Hebridean Maintaining Royal Fever

With the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee still fresh in the mind, Hebridean Island Cruises is continuing to celebrate all things royal this summer.

Guests on board the nine-night 'North to Orkney' and 'Home From The North' cruises will pay a special visit to The Queen Mother’s former holiday home, the Castle and Gardens of Mey, situated on the north coast of Caithness.

Guests can follow in The Queen’s royal footsteps as the ship calls at Scrabster – the port of choice when The Queen and her family visited the Castle of Mey aboard the former Royal Yacht Britannia every August. 

North to Orkney costs from £4,800 per person (based on two people sharing an outside cabin), departing from Oban and calling at Gairloch, Loch Eriboll, Scrabster, Kirkwall, Stronsay, Papa Westray, Westray, Stromness, Helmsdale and Invergordon. Price based on a June 27 departure. 

Home From The North costs from £3,440 per person (based on two people sharing an inside cabin), departing from Invergordon and calling at Helmsdale, Kirkwall, Skara Brae, Scrabster, Loch Eriboll, Stornoway, Skye, Rum, Glenmore and Oban. Priced based on a July 15 departure.

Prices also include all meals, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, shore excursions and gratuities and all relevant cruise taxes/fees, free parking and transfers to ship or domestic flights/train travel.

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

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A Right Royal Caribbean Winter

Royal Caribbean is featuring a huge Caribbean winter programme in 2013/14, with no less than 630 sailings on board 15 ships, departing from nine different ports and calling at 45 ports across the region. 

In total, the big American line will offer 110 different cruise holiday itineraries throughout the Caribbean for their biggest winter season ever. 

From San Juan, Puerto Rico, Royal Caribbean will once again offer year-round options aboard Jewel of the Seas, with three southern itineraries in the summer and autumn 2013 seasons, and two itineraries in the winter and spring 2013-14 seasons.

Departing every Saturday, the seven-night round-trip itineraries include calls at a range of exciting ports throughout the Windward and Leeward Islands, including St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Antigua, and the US Virgin Islands (above), as well as St. Maarten, Barbados, Aruba and Curacao.

Additionally, Adventure of the Seas returns for the winter 2013-14 season to bolster offerings from San Juan, alternating two seven-night southern Caribbean itineraries. On one itinerary, guests call at St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba and Curacao, while the second calls at Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Croix. These sailings are all now open for sale.

For bookings, follow this link to our sponsors The Cruise Line Ltd, the UK's leading cruise-agent specialists.

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Sample Pristine Alaska With Hapag-Lloyd

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises offers two unique expedition trips through Alaska in Summer 2012 and 2013 on board their adventuring duo MS Hanseatic and the MS Bremen. 

Hanseatic is the world’s only 5-star expedition ship while the 4-star Bremen was also created to provide intensive exploration in the most elegant surroundings.

Two expedition-style voyages will be operated jointly in English and German languages and feature spectacular landscapes and wild, unspoilt nature in the home of bears, whales and bald eagles. Alaska's deep fjords, snow-covered mountains, endless forests and shimmering glaciers make for spectacular landscapes and an unforgettable expedition.

Summer 2012: The 184-guest Hanseatic sets sail in July through the legendary Inside Passage of Alaska, considered one of the most beautiful waterway passages in the world. Guests can experience the following optional excursions on this trip: a glacier flight, a dogsled trip, a boat trip and hike in the rainforest, a helicopter flight over the glaciers and a ride with the historic White Pass & Yukon Route Railway. Trip Details: Sailing July 14-20, from Seward/Alaska to Vancouver/Canada, rates for this itinerary start at £4,700 per person. 

Summer 2013: The 164-guest Bremen takes a similar route in June 2013, with a shorter trip through the Inside Passage, highlighting more of the Alaskan islands along the route. Guests will be able to observe colonies of fur seals while kittiwakes and guillemots circle the seemingly endless sky over the solitary waters on this itinerary. Trip Details: Sailing June 19-July 7, from Nome/Alaska to Vancouver/Canada, with rates from £5,710 per person.

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

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Last-Minute Bargains From Voyages Of Discovery

For those looking for a great last-minute cruise this month, this little offer has just arrived in our Inbox...

Join Voyages of Discovery for a selection of summer cruises from as little as £56 per person per day.

