Originally Posted by
Daringdoo
Thank you for the suggestion greatam. I checked the itinerary and I can see that it's a repositioning cruise. I'm sure they'd love the first 13 days with the European ports, but I'll have to check with her about the 6 days at sea. Of course they could always 'bail out' at Portugal and fly back.... which may not be practical on several levels.
After 13 port intensive days, I will just bet your Mom will enjoy sitting on the deck reading a book, knitting, talking to friends or playing bridge, pinnochle, or rummy. And all the while being catered too-blankets from the steward, warm teas or coffee. Sea days on a good ship are sheer heaven, IMHO.
Norwegian Jewel has a very interesting itinerary on Sept. 14. 12 days, oceanview, Istanbul to Athens, $1599. That puts the per diem price higher than HAL. And the airfare for this cruise would be pretty pricey. NCL's other offering are pretty limited. The only other one that even looks appealing to me is Sept. 27, Dover to Barcelona, going through Portugal, Italy and one stop in France. $949.00 for 12 days. But if you break it down on a per diem basis, it is just slightly cheaper than the HAL cruise. And the air fare will cost you more.
I just looked at the HAL, Nov 3 cruise again. Vacations To Go.com is offering $100 on board credit per cabin plus two free soda cards. AND past passengers get an additional $200.00 credit for an effective price of $2299 for 21 days.
If my schedule wasn't so busy, I would book this myself. For the ports involved, this is a DARN good deal. Where could you stay in Europe, food included for just slightly over $100.00 per day per person???