Last minute cruising, as a family?

[Eclipsepearl]

Here's the scoop; my dh has taken a new job which involves a lot of travel. So he announced that we can't take a cruise this year, in fact, we can't even leave the country in case he has to leave on short notice.

 

Honestly, I'm not thrilled with this. Yes, I would rather risk not going than to spend a couple of weeks at a boring AI here. I would like to take the kids away on my own, perhaps not a cruise but to visit friends instead, hang out, etc. but dh likes to sit by a pool and relax, not drag around some city or listen to me babbling with my buddies (he can't speak English so this is an issue). Sitting at a AI on my own for a few days just sounds dire.

 

So here's what I was thinking. Is is possible that my dh can look at his schedule and if he decides that we can possibly leave for a week or so, is it possible to do a Med cruise last minute? Has anyone done this? How would I go about doing it? We could even drive down to the Med from here (about an 8 hour drive) but I'm worried about parking. Also, we have *three* kids so we would need two cabins or a big suite. At worst, we could stay in separate rooms.

 

Anyone have any ideas? It's just that I would much, much rather take the risk and try to do a cruise again than face a second-rate, boring vacation somewhere else.

 

When I worked for the airlines, the pilots told me about how they would fly to Miami and try to get last-minute standby deals on cruises. This was awhile back so I'm not sure if it's still possible for non-airline people (I'm now an "earthling"). I can't see doing that though with three kids in tow anyway...

 

How do cruise companies handle last minute cancellations? Do I contact the individual cruise companies or are there services, agents, etc. who do this? We could do this last minute, with only a day or two notice. Does it sound at all sane in the summer? We are looking at August.

 

TIA!

[rebeccalouise]

Cruising in the med isn't cheap as a rule. But if you can drive- that saves on airfare. If you don't cruise in summer- then there won't be many kids on board.

 

If you are shopping lines- I'd do Celebrity. They have a great youth program and the staff is multi-linqual. There is usually one staff member that speaks Spanish or French, as well as other languages.

 

Having completed 23 cruises on a variety of lines- I think you will be most happy with Celebrity. Good food, service and very relaxing.

[I&MsMom]

Hi! Haven't done it in the Med., but we once booked a Carnival cruise to Canada out of NYC (our home port) less than72 hours before sailaway. We have two small children, so we got two inside rooms - both were very close to the bow on the same deck - one was on the port side and one on the starboard. Once in a while, if DH wanted to stay out late at the casino, I'd have both kids sleep with me, but otherwise, the guys had their room and the girls had theirs. We got a great deal on the cabins (getting two insider worked out to less than putting all four of us in a single inside). The only downside to this last minute booking was that no oceanviews or balconies were available.

 

Hope you can manage, and if you do, enjoy!!:)

[crusinmama06]

Ask this question on the cruiseline board you think you are going to sail. Security concerns have changed the days of getting on a ship last minute. Now, the cruiselines have to have their manifests finalized 3 days before the ship leaves.

 

I know a few years ago you could get last minute cabins. But that's changing now.

 

We did a "last minute" and it was 3 weeks away. So not exactly last minute. But we had to take the cabin we could get and that meant an OV on a lower deck.

[I&MsMom]

You know, cruisinmam06 has a point. My "less than" 72 hours was a bit of an exaggeration, now that I think about it. We actually booked it after midnight on a Monday night (so early moring hours Tuesday) and sailed on Friday.:o

[kitty9]

Your biggest problem will be finding cabins. If you don't mind where your cabin is located and if your kids are old enought to stay in their own cabin that might not be near yours, you could be OK. But, you will be severely constrained by cabin selection if you wait too long. Plus, Med cruises are really booking up, so that can be a problem also. There's no such thing as stand by for cruises anymore. You used to be able to walk up and get right on without booking early, but those days are long gone. You have to book at least 72 hours before the cruise departs. And, for whatever reason, the prices are going up the closer you are to the sailing date.

[hooked-on-travel]

Another problem, not mentioned here, is your requirement to have two cabins together, one of which has to sleep 3 people minimum. (Obviously the rare cabin that sleeps 5 would work, too, but let's leave that possibility as rare.) I know RCI holds the 3-4 person cabins until the "last minute" and doesn't open them up to 2 people (on the web site at least) until a month or two before sailing. So that means the odds of the empty cabin accepting 3 people are better than average. But the requirement will still limit your options.

 

I'm too far to drive to port (ok, I've done 13 hours to Galveston, but that takes planning), so I can't comment on true last minute bookings, sorry. I just wanted to make the above consideration. That coupled with August (= school's out) might make for full ships.

 

Question: I've heard the rules about security needing the passenger list 3 days early, but is that a universal rule or a U.S. rule? Would the E.U. have the same rule? Or is this personal revelation why the OP is asking the question specifically about Med. cruises in the first place?

[Eclipsepearl]

I think I was more wondering how cruise companies organized last minute openings/cancellations. Whether it was possible to somehow put yourself on a list, with requirements and see if anything comes to the surface. Whether cruise clearing houses exist or whether it's a case It would be a risk...

 

It's too late to book actually. For a Med cruise in July or August, it has to be done around January. We barely made it by Feburary last year. I'm disappointed but we all know the deal with a new job.

 

And Rebecca Louise, your were a big help with our Celebrity planning. It was a huge success!

[stsomewhere]

SInce 9/11, most flights are sold out. So, it would be very difficult and expensive to fly. My DH used to work for the airlines and we would fly at the last minute. Many airlines have cut the number of flights daily.

[I&MsMom]

I'm not sure how it works with other companies, but I know with Carnival final payments are due 90 days before you sail. Prior to the 90 day mark, your deposit is fully refundable. So sometimes cabins become available right around that 90 day mark, as people who have reserved decide not to commit to the full payment.

 

Good luck!:)