Cruise Deals

Here's a magic deal - a 10-night Mediterranean cruise on Disney Magic for just £799 per person. That's a reduction of £1,900 on the original fare. What's more, children under 17 go free, and there's $25 per cabin on-board credit, which should pay for a few ice creams at least. Cruise from Barcelona to Valletta, Tunis, Naples, Civitavecchia (for Rome) la Spezia, Ajaccio and Villefranche. The fare, based on two adults sharing an inside cabin, includes return flights to Barcelona, departing May 5, 2010. Go to www.iglucruise.com or cal 020 8544 6447. Get away to the Red Sea for the [...]

Bill Gibbons, director of the UK's Passenger Shipping Association, must have liked what he saw on board Oasis of the Seas in Florida last week, because he is now predicting that a record number of Brits will take cruise holidays in 2010. He expects the number - which has outpaced growth in all other holiday sectors - to rise another 6.5 per cent, to 1.65 million next year. Helping to fuel that increase are some of the special offers listed here. Cunard are offering savings of up to £300 per person on crossings between Southampton and New York aboard the [...]

Ever wanted to go on a world cruise, but could not afford the time or the money? Then how about a segment of one of those grand voyages - such as this week's offer from Fred Olsen's Balmoral, starting at just over £83 per night for a 28-day holiday. Fly from Gatwick on February 5 to join the ship in San Francisco and your first great thrill will be sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge as the ship heads for Hawaii to call at the ports of Hilo, Lahaina and Honolulu. Then it's off to Apia in Samoa and Suva [...]

Oasis of the Seas has been grabbing the headlines this week, as the largest cruise ship in the world made a brief visit to the UK en route to Florida, from where it will be sailing year-round to the Caribbean. The 220,000-ton ship - 40 per cent bigger than its nearest rival - will be named at a lavish ceremony in Fort Lauderdale on November 30. Surprisingly, there are still cabins available for the maiden four-day cruise sailing on December 1 and calling at Royal Caribbean's private resort of Labadee, on the island of Haiti. Whether it's because of the [...]

Book a Caribbean cruise with Ocean Village this weekend and receive £150 per couple on-board credit to spend on excursions, spa treatments, or just to top up the bar tab. Between November and March the original Ocean Village ship will sail from Barbados to a mix of classic and off the beaten track islands including St Lucia, Antigua and the British Virgin islands. Prices for two week sailings start from just £1,249pp including flights, transfers, on-board dining and evening entertainment. OV - billed as the cruise line for people who don't do cruises - has a new Caribbean Action Ashore [...]

The best cruise deals aren’t always the last-minute offers – plan ahead for these great deals. * Explore the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea on a 17-day trip with Voyages of Discovery, starting with a flight to Mombasa in Kenya on March 30. Board the MV Discovery and sail to the Seychelles. Then it’s on to Yemen, before a final call at Safaga in Egypt, where there’s time for an excursion to Luxor before the flight back to the UK on April 15. Fares start at £1,295. Details at www.voyagesofdiscovery.co.uk or telephone 0845 017 1814. * Fred Olsen’s Balmoral [...]

Explore the ancient empires of Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Italy on a 14-night cruise aboard the boutique-style ship Azamara Quest, departing from Athens on October 31 and visiting Kos, Istanbul, Ephesus, Fethiye, Antalya, Sorrento and Rome. Prices (two sharing) start at £810 pp, not including flights. Available through the Leading Cruise Agents Alliance, www.thelca.com or call 0870 122 5115 There's lively entertainment on the cosmopolitan Costa Concordia, sailing from the Italian port of Savona to Naples, Palermo, Tunis, Barcelona and Marseilles. Cruise-only fares for the seven-night voyage, departing November 1, start at £429 pp, based on two sharing an inside [...]

Take a short half-term break with a five-day cruise on Royal Caribbean's Navigator Of The Seas, sailing from Malaga to Tenerife and Madeira. Fares start at £426 per person (two sharing). Return flights to Malaga, leaving on October 25 are not included. Go to www.royalcaribbean.co.uk or call 0844 493 2061. The cruise-only fares for a 13-night voyage from Canada to Florida on board the aptly named Costa Atlantica start at just £498 per person. The cruise departs Quebec on October 25 and calls at Boston, New York and Bermuda before arriving in Fort Lauderdale. Go to www.costacruises.co.uk or call 0845 [...]