med tour next aug...help planning..
 

Help me!!! My husband and I are starting to think about a med cruise for our anniversary next august and don't know where to start. Actually, I have pretty much decided on the Grand Princess Aug 18 - 12 day med cruise, but that is where i am stuck. we need help on the following info:<BR>1. travel agent, we don't have one, we don't know how to pick one, i always use expedia<BR>2. when to book??? will specials come up, when is too soon?<BR>3. what room type? i am willing to go el-cheapo since the trip is going to be big bucks anyhow but will it detour from the experience <BR>4. what else? is this the right cruise, what excursions not to miss, how much money to plann on spending after (i planned onat least $3000 for excursions, drinks and food off the ship) other than that, what will i want to buy at ports??? <BR><BR>thanks for all your help!

Princess is known to be the best in the Med. They know how to do it right.<BR><BR>Paul

We're going to the MED next summer and our planning the same way. But were probably going to go on the Brilliance of the Seas. I really want to visit Rome and Santorini. The Golden and Grand Princess are great ships, you won't be dissapointed. It's hard to choose a Med cruise next summer because all the Itineraries are great, as well as the ships. 3 to 4 thousand sounds about right for your cruise. We are going to be a family of 4 and estimated about 4 to 5 thousand.

We went on the Grandeur last June for a seven night western med cruise. RCCL has several seven night options for the med including the eastern. We prefered the west because of Monte Carlo, Florence and Rome. I don't know what ports your 12 night cruise hits, but those were our favorites along with Capri (Naples).<BR><BR>You don't need a travel agent to book your cruise. I would look for the prices on the sites like Expedia, Cruise411, etc along with the cruise line sites themselves. Princess has a specials section and RCCL has their "quick reserve" section that will show their prices. At some point early next year, contact a few .com travel agencies like crucon, bestpricecruise, etc. and check their prices to the ones you've been watching. I wouldn't waste my time with the "store front" travel agencies (local shopping mall types), but thats just my opinion.<BR><BR>We chose the seven night cruise and then added another week's worth to the front and back of the cruise. We flew over to Mallorca from Barcelona for four days after the cruise for R and R. Make sure you fly in at least a day early for the cruise to adjust to the time change.<BR><BR>Your cabin is of even less concern on a Med cruise than a Caribbean. The cruise is so port intensive (dawn to dusk on the excursions) that you'll have little time to spend in your cabin. You'll be exhausted after dinner and we skipped the entertainment most nights. Our itinerary had only one sea day and we slept most of that day.<BR><BR>Hope this helps.

You might want to rethink about going in August as it is quite warm, prices are high and August is the month for vacations for Europeans and some things close down. Would recommend May, early June, late september or early october. Maybe others have a comment on the size of the Grand Princess, its a bit big I think....mayby a more intimate ship would be a better experience.

Angela<BR>Where are you?Most major cities these days have at least 1 Cruise Only Travel Agency.Thats all they do!Look in your local newspaper travel section.They usually advertise weekly.Contact them.They usually have a Med Specialist, or at least spoecialists by cruise line.Failing that, email me and I'll do what I can to assist.<BR>Stephen

Art, I am also considering the Brilliance for the Med cruise. The 12 night cruise has a great itinerary. I was considering Princess, but I am not as happy with their itinerary.<BR><BR>I would reconsider princess if, like Paul said, Princess would be superior to Royal Caribbean, and if the Grand and Golden Princess are superior to the Brilliance.<BR><BR>What do you think?

We're going on the Brilliance in July. We did the Golden Princess 8/01 and chose the Brilliance because we wanted to see Santorini and Mikonos. <BR>Good luck. This will be our 3rd cruise of this area of the world and we love it!

mari, what did you think of the Golden Princess? Have you traveled Royal Caribbean before? How do the 2 lines compare in the Med? thanks for your help!

Here are my thoughts. Do your investigation (web, ads, etc) and then contact a travel agent that your friends or associates recommend. Book the least expensive cabin you can find and keep checking the rates to see if they go down (I did this 2 yrs ago and saved thousands by getting a run of ship promotion on Celebrity). Just make sure you book a cruise line and itinerary that interests you. <BR><BR>Remember, that most cruises allow you to cancel your reservation and get 100% of your deposit back.

Lisa,<BR><BR>We were on the Grand Princess (same as Golden) and it was a terrific ship. The Brilliance looks like a great ship too. We have not been on a RCCL "Radiance class" ship yet. But the itinerery was to good to pass up.<BR>The Golden is not going to Rome or Santorini. This was the deciding factor.

Hi Lisa...My family and I have an interesting comparison of the Golden Princess, Splendor of the Seas and the Millennium. We sailed the first two in the Med. and the Millennium in the Baltics. In my opinion, when all is done and said, there is not much of a difference. There are pros and cons of each. We prefered the private dining experiences on the Golden and the Millennium. The rooms were comparable as was the entertainment. Steiner is Steiner. For our next cruise, we chose the Brilliance based on her itinerary. Good luck searching/researching (it's half the fun, isn't it?).

We are also planning on a mediterranean cruise in summer of '03 for our honeymoon. Now with the biz of Iraq, I am starting to wonder what the cruise ships may do. I know there's no "crystal ball" to predict the future, but we have saved for so long for this particular itinerary! We love cruising and are wondering what others are thinking about in regards to their cruising travel plans...