How would you spend $15K this June?

[ducklite]

Last year we spent 6 months travelling. Canada-Portugal land trip. Portugal-Rome. Adriatic cruise from Rome -Venice(booked in final payment window).

 

 

 

Days in Venice then Milan and Lake Como. Milan was nice. 5 star Westin Palace Hotel for $90 USD on a Priceline bid.

 

 

 

Flew to South Africa from Milan, Kruger safari then on to Victoria Falls and Botswana. Two week car trip through SA to CapeTown. Flew back to Rome for a few days. Picked up a TA Rome-Fll. A week in FLL area-higher end hotels via Priceline bidding. Picked up a last minute 10 Christmas cruise from Miami. Flew to Costa Rica for 4 weeks in condo and 2 weeks of driving tour. Then back to FLL with tour of Florida and drive to N.O. for three weeks (rent car thru Costco). Picked up a last minute 7 day Carib. cruise. Home in late March.

 

 

 

Now that we are retired and our travel is more flexible we are doing these types of trips...mixing land and cruise-often in Europe and more specifically in Southern Europe. We could easily do your 3 trips for $15K in a reasonable style. If we can do it, anyone can.

 

 

You had the leisure of picking up last minute cruises and being flexible with plans. Many don't have that option.

[iancal]

Absolutely we had flexibility. But I also know that if you have some flexibility 60 days out you can snag these deals. Especially if you are combining one Med cruise with a second Med/TA to get you to FLL, MIA, etc.

 

Very much agree with you on luggage. That it exactly what we packed for six months- a 21 and a 24 roller, and one carry on. And we took too much!

 

We did over a month in Thailand with carry on early this year. We will be doing 7 weeks of Asia land travel this winter followed by a cruise, possibly 2, in Australia. It will be carry on again-we love it. Absolutely no way we will be dragging along clothes that we will wear for a few hours on a few formal nights in the MDR. We skip it in favour of another dining venue. Everything has to 'earn' it's way into our luggage in terms of how often we wear it etc.

Edited May 23, 2014 by iancal

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have you checked out HAL's 14 day Alaskan cruise? We have done it 2 times and loved it. It has ports most cruise lines do not do -- Anchorage, Icy Straight Point, Homer, Kodiak.

[zoncom]

Where do you really want to go? Mass market or Luxury? Best bang for buck usually Inside cabin on mass/ premimun ship like Celebrity, Princess or HAL. I never get tired of Transatlantics combined with Euro cruises,Early or late season finds excellent pricing. River cruises grossly overpriced for your wants/needs. Agree AK should be done by itself.

[lady_cruiser]

We average 3 cruises a year. Since we don't fly we drive either to New Orleans or Galveston. Our cabin choice is a Jr. Suite so a cruise cost us anywhere from $2,200 to $3,000 depending on how early or late we book it.

 

If I had $15,000 I would keep doing what we are doing and save any money we have left over from the $15,000.

[iancal]

Our personal preference would not be to do a TA on Cunard for a number of reasons.

 

First off is they are more formal. And there is a class system that even seperates dining venues by class. We would prefer a TA from Europe-Rome, Istanbul, etc. that stopped in several European ports prior to crossing. But the dates probably do not work for June. Also, there is MUCH more competition on the mass market lines like HAL, Celebrity, etc. for these cruises. You will get much more value for your money. You should pay no more that about $70. per person for a balcony or balcony gty. cabin on a TA.

 

Lots of great offers for Alaska in June. Demand must be off. $100.day for a balcony/verandah is very doable.

 

If you delay Europe until Sept/Oct. the weather will still be good and you can snag something good for a Med and a TA back to FLL or MIA.

Edited May 28, 2014 by iancal

[olindacat]

I would pick the first cruise and budget that one out and see where that leaves you. Be sure to factor in costs such as hotel and air.

 

Keith

 

Wow! For some reason my email notifications stopped and I didn't know any one had replied since my last message. Sorry 'bout that everyone :-)

 

Keith, thanks for you input. I have learned in my brief 52 years that nothing I plan every goes accruing to plan. So, I plan for the worst to happen.

 

In researching a cruise, even if I allow for taxes and fees and gratuities somehow I will wind up over even that. I have a feeling, even if it is an all-inclusive luxury one, I'd still average about $200/day in incidentals. My biggest 'costs' are booze, Internet, and the daily excursions/activities they sell at each port.

