Boudicca takes on the north

Cruise lines frequently boast about the convenience of sailing from UK ports, and it cannot be denied that a departure from Southampton or Dover makes life a lot easier – no airport hassles, no luggage restrictions; just drive up to the terminal and your holiday begins.
That’s fine of you are within easy reach of the south coast, but it’s not so simple if you live further afield. Scots and northerners are faced with either a long drive, an inconvenient rail journey, or an interminable trek by coach.
Which is why it’s good news that Fred Olsen’s Boudicca will be making more departures from regional ports in 2010.
The ship will relocate from Southampton to Liverpool in March next year for a season of cruises to the Canaries, Eastern and Western Mediterranean, Norway and the Baltic before moving to Greenock in June.
Her summer cruises from Greenock visit the Canary Islands, Italy, Norway, and Spitsbergen, after which she repositions again to Leith – or Edinburgh Harbour – in late July.
After two cruises, to the Baltic and Norway, Boudicca moves south to the Port of Tyne in September and from there she cruises to the North Cape, Scandinavia, The Baltic, Norway and around the UK, returning to Southampton in October.
Sales manager Lol Nichols said: “With Black Prince retiring, we did not want to lose our ex-Liverpool and Greenock programmes. The extra capacity of Boudicca – 839 passengers compared to Black Prince’s 412 – means that even with fewer sailings, we can still accommodate a large number of customers from these northern regions.