Shirley Linde's Cruise Letter
Cruise News

Well-known travel journalist Shirley Linde writes
 of unique voyages and special offers of ships all over the world. 

You can see cruise information every day at www.SmallShipCruises.com

EUROPE VALUES -- With the rising value of the European Euro making prices higher for Americans, it pays to see Europe by boat. You buy your cruise ticket with U.S. dollars for better value for your dollar since an all-inclusive US price covers daily accommodations, meals, and activities. 

NEW RIVERBOATS IN EUROPE --The former CEO of Silversea Cruises, Albert Peter, has launched a cruise company called Jewel River Cruises. The company debuts in May with the 80-passenger Jewel Imperial Blue. The vessel will offer 7- and 10-day sailings along the route through November.   Amadeus Waterways plans to launch the Amacello and the Amadante and a Portugal and Spain program that features the Douro River Valley.   Tauck will launch its second newbuild, the Swiss Sapphire, sister ship to Swiss Emerald, launched last year. The 118-passenger vessel will feature 14 luxury suites. 

OTHER NEW VESSELS --The new Victoria Jenna will be the largest vessel to ply the Yangtze. In Egypt, the new Oberoi Zahra is cruising the Nile and includes a full-service spa.  Seabourn’s newest vessel, the 450-passenger Seabourn Odyssey, is scheduled to enter service in June 2009 and will have a World Cruise from Fort Lauderdale in January, 2010, the first time that any of the Yachts of Seabourn has undertaken a world cruise.  

ARCTIC MARATHON CRUISE -- Cruise North Expeditions, an Inuit-owned company specializing in Arctic expedition cruising, has teamed up with the organizers of the Toronto Marathon to offer the second Arctic Marathon cruise, a 26-mile run in July during Cruise North's "Arctic Odyssey" cruise. The course travels along a mining access road through wildflowers and waterfalls. Participants can form relay teams or run individually. The cruise goes to seldom-visited islands and features visits to Inuit communities.  

NEW BOAT ON THE MEKONG -- Value World Tours is building a new 48-passenger river vessel to sail the Mekong River between Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Siem Reap, Cambodia. The inaugural voyage is Oct. 10. A two-week land-cruise package includes one night in a hotel in Ho Chi Minh, three nights in a Siem Reap hotel, and a nine-night sailing between Ho Chi Minh and Siem Reap. Rates begin at $2,499 for the 14-day package.

GRAND PRIX/WINDSTAR  PACKAGE – On the Windstar in Monte Carlo in May passengers will have reserved seating for the time trials and the Final Race and a reception at HSH Prince Rainier III Private Auto Museum.

AZAMARA -- Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest, new 694-passenger ships have scheduled mostly 12-18 nights itineraries. In the summer, both ships go to
Europe. Azamara Quest will later sail in Asia.

GOLF CRUISES  --  Crystal Cruises has expanded its golf-themed cruises for 2008.  Guests can tee off on three 11- and 12-day golf cruises in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands and the maritime coast of Canada and New England. ... Norwegian Cruise Line has launched a new Golf Bermuda program, giving its golf-loving guests more opportunities to hit the links in Bermuda, where there are more courses per square mile than anywhere else in the world. ... On Peter Deilmann river sailings guests will test their skills at courses in Austria, Germany, France, and Hungary. ... Silversea Cruises has expanded its "Silver Links" golf program to 12 cruises in 2008.  There is a 15-day Panama Canal crossing from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles with golf excursions in Puntarenas, Acapulco, and Puerto Vallarta, a 7-day Mediterranean sailing from Rome to Monte Carlo with golf in Mallorca, Barcelona, Sete and St. Tropez, a 7-day Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Rome, an 11-day Mexican Riviera voyage from Los Angeles to Costa Rica, as well as Caribbean and South Pacific golf cruises.  

LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS -- Lindblad bought a polar expedition vessel. The ship will be named National Geographic Explorer. It will go to Greenland, Iceland, the Arctic, then down the east coast of the U.S. and the west coast of South America to Antarctica.

TRAVEL DYNAMICS -- They just bought the 100-passenger Clelia II, formerly Renaissance IV.  It will operate in the Arctic, Antarctic, Great Lakes and on the South America, U.S. and Canada east coast.
 
MUSIC ON THE DEUTSCHLAND -- Deilmann’s flagship will have the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn aboard for a 14-day “Music Gala at Sea” cruise departing Germany in September with stops in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Portugal, Monaco and Spain.