretty exclusively for miles. Usually, we would earn enough points each year to upgrade our tickets; however, since our son has come along, we have not been back to London, so have enough points for two free business class tickets :). I would definitely explore rewards programs for flights, and save as much as possible for cruise, so you will have all options open...

 

PS: I also spent time in Germany to study - one semester at ebs in Oestrich-Winkel in 1995, and then internship with a German company. Another trip back to Germany is on my bucket list!

[Ireallyneedavacation]

I love my Capital One card! Last year my sister and I opted to use our points for hotels in Venice, Florence, Sorrento and Rome before our cruise. We are planning another cruise out of Barcelona for next year, and I will probably just make a payment toward the cruise that stays within my point range. In 5 years, if you put as much on the card as possible and be smart and pay it off every month, you should have enough points for a really nice vacation! All of those grocery and gas purchases add up quickly! Plus, depending on which card you get, you receive more than 1 point per dollar. Capital One is also very diligent about watching for fraud and reimbursing you immediately for any purchases that you did not make (first hand knowledge!).

[foxesden1]

$8000 to $10000for three weeks, three people, car rental and villa in France for one week

 

 

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[marci22]

Thanks for the ballpark figures, guys. I'm thinking we'll need between 8,000-10,000.

 

That is a very realistic figure for 2 people, for about 10-12 days cruise.

 

Add more if you go peak season, stay more days on land, or spend extra on purchases/excursions.

 

Subtract if you get a good airfare deal, tour cheaply, or go off-peak.

 

Our family of 5 went peak season, 1k airfare pp, 1 day precruise, 12 nights Med/Greek Isles, mix of private and on our own excursions. We paid about 24k.

[texasnana]

We did a TA last fall. We used flight miles to fly to Rome. We went with a group of 30 and set tour in Rome. Three nights and four days, bus tour and food for the two of us for 1500. ( this is another story terrible guide) We booked our TA 18 months before and got a group rate for window cabin for 1600 for both. We spent about 1000 on board with tours and tips for cabin/dinning.

 

We spent about 4500 including parking and food flying and gifts...

[Langley Cruisers]

Trip of a lifetime Med cruise two years ago, $10,000+ from Western Canada.

[DEIx15x8]

Really no way to say what it'll cost. Last November my parents and I went to London for 5 nights. We stayed at the London County Hall Marriott directly across from Big Ben with a perfect view. We then went to Southampton and took the Independence of the Seas 13 night transatlantic to Florida in a balcony. We left and returned to Newark and paid for an SUV to take us to and from the airport. Our total bill including flights, cruise, gratuities, excursions, and transportation was $3,135 for 3 people to take an 18 night vacation. We were able to use points to cover our hotel and airfare, after that the cruise and other costs were nothing. Like I said, there is no way to estimate the cost as their are many factors. I've seen someone say $10,000+ in this thread while by numbers if you wanted you could do 2 people for about $2,000.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Really no way to say what it'll cost.. . .I've seen someone say $10,000+ in this thread while by numbers if you wanted you could do 2 people for about $2,000.

 

I do not see how 2 people can do it for $2000. You would have to have frequent flier miles for the airfare and points if you stay overnight [or fly in the day of the cruise].

 

The cruise fare, gratuities, and airport/port transfers would be that much for an inside cabin. That would not leave the couple any money to do any touring. Most European sights have an admission charge and even getting a bus from the ship to the port entrance costs a few Euros in many places. Then you need to get to the locations to see the sights. Many ports are not where the best sights are.

[baggal]

$8,000 - $10,000 seems about right for a 7 - 12 day Med. cruise with a few days pre or post cruise.

 

There's a huge savings if you can travel in the shoulder season (May/June or September/October) and the temperature will be more tolerable. In most ports on our two Med. cruises we used private tours that we shared with people we met on our roll call. While they weren't inexpensive (about $100 or more per person per day) they were much better value than a ship's tour.

 

While waiting until after final payment is due is great for last minute bargains, in most cases if you're flying to Europe using frequent flyer miles, there won't be any seats left on the plane available to you. IMO its better to begin your cruise search about a year ahead, and when you find one that you want at a price you can live with, book it and periodically look for price drops. Then, after your cruise is reserved, book your flights.

 

Have a great time.

[styxchik]

Kari, Would you mind sharing the apartment info and what you did w/ Rome in Limo? We are planning this trip in June. Thanks!