need help for 2009

[referee]

my wife and i are searching for a cruise departing in june or july of 2009. we would like to go to rome and venice, but, cannot find anything. if someone knows or has any advice for us, it would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance

[kellya1]

I've been looking for the same thing...I phoned RCCL and the dates will be released in a few weeks - ahead of the brochure launch in April.

 

I hate being patient!

 

Kelly :)

[mafiadon]

Carnival has had their rates out for a couple of months now. We have booked a Grand Med cruise for Oct. 2009 It starts in Rome and we go to Venice for over night. The prices were very good. Linda

[tomko2]

We too are patiently waiting for the Med 2009 itineraries. People are saying March 14th. Can't wait! We were on the Legend of the Seas last August from Rome (Rhodes, Mykonos, Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt, Naples, Athens) and loved it. Pictures and review of trip in links below.

Planning to go to Venice, Florence, etc. from Barcelona in 2009 on the Brilliance.

Kathy:)

[NAS-KARR]

Generally speaking, the 09's will come out the end of March beginning of April. Look at the 08's and you'll get a good idea for 09 cause the main line cruise lines will keep the same itins. only change dates,times & frequencies.........sometimes ships. I'm speaking from my own experience because we always book 12-18 months ahead and this exercise has always worked for me. Also the EUROPEAN intins are the LAST to be published. The 09 ASIA & AUSSIE itins are out now.

 

 

 

CIAO, :D

[vanrhyn]

Just got word from Holland America about their 2009 Europe schedule of sailings will be released in May for those who are interested.

 

Rod

[vanrhyn]

Just got word from Holland America about their 2009 Europe schedule of sailings will be released in May for those who are interested.

 

Rod

 

On thier website, Holland America has added thier sail dates for the Noordam. Nothing yet for the other ships. They do have the Prinsendam's schedule as well.

 

Rod

[Cruise Junky]

Princess comes out March 14th and all itineraries are listed on their website under news. Oceania is already out and on their website. Not a problem finding something in June/July for Venice/Rome.

[NAS-KARR]

Oceania's 09 Europe itins. are out NOW, ck their web site.

 

CIAO,

[twoputt.plusone]

Princess comes out March 14th and all itineraries are listed on their website under news.

 

Thanks for the tip. I printed it out but there is no mention about prices. Any idea how to find them or will I have to wait until the 14th?

 

2P.P1

[Cruise Junky]

Thanks for the tip. I printed it out but there is no mention about prices. Any idea how to find them or will I have to wait until the 14th?

 

2P.P1

 

I don't have them but your Travel Agent might have them ahead of time.

[twoputt.plusone]

I don't have them but your Travel Agent might have them ahead of time.

 

I don't normally use a TA and prefer to do the booking myself. Guess I'll just have to be patient.... not one of my strong suits. :o

 

2P.P1

[PIC-2 psychologist]

my wife and i are searching for a cruise departing in june or july of 2009. we would like to go to rome and venice, but, cannot find anything. if someone knows or has any advice for us, it would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance

 

Can I assume that Rome/Venice means that you haven't been to Mediterranean ports before and June/July means that you have children and are waiting for them to be out of school?

(1) If you are interested in touring at ports of call versus just the sailing experience, I've found that start point 1 end point 2 gives you fewer "days at sea" and more ports.

(2) Itineraries vary (thankfully, or with the current popularity of Mediterranean cruising in the US [despite the plunging value of the US dollar yes, if it improves, go to your bank whenever and buy several thousand and put away in safe deposit box, am very sorry we didn't] otherwise many thousand of tourists will compete for a limited number of sites). To decide your port preferences, go to library or bookstore and get a recent "cruising the Mediterranean guide." In our case, we decided on a Barcelona to Venice itinerary and planned to spend 3 nights in Barcelona (cure jet lag) and 3 nights in Venice (because Venice is complex and could be wonderful -- 2 half-day "tours" not enough for us. We have arranged for an apartment in each city (need first tour book of each city to understand where/why to stay at a specific location and then look at "VRBO" and city-specific apartment rental sites to reserve.

(3) Survey temperatures for proposed weeks to determine if you will be walking around in the 70s or 80s or forbid, the 90s! We selected mid/late May for job-pragmatics (couldn't go earlier) and definitely did not consider July or August.

(4) July/August is not only when US citizens take off without thinking (ever visit DC or Disneyland/world July 4? Well, Europeans are known to/scheduled to all go on vacation at the same time? Want to see where Europeans live? They won't be there (stores, shops, etc. closed). Like crowds of people? Consider going to sporting events here -- at least they end after the day and you get to go home.

So, all things being even, pick the itineray with the ports you really want (we wanted a minimum of Pompeii (from Naples) and Amalfi coast, Athens (Acropolis), and Venice (ending, not over-night) and in planning have added the opportunity to see Provence (Marseilles), go to Pisa (Livorno), tour the Vatican museum with guide, see Mykonos (would have preferred Santorini, but don't own the cruise line and don't want to visit a line of Greek islands, not in the summer and in the winter I can go to the Caribbean), tour Ephesus (Kusadasi) and see the basics of Istanbul as well. In our planning, we determined after Acropolis and basic tour we will go to Cape Sounion for lunch and Temple of Poseidan and view of the Aegian rather than the afternoon shopping or in another museum).

Hope these ramblings help you in consideration of your planning. If the dollar continues to fall, an early reservation can set a price (in our current situation our TA says that if we hadn't reserved our May cruise last September we would be dealing with basic charges $500 more/passenger now).

David

[mike49er]

Royal Caribbean will make their 2009 Europe cruises public on March 18th. See this thread. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=729628

[Cruise Junky]

I don't normally use a TA and prefer to do the booking myself. Guess I'll just have to be patient.... not one of my strong suits. :o

 

2P.P1

 

I feel your pain, it's not one of mine either :)

[tomko2]

Shoot, I thought the RCI Med. cruises would be out on March 14th; looks like I will also need to be patient a little longer.:cool:

Kathy:)