MSC Cruises and LEGO build the fun at sea

                               

MSC Cruises and the LEGO Group have joined forces to create the first-ever LEGO-themed playrooms at sea. The new play areas will debut aboard MSC Armonia, which is currently being lengthened and refitted as part of the cruise line’s £160 million Renaissance Programme.

Further – and larger – LEGO play areas will be included in two vessels (different classes) now being built for MSC Cruises by Fincantieri and STX France, both scheduled for delivery in 2017.  All three ships featured in the LEGO tie-up will have two kids’ clubs – the Mini Club (3-6 years) and Junior Club (7-11 years) - fitted out in the much-loved building brick style.

Guests will get their first chance to see the LEGO play areas when MSC Armonia returns to service on November 19 with an inaugural cruise from Genoa  to the Canary Islands. This winter the ship will operate two alternating seven-night itineraries from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria (Canaries and Madeira & Canaries and Morocco).

Full details of all LEGO-related activity on board MSC Armonia will be included in the event programme delivered to guests each day.

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Latest deals from MSC Cruises

Here's a selection of the latest cruise deals available from MSC Cruises

Canary Islands: A seven-night sailing around the Canary Islands. Fresh from a £40 million refit and lengthening, MSC Armonia offers a series of sailings from Las Palmas, rom November. 6 December departure calls at Puerto Del Rosario, Fuerteventura; Funchal, Madeira; Santa Cruz, La Palma; Santa Cruz, Tenerife and Las Palmas. Prices start at just £629 per person, including return British Airways flights from Gatwick, transfers, free Cheers drinks package (all beer, wine and soft drinks at meal times included) plus upgrade to Fantastica onboard experience.

Caribbean:  A 14-night Caribbean cruises aboard MSC Divina start at just £1,189 per person – or less than £85 per day. Starting from Miami, the voyage call at Falmouth, Jamaica; Georgetown, Cayman Islands; Cozumel, Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas and Miami, before heading off to Philipsburg, St Maarten; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Great Stirrup Cay. Price based on 24 January 2015 departure and includes return British Airways flights from London and free Cheers drinks package (all beer, wine and soft drinks at meal times included).

Grand Voyages: MSC Cruises has dropped single supplements on its Grand Voyage from Southampton to Cape Town aboard MSC Opera (above), departing 7 October. Solo travellers can now book a double cabin for no extra charge on the 21-sailing to South Africa. The cruise calls at Ijmuiden, The Netherlands; Le Havre, France; Bilbao, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; Funchal; Portugal; Mindelo, cape Verde; Walvis Bay, Namibia; and Cape Town. Prices start at £799 per person, including flight back to the UK from South Africa.

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Cruise to the Canary Islands this October with Royal Caribbean International

Experience the best of the Canary Islands this October with Royal Caribbean International.

Join Independence of the Seas on a 12-night Canaries cruise from £1,049 per person (based on two people sharing an interior stateroom). 

Price includes a 12-night cruise departing from Southampton and calling at Vigo, Lisbon , Lanzarote , Gran Canaria, Tenerife , Madeira, and La Coruna before returning to Southampton; meals and entertainment onboard and all relevant cruise taxes/fees..

Price is based on 13 October departure.

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Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

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Iglu Cruise offers with P&O 15-day Flash Sale

                        

This week Iglu Cruise has some very good deals with P&O Cruises 15 day Flash Sale which ends on 15 September. There are savings on Mediterranean, Canaries and Caribbean cruises, and prices start at £499pp for 11 nights.

Examples include: 

Monaco, France & Spain Fly Cruise

Onboard P&O Ventura,  15 October 2014. (7 nights) Flight from the UK, Genoa,  Monte Carlo, Toulon, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Flight to the UK included. From £499 pp (Inside cabin).

Atlantic Coast Iberia

Onboard  P&O Arcadia 9 December 2014   (11 nights)  Ports of Call: Southampton, Vigo Oporto, Cadiz, Malaga, Gibraltar, Lisbon (Above), Southampton. From £499 pp (Inside cabin).

Canary Islands & Madeira from Southampton

On board P&O Arcadia 27  November 2014   (12 nights) Ports of Call: Southampton, Funchal Madeira, La Palma, Gran Canaria, Arrecife, Lanzarote.  From £649pp  (Cruise only.)

