One-off opportunity to sail around the UK on CMV's Astor

CMV's Astor - now available for a round-Britian cruise next April

An enforced itinerary change has brought an unexpected bonus – in the shape of a one-off round-Britain cruise – for Cruise &Maritime Voyages’ Astor.

The ship, which CMV take to Australia during the winter, usually spends the summer on charter to German operator Transocean Tours and her European itineraries in the summer are not available to British guests.

Next year’s return voyage from Fremantle has been cut from 46 nights to 38 as the ship will no longer be calling at ports in West Africa because of the current outbreak of Ebola fever.

The 600-passenger vessel will now arrive at Tilbury Docks, on the Thames, on April 23, 2015 and will depart later that day for an eight-night British Isles Discovery Cruise calling at Invergordon, the Hebrides, Tobermory, Dublin, the Isles of Scilly, and Honfleur in France. Fares start at £639 pp.

The itinerary from Australia still calls at Durban and Cape Town, with additional visits to St Helena and the Cape Verde islands. Fares start at £3,019 for the first passenger with the second travelling at half price. There is also an option to join the ship in Cape Town on April 2 for a 21-night voyage to the UK.

At 579-ft long, Astor is the bigger sister of the 539-ft Saga Pearl II and its interior layout is very similar. Built in 1987, the ship is in superb condition, as I discovered when I visited her in Tilbury this June.

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