I'm not with this at all. Why don't you book with Cunard...then separately book your flight? That's what we do. If a return flight is cheaper...go ahead and book it.

BTW a mid winter sailing across the North Atlantic will probably be pretty brutal. Don't expect to go spend much time...if any...on deck and if you are prone to sea sickness take plenty of anti sickness remedies.

Edit: Try Imagine Cruising...give them the dates you wish to travel and see what they come up with.

Because the ITX is cheaper - they can be as low as £1 plus tax. Also if he books the whole thing with Cunard he has ATOL protection which he wouldn't if he booked piece meal. And it means he can get a better rate on the cruise cabin because it's sold as a component of a package rather than a stand-alone item. QM2 was built specifically for the transatlantic route and has stabilizers and is a smooth sailing (I did one in November a few years back).

We've travelled May...force 10 gale and it was a rough sailing. Also travelled in January...even worse. Just luck I suppose. Yes Cunard ships are ocean liners...not cruise ships...that's why they can cross the North Atlantic in winter.

How about a one-way from Orlando or Fort Lauderdale on Norwegian?

May get a re-positioning cruise...they are usually offered in the spring and fall. Princess and Royal Caribbean may also be available...from FL or Miami to the Med.

They do stop during the first part of the year for the world cruises. So they no longer have the January problems. Off to sunnier climes then!

I mentioned the New Year world cruises earlier in the thread. We like to join the first few legs of a world cruise...a nice getaway after Christmas and NY is over.

We travelled across to US this visit on QM2 (June) and are travelling back from Houston in a week or so. No problem at all, all done and sorted by Cunard.

You do not have to travel straight back from NYC ...

NSS.

Pulaski, I was replying to AdamD's post #14. Perhaps I should have quoted it so it didn't seem quite such an obvious statement ...

Thanks Topsec, it's something I'll definitely look into!

[QUOTE=AdamD;12284902]I think at this point it'd be simpler to just go across by ocean liner, the prices are roughly the same, I just don't like large crowds of people, so figured a cargo ship would be better.

QUOTE]

It costs the same on a cargo ship as the QM2?

That's nuts!

Yea, QM2 is around 1.8K to 2.0K GBP
The cargo ships base their price on a daily charge, which for a single/sole occupant is around £140 a day I believe
QM2 takes 7 days, the cargo ship takes 12, so £1680, not including the extras like port fees, VISA cost and such which i think was around £300 in total.

I think I'd stick with the QM2 if prices are similar. I'm sure you could avoid the crowds by picking your times and staying in your cabin.

As previously mentioned, if staying in Tampa, I'd look at Orlando. I have flown Norwegian and Thomas Cook from there. They will allow one-way for less than a return. I have seen one-way tickets Orlando to Manchester on Thomas Cook for as little as $119.
Prices are high at the moment due to school holidays but they have a one-way on 4th October for £200.

We've sailed transatlantic on the QM2 for around $600 per person...balcony cabin. Depends on the dates and when you book. You can get some great last minute deals.