Have you ever "planned" a "last minute" med. cruise?

[CruisingGatorGirl]

I posted this on the X boards but should've posted it here :)

 

How ironic, planning a last minute cruise :rolleyes:

 

There are some awesome last minute med cruises for this November. However, we are not in the position to take advantage with our wedding and honeymoon this year.

 

However, next October/November we feel we would be in a better position to take advantage of a last minute cruise- pending they have great deals like they do for this November. We have no children yet and would like to take advantage of this while we can :)

 

$2000 for cruise and airfare is a pretty good deal! One we would be able to jump on next year, just not this year.

 

Just cruise, have you done this? Thoughts?

 

It might be a bit of a scramble for excursion but I guess I could "plan" that out too.

 

** the only issue I can see is with work, taking 2ish weeks off with short notice

 

___________

[Taxguy77]

Wouldn't that be an oxymoron?:confused:

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Wouldn't that be an oxymoron?:confused:

 

Indeed ;)

 

And I didn't realize in my original post, I meant to say "just curious" not "just cruise" oops :)

[Lerin]

So you're planning last minute for a cruise that leaves in 14 months? :confused:

 

The prices you see today may or may not be the same as what you will see in a year from now. Sometimes they go down, sometimes they go up. We can't predict that. And even if the cruise price goes down, there's no telling what airfare will do. There's a chance the cruise you are interested in may not even exist next year-have you checked the 2014 sailing schedule?

[CruisingGatorGirl]

So you're planning last minute for a cruise that leaves in 14 months? :confused:

 

The prices you see today may or may not be the same as what you will see in a year from now. Sometimes they go down, sometimes they go up. We can't predict that. And even if the cruise price goes down, there's no telling what airfare will do. There's a chance the cruise you are interested in may not even exist next year-have you checked the 2014 sailing schedule?

 

What I am saying is, knowing you want to cruise XYZ but waiting to book in hopes of last minute steals.

 

I was just curious if others have done this.

[hansolosmom]

I would only do it because we did the Med this summer. If I had never been there, there is no way I would go for a last minute deal.

 

I am such a planner that I would be annoyed with myself if we 'missed' something. I spent almost a year planning the trip we did this past summer and picked up so many great tips/ideas for things to do and see. I wouldn't have been able to do that research if it was a quick trip.

 

But if I found a similar itinerary where only 1-2 ports were different, I'd consider it. Of course the following would have to fall into place

- getting decent airfare

- getting time off from work

- getting someone to watch the boys since they couldn't be out of school for 2 weeks

[Keith1010]

Never planned one at the last minute.

 

Keith

[taglovestocruise]

What you save on a last minute cruise would be eaten up by purchasing last minute air fare. happy bargain hunting

[Cruise Junky]

We did this last year but we already had our air. We were doing a land trip and kept hearing about all the fantastic last minute med. deals. We researched cruises that fell within our dates and just waited. We originally booked Celebrity Equinox out of Rome for $1,000 pp for a balcony but switched the day before final payment to Ruby Princess for $1,199 pp as we get better perks, we had an FCC and other OBC with Princess and she had a better itinerary. Would totally do it again if I could get the air.

[frantic36]

What I am saying is, knowing you want to cruise XYZ but waiting to book in hopes of last minute steals.

 

I was just curious if others have done this.

 

Yes we did it this July. We were lucky in that the stars aligned and not only did we find a good price for a cruise we wanted but the airlines decided to have a mid year sale so we got a reasonable price.....for where we live:rolleyes:.

 

I found the CC European board helpful for researching ports especially if I used the search function at the top of the board.......mind you I like researching ports for fun things to do so it wasn't a chore for me.

 

I would caution flights are the biggest extra cost so be prepared to find you may not be able to go because of that cost.....if you do try I hope the stars align for you as well:).

 

Julie

[John Bull]

What you save on a last minute cruise would be eaten up by purchasing last minute air fare. happy bargain hunting

 

 

Sadly this is the problem with late booking of air. Especially since you'll be committed to dates. You could find yourselves coming seriously un-stuck & swallowing up the cruise savings - and more.

 

We've done plenty of last minute cruises, but without the need for air, or only short flights. Or with cruise-chartered flights, which I suspect aren't offered on your side of the Pond.

