Need help planning Mediterranean Cruise

[Markanddonna]

Hi,

 

I have been saving up those points since my last cruise and have enough for a cruise for 2009. I know it is too early to book, but I want to try to plan the timing and airlines. We have to go in June or July. No choice because of the job.

 

The cost of the flight is more than the cruise for the 2008 bookings, so I was wondering if you had any advice. I guess we will do the Barcelona route. Here are some questions.

 

- when does the intinerary come out?

 

- did you book online or with an agent?

 

- is it better to book the flight with the cruise for Europe? I usually don't but was wondering if a European cruise would be a wash with the air costs.

 

- Any recommendations on how to reduce the cost of the flight? I can get to the east coast pretty cheaply on my own.

 

- I have never bought travel insurance but this might be one time it would be worth it? Does travel insurance cover nervous jitters if we have more terrorism in that region?

 

Do you have any other experiences to share?

 

I love this forum and your advice made me an extremely savvy cruiser in the past!

Thanks in advance.

Connie

[Don Haynes]

The cruise lines post their next year's itineraries in Spring of every year. Carnival posts theirs in mid March, and the others follow suite a few weeks to a few months later. NCL started posting their itineraries, a few at a time, starting in mid April last year and wasn't finished until the first week or two of June. Every year it seems in June there are two years of itineraries posted and by March there is only a year's up.

 

I always use an agent.

 

When I fly I use my frequent flyer miles.

 

The earlier you book a flight usually the cheaper a flight is.

 

I always buy travel insurance because you never really know if when something will come up to ruin your plans. Recently I spent over a week in a hospital after a stroke. Was transported to hospital by ambulance.

[Dolphins]

Since I hate flying, my first suggestion would be to find a cruise that's round trip out of Barcelona so you will have the shortest possible flight to and from the U.S. No fun flying home from Istanbul.

My second suggestion is to find a cruise that stops in Venice, the most beautiful port to sail into in all the Mediterranean.

My final suggestion is to find the longest cruise available so you will see as many ports as possible. Not a destination to skimp on.

[retired rascal]

we use a Mastercard that gives us airline miles. We've trained ourselves to use it for EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! ...even a five dollar purchase at the local rite aid [chain drug store]; utility bills; cell phone bills; all groceries; all medical visits; EVERYTHING; you name it. you would be surprised how many miles you can collect in a year or 18 months!!! the other discipline is to pay the bill in full every single month or the interest will be really high. the better the benefits of the card, the higher the interest is frequently. we're flying first class round trip from california to miami on our miles and will still have enuf for another whole trip. makes the cruise seem less costly. of course, we paid for the miles but it doesn't feel that way when we buy the tickets on line without coughing up any money at that moment.

[retired rascal]

we use a Mastercard that gives us airline miles. We've trained ourselves to use it for EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! ...even a five dollar purchase at the local rite aid [chain drug store]; utility bills; cell phone bills; all groceries; all medical visits; EVERYTHING; you name it. you would be surprised how many miles you can collect in a year or 18 months!!! the other discipline is to pay the bill in full every single month or the interest will be really high. the better the benefits of the card, the higher the interest is frequently. we're flying first class round trip from california to miami on our miles and will still have enuf for another whole trip. makes the cruise seem less costly. of course, we paid for the miles but it doesn't feel that way when we buy the tickets on line without coughing up any money at that moment.:)

[Ms belp]

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

 

My first cruise was the Med , and I will live with the beautiful memories for the rest of my life. Barcelona to Barcelona is good; you are right about flying from Istabul...too long. Positano, Italy was beautiful, as was Sorrento. We went to Messina, Sicily but I don't think they dock there anymore. The Vatican; Florence; Nice; Monacco; Pisa. They are all priceless places to visit. I would love to go again!

 

Yes, you should do travel insurance.

 

Have a wonderful time!

[vivian02]

I think I can give you some good suggestion so here it goes. When flying out to Europe try to get the most direct flight going into Barcelona. This decreases the chance of lost luggage. I have only had this happen once and it occured on a flight going to MUC through CDG in paris. Foruntately the luggage caught up to us a few hours later.

Try to fly into Port (Barcelona) one or two days early. This will give you a chance to adjust your systme and avoid jet lag. Not only that Barcelona has alot to see. I like spending at least one day at the beach. (Great wine)

Start checking airfares nine months in advance. Flying into Europe after June 7 the airfares get really pricy. Don't give up on your Miles programs...I got free airfare into Rome this coming August. It was only because I was persistant and found dates that worked for us.

I do think Barcelona is your best bet for a first Meditterean Cruise. Logistics work out well for this port. Taxis are reasonable and there is a pretty good list of good hotels to choose. Getting to the port or Hotel from the Airport is not difficult. Even the public transportation is good. (Aeroporto Bus to the plaza 3.4 Euros)

I would seriously think about doing a 12 day cruise over a 7 day cruise. Since your paying good money to fly over why not spend some extra time there.

When looking for sites to check out airfares I would use "Sidestep" or "Kayak". Don't give up....I didn't think I would make it back to Europe in 2008 and everything is booked. Enjoy your reseach Tim

[Hockey19]

We are booked on the Gem for August. Airfare has been a steady $1100 :mad: from Philly or NY, but it is way to far out for any promos. With the cost of travel to Europe geting hit hard by a weak dollar it is possible that carriers will drop prices to encourage travel. We can only hope. We used our NCL card to pay for all but the deposit so there is some cushion to the pain.

