Sep 10, 2008
Here's a reduced-price, 12-night Mediterranean cruise this coming fall and winter, on which they'll fly you to and from the Mediterranean
To give you some idea of the lengths to which the cruise industry is presently going (apparently because of the slow travel season), I have to cite another promotion of Norwegian Cruise Line. For two Mediterranean departures from Barcelona on November 30, 2008 and January 25, 2009, on a fascinating itinerary (the ship goes to Rome, Athens, Ephesus (Turkey), Alexandria (Egypt), and Valletta, Malta, before returning to Barcelona, 12 nights in all, the line has decided to throw in free trans-Atlantic airfare for bargain-hunting passengers. And thus the price for a balcony cabin for this 12-night cruise is $1,999 per person, including round-trip air fare to and from Barcelona from either San Francisco, Newark, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, or Washington, D.C. For $200 more, they'll fly you from Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, or Los Angeles.
Since the value of that airfare is at least $1,000 (and possibly far more), you're paying less than $999 for 12 nights at sea in the glorious Mediterranean -- and in an outside balcony cabin, to boot. Transfers to and from the ship are also included, and the stay in Egpyt is overnight, permitting you quite comfortably to visit Cairo, the Pyramids, and the Sphinx.
As with all deals of this sort, the airfare-included-cruise can be booked at this price not from the cruise line, but from Online Vacation Center, which you reach by dialing tel. 800/329-9002 or visiting www.onlinevacationcenter.com. It's obvious that the demand for a winter cruise of the Mediterranean isn't strong enough to fill the ship at normal rates.
But then, the demand for all such travel products is fairly weak at the moment. It's a buyer's market out there.
Write and read comments about this post.
Since the value of that airfare is at least $1,000 (and possibly far more), you're paying less than $999 for 12 nights at sea in the glorious Mediterranean -- and in an outside balcony cabin, to boot. Transfers to and from the ship are also included, and the stay in Egpyt is overnight, permitting you quite comfortably to visit Cairo, the Pyramids, and the Sphinx.
As with all deals of this sort, the airfare-included-cruise can be booked at this price not from the cruise line, but from Online Vacation Center, which you reach by dialing tel. 800/329-9002 or visiting www.onlinevacationcenter.com. It's obvious that the demand for a winter cruise of the Mediterranean isn't strong enough to fill the ship at normal rates.
But then, the demand for all such travel products is fairly weak at the moment. It's a buyer's market out there.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: barcelona, cruise, mediterranean
Apr 22, 2008
You'll want to alert any retired persons to an "extended stay" bargain in winter on Spain's Mediterranean coast
Ten years ago, when oil was selling at $20 a barrel, Orlando-based Sun Holidays was able to offer a three-week stay at a beachfront resort hotel on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, in wintertime, for as little as $999 per person, including round-trip air from the east coast of the U.S.
That was then, but things have changed, and this coming winter, eight months from now, Sun Holidays will be offering a lesser two weeks on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, including round-trip airfare, for a higher $1,325 per person, still a remarkable value. And because it flies you there non-stop from New York on Delta Airlines (a flight from New York to Malaga), in a limited number of seats set aside for Sun Holidays, it's important for would-be winter vacationers to make their decisions soon. The Sun Holidays catalogue for the upcoming winter of 2008-09 has just been issued, and is available in either a print version or on the Internet.
This is a substitute for a winter vacation in Miami Beach or Phoenix. It is available for departures in 2009 on January 14, 21 or 28, February 4, 11, 18 or 25, and March 4, 11 or 18, at the $1,325 price. It is also sold for even less ($1,295) on the departure of January 7, 2009.
Extra weeks selling for an extraordinary $215 per week per person enable the retirees booking this "extended stay" vacation to lengthen their vacation to between three and 12 weeks. (I assume that only retirees will book the program, because who else is able to take off two and more weeks in winter?)
Accommodations? They're at the big, beachfront, apartment-hotel known as the Sol Timor (where participants receive a studio apartment with private bath, kitchenette and balcony), and included in the price are 14 buffet breakfasts, one farewell dinner on the last night of the stay, a non-alcoholic "open bar" every day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and three sightseeing tours to communities in Andalusia. The airfare, as noted, is from New York, but there are advantageous "add-on" fares from 22 other U.S. cities.
A final lure: there's no single supplement for solo travelers on most departures.
In describing the lure of this unique program, in various classroom discussions of travel, I used to say that low-income retirees had a choice between a shabby, rusting motel in Miami Beach or Phoenix, eating in fast-food restaurants, or an exotic, high-quality stay on the Costa del Sol of Spain, eating off white tablecloths in a proper restaurant. I'm no longer confident that $1,325 per person is necessarily less than some Americans would pay to fly in winter to Miami Beach and rent a motel there for two weeks. But $1,325 is still a major value, and mature people (your relatives or friends) will surely enjoy scanning the literature for this program, which has now been successfully operated for decades. Tell them about an "extended stay" winter vacation on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, for which the contact is either www.sunholidaytours.com or tel. 800/422-8000.
Write and read comments about this post.
That was then, but things have changed, and this coming winter, eight months from now, Sun Holidays will be offering a lesser two weeks on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, including round-trip airfare, for a higher $1,325 per person, still a remarkable value. And because it flies you there non-stop from New York on Delta Airlines (a flight from New York to Malaga), in a limited number of seats set aside for Sun Holidays, it's important for would-be winter vacationers to make their decisions soon. The Sun Holidays catalogue for the upcoming winter of 2008-09 has just been issued, and is available in either a print version or on the Internet.
This is a substitute for a winter vacation in Miami Beach or Phoenix. It is available for departures in 2009 on January 14, 21 or 28, February 4, 11, 18 or 25, and March 4, 11 or 18, at the $1,325 price. It is also sold for even less ($1,295) on the departure of January 7, 2009.
Extra weeks selling for an extraordinary $215 per week per person enable the retirees booking this "extended stay" vacation to lengthen their vacation to between three and 12 weeks. (I assume that only retirees will book the program, because who else is able to take off two and more weeks in winter?)
Accommodations? They're at the big, beachfront, apartment-hotel known as the Sol Timor (where participants receive a studio apartment with private bath, kitchenette and balcony), and included in the price are 14 buffet breakfasts, one farewell dinner on the last night of the stay, a non-alcoholic "open bar" every day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and three sightseeing tours to communities in Andalusia. The airfare, as noted, is from New York, but there are advantageous "add-on" fares from 22 other U.S. cities.
A final lure: there's no single supplement for solo travelers on most departures.
In describing the lure of this unique program, in various classroom discussions of travel, I used to say that low-income retirees had a choice between a shabby, rusting motel in Miami Beach or Phoenix, eating in fast-food restaurants, or an exotic, high-quality stay on the Costa del Sol of Spain, eating off white tablecloths in a proper restaurant. I'm no longer confident that $1,325 per person is necessarily less than some Americans would pay to fly in winter to Miami Beach and rent a motel there for two weeks. But $1,325 is still a major value, and mature people (your relatives or friends) will surely enjoy scanning the literature for this program, which has now been successfully operated for decades. Tell them about an "extended stay" winter vacation on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, for which the contact is either www.sunholidaytours.com or tel. 800/422-8000.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: mediterranean, packages, spain
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
