Silversea's 385 destinations for 2016

The 2016 schedule for Silversea's five ocean-going cruise ships will encompass 385 destinations on 177 voyages. Among 19 new ports are Summerside, Prince Edward Island (Canada); Rockland, Maine (U.S.A.); Le Marin, Martinique; Shimizu, Japan; Rijeka and Rab Island, Croatia; Bremerhaven, Germany; Ullapool, Scotland; and Kalmar, Sweden. Other classic fleet highlights include:

Venetian World Cruise: Departing Fort Lauderdale on the 5 January, this 115-day sailing will visit 51 destinations in 31 countries. It will follow a westward path through the Panama Canal to South America and the Pacific. Guests will explore Easter Island, Pitcairn Island, Tahiti, and Bora Bora before sailing to New Zealand, Australia, and Asia. 

Circle South America: Silver Spirit departs on the 15 January on a 66-day roundtrip Grand Voyage from Fort Lauderdale. Highlights include a crossing of the Panama Canal, two days cruising Chile's majestic fjords, a three-day stopover in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival, plus multi-day calls in Buenos Aires and Callao (gateway to Lima and Machu Picchu).

South Africa:  Silver Cloud (above) offers a trio of 10-day voyages showcasing South Africa's east coast with convenient roundtrip departures from Cape Town in February. The sailings (1603 - 1605) include calls in Port Elizabeth, Durban, East London, Maputo, and an overnight stay in Richards Bay.

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Epic 12,000-mile voyage to Australia with Cruise and Maritime's Astor

Cruise & Maritime Voyages  is offering the opportunity to sail down to Fremantle, Australia this coming November at a much reduced price. ASTOR departs from the London Cruise Terminal at Tilbury on 5 November and sets off on a 12,000 mile epic voyage of 38 nights, visiting many interesting ports on the way including Cape Town and Durban, South Africa. 

CMV has reduced the prices this week so now starts from £2,799pp for the first passenger with the second passenger travelling at HALF PRICE. Plus there is an air travel credit of £200pp. Air travel credits increase up to £750 depending on cabin grade booked.

The 20,606-ton ASTOR joined the CMV fleet last year and has undergone a number of refits including a £14 million upgrade in 2010. She has 289 cabins including 42 suites, and 70 per cent of accommodation has an ocean view.

ASTOR Australia voyage Itinerary

Sails from London Tilbury on Wednesday 5 November, visiting Le Havre for Paris, Lisbon, Tenerife, Cape Verde Isles, Ascension Islands, St Helena, Cape Town, Mossel Bay, Durban Mauritius, Reunion, Fremantle (Perth).  CMV offers a good selection of optional sightseeing opportunities throughout the voyage.

Travellers can also take a shorter journey on ASTOR from London Tilbury to South Africa Cape Town (21 nights) from £1,164pp or the sector from Cape Town down to Freemantle (17 nights) from £944pp.

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Crystal's Overland Gorilla Adventure

Locking eyes with an almost-500 pound silverback mountain gorilla, with just a few feet of African forest standing in between, might not the thing most people would expect from a luxury cruise.

But Crystal Cruises are increasingly pushing back the boundaries of what's possible on a voyage, and the Gorilla Adventure is the latest possibility in their impressive Overland Adventure portfolio.

With just 600 mountain gorillas left in the world, and only a handful of active guests permitted on the excursion, Crystal’s new “Bwindi Forest Gorilla Tracking Experience” is an ultimate bucket list trip. The five-night journey is available only to guests sailing back-to-back on two of Crystal Serenity’s 2014 World Cruise segments: an 18-night March 10 voyage from Singapore to Cape Town and the following 21-night March 28 cruise from Cape Town to Southampton. From South Africa’s port of Durban, outing participants will travel deep into Uganda, then re-join the ship in Cape Town.

On non-tracking days, the group will also learn about Uganda’s wetland, savannah and forest eco-systems at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, and participate in a mock Batwa Pygmy (considered the “keepers of the forest” for more than 5,000 years) hunting party, including tribal singing and dancing. Luxury accommodation includes two nights at The Lake Victoria Serena Resort, set on the world’s largest tropical lake, and three nights at the silver-service Sanctuary Gorilla Camp.

The Bwindi Forest Gorilla Tracking Experience costs from $11,676 per person. The combined, 39-night cruise itinerary calls in Singapore (overnight); Jakarta, Mauritius/Port Louis, Durban, Cape Town, Walvis Bay, Luanda (maiden call), Bom Bom Island/São Tomé, Takoradi, Dakar, Agadir, Lisbon and Southampton.

Crystal is also offering 10 other Overland Adventures (shore excursions where guests stay inland overnight during a cruise) in Africa next year, taking guests to Nelson Mandela’s former home, through the countryside by Victorian-era railcar and on multiple safaris in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.

