ALL ABOARD
The latest news for your next cruise
Ready for Rio?
JOIN the party on Azamara Pursuit’s 12-night Carnival In Rio voyage with a just-released winter sale price of £ 1,521 pp ( cruise only). Depart February 19, 2020, on a round trip from Buenos Aires and spend two nights in Rio for the Mardi Gras before cruising on to Sao Paulo and the white sand beaches of Punta del Este, in Uruguay ( azamara.co.uk, 0344 493 4016).
Totally tulips
LOOKING for good value? Refurbished 180- passenger ship MS Arena launches next spring with five and seven-night sailings on the Rhine, Moselle and Danube. The Spring Gardens cruises at tulip time visit Keukenhof Gardens, with options to view the Aalsmeer flower auction and the National Botanic Garden of Belgium. Prices from £499 pp with a choice of coach, train or air travel ( rivercruiseline.co.uk, 01858 438330).
Verdi in Verona
TRAVEL to Arena di verona, with premium tickets for verdi’s opera Nabucco, on 20-guest hotel barge La Bella vita. Indulgences on the sixnight sailing between venice and Mantua continue with dinner at 17th-century villa Ca’Zen, on the Po Delta Nature Reserve, where Lord Byron courted the Countess Guiccioli and wrote some of his best poetry. Price from £3,289 pp departing on August 16, 2020 ( europeanwater
ways.com, 01753 598555).
Autumn price fall
SAVE £ 1,000 on Scenic Jade’s October 28 Danube Discovery river cruise, which features a private viennese evening concert in the Palais Liechtenstein, a guided tour of Bratislava and Schonbrunn Palace, plus a Best Of The Sound Of Music And Salzburg show. Price from £ 2,380pp including door- to- door chauffeur, flights, all tips and on-board butler ( scenic.co.uk, 0808 271 6331).
Follow Catherine
FOUR-PART drama Catherine The Great, starring Dame Helen Mirren, starts on October 3 (Sky Atlantic/ NOW Tv). History lovers can learn more in St Petersburg with privileged access to the Hermitage Museum, founded by the Empress in 1764, during viking Cruises’ 13-day Waterways Of The Tsars fly-cruise. The volga river sailing from St Petersburg to Moscow starts from £2,995 pp on May 4, 2020 ( vikingcruises.co.uk, 0800 319 66 60).