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Off season cruising in Mediterrranean heats up

While the Mediterranean season ends for most cruise lines in October or November, a few lines specializing in the region including Costa Cruises and Louis Cruises deploy ships in the Eastern and Western Med throughout the winter. The popularity of the Mediterranean as a cruise destination has grown steadily over the past decade; according to statistics compiled by MedCruise(the Association of Mediterranean Cruise Ports), passenger traffic increased 12.8% from 1998-2007.  More  larger- occupancy ships are currently cruising the Med than every before which has substantially impacted the expansion of the market.    

Costa is offering some terrific discounts to entice both first time and repeat cruisers to book space on Med cruises from November through March with rates beginning at less than $100 per person per day/double occupancy for select 7, 10 and 12 day cruises.  According to Maurice Zarmati, President/CEO  of Costa Cruise Lines—North America, “cruising the Med in the off-season is one of the best values for a vacation anywhere in the world.  who sail during the winter can take advantage of lower cruise and airfares at a time when the weather remains pleasant and the throngs of summer visitors have gone home.”

 Among Costa's "best buys"-- fares begin at $799 per person/ double occupancy-- is a 10 day cruise departing Savona, Italy on December 8 aboard the new 3000 passenger Costa Serena featuring calls at Barcelona, Casablanca, St. Cruz de Tenerife, Funchal and Malaga. Serena's amenities include one of the largest spas at sea along with enclosable pool decks and an authentic Grand Prix race car simulator. Of special interest is a series of 7 night “La Dolce Vita” cruises out of Venice aboard both the Costa Serena and Costa Fortuna call at ports in Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey before returning to Venice. For more information on itineraries and prices for Med cruises and Costa's year round schedule of cruises contact www.costacruises.com

Louis Cruises has sailed the Mediterranean for more than 20 years, and features a host of itineraries for the 2009-10 winter season aboard its seven ship fleet ranging from 2-16 days with calls at ports from Spain, Portugal, and France, to Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and the Greek Islands. Among the most intriguing itineraries on tap for November is a 10 day “Moorish Coasts” roundtrip cruise out of Genoa departing November 14  calling at several provocative ports including Marseille, Tangier, Lisbon, Malaga and Barcelona. During December you can book space on  6, 8 or 14 day cruises out of Marseille; the 6 day “Mediterranean Highlights” cruise departing December 21 stops at Mort Mahon(Menorca), Tunis, Valletta, and Trapani(Sicily) while the 8 day “Iberian Coasts New Year Cruise” departing December 27 calls at Gibraltar, Tangier, Casablanca, Malaga, Almeria, Alicante and Barcelona. For those with more time to spend over the holidays, the 14 day “Med Highlights & Iberian Coasts”   itinerary departing December 21 visits ports included in the two previous mentioned cruises. www.louiscruises.com

Looking ahead to 2010, Oceania Cruises is also offering  maximum value for their travel dollar with as much as $2000 reductions per stateroom along with two for one cruise fares and complimentary airfare on Mediterranean cruises with departures up to November 10. Itineraries include a 12 day “Mediterranean Grandeur” cruise aboard the Oceania Insignia( October 29-November 10, 2010) from Monte Carlo to Venice with visits to several intriguing ports including Florence/Pisa(Livorno), Rome(Civitavecchia) Taormina(Sicily), Corfu and Dubrovnik. Among the ports of call on a 14 day voyage(November 14-24) aboard the Oceania Regatta from Venice to Barcelona are Hvar(Croatia), Dubrovnik, Corfu, Messina(Sicily), Naples, Rome and Monte Carlo. www.oceaniacruises.com