ALL ABOARD

The latest news for your next cruise

£99 taster

TRY life at sea with a two-night taster cruise on August 30 from Portsmouth to Hull. From £99pp the sailing on 550-passenger Astoria includes all meals, cabaret, arts and crafts, captain’s cocktail party and coach travel

(cruiseandmaritime.com, 0844 998 3788).

Tune in to luxury

SEVEN Seas Explorer’s 4,500sqft Regent Suite is the largest at sea and comes with a Steinway grand piano, spa and a personal butler. Tune in to Channel 5’s documentary series The World’s Most Expensive Cruise Ship on Friday, August 30, September 6 and 13 at 9pm to take a look at the all-inclusive vessel

02380 682 280).

(rssc.com, World affairs

FRENCH cruise line Ponant has released a series of sailings for English-speaking passengers. They include the eight-night A World Affairs Cruise In The Baltic on new ship Le Dumont-d’Urville with lectures by former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Admiral James Stavridis and former Ambassador to Russia William Burns. August 5, 2020, departure from Stockholm. From £6,054pp (ponant.com, 0808 2343 802).

Meryl on QM2

MOVIE fans were doing a double-take on Queen Mary 2 this week when noticing Hollywood’s Meryl Streep (below), Candice Bergen and Gemma Chan among the passengers. The actors were on the New York to Southampton crossing to shoot scenes for director Steven Soderbergh’s new film Let Them All Talk (cunard.co.uk, 0344 338 8641).

Going greener

AFTER launching the world’s first hybrid powered cruise ship, MS Roald Amundsen, earlier this year, Hurtigruten has announced it will convert three more ships to the cleaner technology for expedition sailings along the Norwegian coast from 2021 (hurtigruten.

co.uk, 020 8846 2666).

Viking summer

EXPERIENCE the dramatic landscapes of Iceland, Greenland and Norway on Seabourn Quest’s 45-night A Viking Summer cruise featuring overnight moorings in Reykjavik, Iceland and Torshavn, Norway. All-inclusive prices from £22,499 on the June 8, 2020 departure from Dover (seabourn.com, 0344 338 8615).

In touch with nature

THE Madeira Nature Festival (October 1 to 6) showcases the natural beauty of the Floral Island alongside opportunities to experience paragliding or sailing. Guests on board Celebrity Silhouette can embrace the rich natural heritage during the ten-night Canary Islands and Madeira cruise departing October 3, with prices from £1,701 pp

(celebritycruises.co.uk, 0800 441 4054).