Passengers Love New-Look Hotel Barge “La Belle Epoque”

The crew on European Waterways’ 12-passenger flagship La Belle Epoque cruising in Burgundy has been receiving some great feedback from passengers so far this season. The hotel barge was given a major makeover earlier this year and started her season in April looking like new.

L'Impressionniste's Charming Saloon

La Belle Epoque’s characterful saloon with its soft lighting, French oak floor and mahogany panelling, as well as the brand new on-deck Jacuzzi have created the perfect ambience for our guests to enjoy each other’s company.

The Mersault

Guests have also been very complimentary about the new soft furnishings, such as the Amélie Prevost curtains and French Lys bed linen.

Her sister ship, L’Impressionniste, cruising through the heart of the heart of the wine-growing region in Southern Burgundy was also upgraded at the start of the year, with high quality new furniture, lighting and soft furnishings throughout to create a delightful ambience.

Glorioius new bathrooms

Passengers have been saying they love the new bathroom suites with their teak-deck flooring, Italian Mainzu-Ceramica tiles and rain forest shower units. Luxurious New Bathrooms

The two vessels offer passengers a classic hotel barging experience on one of France’s prettiest canals. And with 2 great offers currently running on both La Belle Epoque and L’Impressionniste – 25% off the charter price for remaining 2011 departures or Book 1 cabin, get the 2nd cabin half price for July and August departures – there’s no better time to enjoy a gentle voyage of discovery with family or friends.

Gourmet cuisine, fine wines, interesting itineraries and the services of an attentive crew – the perfect combination! For more information, visit www.gobarging.com where you will also be able to view all Cruise Rates and Request a Brochure. For reservations or more information including a full colour brochure, contact The Cruise People Ltd in London on +44 (0)20 7723 2450  or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.

Voyage to Antiquity in the Aegean Odyssey: A Cruise and Ship Review by GordonTurner

Earlier this month, Gordon Turner, a client of  The Cruise People Ltd in Toronto, took a cruise from Rome to Venice in the Aegean Odyssey. Here he recounts his journey:-

Where to begin? Well, the logical place is arriving in Rome. At Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport the meet-and-greet service functioned properly and before long I was aboard a coach for the journey to my hotel. The route took us through some of Rome’s most historic areas and, in fact, it took about 1 hour 30 minutes from the airport to the Hotel Visconti Palace where I stayed for the next two nights. Most, if not all, Voyages to Antiquity journeys include a land-based component either prior to the cruise or immediately after. The Visconti Palace hotel was modern and efficient, and my room was ready without any waiting period. The word “Palace” in the hotel’s title seemed a little excessive, but there was no doubt that it was an entirely satisfactory location for the next two days. Breakfast was included, and for other meals there were several restaurants nearby in addition to the hotel’s open-air restaurant on the seventh floor.

Voyages to Antiquity takes its name seriously. The itineraries are destination driven and the rich history of the Mediterranean forms the basis of every shore excursion. My journey, titled “The grand object of all travel is to see the shores of the Mediterranean,” a quotation by Dr. Samuel Johnson, was to take me from Rome to Venice, with 12 days aboard Aegean Odyssey but only one full day at sea. The first two days in Rome, though, included tours each morning, one to St. Peter’s Basilica, the Trevi fountain and the Pantheon, and the other to the Colosseum and the Forum, followed by a coach journey of about 40 miles to Civitavecchia, the port from which the ship departed. Rome itself is some miles from the sea and it does not have its own port. The nearest one of any size is at Civitavecchia …

TO READ THE FULL REVIEW PLEASE CLICK HERE

Gordon Turner is the author of “Empress of Britain: Canadian Pacific’s Greatest Ship.”

For further details on cruises in the Aegean Odyssey with Voyages to Antiquity please call The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.

The Cruise Examiner for 27th June 2011: “Back to the 30’s” – Tomorrow’s Cruise Ships Will Be More Crowded – Other News: Royal Caribbean Fights Back Down Under – Greece Gets Expensive

THE CRUISE EXAMINER at Cybercruises.com
by Kevin Griffin

“Back to the 30’s” – Tomorrow’s Cruise Ships Will Be More Crowded – Other News: Royal Caribbean Fights Back Down Under – Greece Gets Expensive

CruiseMates’s Paul Motter seems to be the first to have pointed out the obvious in an article in Fox Business last week – that the passenger space ratio on the new ships on order for NCL, Princess and Royal Caribbean is going to be less than in existing ships. In the case of NCL and Royal Caribbean’s ships, on order at Meyer Werft, they will have almost 8% less space per passenger, and in the case of the Princess ships, being built at Fincantieri, a full 16.5% less than the Diamond Princess. Elsewhere, we look at the major cruise line battle developing Down Under and some comments on the cost of cruise lines doing business in Greece.

