Best cruise value I've seen this season: $40/day on Costa

First, a disclaimer: I’m not a travel agent, and I don’t claim to have seen every cruise bargain out there. It does seem, however, that the going rate for mainstream cruise ships these days runs between $50 and $100 per passenger, per night. There are some cheaper itineraries, generally on short hops to the Bahamas or Caribbean.

But lately, I’m more interested in “exotic” itineraries. My most-wanted voyage is trans-ocean through the South Pacific. Princess Cruises is offering that dream itinerary, departing my very own home port of Vancouver, and ending in Australia about a month later. But at about $100/person per day, plus return airfare, it’s out of reach for my partner and me.

The sailing that is in reach, if I could just figure out an affordable way to do the damn airfare, is a gem from Costa Cruises — a cruise line owned by Carnival Corp., but rarely sailed by anyone I know. (My first-ever cruise was on Costa…in 1988 aboard a ship that apparently is now at the bottom of the ocean off France).

It departs Savona, Italy, on December 2 2010, and arrives in Buenos Aires 20 days later. The price tag? Costa’s own site lists it from $799 inside, and I haven’t found it much cheaper on discounter sites. And how could it get much cheaper: it’s already going for about $40/person per day. That’s WOW.

If you’ve got the time (and the airline points or cash for the flights), I can’t imagine why you’d skip this trip. Wow.

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