How to cruise your way into a better Mediterranean vacation

This summer in the Med, hotel rates were as high as the mercury — they still are.

In Italy, where a five-star crashpad in May 2019 cost on average $516.62 per night, according to CoStar data. That same room this year? An average of $923.22 — a price hike of almost 80%. And it isn’t just in hot spots like Sardinia where you’re likely to suffer sticker shock: France’s average rate hike over the same period was 67%.  

Getting there’s no less of a wallet-emptier, either: over the last year, the Consumer Price Index for airline tickets increased 25%, the largest leap since the Fed started tracking it in 1989. 

It all makes an indulgent trip in the Med seem out of reach to any but the wealthiest one-percenters — but fret not, as we’ve got some savvy strategies to sidestep that price-gouging and still book a luxe getaway.

Up for sail

If you want to score an affordable high-end vacation, keep an eye on cruise lines, which are offering impressive deals on some of their fanciest ships. Veranda cabins on small ship specialist Azamara start at $250 per person per day in the Med for August sailings, lower than the same voyages five years ago pre-pandemic. On those trips, you can hit ports like the holy island of Patmos or Mykonos, so much harder for larger ships to reach thanks to the winds. 

Atlas Ocean Voyages is best known for its Antarctica expertise, but has repositioned two of its ships, World Voyager and World Traveller, to the Med for the summer after testing the idea last year with the latter ship. They’re also boutique-sized — 198 guests max — and offer a bargain high-end option: a nine-day trip starting in Malta and taking in the likes of Capri and Nice, for example, starts at $3,449 per person, or around $383 per night. Of course, that rate doesn’t just cover room and board — it’s all-inclusive, save for the usual upsells of ultra-premium drinks and spa services.

There’s no smarter option, however, than Explora Journeys, the new high-end offshoot from MSC. It’s proud to tout that it has wide availability at affordable rates for summer. 

“We’re not shy in saying we’ve only been operating for ten months, so we have space and availability across all categories,” says North America president Chris Austin, “We’re building momentum.” 

It’ll cost around $4,000 per person all-inclusive for a seven-night sail on Explora, which translates to $600 or so per night. Meanwhile, a five-star hotel in Cannes or Capri will charge $2,000 for a double room for a single night. 

“And there’s not a glass of bubbles in sight. We welcome guests with chilled French champagne,” Austin adds, “We’re a resort that moves to multiple locations, so you won’t be paying for the air ticket between Istanbul and Athens. It doesn’t matter how affluent you are, why not make your dollar stretch a little further?” 

Remember, too, that a cruise can offer cut-price long-haul flights, too. Most lines offer discounted air packages as add-ons for any booking, as they often wrangle major deals on every class of service due to the volume of seats they can fill. Royal Caribbean’s so confident in its Air2Sea prices, for example, that if you find a verified lower fare than it offers, you’ll receive 110% of the difference in shipboard credit.

Talk Turkey

If you’d rather keep your feet on terra firma, consider making Turkey your focus. The country in the eastern Med is a bargain compared with its neighbors, thanks both to its newer high-end infrastructure and a currency that’s at record lows – hitting more than 33 liras per dollar for the first time ever (compare that to June 2015, when it was at 2.73). There, most international hotels are priced in euros, but they’re still competitive: per CoStar, they cost an average $394.79 in May, or almost 60% less than in Italy.

“When people ask me for Greece, I sell them Turkey, because that’s everything they’re expecting Greece to be,” says luxury travel specialist Jonathan Alder, of Jonathan’s Travels. “It’s a magical country, with the stories, the mythology and even wine country — the reds there are fantastic up near Gallipoli.” 

Head for the Çesme peninsula, Alder continues, which is the local answer to the Hamptons, and stay at the 25-room Alavya, or party in Bodrum, the scenier spot with superb nightlife, where he recommends the Edition outpost. 

Note, too, that Turkey’s a cinch to reach from many cities across the country, as its national airline has an enormous direct, non-stop network. “It’s a thousand times easier to get to than the Amalfi Coast or Nice,” he says.

Moor is more

Elsewhere in the Med, don’t overlook Morocco’s coast. There’s the sexy city of Tangier, kept cool in summer by ample breezes and with beaches along its waterfront; the recently rehabbed Fairmont Tazi Palace there has double rooms on the last weekend in August for just $460. 

Or you can head to Casablanca, on the Atlantic-facing western coast, which is great for surfers, of course. The Corniche there is lined with beach clubs and surf schools, and there’s a splashy new hotel in the form of the Royal Mansour, which sits in a high-rise in the center of town.

Dupe it out

Jonathan Alder champions another Atlantic Ocean dupe for the Med: Madeira. 

The 309-square-mile Portuguese island sits directly to Casablanca’s east in the middle of the sea. It has long been popular with Brits, and so English is widely spoken, while the national carrier, TAP, is a bargain alternative to the likes of BA or Air France, offering extensive stateside service connecting via Lisbon. 

“The water in Madeira is far warmer than the Med — it’s a deep ocean, but it’s about 75 degrees in summer,” Alder promises, warning that there are few conventional beaches. 

Most water access is instead from rocky outcrops, as with the diving board directly into the ocean from five-star property Reid’s Palace. That Belmond-operated gem isn’t cheap — expect to pay around $900 per double room at least — but it’s just a third of the price of sister hotels from the same chain, like the Caruso in Ravello. 

Come to the island for a two-in-one experience, Alder adds. The local microclimate, via the volcano that sits at its heart, makes one half dry and desert-like, sunbaked and ideal for pool lounging. The volcano’s other flank, though, is lush and rainy. 

“Go over there and you can hike through beautiful towns with no tourists, and there’s a wine scene that’s fabulous, grown on those volcanic hillsides,” he says. “A bottle of good wine is 9 euros.”

Flight of fancy

Still, if the single biggest hurdle for a trip to Europe this summer is flight prices, consider your fifth freedom options. Put simply, these are routes operated by an airline between two cities, neither of which is in its home territory (these are granted on a case by case basis, usually to allow a carrier to reposition an aircraft in between two other routes without flying empty). 

They’re not widely known, and any money the airline makes is gravy so they’re usually less busy and much cheaper than other transatlantic flights. 

From the US to Europe, current fifth freedom flights include Emirates service between JFK and Milan, as well as connecting Newark and Athens. Air Tahiti Nui flies from both Seattle and Los Angeles to Paris, and Singapore Airlines links JFK and Frankfurt. Once you’re on the continent, of course, you can hop a dirt-cheap low-cost connection from Easyjet, Ryanair or similar to any nearby spot.

The only thing we can’t hack: the weather, so pack plenty of sunscreen and hats.