Summer/Fall Cruise Prices in the Mediterranean are Virtually Collapsing

Two weeks ago, a noted cruise broker told me -- in confidence -- that summer/fall cruise prices in the Mediterranean are virtually collapsing. Subsequent public announcements of extraordinary prices from other cruise brokers seem to have confirmed that dire assessment.

Take, for example, this just-released offer from Online Vacation Center (tel. 800/329-9002; www.onlinevacationcenter.com ): autumn sailings of Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas , 12 nights from Barcelona to Sicily, Rhodes, Athens, Istanbul, Malta, and back to Barcelona (departing on Sept. 28, Oct. 10 and 22) for only $799 per person for an inside cabin (or $67 a day). From the same company, only slightly higher in price are 12-night Mediterranean sailings of the elegant Celebrity Solstice leaving Barcelona on May 26 and June 19, on which veranda cabins (cabins with balconies) are selling for $1,199 per person. Add another $100 and you can book the departure of the Celebrity Solstice on June 7 (veranda cabin for $1,299 per person). 

But what about the added cost of flying round-trip from the U.S. to the Mediterranean to board these ships? If booked independently, you can expect to pay at least $1,500 for round-trip flights to Rome. Another cruise broker, Travel Themes And Dreams (tel. 877/870-7447; www.travelthemesanddreams.com ) has thought of that by combining flights, one-night hotel, and a 12-day Greece/Turkey cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas in an ocean-view cabin (departing from Rome on June 4). Here, round-trip airfare from New York is included in the price (as are all transfers between airport and hotel, hotel and port, and port to airport in Rome), as well as a night in a four-star pre-cruise hotel in Rome. The total cost? $2,299 per person. Your other costs: taxes on air, hotel and cruise (add $149); air add-ons of $299 from San Francisco and $99 for departures from south Florida. 

I could cite many more examples of this sort. It's obvious that the cruise lines have simply assigned too many ships to the Mediterranean for late spring, summer, and fall -- but with the declining demand for Caribbean sailings during that period, it would seem they had no other alternative.