Star Clippers Feature Panama Canal Transit

We have already noted this year is the 100th anniversary of the great Panama Canal, and various cruise lines are featuring special opportunities to enjoy a Canal transit to honour the occasion.

The latest comes from tall-ship sailing specialist Star Clippers, who are offering two opportunities to sail through what’s been designated one of the seven wonders of the modern world. Both sailings will be on the four-masted Star Flyer (above) as part of either a 14-day or a nine-day Caribbean cruise, in November.

The two Panama Canal voyages are as follows:

• Star Flyer sails from Barbados to Balboa on November 9, calling at the Grenadines, Grenada, Venezuela, Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba, Cartagena and the San Blas archipelago, before entering the Canal as far as San Cristobal. The cruises costs from £2,795 for 14 nights, including full board on the ship and port taxes. Flights are extra.
• Star Flyer then returns to her winter cruising base of Cienfuegos, Cuba, departing Balboa on November 23, sailing into the Canal and then calling at ports in Colombia and the Cayman Islands as well as Casilda in Cuba (for the historic city of Trinidad). This voyage costs from £1,765 for nine nights, including full board on the ship and port taxes. Again, flights are extra.

More info: call 0808 231 4798 or visit www.starclippers.co.uk.

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Valentine's Day - Love It Or Hate It

Love it or loath it, Valentine’s Day is less than a month away. So, whether cupid gets you hot under the collar or leaves you completely cold, the holiday companies are keen to grab your attention with fun St Valentine's ideas at this time of year.

 

And clever old P&O Cruises have come up with  a choice of holidays, whether you love the idea of celebrating the occasion - or simply want to avoid it all costs! On the one hand, you can jet away and sip cocktails with your loved one in the Caribbean or skip the date entirely by crossing the international dateline.

 

Here are P&O's ideas for lovers and haters.

Love it: Swap the dreary local restaurant and spend February 14 with your loved one toasting mojitos in St Maarten and relaxing with a couple’s massage on an island-hopping adventure round the Caribbean. It’s the winter sun holiday, which can be renamed as the most romantic gesture ever!

A 14-night Caribbean cruise departing February 7 on Azura starts from £1,399pp for a Getaway Fare with return flights. Starting from and returning to Barbados, ports of call include Grenada, St Lucia, Dominica, St Kitts, St Maarten (for Valentine’s Day), Tortola, Curacao and Bonaire. For added romance, book a couple’s massage in the Oasis Spa or sample British/Indian fine dining in Sindhu restaurant by Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar (cover charge applies).

Loath it: if the mere mention of Valentine's Day triggers cold sweats, red vision, nausea or fits of rage, then just skip the date. That’s right, omit the date entirely. Go to bed on February 13 and wake up on February 15. P&O has a cruise which crosses the international dateline on February 14 so it fast-forwards a day and doesn’t happen!

An 18-night cruise from Los Angeles to Auckland departing February 2 on Arcadia starts from £1,499pp for a Getaway Fare. Starting from Los Angeles, ports of call include Papeete, Bora Bora, Suva, Bay of Islands and Auckland. Flights and transfers from £1,000pp.

Cruises are based on an inside cabin and include full board meals, daily afternoon tea and on board entertainment.

More info: call 0843 374 0111 or visit www.pocruises.co.uk.

 

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MSC Highlights New Caribbean Voyages

MSC Cruises is offering guests the opportunity to cruise the Caribbean with flights from London from just £1,319 per person, on board the first full winter season of their smart MSC Divina, the third of their grand 133,500-ton Fantasia-class series, which was launched in May 2012.

This 11-night voyage departs from Miami - where she will be home-ported year-round from November - on December 10, and calls at Falmouth (Jamaica), Oranjestad (Aruba), Willemstad (Curacao), Cristobal (Panama), Cozumel (Mexico) and back to Miami.

