Late deals on flotilla holidays in the med during school holidays??

[KellysEye]

>try these folks http://www.latesail.com/ no relationship but I know others that have used them lastminute.

Agree but they were last minute like the airline bucket shops, because of the recession they now have charters 3 to 6 months or more in advance, that works well because Easyjet is cheapest at three months and BA at six months. They guarantee not to be beaten on price and handle all the major and medium size companies. They also have a 'name your price' if you are on a budget. They don't show all the charters available so if you don't see a flotilla when you want it call them.

 

[AMCD300]

We have just returned from a fantastic learn to sail week in the Ionian ( and had some great pre holiday advice on here on my other threads. )

We are now desperate to go on a week's flotilla holiday in order to experience sailing some greater distances in warmer weather.

Trouble is, we are limited to the school holidays and the cost of flights to all possible flotilla holiday destinations on the med have reached ridiculous heights already.

So....I am wondering if anyone knows what the market is like for last minute flight inclusive flotilla holidays during the holidays. Do Neilson, Sunsail, sailing holidays or any of the other companies have last minute offers usually for peak season?

I realise I can book a flotilla without flights with a smaller company for a reasonable cost, but we are looking at nearly 2k for 4 air fares to Greece, so that rules out a more independent route to booking.

I have found a flotilla in Croatia that is just over 3K for the 4 of us in a small yacht, but that's still a lot for a week's holiday in my book. Am I being unrealistic to think that I might pick up a last minute for under 3K?

Glad you enjoyed it - we are going in 6 weeks...

Have been looking around at deals later in the summer holidays and found some good deals, but for me getting to the Ionian is the problem - ferries from Bari (I live in Italy) almost double from May to August, if you can find one with free cabins this close to the summer. I am considering chartering locally and doing Capri and the Amalfi coast. Cuts down on travel costs.

 

[NAJ]

Just checking in to say thanks for the advice. We have booked a flotilla in Croatia which is reasonably priced, IMO.

To those commenting on the idea of spending 3k on a holiday, I guess I would want to point out that we would usually spend around 2k on our summer hols, and upping the budget to enable us to sail on that holiday seems worthwhile to us. In a way, comparing it to the cost of buying a boat is a bit irrelevant to us as we are beginner / intermediate sailors with young children who don't have the experience yet to sail in the Uk without support

 

[AMCD300]

Just checking in to say thanks for the advice. We have booked a flotilla in Croatia which is reasonably priced, IMO.

To those commenting on the idea of spending 3k on a holiday, I guess I would want to point out that we would usually spend around 2k on our summer hols, and upping the budget to enable us to sail on that holiday seems worthwhile to us. In a way, comparing it to the cost of buying a boat is a bit irrelevant to us as we are beginner / intermediate sailors with young children who don't have the experience yet to sail in the Uk without support

Unfortunately to some on this forum, unless you own a 22ft yacht, sail one area all your life and learnt to sail with your dad in a bathtub-sized lake on a dairy farm then you aren't a 'real sailor' anyway.

'Real sailors' apparently don't go on holiday.

They don't go on cruises, join the RYA, need sailing qualifications, make mayday calls, use chartplotters/navionics/ipads/iphones or anything more than 'wet finger'.

They consider people like us as foolish, modern, short-cut sailors who shouldn't be allowed on the water without a full log book, not a silly Day Skipper or ICC certificate.

I went to Legoland Germany for Easter and spent over a grand on just 3 nights accommodation and tickets - 2-3k for a week sailing is cheap in comparison.

These 'real sailors' forget to say that they are probably paying 1-4k a year on mooring fees alone (unless they have bilge keels, trailers etc etc etc etc ), maintenance fees, insurance, travel fees to get to their yacht etc etc etc. So, you enjoy your holiday and let them be smug with their own arrangement.

I'm off to Levkas in less than two weeks myself. Can't wait.

Andy

 

[NAJ]

Andy, your post made me smile

I know that I'm not a real sailor- maybe one day we'll own a boat and sail off the south coast, but not until I can take care of my children's safety properly. Until then, I'm happy to be an unashamed holiday sailor. Enjoy your holiday.