pathoman

seriously :confused:

That is like free money to spend ..maybe you could buy your favourite scotch ;)

No we wont say no to it, but we rather have the value put elsewhere, such as upgrade or cheaper cruise :). If it is the only value we can get we will take but why get 300 OBC when we can get a better room or some such? Not sure how easily comparable they would be but just my thoughts.

Was also my first thought - Celebrity is the best fit, frequently has some nice pricing and does itineraries with the wish list ports on some very nice ships. Budget will only work with FF miles however.

 

Oceania is sometimes a value with the included airfare - however, it is never cheap. 12 day late June 2014 cruise that meets OP wish list starts at $5,000 per person (including air, taxes, gratuities, $400 OBC, and internet). It also does include some things that aren't included on Celebrity - specialty restaurants, shuttles, specialty coffees.

Hmm yea 5k is probably more than we would want pp. And yea I need to remember to include tip, are Mediterranean cruises the same $10 a day which Caribbean was 5 years ago? We really aren't too interested in OBC, I know they wont have beer I want and I can't afford the prices of scotch I like. Fiance will bring on wine she wants I am sure. Random spending will probably be mixed drinks for her. Internet would be nice as I have no desire to hunt down an internet cafe every few ports to check the outside world but I also will not pay $10 a night, will just wait for port and utilize my international tmobile account. Would you guys recommend I utilize miles for flights and book cruise on C complete or see if a travel agent can work magic? Never actually used a TA outside of work travel as I prefer to plan my own stuff.

thanks

Thanks for the replies will definitely be looking into Ruby and Oceania (had already done a little investigating on the small ships as I liked the idea). $1500 each is the goal but that is just because I like to get what I want for the right price. If what we want is not possible at that price we are definitely willing to spend more, this is our honeymoon afterall. One reason I am still liking the idea of booking our own flights is b/c we can use miles and, if the cruise is only 10 days or something, we may be able to get a day connection in a different city just to get one more place in but that is in no way critical. Sadly we are stuck with those months as I expect we both may be changing jobs right around there which would give us the time off we need to make it happen, otherwise we will both be burning all of our vacation. THe one time I cruised before I used C compete (not sure if C critic allows posting of other sites so wont), would they be viable for this type of option? Do they also do flights? Would the flights be guaranteed arrival as if we booked through the cruise company or would we be on our own with delays? Finally, what would you guys expect to spend on this? Cruise+flight+taxes? i always worry about taxes, especially as seattle to europe on AA redemption is so annoyingly difficult to avoid the LHS tax.

thanks

Are you interested in nightlife and partying?

 

Do you want a port-intensive cruise where there are few sea days and time in port between 8-12 hours?

 

Do you enjoy dining that offers menus beyond everyday food?

We prefer long days off the ship with recovery on the cruise. Not too interested in a partying cruise night life. May have one or two evenings but we want the history and culture. We definitely want a port intensive cruise, no interest being at sea. As the fiance said the ship is food, bed, and storage primarily for us. Food wise we are foodies, I plan on eating off the ship as much as possible. On the ship we would prefer quality over quantity but I suspect that may be difficult. I have cruised once before and was not amazed at all by the constant buffet foods, the formal dinner food was acceptable.

Thanks for the questions, good to confirm it with the fiance :)

So I am hunting for a number of ideas for a cruise for my fiance and I. We are getting married this year but want a chance to save up and earn leave time to make sure we do the honeymoon right. She wants a cruise and I love the history of the region so it should work out nicely. I have been looking through sites trying to find info for May-June months of 2015 but from what I can see it isn't fully routed yet by all the cruise lines. I looked at 2014 but there are so many and I am finding only a few options. I am hoping people here with more experience/knowledge can help out.

As a baseline, we are looking to fly out of Seattle WA. I am not against buying cruise+flight (friend said they got a 12 day Mediterranean cruise + flight for $1500 taxes included each person 2 years ago which sounds very reasonable). We also have a number of flier miles on United and AA it is not a requirement to purchase together, I just want the best deal.

Cruise wise we are not worried about returning to the same port, doesn't matter if we do (if it is Rome, Athens, or Istanbul) but our goal is to see as much as possible. We are looking for a 10-14 day cruise. We do want to hit Rome/Venice (if we end in one I know we can get to the other easily as I have done this my last time in Italy but this would only work on 10 or 11 day cruises), Santorini, Athens(prefer 2 days here or Istanbul), Istanbul (prefer two days here or Athens), and Kotor/Dubrovnik. Other Greek Islands would of course be nice but we don't have them as specifics. Are there any cruises which hit all of these ports? Any that come close to it? We are hoping to spend around 1500-2000 for the cruise + flight, will definitely upgrade to a better cabin if it isn't too much as this is our honeymoon but we prefer to spend money on excursions and food.

Any thoughts and recommendations are always welcome along with answers for the above questions. Thank you.