CRUISE NEWS
All you need to know from the High Seas
Making a mark in the sand
SAGA Cruises continues to write its own road map out of dry dock with two new river ships. Spirit of the Rhine’s inaugural voyage along its namesake river, pictured, is planned for May while the keel-laying of sister ship Spirit of the Danube took place in Serbia this week. As the first cruise line to insist its over-50s passengers must have had their two Covid-19 vaccinations, Saga Holidays CEO Chris Simmonds said: ‘We are continuing to put a mark in the sand while monitoring all travel situations.’
Call of the exotic
SALES of Uniworld’s Exotic 2022 river cruise programme are up 425 per cent with ‘huge demand’ for sailings on the Mekong, Amazon and Nile among over 65s. The 13-night ‘Timeless Wonders of Vietnam and Cambodia’ cruise and stay holiday on October 28, 2021 has been reduced by £1,400 to £5,599pp including flights, with a one-way business class upgrade (uniworld.com, 0808 168 9231).
Starship enterprise
GUESTS on MSC Virtuosa will be sipping cocktails made by MSC Starship Club’s new robotic bartender, Rob, whose futuristic bar has a 12-seater ‘infinity table’ where friends in a bubble can explore space on a personalised galactic tour. MSC Virtuosa’s seven-night ‘Northern Europe’ Copenhagen round-trip on June 27 starts from £919pp (msccruises.co.uk, 0203 426 3010).
Meet the gauchos
FRED Olsen has cancelled all sailings until the end of June but there are plenty of excellent new itineraries ahead including Bolette’s 79-night ‘Latin America with the Chilean Fjords’ cruise from Southampton on January 4, 2022. Prices start at £8,299pp with highlights including meeting gauchos on an Argentinian cattle ranch (fredolsencruises.com, 0800 787 0733).
Cruise and rail
SPEND six nights on the Maharaja Express during Silver Spirit’s 2023 ‘Marvels of India & Asia’ cruise and rail holiday on March 5, 2023. The 29-night trip from Singapore to Mumbai includes all drinks, tips and wifi plus afternoon tea in Raffles Hotel, Singapore. Price from £11,299pp (rolcruise.co.uk, 0800 204 4660).
Into the wilderness
HURTIGRUTEN has launched its Dover 2022/23 seasons. The sailings on refurbished MS Maud include 22-day ‘Norwegian Coast and Svalbard’ cruise into the Arctic wilderness which departs on September 15, 2022 with prices from £5,319pp (hurtigruten.co.uk, 0203 9933 121).