Wine Experts To Lead Six Silversea Voyages

Silversea Cruises has chosen renowned wine experts Lyn Farmer and Richard Nurick to host a Wine Series enrichment programme on six voyages this year.

On each wine-themed cruise, discerning travellers with a passion for fine wines will enjoy sampling great vintages and learning about the tradition and art of wine-making in special tastings and lectures. Depending on the itinerary, guests may also have the chance to explore some of the world's most celebrated wine regions on optional guided shore excursions.

The following Wine Series voyages will be hosted by Lyn Farmer: 

Voyage 3203: Silver Shadow departs Auckland February 4 on a 19-day sailing to Fremantle (Perth) with calls in Napier, Wellington, Picton, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Port Lincoln, and Albany. Fares start at £6,599.

Voyage 4210: Silver Whisper departs Monte Carlo May 1 on a 12-day sailing to Southampton with calls in Palma de Mallorca, Cadiz, Portimao, La Coruña, Bilbao, Bordeaux and Le Verdon. Fares start at £3,899. 

Voyage 1220: Silver Cloud departs London August 13 on a 14-day sailing to Monte Carlo with calls in Saint-Malo, Bordeaux, Bilbao, Lisbon, Cadiz, Malaga and Sete. Fares start at £4,999.

Voyage 1232: Silver Cloud departs Buenos Aires December 22 on a 16-day sailing to Valparaiso (Santiago) with calls in Montevideo, Punta del Este, Puerto Madryn, Stanley (Falkland Islands), Punta Arenas, Laguna San Rafael, Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Montt. Fares start at £6,199.

Richard Nurick will host the following: 

Voyage 4220A: Silver Whisper departs Southampton July 26 on a nine-day sailing to Lisbon with calls in Bordeaux, St. Jean de Luz, Bilbao, Gijon, La Coruña and Vigo. Fares start at £3,899

Voyage 4220B: Silver Whisper departs Lisbon August 4 on a nine-day sailing to Southampton with calls in Oporto (Leixoes), Bilbao, Bordeaux, Saint-Malo and Honfleur. Fares start at £3,899. 

All fares are per person, based on double occupancy for a Vista Suite. Silver Savings is a capacity-controlled programme and subject to availability.

For booking details, be sure to check out this link with the UK's luxury cruise specialists, The Cruise Line Ltd.

Try Moorish Heritage With Sea Cloud II

For pure spectacle, it doesn’t come much more eye-catching and, indeed, genuinely original than Sea Cloud Cruises’ fleet of luxury tall ships. And Sea Cloud II is featuring a great-value 8-day “Moorish Heritage” cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona calling at cultural cities such as Seville, Granada and Valencia from just £1,596.

The voyage departs from the Portuguese capital on May 4 and also calls at Portimao on the Algarve and Motril in Southern Spain (for access to Granada and Seville), as well as Palma de Mallorca.

Some say this is a more intellectual cruise as the trips revolve around pleasant social gatherings with a casual and relaxed informal lifestyle of the 64 guests on board. But what you really have here is customised travel at the luxury level which has been consistently refined over the years.

For more information, visit http://www.seacloud.com/ or check with the luxury and adventure-cruise specialists of The Cruise Line.

Agatha Christie Meets Fred Olsen!

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ Easter cruise to Iberia and Morocco, aboard Balmoral, will be something special. To celebrate the 120th anniversary of the birth of legendary author Agatha Christie, the cruise is being completely themed in conjunction with Agatha Christie Limited.

A highlight of this ArtsClub theme – Fred Olsen’s programme of special interests on board – will be talks and lectures on Christie and her work from exclusive guests, including her grandson Mathew Prichard, who will enthral the audience with personal memories of his grandmother.

Julius Green, producer at the Agatha Christie Theatre Company, will also be on hand to discuss the great crime writer with guests. In addition, there will be live performances of some of Christie’s rarely-heard 30-minute radio plays.

A special extra attraction can now be revealed – the chance to sample the exclusive ‘Delicious Death’ cake. This cake was specially created by Jane Asher to celebrate the 120th birthday and re-creates a deadly cake that featured in Christie’s 50th novel, A Murder is Announced (1950). In this novel, the victim has indulged in a birthday tea that includes the rich and decadent chocolate cake, before she is found dead from poisoning - although, of course, the Fred Olsen version will be entirely poison-free!

The cruise is of 10 nights, departing from Southampton on April 23. Ports of call are La Coruna (Spain), Casablanca (Morocco), Gibraltar, Portimao (Portugal) and Lisbon (Portugal), returning to Southampton. Prices are from £980 per person, based on two adults sharing an inside twin cabin, Grade ‘G’. The price includes accommodation, all meals and entertainment on board, and port taxes. There is no additional charge for taking part in The ArtsClub’s ‘Agatha Christie’ theme.

More details can be found at www.fredolsencruises.com/ or from cruise agent specialists The Cruise Line Ltd.

All Aboard with the Archers.

By guest blogger Steve Newman

Fans of the BBC's classic long-running radio soap opera The Archers will get a treat in 2011, when Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines hosts two Archers-themed voyages as part of its popular programme of special-interest cruises, The ArtsClub. Archers aficionados will get the chance to mingle with their favourite cast members from the long-running show, whilst cruising around the beautiful Mediterranean.

Various Archers cast members will be on board both cruises. They will be available to chat to at the Captain’s Welcome Cocktail Party and will perform a 'mock' recording whilst on board - complete with all the rural sound effects fans have come to associate with this much-loved show!
Balmoral departs from Southampton on a 10-night Easter cruise on April 23, 2011, calling at La Coruna, Casablanca, Gibraltar and Portimao (where she anchors), before returning to Southampton. Prices for this cruise start at £1,014pp, based on two adults sharing an inside twin-bedded cabin. The price includes all meals and entertainment on board, plus port taxes.

The Balmoral cruise also offers the supporting ArtsClub theme of Wine, where guests can learn more about wines from around the world, and discover the onboard expert’s recommendations.

Black Watch departs from Dover on September 12, 2011 for a 13-night cruise around the Western Mediterranean, taking in Cadiz, Almeria, Ibiza, Mahon, Palma and Lisbon, before returning to Dover. Prices for this cruise start at £1,392pp, based on two adults sharing an inside twin-bedded cabin. The price includes all meals and entertainment on board, plus port taxes.

The Black Watch cruise also offers keen golfers a dedicated package, Flagship Golf, providing the ideal opportunity to play on some of the finest courses in the region whilst relaxing in the comfort of Fred. Olsen's classic liner. The cost for this package is £375 per golfer.

Find out more at http://www.fredolsencruises.co.uk/ or through specialist cruise travel agents The Cruise Line Ltd.