Change is Good

[hondorner]

I try to answer factual questions on cruisecritc as accurately as I can, but it's turning out that my personal quirks and plans are worth about as much as a grain of salt.

 

Item: We planned to take a land tour of Spain after our March, 2010 transAtlantic.

 

Now: After seeing the itineraries for Summer 2010 and seeing the prices, we are planning a back-to-back on Regatta on the 10 day Barcelona-Rome on April 4.

 

Item: I have repeatedly said I would be unlikely to do a Med cruise on Oceania because they are too port intensive for me.

 

Now: The Barcelona-Rome itinerary has 0 (zero) sea days.

 

Item: I have often said I would be unlikely to book a suite on Oceania; the veranda cabins are fine.

 

Now: OK, that hasn't changed. We have aft balcony 7116 for the crossing from Miami, and I'm hoping to get it again for the second phase of the b-2-b when booking opens on Monday. My travel agent already has my request. He's pretty good at getting in early enough to get his requests.

 

So, here's the deal -- I have a pesky heart condition that doesn't prevent me from fairly normal activity -- as long as I get enough rest when I get tired. Up until now, I figured I would possibly waste too much of a port-intensive cruise by napping when I should be touring. I like the Winter cruises with lots of sea days in between ports, and 8 straight sea days on a crossing will let me do incredible things for 2 days straight in port -- then another day of rest!

 

But, by avoiding the Mediterranean ports. I'm actually missing any chance of seeing any of them (of course, I'm also saving $$$ :)). But, I started subtracting $$$ from the Barcelona/Rome cruise -- $1,000 per person discount, credit for not using the air package (we were already planning to fly home from Spain; Rome can't be that much more), additional discounts for a b-2-b cruise, and applying what I had planned to spend in Spain after the transAtlantic, and suddenly the Med cruise was getting pretty cheap! I don't know exactly how much, yet, that will come after the booking, but Rickey and I put our heads together, and we have a pretty good guess what the numbers will look like.

 

It's going to be low enough that if I have to stay aboard one or two days to recuperate, it won't be a major loss. It will give me a chance to see things I thought I might never see, and Betsy will get a chance to revisit some of the places she saw with her parents as a college student. Best of all, we were planning to stay in Spain to celebrate Betsy's birthday; now we will celebrate it in Capri.

 

So, never say "never". Even a man can change his mind...:rolleyes:

[potterhill]

Sounds like a great trip.

One of the things I have learned is to never say never!

Sadly we have to pass this year because we have a pesky misbehaving teenager who had a party while we were cruising last fall ( amongest other things) and we don't want to impose him on our friends.

A year from now I will be first in line on booking day....

 

Mo

[Jana]

Don,

 

That sounds absolutely fabulous!

 

I have a spine condition that makes it really hard for me to be active many days in a row as well. I loved the long South American cruise for that reason, a sea day between each port. One of the best things about the time you're choosing to go is that it won't be too hot, which --trust me-- is a blessing. And then you'll have your (hopefully) beautiful aft veranda to come "home" to and rest until the next day!

 

If you find that getting home from Spain is, in fact, substantially less expensive than getting home from Rome, look into Vueling Air. It's Spain's version of Jet Blue; very low cost, all newish Airbuses, and fantastic sales. You can fly from Rome back to Barcelona for about 35 euros, and to Madrid for about 29. (I used them in the opposite direction, got off a ship in Barcelona and flew to Rome to join another.) Sometimes they have sales of 10 to 15 euros, just sign up for their e-mail notices. They don't have 2010 prices listed yet, but the Web address is vueling dot com.

 

Jana

[srginder]

Sounds great...I'll be in Cabin 7116 - Insignia - Pearls of the Riviera leaving 4/11/09

[shoshona2]

Ah, Cabin 7116!!!!! Our favorite cabin twice on Oceania!!!! We booked it for our first Azamara cruise to Iceland in June, but when the prices went down, the price on the aft cabins stayed the same -- $1,500 more for EACH of us. We took the $3,000 difference and will use it for another cruise. Azamara is owned by RCI and they believe that Aft cabins deserve to be more money than the cabins the same size, but with a smaller veranda than the aft ones. But, what a difference in price.

 

Sheila

[Leonid]

Sounds great, but Lynn & I are "Med'ed out" and she doesn't think that she's up to long distance travel any more. Yes O has some great sailings for 2010, what with all the new ports. Have a great time and stay healthy.

 

Len

[vdlcruiser]

We did Barcelona to Rome in Oct 08. Many of the days in port are not intense. Palma Mallorca, St. Tropez and Portofino can be covered by a leisurely stroll in a couple of hours. I think you will really enjoy Capri and Amalfi. We went to Aix en Provence on the bus from Marseille and had a driver in Monte Carlo who took eight of us to Eze, St. Paul de Vence, Nice and Monte Carlo. Those were both long days, but we had the short days in between. I think you will be surprised that even though you are in a different port everyday there are many relaxing days.

[Veronica13]

Well, I said I'd "never cruise again" after the fall of Celebrity, but here I am booked on O.

 

I'm a big believer in never say never....:o

[hondorner]

Confirmed, cabin 7116 on the April 4, 2010 back-to-back. Thanks for ALL the good wishes, but especially vdlcruiser who gave me the reassurance I needed to feel comfortable with all of the port days.

 

Jana, thanks for the tip about Vueling. That makes it look even better. I think we might spend a couple of days in Rome, then hop back to Madrid, where we were eventually going before we set up the back2back, spend a day or two there, then hop back to Miami.

 

I have a good idea what the weather is like at that time of year in that area, but what are the sea conditions like?

[Jana]

I'm glad I could help.

 

Inter-Europe fares had always been a budget-buster so when I found Vueling I was thrilled. And what's even better is the flight over the Med from Rome to Spain. (I went the oppositedirection but it was fabulous, looking down at the cruise ships, at Corsica, Sardinia, a peek at Sicily, at the Spanish islands). It was just great.

 

Sign up for their news, luckily it doesn't come often but when it does, it has titles like "100,000 flights for 10 euros" or similar. You might get lucky!

 

Jana