 

As I mentioned is has been some time since we last cruised and now I see beverage packages are out there, as well as some Internet packages and some prepaid gratuities. So, I hope to knock that down a tad. My partial reason for the thread was because in researching some lines, many f them in fact, I would literally have to courtesy hold/book a ship to get access to their pricing for beverage packages, for example. That's okay for one line or even two, but all possibilities seems crazy, and not all line websites will let me even do that.

 

Also, I am find that many are very slick about what they charge for say a Stella beer. I can't find that on too many websites. And, in many cases, I can't tell if a given beg package will carry that given beer for example. So, I'm pressed to ask for help. Not just for beer, of course, you get the idea….

 

Anyway, I just figured some here might have their own take on how'd they'd make the best of that money. I'm fairly confident I can get on boats for that. I was just curious what some of the experts here might do. Non-experts too :-)

[olindacat]

Cruise lines are a personal choice as are itineraries. Without more specifics you are not likely to get a lot of responses with solid answers because we don't know what you like, what you prefer to do on your cruise, and what type of room and experience you are looking for.

 

I suppose the more you do them, the more you are right, Sherilyn. Even my wife and I differ in terms of likes and dislikes. But, even in cursing, there are limits and there are opportunities that can be unearthed or shared with others. I guess I was looking to hear what others would do because I could then compare notes.

 

If I list what I like/dislike then I will probably get solid information about what I may have already found. By hearing from anyone, about what they might do with my budget, it may unearth a golden nugget I hadn't thought of….

 

I like what I can't afford: owner's suite, two-hour massages, chauffeured cars everywhere, six-star hotels before and after, F-class air, and so on. I can afford: air on miles, a bucket, maybe two (or three) of cold beer every (sometimes other) day, one or two meals (for two) in non-MDR fee restaurants, an OV cabin (maybe verandah if there's a promo) in a TA or repositioning cruise (but alas, there are none except for Cunard) in June (that I can find, that make sense).

 

We are not crazy about mobs, but then when I look at a cruise on say the Seabourn Legend, I am petrified of being on such a small vessel for so long at sea for many days, probably making my fellow passengers miserable :-)

 

So, an Azamara or Oceania or Seabourn Quest or Crystal medium-sized boat would be nice, but maybe not touchable as all of these boats are about $1k a day on average.

 

In looking at mass market lines, I guess Celebrity might be a fit dunno. Been to that forum, RCCL's, Oceania's, Crystal's, Cunard's, Seabourn's, Silversea's, Regent's, NCL's, HAL's, and Carnival's too.

 

Been to all of their websites, and Google'd images to see how they all looked.

 

Franky, it is overwhelming! So, I resorted to this thread and am grateful that I'm even getting replies. Thanks for yours!

[olindacat]

As others have said, we don't know you or your likes/dislikes.

 

If it were me, I'd do Alaska BIG, not just the cruise, unless you do HAL 14 day.

 

My first 7 day cruise to Alaska whetted my appetite to see more. We then did an 11 day cruisetour to the tune of $3000 pp. The longer you stay, the more money it's going to take.

 

Europe on the other hand ended up costing us $6000 pp for a 21 day trip. If I'm paying the airfare & investing the time to get there, I want to see as much as I can for the bucks I'm spending. While the 12 day cruise itself was $2200, it didn't take long for the cost to escalate.

 

Just these two cruises would be $18,000 for two people, which is over your budget of $15,000.

 

I can't imagine you are going to get anywhere near your proposed budget on an Oceania cruise. Good luck with your planning, and have a great trip, whatever you decide to do.

 

I know I can't do an entire trip, inclusive of air and hotels and xfers and all the ancillary things it takes to make Europe happen, for $15k. I use miles and SPG points to take care of the bulk of our airfares and hotels. If I were paying for our flights, which are J or F all the way, it'd be impossible for us.

 

So, I was trying to confine this to only the cruise portion. I know for sure Alaska has tours galore that can gobble up money quickly. Heck, just going off the boat into any Med port can be really costly, like a Venetian gondola ride or a charter plane to Tikal, all things we've done among many.

 

The $6k pp for 21-days is about what I was looking at to go Seabourn to arctic from like Copenhagen or Stockholm. On Legend I think. I'm still considering it, but I am terrified of feeling claustrophobic on such a tiny boat….

