I thought as we're heading towards 'the season' (well I'm in Devon and last few days have been a scene like out of The Day After Tomorrow so that's probably disputable!) it would be a good idea to start a discussion about holidays. Where people are going? Recommendations? Good ideas and links? I'll apologise in advance if there is something already out there.
Me and the missus are off to Gran Canaria in May. It's our second visit to the Canaries in a couple of years. I've never really been for all-inclusive to be honest, I see the obvious pros - money up front, no hassle over food & drink bills etc but I also like to explore and try out more locally-based cuisine. But we picked a pretty good hotel for Fuerteuventura last year and did a couple of pretty cheap but very decent exercusions - a catamaran trip around the bay and to Lanzarote and a day at a local zoo - and we're going to Gran Canaria this year, aimed for a similar hotel with similar opportunities around. We also went to Cyprus last year. We had a lovely villa in the mountainside near a nice fishing village. I'm a big fan of Crete but I didn't go much on Paphos in Cyprus, which was our nearest city. Incredibly commercial and driven with Western culture, there are more TGI Fridays and Costa coffees in the city centre than there is tavernas so if you are after a bit more local culture and cuisine, I'd steer clear of staying in Paphos but villaplus do plenty of great deals for in the countryside. It surprised me actually how Paphos was compared to the Canaries where the latter had retained their authenticity and identity, and Paphos has really sacrificed it and become more like Benidorm and Costa Del Sol. Then again, Cyprus is the most-visited holiday destination in Europe now and prices to fly aren't cheap unless you book 12 months plus in advance.
Moving forward, we really want to do America again (New York preferably), Mexico and Cuba. The latter two I've never been too. We prefer to use Thomas Cook for flights. They are reasonable in price, luggage is usually included in the price (whether it's a package or flight only), the planes are always comfortable and the service is generally very good. Flown everyone from BA to easyjet, and I've found you don't really get what you pay from either end of the spectrum to the other and TC are right in the middle and are the closest I've come to feeling like I've gotten what I've paid for. Our biggest problem is our two closest airports are Exeter or Bristol. Exeter doesn't fly any further than Turkey and Bristol isn't much better, you can fly to Florida and the Caribbean on occasional routes but the prices are significantly higher. Longer haul tends to mean a trip to London, Manchester or Cardiff to get a good bucket of options and that usually means an overnight stay somewhere and a long drive back after which is not ideal. I hold out hope Bristol continues to improve. The south west needs a larger airport and now they are extending their car park, hopefully this is the start of something but with one A road in and one out, that will need to change first but hey ho, maybe one day!
I'm blessed with the girlfriend's birthday falling on that wonderful date of 24th December. She's always wanted to do a cruise, and so have I. We'd love to do the caribbean but with the new house, that's out of our price range currently and I'd want to test the waters first with a cruise (no pun intended!) and try one of the mini cruises with P&O to Amsterdam/Brussels. Any general tips or advice on cruises and who to use? The packages confuse me a bit and I know there can be a lot of hidden charges onboard, particularly for certain restaurants and alcohol.
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I used to live in the States, in PA funnily enough, but just outside Pittsburgh. I've never been to Philly, I know it's got it's dodgy parts but I'm sure is a fantastic city. Definitely get yourselves a few philly cheese steaks!
However when contemplating going somewhere it is the nature of the food that is a major consideration, more so than hoped for weather.
Fly out there and sail back to Southampton so no jet lag.
14 nights £2200 with £100 on board credit select fare .
P and o know do a drinks package £40 each , gets you 15 achololic drinks so good value if your a big drinker.
Also do other drinks package as well.