 

Late means difficulty in booking private tours, occasionally booking popular ship's tours (though for coach tours they can usually add more coaches), but most European destinations can be explored easily & cheaply by public transport, which is way way better than in North America. We very rarely book a ship or private tour, preferring to DIY.

I can't think of ANY European destination where most nationalities need to pre-purchase a visa.

 

Lots of minor downsides, choice of cabin, choice of dining, etc. but IMHO only the air fare is a significant factor.

Solve the late-booked airfare problem & you can save a fortune.:)

 

JB :)

[celle]

I'd look carefully into weather statistics before committing to a Med. cruise in November.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We would never be able to plan a last minute cruise.

The problem is getting there -- we have so few flights to anywhere and they fill up quickly. There wouldn't be any seats left on the couple of flights we have to Europe.

Good luck with your plans.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

[goose30]

But, but, but she said $2,000 cruise and airfare!! so why talking about high air fare?

[wassup4565]

Sure, I'd consider doing a Med cruise in November if I could get low rates like that. Thanks for the idea. My daughter and I were planning - hoping - we could afford this kind of trip next fall. This might make it easier.

 

I wouldn't worry about excursions and seeing the ports. I went on a Med cruise last October, and my one complaint was that the ports were so packed with people from cruise ships we could hardly move. Line-ups for everything and crowds of people everywhere. I'd willingly compromise a bit on the weather if it meant smaller crowds. It's easy enough to research the ports quickly and get local transport to the sights you want to see.

 

Airfare doesn't concern me too much. Coming from central Canada, we have to pay hundreds for airfare no matter where we cruise. Just part of the cost of travel to us.

[terracool]

I've thought the same thing and think it could be done. I'm going to EMed in about 3 weeks, booked a week ago, purely because of the great deal. It cost me a lot of frequent flier miles, but the sticker price on the cruise was too good to pass up.

 

I also went to EMed 2 years ago, and the price also declined steadily over the last few months before sailing.

 

So here's what I'm thinking I'd do to save airfare: Pick a port and a date that has several cruises sailing. For the port, I would try to pick a place in which a land vacation would be a good Plan B (eg, Rome, Barcelona etc) just in case the cruise fell through. Then buy the airfare for two weeks or whatever from the departure date.

 

Then you would be able to watch a few lines/cruises to see if the price comes down and nab the one you think it the best balance between choice of cabins and risk of rising prices at hte last minute. And if worst really came to worst, you would have a land vacation.

 

But I agree that prices seem to decline (note to all - I know that's not guaranteed, it's just my impression from having watched Med cruise prices for Oct/Nov sailings over the past three seasons) on these trips.

 

It wouldn't be a strategy for the faint of heart, but I agree it could work.

 

.

[kadey]

This past April we had no choice but to plan a Med trip quickly from scratch. We were scheduled to be on the first Carnival Sunshine cruise 14 days from Venice to Barcelona.Vacation days approved,flights booked and lots of DIY excursions planned...then Carnival canceled on us three weeks before the trip! In two hours we were rebooked on another Med cruise from Barcelona to Venice,flights rebooked,and vacations days altered with approval.It was two hours an sheer panic but we got it done! Flights prices were pretty close to what we had originally paid months earlier and Carnival did pay the difference for us. It took a few days but we either canceled excursions where we would no longer be going or emailed with vendors and changed the dates. In the end we did it quickly and smoothly!

[jewopaho]

Much depends on the airfare. While you might come across a really great cruise deal, the cost of the plane tickets on a date so close could more than offset any savings. Before you book, check the cost of getting there.

 

All this being said, we were exceptionally fortunate to find a cruise out of Dubai (#1 on our bucket list at the time) for $350 (seven nights, outside stateroom) about five weeks out. Living in Houston, any part of the planet is readily accessible due to the worldwide oil and gas connections (pun unintended). We found a nonstop flight on Emirates Airlines for about $1000 r/t. It turned out to be our best vacation ever ... even the flight was something special.

 

So ... yes. it's possible, but check the flights before you book the cruise.

[marco]

Yes, but when we did so, we used cruiseline's air as doing it on our own was EXTREMELY pricy!