Try A Gulet Cruise With Saga

Gulet cruising is a signature Turkish experience and features small-ship style with a real up-close-and-personal taste of the local culture and cuisine.

And now you can unwind on an authentic gulet cruise, passing beautiful bays and golden beaches, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast with Saga Holidays this summer.

 

Their holidays travel in a flotilla of up to three boats, where life on board is friendly and relaxing, with the captain and two crew taking care of guests.

Gulets are two-mast wooden sailing boats, refined for modern holiday-makers’ comfort by providing eight en suite cabins with air-conditioning. The former fishing or sponge diving boats each have a different character and décor to make the sailing experience totally unique.

Mealtimes are a special experience on this all-inclusive option. Guests can tuck into local produce, in Turkish meze style, while dining on the deck overlooking the sea. A free bar is open from 9am to midnight, serving local alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

The round-trip from Marmaris via Ekincik Bay allows plenty of time to explore towns and villages or join walking tours. Of course, for those who would prefer to laze on the beaches, they will be spoilt for choice.

The 7-night gulet cruises cost from £949 per person, departing Gatwick from May to June and September and October. The price includes travel insurance and cancellation cover, return flights, full board, free bar open 15 hours a day, two excursions and a Saga tour manager.

More Info: call 0800 0923082 or visit www.saga.co.uk/turkey

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Greece & Turkey The Celebrity Way

How's this for the Deal of the Day? Join Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Constellation on a 12-night Greek Isles & Turkey fly/cruise from just £1,262 per person this autumn (based on two people sharing an inside stateroom).

The price includes return flights from London Heathrow, transfers and a 12-night Greek Isles & Turkey cruise departing from Istanbul and calling at Kusadasi (for Ephesus, Turkey), Bodrum (Turkey), Rhodes (Greece), Marmaris (Turkey), Santorini (Greece), Piraeus (for Athens), Mykonos (Greece) and Chania (Crete) before returning to Istanbul; meals and entertainment onboard and all relevant cruise taxes/fees. Price is based on October 13 departure.

For more info, visit www.celebritycruises.co.uk or the specialist cruise agents of The Cruise Line Ltd on 0800 008 6677.

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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Cruise and snooze, anyone?

Cruise-and-stay holidays are becoming big business. I know, because Thomson Holidays told me so this week in their latest press release:

Cruise and Stay – The Best of Both Worlds

Thomson Celebration’s New Home Port Increases Cruise and Stay Options

In the past decade. the number of British cruisers has increased by over one million per year, and cruise holidays now account for one in 10 package holiday bookings, according to the 2009 PSA review. When comfort and experiences compete with value for money in the holiday decision making process, Brits are searching for ever more ways to make the most of the holiday budget. That’s why the UK ’s second largest cruise line, Thomson Cruises, has introduced Turkey into its ‘cruise and stay’ programme.

This combination of time at sea with time at a beach resort sees Thomson Cruises not only offer great value on their cruise ships, but to go one better. Teaming a week of cruising around the Med, the Aegean or even the Caribbean on a Thomson cruise ship with a week in a stunning beach resort, quite often on an all-inclusive basis, allows customers to budget for a two-week holiday and get so much more.

For the first time, Thomson Cruises has positioned Thomson Celebration in Marmaris, Turkey. Itineraries sail around the Aegean towards the islands of Mykonos and Santorini as well as the historical ports of Canakkale and Istanbul . The ship being based in Turkey means passengers are able to opt to extend the holiday to two weeks and stay at a selection of 3T to 5T hotels in the beautiful resorts of Olu Deniz, Marmaris or Sarigerme from just £1,171 per person*.

With the rise in people seeking experiences above and beyond traditional ‘bucket and spade’ holidays, Thomson Cruises on board offering of West End-style entertainment, fantastic service from attentive and friendly crew (at no extra charge) and great dining options combine with a fabulous array of destinations to create the very best of both worlds.

OK, I'm definitely prepared to buy into the good-value nature of the cruise-and-stay idea (especially with Thomson's patent charter holiday approach), but unless you do the week's 'stay' part of the holiday first, do you see this being anything other than a 'cruise-and-snooze' on the sybaritic beaches of the Med (or Caribbean)?

To be honest, if I'm going to go away for a full 2-week spell (which, admittedly, is highly unlikely these days; where 'highly' translates to about a 150% chance!), I would much rather opt for a full 2-week cruise which includes some relaxing sea days (and only one set of transfers, packing and unpacking) but still affords the ever-changing scenario that cruising provides par excellence.

But maybe I'm wrong. Is cruise-and-stay the wave of the future; am I in the minority; or am I just wrong? Answers on a postcard, please.....!

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.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.