Holland America Cruise Deals

Unbeatable Europe cruise deals.

Holland America Line, the Europe cruise experts are on sale with incredible offers celebrating 140 years of premium cruising across the globe.

Book your Europe cruise holiday through Travel the World by 29 March and benefit from a range of amazing offers:

§  Exclusive onboard credit of up to $340 per stateroom on select sailings in oceanview staterooms
§  Unbeatable savings fares of less than $130 per day
§  Free onboard bonuses including Bon Voyage Sparkling Wine and Pinnacle Grill dinners
§  Onboard, spacious accommodations, gourmet meals and a wealth of activities combine with timeless elegance, modern amenities, and intuitive service - all adding to your dream cruise holiday!

Itineraries on sale:

11-night Ancient Mysteries, Istanbul to Athens onboard the ms Noordam departing 26 August 2013. Oceanview from $1,499* per person – Receive a $340 per stateroom onboard credit plus FREE Bon Voyage Sparkling Wine and a Pinnacle Grill Lunch for two.

22-night Adriatic and Roman Explorer Collector Voyage, Rome roundtrip onboard the ms Noordam departing 09 October 2013. Oceanview from $3,096* per person – Receive a $340 per stateroom onboard credit plus FREE Bon Voyage Sparkling Wine, Pinnacle Grill Dinner, Pinnacle Grill Lunch and US$ 50 Beverage Card for two.

10-night Gems of the Baltic, Copenhagen roundtrip onboard the ms Eurodam departing 21 May 2013. Inside from $1,499* per person -  Receive a $340 per stateroom onboard credit.

19-night Mediterranean Serenade, Venice to Barcelona onboard ms Nieuw Amsterdam departing 24 September 2013. Inside from $3,199 per person - Receive a $340 per stateroom onboard credit.

These offers are subject to availability and space is limited. Call Travel the World by 29 March on 1300 950 622or visit www.traveltheworld.com.au to secure your stateroom and departure date of choice.

 *Conditions apply. Ask for details at time of booking.

About Silversea Cruises

Silversea Cruises, which is chaired by Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, is recognised as an innovator in the luxury cruise line industry, offering guests large-ship amenities aboard its intimate, all-suite vessels: Silver Cloud, Silver Wind, Silver Shadow, Silver Whisper and Silver Spirit - all designed to offer an atmosphere of conviviality and casual elegance. With the inclusion of the expedition ships Silver Explorer and Silver Galapagos (debuting late 2013), Silversea Cruises' itineraries encompass all seven continents and feature worldwide luxury cruises to both polar regions and over 500 fascinating destinations in between.

In Asia Pacific, Silversea has been voted "Best Luxury Small Ship Cruise Line" by Australia's Luxury Travel & Style Magazine every consecutive year from 2006 to 2012 and Silver Whisper or Silver Shadow have also won the Gold Award as Best Small Cruise Ship in each of those years. Silversea has won similar awards from readers of Australia's Cruise Passenger Magazine. In the US, Silversea has been voted "World's Best" by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler (nine times) and Travel + Leisure (seven times), and awarded "Best Cruise Line for Luxury Small Ships" by Luxury Travel Advisor (2011).

Follow Silversea on Twitter, Facebook and the Silversea Blog.

About Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

Royal Caribbean International is a global cruise brand with 22 innovative ships, calling on more than 270 destinations in 72 countries across six continents. The line also offers unique cruise tour land packages in Alaska, Canada, Dubai, Europe, and Australia and New Zealand. Royal Caribbean provides a world-class holiday experience with a wide range of signature onboard amenities, entertainment, and award-winning family programming. The cruise line has a 40-year history of giving guests the Royal Advantage – the most innovative cruise ships, exciting itineraries to popular destinations, and world-renowned friendly and engaging Gold Anchor Service. Royal Caribbean has been voted “Best Cruise Line Overall” for ten consecutive years in the Travel Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards.

RCL Cruises Ltd Australia commenced operation in December 2008 as the Australian arm of global cruise holiday company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. The company offers three cruise brands in Australia and New Zealand: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises. In 2012/13, Royal Caribbean International will become the largest cruise operator in Sydney, with three ships sailing in the region: Voyager of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas. This is in addition to two Celebrity Cruises ships, Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Millennium.

For additional information or to make reservations, contact your travel agent, call 1800 754 500 or visit www.royalcaribbean.com.au or www.celebritycruises.com.au. Travel professionals can call 1300 754 500 or visit www.cruisingpower.com.

See all posts about Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

Royal Caribbean has Europe on sale for 2013

Enjoying the never ending Aussie summer but dreading the upcoming cooler months?  Why not prolong summer and book a European cruise during the Northern Hemisphere summer.

Royal Caribbean has a number of enticing European cruises on sale for 2013, ranging from a seven-night Greek Isles cruise on Splendour of the Seas, starting from $695* through to  longer cruises, such as a 12-night Mediterranean Greek Isles cruise on Serenade of the Seas, priced from $1,235*.

A Royal Caribbean cruise fare conveniently covers your accommodation, meals including room service, and entertainment, such as live music, comedy and contemporary stage shows.  Whether you are cruising at sea and enjoying rock climbing, mini golf or just relaxing by the pool, or whether you are strolling through some of Europe's legendary cities and experiencing diverse cultures, a Royal Caribbean cruise offers as much fun, excitement or pure relaxation as cruisers want or need.

