Visit Antarctica and South Africa with Seabourn

Seabourn have two cruises visiting South Africa and Antarctica later on this year.

21-day Ultimate Antarctica and Patagonia sailing 

Join Seabourn Quest on a 21-day Antarctica and Patagonia cruise-only from £6,299 per person (based on two people sharing a Veranda Suite). Price includes a 21-day cruise departing from Buenos Aires and calling at Montevideo, Stanley, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, the Chilean Fjords, Castro, Puerto Montt and Valparaiso.  Price is based on 29 November departure. 

  

14-day South Africa Christmas sailing 

Join Seabourn Sojourn (above) on a 14-day South Africa Christmas cruise-only from £4,499 per person (based on two people sharing a Veranda Suite). Price includes a 14-day cruise departing from Cape Town and calling at Port Elizabeth, Durban, Richards Bay, Maputo, East London and Mossel Bay before arriving back into Cape Town.  Price is based on 21 December departure.

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South American Splendour With Regent

Anyone looking for some Latin cruise adventure and excitement this winter should look no further than the latest South American offers from luxury line Regent Seven Seas.

Not only do Regent have a proper all-inclusive policy, where genuinely everything is included, they have just launched some outstanding deals for voyages to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and the majestic Amazon River in December and January.

Take your pick from: 

Rio to Buenos Aires
Aboard  Seven Seas Mariner, this 12-night voyages sails on December 8 and is now priced from £4,569pp (based on two sharing an H category suite and subject to availability). The cruise starts at Rio (for an overnight visit) and then calls at Buzios, Ilha Grande, Paraty, Santos, Porto Belo, Rio Grande, Montevideo, Punta Del Este and Buenos Aires (overnight). It includes return flights and transfers, vernight stays in Rio and Buenos Aires, up to 19 free shore excursions to choose from, a 2 or 3-night pre or post-cruise land programme for £198pp, a 1-night pre-cruise luxury hotel stay in Rio and all-inclusive on board.

Rio To Miami
Take Seven Seas Mariner for 21 nights sailing on January 4, now from £7,769pp (based on two people sharing an H category suite and subject to availability). Highlights are Salvador de Bahia, Fortaleza, cruising the Amazon River, Alter do Chao, Boca de Valeria, Manaus, Parintins, Santarem, Devil’s Island, Bridgetown, Gustavia and San Juan. It includes return flights and transfers, up to 44 free shore excursions, free pre or post-cruise land programme and a 1-night pre-cruise luxury hotel stay in Rio, as well as all-inclusive on board.

Buenos Aires to Rio
This 10-night voyage on Seven Seas Mariner sails on February 28 and now costs from £5,269pp (based on two sharing an H category suite and subject to availability). It calls at Montevideo, Punta del Este, Rio Grande, Porto Belo, Santos, Ilha Grande, Paraty and Buzios before arriving in Rio and includes return flights and transfers, up to 18 free excursions to choose from, free pre-cruise land programme, a 1-night pre-cruise luxury hotel stay in Buenos Aires and all-inclusive on board.

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

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Ultimate Antarctica & Patagonia

Luxury cruise line Seabourn has contracted some of the world’s most experienced expedition staff to guide the line’s “Ultimate Antarctica and Patagonia” cruises aboard their Seabourn Quest, during the cruise line’s inaugural Antarctic season of 2013 and 2014.

Example itineraries include:

Holiday Antarctica, Patagonia & South Georgia:

Departing December 11, this 24-day cruise from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires visits Puerto Montt and Puerto Chacabuco (Chile), Ushuaia (Argentina), Cape Horn and the Drake Passage,  Grytviken (South Georgia) and Montevideo (Uruguay) before reaching Buenos Aires. Prices start from £13,699 per person for fly/cruise, based on two people sharing a suite, fully inclusive of all tips and gratuities, fine dining, open bars and fully stocked mini bar. 

Ultimate Antarctica & Patagonia:

Sailing on January 25, this 21-day voyage from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires cruises to Puerto Montt, Puerto Chacabuco, Ushuaia, Cape Horn, Drake Passage and Southern Ocean; Antarctic Experience; Port Stanley (Falkland Islands) and Montevideo. Prices start from £12,299 per person for fly/cruise, based on two people sharing a suite, fully inclusive of all tips and gratuities, fine dining, open bars and fully stocked mini bar.

The Antarctic Experience provides guests with exclusive activities based on real-time reports of wildlife weather and ice conditions. Such experiences include Zodiac landings and expeditions to Antarctic locations, digital photography workshops and opportunities for frequent wildlife sightings from the ship and on shore. 

Beginning November 20, Seabourn Quest will sail on a series of four 21-24 day voyages between Valparaíso and Buenos Aires. They all include days exploring the Chilean coast and fjords, Beagle Channel, Glacier Alley, the breathtaking Torres del Paine National Park, Cape Horn, the Falkland Islands, Montevideo and five days of cruising and landings on the Antarctic Continent in uncompromising Seabourn luxury.

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

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Cruise Cowards?

