Cruise Destinations

Temperatures in the 80s and sunsets every evening; just two of the things I've had to get used to this week after my Quest for Adventure cruise to Svalbard. They have not erased memories of a wonderful journey to a stunning region. I love the Norwegian fjords and Alaska, but Spitsbergen - with its glaciers and snow-covered peaks, an abundance of whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds - beats them all. I was fortunate to travel to the region when I did; new regulations and restrictions will limit the number of cruise ships allowed in within a couple of years. The [...]

Quest for Adventure in Magdalena Bay, Svalbard It's a bit like boarding a plane. Most people turn right when they step from the air bridge and through the doorway; only a privileged few turn left. With cruise ships, the majority turn right when they leave Southampton or Dover, heading for the Mediterranean or the Canaries. A few turn left, to spend the next few days in the Baltic or the fjords, and in the case of Quest for Adventure this week, even further afield. After a sprint up the Norwegian coast, calling at busy Stavanger, serene Brønnøysund, and remote Leknes [...]

Many of the 1.5 million passengers who start or finish their cruise in Southampton each year (according to the latest figures) choose to spend a night in the city before boarding their ship. It makes for a relaxing beginning to the holiday, especially if the journey started with a flight into the UK or a journey by road, rail or air from elsewhere in Britain. Unfortunately, most of the hotels in the city are less than inspiring, and tend very much towards steerage rather than first class. There are a number of chain hotels, and the four-star option nearest the [...]

Skimming across the waves at 40 mph, I'm togged up in a fluorescent orange survival suit and a self-inflating life-jacket. The wind is tugging at my cheeks as we race down the coast of the Lofoten Islands in remote northern Norway. Twelve of us have left the comfort of cruise ship Quest for Adventure behind for an adventure of our own, riding in a RIB - rigid inflatable boat. It's a soft adventure really. Little more than an hour on the open sea, leaving our mother ship behind in Leknes to take a spin down to a busy fishing village [...]

What's the hottest ticket in the cruise world right now? Maiden voyages on the shiny new Royal Princess, christened last week by the Duchess of Cambridge? The 200th anniversary Transatlantic crossing by Cunard's Queen Mary 2? Oasis of the Seas' first European cruises next year, or the 2014 debut of Quantum of the Seas ? They are all proving popular, but they are being outshone by a number of cruises in March 2015 which will provide a rare opportunity to witness a total eclipse of the sun - from a position just off the Faroe islands - and the possibility [...]