Cruise Deals

Celebrity Equinox was launched on Thursday at a lavish ceremony in Southampton performed by Daily Mirror Pride of Britain winner Nina Barough, founder of the Walk the Walk cancer charity.You can sail on the Equinox next month for just £1,039pp (cruise-only), departing Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) on September 13. The 13-night voyage visits Naples, Athens, Rhodes, Kusadasi in Turkey, Haifa in Israel (for Galilee and Nazareth, Ashdod (for Jerusalem and Bethlehem) and Alexandria in Egypt. Flights are extra and can be booked through the Leading Cruise Agents Alliance. www.thelca.com, 0870 122 5115 Take a six-night Transatlantic crossing to New [...]

Sail with TV's Saturday Kitchen chef James Martin on Ocean Village this summer as he launches a new menu in the cruise ship's Bistro restaurant. Watch him demonstrate spicy crab and saffron linguini with chilli oil, or rack of lamb with Provençal vegetables. Fly from Gatwick to the ship in Palma, Majorca, for a seven-day cruise to Tunis, Naples, Livorno (for Florence and Pisa), Monte Carlo and Ajaccio, returning to Palma for a flight home. August 18 departure from £749 per person, or September 15 from £745, including flights, transfers, buffet dining, entertainment and a nursery. Bistro dining is extra. [...]

My colleague GILL WILLIAMS has compiled a Top 10 of the best family cruise deals available. Take a look: Free kids clubs and the ability to pay up front for meals make cruising a winning holiday solution for families all at sea in the credit crunch. And by shopping around you might even bag a free cruise for the children this year. That's because shipping lines are anxious to pipe aboard a new generation of sailors, believing that once bitten with the cruise bug you're forever smitten. Most lines don't charge for tots under two and several are offering free [...]

Need a good laugh? Then take a holiday. A survey of British families has discovered that a week away in the sun generates almost as much laughter as we normally get at home in two months. Apparently we laugh an average of 14 times a day in our normal surroundings - although I swear I heard more than that today as my son received a succession of sick Michael Jackson emails. On holiday we generate 100 belly-busting laughs a day, probably as a result of dads wearing Speedos, and mums trying to pretend that last year's bikini still fits. Not [...]

www.cruise118.com or call 0800 280 2614 Cruise118 is offering a 14-night Mediterranean cruise on board the Ocean Village from just £599. Departing from Palma on June 2, the ship calls at La Goulette, Civitavecchia (Rome), Genoa, St Raphael, Palamos, Palma, La Goulette, Naples, Livorno, Villefranche and Ajjacio before returning to Palma. www.bestcruisedeal.co.uk Departing on June 10 from Harwich, a 14-night cruise to Russia and Scandinavia costs £799 per person. Itinerary highlights include Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallinn and Oslo. Price includes 14-nights' accommodation on the Jewel Of The Seas in an inside cabin. A 14-night cruise to the Mediterranean [...]

If you're one of those people who like to book your cruise early, then this is your week, with new brochures from P&O, Princess and Thomson all going on sale. When Azura joins the fleet in April, P&O will have seven ships sailing from the UK. Thomson, Britain's biggest tour operator, will be running three ships in the Mediterranean, and have also taken control of Island Cruises' one remaining vessel, Island Star. Princess, whose ships and style are similar to P&O but with an American accent, will have three ships sailing out of the UK, from the 670-passenger Ocean Princess [...]

A seven-night cruise on the NCL Norwegian Gem including an outside cabin and flights is available from £829. Leaving Barcelona on May 3, the ship calls at Valletta, Naples/ Pompeii, Civitavecchia (Rome), Livorno and Cannes before returning to the Catalan capital. There is also a nine-night cruise on board the Costa Mediterranea from £759. Departing from Savona on May 4, the ship calls at Malaga, Cadice, Lisbon, Vigo, Le Havre, Dover and Amsterdam. Visit www.cruise118.com or call 0800 280 2614. -Sail from Vancouver on May 24 on a seven-night cruise from £999. The ship calls at Sitka, Hubbard Glacier, Juneau [...]