More info: call 020 7399 7601 or visit www.crystalcruises.co.uk.

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Crystal's New 'Extreme Thrill Seekers'

'Extreme Thrill Seekers' and 'Luxury Cruising' don't usually go together, but don't tell that to Crystal Cruises. They have put together a unique onboard programme that promises to deliver 'virtual' thrills while also delivering their usual deluxe cruise style.

During an 18-night segment of Crystal Serenity's World Cruise next year, the line will feature an onboard line-up of special guest speakers who will deliver lots of excitement and stories that all have a thrilling edge and background.

This unique line-up features:

British Round-the-World yachtswoman and adventurer Rona Cant, whose inspiring story takes her from being a middle-aged secretary and single mother to sailing the world’s most difficult yacht race, the BT Global Challenge, to trekking Vancouver’s West Coast Trail (one of the world’s 10 toughest trails).

Shark diver Chris Fallows, who will discuss his thousands of encounters with Great White Sharks around South Africa’s Seal Island and other breeding grounds throughout the world, in an effort to not only capture their striking images on camera, but also to educate others about the realities of the creatures and their conservation.

And “Crocodile" Mick Pitman, considered a real-life Crocodile Dundee, who will share his 30-plus years of dynamic Aussie outback experiences, hunting and capturing crocodiles.

Sailing from Singapore to Jakarta, Mauritius/Port Louis, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town on March 10, Serenity will also deliver dozens of trademark Crystal Adventures ashore, allowing guests to explore wild – and not so wild – life in the destinations, from big game safaris to food and wine. 

All-inclusive fly/cruise fares start from £6,344 per person if booked by January 3, with shorter “Getaway” cruise legs also available from Singapore to Mauritius and Mauritius to Cape Town.

More info: call 020 7399 7601 or visit  www.crystalcruises.co.uk.

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Crystal's Exclusive 'Rhino Excursion'

Well here’s another one to tempt you as we know many of our readers are ardent wildlife watchers when you’re cruising. In fact, it’s something we at World of Cruising are increasingly keen to focus on. So here’s what popped into our inbox recently.

Crystal Cruises’ newest Boutique Adventure promises an ultra-intimate and exclusive, hands-on “Rhino Conservation Experience” in Africa. Offered with Crystal Serenity’s March 10 voyage from Singapore to Cape Town, the excursion offers the opportunity to be a part of the vital local tracking and protection efforts aimed at keeping the animal from extinction. From helping locate rhinos to notching their ears while anaesthetised (enabling researchers to identify the animal and aide in the repopulation process), guests will assist the expert anti-poaching team from beginning to end.

The “Rhino Conservation Experience” is available only to guests also participating in Crystal’s mid-cruise, off-ship Overland Adventure to the Phinda Private Game Reserve. The Overland Adventure, which departs from Durban and returns to Port Elizabeth, features two nights of luxury accommodation and game drives in search of lions, elephants, buffalo and leopards. 

The full 21-night sailing departs Singapore for Jakarta, Mauritius, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town (overnight) with a two-night, inclusive pre-cruise programme to Bangkok and Cambodia beginning on March 7.  All-inclusive fly/cruise prices start from £6,344 per person if booked by January 3. The “Rhino Conservation Experience” costs $1,287 per person.

 

More info: call 020 7399 7601 or visit www. www.crystalcruises.co.uk.

 

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More Voluntourism Chances With Crystal

Crystal Cruises’ guests and crew will have twice as many more opportunities to give back locally during the line's 2014 World Cruise, with an expanded You Care, We Care programme during Crystal Serenity’s 89-night, Los Angeles to Southampton global journey (departing January 18).

The new-look voluntourism offers can help underprivileged children, the eco-system or a local memorial in places like Hawaii, Asia and Africa, with Crystal handling all costs and logistics. Crystal offers one complimentary voluntour per cruise, always aiding a small, local organisation. However, the five segments on next year’s World Cruise boast seven unique excursions in seven ports. Assistance opportunities include:

• Gardening and weeding Honolulu’s Makapu’u Beach to help preserve dwindling native plant life.
• Helping build structures and clean playgrounds at Father’s Home Care Ministries’ home for disadvantaged children in Takoradi, Ghana.
• Reading to underprivileged children to improve literacy as part of Singapore’s LIFE programme (offered on two World Cruise segments).
• Teaching, singing, gardening and playing with orphans in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
• Preparing meals, babysitting or reading to the abandoned, abused, neglected or orphaned children of Baphumelele Children’s Home near Cape Town.
• Crafting the commemorative candles to be lit at Nagasaki’s annual Peace Ceremony, in remembrance of the lives lost to WWII’s atomic bomb.
• Engaging in the day-to-day programmes (knitting, gardening, schoolwork etc) of the orphaned children raised and cared for by families in Durban’s SOS Children’s Village.