[olindacat]

That budget is huge! You should be able to do more than 3 cruises in nice cabins by booking last minute, or at least within a month or two of sailing. Perhaps you could try Celebrity, HAL, or Princess for the transatlantic instead of the pricier lines? Check airfare before booking your cruise so you don't get stuck with a huge cost. Check with different travel agents. Sometimes they buy up a block of cabins and will sell for less or with OBC close to sailing. Avoid paying list price. Have you thought of flying to Europe for a cruise and returning along the northern route to see Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, & Canada? That's an interesting cruise with ports most days. Eight days at sea to get from Point A to Point B gets a little old. Whatever you do, I wish you a wonderful vacation.

 

Thanks, Granny. Yes, I was looking at several options to return to US mainland via the north. They are very pricey compared to some other TAs and repositioning cruises, but the itineraries are nice. We've gone into Norway and Iceland via Oceania before.

 

Haven't had much luck with travel agents. I have dealt with three via crystal ************ and they were really nice but just couldn't make the NYC>Haifax>Reykjavik>TA work. Was going to take up whole budget!

 

I have a spreadsheet and look for web offers and compare based on stars and price per day pp. Six-stars include booze and tips (is my rule of thumb), but having never gone that route not sure it is worth it. I drink a lot, and a sweetie, but not sure I can either drink enough to justify the fare or if they'd stop serving me to save money ;-)

 

In any event, I will try not to pay retail. Gives me hives just thinking of doing that!

[olindacat]

Agree. No sweat. $15K would definitely get you 3 cruises-balcony cabins-on very nice ships Maybe gtys, but balcony. Shop carefully, deal with a TA that provides OBC's. Research ship excursions and private excursions.

 

Sorry, but what are OBC's?

 

36 days at $120 average per day (includes tips) uses up 8800. That is conservative. You can probably get more days than that if you are careful. Replace a HAL, Princess or Celebrity for Cunard and you will have some extra perhaps. Spend the balance on air, excursions, pre cruise hotel, and a few pre cruise days at ports in Europe (local family run B&B's vs higher end hotels).

 

$120/day balcony , is that $60pp/day? Now that's pretty cheap. Best I've found was OV GTY $178/day ($89pp) out of Bayonne on NCL Breakaway.

 

No issue. You can do this if you truly want to. It comes down to good shopping, setting your priorities and passing on some of the over priced on board items like spas etc (get them while you are in Turkey!). Make your

$15K count. You will have a blast.

 

Thanks. We are very flexible. We were thinking about going uber-cheap to start, bumping it up a notch for #2, then bonkers on #3. But, after having actually courtesy-booked and priced things out, I can see where $178/day becomes $400/day quite easily. But $400/day*30 days is $12k (I think), so I think you may be right, by jove!

 

But it takes work on your part. You need to do your research-this will save you big bucks and enhance your enjoyment and your appreciation of where you happen to be travelling. If you are serious about this, you need to start your research NOW.

 

I am. Day and night, like an obsession. I've even exposed myself here right now with this thread ;-) Scared to death I'm going to get blown out by some demigod here.

 

Option B is to blow it all on one cruise. Big luxury suite, lots of on board spending, etc. etc. We typically go with Option A but we travel anywhere for 4-6 months each year.

 

Lamb (wife) and I're 52 and have 25 more years before we can retire. So, this is our one trip for the next 4-5 years unless we win Lotto or miss a squirrel and strike oil :-) (just kidding, I'd never hurt a squirrel…)

[olindacat]

:)Take your time and do lots of research, don't just take CC posts advice because we don't know you. :)

 

I don't know me either ;-) Thanks for helping. We are flying to NYC this weekend. Actually, Marie is on Sunday. I'll follow on a separate flight early next week. We will likely try a 7-day Bermuda run out of the city or Bayonne. As we need to bring out animal (Tinky the cat) to NYC, I am going to forego Alaska for now.

 

We had planned on flying on miles via Cathay to HKK and JNB. Do some animal watching in some African reserve someplace, then zip back to Maui after a side-trip to SE Asia to pedal off some blubber, which I think we will have accumulated on the cruises, and which (ahem) we have been accumulating steadily as we age for some time….

[olindacat]

Just a PS to my post above. :) We like sea days after a very busy land trip or port intensive cruise. It's wind down time.

 

I book cruises as soon as they are released and I always save money. For 42 nights SA on Celebrity the price has doubled. So shop wisely.

 

We are going to Alaska in August, 7 nights south to north in a GS (RCCL) and then two week land trip. The land trip will cost waaaayyyy more then the cruise.

 

We also will never book a cruise that we don't also have a land trip either before or after the cruise.