The 9-day 'D-Day, Normandy, Dunkirk and Beyond' voyage starts from just £499 per person, departing from Portsmouth on June 5 and calling at Cherbourg, St Peter Port (Guernsey), Rouen (overnight), Dunkirk, Heligoland and Ijmuiden before arriving at Harwich.

Or how about...

The 'Spitsbergen and North Cape' cruise starts from £999 per person and includes the full 16-day voyage departing from Harwich on June 13 and calling at Trondheim, Leknes, Honningsvag, Magdalenafjord (cruising), Ny-Alesund, Longyearbyen, Barentsburg, Tromso  and Bergen before returning to Harwich.

The prices include all gratuities, service charges and port/airport taxes, a comprehensive Guest Speaker programme, all meals and entertainment on-board and complimentary car parking at Harwich is available (no single supplements apply on both cruises).

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

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The Glorious Danube - More Croatia

Continuing our epic Danube River voyage – the Imperial Capitals of Europe – on the River Duchess of Uniworld from Romania to Austria...

Surprising Croatia, Part 2

Having been sorted into groups for lunch, we were each dropped at different houses around the village and welcomed by the resident matriarch.

And it was no ordinary lunch, either. Each house turned out to be a local B&B, with the family providing a typical Croatian meal for all concerned. Calling them B&B’s is probably something of an over-statement as each household was merely a typical Croatian family with an extra room or two to take in paying guests from time to time.

Our hostess was Jasna Lovencic, a wonderfully welcoming lady with limited English but unlimited hospitality. As we sat down around one, long table in her lounge-kitchen, we were served a splendid tomato-pasta soup that positively reeked of being fresh from the garden and then a truly huge main course.

This latter deserves its own highlight – fresh baked chicken (from a cooker the size of the average mini-fridge – a real triumph of local logistics!), was accompanied by a rice dish, fresh pickles (amazingly crisp and tasty, and without the hint of vinegar), a typical paprika pepper dish marinaded in oil and garlic, a lettuce-type salad and fresh bread.

The whole meal was accompanied by home-made elderflower water (a really startling discovery) and Jasna’s own recipe slivovitz – still with that powerful fieriness but also an intensely warming and life-affirming tang. To say we were well fed would be the understatement of the month.

After lunch, the secret of our flavourful repast was revealed when we stepped out the back door – into a vegetable garden of prodigious size and resources (above). Fruit trees mingled with root plants, with row upon row of onions, potatoes, Swiss chard, spinach, beans, peas, chives, melon, red and white peppers, and radishes, plus a vast field of sunflowers (for the oil).

It was immediately clear – if it hadn’t been already from numerous similar views throughout every town and village – that Croatians rely heavily on their own produce at meal-time, hence every one is an absolute masterpiece of fresh delight. The peppers alone were worth travelling a LONG way to sample and every other group told similar stories of fresh, flavourful dishes.

With Jasna unable to explain much of her vegetable garden in English as she toured my wife around this cornucopia of produce, they were eventually able to communicate in German, although it took the internet to reveal Swiss chard from the local language!

And it was only after genuine hugs and a warm embrace that we were able to take our leave of Jasna and Karanak, back to our ship for a final wander around Vukovar, and another surprising onboard moment.

As it was our anniversary, a quiet word to Hotel Manager Jaroslav earlier in the day produced a quite magnificent cake with dessert at dinner that night, yet another tribute to the prowess of the pastry chef aboard (who would go on to treat guests to the secrets of Baklava and Strudel at special cooking demonstrations in the Blue Danube lounge).

To complete a memorable day, a four-piece Croatian folk group – two guitars, mandolin/bazouki and double base – treated us to a concert of traditional music and songs, all delivered with both great gusto and musical virtuosity, notably the bazouki player, who treated his instrument as would Menuhin a violin.

Yet another day of discovery along the Danube – and another fabulous reason to give it a try.

This ‘Imperial Capitals of Europe’ voyage can be booked at www.uniworldrivercruises.co.uk, with Titan Travel (in the UK only) at www.titantravel.co.uk or, for more on river-cruising in general, seek out the luxury cruise-agent specialists of 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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The Glorious Danube - Croatia

Continuing our epic Danube River voyage – the Imperial Capitals of Europe – on the River Duchess of Uniworld from Romania to Austria...