Silversea Cruises is the latest line to pull out of cruise calls to the Falkland Islands following threats of intimidation at Argentine ports.

They join a list of companies, including Holland America, Regent Seven Seas, Oceania Cruises and German Aida Cruises who have all cancelled Falklands visits after being told their "safety" couldn't be guaranteed at the likes of Ushuaia and Buenos Aires if they also called at Port Stanley.

Excuse me? The safety of ships visiting Argentinean ports can't be guaranteed, so you cancel calls to the Falklands?

Doesn't that sound totally twisted in terms of logic? Moral cowardice, even?

If Argentina can't guarantee ship safety at their ports (and somehow makes it a Falklands issue), isn't the answer not to go to Argentina? Exactly like P&O Cruises announced, by cancelling their visits to Argentina.

It's perfectly feasible for ships to miss the likes of Ushuaia and Buenos Aires and instead call at Punta Arenas (Chile), Montevideo (Uruguay), South Georgia and Port Stanley. If they want to.

Why in the name of all that's sane would you go to the "unsafe" ports and cut out the ones that still welcome cruise ships and go out of their way to accommodate them? Isn't that just giving in to a bully?

Silversea's UK general manager, Mike Bonner, in the ultimate example of Orwellian double-speak, insisted: "Due to ongoing political uncertainty, Silversea has taken the decision to cancel scheduled calls at Port Stanley for voyages departing in the coming weeks. These voyages will now include alternate ports of call and, where possible, guests will be notified prior to embarkation. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by these schedule changes. The safety of our crew and passengers remains our foremost concern.”

So, "political uncertainty" in Argentina means you still go there? Really? In the same way that, for example, political uncertainty in Egypt means cruise lines cancelling calls to Alexandria. Do you see a difference?

Come on, Mike. That is absolute baloney and you know it. The cruise lines may think they need Argentina, but that is definitely not the case. And, if you tell your customers the real story, I'm sure the majority will back you up.

Boycott Argentina - NOT the Falklands.

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Seabourn's Antarctica & Patagonia Quest

More than 20 years after the company pioneered an entirely new style of small-ship, ultra-luxury cruising, Seabourn is extending its repertoire to include Antarctica for the very first time. 

Passengers can now book a series of four 21-24-day voyages in 2013 on Seabourn’s newest ship Quest, sailing between Valparaíso, Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The all-suite ship will cruise the Chilean coast, including visits to Puerto Montt for the Chilean Lakes District, Castro on the huge island of Chiloé, and Puerto Chacabuco for the Rio Simpson Valley and Coyhaique. It will also call at Punta Arenas, from where guests can tour the magnificent Torres del Paine National Park.

The ship will then thread the glaciers, peaks and channels of the Chilean Fjords, culminating in a transit of the Beagle Channel and its spectacular Glacier Alley. Weather permitting, following a call at Ushuaia in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego, Seabourn Quest will cruise by Cape Horn bound for the Southern Ocean.

Guests on board will experience five days in Antarctica, including scenic cruising of highlights such as the breathtaking Lemaire Channel, picturesque Paradise Bay and the Gerlache Strait. An experienced Antarctic expedition staff will ensure guests enjoy the best of the hundreds of available sites for landings and cruising in smaller inflatable boats, based on real-time weather and wildlife reports during their Antarctic adventures. Scientists, naturalists and other lecturers in a number of disciplines will speak on board and accompany guests ashore to add insights to their once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

During the South Atlantic portion of the voyage, guests will enjoy visits to Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, and Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, en route to or from Buenos Aires. A 24-day Holiday version will include two days exploring the sub-Antarctic wildlife Eden of South Georgia Island, renowned for its beauty and its vast, teeming rookeries of king penguins  and other seabirds, as well as breeding elephant and fur seals.

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

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Cunard Announces 2014 World Voyages

Cunard has unveiled its grand 2014 World Voyages collection, which calls at a total of 78 destinations on six continents, with durations of 116-119 nights and fares from £10,999 to £132,799 per person. 

That means fares start at just £95 per person per day, with all meals, entertainment and travel included for a superb world voyage.

Queen Mary 2 starts her 10th anniversary season with a thrilling 119-night itinerary, focusing on Africa and the East and featuring a second chance to circle Australia, calling at eight ports en route, following the success of the ship’s 2012 circumnavigation of the continent. 

Queen Elizabeth’s 118-night Round World voyage is equally port-rich (40 destinations in 23 countries) and full of Eastern Promise, with the ship’s first-ever visit to Japan, where she will make four maiden calls, as well as five other new ports, including Shanghai, Pusan (South Korea) and Aqaba for Petra. 

And Queen Victoria's 116-night voyage will sail around South America - from Brazil to Chile via Cape Horn - and along the east coast of New Zealand before returning to the UK via the Panama Canal, with no fewer than eight maiden calls, including Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Easter Island and Moorea in French Polynesia. 

Or take advantage of "Half the world in half the time": Voyages to or from Australia and New Zealand are also available – perfect for linking up with friends or family Down Under or a Far Eastern tour. 

The programme goes on sale on September 5. 

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

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