More info: call Crystal Cruises on 020 7399 7601 or visit www.crystalcruises.co.uk.

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Crystal's Grand Far East Land Programme

Crystal Cruises is offering a new, complimentary inclusive three-night Extended Land Programme to Thailand and Cambodia with its March Asia-to-Africa World Cruise segment.

Prior to sailing from Singapore to Cape Town onboard Crystal Serenity, guests will embark on an exotic overland journey, first exploring Bangkok’s energetic markets, nightlife and heavenward temple spires, and then flying to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where they will visit some of the world’s most awe-inspiring spiritual monuments and landmarks such as:

• Angkor Wat – the world’s largest religious monument and UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back to the 12th century.
• The Grand Palace – a vast complex of buildings, pavilions and gardens, the palace has been the primary residence and official ceremonial site for Kings of Siam since 1782.
• Temples of the Emerald, Golden and Reclining Buddhas – the most sacred temple in Thailand, the world’s largest solid gold statue and one of the largest overall Buddha statues in the world, respectively.
• Angkor Night Market – open until at least midnight with more than 100 shops and merchants, the market sets the perfect scene for post-dinner shopping.
• Khmer Ruins – an array of ancient Cambodian architectural masterpieces, from Bayon Temple, known for its forest of heads and maze of dark rooms and galleries, to Ta Prohm, an Indiana Jones-like lost temple in the jungle, entwined in massive tree roots.
• Apsara Dance Performance – prima ballerinas from the Royal Ballet of Cambodia will perform this elaborate traditional dance exclusively for Crystal guests.

Included for guests sailing on the single “Temples & Safaris” itinerary (the fourth segment of Crystal’s 2014 World Cruise), the land programme begins on March 7 and features meals, inter-Asia transportation and a night at the Peninsula Bangkok, followed by two nights at the five-star Sokha Angkor Wat Resort. The cruise voyage begins March 10 with an onboard overnight in Singapore, then sails to Jakarta, Mauritius, Durban and Jakarta before finishing with an overnight in Cape Town.

With £452 per person in savings if booked by October 31, prices for the 21-night land/cruise itinerary start from £5,129 per person.

More info: call Crystal Cruises on 020 7399 7601 or visit www.crystalcruises.co.uk.

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Archbishop Tutu Aboard Holland America

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the former archbishop of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Prize winner, is scheduled to lecture on a segment of Holland America Line’s 2014 Grand World Voyage on MS Amsterdam, sailing March 28 to April 2 from Durban to Cape Town in South Africa.

Tutu will address guests at two speaking engagements on board about his role as the first black African to serve as archbishop of Cape Town and about his work forging racial equality throughout the world. Guests will also be able to gain a personal insight into his remarkable life through an open question and answer session with the archbishop.

The full Grand World Voyage lasts 113 days or, for those unable to travel for the full length, guests can book segments of the cruise that range from 20 to 86 days. Cruise prices for segments of the Grand World Voyage start from £2,430 per person, and the full voyage begins at £12,470 per person, both based on double occupancy of an Inside Stateroom.

More info: contact Holland America in the UK on www.hollandamerica.co.uk or call 0843 374 2300.

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East Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands

By guest blogger Steve Newman

If you’re new to cruising or are simply looking for one of the best cruise-holiday package deals around, then why not have a look at MSC Cruises?

During their South Africa cruise for example, their classic ship MSC Melody (above) will stop off at Port Louis, the capital and main port on the island of Mauritius. Offering an interesting and relaxing day trip on shore, Port Louis is just one of the exciting and varied destinations that you’ll find along the company’s South African cruise itinerary.

Glimpsed from the ship, this island in the Indian Ocean rises out of a shimmering sea, displaying its famous ring of mountains that shelter the bustling harbour and port, a centre of commerce and trade for the island. Historically in Dutch and French ownership, the two cultures have left their mark on this charming city.

Port Louis has conserved many historic and colonial buildings through the years and elegant, well-preserved French buildings from the 17th century are a treat for architecture buffs. Those in the mood for a spot of shopping will find plenty of enticing items, either in the covered markets, the amazing Port Louis Bazaar or along the well-appointed main streets lined with palm trees.

The cruise starts and ends at Durban in South Africa and includes ports of call at Point Des Galets on the fabulous French speaking, wildly tropical island of Reunion with its spectacular scenery and volcano, and Fort Dauphin on Madagascar, one of the world’s most incredible islands with its forests and Lemurs.

MSC also offer mini-cruises in South Africa on MSC Sinfonia. If you need to find out more, have a look at http://www.msccruises.co.uk/

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