| Luxury Cruise News | |||
Renowned Egyptian Zahi Hawass is set to join Silversea's World Cruise 2007 as an enrichment lecturer. Hawass is Egypt's secretary general of the Supreme Counsel of Antiques and the man most responsible for bringing the King Tut exhibition to the United States this past year. He is slated to host a series of presentations aboard the Silver Shadow as the ship journeys from Dubai to Alexandria from April 12, to 27, 2007. For over thirty years, Hawass has dedicated himself to the excavation and conservation of many of Egypt's most important monuments and antiques. Included among his many discoveries are the tombs of the pyramid builders found at the Giza Plateau, in the shadow of the great pyramids, and the Valley of the Golden Mummies at Bahariya Oasis. He has received numerous international awards for his work, including a First Class Award of Art and Science, one of Egypt's highest awards for his work. This was presented to him in honor of the archaeologists work on the Sphinx restoration project.
Maintaining its commitment to rich destination experiences, Crystal Cruises released their collection of ultra-luxury itineraries for the Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity in 2007. Itineraries range in length from seven to one hundred and nine days, including the cruise lines 12th annual World Cruise. New for 2007 will be a return to a season cruising Asia, a call in Israel for the first time since 1999, Antarctica, more seven day cruises than ever before, more overnight stays, an emphasis on ore ports per cruise, and eight maiden calls in Chile, Norway, Vietnam, Tunisia, Lithuania, Mozambique, Mexico, and Russia. The Crystal Serenity will begin 2007 with a tropical seven night Caribbean voyage before setting sail on her world cruise. The world cruise can be booked in its entirety, but is also being sold as seven separate segments. From there, the ship will spend late spring into fall cruising several different Eastern and Western Mediterranean itineraries. Come late fall the Serenity will cross over the Atlantic and operate Panama Canal and Caribbean itineraries through winter. The Crystal Symphony will begin 2007 with four Panama Canal cruises and two Mexican Riviera cruises, followed by a Trans-Pacific cruise that stations the ship in Asia. Upon the arrival of summer, the Crystal Symphony will travel through the Suez Canal for a Middle Eastern voyage, followed by a Western Europe cruise from Rome. The ship will then spend the remainder of the summer in Northern Europe as it sets sail on a series of Baltic cruises. During the fall, the ship will make a transatlantic crossing and sail Canada/New England. A Panama Canal cruise takes the ship back to the West Coast where it will celebrate the holidays with a Mexican Riviera itinerary.
The Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity will be visiting seventy ports of call in twenty-seven countries on thirty different itineraries for the Europe season in 2006. From May through November, Crystal Cruises is showcasing the best of the Mediterranean and Northern Europe with more seven night departures, new maiden ports of call, and more overnight stays in some of Europe's most captivating cities. Complementing the majority of the ten to fourteen day cruises in Europe are the new seven day cruises Crystal will be sailing to the Mediterranean and the Baltic. New ports of call include stops in Ayr and Troon, Scotland, Tripoli, Libya; Gijon, Spain; Trieste, Italy; Spitzbergen, Norway; LaRochelle, France; and Riga, Latvia. Prices for Europe itineraries start from just under two thousand per person and early booking fares are still available for many sailings.
Silversea cruises has pulled out all the stops this year with their new and expanded Mediterranean season. The nearly forty cruises being offered from March to November offer perhaps the most diverse collection of itineraries that Silversea has ever had in the Mediterranean. The Silver Cloud, Silver Wind, and Silver Whisper will call at ninety distinctive destinations in over twenty countries. The untapped travel regions of Lebanon, Libya, and Syria are some of Silversea's newest destinations. The cruise line is offering nine cruises to Libya and six to Lebanon and Syria. From the ancient Greek outpost of Palmyra in the Syrian Desert, to the Roman ruins at Libya's Leptis Magna and the ancient Baalbeck acropolis in Lebanon, these new and unconventional destinations offer exceptional opportunities for guests to discover great historical treasures and a rich cultural diversity. A trio of exclusive new flight seeing adventures are now being offered as optional shore excursions that highlight the captivating countryside of Italy. Guests can now hop onto a hot-air balloon and float over the romantic Tuscan hillsides when they stop in Livorno during their cruise. Guests stopping in Venice can now board a private helicopter and set off to take a journey to the mighty Dolomites, Italy's spectacular mountain range. From Sorrento, guests can also travel by helicopter to discover the natural beauty of the Gulf of Naples, Sorrento, and Amalfi Coast. For additional information on Silversea's Mediterranean cruises or other Silversea itineraries contact us today.
