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The latest questions to our Holiday Guru look at the possibility of a last-gasp cruise and an October sailing to Malta...
Q. I’ve been disorganised about booking a holiday this year. My partner and I love cruises, and we were wondering if you knew of any last-minute bargains? The Med or Norwegian fjords would be great. The Caribbean would be even better. Our budget is £3,000 for the two of us.
Angela Miller, Hounslow, London
A. You might think you have left it too late, but waiting until the last minute can play to your advantage as cruise lines are always keen to fill empty cabins. So, no worries about being ‘disorganised’.
You need to know the main players when it comes to cruises for the mass market, and these, says our cruise correspondent Lesley Bellew, are ROL Cruise (rolcruise.co.uk), Imagine Cruising (imaginecruising.co.uk), Iglu Cruise (iglucruise.com) and Cruise 118 (cruise118.com). These are brokers that offer the best deals provided by cruise lines.
ROL Cruise is a good starting point, with a week’s Eastern Caribbean and Turks and Caicos getaway on Caribbean Princess departing on August 30 from Port Canaveral (Orlando) from £517pp full-board for an inside cabin (one without portholes). Calling points are at Nassau and Princess Cays in the Bahamas, followed by the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos.
The Caribbean Princess has an itinerary at the end of August that takes in the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and the Dominican Republic - from £517pp
There are two days in total at sea. Expect beautiful beaches and great marine life on snorkelling excursions.
If you fancy pushing the boat out (excuse the pun), a suite is from £1,028pp.
Return flights covering the day before/after are from £497pp (ba.com).
For a longer trip, Iglu Cruise has a fortnight’s Western Mediterranean P&O cruise, departing and ending in Southampton, that sails to La Coruna in Galicia, Spain, and onwards to Malaga and Alicante. It then continues to Marseilles in France, then back to Barcelona and retraces its outward voyage to Cadiz (with a tour of Seville).
The price is from £970pp full-board for an inside cabin departing on August 18. Or upgrade to a balcony cabin from £1,445pp.
Or there’s an eight-day Southern Caribbean cruise offered by Cruise 118 from £632pp full-board for an inside cabin on a voyage that leaves Miami on August 15 and spends two days at sea before arriving at the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.
The ship is Carnival Horizon, which comes with pools and deck parties. If you upgrade to a balcony cabin, it costs from £1,080pp full-board. Flights to Miami before and after the cruise cost from £776pp (ba.com).
Q. We are an ex-naval couple in our 80s and would like to visit Malta for four nights and then go on a seven-night cruise before returning to Malta to fly home in late September/October. Can you help?
David Jenkins, via email
A. Iglu Cruise has a seven-night P&O Cruises round trip from Valletta, Malta’s capital, from £827pp full-board, departing on October 1 (iglucruise.com).
Return Stansted flights are from £65 for those dates (ryanair.com); four nights at The Cumberland by Neu Collective in Valletta cost from £810 B&B (booking.com).