The seven-night Greek Isles Splendour of the Seas cruises departs from Venice, and calls at Dubrovnik (Croatia), Corfu, Santorini, Athens and Katakolon, (all in Greece) before arriving back in Venice. Regular departures are available from May 18 through to November 1, 2013.

The 12-night Mediterranean Greek Isles cruise, on Serenade of the Seas, has departures from May 19 through to November 3, 2013. The cruise departs from Barcelona, and calls at Cannes, Florence/Pisa, Rome (Citavecchia), Athens (Piraeus), Ephesus, Santorini, Naples before arriving back in Barcelona.

For more information and prices, call 1800 754 500 or visit www.royalcaribbean.com.au 

*Prices are per person in AU dollars, based on twin occupancy and include all taxes (which are subject to change) and onboard gratuities or tips. Prices are subject to change and availability.

Carnival cancels cruises

Carnival cancels a dozen cruises following fleet-wide review

Carnival Triumph passengers take to the decks to escape the conditions inside

Carnival Cruise Lines has cancelled 10 sailings on and two European cruises on Carnival Sunshine as part of its fleet-wide comprehensive operational review prompted by technical problems on three of its ships.

Passengers already booked on the affected cruises will receive full refunds, reimbursement for non-refundable travel costs and a 25% discount on a future cruise.

The cruise line said it was making "significant investments" to enhance the level of operating redundancies and the scope of hotel services that can run on emergency power. Earlier this year, passengers on the Triumph were stranded at sea for five days when the ship lost power.

Carnival Dream and Carnival Legend have subsequently suffered power shortages.

Carnival is also further improving each ship's fire prevention, detection and suppression systems.

"Given the necessary lead time to source needed materials and implement the enhancements, Carnival will extend the current out-of-service period for these two ships," it said.

Carnival Triumph will not return to service until June 3 and Sunshine, which is currently undergoing a multi-week dry dock to complete a comprehensive full-ship makeover, will now enter service on May 5.

"We sincerely regret canceling these cruises and disrupting our guests' vacation plans," said Gerry Cahill, Carnival Cruise Lines' president and CEO. "We are fully committed to applying the recommendations stemming from our fleetwide review and to make whatever investments are needed despite the difficult decision to impact people's vacations.

"Our team of experts has worked virtually around the clock to determine the best set of solutions and rapidly develop an effective implementation plan for both of these ships. Moving forward, we will have the ability to source materials and schedule improvements much more expediently, thus minimizing the scheduling impact on other vessels.

"I would like to provide continued assurances that all of our vessels have fully effective safety systems, equipment and training in place. Additionally, our ships receive regular inspections from the United States Coast Guard and other regulatory authorities.

"The changes we are implementing are focused primarily on improvements to better support continued power and hotel services should unexpected issues arise.

"In addition, we are applying new learnings and making enhancements in the area of fire suppression and extinguishing.

"Going forward, the review will focus on the balance of our fleet. While this process will take time, it is our highest priority and has the full support and resources of Carnival Cruise Lines and Carnival Corporation."

Carnival Triumph operates year-round four- and five-day Mexico cruises from Galveston, Texas. Four-day cruises visit Cozumel while five-day cruises call at Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico.

Carnival Sunshine is scheduled to operate a series of nine- and 12-day Mediterranean cruises May 5 to October 20, either round-trip from Barcelona or sailing between Barcelona and Venice.

The ship will sail on a 16-day transatlantic crossing from Barcelona to New Orleans November 17, positioning the vessel for a special six-day Caribbean cruise followed by the launch of year-round seven-day Caribbean service from New Orleans.

Huge Savings on Basque Country to the Panama Canal Cruise Package

Celebrity Infinity

Big Savings On Transatlantic Cruise

SAVINGS of more than $6000 per person are now available through ecruising.travel on a 41-night voyage on a Celebrity Infinity trans-Atlantic crossing England to the U.S., plus an on-board credit of up to $900 if you book by April 10.

The complete air, land and sea package of 45 nights is now available from $6499 per person twin share and includes return economy air fares with Qantas from all capital cities as well as two nights’ pre-cruise at the St Ermins Hotel in London and two nights in San Diego at the Manchester Grand Hyatt before flying home.

The itinerary departs on October 10 with the cruise departing Harwich and making day visits to Le Havre (Paris) and La Rochelle in France, Bilbao, Vigo and Gijon in Spain before calling at Nassau in the Bahamas and Miami, Florida.

The ship then sails to Colombia and through the Panama Canal to Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico before arriving in San Diego.

The package also includes meals and entertainment aboard the luxurious Celebrity Infinity, plus use of the swimming pools, spas and sauna. Other facilities include fitness centre, extensive library, Fortunes casino, AquaSpa centre and much more.

Transfer, air taxes and port charges are included in the price.

More information from ecruising.travel on 1300 369 848 or check-out www.ecruising.travel

Queen Mary 2 Makes Maiden Visit to Milford Sound

Photo by James Morgan/Cunard

Cunard's magnificent flagship Queen Mary 2 made history on Saturday March 16, becoming the largest ship to visit Milford Sound in New Zealand's stunning World Heritage-listed Fiordland National Park.

Measuring 345 metres long and reaching 62 metres above the water, the 151,400-tonne liner cruised the waters of Milford Sound as part of her maiden circumnavigation of New Zealand.  

Queen Mary 2 is carrying more than 2500 guests on her 12-day journey around New Zealand which will end in Sydney tomorrow (March 19).

Queen Mary 2 remains the biggest  ship to sail to New Zealand.