Inspired by Sophia Loren and named after the glamorous star, Divina brings its guests all the elegance and timeless glamour of the golden age of sea travel. Offering spacious yet sumptuous comfort and an immense variety of sports and leisure facilities, the ship also prides itself on world-class entertainment. Guests will also delight in the opulent surrounds of the MSC Aurea Spa wellness centre on board. Other features include two dramatic Swarovski crystal staircases to make a grand entrance in the main atrium, the fun-packed Aqua Park and a choice of five restaurants. 

For bookings, follow this link to The Cruise Line, the UK's leading cruise-agent specialists.

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Six Top Tall Ship Experiences In 2013

Few experiences in modern cruising can match that of sailing in classic tall-ship style, with the wind billowing the sails and the chance to lounge in the bowsprit net. With that in mind, sail-cruise specialists Star Clippers have compiled their Top 6 for 2013. Valentine’s Day in the Caribbean  Hold hands on a deck-top sun-lounger at midnight watching the twinkling stars in the inky sky high above, lay side by side in the bowsprit net with the waves skimming below, or spot dolphins together at dawn from the decks of a magnificent clipper. The world’s largest full-rigged sailing ship, Royal Clipper, offers some of the most romantic experiences at sea and, for Valentine’s Day 2013, will be in Martinique as part of a 7-night Grenadines cruise. The seven-night sailing departs Barbados on February 9 and costs from £1,390pp, excluding flights. Transit the Panama Canal The Panama Canal is a 50-mile engineering marvel linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, slicing through the mountainous, serpent-like country of Panama. Experience a full Canal transit through the many locks of this magnificent waterway on board the 170-passenger square rigger, Star Flyer, as she repositions from her summer cruising area in Europe to Puerto Caldera in Costa Rica, and vice versa. Because of her grace and beauty, and small size in comparison to other Canal traffic, she is always the focus of much attention during the transit. A 14-night voyage from Panama to St Maarten via the Canal, Cartagena, Aruba, Curacao, the British Virgin Islands and St Barths, departing March 30, costs from £2,610pp, excluding flights.  Learn to Paint and Sketch Try the French and Italian Rivieras or, new for 2013, the beautiful Croatian coastline for the chance to take expert art classes under sail. Both of these themed cruises are led by British artist Richard Nichols, who specialises in seascapes and coastal scenes. Daily ‘Art Afloat’ workshops include tuition in a variety of media and the cruise price includes an artist's backpack containing sketchbooks, paper, watercolours, brushes and pencils. The seven-night Art Afloat cruises cost from £1,599 per person for the French Riviera, on board Star Clipper, departing April 27 and including flights to Nice, transfers, full board on the ship, all art equipment, daily tuition and welcome cocktail party.  Tall Ships Parade in Hamburg From May 9-12, Hamburg hosts the world's largest sailing festival, during which 1.5 million visitors descend on the 800-year-old port to view the magnificent Tall Ships Parade, an assembly of some of the world’s most stunning sailing vessels. Star Flyer will be in Hamburg harbour for all three days of the event, including the grand arrival and departure parades of tall ships, historic ships, cruise ships, sailing and motor yachts and other vessels. There will be a water ballet performed by tug boats, a firework display and a culinary festival set up all along the harbour front. A three-night stay on board for the Hamburg port party costs from £690pp, including all meals on board and sailing excursions during the event (flights extra). St Petersburg Summer cruises in the Baltic mean long, light evenings and the opportunity to sit up on deck at nearly midnight and see the sun finally slip briefly behind the horizon. Experience white midsummer nights in St Petersburg, when the sun only sets briefly in the early hours of the morning. The city’s White Nights festival, or Beliye Nochi, lasts from June 11 to July 2, during which time there are concerts and festivals, and the bridges over the Neva River open all night to let boats through. The magnificent four-masted Star Flyer overnights in St Petersburg on her summer Baltic itineraries; a 10-day voyage round-trip from Stockholm departing June 4 costs from £2,270pp, excluding flights. Christmas 2013 in Costa Rica Imagine spending Christmas Day with scarlet macaws soaring over the forest canopy and howler monkeys swinging through the trees, before sitting down to a traditional Christmas lunch in the bay of Golfito on board Star Flyer. This magnificent clipper spends Christmas 2013 cruising the coastline of Costa Rica, stopping at deserted islands for sunbathing and snorkelling and in harbours and ports along the way to allow guests time to explore the national parks, go horseriding along deserted beaches or strolling along the sands. The seven-night sailing costs from £1,305pp excluding flights, departing December 22.  For bookings, follow this link to The Cruise Line, the UK's luxury cruising specialists.