Seabourn gets best in its class...again (1/30/06)
The all suite luxury yachts of Seabourn have done it again as the Seabourn Spirit has claimed the highest rated small ship in the world according to the sixth annual Conde Naste Traveler Reader's Poll. The luxury ship was awarded the same honors in the 2003 and 2005 polls. Sister ships Seabourn Legend and Seabourn Pride also received accolades as they finished with an admirable eighth and ninth finish in the same Conde Naste poll. "This is an especially exciting honor this year," said Deborah L. Natansohn, Seabourn's President, "because all three Seabourn yachts have been refurbished in dry-docks in the last three months, with significant upgrades that guests will definitely enjoy in 2006. Obviously Conde Naste Traveler's readers loved the ships over the last year, but just wait until they see them now!" Big names headline Crystal's Wine and Food Festival (2/7/06)
Some of the biggest and hottest names in food will be participating in Crystal Cruises' 10th annual Wine and Food Festival at sea. Suzanne Goin of Lucques', Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys', La Pergola's Heinz Beck amongst others will be joining iconic Master Chefs Andre Soltner, Anton Mosimann, and newcomer Hiroyuki Sakai known as the Iron Chef French on the popular TV series Iron Chef. Celebrating a decade of success the best in culinary industry will be paired with the finest names in wine to host cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, and gala dinners spotlighting the signature cuisine of each guest chef. Complementing each itinerary is a mouth watering collection of culinary-themed Crystal Adventures shore tours- from private cooking lessons in Florence and Monte Carlo to wine excursions at Bordeaux's renowned chateaus, and even a wine lesson with the Italian Association of Sommeliers in Rome. Twelve unique and diverse itineraries aboard both the Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity will be host to this fabulous festival. The 2006 Wine and Food Festival series features voyages of eleven to nineteen nights throughout the Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Seas, South America, Australia, Egypt, the Panama Canal and Mexico. Cunard unleashes new perks for pets (2/21/06)
In what apparently has been a growing trend for Cunard Cruisers, Cunard Line will be rolling out new pet perks for those guests traveling with their pets. The cruise line just enhanced its 'Pets on Deck' program, including adding services and amenities such as fresh-baked biscuits at turn down, a choice of beds and blankets, and even a Queen Mary 2 logo coat. Queen Mary 2's kennel program is overseen by a full time kennel master who takes care of feeding, walking, and cleaning the ship's twelve kennels. As part of the program, dogs and cats also receive a complimentary gift pack featuring a QM2 logo coat, frisbee, nametag, food dish, and scoop. In addition a complimentary portrait is offered to the owner of themselves with their beloved pet. Other perks include an assortment of toys, cat posts and scratchers, and a selection of top branded premium pet foods. Seabourn teams up with Conde' Nast (2/22/06)
Luxury specialists Seabourn Cruise Lines will be teaming up with Conde? Nast Traveler to provide their guests with exclusive, up to date information about what's new, what's hot, and what's trendy in various ports of call gathered from the pages of the magazine. The innovative complimentary service will be introduced in April 2006, when the line's three all-suite ships begin their European cruising season. Named "Conde? Nast Traveler's Seabourn Insider Tips", the service will provide expert information from one of the worlds most influential travel magazines, highlighting recommended attractions, suggested lunch spots, popular bars, unique experiences, shopping tips and more, produced in the form of easy to carry flyers. The Seabourn Insider Tips service is designed to augment the menu of exclusive shore excursions offered by the line in every port of call, and to offer reliable intelligence for guests who wish to customize their own port activities through the ships' onboard concierge services. The initial editions of Conde? Nast Traveler's Seabourn Insider Tips will include information on twenty eight European ports of call. Windstar offers 'Cuisine of Love' (2/28/06)
