Best cruise deals of the week
WE'VE searched high and low and found five of the best cruise deals this week.
WE TAKE a look at the best cruise deals of the week including a South American package, an Alaskan cruise and an Amazonian riverboat trip.
** Black Sea dream
A 13-NIGHT circumnavigation of the Black Sea aboard the boutique SeaDream I will depart Istanbul on August 17 next year, visiting Nessebar in Bulgaria, Sulina on the Danube Delta in Romania, Odessa, Sevastopol, Yalta (overnight) and Novyi Svit Bay in Ukraine, Sochi in Russia, Batumi (Georgia) and Turkey's Trabzon, Sinop and Amasra before returning to Istanbul.
Prices start at $US10,167 ($9710) a person, twin share. Air travel is additional. SeaDream I has a maximum 112 guests served by 95 crew, with prices including open bars, wines with lunch and dinner, nightly cocktail gatherings, complimentary watersports, fitness centre, golf simulator, mountain bikes for shore excursions and gratuities.
-- Details: See pht.com.au
** See South America
CRUISECO has two fly, cruise and stay packages in South American waters in December this year and January next year. Fly to Fort Lauderdale for a two-night pre-cruise stay then sail for 15 nights to Valparaiso (Santiago, Chile) followed by a six-night post-cruise stay.
Or fly to Santiago for a two-night pre-cruise stay and cruise 15 nights around Cape Horn to Buenos Aires with a four-night post-cruise stay.
Both cruises are on the Celebrity Infinity. Packages include airfare from Sydney to Fort Lauderdale and back to Sydney from Buenos Aires, or from Sydney to Santiago and back from Buenos Aires, transfers between airport, hotel and ship, shipboard gratuities, port charges and government taxes, hotel and air taxes.
Prices start at $7855 a person, twin share, for the Fort Lauderdale start and from $8465 a person for the Santiago start.
-- Details: See cruising.com.au
** Pacific family time
JUMP aboard one of the world's biggest cruise ships, Carnival Spirit, for a family cruise in the Pacific islands, visiting Emerald Bay, Noumea, Lifou and the Isle of Pines.
The nine-night return voyage from Sydney costs from $2755 a family, based on two adults and two children aged 2-11 years. Families can explore Noumea's fascinating culture, sample the fresh seafood and tropical fruit, laze on a beach or simply hang out on Carnival Spirit. Children will love the ship's exhilarating Green Thunder corkscrew water slide and the Splash Zone play area with the Power Drencher tipping bucket.
Carnival Spirit's Circle C club will provide kids with hours of entertainment, including video games, dance parties, late-night movies, karaoke and more.
Other facilities include a mini golf course, sports court and fitness centre, casino, 16 lounges and bars, internet cafe and multiple dining venues.
The offer includes nine nights on Carnival Spirit, all main meals and entertainment on board, port charges and government fees, plus a bonus $100 a cabin to spend on board. Offer valid for sale until April 14 for travel on November 27 this year.
-- Details: Ph 1300 450 133 or see cruiseabout.com.au
** Nieuw look at Med
CRUISE the Mediterranean on board Holland America Line's newest ship, Nieuw Amsterdam, from $83 a person, a day. The 12-night Mediterranean Romance cruise departs Venice on June 17 this year and visit the ports of Dubrovnik, Corfu, Argostoli, Santorini, Catania, Sicily, Naples, Italy, Rome, Livorno and Barcelona. Prices start at $999 a person, twin share.
-- Details: Ph 1300 857 037 or see traveltheworld.com.au
** Sample Alaska
HOLLAND America Line has a Denali Sampler Tour, where guests sail from Vancouver and enjoy scenic cruising throughout Alaska's Inside Passage before calling at Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay.
Park Service rangers narrate as guests enjoy a full day of scenic cruising in Glacier Bay. Guests then are transferred to Denali National Park for a day's expedition before boarding the McKinley Explorer train bound for Anchorage. Rates start at $899 a person based on double occupancy.
-- Details: Ph 1300 987 322 or see hollandamerica.com.au
** Go Amazonian
EXPLORE the Amazonian rainforest from the comfort of a riverboat on a cruise on the Maranon River in Peru. The tour departs Lima, Peru, monthly from April to October this year and costs from $1999 a person, twin share, with eight nights' accommodation three in Lima, five on the cruise 18 meals, English-speaking guide, shore excursions and transfers.
Offer valid until April 30. The riverboat La Turmalina takes 30 passengers in airconditioned cabins with ensuites. After air and coach transfers from Lima, the cruise leaves Nauta to visits places such as Yanayaquillo and Pucate in a region home to Amazon River dolphin, giant otters, the Amazonian manatee, giant water lilies, toucans and macaws.
-- Details: Ph 1330 813 391 or see railandcruise.com.au