Cruise News - December 2009

What's the News for 2010...and the delights of Costa Rica

December 2009 ‘Cruise News’ from Mundy Cruising - the leading UK specialist in international, quality cruising, tailor-making luxury holidays to suit the needs of the discerning customer. Of the comprehensive travel destination features, ship reports, industry news columns and comment from Mundy’s knowledgeable Managing Director Edwina Lonsdale, content highlights this month include:

 

News in Brief and Much More (Cruise News pages 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8):

** Silver Spirit, the new addition to the Silversea fleet, will operate new dining option SEISHIN, specialising in Asian fusion cuisine, featuring a round chef’s table as a centrepiece, where guests can watch the chefs at work.

** Always innovative, Crystal Cruises is launching an inspired collection of 2010 Experiences of Discovery themed cruises, with a special interest focus. These will include: Science & Technology, Mind, Body & Spirit, a Film and Theater Festival and the Comprehensive Creative Learning Institute.

** As well as a range of themed cruises on offer for its fleet’s Summer 2010 programme – Jazz, Golf, Music and Haute Cuisine - chic, French cruise line Compagnie du Ponant’s new yacht Le Boreal and its inaugural season voyages are featured in the brochure for the first time. 

** This year has seen the purchase of Island Sky by Noble Caledonia. In May 2010 she will undergo a substantial refit, though the character of the vessel will remain the same. All areas will be upgraded, the cabins will remain spacious and the wood panelling retained, with new feature and new colour schemes in the public areas.   Importantly from May 30, 2010 fares will include wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner and gratuities for the crew.

** Also new for 2010, Aegean Odyssey - to be operated in the Mediterranean by Gerry Herrod - has also been refurbished, enlarging existing cabins and creating new ones.   The itineraries are port-intensive and the programme of voyages have been created with the involvement of popular historian John Julius Norwich.

** Bookable through Mundy Cruising, journeys aboard a new luxury train in India! The Maharajas Express, operating for Royale Indian Rail Tours Ltd. will take passengers in style from Mumbai to Delhi and from Delhi to Kolkata. As with cruising, travellers can explore northern India with the luxury of only unpacking once, yet en route, having all the time in the world to enjoy and appreciate each destination. All itineraries feature a visit to the entrancing Taj Mahal and at each stop sightseeing tours with outstanding guides are laid on.

** Under new management, the Hebridean Princess remains a very special cruise experience. With just 49 passengers, so one of the smallest cruise ships afloat, her 2010 programme will operate from the Scottish home port of Oban on four, or nine night sailings to the West Coast of Scotland and the Western Isles, the Orkneys, the Shetlands and Northern Ireland. A range of “footloose” itineraries will prove very popular with keen walkers.

** In 2010 Star Clipper will withdraw from Tahiti, leaving the 330-guest Paul Gauguin as the only small cruise ship operating in the region (with the exception of the tiny Bora Bora Cruises yachts). The South Sea islands of French Polynesia are truly paradise and what better way to visit them than on this exclusive ship. The hotels in this part of the world do tend to be expensive, so a Paul Gauguin cruise really does offer a value for money holiday. Mundy Cruising can advise on the best fight routes to consider.

 

** Destination Focus – Costa Rica (Cruise News pages 10-11)

There are so many reasons to visit Costa Rica but particularly on a cruise – the ships can stop in all the wonderful places that are remote and difficult to access by land. Discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502, the small country is plentiful in terms of wildlife, flora and fauna. The national parks are world renowned amongst ecologists; and the rain forests, found just inside the coastline, continue up into the mountain ranges, with their rivers and waterfalls.  There are also miles and miles of beaches, with warm waters, a diver’s paradise and a haven for surfers and snorkellers.

A combination of cruise and land would make an ideal choice and Mundy Cruising would recommend sailing with Star Clippers, or Windstar Cruises.

For cruise reservations and news of the latest offers, contact Mundy Cruising:

Tel: 020 7734 4404; website: www.mundycruising.co.uk

For further press information, please contact:

Jill Faulds, JF Associates, Telephone: 01795 890100; E-mail: jill@jfapr.co.uk

 

 

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