Big savings on next year’s cruises

Today’s top deal isn’t for one cruise – it’s for dozens of them. P&O have launched an early booking offer with the chance to save up to £1,500 on travel in 2011 on bookings made by the end of this month.
The benefits don’t stop there. As well as the fare discounts, passengers booking by September 30 can claim free parking or coach transfers on departures from Southampton, and on-board spending money of up to £375 per couple.
Pay in full at the time of booking a round-trip cruise from Southampton to qualify for an additional five per cent discount.
Here are the pricings for a sample 14-night cruise from the 2011 brochure, sailing on Arcadia from Southampton to the Mediterranean on March 29, and visiting Barcelona, Toulon, Santa Margherita, Rome, Naples, Alicante and Gibraltar.
Two adults sharing a balcony stateroom will pay £1,684 each, reduced from £2,084, and will each receive £100 on-board credit. The five per cent discount for full payment would reduce the cost to £1,599 each, and 4 nights’ parking – normal cost £136 – would be included free. Total saving per couple: £1,306.
Go to www.pocruises.co.uk or call 0845 3 555 333.
Virgin Cruises have another spectacular deal available for this month only. Book a seven-night Western Caribbean cruise on Norwegian Sun for £899 per person and choose between three separate free extras.
Take your pick from an upgrade to an outside cabin, a three-night hotel stay at Clearwater on Florida’s Gulf coast, or a seven-night stay in Orlando. Based on a November 27 departure, and including return flights; the cruise visits Cozumel, Santo Tomas de Castilla in Guatemala, Belize and Key West . Go to www.virginholidayscruises.co.uk or call 0871 781 9893.
Or start next year with a seven-night cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas combined with three nights in the Four Points hotel on Orlando’s International Drive and three days at Universal Studios. The cruise calls at Labadee, Ocho Rios in Jamaica, Georgetown on Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Fares for a January 6 departure from £1,189. Go to www.iglucruise.com or call 020 8544 6447
Book a six-night voyage to see the Northern Lights with Hurtigruten, and get five nights free. Sail from Bergen on voyages from Bergen between October and December, and instead of disembarking at Kirkenes in the far north of Norway – after visiting 34 ports en route – you can stay on board for the return passage.
Fares start at £941 per person in November and December (£1,042 in October) and there are no single supplements. Flights and excursions are extra and can be booked by Hurigruten. Go to www.hurtigruten.co.uk or call 0844 448 7601.
It’s National Cruise Week later this month, so look out for a special 12-page cruise supplement free with next Saturday’s Daily Mirror.