Sail of the century

WHETHER it's a voyage through glacier-carved valleys or a sun-drenched sail of the Mediterranean, set sail with these ocean cruise deals.

WHETHER it's a voyage through glacier-carved valleys or a sun-drenched sail of the Mediterranean, set sail on your own adventure with these ocean cruise deals.

Beginning in Sydney on May 15 is a 12-night fly-cruise Baltic Capitals Tour that, priced from $4650pp twin share, includes air fare, transfers and a week-long cruise aboard MSC Opera.

Port charges and porterage are also included, along with two nights in Copenhagen (dinner on one night) and half-day tour of the Danish capital. The round trip from Copenhagen visits Sweden's Visbi and Stockholm, the Finland capital of Helsinki, Russia's St Petersburg, and Kiel in Germany.

Details: Call 1300 028 502.

North to Alaska

Glacier-carved valleys, rugged coastlines, spectacular ice towers and amazing wildlife are waiting on a seven-night cruise of Alaska from Escape Travel.

Cruising aboard Carnival Spirit from Anchorage to Vancouver through the Inside Passage, the ship visits Ketchican, Juneau, Skagway and Sitka. It also sails to Prince William Sound, College Fjord and Lynn Canal.

Prices start at $4089pp twin share from Sydney, including air fares, air taxes and a night in Anchorage.

Details: Call 1300 799 783.

Dream ports

For a plush seven-day sail with plenty of inclusions, SeaDream Yacht Club's mega-motor cruisers SeaDream I or SeaDream II have programs for both the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Each has only three passenger decks of between 16 and 22 staterooms; a maximum 55 couples are served by 95 crew.

Sailings in the Mediterranean are from May to October; the vessels move to the Caribbean from November to April.

Prices include gourmet dining, drinks from the bars, wine with lunch and dinner, cocktail parties, power, sail watersports and 35-course golf simulator, fitness centre and gratuities. There is also an optional-cost spa and a casino.

Seven-night sailings include some of the most popular ports in the Mediterranean and Caribbean but, because of their size, SeaDream I and II also call at many colourful ports larger cruise ships cannot access.

Fares from $4820 per person twin-share for seven nights in the Caribbean, from $US4968 (about $5520) in the Mediterranean.

Details: Call [phone].

Hawaiian wave

Book early for a 16-night cruise from Sydney to Honolulu in April, 2009 and it will cost $2999pp twin share, including a night after the cruise in the Aqua Waikiki Wave hotel and air fare back to Sydney.

The deal through online travel company Ecruising.travel applies to a sailing aboard Royal Caribbean Line's 78,500-tonne Rhapsody of the Seas which sails from Sydney on April 13, visiting Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, Bora Bora and Moorea in French Polynesia, Tahiti's Papeete, and Lahaina on Maui before reaching Honolulu.

Details: Call 1300 369 848.

Princess package

Another cruise ship is set to be based in Sydney. But it won't arrive until November. The newcomer is Classic International Cruises' refurbished Princess Daphne, which will debut with seven cruises until May, 2009.

Among the voyages is a 10-night Christmas cruise of the South Pacific, priced from $1995pp twin share.

It will be followed by an 11-night New Year's cruise, also to Vanuatu and New Caledonia, from $2365pp twin share.

Barging around

Sit back and relax on a luxury hotel-barge as crew navigate the waterways of France's Burgundy, Provence or Rhone regions in seven-day cruising packages with Tempo Holidays.

Key features include a chef to prepare three meals a day (with drinks), spacious cabins with private bathroom, onboard guide to escort sightseeing excursions (by mini-van or bicycles from onboard the barge) and up to six, eight or 12 passengers per vessel.

Cruises run weekly from April to October, packages from $5946 per person twin share.

Details: Call 1300 558 987.

Orion odyssey

Australian-based Orion Expedition Cruises is marking its third anniversary with savings of up to 10 per cent for selected departures between May 30 and November 30. Itineraries include voyages to Western Australia's Kimberley, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.

Details: Call [phone] or 1300 361012.

Nordic voyages

Bentours' new cruise program has plenty to entice fans to Scandinavia.

The all-year-round Grand Nordic tour, which includes the Norwegian Coastal Voyage, is one of the most popular, operating daily with prices starting at $4670pp twin share from Helsinki for 16 days.

The Gota Canal Steamship Company sails its three vintage ships along the 190km route between Gothenburg and Stockholm.

Four-day prices start at $1760pp in double cabin from Stockholm or Gothenburg.