THIS WEEK’S STORY

“Back to the 30′s” – Tomorrow’s Cruise Ships Will Be More Crowded

In an article in Fox Business last Friday entitled “Next Generation Cruise Ships Might Not Be the Best,” Paul Motter pointed out a rather interesting thing about the new cruise ships now under construction for the major lines, and something that no one else seems to have noticed as yet – but they will have less space than their immediate predecessors.

THIS WEEK’S STORY

The Cruise People Ltd – Coming Up On Its 20th Year Of Selling Sea Travel In The UK

As we sign a new lease on our premises in London’s West End this weekend, it occurs to us that we are coming up on our 20th year of operating in the UK. And as of yesterday, fifteen of those years have been spent in the offices above, at 88 York Street, in a graceful Georgian terrace that dates back to 1790 in the Marylebone area of London.

When The Cruise People Ltd first opened in London in 1992, it was around the corner in Seymour Place. Having agreed with the company of the same name in Toronto to be able to use that name in the UK, we incorporated it under the laws of England and Wales. The Toronto company was the first cruise specialist agency in Canada when it opened in 1972, and is coming up on its own fortieth anniversary next year.

So what have we been doing in all those years? Just as we started, we are still Specialists in Sea Travel. But while we would sell anything in those early years – 228,728 UK residents took a cruise in the year we opened – now that that number has risen to 1.65 million we specialise in certain specific products – Ultra-Luxury Cruising, Expedition Voyages, Small Ships and Freighter Travel – as well as general retail and wholesale sales of cruise products. And as 40% of our business comes from outside the UK, we operate bank accounts in all of Sterling, Euros and US Dollars.

For fifteen years we have also been the European representative of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition and for ten years the General Passenger Agent for the Polish Steamship Co‘s Transatlantic service to the Great Lakes.

People sometimes ask so why don’t we tell you that the logo used by both the UK and Canadian companies is a silhouette of one of  the last quartet of ocean liners built by Cunard Line for its St Lawrence River service to Quebec and Montreal. It is a fitting choice as these four ships, the Saxonia, Ivernia, Carinthia and Sylvania, maintained an important link between the UK and Canada, where our two offices are located.

So for any type of cruise, but particularly the hard-to-find niche products, please feel free to give us a call in London at +44 (0)20 7723 2450 or e-mail us at cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk. If you’re in London and would like to visit our office the closest Underground stations are Baker Street, Marylebone and Edgware Road.

CMA CGM’s French West Indies Line Still Operates Weekly Transatlantic Passenger Sailings All Year Round

Everyone knows the Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 operates a long-standing Transatlantic passenger service. But few know that there is another Transatlantic service, also descended from one of the big names of the North Atlantic trade, that still continues to trade, week in week out all year long. That line, today known as the French West Indies Line, is operated by the French container line CMA CGM as successors to Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, otherwise known as the French Line, which began serving this route 150 years ago, in 1862.

Until about forty years ago, a full passenger service was maintained by ocean liners such as the 19,828-ton Antilles, shown here, the last to be built for the route, in 1952. Note the electric cranes forward, for handling cargo. Ships built for the service in subsequent years were at first cargo liners and then container ships,but  all have continued to carry passengers. The Antilles lasted until 1971, when she grounded off Mustique.

Today, a second generation of  four container ships, built for the French West Indies Line, maintains a weekly service, connecting the French ports of Dunkirk, Rouen, Le Havre and Montoir with Fort-de-France in Martinique and Pointe-â-Pitre in Guadeloupe. The full round voyage takes 28 days, although one-way and stopover fares are also available. The four ships in question, the CMA CGM Fort St Georges, Fort St Louis, Fort St Pierre and Fort Ste Marie, are 28,000 tons deadweight carrying capacity, built in 2003, and each accommodates twelve passengers, the maximum that can be carried by a cargo ship without a doctor. Passengers are accommodated in an owners cabin and four twin cabins, each of about 195 sq ft, and two single cabins of about 155 sq ft. Each ship is also equipped with a passenger lounge, a gymnasium and an outdoor swimming pool.