Windstar cruises is serving up a romantic dinner for two using ingredients legendary for their powers. Cuisine de l'Amore will be served via room service only and will be available year round on the Windstar and Windspirit. The Windsurf will begin serving the menu later in the year. The Cuisine de l'Amore romance menu offers a choice of appetizer, soup, choice of salad, and entree, finished with a dessert; all used to set the mood for the ultimate romantic atmosphere. Windstar is a romantic couples-oriented cruise line," says Diane Moore, Windstar's vice president of marketing and sales. "We want to offer unique experiences to enhance couples' times together and a romantic dinner served in the privacy of their stateroom will be one more- and a fun way to reconnect!" Seabourn keeps Chef Palmer onboard for delectable reasons (3/1/06)
Seabourn Cruise Line has secured the services of renowned chef Charlie Palmer to design hundreds of new signature recipes for cuisine to be served in the exclusive, single seating restaurants aboard all of Seabourn's yachts. Palmer will create dinner menus for a twenty eight day cycle to allow for cruises of various lengths and for guests to cruise back to back with culinary variety. because the Seabourn yachts only carry 104 couples and have attracted highly skilled chefs, the ships' single seating restaurants are capable of producing cuisine that Gourmet Magazine cited as "consistently excellent." The three year agreement between Seabourn and Chef Palmer call for the chef to create a wide array of signature dishes of hot and cold appetizers, hot and cold soups and entrees, as well as vegetarian entrees, low-fat, low calorie options for the line's celebrated Simplicity Offerings and desserts. Renowned artist to sail aboard Windstar (3/6/06
Renowned artist Dale Chihuly will be sailing aboard the Windsurf's voyage from Rome to Nice departing June 11, 2006. Chihuly, who is best known for his glass artwork will be traveling with his family and be interacting with guests in a variety of ways throughout the cruise. guests will be invited to see the artist in action all cruise long as he will be painting five works of art while on board. All paintings will actually be done pier side as the ship makes it routing ports of call. One of the completed works will be auctioned off onboard with proceeds going towards the charity of Chihuly's choice. Dale Chihuly is scheduled to host a cocktail reception with all guests being invited to attend. Ports of call on this cruise include Rome, Porto Vecchio, Portoferraio, Livorno, Portofino, Monte Carlo and Nice. The ship will overnight in Livorno and Monte Carlo to allow guests more time for shoreside exploration and dinner ashore should they decide to. Details on Cunard's new 'Queen' (3/7/06)
The first details regarding Cunard Lines's new build, Queen Victoria have recently been released. The liner set for delivery in December of 2007 has some very exciting and innovative features that are not only new to Cunard, but also new to cruising. Queen Victoria will still offer all the classic characteristics that have become associated with the company's unique liner heritage. New features include private viewing boxes in the ships Royal Court Theatre, a two story wood-paneled library with a spiral staircase and two full time librarians overseeing a collection of six thousand books. Al Fresco dining will now be available for the Grill restaurants in an exclusive outdoor patio called "The Courtyard.? Also for Grill guests, an upper Grills Terrace which serves as a secluded retreat for sunning and relaxing. Also to be found onboard are features like the floating museum called "Cunardia? that will display historic nautical memorabilia with an adjacent Cunardia shop, as well as a grand conservatory named Winter Garden in which there will be a retractable roof that will open exposing the sky.
Availability on the Queen Victoria's maiden voyage is already gone, but there is still space on the 2nd and third voyages. Call us for more details. Crystal takes world cruise excursions online (3/8/06)
With interest in world cruising at an all time high, Crystal Cruises has taken the initiative and made the shore excursions for the 2007 World Cruise available for viewing online. All 257 Crystal Adventures for the Crystal Serenity's 109 day world voyage can now be viewed completely online. The option to purchase and reserve excursions should be available by the beginning of April. of the 257 Crystal Adventures forty one are brand new, showcasing active and authentic enrichment, including a helicopter adventure over Israel to Jerusalem or a journey by boat to Palm Island; the world's largest man-made islands under construction off the coast of Dubai. An expanded roster of one to four night adventures showcase the best of treasured destinations and acclaimed properties, such as the award winning African safari lodges Singita and Mala Mala. Crystal Cruises' 12th annual World Cruise travels from Miami to Southampton exploring forty-five ports of call in twenty seven different countries departing January 12, 2007. |
|||
To speak with a Luxury Vacation Specialist
(877) 563-7148
