PORTHOLE

WHAT’S NEW IN THE WORLD OF CRUISING

EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT… THE FUTURE

A far-fetched fantasy? Not according to Tillberg Design AB, the creative force behind the Queen Mary II and Independence of the Seas, whose latest sketches were unveiled at the Passenger Ship Association’s (PSA) golden anniversary earlier in the year.

This green giant could carry over 5,000 passengers and would hold smaller vessels that could sail to smaller ports. Until then, check out Royal Caribbean’s latest colossal feat on page 10.

NEXT STOP

YANGTZE RIVER, CHINA

Running from the remote and rugged landscapes of the Tibetan plateau to the buzzy and chic Shanghai, Asia’s longest river encapsulates the mixed moods of this vast country. Spring and autumn are the most popular times to visit, but to avoid the crowds, aim to head over in early March, when Viking River Cruises itineraries start.

BOOK A RIVER CRUISE RHINESTONE DISCOVERY

VIKING SUN, 07 DEC 08, SEVEN NIGHTS Amsterdam, Cologne, Koblenz, Rudesheim, Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Breisach and Basel OUR PRICE FROM £659

FIVE OF THE BEST…

DECK SHOES

THEY’RE CURRENTLY ON THE CATWALKS, BUT ARE THEY TOO MUCH AT SEA? ABSOLUTELY NOT


SEBAGO DOCKSIDES
£90, +44 (0)20 7860 0100,
sebago.com		 PUMA DECKER
£65, +44 (0)845 123 7862,
puma.com
H BY HUDSON MARITIME
£70, +44 (0)20 7729 2113,
hudsonshoes.com
 VANS ZAPATO DEL BARCO
£43, 00800 8267 7625, vans.co.uk
 
CHATHAM DECK SHOE
£59, +44 (0)845 270 0217,chatham-marine.co.uk
  

BOOK EARLY

COMING SOON

Shipyards must be having a field day. According to the Passenger Shipping Association (PSA), 44 new cruise ships are on order through to 2012, at a total estimated value of £12-£13 billion.

Trumping the innovation stakes is Royal Caribbean. Oasis of the Seas, due to launch in late 2009, is expected to feature the sea’s first zip line, an aquatheatre (pictured) and a Coney Island-inspired ‘boardwalk’.

Costa Cruises will up their fleet from 12 to 17 vessels by 2012, with Pacifica and Luminosa next year, and three unnamed ships for 2010, 2011 and 2012. Carnival’s Carnival Dream and Carnival Magic join the fleet in 2009 and 2011 respectively, while Celebrity will introduce Equinox in 2009, Eclipse in 2010, and an unnamed ship in 2011. And Seabourn has two intimate ships on order for 2010 and 2011.

BOOK IT NOW

BOOK WITH THE CRUISE SPECIALIST ON 0800 916 3233, CRUISETHOMASCOOK.COM, YOUR LOCAL THOMAS COOK OR GOING PLACES STORE, THOMAS COOK TV – SKY CHANNEL 655

TREND

MEET THE ‘MIDS’

Cruise lines don’t usually do things by halves but they’ve made an exception by developing an alternative to the trend for the ‘big, bigger and biggest’: the ‘mids’.

While there’s no official definition of a ‘mid’ (mid-sized ship), most agree that given the two extremes of mega and small luxury classes, it is defined as anything from about 500 to 2,000 passengers.

Fred Olsen’s fleet was given a sprucing up this year with the return of the refurbished 977-passenger Braemar. Holland America Line, which classes all its vessels as mid-size, launched the 2,104-passenger Eurodam in July, and has a sister ship slated for 2010. Even the luxury market is joining in. Silversea’s Silver Spirit will hold 540 passengers next year, and Seabourn will nearly double capacity to 450 onboard Seabourn Odyssey in 2010.

According to Richard Meadows, executive vice president, marketing, sales and guest programmes at Holland America Line, cruisers get the best of both worlds with this class of ship: “Guests can enjoy an intimate, premium service and visit smaller ports of call, whilst benefiting from all the amenities of a larger vessel.”

BOOK IT NOW

BOOK WITH THE CRUISE SPECIALIST ON 0800 916 3233, CRUISETHOMASCOOK.COM, YOUR LOCAL THOMAS COOK OR GOING PLACES STORE, THOMAS COOK TV – SKY CHANNEL 655

FOOD

ALL WHITE AT SEA

WANT TO MEET BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE FIERY CHEF? MARCO PIERRE WHITE WILL MAKE A GUEST APPEARANCE ONBOARD P&O’S VENTURA, WHERE HE HAS A RESTAURANT (THE WHITE ROOM), FROM 9-12 SEPTEMBER ON AN ATLANTIC ISLAND SAILING AND 22-26 NOVEMBER ON A CARIBBEAN ADVENTURE.

AFFORDABLE CRUISING


THE SOUTH PACIFIC FOR UNDER £1,000

This New Year, why not escape the winter and sample paradise on a once-in-a-lifetime 12-night Princess Cruises voyage of the Pacific Ocean. There, you will discover the dreamy beaches and marine life of some its finest archipelagos such as Fiji, Vanuatu and the Loyalty Islands. Dawn Princess sails from Sydney to Isle of Pines, Suva, Dravuni Island, Vila, Lifou and back to Sydney. It departs 28 December, and prices start from just £886 (cruise-only).

SUPERSHIPS

BATTLE OF THE TITANS

TWO HUGE CRUISE SHIPS TOOK TO THE SEAS THIS YEAR, BUT JUST HOW DO THEY MEASURE UP?

