I went to the Geelong Travel travel expo yesterday in Geelong and seemed to find the perfect itinerary, from Glasgow to Reykjavik starting 10 May.
It seems to go to all the places I planned to go, taking away the hassle of driving and booking accommodation, and including excursions that I wanted to do.
This itinerary comes with a waived single supplement AND they are offering an additional 5% off and $200 onboard credit if I book using Geelong Travel within the next 10 days.
However, I have never been on an expedition cruise. The following are some of the questions I would like to ask those with experience here:
(1) At north of $15k, it is still a very large outlay. While I am grateful that I can in theory afford it, I could grow that money into a lot more if I set it aside, skipped this journey, and waited until I was retired in 20ish years' time. Is it worth the price? And the loss of compounded earnings? One thing I noted that there were VERY few people under the age of 60 at the travel expo, and the few that were there were generally accompanying their elderly parents.
(2) As a small (well, smaller) ship, how likely is it that I will get seasick? Seasickess is the bane of my existence. I have never been seasick anywhere in the four cruises I have been on in my lifetime (and the boats were not huge except for one of them), but I have had SEVERE seasickness on public ferries, and even on sightseeing whale watching tours in Nelson Bay, NSW.
(3) Is it still worth travelling on Ponant if I don't speak French?
(4) How much in gratuities do I need to pay per day?
(5) How does the back to back promotion work? Do you get 20% off the least expensive price, and do both cruises have to have the back to back promotion to qualify? Not that this is all that relevant because the voyage before this one does not have a single supplement waiver.
(6) Has anyone been able to wrangle a deal lower than the web advertised fare through an agent or asking nicely?
(7) Is the food edible? I'm not expecting gourmet on an expedition food, but is it comparable with Holland America? Oceania? The Mudville Grammar School boarding house?
(8) Does anyone aside from wealthy retirees and people on seven-figure incomes go on it? Would I feel comfortable as a mere pauper who's out of my league?
If anyone's able to assist it would be great.
I'm thinking about possibly doing a cheap and nasty cruise immediately before it, just to taste the difference. And with my low expectations, perhaps I wouldn't find MSC or Costa that bad, amongst my own financial grade.
It seems to go to all the places I planned to go, taking away the hassle of driving and booking accommodation, and including excursions that I wanted to do.
This itinerary comes with a waived single supplement AND they are offering an additional 5% off and $200 onboard credit if I book using Geelong Travel within the next 10 days.
However, I have never been on an expedition cruise. The following are some of the questions I would like to ask those with experience here:
(1) At north of $15k, it is still a very large outlay. While I am grateful that I can in theory afford it, I could grow that money into a lot more if I set it aside, skipped this journey, and waited until I was retired in 20ish years' time. Is it worth the price? And the loss of compounded earnings? One thing I noted that there were VERY few people under the age of 60 at the travel expo, and the few that were there were generally accompanying their elderly parents.
(2) As a small (well, smaller) ship, how likely is it that I will get seasick? Seasickess is the bane of my existence. I have never been seasick anywhere in the four cruises I have been on in my lifetime (and the boats were not huge except for one of them), but I have had SEVERE seasickness on public ferries, and even on sightseeing whale watching tours in Nelson Bay, NSW.
(3) Is it still worth travelling on Ponant if I don't speak French?
(4) How much in gratuities do I need to pay per day?
(5) How does the back to back promotion work? Do you get 20% off the least expensive price, and do both cruises have to have the back to back promotion to qualify? Not that this is all that relevant because the voyage before this one does not have a single supplement waiver.
(6) Has anyone been able to wrangle a deal lower than the web advertised fare through an agent or asking nicely?
(7) Is the food edible? I'm not expecting gourmet on an expedition food, but is it comparable with Holland America? Oceania? The Mudville Grammar School boarding house?
(8) Does anyone aside from wealthy retirees and people on seven-figure incomes go on it? Would I feel comfortable as a mere pauper who's out of my league?
If anyone's able to assist it would be great.
I'm thinking about possibly doing a cheap and nasty cruise immediately before it, just to taste the difference. And with my low expectations, perhaps I wouldn't find MSC or Costa that bad, amongst my own financial grade.
