Tom Maguire

Can anyone tell me when they think the best time to get the best price would be to book a Mediteranean cruise?

CJ

Tom- My husband and I just returned from a Med cruise. Which by the way was wonderful. We booked our cruise with a very good friend that is a travel agent and she did a wonderful job and we thank her for that however, we booked three months in advance which limited us down to Royal Caribbean. Certain agencys block off X numbers of rooms and when they get full thats it. Please don't get me wrong we had lovely accomedations and she did the best she could because we booked so late but we did find that when we booked our other cruises we booked with the autoclub who has more clout than your average agent. We also booked late with the auto club and because they are such a big organization we had four upgrades. With this last one we had none. Please don't get me wrong some times the bigger is the better.

Now, if you are very flexable with time I would suggest that you book late. Thats where are the bargins are. There are always cancelations and as I said thats when you get all the bargins but you are also limited to whatever ship has an opening.
we thought that we were seasoned cruisers until we boarded the ship I would say that 65%25 of the people we met were on their 10-12 cruise. Our table friends have been on 27 and the other table friends wer working on 18 so, we had time to pick their brains. If you have any question please fire away and if I don't have the answers one of our fellow cruise friends will. Have a geat time you will love EUROPE. Carol

zoey

My recommendation is Book Now unless you want a heavier than usual discounted fare and are not particular about your cabin. Most cruises have "early booking" discounts and this way you are assured of getting the type stateroom you prefer. Some of the cruise lines fill up very early for the more popular Med cruises. Moroever you can generally cancel up to 60 days in advance with no penalty if you find a better deal.

Marcie

I too suggest you booked now. We went on a wonderful med.cruise in September. We were on the Marco Polo(Orient Cruise Line) and highly recommend this line. The price included 4 days in Rome and also 3 days in Barcelona as well so I felt we really had the best of both land and sea. The food and service etc. were all top-notch! Good luck!

Monica

NOW! You'll get a better price than waiting a couple of months before the trip.

Norma

We are going on a cruise Aug 8 that departs from Barcelona. We are spending about 3 days in Barcelona after the cruise. Do you have any advice, suggestions as to what best to see in Barcelona? We have two children traveling with us (ages 6,9).

CJ

Norma- We just returned two weeks ago from a med cruise starting at Barcelona and ending at Barcelona. Seeing we spent the first 6 days before cruise in Madrid we were all Spained out however, we did stay in Barcelona for two days after the cruise. What bought a bus pass blue line and red line(you will understand when you get your pass) and we took the red line first. We were able to get a two decker bus and the guide would announce the different sights and if you felt like getting off there you could see what you want and hop on the bus for another stop. The bus runs every twenty minutes and you can see as much as you want f0r under $8.00 a person. One of the stops was an amusement park in the mountains and a great zoo seeing we have older children we passed on that one but we did see a great church an we took a ferry ride around the harbor. We stopped at the olympic sights. The tour bus was well worth the money and time. We got to see most of Barcelona that way and I think the kids would love it. Have a safe trip. <BR>