A Last Minute Cruise
If you read my previous blog you know I enjoy learning and sharing cruise ideas on Cruise Critic. After being on a very active roll call for the 2014 World Voyage on Queen Elizabeth, I have been reading the 2015 roll call. Maggie (who was on the WV) posted recently that she and her husband had found a good deal for the crossing between Southampton and New York.
After reading that, the cruise wheels in my head started spinning and I decided to check out how good the deal was. When I first looked I searched "Transatlantic" on the Cunard website and did not find anything so I decided they must have sold out and gave up on the idea.
A couple of days ago, killing time waiting for a TV show to come on, I went back to the Cunard site. This time I searched by date and up came the crossing. An inside stateroom, an oceanview and a balcony were all the same price. The price was good (even with the single supplement) so then I started looking for airfares. The cost of a one way ticket to the UK was about double what I paid for a roundtrip this year. It was more than the cost of the cruise! Back to giving up on the idea.
Unfortunately, I could not get the idea out of my head so the next day I decided to call Cunard and see what their airfare would be. Turns out it was about 1/4 the cost of booking it myself. Kathleen, the very nice Cunard rep I spoke with, also said they were running a promo with paid gratuities, a meal in the Verandah restaurant (the really nice French restaurant on the QE), and $150 onboard credit.
We made a tentative booking (she could hold the stateroom for me until 6 pm Pacific time the next day). I then spent about two hours trying to decide if I was going to be wild and crazy and actually go on a last minute cruise.
There were a number of positives and only one negative (spending the money) so the decision was made - I was going. Called my wonderful travel agent Patty at AAA but she was out of the office until this morning. I left her a message and sent her a copy of my tentative booking.
Bright and early (at least for me) this morning she called me and we had a conference call with Cunard. Turned out Cunard and AAA were having a promo and I received an extra $200 onboard credit! I also had Patty book my flight through Cunard. I will fly from Richmond to Atlanta (I think on Delta) and then Atlanta to London on Virgin Atlantic.
Some of the people I have told probably think I am nuts to do this. I am a firm believer in doing things when you can. Don't put things off, you never know what is going to happen in the future. There were a number of things I did when I was younger that I could not physically do today. I am very glad I did them when I did. I like to tell people that as long as I can walk, talk, and remember who I am, I want to do as much cruising as I can.
As usual, smooth sailing until next time!