Fares for the full 28-day round voyage start at €2,230 (about £2,070) per person double or €2,280 (about £2,115) single, but one-way passages can also be booked from €95 (about £88) per person per day. Payment in US Dollars can also be arranged through London agents The Cruise People Ltd. Complimentary French table wine, Château Paquebot, is included with lunch and dinner, which passengers take with the officers.

CMA CGM Fort St Louis departs Montoir, last port in Europe, with cargo and up to twelve passengers for the French West Indies.

For more details of passenger voyages on the French West Indies Line and in CMA CGM container ships in general please call Miri Lopusna at The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.

Cruise Papua New Guinea in 2012 with Aurora Expeditions of Australia

Aurora Expeditions has announced its return to Papua New Guinea. In April 2012 they will operate two voyages on board their expedition vessel Akademik Shokalskiy. In usual Aurora style the voyages will take in the very best of Papua New Guinea.

The first voyage, Island of Smiles, is ideal for families looking for adventure and will focus on natural and cultural highlights all the way from Alotau to the Sepik River and back,  it is likely you will wake each morning to a flotilla of outrigger canoes filled with locals waiting to greet you to their homeland. Their luminescent smiles bring the pageantry of sing-sings, complex rituals, and spectacular costumes to life, overwhelming you with the simple joy of a warm welcome. Explore the remote islands, pristine beaches and have the opportunity to snorkel and dive in the colourful coral reefs that once attracted Errol Flynn.

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of Papua New Guinea’s entry into World War II, Aurora is also offering the chance for you to join a very special commemorative voyage: Lost in Paradise – Fallen Heroes. An Aurora historian will shine a light on the courage and tragedy of Australia’s unsung heroes – The Lark Force – in the Battle of Rabaul, and the ensuing loss of lives on the former South American liner Montevideo Maru when she was torpedoed by a US submarine in late June 1942 with Australian prisoners of war on board. The sinking,  involving as it did the loss of 1,122 lives,  was the worst maritime disaster in Australia’s history.

For further details on Aurora Expeditions departures please call Miri Lopusna at The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.

One Must Book Early for the Rare Opportunity to Sail in a Cargo Ship from Europe to the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand

Three ships run in an 84-day round voyage from Tilbury to the US East Coast, the Pacific islands of Tahiti, Fiji and New Caledonia, Australia and New Zealand. A twin Owners cabin and two double cabins are offered on each of the CMA CGM Manet, CMA CGM Matisse and  CMA CGM Utrillo from Tilbury, Rotterdam, Dunkirk and Le Havre to Australasia and back. The round trip can also be booked as one-way voyages between Europe and Australia/New Zealand. Each ship carries six passengers but they are heavily booked through to 2013 so bookings have to be made a year or more in advance to be guaranteed of space.

The fare is €110 per person per day including full board, port charges and complimentary French wine with lunch and dinner, so the full round voyage is €9,240, or about £8,495, per person. Non-US and Canadian citizens will need full US visas as cargo ships are not included in the various visa waiver programs (also known as ESTA).

Each double cabin is about 235 sq ft, fitted with a double bed, sofa, desk, chair, wardrobe, a bathroom (wc/shower) and a fridge. The Owners Cabin has twin beds and its own door into the Passenger Lounge. Common areas include a Gymnasium and Library on Deck B, Passenger Lounge on Deck E with: TV, video, DVD and an indoor Swimming Pool.

The port rotation for each voyage is Tilbury – Rotterdam – Dunkirk – Le Havre – New York – Savannah – Kingston (Jamaica) – Manzanillo  (Panama) – Panama Canal – Papeete (Tahiti) – Lautoka (Fiji) – Noumea (New Caledonia) – Sydney – Melbourne – Napier – Tauranga – Manzanillo – Kingston – Savannah – Philadelphia – Tilbury.

Please click here to see update and more plentiful availability of northbound cabins.

For further details please call The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.

11-night Azamara Quest Cruise From An Amazing £1,359 Per Person, 6th November 2011

AZAMARA QUEST

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Book an Azamara Club Cruises departure below and receive these amazing benefits:

*FREE Flights from London Heathrow
**FREE Overnight stay before the cruise
*** FREE Upgrade from Club Ocean view to Club Veranda Cruise also includes:
Complimentary preferred vintage wines at lunch and dinner
Gratuities for housekeeping and dining staff
bottled water, sodas, specialty coffees & teas
Shuttle service in port where offered
Self service laundry
Destination influenced entertainment & enrichment programmes

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11 NIGHT GREEK ISLES TO VENICE VOYAGE FLY/CRUISE  

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DEPARTS 06^th NOVEMBER 2011  Athens (Piraeus) – Chania (Souda) – Katakolon – Corfu – Brindisi (Italy) – Kotor (Montenegro) – Kotor (Montenegro) – Dubrovnik (Croatia) – Split (Croatia) – Ravenna (Italy) – Ravenna (Italy) – Venice – Venice

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Category 07 Ocean view ONLY £1359 PER PERSON!

