The Secret Arctic with Compagnie du Ponant

Embark on the brand new ship Le Soléal for a seven-day cruise in the Arctic Ocean from just £1,909. Follow in the steps of the great explorers of centuries past and sail beyond the Arctic Circle on board Compagnie du Ponant’s very latest vessel.

The small exploration ship - launching in July 2013 - will give its 260 passengers the opportunity to discover breathtaking Arctic landscapes, from majestic icebergs and colourful villages of Greenland to glaciers, fjords, blue lagoons and Polar Bears, as well as exploring other extreme destinations.

Compagnie du Ponant offers adventure cruises to the Arctic onboard Le Soléal and sister-ship Le Boréal – the perfect opportunity to (re-)discover one’s inner adventurer!

The price includes:

• All meals – from dinner on the day of embarkation to breakfast on the day of disembarkation
• Welcome aboard and captain’s cocktail parties, gala dinner
• Mineral water, tea, filter coffee, white, red and rosé wines served with meals
• 24-hour room service (selected menu)
• Evening entertainments and events, and/or organised shows
• Porterage from the quayside to the ship and vice versa

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

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The Blue Danube - Westbound

Here's a great look ahead to some wonderful European river-cruising in 2013 with upmarket American operator Tauck, with an early-booking sample price of just $4,490 for a 12-day voyage. Here's how they put it.

Glide past fairytale castles and medieval villages aboard MS Swiss Jewel and MS Treasures on one of Tauck's popular Danube River cruises. Explore Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Cesky, Bratislava and Budapest – plus the castle-studded Wachau Valley – taking in views of the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary. 

Attend a private Imperial Evening with dinner and music at a palace in Vienna; a wine tasting in Dürnstein; a day in Mozart's Salzburg; or medieval Cesky Krumlov; take an exclusive  private tour of Baroque monastery libraries in Prague; discuss contemporary issues and historic events in Slovakia with a resident expert; and enjoy evenings of cultural entertainment on and off your riverboat. 

In Vienna, see the Imperial apartments at The Hofburg or tour opulent Schönbrunn Palace. Admire frescoes, stained glass windows and stunning architecture as you spend two nights each in Budapest and Prague in city-centre hotels, checking out remarkable bridges, cathedrals, museums and grand Habsburg palaces. It's definitely a Danube River cruise to remember!

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

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Try 'Wild Scotland' With Aurora

Expedition cruise company Aurora Expeditions has launched its new 2013 ‘Wild Scotland’ voyage with a 10% Earlybird offer. Going from coast to coast, the voyage will explore the heritage and wildlife of the beautiful Scottish Isles as few see them.

Carrying a maximum of 54 passengers, Aurora's ship Polar Pioneer will depart from the picturesque town of Oban on the west coast and end in Aberdeen on the east. The 11-day voyage departs June 23, 2013.

Following in the footsteps of our Celtic and Viking forefathers, the historic and wildlife themed voyage will blaze a trail across Scotland’s beautiful coastline including the Highlands, western islands, Outer Hebrides, Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands and Aberdeen. Exploration from Polar Pioneer will be carried out using the fleet of Zodiacs for landings ashore.

Aurora's Scottish historian Carol Knott will regale passengers with fascinating stories and provide enriching lectures to unlock the mysteries of this ancient coastline, which includes Neolithic sites scarcely altered in 5,000 years. The cruise will visit remote crofting communities and iconic castles that were once strongholds of Scottish clans. A naturalist will also be among the team of expedition experts, all of whom provide fascinating talks to help interpret the day’s sightings. Kayaking is available on this voyage.

All passengers will also receive a complimentary 12-month membership to the National Trust of Australia (NSW), including entry into over 300 properties in the UK.

For more information on adventure-style cruising, please follow this link to The Cruise Line Ltd, the UK’s expedition cruise specialists.

(NB: Picture Graham Morgan)

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Famous Explorer Aboard Fred Olsen's Arctic Voyage

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' Balmoral will have a very special guest lecturer aboard the 16-night ‘Arctic Mountains, Fjords & Polar Bears’ cruise, which departs Southampton on July 26 - Sue Stockdale, the first British woman to ski to the North Pole, who will be aboard as part of the Vistas enrichment programme.

After leaving Southampton, the cruise calls first at Ǻlesund in Norway. This pretty town was destroyed by fire in 1904 and completely rebuilt in Art Nouveau style and is one of the most picturesque places in the country. After this call, Balmoral heads north into the Arctic Circle. She calls at Tromsø, surrounded by snow-capped peaks even in summer, then on up to Honningsvǻg for the North Cape – the very ‘top of Europe’. 

