CRUISES

[julian]

can anyone help me with some advise about cruises, I´m thinking about doing a once in a lifetime, unreapeatable, world cruise, for maybe 3 or 4 months duration, I want to see all the must sees in the world, or as many as possible.
I want an all-in deal, i.e everything included, no food/drink/partying to be paid for on-board as you go etc.
any ideas which company do such a cruise? it would be starting in the summer, finishing date just a few days before xmas.
I would want to pay by installments after the cruise, I know with el corte ingles it is possible to buy holidays with the el corte ingles card and pay monthly after the trip..... are there cruise companies where you can pay that way?
any advice? how long before the trip does a cruise like this have to be booked? it would be for 2012.
thanks in advance.

[lis48]

Long RTW cruises tend to start later in the year e.g. October thru to January or Jan thru to April which leaves the summer available for them to operate shorter cruises. I´ve never seen one that includes all drinks as they make the money on the bar bills and it would make the cruise more expensive for a light drinker. We did one from Gibraltar ( it started in the UK) for 3 months a couple of years ago which cost just over 4000 pounds each ( inside cabin) no extras except drink and was fantastic. It was meant to be a once in a lifetime experience but now I just want to go again and see the places I missed. So beware...

[julian]

sounds good,thanks, but I really wanted to start earlier than oct, ideally in august or september at the latest.
I don´t mind the total cost being more expensive, but I really would like all inclusive, I thought that was quite common on cruises.

[gerryh]

, but I really would like all inclusive, I thought that was quite common on cruises.

All inclusive are the exception. It is normal that your drinks are extra.
I assume that you have already googled "around the world cruises" ?
Cheers
Gerry

[Devils Advocate]

He's still worried about this Nostradamus-ish thing in Dec 2012 methinks.

[katy]

Silversea do all inclusive

http://www.cruisingholidays.co.uk/luxur ... ruises.htm

Only extended ones are Cunard and P&O in winter. I rather think you are winding us up so won't go into detail

[julian]

I´m not "worried" about it DA, I intend to make the most of the "incident", I´m certainly not going to spend the last few months checking the ph, doing the gardening and maintenance to the house, I think that seeing the world (for free) while it´s still there, is the best way to make the most of the situation.....shame about having to pay for the drinks as you go though !!!!

[gus]

If you get a cruise that finishes (apparently) after 12th December then you can just run up a HUGE bar bill that you (presumably) will not be around to settle

[julian]

true !! but my idea wasn´t to pay for anything, not even the cruise !!!!
gus, for such an important event you must get your dates right, it´s the 21st , not the 12th..
preparing everything for the wrong day could work out expensive, not to mention the anti-climax if you´re expecting it all to happen on the 12th and it doesn´t !!

[katy]

Whilst on cruises. I was looking for some pics of staterooms on youtube and came across this which made me laugh. Have the sound on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBHIc9M7CZQ&NR=1

[Retro P]

Julian, if you are serious about seeing "all the must sees in the world" you're gonna need about 200 grand, and I am serious, forget the cruises, unless you can afford Queen Mary standards you're not even gonna get close, cheaper to choose selected destinations and fly.
The biggest problem with any cruise is the wherever you fetch you will get about 4-5 hours ashore, that's not seeing anything.

[markwilding]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought world cruises differed on that point from the Med ones because they dock in a place for a few days at a time .

[lis48]

The ship makes money from its excursions so usually docks for the full day, usually from early morning to early evening. If it´s a major city or a "must see" you stay overnight so have two full days.
200 grand is a silly figure to quote...an outside cabin with balcony for the 103 day world cruise on the Queen Mary costs around 15,000 pounds. That works out to about 150 pounds a day for travel, food and accommodation. Most other round the world cruises are half that price.

[julian]

thanks for the useful info, I´ll look into it, any idea how long in advance you need to book for this sort of cruise? I think the dates I want will have heavy demand so I want to sort it out early.

[katy]

When you think about it it's amazing value. Say you spend an average of £2000 pm at home that reduces the cost. Super food and service for three months. They will usually throw in around $1000 credit for bar bill too. Now what to do with those darn pets Don't think OH would want to wear a jacket and tie all those evenings plus at least 2 dinner jacket nights per week, he would be whinging QM2 is very formal.

Those cruise excursions are a rip off, usually finish by wasting time at some rum/leather/clothes factory etc. A taxi in the port will be half price.

[beachbabe]

As someone who quaffs a bottle of wine with my meal, and usually follows up with a couple of late night cocktails just how much are drinks on board your average cruise. Would £15 get me a bottle of plonk? And say £4 for a large whisky and soda?

In other words with my awful habit would budgeting £25 a day for me suffice?

[katy]

There were a few wines on QM2 for $25 but that was Jan 2009. Have seen wines at $20 on Royal Caribbean. Princess have $2.99 drinks including co**tails after 8pm. We always take a bottle of duty free gin and brandy for the fridge too

[markwilding]

When you think about it it's amazing value. Say you spend an average of £2000 pm at home that reduces the cost. Super food and service for three months. They will usually throw in around $1000 credit for bar bill too. Now what to do with those darn pets Don't think OH would want to wear a jacket and tie all those evenings plus at least 2 dinner jacket nights per week, he would be whinging QM2 is very formal.

Those cruise excursions are a rip off, usually finish by wasting time at some rum/leather/clothes factory etc. A taxi in the port will be half price.

On the cruise I went on around the Med they lost my my suitcases so for the first couple of dinners I was allowed to go in shorts and t.shirt that I had to buy in the ship's shop.
The excursions were a rip off. In Tunis we wanted to go to a nearby town called Sidi Bou Said, which had been recommended to us by friends. The coach trip was something like 60 pounds each but we went by train and got there before the coach and could relax because we weren't dragged around the the places that the tour guide had deals with. The Train cost 7 pence each way and it was much more fun.

[Retro P]

I was taking the original post literally, there are a huge number of "must sees" in this world so my figure of 200 grand is very realistic, most cruises tend to fetch or arrive (if you're not a sailor) around 09.00 disembarking around 10.00, normally you would have to be back on board at around 16.00 leaving you 6 hours disregarding the time it takes to get to and from the berthing point.
If you are docking in a big city it's highly unlikely you will see even a fraction of what you would like, for example (a very simple one) to get from Cairo docks to Giza (pyramids) takes around 45 mins, add to that the travelling time back and you have a very short time to actually enjoy the experience, for example you would not have time to visit the national museum (Tutenkahmuns golden mask) or visit the fabulous Khan el Khalili souk in Central Cairo, so my opinion is that if you want to see all the "must sees" in the world you can't do it from a cruise ship, not even the Queen Mary !!
On the other hand perhaps lisa is thinking of Dover/Calais

[markwilding]

Retro
It's true what you say,but they are two different types of holiday.Visiting the places is just one aspect of a cruise as there are other things to enjoy.