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One of the many benefits of having a healthy stash of airline points/miles is the flexibility it gives you. Some of the very best travel deals require the ability to book an affordable flight at short notice and points/miles are perfect for that – which brings me to today’s bargain!
If you can get yourself to Lisbon next week and then back home from San Juan, Puerto Rico ten days later, you can take advantage of a truly ridiculous travel deal. Norwegian Cruise Line is currently selling a 10-night transatlantic cruise on the Norwegian Epic for as little as ~£230 ($299.55) per person.
To be clear, this includes all meals, entertainment, etc, too. It even includes a pretty decent internet package.
Even better, if you book through CruisesOnly here, at the time of publication you should also get free gratuities (which can otherwise add up on a long cruise), and there is zero single supplement if you’re a solo traveller.
What is Norwegian Cruise Line like?
Genuinely, rather nice. Tastes vary of course, but comfort/service/food/entertainment etc are a solid 4 out of 5.
We’ve reviewed NCL before here, and I actually took a similar itinerary to this transatlantic one myself last year. I would happily recommend NCL to anyone who likes cruises at anything under about £100 per day, so £230 for 10 days is insane.
The deal gets better…
If you enjoy a few drinks on holiday, cruising can sometimes be an expensive option. Fortunately, with this deal you can add on a drinks package when booking for ~£21 per day ($27), which is remarkable value even if you only intend to make light use of it.
Assuming it’s similar to the same package last year, you can order pretty much whatever you want, apart from champagne/expensive wine and premium spirits.
You can also add on two visits to the ‘specialty dining’ restaurants for ~£30 ($40), which can be fun but really isn’t necessary – the standard dining options were better than I expected and there’s a huge amount of variety
What are the downsides?
Yes, it’s an inside cabin, and yes you’ll have to sort flights and maybe a couple of nights of hotels too – but that’s precisely what points/miles are for. Getting to Lisbon is easy, but even back from San Juan isn’t too bad.
For example, you could book flights back to London on the day the ship docks using Alaska Miles for 27,500 miles in Economy or 55,000 miles in Business.
The flights are with American, so there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find similar options using BA Avios or AA Miles.
If you’ve never been on a cruise before, taking your first step on one with so many sea days might not be a great idea, just in case it’s not your cup of tea. That said, the ports it does stop off at are all fantastic – Ponta Delgada in the Azores, and then Tortola and St. Thomas in the Caribbean.
Bottom line
For the princely sum of ~£23 per day, you can take a cruise on a good ship to some amazing places. Personally, I’d add on the drinks package for another ~£21 per day, but ~£440 in total is still hardly breaking the bank!
Anyone tempted?
Photos: NCL
