Every month or so in 2008, it seems as if another giant cruise ship joins the 140-and- more giant vessels already blanketing the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Yet cruise-ship executives claim there’s no major increase in cruise ship capacity; that numerous ships are being taken out of service this year. I can’t agree. The discounts being offered for cruises are among the largest and most frequent in my memory:
$499 for seven-day sailings of the Mediterranean: In an almost unbelievable announcement, a key cruise discounter, White Travel Service (860-233-2648; whitetravel ) will be making cabins available on the Oct. 20 and Nov. 2 sailings from Barcelona of the 2,400-passenger Norwegian Gem, an almost brand- new ship, for as little as $499 per person — which is surely an unprecedented low price for the popular Mediterranean. On the same ship’s Nov. 9 sailing, they will be charging only $10 more — $509. In each instance, the cruise is seven nights in duration.
Now some of this comes about because of dates. Most Americans will not want to be away over Election Day (which is on Nov. 4 this year). And the other two sailings are scheduled at a time when the weather can be chilly in the Mediterranean (in fact, most cruise lines don’t sail that late in the year in European waters).
But Norwegian Cruise Line’s sale of cabins at such cut-rates, is telling — and good news for cruise bargain-hunters.
Repositioning cruises for only slightly more than $100 a day, including airfare: A repositioning cruise — moving a ship from one continent to another, when seasons change — is among the great bargains of travel. Because they spend many days simply at sea, such cruises are not entirely popular and are therefore priced at sacrificial rates to fill their cabins. But they are not always as cheap as might first appear, because they sometimes require the outlay of a high airfare to reach the port of embarkation or to fly home from the port of disembarkation.
That’s why a recent shift of policy on the part of Online Vacation Center (800-329- 9002; onlinevacationcenter ) is so important. OVC is now including round-trip airfare to and from your home city in the total price of the cruise, providing only that you leave from, and return to, Miami, New York, Newark or Washington. Thus, on a repositioning cruise that starts in Spain and ends in San Juan, it will fly you — at no extra charge — to Spain, and later home from San Juan.
And this policy prevails on the high-quality ships of Celebrity Cruises, a cruise line with top amenities and food.
On Nov. 28, OVC will fly you to Barcelona to board the Celebrity Summit for a 14- night cruise to other ports in Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands, and then crossing the south Atlantic to St. Maarten, and ending in San Juan, from which you’ll be flown home for free. The total cost for a balcony-equipped outside cabin: $1,859 per person, including round-trip air and airport-to-hotel transfers.
And I could cite more. It’s a good time to be cruising.
King Features Syndicate
