The Mississippi - With Free Shore Excursions

Regular readers will know we featured a wonderful Mississippi River cruise earlier this year, sailing on the brand new Queen of the Mississippi of American Cruise Lines (it was featured in our Spring edition and extensively here on Time Spent At Sea in one of our signature day-by-day blogs).

Well, American Cruise Lines have just announced a great incentive to cruise the mighty Mississippi with them in 2014 - free shore excursions. Reserve a stateroom for ANY of their voyages on Ol' Man River next year by December 25, and cruisers will receive at least one free excursion for each port of call.

ACL's Mississippi cruises for 2014 include seven different itineraries, New Orleans to Memphis; St Louis to St Paul; Memphis to St Louis; Nashville to St Louis; St Louis to Cincinnati; Memphis to Nashville; and New Orleans round-trip.

The free excursions include some of the following:

Adubon Museum: Discover the life of John James Audubon during a guided tour of the Audubon Museum featuring his artwork and personal memorabilia framed within a timeline of world events.

Natchez City Tour: On a guided tour of Natchez, enjoy the influences and traditions of Native American, European, Southern, and African American cultures throughout the Natchez historic district.

Mark Twain Home Tour: Visit Mark Twain's boyhood home and museum, followed by a narrated trolley tour of Hannibal showcasing many of the locations that inspired his remarkable works. 

More info: call (in the US) 1800 460 4518 or visit www,americancruiselines.com.

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Avalon's New World Options

Following the success of its European river cruise programme in the UK market, Avalon Waterways has launched a range of worldwide river and ocean itineraries to include the Mississippi, the Nile and the Galapagos. Offering the same high standards of service, cuisine and luxurious onboard facilities as the European cruises, the new cruises will be bookable from the UK and packaged with return flights, a private home pick-up service and overseas airport transfers. 

The newly featured Mississippi cruises, the 13-day ‘Music City to the Big Easy’ (from £3,699pp) and 12-day ‘Mississippi in the Fall’ (from £3,429pp) are available on the American Queen, a classic style paddle-wheel steamboat capturing the essence of the 19^th century and offering a luxurious and stylish experience. With traditional plush décor, the ship offers spacious outside staterooms, modern facilities, a choice of dining options, regular showboat style entertainment in the Grand Saloon and inclusive shore excursions. The ‘Music City to the Big Easy’ itinerary includes 2 nights in Nashville and 1 night in Memphis with guided sightseeing before cruising the Mississippi with visits to Helena, Vicksburg, Natchez, St Francisville, Baton Rouge, Housmas House and New Orleans. 

Launching a range of three different itineraries on the Nile with departures available from January to December, Avalon now features the 5-star MS Mayfair, one of the newest vessels on the river. The ship offers a range of facilities including pool and jacuzzi, spa with steam & sauna, fitness centre, mezzanine lounge and nightclub. The itineraries include the 9-day ‘Highlights of Egypt’ (from £2,519pp); the 12-day ‘Pyramids, Lake Nasser & Nile Highlights’ featuring a four-night Lake Nasser cruise on MS Kasr Ibrim (from £3,529 pp) and 13-day ‘Egypt & the Nile in Depth’ with optional Lake Nasser cruise extension (from £3,053pp). All itineraries are combined with overnight stays in Cairo with guided city sightseeing. 

To meet demand for cruising in the Galapagos Islands, two new itineraries have been launched to sail aboard the Santa Cruz ship featured with first class facilities and 43 staterooms. The itineraries include the 11-day ‘Ecuador & the Galapagos’ (£3,965pp) with 2 nights in Quito, 2 nights on the Baltra Island as well as 4 nights cruising the Galapagos National Park before returning for an overnight stay in Quito. Also on sale is the 16-day ‘Discover the Galapagos & Peru’ (from £5,249pp), including visits to Lima, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Cusco, Quito, and 4 nights cruising Galapagos National Park. Both itineraries can be extended with a three-night Amazon stay.

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

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Tauck Announces New Mississippi River Cruise

Luxury travel-tour operator Tauck and award-winning film-maker Ken Burns have crafted a new 11-day cultural exploration of the Mississippi River that will launch early next year as part of the company’s “Ken Burns American Journeys” collection. 

The new “Life on the Mississippi” itinerary begins with an overnight stay in Memphis, followed by a 7-night River cruise aboard the newly re-launched American Queen paddlewheel steamboat, and it concludes with a two-night stay in New Orleans. Along the way, guests will be treated to a number of unique cultural experiences and a diverse array of Tauck-exclusive shore excursions.

Tauck will offer both northbound and southbound versions of the itinerary, with the 7-night cruise book-ended by an overnight stay at the famed Peabody in Memphis and two nights at The Roosevelt in New Orleans. Both city stays will be highlighted by Tauck-guided sightseeing, and all of the shore excursions enjoyed by guests during the cruise will be exclusive to Tauck (and, like the city stays, included in the price).

While in Memphis and New Orleans, and during shore excursions throughout the cruise, guests will enjoy an array of unique experiences. In Memphis, they will enjoy a private lecture on the city’s history and culture from a local historian. In Helena, Arkansas, guests will be immersed in local music during a private performance by the Greater First Baptist Church Choir, and during a blues performance at a honky-tonk roadhouse. In Natchez, travellers will enjoy a fascinating progressive lunch at three unique homes, and they will also tour the city’s historic Zion Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church and its African American History Museum.

Tauck’s “Life on the Mississippi” is priced from $4,790 per person, double occupancy, plus flights. Included are all shore excursions and sightseeing, lectures by local experts, entertainment, complimentary wine and beer with onboard dinners, airport transfers, gratuities for ship and hotel staff, most meals, and much more. Tauck will operate departures of the new itinerary from February through June, and in November and December, with special Christmas and New Years departures as well.  

For bookings in the UK, be sure to check with the river-cruise specialists of The Cruise Line Ltd on this link or call on 0800 008 6677.

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