Last year was cheaper Nigel but now, booking 6 Months ahead, i find this ship has sold the cabins i want. They do a select price which adds 1000 pounds to the cost so you can pick a cabin and have some credit but now asking select price and cannot book a cabin so might get a badly placed one. I told them that would be saver fare then . but they still wanted select price money. Not able to book in that manner as it is 35 days and the cabin needs to be right. This cruise is about 10k but suddenly rose to 12k now.
What i will do is leave this for a bit. Today i received a large list of sailings which omitted the one i want. For many sellers, the cruise on Ventura seems to be hidden as they promote a newer ship,Iona which we were on January this year. Ventura is lower quality but is going to Bonaire and Azores which are good locations.
I notice Cunard are getting low priced and lower than Marella Budget ships now. Marella was good until they gave free drinks which encouraged drunks with a lot of noise. I dont drink so free drinks is not much use.
I like about 70 days on the ships each year if i can but only 35 so far this year.
Norwegian, Iceland and Belfast was good last year on Arcadia for 16 days at just over 3k for 2 of us.It was Iceland Summer so daylight 24 hours.
Nigel, always bare in mind you can ask on any ship for gratuities to be removed on those that add it on. Many just say tips included now but some still add it on and it can be over 500 on the ships bill. Go to the reception and ask for it to be removed and they do it without any fuss or argument. I tip my cabin steward always though.
This year it looks like search every day until a block of cabins gets offered like i have done for many years. I can get 14 days in the Carib for under 3k but a rubbish cabin but my boy has those due to lower income in his family. I suppose i have been on about 50 cruises since year 2000. Maybe a few more. Best is Royal Caribbean for quality. Norwegian charge about 4 times the cost for tours compared with other cruise lines so no longer book them. Of course, i can get a great deal off the locals and travel around in smaller vehicles in comfort.
Biggest problem as ageing is insurance cost and this year 1140 pounds for multi trip including USA and Carib.