Ventura

VITAL STATISTICS 290m, 115,000 tonnes, 3,574 passengers, 15 decks, £300 million EAT AT 11 restaurants including Marco Pierre White’s The White Room and family-friendly dining at the Beach House. WOW FACTOR A whole new level of entertainment: Cirque Ventura circus school and Scalextric. CELEBS Marco Pierre White restaurant, Dame Helen Mirren as godmother and for the kids, Noddy. CRITICS SAY All the features you’d expect on a superliner – but this lively ship is thoroughly British, so you also get decent beer, proper bacon, Noddy… and a nice cup of tea.

Steve Read, The Sun Cruise editor and Sky Travel cruise expert

Independence of the Seas

VITAL STATISTICS 338m, 160,000 tonnes, 3,634 passengers, 15 decks, £400 million EAT AT 11 dining areas that include the Italian Portofino and 50s burger shack Johnny Rockets. WOW FACTOR Activities galore, such as a surf simulator, rock-climbing wall, karaoke booths, ice rink and mini-golf. CELEBS Scouting For Girls played at the launch and there was a charity auction by Sir Steve Redgrave. CRITICS SAY It’s everything that’s great about America – even power showers in your ‘stateroom’ – on the biggest cruise ship in the world. There’s an inside promenade lined with bars and shops, and even a boxing ring. With so much to do, why go ashore?

Steve Read, The Sun Cruise editor and Sky Travel cruise expert

LUXURY

FIVE-STAR FUN

There is nothing like splashing out on luxury cruising. And a growing number of people agree. In fact, more than a billion dollars worth of five-star ships are currently being built to meet soaring demand.

On cruises like these, you’ll get all the usual trimmings: white gloves, with fine wines and gourmet food served on the finest china and crystal, and spacious suites decked out with fine linens. Luxury cruise lines such as Silversea and Yachts of Seabourn (which are as posh as Claridge’s or The Dorchester) are leading the pack. Order a hot dog on Silversea, for instance, and it will come on a silver tray.

Next year, their fleet will grow to five with the addition of the $290 million (£146 million) Silver Spirit, a 540-passenger all-suite ship. On Seabourn, complimentary mini-massages are offered poolside as an example of their pampering treats. And the cruise line is building three new ships – each costing around $300 million (£151 million) – before 2011.

Meanwhile, cruise lines such as Holland America and NCL are adding VIP areas with bigger suites, butlers and private sun decks to keep up with the growing demand for luxury at sea. Even in their budget-price staterooms, look out for flat-screen TVs and top-quality beds and linens. Steve Read

BOOK NOW

WINTER WARMERS

YOU DON’T HAVE TO SAIL TOO FAR TO FIND WARMER TEMPERATURES IN WINTER

NOW SAILING…

RUBY PRINCESS

CRUISE LINE Princess Cruises THE HYPE The sister ship to Crown Princess and Emerald Princess debuts on 8 November for a nine-night Western Caribbean voyage. HOW IT SIZES UP 290m, 113,000 tonnes, 3,080 passengers, 1,200 crew, 19 decks. ONBOARD ACTIVITIES An open-air theatre, a piazza-style atrium with street entertainment, a nine-hole putting course, a spa and an adult-only lounge area. FOOD Sabatini’s Italian restaurant, Crown Grill steak restaurant, à la carte dining rooms and a poolside ice-cream parlour.

BOOK IT NOW

BOOK WITH THE CRUISE SPECIALIST ON 0800 916 3233, CRUISETHOMASCOOK.COM, YOUR LOCAL THOMAS COOK OR GOING PLACES STORE, THOMAS COOK TV – SKY CHANNEL 655

IN NUMBERS

BIG SPENDERS

ITALIANS ARE EUROPE’S BIGGEST CRUISERS BUT THE UK IS (SLOWLY BUT SURELY) STARTING TO CATCH UP…

Source: Passenger Shipping Association, 2007. Figures taken in 2006.

BEAUTY

ONBOARD BOTOX

NCL IS THE FIRST CRUISE LINE TO OFFER CELEBFAVOURITE BOTOX TREATMENTS ON ITS SHIPS NORWEGIAN DAWN, GEM AND SPIRIT. WE EXPECT IT TO INJECT MORE INTO THE ONBOARD SPA EXPERIENCE…

ONBOARD WITH…

JENNIE BOND

THE FORMER ROYAL CORRESPONDENT ADMIRES CUNARD’S STYLE BUT ALSO APPRECIATES A LINE DANCE

I’ve probably been on 15 cruises. When I started, I couldn’t believe when people would say, ‘Ooh, this is our ninth cruise, or this is our 22nd cruise, or 100th’ but now I’m in the league of ‘I don’t know how many’.

“My mother is 86 and last year I took her to the fjords in Norway on the QE2. It was fantastic to be able to show her the sights when she thought her days of travelling anywhere beyond the UK were over. I also took her the year before on the QE2 on a lovely little trip to La Rochelle, Bilbao and Guernsey.

“On one cruise to the Seychelles on the P&O Adonia, my stepdaughter, Danielle (who is in her 30s), and I line danced with a wonderful cruise director called Neil Oliver – he’s fabulous. I think he is a Latin American champion. Never in a million years would I have said Danielle and I would be caught line dancing, but was it fun? We loved it!

“I’m very much a Cunard lady. I hope to sail on the Queen Victoria soon. I was at the launches of Ventura and the Independence of the Seas. We [her husband Jim and her] thought they were both gorgeous. On the Independence of the Seas, you think, ‘it is huge! Do I want to do this?’ Yes you do!

You do want to go to the ice rink and you do want to go rock climbing and you do want to play mini-golf.

“I really like having fine wine, fine food, great entertainment, going to bed and waking up thinking, ‘I wonder which country has come to visit me today?’”

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