Stanford Alumni Family Cruises?

[GoingGoingAlmostGone]

Does anyone have experience with Stanford Alumni Family cruises vs. Yale/Columbia/Harvard alumni associations? Is Stanford worth $3-5K more per child?

 

We booked on Stanford's July family Mediterranean cruise, then tried to get friends to join us. Our friends did some research and pointed out that all the other alumni associations' equivalent Mediterranean cruises on the same ship (Corinthian II) were originally priced $100 less per person for this summer -- but had recently dropped their kids' pricing by $3,000-$5000 per child.

 

I called Stanford to ask. First, they said it was news to them. Then, they said that it was because our departure had another night in a hotel and 1-2 more kids' counselors. But, all this was true when the original ($100 difference) was published -- and, the other alumni trips have 1-2 more professors (from Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Williams -- good schools!). In the end, Stanford said that the other trips were selling badly and their trip was selling well.

 

So someone, either the tour operator (Travel Dynamics) or Stanford, is going to pocket $3K+ more per child on the Stanford trip than on the others.

 

Question: Is going with Stanford worth it? Or should I enter the costly nightmare of rebooking all our other arrangements?

 

Thanks for ANY insights!!

[crusinmama06]

This must be a heck of a cruise to be $3k - $5k per CHILD. :eek:

 

You let me know how it goes...LOL. And no, for me it wouldn't be worth it. And we have people around here complain about paying a few hundred for an infant. Wait till they see your post. :D