Cruise news

Belfast’s first working whiskey distillery in almost 90 years opens for public tours on April 28. The £8million Titanic Distillers site in the city’s Titanic Quarter dry dock pump house features a food and drink area and prices for visits start at £10 per person. titanicdistillers.com

Tech an augmented reality look inside a cruise ship from the comfort of your sofa to see if a holiday at sea ticks the boxes. Ambassador Cruise Line has unveiled its Let’s Cruise app offering an immersive 360° tour of flagship Ambience.

The IOS and Android app allows would-be cruisers to see all the key features of the no-fly value line’s onboard offering, starting with a greeting from an avatar based on the hotel director. They can then click on icons to virtually visit public spaces such as restaurants, the Observatory bar, Purple Turtle pub and a selection of cabin types.

The app has been launched ahead of the roll-out of Ambassador’s 2024/25 itineraries for both Ambience and new sister ship Ambition, which joins the fleet at her naming in Newcastle next month. ambassadorcruiseline.com ■ Cunard’s newest ship Queen Anne – under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in northern Italy – has been ‘crowned’. Her iconic red and black funnel was hoisted on to the top deck, taking her one step closer to her maiden voyage in May 2024.

The 113,000 gross tonnage, 3,000-passenger Queen Anne will be the 249th Cunard-flagged ship. cunard.com

Book by April 30 for UK coach travel from £2 on new Flixbus services including Aberdeen-edinburgh, Birmingham-newcastle, Bristolnottingham, Sheffield-taunton, Middlesbrough-manchester and Warrington-london. A 20% saving is also available on all UK routes. Offers valid to July 31. flixbus.co.uk