MSC Cruises in flash winter Canaries sale in UK

MSC Cruises will launch the latest of its popular Flash Sale promotions later this week, slashing the price of its Canary Island cruises for winter 2014/15.

The sale, valid May 16-25, applies to winter sailings featuring the Canaries (November 29 2014 to April 4 2015) aboard MSC Armonia, with seven-night fly-cruises leading in at just£649 per person.

As well as offering market-leading rates, MSC Cruises is offering guests the opportunity toupgrade for free from an inside to outside cabin, as well as including a complimentary all-inclusive Allegrisimo drinks package.

 

This winter’s Canary Islands itineraries will be the first operated by the improved MSC Armonia. This summer the ship will undergo a €50 million enhancement and lengthening programme, which includes the addition of 92 new balcony cabins.

A typical Canary Islands sailing, such as one leaving April 4 2015, departs Las Palmas, Gran Canaria and call at Casablanca , Morocco; Agadir, Morocco; Arrecife, Lanzarote; Santa Cruz, Tenerife and Las. Flash Sale prices lead in at £649 per person (including return flights, free upgrade offer and complimentary drinks package).

Cruise-only prices start at £299 per person.

As with all MSC cruises, kids sail free when sharing with two full-paying adults.

For more information see www.msccruises.co.uk or call 0844 561 1955.

 

 

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Royal Caribbean ushers in summer with up to $400 onboard credit

The care-free days of summer are right around the corner, and Royal Caribbean International is ushering them in with an onboard credit promotion that offers vacationers booking a cruise vacation from May 7- 31 up to a $400 credit.  Excited travelers can choose from any six-night or longer sailing departing to the Caribbean and Bahamas between July 1 and December 31, 2014. For those vacationers looking ahead and booking a holiday season cruise the cruise line is doubling their onboard spending credit. For more details, please visit www.RoyalCaribbean.com/MayWow.

There’s no better way to escape the day-to-day grind and refocus on quality family time than on a Royal Caribbean cruise, where guests will sail aboard the industry’s most innovative ships that offer an expansive array of exciting itineraries. While enjoying their cruise guests can use their bonus spending credit to book an adventurous family shore excursion, a specialty dining experience to celebrate a family milestone, or commemorate the occasion with the perfect family portrait.

The offer applies for all new U.S. and Canadian bookings made from May 7 - 31, 2014, for sailings departing from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2014. Vacationers will receive $50 onboard credit per interior or oceanview stateroom; $100 onboard credit per Jr. suite or stateroom with balcony; and $200 onboard credit per Grand Suite or higher category stateroom.  As an added incentive, the cruise line is also doubling onboard credits up to $400 for all eligible sailings between Dec. 15 and Dec. 31, 2014. The offer is valid fleetwide, excluding Quantum of the Seas.

Vacationers enjoy 50% savings for second guest on Royal Caribbean's 2015-16 sailings

Vacationers can find the best value and the widest stateroom selection when booking a cruise early. With Royal Caribbean International’s “Buy One, Get One 50 Percent Off” promotion, vacationers can enjoy even greater value when they book a cruise that sets sail in 2015 and forward. Guests will sail aboard the industry’s most innovative ships that offer an expansive array of exciting itineraries around the world.

From May 1 through 31, 2014, U.S. and Canadian vacationers will receive 50 percent savings off of the cruise fare for the second guest, booked in the same stateroom with a full-fare guest. The offer applies to new individual and named group bookings in all stateroom categories and sailings departing between January 1, 2015 and April 30, 2016, and excludes Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas, as well as third and additional guests. For more details, please visit.

Fred. Olsen offers free door to door transfers, incentives to singles on selected 2015 cruises

To make cruising with Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines even more attractive in 2015, the cruise line has launched two great offers for cruise guests – ‘no or reduced single supplement’ and ‘free door-to-door transfers’ – applicable on selected cruises from its exciting new 2015/16 cruise programme. These fantastic deals are only available on bookings made up to 30th June 2014.

It can often be difficult for solo travellers to find holidays without incurring sizeable single supplements, so Fred. Olsen is offering no – or 50% off – single supplements* on selected ‘outside twin-bedded’ cabins to destinations including the Canary Islands, Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Iceland and Arctic, Norwegian Fjords, USA and Caribbean.

In addition, on selected longer cruises, Fred. Olsen is also offering guests ‘free door-to-door’ transfers*, for departure ports within 250 miles of a guest’s home. This offer makes the cruising experience with Fred. Olsen even easier; a guest’s holiday will begin as soon as they step out of their front door, and all that they have to do is pack and be ready!

The warmer, more sociable atmosphere on board Fred. Olsen’s ships is perfect for people who are travelling by themselves. Once on board, solo travellers will find exclusive gatherings for them to get to know each other, as well as opportunities to be seated together at dinner and to be partnered with companions when going ashore.

For those solo cruisers who prefer to occupy a single cabin, Fred. Olsen has a number of cabin options available on each of its four ships, covering all grades, from ‘Single Inside’ and ‘Single Outside’ cabins, to ‘Single Balcony Suites’. Overall, the Fred. Olsen fleet has 190 single cabins; Braemar offers 40 such cabins, Black Watch and Boudicca each have 43, and Balmoral has 64.

 

The Fred. Olsen cruises included in the new offers include:

- Balmoral’s nine-night ‘Superbikes & Scenic Hikes’ cruise, L1505, ex Southampton on 31st May 2015. ‘No single supplement’ applicable on selected cabinsPrices start from £1,099 per person.

