One of my goals for Southern Europe is to alert readers to bargains, deals and ways to save money traveling. So when I found this card from Peter Deilmann Cruises in my mailbox today, I immediately went to their website for the details. Here they are.
On seven of their most popular early spring Mediterranean itineraries, including their gala musical in April, Peter Deilmann Cruises is offering free air from 17 US cities (and a token fare of 110-150 for others), plus free shore excursions. The shore excursions alone add up to as much as $800 a person on the longer cruises.
The itineraries make me want to step aboard the MS Deutschland, one of the nicest ships afloat. Friends who have sailed her describe the Deutschland as a 513-passenger grand hotel on the water. But for me, it’s the itineraries that count. One 11-day cruise that’s included in this deal sails from Savona, Italy (on the Ligurian coast, just north of Genoa) to Venice, stopping for two days at Civitavecchia (the port of Rome), at the islands of Capri and Ischia, in Duraszo (Albania), Kotor (Montenegro), Dubrovnic and two other ports in Croatia.
Port stops are long – usually all day, so there is a chance to really see a place. And, of course, that makes the free shore excursions all the more valuable, because there is time enough to get to destinations and attractions some distance from the ports of call.
A shorter trip packs a knockout lot of ports into a week, beginning and ending in Monte Carlo, visiting Pisa, Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari (Sardinia) and Ajaccio, Corsica. Prices on the cruises, even before the value-packed freebies, are reasonable – from $3355 ppdo for a 7-day and $3361 for one of the 11-night itineraries.
Other itineraries include a trip from Venice to Bordeaux, France, stopping at Sicily, Lisbon and Spanish ports, as well as three itineraries that sail among the Canary Islands, the Azores and Madeira. The shore excursions are especially valuable on these, since they include the opportunity to get beyond the beaches and the port cities to see the stunning interiors of these islands.
One practical note: the Deilmann website is not the easiest to navigate, so you may not find the special offers immediately. Go to “our fleet” and then to “ocean fleet” to get to the Deutschland itineraries. Almost all of the spring 2007 are included in this offer, but it’s not obvious from the website except for the themed cruises, which have their own separate page.
Travel is expensive, so the wiser you are, the more travel you can buy for your dollar or pound.
Barbara Rogers - Traveler, writer and guidebook author with a passion for those lands that border the Mediterranean Sea and the neighboring Atlantic ...
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