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Crystal's Great Repositioning Cruises

As year-round worldwide cruise ships, Crystal Cruises duo Crystal Symphony and  Serenity usually move to different regions seasonally. And, while repositioning cruises historically offer exceptional value, Crystal is making them even more attractive in 2013 by offering handsomely priced, re-invented journeys with unusual twists across the Atlantic, Pacific and American coastlines, from Northern to Southern Europe, North America to South America, and more.

New and interesting routes include:

Kobe to Vancouver (April 12) 

This “Trans-Pacific/Alaska” crossing on Crystal Symphony features Kobe (Japan, overnight); a rare visit to Petropavlosk, showcasing Russian Far East culture and natural bounties such as 68 active volcanoes; Crystal’s only Alaskan cruise in 2013, with four calls including lesser-visited Dutch Harbor and Kodiak, plus Seward and Ketchikan; and an “Ocean Views” theme featuring lively debate among world affairs experts about current issues.

New York to Reyjkavik (May 23)

A rare spring “New England/Canada Transatlantic” voyage on Crystal Symphony featuring seven ports, including Manhattan overnight; traditional New England ports Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor, Halifax and St John; a new overnight in Reykjavik; and a “Wine and Food” theme with guest culinary experts and complimentary classes.

Barcelona to Dover (May 30) and Dover to Barcelona (Sept 2)

These nine-night cruises reposition Crystal Serenity between Baltic/Northern Europe and Mediterranean/Southern Europe seasons, offering: extended time in the world’s pre-eminent wine country via Bordeaux overnights; beautiful colonial-architecture-filled Lisbon; intimate southern Spain with Barcelona overnight and a Cadiz/Seville call from Dover, plus Barcelona, Málaga and rarely-visited Cartagena calls when sailing to Dover; unique UK islands Gibraltar (Barcelona-Dover) and the Channel Islands (Dover-Barcelona).

Miami to Rio (Nov 23)

Crystal Symphony moves from North to South America offering: Rio de Janeiro overnight; Caribbean stops in Barbados and Devil’s Island, French Guiana; intimate, off-the-beaten-path Brazil, including a maiden call in Natal, plus Belém, Fortaleza, Maceió and Salvador; and a “Wine and Food” theme with extra-special culinary indulgences during US Thanksgiving.

Additional 2013 repositioning cruises that offer more exclusive itineraries include: Los Angeles to New York via Panama Canal (May 6) with rare call to Charleston and a “Garden and Floral Design” theme offering shore excursions to local gardens across the eastern seaboard; Transatlantic from Dover (Sept 2) ending in Boston, a first for Crystal, and with two calls in Scotland en route; and New York to Miami (Nov 2) offering extended time in the US South-east (Charleston, Savannah and a maiden call at St Augustine), plus Baltimore, Turks & Caicos, Curacao, Aruba and a “Film and Theatre” theme.

For bookings, follow this link to The Cruise Line Ltd, the UK's luxury cruising specialists.

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Holiday Like Bond With Voyages of Discovery

The latest James Bond film Skyfall premieres later this month so, as talk turns to martinis, high-speed car chases and code breaking, recollect your favourite 007 moment on a Bond-inspired cruise with Voyages of Discovery.

The film Golden Eye was inspired by creator Ian Fleming’s Jamaica estate – known by the same name – and the films Dr. No and Live and Let Die were also shot nearby in glamorous locations in the Caribbean, and you can visit these destinations for yourself on board MV Voyager on the 'Caribbean Gems' cruise to uncover their colonial history, stunning landscapes and vibrant cultures. 

