Run off to the circus – on the high seas
IS THERE anything you can’t experience, learn or do on a cruise? SARAH LUCAS looks at the sublime to seemingly ridiculous on offer for 2016…
TO BE or not to be on board Fred Olsen’s nine-night Waterways of Denmark cruise leaving Southampton on July 30 next year? The Braemar will glide along the Kiel Canal, through the German countryside, then down the Aabenraa and Als fjords to the pretty town of Hundested. From here you can visit Hamlet’s famous Kronborg castle, a World Heritage Site, and immerse yourself in Elsinore’s annual Shakespeare Festival. Later, you’ll sail into the heart of Copenhagen, then finish with a beer walk – which sounds so much better than a pub crawl – in Aalborg. Prices are from £1,099 per person, including all meals and entertainment. See fredolsencruises.com or call 0800 0355 242.
CHINOISERIE tracksuit tops and pleated snakeskin skirts, anyone? Perhaps Cunard’s Transatlantic Fashion Week, which arrives in New York on the day New York Fashion Week 2016 begins, may give some clues about the latest trends. Queen Mary 2 departs for her seven-night Atlantic crossing from Southampton on September 1. The event will be hosted by Dame Zandra Rhodes, who has dressed iconic stars including Jackie Onassis, and style commentator Colin McDowell. There’ll also be a chance to meet designers of the future as postgraduate students from the Royal College of Art will be making the crossing too. Prices start from £1,449pp for an inside state room, based on two sharing, and include meals, return flights and transfers. See cunard.co.uk for details.
TRAPEZE school and ice-skating on the Equator. Seriously? Yes, that’s exactly what Royal Caribbean is offering. Adventure of the Seas leaves San Juan in Puerto Rico on December 3 and cruisers can slide around the onboard ice rink during a seven-night cruise of the southern Caribbean that takes in Antigua, St Lucia, Grenada and Barbados. So that you can discover your inner Torvill or Dean, Royal Caribbean will provide you with skates free of charge. The all-inclusive trip costs from £1,054pp, based on two people sharing. See royalcaribbean.co.uk or call 0844 571 9999.
IF HIKING and biking are more your style, G Adventures has a canal trip from Dijon in Burgundy. During the eight-day trip on the 22-berth barge Daniele, you can sample Puligny Montrachet and Meursault wines in addition to discovering quintessential Burgundian vineyards and villages. Departures on August 5 cost from £1,479 per person, based on two sharing a main-deck twin cabin, and include seven breakfasts, one lunch and five dinners. For further details, see gadventures. co.uk.
HOW about mixing a seven-night cruise in Norway on board P&O’s Britannia while eating dishes from Atul Kochhar, the first Indian chef to be awarded a Michelin star?
As the ship heads from Stavanger to Sognefjord, the longest navigable fjord in the world, and past landscapes of waterfalls and forests, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about Atul’s career, cook alongside him, and then dine together.
The round trip leaves Southampton on August 27 and costs from £649 per person, based on two sharing a cabin, on a full-board basis.
For more details of this and other cruises starring chefs James Martin and Marco Pierre White, visit pocruises.com.