[Birdnutty]

In 2006, we went to the Mediterranean on the Jewel. We booked air thru NCL, using a brick and mortar TA. NCL flew us direct to Barcelona from JFK airport (we live in CT) and since we landed too early to go directly to the ship, they treated us to a surprise complimentary tour of Barcelona on beautiful new busses with a tourguide. It was a wonderful way to do it - we were more tired than I thought we would be, Barcelona is not easy to get to from from the pier, and this gave us enough of a taste of Barcelona to feel like we'd actually been there. It was great.

 

We always use the NCL Mastercard for everything, and used the accrued dollars to pay for our fare, which in this case, included airfare. Thsoe credits add up really fast.

 

I ALWAYS buy travel insurance. I usually check out insuremytrip.com, which compares policies and companies, according to what you want. The cost of the trip itself is minor compared to the value the insurance can have on insuring rental cars at your destination and most importantly, medical evacuation. When you are thousands of miles out at sea, helicopters do not come cheap. They also insure things like lost or delayed luggage, trip delay, etc. Horror stories abound, so the $50 to $100 it cost for insuring a trip is money well spent. Besides, the first time I don't buy it is the time I will end up needing it most. :)

[bulgargirl]

If you have time and can be flexible with your schedule, you could always fly into london and score last minute airfares on airlines like RianAir which have really cheap flights to Barcelona. If you can't find a last minute flight, take a train.

 

That's probably impracticable for most people. That's how I used to travel when I was younger and my only job was one I could afford to lose if I got stuck some place!

[NorthernNeighbour]

The last time we took a cruise with NCL that involved in Med -- we got an air booking with them for the flights.

 

They booked us on BA -- and BA surprised us at the airport with an upgrade to Business Class.

 

Don't know how often this happens but we sure did enjoy it. I'm sure if I had booked 'el cheapo' flights myself we would never have been upgraded.

[MercedMike]

A Med cruise with air can get a little complicated, especially if it is an open jaw. Your very best friend will be a good full service local Travel Agent who is a CLIA Accredited Cruise Counselor and also thoroughly up on air travel.

 

What we usually do is to book the cruise/air package, so we are guaranteed that if we need it. Then the TA keeps her eyes open for good airfares, and if she finds one we can always cancel the cruise/air. Most of the time this way we wind up with a considerably better deal than the cruise/air and have the added advantage of picking our flights.

 

But it really takes a good TA to keep on top of this one for you.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[insidecabin]

If you have time and can be flexible with your schedule, you could always fly into london and score last minute airfares on airlines like RianAir which have really cheap flights to Barcelona. If you can't find a last minute flight, take a train.

 

That's probably impracticable for most people. That's how I used to travel when I was younger and my only job was one I could afford to lose if I got stuck some place!

 

 

Be aware that the lugage allowances are much smaller on the cheapies.

 

One airline that does offer good Transatlantic rates is Airlingus, connects to Barcelona and other cities via Ireland.

 

There are some good round trip med Cruises from the UK that could be considered and they add atlantic coast ports like Lisbon.

[Jade13]

Hi,

 

I have been saving up those points since my last cruise and have enough for a cruise for 2009. I know it is too early to book, but I want to try to plan the timing and airlines. We have to go in June or July. No choice because of the job.

 

The cost of the flight is more than the cruise for the 2008 bookings, so I was wondering if you had any advice. I guess we will do the Barcelona route. Here are some questions.

 

- when does the intinerary come out?

 

- did you book online or with an agent?

 

- is it better to book the flight with the cruise for Europe? I usually don't but was wondering if a European cruise would be a wash with the air costs.

 

- Any recommendations on how to reduce the cost of the flight? I can get to the east coast pretty cheaply on my own.

 

- I have never bought travel insurance but this might be one time it would be worth it? Does travel insurance cover nervous jitters if we have more terrorism in that region?

 

Do you have any other experiences to share?

 

I love this forum and your advice made me an extremely savvy cruiser in the past!

Thanks in advance.

Connie

 

I always use points for flights...

 

As far as cruises, we like Holland America line and they have the best insurance for Canceling for Any Reason. It has to be paid at time of deposit, but if you decide not to go 24 hours before departue you get 90% back on your credit card (you never get the insurance premium back). If you purchase the air and insurance through the cruise line you get that back as well at 90%.

 

They have a 10 day or 20 day (two btb's) from Rome, that stop in Liverno (for Florence & Pisa), Naples (for Amalfi coast), Sicily (including Messina), Greek Islands, Turkey, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Croatia...

[MGC]

If you are going to purchase air on your own, you might want to consider getting to the departure port a day early. That gives you some leeway in case something goes haywire on the flights, and also gives you an extra day to recover from jetlag and maybe see a little bit of the port before you get on the ship.

[macsmum1]

We always use Frequent Flyer Miles for flights and have not had any problems booking open jaw flights. Last year we flew from DFW to Santiago, ended the cruise in Acapulco and back to DFW; this year we will go into Heathrow; then to Barcelona; depart from Venice back to Heathrow to DFW. There was also a round-trip to London in there on another trip ( Not a cruise). We use FCC to book our cruise; once we have those dates, it's easy to book the flights (we call and book the first date they open) as there are a limited number of FFM seats.

 

Always buy travel insurance. We've been lucky and not had to use it, but know many people who have.

 

We also use online agents and book all our own flights, hotels and tours online. We've traveled for years all over the world and never had any problems with booking online.