The 17-day voyage is available from £1,999 per person (based on two sharing an inside cabin) and departs from Barbados on December 20, calling at St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Grenada, Tobago, Margarita Island and La Guaira (Venezuela), Curacao, Bonaire, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and Montego Bay (Jamaica).

The price includes return flights from a major London airport and relevant transfers, talks by eminent Guest Speakers, meals and entertainment on board, all on board gratuities and all relevant port and airport taxes/fees.

For bookings, follow this link to The Cruise Line, the UK's luxury cruising specialists.

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Leap Year Launch For New Caribbean Cruises with P&O

P & O Cruises has announced details of 12 new cruises on board Azura for spring 2013. The cruises can already be booked and are priced from £999. These new itineraries provide a range of four transatlantic cruises, seven fly-cruises and one short city break.

Cruises range from three to 22 nights in duration and highlight destinations include Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, St Lucia, Antigua and Guadeloupe. Example itineraries are:

· 15-night transatlantic cruise, sailing from Southampton on January 10, 2013, and calling in Ponta Delgada, St Maarten, St Kitts, Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados, for return flight to the UK. Prices from £999pp, including return flight (equivalent to just £67 per person per night).

· 22-night transatlantic cruise, from Southampton on January 10, calling in Ponta Delgada, St Maarten, St Kitts, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, St Vincent, Grenada and Barbados for return flight. Prices from £1,599pp, including return flight (equivalent to just £73 per person per night). 

Fly-cruises are also on offer for those who want immediate sunshine. Prices start from just £67 per person per night including flights, all main meals, entertainment, facilities and child-care for families.

For booking details, be sure to check out this link with the UK's leading cruise agent specialists, The Cruise Line Ltd.

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Darts & Football Stars Aboard Fred Olsen

Guests joining award-winning Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ 35-night Caribbean voyage aboard Boudicca in January will find themselves in the prestigious company of three major celebrities from two of Britain’s favourite sports, darts and football.

The stars are ex-footballer and former manager of both Spurs and Arsenal, Terry Neill, along with former darts champions, Keith Deller and Cliff Lazarenko, who will be entertaining guests throughout this cruise as part of the exclusive onboard enrichment programme, Vistas.

Boudicca departs from Southampton on January 19 for an Atlantic crossing broken by a call into the Canary Island of Tenerife before beginning her odyssey of the Caribbean islands. Her ports of call are a roll-call of idyllic destinations – the islands of Barbados and Curaçao, then Cartagena in Colombia, and Colon in Panama, before reaching Montego Bay on the colourful reggae island of Jamaica.

The next port is a highlight of the cruise – an overnight stay in Havana, Cuba, a port steeped in history and romance. Two more Caribbean islands complete this part of the itinerary – Turks & Caicos, and the tiny island of St Maarten – before Boudicca begins her return voyage to Southampton, broken by a last call into Ponta Delgada in the Azores.

Prices for this star-studded Caribbean voyage start from £3,479 per person, based on two adults sharing an outside twin cabin, Grade ‘D’, including all meals and entertainment on board, as well as port taxes. There is no extra charge for taking part in the Vistas programme.

For more info and booking details, be sure to check out this link with the UK's leading cruise agent specialists, The Cruise Line Ltd.

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Peter Sissons and Terry Neill Cruise with Fred. Olsen

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is proud of its philosophy ‘It’s all about the people’ and the cruise line is famed for its personal touch. Part of the pleasure of a cruise is to meet new people and enjoy stimulating discussion – perhaps learning something new along the way. An eclectic mix of speakers appears as part of Fred. Olsen’s cruise enhancement programme, Vistas, which covers a host of fascinating topics that guests can enjoy at no extra cost.

Two very different speakers featured in the 2012/13 Vistas programme are veteran newscaster and broadcaster, Peter Sissons (above), and the Northern Ireland footballer and former Spurs and Arsenal manager, Terry Neill.