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Saga's Garden Voyage With Chris Beardshaw

We thought here at World of Cruising that Cruisers who also love their gardens would be well advised to take notice of this opportunity to combine a great holiday with the hobby as TV garden designer and RHS Chelsea gold winner Chris Beardshaw (above) will be aboard Saga Cruises' Floral Delights to the Canaries voyage in December.

Beardshaw will be sharing his expertise and love of gardening with passengers during talks and a question-and-answer session.

Chris, a long-standing member of Radio 4’s Gardener’s Question Time, explained: “There are always lots of people wanting gardening advice and tips - this is something I really enjoy and am very used to doing. I will also be joining a garden tour, as well as presenting new talks focusing on projects behind the show gardens at RHS Chelsea, including The Arthritis Research UK Garden, which was awarded Gold and People’s Choice Award in 2013.”

Chris knows the Canary Islands but has not visited all of the destinations and gardens on the itinerary. He added: “It is wonderful to have the opportunity to visit gardens and in December, when we are sailing, the climate will be much better than at home. I really enjoy seeing plants in differing habitats and often end up wishing I had the conditions to grow many of the plants that thrive in that part of the world.”

Saga Pearl II will sail to the floral island of Madeira and then on to Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, where green-fingered guests will be able to stroll through glorious sub-tropical gardens as well as explore dramatic volcanic landscapes and lush banana plantations. The ship will also call at Agadir in Morocco, and Lisbon, where the city’s botanical garden and former royal summer place of Queluz will fulfil any keen gardener’s delight.

The Floral Delights of the Canaries cruise lasts 13 nights and costs from £1,569, departing Southampton on December 8. The price includes UK mainland travel service, all meals, daily afternoon tea, 24-hour room service, all on-board gratuities, entertainment and activities, welcome cocktail party and Captain’s dinner and travel insurance.

More info: call 0800 50 50 30 or visit saga.co.uk/cruises.

The next edition of World of Cruising will be out on this week, and you can see the current version online on our home page at www.worldofcruising.co.uk. To subscribe at our special offer rate for 2014, see this link.  

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

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Fred Olsen's Chocoholic Treat

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines will be hosting a Canaries cruise on board Boudicca in November to tickle the taste buds of any chocoholic! 

The cruise line will be offering guests the chance to learn all there is to know about this most tempting of treats from renowned chocolatier, Gerry Wilton, as part of the award-winning Vistas onboard enrichment programme. This special 14-night ‘Portugal, Madeira & the Canaries’ cruise, sailing from Portsmouth on November 4, features a theme of ‘The Chocolate Experience’, and guests will learn about the history of chocolate, as well as being able to participate in hands-on chocolate-making classes whilst on board.

The cruise visits the ‘Garden Island’ of Madeira before taking in some more winter sunshine in the Canary Islands of La Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote. Vibrant Lisbon, Portugal’s colourful capital, is the ship’s next port of call, followed by Leixoes for tours to the bustling city of Oporto, before returning to Portsmouth.

Prices start from £899, for two adults sharing a twin-bedded cabin, Grade ‘I’, and include all meals and accommodation, entertainment – including ‘The Chocolate Experience’ – and port taxes.

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

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P&O Double Ex-UK Winter Sailings

P&O Cruises has doubled its ex-UK capacity next year from one ship to two as both Oceana and Oriana will sail from Southampton throughout winter 2012/13 on cruises of two to 35 nights in duration.

Oceana’s second year of winter cruising from Southampton also includes, for the first time, two short cruises for Christmas and New Year. These voyages offer the chance to spend Boxing Day in Copenhagen or New Year’s Eve in Amsterdam, for some authentic festive celebrations whilst being away for only four or seven days.

Oriana will offer seven ex-UK sailings, including a 10-night Baltic cruise in December calling in at popular Christmas market destinations such as Copenhagen and Hamburg; and a 12-night Canary Islands cruise in late January to ports including Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Casablanca.

This is in addition to the four grand winter World Cruises from January to April 2012, round-trip from Southampton, including Azura’s maiden world cruise.

For more details and booking info, be sure to check out the P&O Cruises section of leading UK cruise agents, The Cruise Line Ltd, on this link.

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

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