22 September 2023 , 14:28
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It's CLIA Cruise Week 2023 and to celebrate, we've rounded up some of the top cruise holidays you'll want on your radar from cruise lines such as Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Saga, Holland America, as well as holidays from the likes of Titan Travel and Riviera Travel.
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is the world’s largest cruise industry trade association and CLIA Cruise Week 2023, running to Sunday, celebrates the best of holidays at sea with news, offers and incentives and showcases why there really is a cruise for everyone.
Check out our top picks below...
Princess Cruises
West of Juneau, AK, Glacier Bay NP is a national monument and UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Getty Images) Princess’s bespoke National Parks Cruisetour will be on offer again for Alaska holidays in 2025. The 15-night adventure visits Glacier Bay, Denali, Wrangell-St Elias, Kenai Fjords National Parks and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway.
It combines a seven-night Voyage of the Glaciers cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage, scenic rail travel and days ashore including stays at Princess-owned wilderness lodges. Also for 2025, Princess has announced a Last Frontier departure from LA. The 16-night round trip will visit Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay National Park, Sitka, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan and Victoria in August and September. princess.com/alaska
Meanwhile, Port Canaveral in central Florida will be a new base for Princess Cruises from November 2024. The 3,140-passenger Caribbean Princess will be homeporting for four to 14-day voyages to the Eastern and Western Caribbean with destinations including Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, Belize, Roatan in Honduras, and Cozumel, Mexico. princess.com
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Nicko Cruises
Germany’s nicko cruises has unveiled an all-inclusive 2024 rivers programme aimed at UK travellers featuring seven European waterways and 24 itineraries operated by 13 ships,including the new Bellejour.
Prices start at £945 per person for a four-night festive Rhine sailing in December 2024, including London flights, transfers and excursions. nicko-cruises.co.uk
Riviera Travel
A brand new luxury ship will debut for Riviera Travel on the River Douro in northern Portugal next year. The 118 passenger MS Porto Mirante will sail seven-night round trips from Porto between July and October, taking in a visit to historic Salamanca in Spain, wineries, gardens and a tour of Porto’s Old Town.
Prices start from £2,049 per person with regional flight options, transfers, meals, drinks package and wi-fi. rivieratravel.co.uk
Royal Caribbean
Anthem of the Seas (Courtesy of Royal Caribbean/Cruise Nation)Witness the first total solar eclipse in North America for seven years with Royal Caribbean. The line will have three of its ships in position for partial views on April 8 with Anthem of the Seas off the coast of the Carolinas, Harmony of the Seas getting a sighting from the southern Gulf of Mexico, and Odyssey of the Seas in port at Perfect Day at CocoCay, the line’s luxury private island in The Bahamas
‘Great American Solar Eclipse’ voyages start at £624 per person for seven nights on Harmony departing from Galveston, Texas, on April 7, flights extra. Anthem will sail the same day from Cape Liberty, New Jersey, as will Odyssey from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. royalcaribbean.com/gbr
Titan Travel
A new deluxe 2024 Alaska cruise and Canadian rail tour is on sale at Titan Travel. The 18-day trip starts with hotel stays in Banff and Jasper, Alberta, then two days on the Rocky Mountaineer train, time in Vancouver, British Columbia, and a seven-night Holland America voyage to the Last Frontier.
From £5,795 per person for departures in May with Heathrow flights, various meals and five excursions. Book by September 30 for bonus of cruise ship premium wi-fi, elite drinks package and gratuities. titantravel.co.uk
Norwegian Cruise Line
Latin Grammy award-winner Luis Fonsi – whose 2017 global smash Despacito became the most-streamed song ever with 4.6billion plays – will name new ship Norwegian Viva in Miami on November 28. The 3,100-passenger Viva – the second of six ships in Prima Class – is sailing her inaugural season in the Med before heading to the Magic City then homeporting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a winter Caribbean season.
Fonsi, 45, who was born in San Juan, said: “The ocean has played such an important part in my life, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” ncl.com
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Saga
European river cruising is on the rise for Saga with more than half of bookings coming from first-time passengers – up 21% year on year. Saga Cruises chief Nigel Blanks said: “Savvy travellers are realising they can take five or six city breaks in just one trip, all from the comfort of one of our boutique ships – there’s no need to unpack in between each destination.”
All-inclusive river voyages come with wi-fi, selected excursions, travel insurance and home chauffeur service to the airport or London St Pancras station for Eurostar. Seven nights in 2024 starts at £1,519 per person on the Danube. saga.co.uk/cruises
Holland America
Holland America says its 2025 Alaska programme will offer more glacier viewing opportunities than any line and the most ice permits with six ships visiting the Last Frontier. Besides experiencing glaciers up close, passengers will also be able to join 180 shore excursions for wildlife and wilderness encounters, including helicopter flights to land on the ice sheets and tours to spot bears, eagles, humpback whales and orcas.
Departures from April to October on Eurodam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Westerdam and Zaandam are round trips from Seattle or Vancouver, or in either direction between Vancouver and Whittier. hollandamerica.com
American Queen Voyages
Four new US paddlewheel steamboat river itineraries for 2024 are on offer for British holidaymakers. American Queen Voyages’ quartet of sailings feature the Upper Mississippi and tributaries the Ohio, Cumberland, Illinois and Tennessee. A spokesman said the trips would offer “a changing lush landscape, combined with small-town America historical towns and sites, alongside famous cities such as Nashville, St Louis and Minneapolis”.
The all-inclusive luxury cruises are mostly seven nights, packaged as nine or 10-day getaways with pre-cruise hotel nights. Prices start from £4,399 per person with flights, transfers, tours, entertainment, gratuities and wi-fi. aqvoyages.co.uk