Surprising Croatia - Part 1

Having had a full day's exposure to the Serbian part of the former Yugoslavia, it was time to cross the border into the neighbouring country of Croatia, another of the 'new' states that came into being with the collapse of the former communist regime led by Marshall Tito.

Our arrival point was Vukovar (above) - a stunning and sobering town just across the river from Serbia, where fully 90% of the buildings were destroyed in the civil war of 1991-95. The evidence of that brutal and heart-rending conflict was literally everywhere, both in the bullet and shrapnel damage of the surviving buildings and the fact that most of the town was virtually brand new, all rebuilt since the local residents returned in 1998.

While the 'who did what to whom and why' remains a tough and controversial question, the feeling of being in a 'victim' environment was much more stark and notable than in Belgrade, with the bullet and shell-riddled buildings serving as mute testimony to their ill use at the hands of Serbian invaders.

With that background in mind, the sunny morning and flower-bedecked town seemed to make light of the tragic past and concentrate purely on a hopeful future, ready to forgive if not to forget.

We were greeted by our guide for the day, Marco, at the dock (a recurring theme on this trip), and were able to walk through the town to our coaches for our delve into Croatian culture. And it was to be a thorough experience.

The drive out of town, and out into the more rural areas, was greeted by more war-ravaged buildings, mixed in with the strikingly new construction seemingly everywhere, great testimony to the human spirit's ability to survive and move on.

Our first stop was the village of Laslovo, where the local Elementary School was waiting to receive us. Yes, that’s right – a visit to a local school, where the children from age 6 all learn English and are keen to practice the language on all their visitors.

The welcome reception took the form of a series of songs, speeches and even a Punch-and-Judy type show, all performed by the children themselves, from the youngest to the oldest (about 14/15). And then it was time to take a tour of the school itself, courtesy of a gaggle of young, ultra-keen and hyper-active kids, who clearly have done this before and absolutely delight in the opportunity to showcase themselves and their culture.

After an all-too-brief hour’s visit in the company of these heart-warming children and their teachers (we spoke to one teacher who was only five when the war broke out and was saved by his mother, who ran through a cornfield to escape the invading army while other family members and friends were not so fortunate), we re-boarded our coaches to learn more about this relatively young country from guide Marco – a non-stop repository of Croatian history, politics and culture (another feature of Uniworld’s ground tours, as every guide was superbly equipped to impart their knowledge and understanding).

Next stop was the city of Osijek, the biggest in this part of the country and a charming mix of modern Europe and medieval fortress, with a superb monastery tucked away in its heart. The original fortress was replaced by the impressive Watergate moated fort in 1710, a massively walled emplacement designed to withstand cannon shells and built under the supervision of Prince Eugene of Savoy.

Here, we were treated to a sample of the Balkan firewater slivovitz (never to be taken lightly!) and a full tour of the medieval town with its truly beautiful main square, complete with cafes and bars. At once both photogenic and tragic (still bearing some of the scars of the civil war), it proved yet another surprise on our grand tour of eastern Europe.

After Osijek, we moved on to the village of Karanak, where we were sorted into groups of 12-14 for lunch. But that is also a story that needs a lot of telling, so I’ll add that in Part 2…

This ‘Imperial Capitals of Europe’ voyage can be booked at www.uniworldrivercruises.co.uk, with Titan Travel (in the UK only) at www.titantravel.co.uk or, for more on river-cruising in general, seek out the luxury cruise-agent specialists of 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.

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

Cunard's Three Queens Jubilee Celebration

It is now just four days to this summer's BIG cruise event, taking place in Southampton as Cunard stage a special Diamond Jubilee ship parade in the famous south coast port.

The above graphic highlights exactly what will be going on, and when, and should make for a magnificent spectator event on the special Bank Holiday day.

All three Cunard vessels - the flagship Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth - will arrive in The Solent together, for a processional cruise to mark Her Majesty The Queen's 75th anniversary on the throne.

The day's events will continue with a special fly-over by the Red Arrows and conclude with a grand fireworks display and sail-out of the three vessels.

Be sure to look in detail at the graphic to see the best viewing points  as the ships sail in between 3.25am and 6am.

For more information on the Cunard cruise style, and bookings, follow this link to The Cruise Line Ltd, the UK's luxury cruising specialists.

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.