Best Cruising Moments 2011

By guest blogger Steve Newman

Well, 2010 has nearly gone now and it's time to look back at some of my personal cruise moments from the past 12 months, as detailed here on Time Spent At Sea.

Crossing the Arctic Circle and seeing the midnight sun on the Hurtigruten has to be my best cruise moment. In fact, the whole cruise with them was simply amazing, from the lush, wooded sides and waterfalls of the Geirangerfjord to the frozen, barren tundra of The Nord Cap.

Climbing the 400 steps of Skellig Michael in Ireland to get to the stone beehive huts of the 6th century monastery as it rises out of the Atlantic comes a close second. This round-Britain cruise with Zegrahm Expeditions also visited the Shetlands, Bass Rock (above), The Scilly Isles, Jura and St Kilda looking at 13 wild and ancient islands. A truly memorable experience.

The rise of adventure/eco-cruising is also extremely heart warming to me, as more and more of the world is made accessible by zodiacs on small luxury expedition ships, with usually no more than 100 passengers on board. You don’t have to be 100% fit or under 25 to do these trips, either, and most have five-star comforts waiting for you when you get back on board.

Companies such as American Safari Cruises, Lindblad Expeditions, Aqua and Cruise North Expeditions are all putting time, effort and resources back into the environment and the local people. This theme continues with more cruise companies now actively pursuing a “Green” policy and even the bigger lines like Royal Caribbean and Costa now actively incorporating environmental considerations into their ships' design and sailing practices.

May we see more of it in 2011!

PS: If you missed it, here was my Hurtigruten feature sailing the classic Norwegian coastal voyage in World of Cruising magazine earlier this year: http://www.worldofcruising.co.uk/ship-reviews/the-norwegian-way-1205.html

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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A Truly Adventurous Collection!

I make no excuses for banging this particular drum again this week, but having been working on this for the past month or so (it just seems longer!), I wanted to be sure to get full value for it here at Time Spent At Sea.

The Adventure Cruise Collection is now out; available; freely on the market; ready to be perused; published!

Having struggled mightily with writing large parts of it and helped in the design and general style (for which all of Robin Maclear, Emma Tilbury and Debbie Belcher at The Cruise Line Ltd also deserve heaps of praise), I can vouch at first hand that this is NOT your average cruise brochure. To start with it is highly selective. Only the creme de la creme of genuine, upmarket adventure-cruising operators are featured; 12 distinctive, unique companies that all have that 'something different' appeal and bags of personal charm and style.

It is not intended to be comprehensive but a well-chosen assemblage of one-off destinations that can all lay claim to a peerless operation in their particular sphere on influence, be it in the North-West Passage, Antarctica, the Chilean fjords and Patagonia or the South Pacific.

Indeed, it will probably not appeal to mass-market sensibilities (and budgets!) as it is a genuine tailor-made collection of excursion-style voyages that eschew the large and formulaic in favour of the truly personal experience, all with a luxurious, creature-comfort-laden approach to providing the very best onboard service and attention to detail.

Take your pick from the following:

• The Galapagos Islands with Ecuador specialists Haugan Cruises
• The rivers of Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar with Pandaw Cruises
• Majestic Chilean Patagonia with the unique Nomads of the Seas
• The wonders of Antarctica with six-star Silversea Cruises
• A crossing of the North-West Passage with Hapag-Lloyd Cruises
• The Norwegian Arctic in the company of Hurtigruten
• A journey into the Orinoco with Le Compagnie du Ponant
• Mysterious Papua New Guinea with Orion Expedition Cruises
• The Peruvian Upper Amazon with distinctive Aqua Expeditions
• The South Pacific with epic adventurers Zegrahm Expeditions
• A true Indian Ocean odyssey aboard the chic Le Diamant
• And the small-scale Alaska of deluxe American Safari Cruises

It all comes complete with a level of specialist guides and cultural experience that is second to none and adds up to possibly the most complete and eye-opening collection of aspirational travel ever assembled in one easy-to-digest package.

But don't take my word for it. The Adventure Cruise Collection brochure is free and ready to be ordered by click of mouse or by phone. Just call 0800 008 6677 or go to this link!

Then, just sit back, read and enjoy. I guarantee a wonderful time ahead.......!

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.