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For further details please call Gay Scruton at The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.

Terms and Conditions of Azamara Club Cruises Apply

Great Deals on SeaDream Yacht Club in the Med This Autumn

* $3,599 Yacht Club Deck 3   -   $3,999 Yacht Club Deck 4 BOOK BY JULY 7, 2011 – Promo Code MEOSOCT www.cruisepeople.co.uk/luxury.htm
For further details please contact Gay Scruton at The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk
Terms and Conditions of SeaDream Yacht Club Apply

The Cruise Examiner for 20th June 2011: Costa Cruises: The Biggest In Europe With Worldwide Itineraries – Other Cruise News: Charleston Residents Sue Carnival Cruise Lines – Europe Generated 5.5 Million Cruisers in 2010

THE CRUISE EXAMINER at Cybercruises.com
by Kevin Griffin

Costa Cruises: The Biggest In Europe With Worldwide Itineraries – Other Cruise News: Charleston Residents Sue Carnival Cruise Lines  – Europe Generated 5.5 Million Cruisers in 2010

With the impending christening of the 114,500-ton 3,800-guest Costa Favolosa in Trieste next week, an event that is being tied in to the 150th Anniversary of Italian unification, it is worth having a look at the Costa Cruises Group. With its Aida and Iberocruceros branches in Germany and Spain it is now by far the largest cruise operator in Europe. We also take a look at why some people in Charleston have decided to sue Carnival Cruise Lines for basing a ship in their port. And the European Cruise Council confirmed last week that the European cruise market numbered 5.5 million in 2012, accounting for 30% of the global market.

THIS WEEK’S STORY

Detroit Opens A New Cruise Terminal For Great Lakes Cruising

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Later this month, the Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority will open its new Public Dock and Terminal, to be called Port Detroit. This new $22 million facility will be available for use by cruise ships, visiting naval vessels, tall ships and perhaps even by a new ferry service to Windsor, Ontario, across the Detroit River in Canada. The last ferries disappeared with the opening of the present bridge.
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Part of a 5½-mile redevelopment of the whole Detroit waterfront, called River Walk, in addition to customs and border patrol facilities for the clearance of incoming cruise ships the 30,000-square foot Public Dock and Terminal will house new offices for the port authority.

The Grande Mariner, owned by Blount Small Ship Adventures, seen here in the Detroit River

Blount Small Ship Adventures will be the terminal’s first cruise customer, with its 96-berth Grande Mariner making two calls next month. Blount have introduced two new itineraries recently, between New York and Toronto and between Toronto and Georgian Bay. Another cruise line newcomer, Travel Dynamics International of New York, is planning six departures and six arrivals at Detroit between June and September of 2012 with their 138-guest US-flag Yorktown, handling a dozen passenger lists to and from Chicago, Duluth and Quebec City. The Yorktown (below) was last in the Great Lakes when she worked for Clipper Cruise Lines as the Yorktown Clipper .

And there will be others. The largest ship to cruise the Great Lakes in recent years has been Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ 14,903-ton Columbus, which first came into the Great Lakes in 1997. In 2012, she will be taken over by Plantours & Partner of Bremen, to become their MS Hamburg and it is hoped that she will return to the Great Lakes under her new name in 2013. Two other operators from Europe have also been examining the Great Lakes as a new destination for them.
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To learn more about cruising in the Great Lakes and St Lawrence River call The Cruise People Ltd in London on 020 7723 2450 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.

The Ocean Liner Society Chooses Croisières de France and its Horizon for its 2012 Group Cruise, Departing Marseilles 27th May

In 2010, the Ocean Liner Society chose Croisières de France and its 37,301-ton Bleu de France (delivered in 1982 as Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ previous Europa) for its annual group cruise. This “all-inclusive” cruise proved such a success that in 2012 the Society is returning to Croisières de France to sample its latest ship, the 46,811-ton Horizon, the first new ship to be built for Celebrity Cruises in 1990.

The 2012 cruise will take the “Tutti Frutti” itinerary, departing Marseilles on Sunday, 27th May for Portofino, Rome, Salerno, Trapani and Valetta, with a full day spent at sea before returning to Marseilles.