The next two ports are even further north. Longyearbyen, Svalbard, enjoys daylight around-the-clock in the summer months. The town has 1,600 inhabitants and reindeer can be seen roaming the streets. Originally a mining town, it has a museum dedicated to its mining and whaling history. Next port, Ny Alesund, is the most northerly permanent settlement in the world and is home to a scientific research centre.

Balmoral then begins her journey south, visiting Kristiansund, famous for its Klippfish (dried cod) Museum, and, finally, the pretty fjord land village of Olden, before returning to Southampton.

Prices for this memorable voyage start from £1,879 per person, based on two adults sharing an inside, twin cabin, Grade ‘I’. The price includes all meals and entertainment on board and port taxes. There is no extra charge for taking part in Vistas activity.

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

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Star Clippers Adds New 'Taster' Cruises

In response to growing demand for short ‘taster’ cruises, tall-ship sailing specialist Star Clippers has added new short-break cruises in the Baltic for 2013, in addition to Mediterranean sailings during 2012, including a five-night mini-cruise from Athens to Malta this October for just £999 per person, including flights and transfers.

Departing Athens on October 20, the 170-passenger square rigger Star Clipper sails to the picturesque ports of Monemvasia and Pilos in Greece, both relatively untouched by tourism, followed by a day at sea in which to relax on the warm teak decks, enjoying the autumn sunshine. There’s a day in historic Syracuse, Sicily, before arriving in Malta on October 25.

The company's new shorter cruises in 2013 cost from £690 per person, cruise-only, for three nights on Star Flyer (a sister ship to the four-masted Star Clipper), including the `Sailing Parade’ tall ships festival in Hamburg, to £1,025 for a five-night sailing from Monaco to Rome on Star Clipper. Other mini-cruises depart from Venice and Rome, for three and four nights respectively, on the company’s flagship, the five-masted, 227-passenger Royal Clipper.

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

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Make July A Cunard Month

July is the month to secure a stateroom on one of Cunard’s three classic ocean liners Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, with exceptional fares available for those who still have not made their holiday plans for 2012.

Available voyages with great fares available are:

• Queen Victoria departs Southampton on September 13 for a 20-night ‘Black Sea and Turkish Splendours’ voyage which takes in highlights such as the evocative Potemkin Steps in Odessa and includes an overnight stay in Istanbul, allowing plenty of time to explore the city’s treasures such as the Blue Mosque and St Sophia. Fares start from £1,599 per person for an inside stateroom with balcony staterooms from £1,999.
• Queen Elizabeth heads to the Med on August 28 to take up her maiden ‘fly-voyage’ season. This nine-night ‘Mediterranean Memories’ voyage calls at Cadiz, Palma, Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Livorno before guests disembark in Civitavecchia the port for Rome) and fly home. Inside staterooms are available for £799 per person, outside staterooms from £849, while balconies can be obtained for £949.
• Queen Victoria's 16-night ‘Adriatic Discovery’ departs Southampton on October 3 and offers spectacular landscapes including Split, Venice and Dubrovnik, with fares from £1,299 per person. 
• Join the iconic Queen Mary 2 in Southampton on September 4 and sail for Vigo, Lisbon, Valencia and Barcelona aboard the ship that still turns heads. Ten-night fares for a balcony room with a grandstand view are from £1,049 per person.

Or, for those who can’t bear the start of winter, Queen Victoria offers a temporary escape with her 23-night ‘Grand Caribbean Discovery’. After leaving a dark Southampton behind, guests will bask under azure Caribbean skies in ports such as St Maarten, St Kitts, Grenada and Barbados. Outside staterooms are available for an amazing £2,099 per person while balconies can be enjoyed for £2,399.

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

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Norwegian Breakaway Rocks!

Norwegian Cruise Line continued its legacy of innovating cruise ship entertainment as it announced that the five-time Tony Award nominated musical ROCK OF AGES will be featured on the new Norwegian Breakaway, along with two additional Broadway shows. 

The 4,000 passenger Breakaway will arrive in New York in early May 2013 for year-round sailings. The ship, the largest ever to home port in the Big Apple, will begin weekly summer seven-night cruises from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal to Bermuda on May 12. From October to April 2014, the ship will offer voyages from the heart of Manhattan to the Bahamas, Florida and the Southern Caribbean.  

The ship will also feature a rich mix of stateroom options, including The Haven by Norwegian, consisting of 42 Suites at the top of the ship and 18 additional Suites located throughout the ship; the innovative Studios, designed and priced for solo travellers; the re-introduction of Oceanview staterooms, Balcony and Mini-Suites; along with Spa Balcony, Mini-Suites and Suites in close proximity to the spa. 

For more on ROCK OF AGES, see this link to their Broadway show page.

To book a cruise on Norwegian Breakaway, follow this link to The Cruise Line Ltd, the UK’s leading cruise-agent specialists.

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