Small ships promising extra big adventures
TAKING a cruise doesn’t always mean joining a big ship – but it can mean big adventures. There are all sorts of delightful trips to book for next year, from a hotel barge just for your family, to motor boating on a lake and sailing on a square-rigger.
Hotel barge Anjodi starred in chef Rick Stein’s French Odyssey TV series, and is perfect for a family celebration, chugging along the charming Canal du Midi in southern France. On a private charter with Kirker Holidays (kirkerholidays.com), guests have their own chef and tailor-made excursions to chateaux, hilltop villages and markets. Eight-night breaks, with six nights on board and two in a five-star hotel in Toulouse, cost from £4,816pp including flights, transfers and open bar. Departures from April to October.
In the Alentejo area of Portugal, you can be the masters of your own motorboat (sleeping two to ten), pottering around the vast Lake Alqueva. There will be lots of opportunities for skinny-dipping – the water is warmer than the Med and there’ll be no one else in sight. You can fish for your supper or tie up and walk to village restaurants. Prices for a week start at £1,345pp including flights and car hire with Sunvil (sunvil.co.uk).
Golden Horizon, a handsome squarerigger with acres of white sails, will breeze along without engines most of the time. There are nine departures between May and August, but book its August 4 sailing, for a ten-night round trip from Harwich to the Isle of Wight, Channel Islands, Dartmouth and Falmouth, and you can learn the ropes with leading yachtswoman
Tracy Edwards. Prices start from £2,299pp with Tradewind Voyages (tradewindvoyages.com).
Swan Hellenic (swanhellenic.com), the small-ship cruise company, has been relaunched 70 years after it started offering spartan high-culture holidays. Next year, its new, five-star expedition ship Minerva, with 76 luxury cabins, will make its debut on a once-in-a-lifetime voyage to see a total eclipse of the sun in Antarctica. The 16-day cruise to the Falklands and Antarctic peninsula departs Buenos Aires on November 27, 2021. Fares from £12,695pp, excluding flights to Argentina.
Good news for fans of big ships is that from Tuesday, all bookings with Celebrity Cruises (celebritycruises. co.uk) will include drinks, wi-fi and gratuities in the fare – a bonus for holidaymakers who like a tipple and love posting on social media.