Ever any good deals for Med ?

[Alzarine]

Before I even begin I want to clarify that I'm NOT looking for the name of a travel agent or agency. I understand that is verboten.

 

We are thinking of a Med cruise Fall '06. What I am asking is when, if ever, are good prices available specifically concerning the Mediterrean on Celebrity ?

 

Should one book now, mid winter or Spring ? I know good cabins go fast but we are not especially fussy concerning our cabin placement be it foreship, mid or aft.

Any feedback would be much apppreciated :)

[judycruiser]

We are booked on the Galaxy for the Med cruise on June 2, 2006. Prices for our 2A cabin have gone up $500 per person since we booked in June, 2005 and some categories are sold out.

 

It may not be a situation of getting a good deal but getting on the ship at all. My TA says Med is popular for next year. You probably should book as soon as possible to get a cabin and lock in a price.

 

Judy

[Joanne G.]

Our experience was the same as the previous poster. We booked our late June 05 Galaxy cruise in August of 04. After that, we watched the per person price go up and up and up by hundreds of dollars. This was for a standard outside cabin. I agree with the previous poster, book sooner rather than later. The Med seems to be very popular.

 

If you a booking your own air, start monitoring the airfares now so you'll recognize a good price when you see it. When we were looking, the airfares went up and down erratically in the months before the cruise. However, rates for the fall should be better overall than what we paid for mid-summer flights.

 

To all going to the Med next summer, have a memorable time. We loved our time on the Galaxy.

[Seabee]

The best deal is on Oct 6, 2006 Galaxy. The Queen Bee and I will be on this sailing...no matter the cost, it is a great deal...how often do you get the chance to sail with me?:D

[Alzarine]

Seabee....it's ever so tempting.......what with all that Southern charm you must possess. Alas, our dates look better for September. ;)

[Host Karen]

We booked our Brilliance of the Seas Med cruise (June 2005) in March of 2004 and watched the price for a balcony cabin double. Regardless of the time of year you choose to sail, booking as soon as the itinerary is available seems to be the time to get the best price and your choice of cabin. As a previous poster mentioned, the Med continues to be very popular and many sailings are completely sold out many months in advance.

 

Good luck!

[Bruin Steve]

How's this one for a "good deal" on the Millie:

In August 2003, we did a 13 nighter Venice to Barcelona, including air from Los Angeles in a Cat 9, midship deck 8, for LESS than $4500 TOTAL for two...

 

Here's how (All of the stars have to align properly):

1) We booked a year in advance (also book while on another cruise and get a couple hundred in shipboard credit) and we got a "Guarantee" rate...

2) Transferred the booking to my discounting TA (Celebrity, at that time, allowed TAs to discount by shaving into their commission)

3) Watched the Celebrity website carefully for price drops and every time one occurred, I called my TA who, in turn, called Celebrity and got the price lowered for me...

 

Now, here's the real key...WHY the price kept dropping between our booking in the summer of 2002 and our sail date in Aug 2003: War, terrorism, fear (Yeah, I'd rather pay more and have the world at peace and free from war and terrorism, but...)...so, there was a fringe benefit to world events...As people became fearful of travelling with terrorist acts turning up around the wold...and with so many afraid to go to Europe, especially the Med, fearing it "too close" to the war in Iraq, not to mention terrorist bombings in Madrid and the general anti-American attitude amongst the French, the ship simply wasn't filling up...Celebrity's answer was to lower the price...it's all a case of the laws of supply and demand...

 

Of course, this past year when we did the Connie in Northern Europe, travel fears seem to have disappeared, the cruise sales went well and the prices took off upward and never looked back...

 

Bottom line is you never know...Book early and keep your eyes and ears open...Yes, BOOK EARLY...You can always avail yourself of a price drop, but, you can generally expect prices to go up, rather than down on popular cruises during the summer season...The ship will usually fill up...

 

And...look at booking early as buying a small option on a futures market...Your deposit is refundable, so all you can really ever lose is the small amount of interest and temporary use of your funds...How do you have that $900 deposit money invested? Are you even getting 3%??? Six month's interest on $900 at 3% is a whopping $13.50!!

 

For $13.50, you can buy a position in a rising cruise price, locking in today's price, with the option to move to a lower price if it occurs while hedging against higher prices...

 

Best $13.50 (if that much) you can spend...

 

Good deals are relative...

 

Good luck...

[duckman715]

The October cruises offer the best prices as that is the end of the Med season. A fair number of merchants & restaurants close for the season around the middle of that month depending on where you're going. We booked this year's Med cruise (10/7-10/17/05 , Galaxy) in January 2005 at $1330 pp OCV. The rate was somewhere around $2500 pp by 9/05. You can almost always get a rebate if the price drops so I'd suggest booking as soon as you know you want to go.

Duckman715

[ISABELLA]

Just to add my two cents into the subject. Book as fast as you can when itinerary become available. As example, we took 12 days on Star Princess last year from Barcelona to Venice, and cost us almost half as we would have paid this year. I booked Scandinavia on Constallation in January of this year for next May and price went up 66%. My TA said that Europe is very "Hot" next year. Have not seen any price drops this year.

[David C]

I received an advertisement email from Celebrity one evening in mid- to late-May 2005 in which they announced their 2006 Mediterranean itineraries. I just happened to be on the computer when the email came in and I ran downstairs and immediately asked my wife if she was interested as the prices for May 2006 were shockingly low ($3296.00, all taxes and fees included, for both of us on the Galaxy's 11-night Eastern Mediterranean itinerary in a Category 4 outside cabin --- that's just slightly under $150 per person, per day). She responded w/ a resouding "yes" and we booked within 10 minutes of receiving that email by paying our fully refundable (until final payment is due in March 2006) deposit of $900.00. Within a week of booking, the price began creeping up on a weekly basis, for the same cruise, anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to over $500.00 at a time for the both of us and continued to do so until the same cabin on the same cruise was going for just over $5000.00 for two passengers. Our itinerary now appears to be sold out (and our departure is still six months away!) and, needless to say, we can't wait, having already made our own air arrangements and plans for pre- and post-cruise stays of a few days in Europe on both ends of the cruise.

 

So I guess the point of this posting is to concur w/ all the others who have advised of the benefits of early booking. All the available itineraries on the cruise lines sailing the Mediterranean during the spring/summer of 2006 seem to now be terribly expensive, unless you are willing to go in late October or even into November. If you don't mind waiting until 2007 to take a Mediterranean cruise and aren't adverse to receiving alot of "junk" email, you might even think about getting on the mailing lists from the various cruise lines you are interested in and waiting until the spring/summer 2007 itineraries come out, although, of course, there is no guarantee they will repeat their outstanding offers of earlier this year.

 

Good luck on finding something suitable for you.

 

David C

[ocngypz]

BOOK EARLY!!!!!!!!!!

 

Sept is still hot.. I'd try to go a little later in the fall.. and prices are a bit less.

 

BOOK EARLY!!!!

 

I have clients who are kicking themselves now.... they should have listened!

 

BOOK EARLY!!