Celebrity Cruises was formed by Chandris Cruises in April 1988 in order to fulfil a new cruise contract it had negotiated with the Government of Bermuda. As well as acquiring the Italian liner Galilio Galileo, which it rebuilt in 1988/89 and renamed Meridian, Celebrity built two new ships specifically for the Bermuda run. These were the sister ships Horizon of 1990 and the Zenith of 1992. The Horizon‘s initial run was the weekly service between New York and Bermuda, serving both St George’s, on the islands’ east end, and Hamilton. Regular service between New York and Hamilton had been started as far back as 1864 by the Quebec Steamship Co Ltd, which was taken over in 1919 by the Furness Bermuda Line, and which in turn lasted until 1966.

In 1997, Celebrity Cruises was bought by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and the newer and larger ships of the Century and Millenium classes were introduced, eventually making the Horizon the smallest ship in the fleet. In 2005, the Horizon was allocated to a new joint venture with TUI Group called Island Cruises, taking on the new name of Island Star. When Royal Caribbean withdrew from Island Cruises, she rejoined her sister ship Zenith at Royal Caribbean-controlled Pullmantur Cruises in Spain and was again renamed, this time as Pacific Dream. Now having reverted to her original name, Horizon will join Pullmantur’s French-based cruise operation Croisières de France in the spring of 2012 to replace the Bleu de France, which has been sold to Saga Cruises to become the Saga Sapphire.

OLS group fares are valid for a minimum number of double cabins, and there is a limited number of category DE and DI cabins available for singles with no single supplement provided enough doubles are booked. Bookings can be made through the OLS group agent The Cruise People Ltd in London.

2012 Horizon fares compare very well with Bleu de France fares in 2010 as lead-in prices are lower – €510 per person for an inside cabin compared to €585 in 2010 and €630 per person for an outside cabin compared to €850 in 2010.

While fares are all-inclusive of passage, full board, port charges and drinks, spirits, wine and beer in the dining rooms and bars on board, a service charge of €65 per person for gratuities will be added to your on board account.

Itinerary                                                       Arrive             Depart
MARSEILLE                                                                                17.00
PORTOFINO  (Santa Margherita)                09.00                18.00
ROME  (Civitavecchia)                                   08.00                19.00
SALERNO                                                        08.00                19.00
TRAPANI                                                          08.00                19.00
MALTA (Valletta)                                              09.00                17.00
AT SEA                                                                         (sea day)
MARSEILLE                                                      08.00        

Ocean Liner Society Group Rates – Horizon 27th May 2012
	(Fares are cruise-only and include port charges of €175)
Category		Brochure		120-day		OLS Group
Fares are in Euros €		Fare (1)		Fare (2)		Fare (3)
Staterooms
DI Discovery Inside		€725		€560		€510
HI Horizon Inside		825		630		570
DE Discovery Outside		925		700		630
HE Horizon Outside		1125		840		755
C Comfort Outside		1325		980		880
P Prestige Outside		1525		1120		995
PB Prestige with Balcony		1685		1232		1095
Suites
JS Junior Suite		€1785		€1302		€1145
JB Junior Balcony Suite		1925		1400		1235
S Royal Suite		2125		1540		1355
SB Royal Balcony Suite		2325		1680		1480
(1) The above fares are cruise only per person in double occupancy and do not include service charge of €65, which is added to your account on board  (CDF published brochure fares are thus €65 higher than brochure fares shown here).
(2) For bookings made prior to 120 days before departure.
(3) OLS Group fares include no single supplement on a limited number of cabins in Categories DI and DE, provided the minimum number of double cabins is booked. Note: This allocation is now sold out, but we are able to offer a lump sum single supplement of €275 on any grade, subject to availability.

   

A deposit of 25% will confirm a reservation and penalties for cancellation by the passenger are as follows:

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More than 90 days before departure: € 90
61-90 days before departure: 25% of the fare amount
30-60 days before departure: 50% of the fare amount
Fewer than 30 days before departure: 100% of the fare amount

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Members of the general public can qualify to travel on this cruise by joining the Ocean Liner Society. Membership is £20 in the UK, £23 in Europe and £25 in the rest of the world. As well as the opportunity of joining OLS group cruises, this includes a subscription to their 48-page quarterly journal, Sea Lines. Further details can be found at www.ocean-liner-society.com.

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For further information and availability for this cruise please contact The Cruise People Ltd at 020 7723 2450, Freephone 0800 526 313 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.