 

Cruise guests will arrive first in picturesque St. Peter Port, on the island of Guernsey, before stopping inTobermory, a colourful, quaint Scottish town on the Isle of Mull.

Balmoral will then arrive in Kirkwall, capital of the Orkney Islands, where guests will be able to see the eclectic heritage of Christian, Nordic and Celtic influences.

Douglas, on the Isle of Man is the next stop. Fondly referred to as the ‘Rock’ by residents, the Isle of Man is approximately the same size as Ibiza and Singapore, although with a lot fewer people. As well as being the home of motorcycle road-racing, it has many other interesting attractions, including the 1890s Manx Electric Railway, the Great Laxey Wheel – the largest working water wheel in the world – theNautical Museum and Peel Castle.

Balmoral will then dock in the vibrant city of Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, for her final port of call, before arriving back in Southampton.

- Black Watch’s 32-night ‘Caribbean from Scotland’ cruise, W1521, ex Greenock on 10thNovember 2015. ‘No single supplement’ or ‘free door-to-door transfer’ applicable. Prices start from £2,799 per person.

For the first time ever, Fred. Olsen is offering Scottish guests the chance to take a convenient, no-fly cruise to the Caribbean from ‘right on their doorstep’.

The first port of call is Leixoes in Portugal, for trips to Oporto – voted ‘Best European Destination 2014’ by European Consumers Choice – before stopping in Santa Cruz, Tenerife.

Black Watch will then sail to its first visit in the Caribbean – Bridgetown in Barbados, where guests can relax on the sandy bays, sit under a palm tree canopy or visit the historical Chamberlain Bridge and Cheapside Street Markets. Next port of call is St. George's in Grenada, known as the ‘Spice Island’, before Black Watch arrives in Bequia, the second largest island in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

After visiting Castries on the island of St. Lucia – a classic Caribbean resort with white sands, crystal clear waters and a tropical rainforest backdrop – Black Watch cruises onwards to St. Kitts, calling at the island’s capital, Basseterre. Offering a varied collection of shops, bars and restaurants, as well as an array of Georgian architecture, there is plenty for guests to see.

Gustavia in St. Barthelemy is next, before a full day in Philipsburg in St. Maarten. Staying here for an overnight stay, guests will have the opportunity to soak up all that this stunning island has to offer.

Guests will then be able to enjoy the delights of Road Town in Tortola, in the beautiful British Virgin Islands, before a day in St. John’s in Antigua. Black Watch will then stay overnight in Ponta Delgada, in the alluring Azores, before returning to Greenock in Glasgow.

- Boudicca’16-night ‘Mysterious Morocco & Seductive Spain’ cruise, D1524, ex Newcastle on 1stNovember 2015‘No single supplement’ or ‘free door-to-door transfer’ applicable. Prices start from £1,399 per person.

 

Boudicca’s first visit is to Leixoes in Portugal – for trips to Oporto – brimming with traditional Portuguese charm. The cruise then moves onwards to exotic Casablanca in Morocco, before stopping in Tangier, also in the North African country of Morocco.

Next port of call is Melilla in Spanish Morocco, where guests can embrace a more Mediterranean culture.

Boudicca will then sail to Algiers in Algeria, where guests can visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Tipaza.

Guests will then arrive in Cadiz in Spain. The city’s Cathedral, recognised by its distinctive orange dome, which stands proudly at the centre of this breathtaking coastline, is stunning to admire. Last port of call isLa Coruna in Spain, a relaxing and peaceful destination for guests to enjoy, before Boudicca returns toNewcastle.

 

Fred. Olsen Cruse Lines to offer three one night Christmas parties

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines will be hosting its first-ever series of ‘Christmas Party Nights’ on board elegantBlack Watch at London Tilbury Terminal in December 2014. Black Watch will be docked in Tilbury on the nights of 15th, 16th and 17th December 2014, and will be offering party-goers a mouth-watering four-course dinner, great entertainment – including a cabaret show, live comedian, DJ and live music with dancing – and the chance to stay over and celebrate the run-up to Christmas in style! These exciting ‘Christmas Party Nights’ go on sale from 24th April 2014.

The Fred. Olsen ‘Christmas Party Nights’ will be priced at just £59 per person for the ‘Dinner & Show’ package (inclusive of VAT). There will also be a ‘Dinner, Show & Overnight’ package available, with prices starting from just £89 per person, per night (inclusive of VAT), or £109 for sole occupancy (inclusive of VAT), based on an outside twin cabin.

Nathan Philpot, Sales and Marketing Director for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said:

“For those of you looking to plan a Christmas event this year, how about trying something new? JoinBlack Watch in London for a great value and unique experience, where you can enjoy the friendliness of the Fred. Olsen fleet, sumptuous food and fabulous entertainment, and even book a comfortable, spacious cabin for the night, all for much less than it would cost to book a London hotel room for the evening! Spaces will be offered on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, so hurry and book soon to avoid disappointment.”

Fred. Olsen’s ‘Christmas Party Nights’ are ideal for corporate Christmas party events, –   particularly for local businesses in the Canary Wharf and Essex areas – as well as members of clubs and associations looking to celebrate the festive season in a group, and any friends, families and couples looking for a Christmas gathering with a difference!

The London Tilbury Terminal, which is close to the City of London, is served by excellent road and rail links, and has car parking available. In addition for large groups, coach transfers or high-speed river catamarans – from the City of London only – can be arranged, upon request. 

Fred. Olsen is proud to be the only UK travel company to receive a coveted ‘Gold Award’ from leading consumer review website Feefo, having achieved a 95% service rating of 'Excellent' or 'Good' in over 5,600 genuine, independent guest reviews in 2013.