2011 itineraries and fares

[meow!]

Do you know when will the 2011 itineraries come out? Are fares at the lowest when they come out and go upwards as the voyages fill up or is it the reverse? We are hoping for a cheap voyage that starts/ends in Copenhagen, touch the Norwegian coast and go to Iceland, perhaps 10 to 12 days. Any chance? (There is one for 2010, but we need longer time to save up for the fare .. meow!)

[orchestrapal]

Read the thread "Rumor about AZ Going....) above.

Several travel agents, who already have information, state there will be a sharp increase in fares. :mad:

[Paulchili]

Do you know when will the 2011 itineraries come out? Are fares at the lowest when they come out and go upwards as the voyages fill up or is it the reverse? We are hoping for a cheap voyage that starts/ends in Copenhagen, touch the Norwegian coast and go to Iceland, perhaps 10 to 12 days. Any chance? (There is one for 2010, but we need longer time to save up for the fare .. meow!)

 

meow,

welcome to Az - like a true feline, you seem to be cautiously testing the unknown waters of Azamara with one paw at a time.

In view of the discussion on the upcoming changes of Dec 8th, it might be wise to put down a deposit for that cruise in 2010. If they offer it again for 2011 and the price is acceptable, you can always change.

However, if it's not offered or significantly higher priced, you may regret not booking it.

JMO

[meow!]

Paulchili: Thank you so much for your kind reply. Our situation is this, originally we hoped for a voyage including Iceland on the newbuild Spirit, so that we can get two birds with one stone: to scope out the newbuild and visit Iceland. Now with the Silversea 2011 itineraries out, the newbuild will be nowhere near Iceland, and Silversea increases its price by 8% for 2011, so reluctantly, we will likely take a Caribbean voyage aboard the Spirit towards the end of 2010.

 

It will be financially difficult to take two voyages in one year. We are still recovering from Panama Canal aboard the Shadow in December, 2007, then British Isles aboard the Celebrity Century in May, 2008 and Eastern Mediterranean aboard the Nautica in October, 2008. So we take a rest in 2009. If we take the Caribbean aboard the newbuild Spirit say November, 2010, we hope to take the Azamara Copenhagen - Norwegian Coast - Iceland in the Summer of 2011. So it is the pocket book that is the constraint, I guess we live by our limited means.

 

Hopefully whatever the increase for Azamara from 2010 to 2011 will not be more than the increase for the newbuild Spirit! And if it really too expensive, we will try plan B, go to Iceland on a land trip in 2011, which will usually be cheaper than a cruise. Having discussed the Spirit ad nauseam in the Silversea column of this board, it will sound unusual if we don't get on it to take a look ourselves, such that we can write those detailed measurement feline reports .. we are cats with limited means, so it is one paw at a time only by necessity .. meow!

[Paulchili]

meow,

Understood. We are all in the same boat (most of us, anyway) and have to live within our means (unlike my home state of California).

Good luck with whichever cruise you decide to take.

[California Native]

Meow...

We have been actively researching Iceland as a land trip for 2011

With the info we have gathered you could spend about 1 week there

if you are total immersion travellers like us.

We had initially thought of doing the Princess Top of the World itinerary for the past 2 years and then in 2010, but we have heard consistent reports over the years that Iceland ports are notoriously difficult to

get into and quite frequently cancelled.

While that is a problem with cruising, the frequency of it... for these ports in particular caused us to rethink the plan and go for a land vacation

We will then play around with airfare rules and regulations for stop overs, etc and either pick up a cruise in Europe or continue on to Malta for a land vacation....I know strange itinerary...but Malta has been high on our list for sometime and we've heard that we could easily spend a couple of days there and Gozo.

We will be required one way or another to go through London and flights to Malta seem to be pretty cheap.

Anyway..that's our play for Iceland

You might want to look at Princess Cruises as it is the sister ships to Azamara and Oceania...However, if you are comfortable sailing on Oceania and SilverSea you might need to reset your barometer.

I'm Elite there and spoiled rotten as we now know most of the staff, but your experience might be a bit different.

[meow!]

where2next: Thank you for your informative reply. We will keep watching, and perhaps we will have some luck next Spring and find a (hopefully) cheap 2011 Icelandic voyage!