Casual cruiseline Ocean Village is offering farewell season discounts of up to £200 per couple on 14-night Mediterranean voyages booked between December 28 and February 28 2010.
There are also up to £100 savings per couple off seven-night Mediterranean cruises, bringing the lead price for a week to £629 per person, including flights and transfers.
Ocean Village is backing both offers with a £500,000 TV advertising campaign in partnership with Thomas Cook. The ads, with a voiceover by Fay Ripley from the TV series Cold Feet, will run from January 4-31 2010 on GMTV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and digital TV including Sky, ITV1 North, Central and Scotland.
Ocean Village head of marketing communications Gill Haynes said the Farewell Season Savings provide a perfect opportunity for Brits to cruise next summer at great value-for-money prices.
The cruiseline is being closed down in November this year, when its one ship, also called Ocean Village, will join the P&O Cruises Australia fleet. Ocean Village Two has already been transferred to P&O in Australia.
Haynes said: “In the current climate people are looking for quality, value and brands they can trust to deliver a great holiday experience. With our customer quality scores hitting record levels, these are things Ocean Village can be relied upon to deliver.”
Haynes said “substantially” more accommodation has been sold now than at this time last year, with repeat booking up from 30% to 48%.
She added: “We will sell out. It’s only a question of how soon. For people wanting an informal cruise experience next summer, it’s a case of ‘Don’t miss the boat’.”
Ocean Village’s Farewell Season will include seven-night cruises from Palma, Majorca, and Crete, and repositioning voyages between Crete and Palma.
Ocean Village is also offering discounts of up to £200 per adult on cruise-only bookings and savings of up to £1,000 for Share and Save deals for a group of adults. Child prices start from £149 for a seven-night cruise and £199 for a 14-night voyage.