Thought to have been Britain’s longest-serving TV news presenter, with a career spanning 45 years, Peter Sissons is best known for his long and distinguished career with the BBC. Having worked for both ITN and Channel Four – where he won three consecutive BAFTAs – he joined the Corporation to present Question Time and the Six O’Clock News. Latterly, he presented the Nine O’Clock News from 1994 until it moved to its present ten o’clock slot.

Prior to his successful life in journalism, Peter studied alongside some famous classmates. Growing up in Liverpool, he was at junior school with John Lennon and Jimmy Tarbuck and then attended the Liverpool Institute, where, among his fellow students, were both George Harrison and Paul McCartney. Many people will remember Peter as the newsreader who was trusted with the momentous task of announcing to the nation the death of the Queen Mother in 2002 – and was castigated by some (and applauded by others) for wearing a burgundy tie, rather than a black one!

He left the BBC in 2009 to concentrate on writing his memoirs, since published under the title ‘When One Door Closes’, and promises to be a fascinating speaker on Boudicca’s 23-night cruise to the Mediterranean, departing from Portsmouth on October 12, 2012. The cruise visits Portimăo (Portugal), Ibiza (Spain), Valletta (Malta), Piraeus for Athens (Greece), Alexandria (Egypt) for an overnight stay, Tripoli (Libya), Algiers (Algeria) and Gibraltar, before returning to Portsmouth. Prices are from £2,379 per person.

From a very different world comes William John Terence (‘Terry’) O’Neill. Born in Belfast in 1942, Terry has been involved in football from his earliest days, playing as a junior for Bangor before moving to Arsenal in 1959. In the early 1960s, he made 29 league appearances for The Gunners, and was also a regular player for the Northern Ireland team. He became Arsenal captain in 1968 and played 275 games for them, scoring ten goals in total. He moved to Hull City in 1990, as one of the youngest ever player/managers, and was later manager of Tottenham Hotspur, returning to his beloved Arsenal as its manager until his retirement from ‘the beautiful game’ at the early age of 41. Since then, he has run a number of successful sports bars in London, and still commentates on Arsenal games for Arsenal TV.

Neill will be speaking on Boudicca’s 35-night voyage to the Caribbean, departing from Southampton on January 19, 2012. The cruise visits Tenerife, Barbados, Curacao, Colombia, Jamaica, Cuba (for an overnight stay in Havana), the Turks and Caicos Islands, St Maarten, and the Azores, before returning to Southampton. Prices are from £3,249 per person.

Prices are based on two adults sharing an inside twin cabin, Grade ‘I’ and include accommodation, all meals and entertainment onboard, including the celebrity speakers, and port taxes.

Find out more at www.fredolsencruises.com or contact the specialist cruise agents of The Cruise Line Ltd.

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Costa Rica and the Panama Canal

By guest blogger Steve Newman

Niche tall ship cruise operator Star Clippers operate three of the world’s most head-turning ships, the magnificent four-masted, 170-passenger Star Flyer and Star Clipper and the flagship, five-masted, 228-passenger Royal Clipper.

2010/2011 is an exciting time for Star Clippers, with many new destinations and itineraries including new sailing areas, new home ports, several maiden calls and some unique cruise-and-stay ideas.

For example, this November sees the Star Flyer embarking on an exciting series of tall-ship sailings in Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua for the first time, exploring the bays and inlets of the Pacific coastline, with visits to lush rainforests and hidden lagoons. Prices are from £1,140 for a week’s cruise, including all meals on board, low-key evening entertainment and port charges, excluding flights.

Flyer will also make two spectacular transits of the Panama Canal, one at each end of the season, skimming the north coast of South America, visiting Cartagena (Colombia) and Margarita (Venezuela), as well as the southern Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curacao.

For more details, check out www.starclippers.co.uk

Are you going to the Cruise Show in Birmingham in October (16-17) or London in March (26-27)? You can learn more about Star Clippers - and the whole wide world of cruising!

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