 

OK too much information. :)

 

One nice thing is I have some SPG points I can use to cover hotels in some places that are brutal normally, like London or whatever. I also have air miles to take care of flights. My previous post was an incomplete thought… I was explaining my travel plans for summer to illustrate where I might go. I could easily skip Africa and go to Europe and then Europe to Asia. I already have our tix OGG>NYC and SIN>OGG. I can easily get to Asia from NYC via Europe and cruise there (Europe). Only, I must confess the Med is a place she and I have been to 1000 times. We are not millionaires and can't even pretend to fit into some of the ritzier places like Monaco…..

 

Never too much information!

[olindacat]

I have NO idea how much they cost, but have you thought of doing a river cruise in Europe? I've heard they're amazing!!! It would be an entirely different type of experience!

 

I have. But they are foreign to me. I was actually looking into an Africa trip, as the Lamb wants me to take her someplace exotic, but after seeing how many days in hotels they (the line) were offering as a part of the 'trip' I looked up the name of their boat in that vicinity and found it was operated by the boat owner themselves, with direct bookings online… and they were considerably less if booked directly.

 

I don't imagine they all work like this, but I did look at some European river cruises and they do seem to have the hotel and front and back end, with bus xfers or whatever. I always feel like an old cow being hauled around in a bus (a lot) so avoid them if I can find my own way. Just a bad habit also I get sort of penned in on the darn this and start to have massive anxiety attacks (another story), so while I am intrigued but eh concept, I haven't had luck (yet) finding the right one. Have you found anything yummy to share?

[olindacat]

As a benchmark, when we did our B2B in Europe, including all expenses--airfare, airport parking, pre and post hotels and meals, some shore excursions, a couple of tours in Rome, admissions for DIY things, subway/bus fares, the whole nine yards, it came to $20K for two people. We spent nothing on gambling, and total alcohol bill for three weeks was maybe $200, including house wines at cafes to get the WiFi password.

 

Could I have shaved some of those expenses? Yes, but not to the level you'd need to given what you are trying to do.

 

I dunno. I have air and hotels covered. That's a big chunk right there. I'll have someone drop us at airport so no parking costs. $200 for three weeks on alcohol… nope, I can't do that. You've got me beat there :-)

[olindacat]

If you do it...let us know what you did, how you did it, and if you came in on budget!

 

I will. I'm not sure we'll do 30-days of cruising though. Just dunno. For sure, I'll detail out what we do, as I owe you all at least that much :-)

[olindacat]

Have you checked out HAL's 14 day Alaskan cruise? We have done it 2 times and loved it. It has ports most cruise lines do not do -- Anchorage, Icy Straight Point, Homer, Kodiak.

 

Not yet. I am not sure Alaska is still in the cards. We'd have to fly backwards to get there as we have to carry a dwarf kitty from Mauito NYC so she can be watched whilst we goof off.

 

If we decide to go to Alaska, we will look at HAL. I appreciate your telling me about them. Thanks a mil!

[olindacat]

Where do you really want to go? Mass market or Luxury? Best bang for buck usually Inside cabin on mass/ premimun ship like Celebrity, Princess or HAL. I never get tired of Transatlantics combined with Euro cruises,Early or late season finds excellent pricing. River cruises grossly overpriced for your wants/needs. Agree AK should be done by itself.

 

We can't go where we want because we only have this and part of July we can do this on. If we could, we'd go in November/December to SA Amazon or W./S. Africa. Just not in our cards. So, we must play with what we are dealt with, and that leaves us with: Alaska (not probable now that Lamb insists Tinkster be delivered to NYC for TLC by family while we are away), Bermuda (likely because it is low-risk and we can take a taxi to and drop dock), TA (improbable as Cunard -- our only real option -- seems like it may be very formal -- also very pricey for beers and what not after looking at their drink packages that don't seem to include booze?), Med (it's a player but we are sort of been there done that mentally so maybe not good idea), N. Europe (we've never been to Russia so that's appealing, arctic circle on Legend has me tempted ut suck a small vessel I'm afraid I'll burst a vessel of my own if I am trapped on such a tiny little boat), Carib (we live on an island so going to more is like Bermuda more about the boat, and the choices out of NYC are limited so we'd likely fly down to Fl or wherever but we did do Mexico, Central America, Panama Canal, Carib 14 days Oceania in mid-2000s and ports were great places to see, once for us as very poor, depressing in so many areas….